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

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
E s t a b l i s h e d J u l y . 1S39*

BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

VOLUM E X X V I I .

JULY,

C O N T E N T S OF

NO.

1852.

I .,

NUMBER I.

VOL. X X V II.

ARTICLES.
Art.
page .
f. ERICSSON’ S CALORIC ENGINE.................... ........................................................................ 19
II. COMMERCE OF THE RLACIv SEA. By J. P. Brown, Esq., of the Legation o f the Uni­
ted States at Constantinople..................................................................................................... 28
III. THE DIVINE USE OF COMMERCE.

By Rev. E. L. M agoon, o f New York..................

IV. COFFEE: AND THE COFFEE TRAD E...................................................................................
V. RAILROADS OF THE GREAT V ALLE Y .

33
39

By J. W .S cott , Esq., o f Ohio....................

44

VI. PROTECTION vs. FREE TR ADE. THE LA W OF PROGRESS IN THE RELATIONS
OF CAPITAL AND LABOR. By R ichard S u ll e y , o f New Y o r k ...............................

51

VII.

OF THE COINAGE OF THE UNITED STATES. By R obert Hare , M. D., Professor
o f Chemisiry in the University of Pennsylvania..................................................................... 64

J O U R N A L OP M E R C A N T I L E L A W .
Points decided in English Courts.—Carriers—Liability of railway companies, &c.........................
Destruction o f goods by blowing them up.—Constitutionality of the pilotage law o f Pennsylvania
Loss o f a baggage check by a passenger does not relieve a railroad company from liability........
Action for breach of contract to deliver part of a cargo o f gum .......................................................
Suit for collision.........................................................................................................................................
Damages for injuries received in railroad cars................................... ................................................
Action to recover merchandise wronglu'ly detained.—Promissory notes— Indorsers......................
Common carriers—Bill of lading.—Liabilities o f husbands for debts o f their w iv e s ....................

67
G8
75
76
77
78
79
80

C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W :
EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL R E V IE W OF THE UNITED STATES, E T C .,IL L U ST R A ­
TED AVITH TABLES, ETC., AS FOLLOW S I

Abundance of capital and general prosperity—Sale of railroad bonds—Effect o f the Increased
production o f the precious metals upon the commercial value of other commodities—Prices
o f produce in the past have not been dependent upon the supply o f coin— Illustrations o f this
Btaternent by comparative tables—Explanation o f the cause o f such fluctuations—The true
Bource of national prosperity—Free trade and protection—Profitable employment for the peo­
ple the object ot‘ both parties—Movements in foreign exchange—Shipments of specie—Depos­
its and coinage at the Philadelphia and New Orleans mints—Imports into the United States—
Imports entered at New York for May, and comparative total from January 1st for three years
— Stock in warehouse—Imports o f dry goods for same periods—Receipts for duties—Exports
from New York for May and from January 1st—Exports of produce—Causes of fluctuations in
shipments—Disbursement o f July dividends and interest.........................................................81—86
VOL. X X V II---- NO.
2




18

CONTENTS OF NO. I ., VOL. XX V II.

JOURNAL

OF B A N K I N G ,

CURRENCY,

AND FIN A N C E .
PAGE*

Fluctuations o f stocks in the Boston market.........................................................................................
Of the increased and increasing supplies o f gold................................................................................
Production of the precious metals from 1492 to 1852..........................................................................
Capital and dividends o f banks in New Y ork ......................................................................................
Condition of the banks of South Carolina.............................................................................................
Statistics o f the United States Post O ffice...........................................................................................
Cost of transportation and postages collected in United States..........................................................
Revenues o f the German Customs Union in 1851...............................................................................
Capital and dividends of banks in Philadelphia.—The Pennsylvania loan bill...............................
Cost of legislation in Massachusetts in 1851-52....................................................................................
Receipts of bullion at Panama, on English account.—Sale o f Indiana Central Railway bond s...
Identity o f indorsers.—The small note currency..................................................................................
Demand for money.—Finances of Connecticut....................................................................................
Adulteration of coins in Paris.—Of bonds issued by railroad corporations in Maine......................
Rich men in Massachusetts.—The merchant that kept two bank accounts......................................

COMMERCIAL

87
88
91
92
93
94
95
97
98
100
101
102
103
104
104

STATISTICS.

Foreign commerce of ports in the U. States compared.—Importation o f eggs into Great Britain.
Statistics o f the bank and cod fishery of Massachusetts.....................................................................
Imports of iron into New York in 1851.................................................................................................
The cheese tra<le o f the United States...................................................................................................
Commerce o f Sweden in 1850........................... ..................................................................................
Marine disasters o f the northern lakes.—Timber trade of Quebec...................................................
Statistics o f commerce of Sweden from 1836 to 1851...........................................................................
Navigation o f the United States and United Kingdom compared.....................................................

105
105
107
108
109
110
Ill
Ill

R A I L R O A D , CANAL, AND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S .
Commerce of the New York canals from 1849 to 1852.........................................................................
Galena and Chicago Union Railroad.—Tolls, trade, and tonnage of the canals...............................
The philosophical railroad engineer......................................................................................................
Maine law concerning railroads.—A profitable railroad in Geo.—The first American locom otive..
Hamilton, Eaton, and Richmond Railroad.—The right of way over land belonging to the State.
Validity of a patent for improvement in cars.—Profitable railroad stocks......................................

112
115
115
116
117
117

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
Commercial treaty between the United States and Costa Rica............................................................
Reciprocal trade between U. S. and Hawaiian islands.—Relief of sick and disabled seam en.. . .
Commercial treaty between France and Sardinia.—Act to regulate the sale o f oats in Maine.. . .
The law of Maryland regulating pilotage...............................................................................................
Reduction of anchorage duties by Brazil.— Act to regulate the sale of cotton in Alabama..........
British commercial and navigation treaties...........................................................................................

NAUTICAL

118
121
122
123
124
125

INTELLIGENCE.

Of light vessels as a guide to mariners.—Fixed light in the Strait of S unda.................
Revolving light on south point of Barbados.—The southern coast o f Florida................
Electricity applied to the capture of the whale.—Seamen’s wages at San Francisco...
The Differences of longitude of Savannah.............................................................................

125
126
127
128

S T A T I S T I C S OF P O P U L A T I O N .
Deaf, dumb, blind, insane, & .C ., population of the United States......................................
Population of France from 1801 to 1851.—Statistics of British Emigrant vessels.............
Statistics of the population of Hungary.—Circulation of the Loudon press....................

128
129
130

J O U R N A L OF M I N I N G A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S .
Copper mining of Lake Superior...........................................................................................
Cotton planters should become cotton spinners ................................................................
The Australian gold m in es....................................................................................................
Comparative cost o f mining in Cornwall and Lake Superior.............................................
The coal trade of Pennsylvania................................................................ ............................
American Bohemian glass......................................................................................................
Discovery of gold at Queen Charlotte’s islands............................... .................................
The North-west copper Mining Company.............................................................................
Gold mines in Van Dieman’s Land.......................................................... ..........................
Liquid leather..........................................................................................................................
The value o f an acre of coal land...........................................................................................

131
131
132
133
133
133
134
134
135
135
136

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
An old merchant’s a d v ice.......................................................................................................................
Smuggling in Spain..................................................................................................................................
Landing a steamboat passenger.............................................................................................................
A self-winding, or perpetual c lo c k ........................................................................................................
Business of Dubuque in 1851...................................... ..........................................................................
Of the coasting trade between New York and Virginia................................................................... ..

13G
137
138
138
138
138

T H E BOOK T R A D E .
Notices o f 38 new Books, or new Editions




139-144

HUNT’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW,
J U L Y ,

1852.

A rt. I.— ERICSSON’ S CALORIC ENGINE.
O ne hundred and twenty years before the Christian era, a wheel, driven
by a jet o f steam, revolved in the Egyptian capital. More than nine­
teen centuries succeeded, marking their deep furrows upon the broad
face o f creation, before this whirling toy ripened into the mighty Steam
Engine, now so familiar to our race. During this vast period o f time, sixty
generations o f men were born, and lived, and garnered for eternity. O f all
the millions composing these generations, no man had appeared ingenious
enough to drive pistons to and fro with that vapor, which had turned the
playful wheel in Alexandria. That which now seems to have been its ob­
vious application, nearly two thousand years were consumed in finding out.
It required but a cylinder, a piston to move within it, grasping a crank, and
with but few and simple contrivances beyond, the steam-engine was com ­
plete. That power which had created a rotary motion, could produce a
reciprocating motion. To establish this neither experiment nor scientific
learning was necessary; and if these had been required, both could have
been abundantly supplied. Great geniuses had appeared, and scattered
their rich gifts among men, and had passed aw ay; failing to accomplish
that which W a tt finally completed. Human skill had multiplied luxuries,
human invention had created innumerable comforts; but still mankind were
as destitute o f a Motive Power as when the Israelites journeyed from Egypt.
A t the end o f the eighteenth century this power appeared. A t length it
assumed a form which enabled it to drag heavy burdens upon land and sea;
and then, as the grim monster blew its hot breath from its iron lungs, the
globe seemed contracted to half its former size.
In strength it was mightier than any moving thing, and in speed it ri­
valed the birds o f heaven. It has become the strong carrier and the fleet




20

Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

racer. Glowing fires are its food, and its sinews hot vapor. Its unearthly
shriek troubles the air, and its rolling tramp shakes the earth. It impels
huge ships over wide seas; defying the hurricane and mastering the storm.
It digs the ore, blows the furnace, wields the heavy hammer, and turns the
spindle. It toils in the workshop; it toils in mid ocean, and it toils as it
bounds along upon its iron track, unchecked by its ponderous train. It
has traversed mighty waters, walked upon dark and troubled seas, darted
through tunneled mountains, and coursed along western wilds.
Its years have been few. The nineteenth century dawned upon its early
infancy, and the first half o f that century closed upon its gigantic manhood.
In this short period o f time, it has stamped new and everlasting characters
upon the history o f mankind. It has accomplished a grand, and we believe
its final destiny. W e think its end is at hand, its mission nearly over. If
it has been a useful slave, it has also been a costly and dangerous one.
To prevent this danger, the most watchful care, the profoundest skill,
have proved unavailing. If the slaughter o f our race, caused by its burst­
ing boilers could be presented to view, humanity would stand appalled. Its
course has been marked and its onward track strewn with mangled bodies.
O f this the press, day by day, tells an awful story.
It is time that this fierce and expensive, though mighty bond-servant,
should be replaced by one equally powerful, cheaper, and less dangerous.
The age is ripe for this change. The experience o f the last few years has
determined that steam cannot be profitably used, for commercial purposes,
upon the ocean. For a voyage of three thousand miles, a large portion o f
the freighting capacity o f the ship is required for coals alone. These, with
the engine and huge boilers, occupy a part at least o f that space, which
should be filled with merchandise. ■The expense o f the coal consumed is
enormous; but this could be borne if it occupied less room. In proportion
as the voyage is extended, does steam, as a motive power, become more ex­
pensive ; until finally, the entire ship would be insufficient to contain the
fuel necessary to feed the engine. A steamer o f the Collins line consumes,
we are informed, about one thousand tons o f ceal for a voyage o f three
thousand miles. Double this distance, and although the cost o f the coal is
but doubled, nearly the entire freighting room o f the steamer is absorbed by
it, arid her power to earn freight is gone. Still increase this distance, with
no means to supply fuel upon the route, and steam machinery becomes
worse than useless. The broad Pacific cannot be traversed by it. Its rich
commerce invites the merchant ship, and rewards the navigator, but the
steamer must hug its shores, and cannot profitably explore its ample bosom.
It is the mission o f man to hold the earth and its waters in subjection by
machinery. By machinery he is destined to lighten the drudgery which at
the dawn o f creation fell upon his race. To accomplish this he has been en­
dowed with genius and inventive power; and where the force o f a thousand
giants would be fruitless, these triumphantly prevail. They gave to the
world steam as a motive power. It has proved inadequate to the wants o f
men, destructive to human life, and more costly than the interests o f com­
merce can sustain.
A new motive power is demanded, and if the eyesight and the judgment
can be relied upon, it has appeared. It is the most sublime development
o f force ever seen in machinery! It is exerted by that life-giving, elastic
fluid, the atmosphere.
It is drawn from that vast magazine through
which the lightnings play, and is supplied from that unseen element which




Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

21

sighs in the breeze and roars in the hurricane. W e are not intimately ac­
quainted with machinery, nor are we altogether ignorant of the principles o f
mechanical science. W e know enough of both to form an intelligent ju dg­
ment concerning the w’onderful machine to which we allude, and which
we have carefully examined. It is not, like most new inventions, presented
in a mere model. It does not, like most new inventions, rest in bare experi­
ment. W ere these its conditions, the Merchants' Magazine would express
no judgment concerning its utility, nor indulge in any speculations as to its
supposed value. W e should leave this talk to those who are supposed to
be better acquainted with the science o f mechanics, and with the practical
value o f untried inventions, than the editor of a commercial journal. W e
are not here called upon to perform this task.
A celebrated painter has said “ Let my productions be subjected to the
judgm ent o f the whole world, but heaven deliver me from that o f my own
profession.” This may not, in a majority o f cases, prove to be a just ap­
prehension ; but it is quite certain that there is in every profession a con­
servative spirit, which clings to the knowledge o f the past, and distrusts
that which is new and untried. This is strikingly illustrated in the case o f
the steam-engine.
W e all know that, at this time, the only mode in use for producing a ro­
tary motion, from the reciprocating motion o f the piston o f a steam-engine,
is by means o f a crank. It is equally well known, that to enable the sta­
tionary engine to “ pass the center,” a ponderous fly-wheel is employed. Now
it will hardly be credited, that both these methods were at first condemned
by distinguished engineers, as utterly impracticable. In 1777 Mr. Stewart
read a paper before the Royal Society in London, describing a method for
obtaining a continued circular motion, for turning all kinds o f mills, from
the reciprocating motion o f the steam-engine. This he proposed to effect
by means o f a complicated contrivance, which-practice soon proved to be
worthless. In the course o f his remarks, he incidentally noticed the method
o f obtaining the circular motion by means o f a crank, which, said he, “ oc­
curs naturally in theory, but in practice would be impossible.”
This paper was, by the council o f the Society, referred to Mr. Smeaton,
one o f the most distinguished engineers o f that age. H e not only con­
demned the crank, but the fly-wheel a lso ; and, in consequence o f these
views, very complicated and expensive means were adopted, to produce the
desired rotary motion from the reciprocating motion o f the piston, until, at
length, from necessity, the crank and fly-wheel were adopted, and ever af­
terwards used.
W e have mentioned these circumstances to show the wisdom o f the course
pursued by Captain Ericsson, in not subjecting his invention to public ex­
amination, until he could present it in a shape so conclusive, as to satisfy
the judgment o f practical men ; and to trample down that carping, sneering
criticism, with which envy and rivalry sometimes seek to strangle the pro­
ductions o f inspired genius. This, in our opinion, he has accomplished.
W e have, with great care, examined this machine ; the principles and con­
struction of which were fully explained to us by the distinguished inventor.
It is alike remarkable for sublimity o f conception and simplicity o f detail.
Like the forces o f nature, its operations, although mighty, are gentle. Two
machines upon this plan are now in operation at the works o f Messrs. H ogg
& Delamater— one o f five horse, the other o f sixty horse power.
The latter is the most extraordinary piece o f machinery we have ever




22

Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

seen. It has four cylinders. Two, o f seventy-two inches in diameter, stand
side by side. Over each o f these is placed one much smaller. Within
these are pistons, exactly fitting their respective cylinders, and so connected
that those within the lower and upper cylinders move together. Under the
bottom o f each o f the lower cylinders a fire is applied. N o other furnaces
are employed. Neither boilers nor water are used. The lower is called the
working cylinder; the upper the supply cylinder. As the piston in the
supply cylinder moves down, valves placed in its top open, and it becomes
filled with cold air. As the piston rises within it, these valves close, and
the air within, unable to escape as it came, passes through another set o f
valves, into a receiver, from whence it is to pass into the working cylinder,
to force up the working piston within it. As it leaves the receiver to per­
form this duty, it passes through what is called the regenerator, which we
shall soon explain, where it becomes heated to about four hundred and fifty
degrees, and upon entering the working cylinder, it is further heated by the
fire underneath. W e have said the working cylinder is much larger in di­
ameter than the supply cylinder. Let us, for the sake o f illustration merely,
suppose it to contain double the area. The cold air which entered ths up­
per cylinder will, therefore, but half fill the lower one. In the course of its
passage to the latter, however, we have said that it passes through a regen­
erator, and let us suppose, that as it enters the working cylinder, it has be­
come heated to about four hundred and eighty degrees. A t this tempera­
ture, atmospheric air expands to double its volume. The same atmospheric
air, therefore, which was contained within the supply cylinder, is now capa­
ble o f filling one o f twice its size. W ith this enlarged capacity, it enters
the working cylinder.
W e will further suppose the area o f the piston within this cylinder
to contain a thousand square inches, and the area o f the piston in the sup­
ply cylinder above, to contain but five hundred. The air presses upon this
with a mean force, we will suppose, o f about eleven pounds to each square
inch ; or in other words, with a weight o f 5,500 pounds. Upon the surface
o f the lower piston, the heated air is, however, pressing upwards with a like
force upon each of its one thousand square inches; or in other words, with
a force o f 11,000 pounds. Here, then, is a force which, after overcoming
the weight above, leaves a surplus o f 5,500 pounds, if we make no allow­
ance for friction. This surplus furnishes the working power of the engine.
It will be readily seen that after one stroke o f its pistons is made, it will
continue to work with this force, so long as sufficient heat is supplied to ex­
pand the air in the working cylinder to the extent stated; for so long as
the area o f the lower piston is greater than that o f the upper, and a like
pressure is upon every square inch o f each, so long will the greater piston
push forward the smaller, as a two-pound weight upon one end o f a bal­
ance will be quite sure to bear down one pound placed upon the other. W e
need hardly say that after the air in the working cylinder has forced up the
piston within it, a valve opens, and as it passes out, the pistons, by force o f
gravity, descend, and cold air again rushes into, and fills the supply cylinder,
as we have before described. In this manner the two cylinders are alter­
nately supplied and discharged, causing the pistons in each to play up and
down, substantially as they do in the steam-engine.
W e trust our readers will be able, from the brief description we have
here attempted, to understand at least the general principles- upon which
this machine operates. Its cylinders draw their supply from the atmosphere.




Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

23

The cylinders o f the steam-engine are supplied by scalding vapor, drawn
from hissing boilers. The caloric engine draws into its iron lungs, the same
element which expands those of the most delicate child, and derives its m o­
tion and its power from that sustaining source upon which depends the ex­
istence o f all animate life.
W e have endeavored to explain the construction o f the caloric engine.
Its most striking feature consists in what is called by its inventor, the regen­
erator. Before describing this, we will present the grand idea upon which
it is based.
First let it be remembered that the power o f the steamengine depends upon the heat employed to produce steam within its boilers.
It will be seen that from the very nature of steam the heat required to pro­
duce it, amounting to about 1,200°, is entirely lost by condensation the m o­
ment it has once exerted its force upon the piston. If, instead o f being so
lost, all the heat used in creating the steam employed could, at the moment
o f condensation, be reconveyed to the furnace, there again to aid in produ­
cing steam in the boilers, but a very little fuel would be necessary; none,
in fact, except just enough to supply the heat lost by radiation. The reason
is obvious. Let us suppose the steam has passed from the boiler, has en­
tered the cylinder, has driven the piston forward, and is about to pass into
the condenser, there to change its form, and be again converted into water.
This steam, yet in the cylinder, and uncondensed, possesses all the heat it
contained before passing out o f the boiler. It has driven the piston forward,
but in that effort it has lost no heat. That source of power it still contains.
Let it be supposed that the heat contained in the steam could, at the m o­
ment it is converted into water within the condenser, be saved, and by some
device be again used to create steam from water within the boiler, with what
exceeding cheapness could the power o f the steam-engine be employed. But
it is quite impossible thus to re-employ the heat of steam: it cannot thus
be saved; and hence every effort to economize in this manner would be un­
availing.
The propositions we have here advanced were, it appears, more than
twenty-five years since familiar to the scientific mind o f Captain Ericsson.
He was at that early period deeply impressed with their im portance; and
regarding heat as the sole source o f motive-power, was anxious to discover
some element in which it could be so employed that, after giving motion to
machinery, it should be returned to act over and over again for the same
purpose. But little reflection was necessary to convince him that steam was
not this element. It must consist o f some permanent gas, and atmospheric
air seemed admirably adapted to the purpose. Accordingly it was employed
by him.
In a work entitled “ A Dictionary o f the Arts of Life and Civilization,”
published in London in 1833, the author, Sir Richard Phillips, mentions an
engine which Captain Ericsson then had in operation in that city, as “ his
application o f excited or rarefied air to the performance o f those powers of
machinery, which hitherto have been made to depend on the intervention of
boiling water and its steam.” The author further states that he “ has, with
inexpressible delight, seen the first model machine, o f five horse-power, at
work. W ith a handful o f fuel .applied to the very sensible medium o f at­
mospheric air, and a most ingenious disposition of its differential powers, he
beheld a resulting action, in narrow compass, capable of extension to as great
forces as ever can be wielded or used by man.”
The author adds:— “ The principle o f this new engine consists in th is:




24

Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

that the heat which is required to give motion to the engine at the com­
mencement, is returned by a peculiar process o f transfer, and thereby made
to act over and over again, instead o f being, as in the steam-engine, thrown
into a condenser, or into the atmospheric, as so much waste fuel.”
During the last nineteen years, Captain Ericsson has employed much o f
his time, and expended large amounts o f money, in overcoming those prac­
tical difficulties which are ever stumbling blocks in the way leading to the
successful development o f a great principle in new machinery. This he has
now achieved. The principle o f his invention, as stated by Sir Richard
Phillips, is still retained, embodied in that practical and complete form, which
render this engine economical, absolutely safe, durable, simple in construc­
tion, and in action effective.
Let us now attempt to describe the regenerator, to which we have referred.
W ithout this, the machine we examined would possess, in point o f econo­
my, no advantage over the best constructed steam-engine.
W ith it,
the advantages are incalculable.
W e have already fully illustrated the
leading idea conceived by Captain Ericsson, o f employing heat over and
over again. To attain this is the object o f the regenerator.
For the purpose o f understanding this instrument our readers will bear
in mind the construction and operation o f the machine. W e have before
stated that atmospheric air is first drawn into the supply cylinder, from
whence it is forced into a receiver, and that from this it proceeds towards
the working cylinder, before reaching which it passes through the regenera­
tor. This structure is composed o f wire net, somewhat like that used in the
manufacture o f sieves, placed side by side, until the series attain a thick­
ness, say o f twelve inches. Through the almost innumerable cells, formed
by the intersection o f these wires, the air must pass, on its way to the work­
ing cylinder. In passing through these, it is so minutely subdivided that
the particles composing it are brought into close contact with the metal
which forms the wires. Now let us suppose, what actually takes place, that
the side o f the regenerator nearest the working cylinder is heated to a high
temperature. Through this heated substance the air must pass before en­
tering the cylinder, and in effecting this passage, it takes up, as is demon­
strated by the thermometer, about 450° o f the 480° o f heat required, as
we before stated, to double its volume. The additional 30° are communi­
cated by the fire beneath the cylinder. The air has thus become expanded;
it forces the piston upward; it has done its work— valves open— and the
imprisoned air, heated to 480°, passes from the cylinder, and again enters
the regenerator, through which it must pass before leaving the machine.
W e have said that the side o f this instrument nearest the working cylinder
is hot, and it should be here stated that the other side is kept cool, by the
action upon it o f the air entering in the opposite direction at each up­
stroke o f the pistons. Consequently, as the air from the working cylinder
passes out, the wires absorb its heat so effectually that, when it leaves the re­
generator, it has been robbed o f it all, except about 30°. In other words,
as the air passes into the working cylinder it gradually receives from the re­
generator about 450° o f heat; and as it passes out, this is returned to the
wires, and is thus used over and over, the only purpose o f the tires beneath
the cylinders being to supply the 30° o f heat we have mentioned, and that
which is lost by radiation and expansion. Extraordinary as this statement
may seem, it is nevertheless incontrovertibly proved by the thermometer to
be quite true.




Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

25

W hen physical causes, productive o f unexpected mechanical results, are
carefully examined, they will always be found adequate to effect what, upon
a cursory view might appear marvelous or incredible. Thus, after an ex­
amination o f the reasons why this compact regenerator so effectually ab­
sorbs and transmits heat, its operation will cease to create wonder, although
it cannot fait to excite profound admiration. W e will state the causes o f
its efficiency.
The regenerator, contained in the sixty horse engine we have examined,
measures twenty:six inches in hight and width internally. Each disc o f
wire composing it contains 676 superficial inches, and the net has ten meshes
to the inch. Each superficial inch, therefore, contains 100 meshes, which,
multiplied by 676, give 67,600 meshes in each disc, and as 200 discs are
employed, it follows that the regenerator contains 13,520,000 meshes, and
consequently, as there are as many small spaces between the discs as there
are meshes, we find that the air within is distributed in about 27,000,000
minute cells. Hence, it is evident, that nearly every particle o f the whole
volume o f air, in passing through the regenerator, is brought into very close
contact with a surface o f metal, which heats and cools alternately. The ex­
tent o f this surface, when accurately estimated, almost surpasses belief.
The wire contained in each disc is 1,140 feet long, and that contained in
the regenerator is consequently 228,000 feet, or 411 miles in length, the
superficial measurement o f which is equal to the entire surface o f four
steam-boilers, each forty feet long, and four feet in d ia m e te ra n d yet the
regenerator, presenting this great amount of heating surface, is only about
two feet cube— less than
o f the bulk o f these four boilers.
Involved in this wonderful process, o f the transfer and retransfer of heat
is a discovery, which justly ranks as one o f the most remarkable ever made
in physical science.
Its author, Captain Ericsson long since ascertained,
and upon this is based the sublimest feature o f his caloric-engine, that at­
mospheric air and other permanent gases, in passing through a distance o f
only six inches, in the fiftieth part o f a second of time, are capable of ac­
quiring, or parting with, upward o f four hundred degrees o f heat. He has
been first to discover this marvelous property o f caloric, without which, at­
mospheric air could not be effectively employed as a motive-power. The
reason is obvious. Until expanded by heat, it can exert no force upon the
piston. I f much time were required to effect this, the movement o f the
piston would necessarily be so slow as to render the machine inefficient.
Captain Ericsson has demonstrated, however, that heat may be communi­
cated to, and expansion effected in, atmospheric air, with almost electric
speed; and that it is, therefore, eminently adapted to give the greatest de­
sirable rapidity o f motion to all kinds o f machinery.
W e here close our imperfect description of a machine destined, as we be­
lieve, to work a revolution in the Commerce o f the globe. It consumes but
a very small proportion o f the coal required for the steam-engine. It is en­
tirely free from every element o f explosion or o f danger. Watchfulness is
not imperatively required, as in the steam-engine. If left unattended, the
worst that can happen is, that after exhausting the heat o f its fires, and o f
its regenerator, it will stop. The one we examined, o f sixty horse-power,
has been run at full speed during twenty-four consecutive hours, consuming
but nine hundred and sixty pounds o f coal. After feeding the fires, it con­
tinues to run three hours without replenishment, and after withdrawing them
from the grates, it operates with full power for the period o f one hour, in




26

Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

consequence o f the astonishing action o f its regenerator alone. W e believe
we have not, in the slightest degree, overrated the immense advantages o f
this engine, in point o f economy and safety. I f we have not, the world may
well start with exultation. In magnitude o f results, no invention can rank
with it. The electric telegraph is one o f great interest and value, and to
him who reflects that the tierce lightning has by that process been tamed,
and brought to the very lips o f man, there to be freighted with human lan­
guage, and sent abroad, to girdle the earth with thought, it becomes sub­
lime. Still, it is greatly inferior, in practical importance, to the discovery
o f a motive-power such as we have attempted to describe. Human specu­
lation fails adequately to estimate its influence upon the social and commer­
cial relations of men and o f nations. Its effects will naturally be first ex­
erted upon the ocean. It is here that the value o f such a power will be
most sensibly felt and appreciated. Here it will soon become the strong
arm and right hand of Commerce. It may be affirmed with confidence
that, with engines upon this plan, a ship o f two thousand tons can be pro­
pelled from San Francisco to China and back with less coal than is now re­
quired for an ordinary ocean steamer to cross the Atlantic.
The annals .of the mechanic arts furnish no instance o f an important in­
vention having been brought before the public in so complete a form as to
warrant its being carried out on a scale o f the first magnitude from the out­
set. Ericsson’s Caloric Engine will form an exception. A ship is now
building for its reception by Messrs. Perrine, Patterson, and Stack, measur­
ing twenty-two hundred tons burden, and her engines, which are being
constructed by Messrs. H og g & Delamater, comprise four working cylinders,
each o f 168 inches in diameter. W e have visited both the ship-yard and
the engine manufactory, and have inspected with more than ordinary inter­
est the work on which more than four hundred men are now busily engaged.
The ship is quite a remarkable structure, both in point o f form and strength.
The engines being placed in the center o f the vessel admit o f a better form
o f midship section than in steamships. O f this the builders have availed
themselves by giving such a rise to the floor that strength and easy lines for
passing through the water are appropriately combined. The lines o f the
ship at the entrance are singularly fine; and yet, by a very judicious appli­
cation o f the “ wave line,” as it is technically called, the bow possesses all
the fullness requisite for a good sea-boat. The run is alike peculiar for easy
lines, combined with stability and requisite bearing. The strength o f floor,
which is built entirely solid from stem to stern, surpasses anything we have seen
in this country, noted as it is for producing the best ships in the world. In
order to give additional strength to the ample timbers, the entire frame is
banded by a double series o f diagonal braces, o f flat bars o f iron, let into
the timbers at intervals o f about three feet, each series being riveted together
at all the points of intersection. In addition to the ordinary central keelsons,
there are six engine keelsons, bolted on the top o f the floor timbers, for
three-fourths o f the length o f the ship. On these keelsons the bed plates
o f the engines are secured by bolts passing through the floor timbers. These
bed-plates extend over the entire area occupied by the engines, and present
a continuation of iron flooring, not witnessed in any steamship. The security
thus attained is further enhanced by dispensing entirely with the numerous
holes through the bottom of the vessel, which in steamers are necessary, and
have often brought that class o f vessels to a sinking condition. The engines
being arranged in the center o f the vessel, the decks are not cut off as in




Ericsson's Caloric Engine.

21

steamers; and as the whole of the machinery is confined within a vertical
trunk 76 feet long and 18 feet wide, ample space is left on each side o f the
ship for state-rooms along its entire length, with unbroken passages, fore and
aft, on either side. The freight-deck also presents an unbroken area fore
and aft, diminished only in width in the central part o f the vessel. The
coal being carried in the bottom, at each side o f the engines, the fore and aft
hold are clear for freight. The central arrangement o f the engines involves,
o f necessity, a central crank, and thus the spar-deck presents an uninter­
rupted area, on both sides, the ordinary objectionable crank hatches being
dispensed with. The slow combustion peculiar to the caloric engine renders
the huge smoke funnel unnecessary. A short pipe to carry off the gases
produced by the combustion in the furnaces takes its place in the caloric
ship. The absence o f steam in every form is sufficiently important in pro­
ducing a more pleasant atmosphere than in steamers, but far more remark­
able is the fact that the quantity o f air which will be drawn out o f the ship
by the action o f the supply cylinders o f the engines, will exceed sixty tons
in weight every h o u r! Captain Ericsson, in calling our attention to this
fact, furnished us with a few figures that we feel certain our readers will
need, as much as we did, to comprehend how so vast a ventilation is effected.
Each supply piston presents an area o f 102 superficial feet, with a stroke o f
six feet. 612 cubic feet o f atmospheric air will therefore be drawn into the
engine at each stroke; and when the engine makes fourteen strokes per
minute, 8,568 cubic feet. But as there are four supply cylinders, they will,
in this space o f time, draw in 34,272 cubic feet; and in CO minutes there
will be thus circulated 2,056,320 cubic feet. The weight o f atmospheric
air is nearly 1 3 j cubic feet to the pound; and thus it will be seen that 68
tons o f air are drawn from the interior o f the ship, through the engines, and
passed off into the atmosphere, every hour. The effect o f such an extraor­
dinary system o f ventilation, in purifying the atmosphere of the ship, is
self-evident.
The simple construction of the caloric engine, and the small quantity o f
coal to be handled, will reduce the number o f engineers and firemen, in the
aggregate, to less than one-fourth the complement required for steamers.
This great reduction in the number of men, whose duties are incompatible
with strict cleanliness, will still further promote a purer state of atmosphere
in caloric ships than in steamers. Again, as no smoke whatever is produced,
when anthracite coal is employed, the masts and rigging of the caloric ship
will be as as clean as in sailing vessels. W e examined the combustion o f
the sixty-horse caloric-engine most critically. N o smoke could be detected
from it, and we arrived at the conclusion, that with such a slow combustion
and easy firing smoke cannot possibly emanate from the anthracite consumed
in the furnaces. Europe has scarcely any o f this fuel, and in a national
point of view, therefore, the introduction of the caloric-engine is important.
W e congratulate the commercial world that this invention is to be presented
upon a scale and in a manner commensurate with its surpassing magnitude.
The commercial part o f this enterprise is conducted by Mr. J ohn B.
K it c h i n g , a merchant of the city of New York, who has, for this purpose,
associated with him a few gentlemen o f wealth and high standing. It is
fortunate that he possesses the practical intelligence which has enabled him
to appreciate the advantages to be derived from the introduction o f this new
motive power. He at once concurred with Captain Ericsson, that its develop­
ment in practice should so thoroughly test its utility and value, that no




Commerce o f the Black Sea.

28

doubt could thereafter be entertained concerning either. So far as human
scrutiny and foresight can penetrate, this invention promises to be the richest
boon to Commerce and civilization yet attained by the application to machi­
nery o f those natural forces created by Omnipotence for the benefit o f our
race. Upon the manner o f its first introduction to the world, will, in a
great degree depend the time within which it will bo made generally avail­
able in practice. Mr. Kitching will be remembered as the man whose sound
judgm ent and perfect self-reliance have so contributed to present the coloncengine to the public, that a second trial will not be required to warrant its
universal adoption.

Art. II.— C O M M E R C E O F T H E B L A C K S E A .
S ome years ago the translator of the present article on the subject of the
Commerce o f the Port o f Trebizond, on the southern shore of the Black
Sea, during a visit which he had occasion to make there, availed himself o f
it to procure some details o f the trade which passes through that part to
Georgia and Persia, as well as with the interior o f that portion o f Asia M i­
nor o f which Trebizond is the principal port o f entry. Those details were,
soon afterwards, offered for publication to the Merchants' Magazine, in
which they appeared.
W ith the increased intercourse o f the people o f the United States with
the Ottoman Empire, as merchants, or as simple travelers for pleasure or in­
struction, it is presumed that any information made public on the subject of
the trade o f Asiatic and European Turkey will be perused with interest by
the commercial public. The absence o f a regular Commercial Bureau at
Washington, to which such communications might be made, for the purpose
o f having them laid before the public in the form o f annual “ Commercial
Reports ” to Congress, renders this means o f publicity the more valuable ;
and with this object in view, the following later details o f the trade which
formed the subject o f the previous notes are now offered for insertion in the
Merchants' Magazine.
COMMERCE OF TREBIZOND IN

1851.*

During a period of six years the imports and exports of Trebizond have
gone on increasing, and the transit Commerce has also augmented in an
equal proportion. In 1846 some 30,000 packages o f goods were disem­
barked there for Persia and Georgia, valuing about fifty millions o f Turkish
piastres, o f some four cents each, making §2,000,000 of our own currency.
In 1851, the merchandise which arrived at Trebizond amounted to 59,003
packages, valuing 182,000,000 o f piastres.f The expenses o f 30,000 pack­
ages, from the period of their departure from Constantinople up to their
being put into warehouses in Tabriz in Persia, were, on account o f the dear­
* Translated from the “ Journal de Constantinople.”
f The Turkish piastre fluctuates in value, and is governed by the sale at which bills o f exchange
on London are sold at Constantinople. At this date, April, 1852, the pound sterling is, in specie,
(gold and silver,) 117 piastres, and in Caimchs (paper currency o f the Sultan) 120 piastres. The
Spanish dollar values 25 piastres in specie, and 26 and 27 piastres in paper.




Trebizond in 1851 .

29

ness o f transportation, about 15 per cent on the whole amount— say some
7,500,000 piastres on the value o f 50,000,000 piastres. On this basis,
wbieh is believed to be exact, the expenses o f 59,003 packages, worth
182,000,000 piastres, should amount to 27,000,000 piastres. It has been
determined upon by the Turkish Government to construct a good wagon
road from Trebizond to Erzerrow,* a town o f some importance, not fir from
the Persian frontier, which project, for the present, has been deferred, and
the preceding statements o f the trade which would pass over it is certainly
sufficient to serve as an inducement for its future execution. Besides the
preceding, it should also be added that the Commerce in transit to Persia
pays to the Turkish Government a duty of 3 per cent, which makes a sum
o f 5,500,000 piastres per annum. In a few years, should the trade increase
in the ratio o f the past six years, this revenue would quite suffice to cover
the expenses o f the proposed route.
The writer next adds, in behalf o f the Commerce o f France with Trebizond, “ In the general table o f the trade o f Trebizond, which we publish,
we are pained to observe a point which struck us in 1846, that France takes
no part in this trade, whilst some forty years ago the Commerce o f France
predominated in the Levant.”
“ The steamboats which now g o to Trebizond belong wholly to the Turk­
ish, English, and Austrian marines.” After some expressions o f confidence
that the present President o f the “ Republic o f France” will take proper
measures to restore the lost trade o f Marseilles, he continues: “ The goods
imported into Trebizond under the flags o f different nations for the con­
sumption o f the interior o f the country and those destined for Persia, amount
to 243,342,000 piastres, or $9,793,680, and the exports to 110,471,000 pias­
tres, or $4,418,840— makinga difference between them o f some 132,871,000
piastres, or $5,314,840, which is explained in the following table.
The most important portion of this trade belongs to the Turkish marine,
next to this to the Austrian, and next to the British. The first imports in­
to Trebizond 132,730,000 piastres, or $5,309,200 ; the second 72,704,000
piastres, $2 ,908 ,1 60 ; and the third 35,406,000 piastres, or $1,416,240.
The other nations engaged in the trade may be classed as follows : Greece,
the two Danubian Provinces o f Turkey, one Moldavia and Wallachia, the
seven Ionian Islands, and Russia.
In a general recapitulation o f the same, we find 99 sailing vessels, and
73 steamers, together having 111,352 tons.
The arrivals in 1851 were as follows:—
Ottoman sailing vessels, 71; steamers, 30; in all, 101; of 58,580 tons, and 13,380
horse power, and importing goods of the value of 132,730,000 piastres, or $5,309,200.
Austrian steamers, of 7,800 horse power, and 23,300 tons, and importing 72,703,000
piastres, or $2,908,160 of merchandise.
British sailing vessels, 6 ; steamers, 17 ; in all, 23 ; of 4,994 horse-power, and 15,742
tons, with 35,406,000 piastres, or $1,416,240 of merchandise.
Greek vessels, 9 ; o f 1,698 tons, and 1,355,000 piastres, or $54,200 o f merchandise.
Danubian vessels, 7 ; o f 1,004 tons, and 550,000 piastres, or $21,000 of mer­
chandise.
Ionian vessels, 3 ; of 396 tons, and 257,000 piastres, or $10,800 of merchandise.
Russian vessels, 2 ; of 382 tons, and with 340,000 piastres, or $13,600.
French vessels, 1 ; of 350 tons, in ballast.
* The failure o f this determination is attributed at Constantiuopie to the influence o f Russia,
which is, very naturally, desirous of having the transit trade of Persia pass through Georgia. The
projected road was begun at the instance of the British Embassy at Constantinople.




30

Commerce o f the B lack Sea.

Making totally 99 sailing vessels and 73 steamers, orin all 172 vessels of
every nation; which imported into the single port o f Trebizond goods for
internal consumption and transit to Georgia and Persia to the amount o f
243,342,000 piastres, or $9,733,680.
The departures for Trebizond in 1851 were—
Ottoman sailing vessels, 61 ; steamers, 3 0 ; in all, 81 ; of 18,380 horse-power, and
exporting merchandise to the value of 26,686,000 piastres, and specie 20,691,000 pi­
astres, or 81,895,080.
Austrian steamers, of 7,800 horse-power, and 23,330 tons, with merchandise of the
value of 14,301,000 piastres, and specie 13,424,000 piastres, or $1,109,280.
British vessels, 6 ; steamers, 17 ; in all, 22 ; of 4,994 horse-power, and 16,300 tons,
and merchandise to the value of 11,732,000 piastres, in specie, 12,017,000 piastres, or
$949,960.

It must bo remembered that the specie destined for Constantinople, (for
all o f this Commerce is between Trebizond and Constantinople,) indicated,
refers entirely to the merchandise in transit to and from Georgia and Persia;
whilst the following is a statement o f the local Commerce, and that for the
consumption o f the interior o f the country o f which Trebizond is the first,
in 1851 :—
Ottoman steamers, 3,751,000 piastres, or $160,040 in specie.
Austrian steamers, 2,804,000 piastres, or $152,160 in specie.
British steamers, 3,106,000 piastres, or $124,240 in specie.
Greek vessels, 9 ; 1,698 tons ; 116,000 piastres, or $4,640 in goods.
Danubian vessels, 7 ; 1,004 tons ; 110,000 piastres, or $4,400 in goods.
Ionian vessels, 3 ; 396 tons; in ballast.
Russian vessels, 2 ; 382 tons; in ballast.
French vessels, 1 ; 362 tons ; a cargo of copper worth 1,726,000 piastres, or $69,500.
M a k in g , in total, 110,471,000 piastres, or $4,417,840, in 78 sailing vessels and 73
steamers ; or total number, 151.

It must be also here added that the great difference which exists between
the amount o f imports and exports is caused by the circumstance that, for a
good portion o f the goods which go into Persia, the returns are made to
Europe— that is to say, by Tiflis, where they are converted into bills o f ex­
change on St. Petersburg or on London. The reader will remember that
Georgia now forms a province o f Russia.
During the year 1851 the different steamers carried from Trebizond 17,300
passengers to Constantinople, and this part o f their business is a source of
no inconsiderable gain to them. Seven large steam frigates form this line ;
two are steam frigates belonging to the Sultan of Turkey, each 450 horse­
power ; two belong to the Ottoman Steam Navigation Company, o f 250
and 350 horse-power; two Austrian steamers, o f the “ Lloyd Austrian,” of
260 and 350 horse-power ; and one English steamer o f 300 horse-power.
There arrived at Trebizond, from Constantinople, England, and Trieste, (in
smalier quantities from the latter place,) 59,003 packages o f diverse mer­
chandise in transit, for Persia, valuing 182,000,000 piastres, or $7,280,000.
Trebizond received from Persia for Constantinople 14,756 packages o f
goods o f coarse kinds, o f which 3,201 were bales o f silk, valuing 25,000,000
piastres, or $1,000,000 ; the remainder consisted in gall nuts, tumbekis,
Persian tobacco, for the narguila, (a water-pipe,) saffron, wax, almonds, leech­
es, pipe sticks, shawls o f different kinds, carpets, &c., &c.
Trebizond imported grains—




Trebizond in 1851 .

31

Indian corn from the Danube................................. kiloa (bushela)
390
Wheat from the Danube and Odessa............................................
122,000
B a rle y................................................................................................
29,200
O a ts....................................................................................................
3,200
Salt may be imported there to about 63,000 kilos, of 30 okes each (82 lbs.)

A m ong the imports belonging to the local trade of Trebizond, or for tran­
sit to Persia and Georgia, all carried on horses’ or mules’ backs, were, in
1851, 6,424 cases o f sugar in loaves, (English and Dutch,) and 030 large
barrels o f sugar, also English and Dutch, o f which three-fourths were in
loaves, and one-fourth in powder.
There were, in 1851, 6,129 packages of Tumbekis o f Persia, and 57,916
packages o f merchandise for this country.
The preceding gives an idea o f the extent and importance o f the trade
open o f the principal ports o f the Black Sea, and yet contains but few of
the details needed o f the nature o f the same. The notes, heretofore furn­
ished to the Merchants’ Magazine, may be considered as a correct exposi­
tion o f the different articles o f import and export, o f which the trade is
composed.
The steamers, herein mentioned, all trade at Sinope and Samsoon on their
way to and from Trebizond, and besides the great number o f passengers
which they take in or discharge there, the merchandise required at these
places forms no inconsiderable portion o f their gains.
Samsoon and Sinope receive goods for the consumption o f the interior of
Asia Minor, and the former may be regarded as the port o f Mosul and the
chief places in Mesopotamia, even as far as Bagdad.
A n immense quantity of English cotton goods pass through them for the
interior. These are generally purchased at Constantinople by native mer­
chants, in small quantities, and shipped by them to the Black Sea.
Ih e Commerce o f Great Britain in the Black Sea was, in 1830, quite in­
significant, and there were some apprehensions entertained here at the time
o f the negotiation o f the present treaty o f the United States with Turkey,
that American Commerce would greatly rival English interests.
It was supposed that, besides the introduction o f American commodities
into Southern Russia and the ports o f the Black Sea, American vessels
would take an active part in the carrying trade o f that sea.
In a few years after the negotiation o f the treaty, several American ves­
sels went annually to Odessa, but this soon ceased. The return cargoes o f
these vessels were mostly hides, and there were even instances o f rye being
shipped at that period from Odessa to the United States. This has, of
course, long ceased to be the case, and the trade with Odessa is now very
inconsiderable. Only one vessel under the flag o f the United States has, as
yet, entered the Danube.
This occurred in 1843, and the captain was welcomed with many evi­
dences o f good feeling for his country, by the authorities o f W allachia and
Moldavia.
Twenty years ago, the British trade with Trebizond, Persia, and Georgia,
was almost nothing. Its present prosperity is due to the agency o f the
British consul at Erzeroom, Mr. Brant. This gentleman, an old merchant
in the Levant, settled, as vice-consul, at Trebizond, and commenced there the
introduction of English goods. In view o f extending his operations to Per­
sia and Georgia, he recommended to his government his appointment at
Erzeroom, and the establishing o f vice-consuls at Samsoon, Trebizond, Bat-




32

Commerce o f the B lack Sea.

toom, and at Kaiseriyeh, in the interior, which being done, the fruits o f
their most valuable reports on the nature, extent o f the produce, and de­
mands of this country, are seen in the very extensive and valuable trade
which now exists.
It may be added here that Mr. Brant, and each o f 'his vice-consuls, are
themselves engaged in Commerce.
In view o f the increased relations o f the United States with Turkey, and
its probable future intercourse with Persia, it appears that the government
at home could not evince a greater interest in the Commerce o f our citizens
than by establishing a commercial-consular agent at Trebizond.
It can
scarcely be expected that any commercial house in New York or Boston,
patriotic as our merchants have always shown themselves to be, should send
an agent to that place, pro bono publico, as such an agent would certainly
be ; and this seems to be especially the duty o f a government, which de­
rives its chief support from the Commerce o f the nation. Such a public
agent, if a commercial man, (and none other should receive the appoint­
ment,) would be able to explore the field thus open to the manufacturing
and the mechanical industry o f the people o f the United States; and it
would not be, it is hoped, an indiscretion to add the suggestion that he be
allowed by Congress a salary o f $1,000 or $1,500 a year, until the advan­
tages, or the inutility, o f the agency could be ascertained. The coffee, su­
gar, and rum o f America supplies the greater part of the vast provinces of
Turkey in Europe and A s ia ; the cotton manufactories of N ew England are
becoming the honest rivals of those o f Old England; and it is not unrea­
sonable to hope that they may again soon resume their place in the country
where their name has been fraudulently or by stratagem assumed by English
manufacturers, who forge the American stamps on their own cotton goods,
so as to profit by the reputation which they had made for themselves.
In connection with the foregoing, occasion is here taken to mention the
injustice shown to the com m on wools (and there are none others) of Turkey
by the tariff now existing in the United States. “ Free Trade ” certainly,
as a maximum, does not consist in commercial rules by which agriculture is
to be benefited versus Commerce, and vice versa.
The farmer does not
“ plow the earth” to the disadvantage o f the sailor, who “ plows the m ain ”
for a livelihood, and the interference of a government in behalf o f either is an
injurious partiality. Left to their own resources, an honest rivalry should
regulate these two forms o f public industry. Nor, indeed, it would seem,
should manufactures be injured by the partiality felt for agriculture. This
theory the writer would extend to all countries and to all climates.
Turkey produces an immense quantity o f common coarse wool, wdtich
seldom costs more than eight cents per pound. N o better quality o f wool
is raised in any part o f Turkey, except the wool, or hair, o f the white goats
o f Angora. It can, therefore, never become a rival to the wools raised in
the United States, (if, indeed, so ungenerous an apprehension is entertained,)
and should not be considered as such; and yet, in this light, Turkey wools
are taxed by the present tariff) with hut little advantage to the American
grower, and greatly to the disadvantage o f the manufacturer, while the
French, English, and German cloths are introduced at a rate o f duty unequal
to the prohibition put upon the raw material.
In England, “ things are managed b e t t e r t h e manufacturer has no o b ­
stacles thrown in his way of making cloths to compete with those imported,
if this, indeed, is practicable, and for the supply o f foreign markets. And




The Divine Use o f Commerce.

33

with the cheap water-power to propel the looms o f thrifty New Enplane!,
wliat nation in the world is better qualified for the economical manufacture
o f cloth, if permitted by the tariff? W ith a duty o f 1 per cent on all com ­
mon wools, they are freely introduced into England, where they are manu­
factured into cloths for the people o f the United States, cheaper than they
can now make them for themselves, notwithstanding the facilities given them
so bounteously by nature.
This, under a better and more liberal tariff
would be different, and not only could the manufacturer soon make cloths
for the people o f the United States as cheap as they now can purchase them
from the English importer, but export them to Turkey and elsewhere in re­
turn for the raw material; and this, too, without any wrong done to the
American wool grown at home.
A s by the liberal nature o f the “ Free Trade ” system o f the Ottoman
government, all American goods and merchandise are admitted iDto Turkey
on an ad valorem duty o f 5 per cent, the excessive duty on the raw staple
o f the trade with the United States is considered an injustice and want o f
reciprocity. The native merchants of Constantinople have made an appeal
to the Sultan’s government, requesting it to use its influence with the gov­
ernment o f the United States, to make a change in its tariff in their favor,
and the subject may be soon laid before Congress, with what result yet rests
to be learned.
J. p . b .
C onstantinople , April, 1852,

A rt. III.— THE DIVINE USE OF COVDIERCE.
“ There’s a divinity that shapes our ends
Rough-hew them how we will.”
I k the rise and fall o f nations we behold the comprehensive and perpetu­
al tendency o f Divine purpose and power. His guiding cloud, somber or
effulgent, is appointed to teach individuals and communities when to ad­
vance and when to pause. The most superficial survey o f history is suffi­
cient to teach us that Providence exercises an unceasing superintendence
over human affairs, and that the consequences o f both public acts and pri­
vate intentions are subjected to permanent laws, the immediate sequences
of which may not be clearly seen, but the ultimate result o f which can
never be wrong.
Two grand principles were recognized and proclaimed by the better
minds of pagan antiquity, namely, the immortal might o f man’s aspirations,
and his eternal progressiveness under the beneficent care o f Providence.
Touching the first, Sophocles, in Antigone, expressed as follows the deep
sense native to every emulative s o u l:— “ Many things are wonderful, and
nothing more wonderful than man : he can pass beyond the foaming sea,
scudding through the waves as they roll around him ; he wears away the
wearied and inexhaustible earth, the highest o f the goddesses, by means o f
the plow, which yearly turns it up by the strength o f horses; and he
catches also the tribe o f any birds, casting lines around them, and all kinds o f
fierce beasts, and the race dwelling under the sea, with meshy well-woven
nets ; and by his artifice he entraps the wild beasts traversing the deserts,

VOL. xxvii.— no. i.




3

34

The D ivine Use o f Commerce.

and leads the shaggy-maned horse by the yoke round his neck, and the
untamed bull o f the mountains; and he learns oratory and perception
quick as the wind, and civil polity, and is able to extricate himself from
every difficulty, to escape being exposed to the air and keen driving showers o f
the barren and homeless hills; he comes upon nothing o f the future with­
out being able to extricate himself: from death alone he can effect no
escape.”
Again, it is clear that a belief in an especial protection from on high has
ever been deemed indispensible to ennoble Human motives, and furnish
adequate support in time o f danger. Cicero says the immortal gods pro­
vide not only for the general necessities o f men, but also for those o f each
man in particular, extending their protection not only to whole continents
and cities, but also to each o f their inhabitants ; so that such men as Curius, Fabricius, Metellus, Cato, Scipio, and Ladius, never rose to their great
merit without divine aid. Hence it was, he continues, that all the poets,
and especially Homer, have assigned certain divinities to their heroes, in
order to accompany them, and assist them in all their adventures, as in the
case o f Ulysses, Diomedes, Agamemnon, and Achilles. A n d that disposi­
tion to regard men as the instruments o f a supernatural power to fulfil di­
vine decrees, is well represented in the dying words o f Patroclus to Hector :
“ Rejoice now, Hector, for Jove has given you victory.” The ancients did
not think that it derogated from the glory o f a hero to ascribe his triumphs
to an over-ruling power. Sylla imputed all his success to fortune; thinking,
says Plutarch, that such an opinion added an air o f greatness and even o f
divinity to his actions. Zenophon records the argument o f Socrates in
combating Aristodemus, who held an opinion like modern sceptics, that the
Deity was above condescending to take any interest in the concerns o f men.
Sophocles, in a magnificent passage o f the Electra, paints the impotent
prosperity o f the wicked. And with what force and majesty does the
genius o f Demosthenes proclaim like truth to his desponding countrymen !
“ Truly, O Athenians, I should regard Philip as a most formidable and
overwhelming advesary, if I believed him acting ju stly ; but it is not possi­
ble, 0 Athenians, that a power should be permanent which is marked with
injustice, and perjury, and falsehood.
Diodorus affirmed that piety towards heaven is essential to the magnani­
mity o f a nation; and Plato said, with equal justice, that the spirit o f
reverence is a better inheritance than gold. Plotimus taught that God
should be praised in the things we understand, and admired in those which
we understand n o t ; while Socrates, catching some rays o f still brighter in­
spiration from afar, felt that “ a mortal nature could never rise to such
greatness as to despise the force o f animals o f superior power, to pass over
the sea, to build cities, to found states, to observe the heavens, to behold
the circles o f the stars, and the courses o f the sun and the moon, their times o f
rising and setting, their eclipses, and return o f the equinoxes, and the sol­
stices, and the pleiades, the winter and summer, the winds and the
showers, and the destructive path o f the lightning, and to immortalize the
events o f the w'orld by monuments, unless there were indeed a divine spirit
in the soul from which it possessed such knowledge; that, therefore, man
passes not to death but to im m ortality; and that instead o f experiencing a
loss, he will become capable o f pure enjoyment, independent o f a mortal
body, unalloyed and void o f every uneasiness ; and when once delivered
from this prison, he will arrive where all things are without labor, without




The D ivine Use o f Commerce.

35

groans, without old age, where there is constant peace and calm, a state o f
contemplation and loving wisdom, in which one was not to address a mul­
titude, but truth itself, which flows round on all sides.”
Thus we see that the nations o f old were conscious o f immortality, and
o f an overruling Providence. But we have a more sure word o f testimony
unto which we will do well to take heed, until the day dawn and the daystar arise.
W e are the creatures o f a moment, but the heirs o f eternity.
Neither ourselves, our acts, nor our God are accidents. N o race or nation,
art or science, discovery or invention, but is divinely subordinated, in its
right time and place to the accomplishment o f its particular mission. There
is much meaning in Baxter’s axiom : “ Man proposeth, but God disposeth.”
Let us apply this thought to human pursuits in general, and to Commerce
in particular.
W h y did not Jehovah plant the Jewish institutes on the steppes o f
Asia, and unfold the diviner splendors o f Christianity in the central soli­
tudes o f America? The omnipotent and omniscient God is the last to
waste his strength or misemploy his wisdom in acts which are incompatible
with the highest good o f the greatest number o f his creatures. The order
o f his government, and the disbursement o f his resources, are especially de­
signed to teach us the grace o f common sense, so that, while we devoutly
implore heavenly assistance, we may discreetly husband its earthly use.
The celestial guide which rose on the view o f the wise men in the east,
led them westward towards the sea, and has ever since been the pole-star of
human progress. Civilization has always moved “ o’er the western main,”
while Commerce has been its chief instrument aad perpetual channel. The
grandest throne o f power is water, not land. The banner nation o f the
world, whose ascendency is most pervading and complete, is the one in
whose hand lies the scepter o f the seas. All civilized people have ever
lived where great rivers formed free avenues to thought, and the grandeur
o f oceans was at once the field and nutriment o f national power. There is
no wealth, material, mental, or moral, that is not identified with exchange.
W ithout diversity, there can be no development; and out o f the widest
difference, the highest and most harmonious unity is a natural result. This
is made legitimate by the law o f God, instances o f which appear at every
advance o f human progress.
A ll the active races o f antiquity occupied the shores o f the Mediterranean.
Its maritime climate, blending oceanic softness with continental rigor, teemed
with the densest and most diversified population. Cities studded its coasts;
fleets plowed its billows ; mental and commercial wealth coursed along its
mirror o f all grandeur for ages, when as yet the pagan Olympus reflected in
its depths, and the goddess o f beauty emerging therefrom, were the only
faith and hope those vast multitudes enjoyed. But a new era dawned with
a splendor that eclipsed mythologic fables and Jewish traditions. A t the
eastern extremity o f this central sea, at an equal distance from the three con­
tinents, and in the exact center o f the known world, God raised the sublimest curtain of his purpose, and unfolded the glory o f redemption. The
promised land was first selected as the sanctuary o f religious truth during
the reign o f polytheism, and as the theater for the preliminary wonders o f
salvation, in order to prepare its way from afar among men, and subordinate
to its service the most intellectual and active influences o f which history
preserves a memorial, and mankind has enjoyed the fruits.
G od and the whole destinies o f nations are sometimes most manifestly on




36

The D ivine Use o f Commerce.

board a single ship, struggling with adverse elements far out on the deep.
Take a well-known illustration. About thirty years after the ascension o f
Christ, a vessel from the east came into the harbor o f Syracuse, and, after
a delay o f three days, proceeded towards the great western port o f her desti­
nation. Suppose there had been at that time an enterprising commercial
journal published at Puteoli. Suppose a news-boat were kept on the look­
out, and a telegraph from Rhegium, the southern city o f the peninsula,
transmitted every arrival to the editor’s chair. W ord comes, is put on the
exchange bulletin and published to the common e y e : “ Ship Castor and
Pollux, from Alexandria, Captain Zebulon, is coming up, with a cargo o f
wheat consigned to Barter, Gain, and Co., o f this city, and lot o f prisoners
under Colonel Julius, bound to the imperial dungeons of Rome.” Probably
there might have been a little talk about the wheat in the Mark Lane o f that day,
but who reflected on the real import o f that simple and common-place dis­
patch ? W h o had the profound sagacity to see concentrated in that single,
transient craft, the wealth o f Africa, genius o f Asia, and power o f Europe ?
Jn that hold lay the sifted treasure o f the primitive university and granary
o f nations; every seed o f which, to the end o f the earth, is predestined to
spring with a potency and productiveness that will shake like Lebanon.
That citizen o f Tarsus, the central city of the central continent, with fetters
now corroding his flesh and eating like aspics to his soul, has absorbed into
his magnificent nature the solidity o f the north and the splendor of the
south ; a sea o f glass mingled with fire; all treasures that genius can creato
or industry acquire; with the superaddition o f that infinite superiority which
grace alone confers; and all this aggregate o f mental and spiritual endow­
ment he bears in bonds to the throne of the Cesars, that thence he may
rend the chains o f the world. Each separate link wet with his tears or
tinged with his blood, like the iron that pierced his Lord, scattered in frag­
ments by the outburst o f latent divinity, shall give hope to the despairing
everywhere, the highest freedom to both faculty and limb. European power
has its fitting representative in the centurion, first cowering in the storm and
finding safety in the wisdom and forbearance o f the piety it persecutes, and
then, perchance, exulting in the arbitrary might o f martial force, by which
another victim is added to the lust o f dominion and the pride o f kings.
Christianity came to Rome at the auspicious hour, when all antecedent
powers had been wrought into effective instrumentalities for the widest and
most rapid diffusion o f the gospel. W ith pickax and spade, her legions
had been toiling for centuries to construct spacious roads, by means o f which
apostles might compass the ends o f the earth. Whatever may be the selfish
aim o f man, his skill and power are predestined perpetually to construct
improved supports to the weary wings of the heavenly dove, as she speeds
from shore to shore with the tidings o f love and peace. She was first
pulled in at the window o f the ark, because that craft admitted no other
rest; but the ships Solomon laid under contribution to religious purposes
were differently rigged, and the celestial emblem voyaged at mast-head. In
modern times, Providence evermore simplifies natural elements, and recom­
bines their potencies in almost supernatural energy, so as to send the sanc­
tuary of all ennobling influence, “ tramp, tramp, along the earth, splash,
splash, across the sea;” and that dove, quickened and fortified by the contact,
flies, as the lightning darts, from clime to clime.
Look at the seat o f this society, its surrounding facilities, sublime duties,
and cheering results. Old Johnny, the Britisher, had a pretty respectable




The D ivine Use o f Commerce.

37

son, called “ Jonathan America.” A t what time, and for what “ manifest
destiny ” was this youngster born ? A few facts connected with our own
history will yet further illustrate the divine use o f Commerce.
The tide of civilization had flowed from the Euphrates to the Thames, ac­
cumulating all diverse elements as it swept from clime to clime, from sea to
ocean, a mighty amalgam, to be recompourided on a yet remoter and
grander field, for a sublimer use. On the 13th of May, 1G07, an English
colony was planted at Jamestown, Virginia. These were aristocratic Cava­
liers, sent out under the auspices o f a decorated knight, Sir W alter Raleigh.
In 1620, a colony of democratic Roundheads, lead by a parson, also departed
for the new world, and in the north, like their predecessors o f the south,
found a domain well fitted for their use. Neither as the special paradise o f
dignified laziness, nor as the asylum o f privileged bigotry, had God made
this continent. In 1609, Hendrick Hudson, an Anglo-Dutchman, in the
service o f the East India Company o f Holland, sailed from the Texel for the
discovery o f the noith-west passage to India, and landed on the North River
Flats, a long way above Manhattan Island. This grand blunder won from
the States general a patent for the exclusive trade o f the Hudson, and in
1621 this metropolis o f New-Netherlands was built. About the time Hans
Hendrick accomplished his commission so well, the London Company di­
rected their chief to explore some stream running from the north-west, for
the purpose o f finding a passage to the Pacific Ocean. Accordingly, A d ­
miral John Smith the first sailed up the Chickahominy as far as he could
in flat-boats, and ran into a nest of Indians, who did themselves the pleasure
to kill and scalp the whole expedition, save the immortal John, and would
have served him ditto, but for the tender mercies o f Her Royal Highness,
Mademoiselle de Pocahontas. Never m in d ; sublime purposes are struggling
into fulfillment. A succession o f colonies are planted, national independence
is declared, and both civil and religious freedom are won. N ow we behold
the ultimate design o f Providence more clearly unfolding. The chivalrous
south and puritanic north have sprung into the matured development o f
hereditary character and local prepossession. From the first, and always,
they are antagonistic in spirit and pursuit. Bring an ultra Northener, with
his one idea, and an ultra Southerner, with his one idea, suddenly together,
with no mitigating conservatism between, and they instantly explode, to the
great damage o f contemptible littleness on both sides. But the Dutchman
has vis inertia enough in his make to moderate anything; and Infinite W is­
dom put him at the outset in exactly the right situation to the primitive
elements and prospect:ve relations of all this mighty land and conglomerated
population. The Hollanders were the pioneers and masters of Commerce
on every ocean ; and the emporium o f trade they founded on our shore,
God designed to become the center o f all commercial enterprises amongst
mankind.
The third President o f the United States, perhaps least solicitous in be­
half o f maritime prosperity, did most to promote it. Mainly by his influ­
ence, Louisiana was purchased, and thus we came in possession o f the Mis­
sissippi, with its myriad tributaries. Simultaneously with this, an anomalous
craft moves out amidst distrust and jeers from the foot o f Courtlandt-street,
to find its strange way against wind and tide, impelled by a momentum
hitherto impracticable or unknown. W h y the steamboat at this time, and
in this place 2 Y oung and feeble as is our trade, we own more inland navi­
gation than all the world besides, and divinely directed genius has given us




38

The D ivine Use o f Commerce.

at the right moment the mighty instrument o f aggrandizement we most o f
all need. These rivers o f God, rendered fruitful by Fulton’s creation, shall
accumulate our greatest wealth, and guaranty our firmest liberties. The
little North and the little South may prate in vain ; for when their impotent
impertinence demands, “ Shall we rend this national com pact?” a power in­
finitely grander and more conservative than they, the great West, towers
like a Colossus amidst pigmies, and exclaims in thunder, “ N o ! you shall
not divide the Union 1” Every pud’ o f the tiniest engine that winds its way
to the foot o f the Rocky Mountains, answers to the merry cry o f seamen
weighing anchor on board the hugest craft at New Orleans or New York,
“ N o you shall not break a single strand o f the triple cable o f patriotism,
religion, and Commerce, destined to bind all America in one grand brother­
hood !”
The exact middle o f the nineteenth century arrives, and finds two start­
ling and significant events transpiring at the same moment. The first is a
thrilling cry from the far-off Pacific, resounding everywhere, “ Gold, gold 1”
W h y then, and in that particular region ? Because the old antagonists,
Feudalism and Freedom, are in the arena, hot for the fight, and portentous
clouds darken the scene. Most opportunely, that which for six thousand
years has been kept hid, is suddenly revealed. The combatants are charmed
into peace, or disertated by spectators. The Anglo-Scotchico-Irishico-Frenchico, Dutcliico-Americans, who will go to the mouth o f the cannon, or the
mouth o f hell, any time, for a dollar, rush after the glittering prize, and in
self-defense plant free institutions on the Pacific, as on the Atlantic coast.
Thus will they make the mightiest mountain terrace o f our continent the
well-proportioned pedestal to Liberty’s central altar for all mankind.
The other fact to which we alluded was, that, just preceding this new
outbreak o f emigration, one who for many years has been identified with
Fulton’s invention and sphere, laid the keel o f the first successful steamship
ever registered in this port. She was not dispatched for Havre, or Bremen,
or Liverpool, but for New Orleans. W h y ? Because the “ Crescent City ”
was predestined to form the first link in the most stupendous chain o f Com­
merce under heaven. W here is the mind capacious enough, and armed
with prophetical audacity enough, to conceive and announce the magnitude
of Western trade in America, as it shall swell and waft towards its first
home and latest seat o f predominant power, New York ?
But the past is a warning as .well as incentive. The republic o f Venice
built itself upon maritime prosperity, grew rich, forgot God, and perished.
Italy refused to use the priceless treasure of heavenly truth as its Author rer
quires, and her wharves, like her altars, are rottenness only. The Spanish
Peninsula imitated the fatal example, and her national power sank like lead
in the deep with the shattered Armada. The supreme sway of the seas
passed into the hands o f England the very year her sons first settled in
America. Since then, filial emulation has fully shared that glorious supre­
macy ; and now the w„rd of God and the welfare o f nations is intrusted
entirely to the devout fidelity of those speaking our mother-tongue, and
swaying almost the entire tonnage of the world. Let us fear lest Tyre shall
be at once our type and history. If we are loyal to our Maker, our growth
can never outrun our stability ; but if we are recreant to our highest duty,
prosperity will surely become our speedy ruin.




Coffee, and the Coffee Trade.

39

Art. IV.— COFFEE, AND THE COFFEE TRADE *
T he Coffee-Tree or Coffea Arabica is an evergreen shrub, with oblong
pulpy berries, which are first o f a bright red, but afterwards become pur­
ple. It is stated by Niebuhr to have been brought from Abyssinia, to Y e­
men by the Arabs, from a country similar to their own plains and moun­
tains. By that people it has for ages been cultivated in the hilly range of
Jabal, in a healthy temperate climate, watered by frequent rains, and abound­
ing in wells and water-tanks. A combination of circumstances seems to
favor the cultivation o f coffee in Arabia, which can hardly be attained else­
where. Frequent rains, and a pure and cloudless sky causing an almost un­
interrupted flood o f light, communicate an excessive stimulus to all the func­
tions of vegetation, and are causes o f the perfect elaboration o f those deli­
cate principles on which the aroma o f the coffee is dependent.
The seed consists o f much horny albumen and a peculiar principle or al­
kaloid, termed cafeine, which is identical with the active principle o f tea,
theine,, as well as with paraguaine, the alkaloid o f the Paraguay Tea. The
seed is used in a raw state in medicine; but when roasted, it forms the
well-known coffee o f Commerce. The coffee-plant begins to produce fruit
when two or two and-a-half years ol d; but the quality o f the seeds from
young stems is not so good as that from stems four or five years old. The
size and color o f the bean (as the inner part of the seed is called) vary con­
siderably, those from the W est Indies being larger than those from the
East.
Much more depends upon the manner o f roasting and making the coffee
than upon the quality of the bean. The superiority o f French coffee, in the
preparation of which little or no Mocha coffee is used, proves this position. The
taste of raw coffee is somewhat sweetish ; but the application o f heat in
the process of roasting produces important changes. The bean increases to
nearly twice the original size, while it loses about a third o f its w eigh t: a
powerful and agreeable odor is evolved, and a large quantity o f empyreumatic oil, which appears in small drops on the surface, is formed along with
a bitter principle, probably by an alteration in the cafeine and o f the sac­
charine matter. The roasting should take place in a close revolving iron cyl­
inder, over a clear but moderate fire, and should not be carried too far: when
the beans have acquired a light chestnut color, the roasting should be dis­
continued. The beans are then to be cooled quickly by being tossed up into
the air, and the grinding, or rather rough pounding, should be performed in
a covered mortar or mill. The drink should be prepared from it as soon as
possible, by infusion, which is preferable, unless some apparatus be employed
by which a kind o f decoction is made in a close vessel. About half an
ounce o f coffee-powder should be used for every eight ounces (half a pint)
of water. In Britain the roasting is generally carried too far ; and the sub­
sequent partsof the process, instead o f being performed immediately, are
often postponed for days or even weeks, by which the aroma is dissipated ;
when made, the liquid is generally deficient in strength and clearness. The
employment of white o f egg or fish-skin to clarify is decidedly objectionable ;
clearness is thus purchased, but at the expense o f the strength.
* For articles on this subject see Merchants' Magazine for July and August, 1850, (vol. xxiii., pages
59 and 172,) also the number for December, 1851, (vol. xxv., page 690, &c.) For statistics o f imports and
exports see u Coffee,” in index of each volume.




40

Coffee, and the Coffee Trade.

It was an endeavor to establish an im proved mode o f roasting coffee that
led to the deatli of Mr. Dakin, o f London in 1848. Ilis plan consisted in
placing the coffee in a cylinder lined with silver, and in inclosing this cylin­
der within a cellular steam oven, or cylinder, patented by other parties. The
heat attained within the oven was very great, and the metal o f the oven
was not sound enough to resist its action ; an explosion ensued, with a fatal
result. The silver or silvered cylinder was an intended means o f retaining
the tine qualities o f the coffee, without acquiring any defective qualities
during the roasting.
The addition o f milk (which should always be hot) and o f sugar highten
the nourLhing qualities o f coffee, and in the morning render it a more sub­
stantial article for breakfast. W hen taken after dinner to promote digestion,
it should be without milk, and, where the palate can be reconciled to it,
with out sugar.
The coffee- trade has been -wholly created since the beginning o f the eigh­
teenth century. Nearly all the coffee which now comes to Europe is the
produce o f trees propagated from a single plant, which, having been raised
from seed procured from Mocha in Arabia, by Van Hoorn, governor o f
Batavia, was sent by him to the Botanical Garden at Amsterdam, and the
progeny of which was, in the year 1718, twenty years after its reception
from Java, sent to Surinam.
The coffee imported into England in 1849, amounted to the following
quantities:—
British...................................................................
Foreign.................................................................

40,334,630 pounds.
22,986,876
“
63,320,506 pounds.

O f this quantity nearly 37,000,000 lbs., were brought from Ceylon
alone.*
The rapid increase o f o f the quantity o f coffee produced in the Brazils is
expressed in the following table, compiled by the Brazilian Consul General:—
PRODUCTION OK COFFEE IN THE BRAZILS.

Bags.

1820.................................
1825.................................
1830.................................
1835.................................
1840.................................
1850- 51........................
1851- 52 estimate.......

95,700
182,710
391.785
627.165
1,063,SOS
1,897,231
1,700,060

Arrobas.

478,500
912,550
1,958,925
3,135 825
5,319,005
9,486,155
8,500,000

Pounds.

15,312,000
29.201,600
62,685,600
100,346,400
170,208,800
303,556,960
272,000,000

It would seem, from this table, that the production o f coffee in Brazil
doubled every five years up to 1840, since when it has increased 80 per
cent. The increase since 1835 lias been 200 million pounds, and o f that
increase, the United States have taken one-half.
The following table shows the quantity annually imported into the
United States from the four leading countries o f production, and also the
whole quantity imported into the Union during the past 18 years:—




Knight’s Cyclopedia.

Coffee, and the Coffee Trade.

41

IMPORT OF POUNDS OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED STATES.

1834____
1835____
1836____
1837____
1 8 3 8 ....
1839____
1840____
1841____
1842____
1843____
1844____
1845____
1846____
1 8 4 7 ....
1848____
1849____
1850____
1851____

Brazil.
26,571.368
35,774,876
46,840,219
83,906,236
27,411,986
48,694,294
47,412,756
59,575,722
61,248,942
49,515,666
95,291,484
78.553,616
97,353,697
94,916,629
110,927,284
122,581,183
90,319,511
107,578,257

Cuba.
19,536,457
29,373,675
17,850,736
29,503,553
33,051,651
26,181,489
25,331,888
17,198,573
14,321,458
16,611,287
18,628,875
1,157,794
2,326,497
6,673,479
2,258,710
4.000,986
3,740,803
3,099,084

St. Domingo.
15,141,779
19,276,290
11,772,064
9,252,636
11,375,350
9,726,495
9,153,524
12,547,791
11,530,102
10,811,288
20,781,461
13,090,359
12,734,753
19,085,277
16,990,976
13,384,474
19,440,985
13,205,766

Java.
5,307,186
4,72S,890
8,850,658
1,779,819
2,423,277
6,628,348
4,343,254
6,794.702
9,781.418
1,638,307
8,740,841
3,925,716
2,819,411
17,819,345
3,037,377
4,208,078
5,146,961
2,423,968

Total.
80.153,366
103,199,577
103,790,507
88,140.403
88,130,720
106,696,992
94,996 095
114,948,783
112,764.635
92.295,660
158.332,111
108,133,369
132,812,734
156,716.575
150,559,138
165,334,700
144,986,895
152,453,617

Nearly the whole increase in the import o f Brazil coffee was, it appears, at
New Orleans, to supply the Western trade. The import o f coffee from
Brazil in 1844 was extraordinary, amounting to nearly half the whole pro­
duct o f that country. Coffee, up to 1832, paid a duty o f 5 per cent; since
that year it has been free. The effect o f this change is seen in the follow­
ing table:—
IMPORTS OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED STATES, W ITII THE EXPORTS AND QUANTITY RETAINED
FOR CONSUMPTION, ALSO THE DUTY AND AVERAGE PRICE.

Duty Avg.cost

1821 . . . .
1822 ___
1 8 2 3 ... .
1 8 2 4 ... .
1 8 2 5 ... .
1 8 2 6 .. . .
1 8 2 7 ....
1 8 2 8 ... .
1S 29.. . .
1 8 3 0 .. . .
18 31___
1 8 3 2 ... .
1 8 3 3 ... .
1 S 3 4 ....
1 8 3 5 ... .
1 8 3 6 ... .
1837 . . . .
1 8 3 8 ... .
1 8 3 9 ... .
1 8 4 0 ... .
1841 .. . .
1 8 4 2 ... .
1 8 4 3 ... .
1 8 4 4 ... .
1 8 4 5 ... .
1846 , . . .
1 8 4 7 .. . .
1 8 4 8 ... .
1 8 4 9 ... .
1 8 5 0 ... .
1 8 5 1 ... .




Import.
Pounds.
21,273.659
25,082,390
37,337,732
30,224,296
45,390,620
37,319,107
50,051,986
55,194,697
51,133,538
51,488,248
81,747,386
91,722.329
99.955,020
80,150,365
103,199,777
93.790,507
88,140,403
88,139,720
106,696,992
94,996,095
144,987,787
112,764,635
82,295,660
158,332,111
108,133,369
132,812,734
156,716,575
150,559,138
165,334,700
144,986,895
152,453,617

Export.
Pounds.
9,387,596
7,267,119
20,900,687
19,427,227
24,512,568
11,584,713
21,697,789
16,037,964
18,083,843
13,124,561
6,056,629
55,251,158
24,899,114
35,806.861
11,446,775
16,143,207
12,096,332
6,267,087
6 824,475
8,698,334
5,784,536
5,381,068
6,378,994
8,620,291
13,501,972
8,275.542
6,383,583
6,998,088
14,880,429
15,287,499
3,513,126

Consumption.
per lb. per lb
Pounds.
Cents. Cents.
11,886,063'
20
18,515,271
20
16,437,045
20
19,707,024
20
20,678,062]
17
81,734,784
11
28,350,197
11
39,156,733
9
33,049,695
9
5
si
38.363,687
75.702,757
8
10
40,471,171 [• 1
75,057,906]
10
44,346,505
10
91,752,802
10
77,647,300
10
10
76.044,071
9
82,872,633
9
99,872,633
9
86,207,761
9
109,200,247
8
107,383,567 - free.
85,916,666
6£
6
149,711,820
6
94,631.397
124,537,192
61
150,332,992
5J
143,561,050
5f
5*
150,954,271
8
129,699,396
148,920,491 J
8

42

Coffee, and the Coffee Trade.

The population o f the United States in 1840 was, in round numbers, 17
millions. The average consumption for the three years 1 8 3 9 -4 0 -4 1 was
9 8 i millions o f pounds, which gave a consumption o f 5 f pounds per head.
The average for the three years including the census year 1850, was 143
millions o f pounds, and the population was 23 millions, which gave a con­
sumption o f 6 i pounds per head. In 1830 the consumption was only 3
pounds per h ead; but the price had ruled nearly double what it did in the
three years preceding 1850. In 1821 the consumption per head to the
inhabitants o f the United States was 1 pound 4 ounces. In 1830 the pro­
portion had increased to 3 pounds per head, the foreign price having fallen
50 per cent. After the 31st December, 1830, coffee paid 2 cents, and in
1831, 1 cent; after which it was free. The importation in the year 1831
doubled in consequence o f the reduced duty, and the consumption per head
for the four years ending with 1842 averaged 6 pounds per head, having
quadrupled to each inhabitant since 1821. A large proportion o f the in­
creased consumption, as seen above, is derived from the Brazils; the effect
o f the production o f which country has been to the price o f coffee, what
the products o f the Southern States have been to that o f cotton. From
1820 to 1840, the Brazilian product increased 1,100 per cent, or
155.000. 000 pounds. In the same time the consumption in the United
States increased 137,000,000 pounds; leaving an increase o f 18,000,000
pounds o f Rio Coffee, besides the enhanced products o f all countries, to sup­
ply the increased consumption o f England and Europe. The result has
been the great diminution in price evinced in the above table. The cost per
pound to the consumer was in 1831 further reduced by the removal o f the
du ty; that is, the coffee which cost 9 cents in 1830, cost the consumer 16
cents duty and charges. The same coffee now costs 7 cents— a reduction
o f 9 cents, which has given the spur to the consumption. In England, for­
eign coffee paid 16 cents per pound duty, and colonial coffee 8 cents, until
1845, when colonial was reduced to 3d. and foreign to 7d. The consequence
is, that while the United States, with a population o f 17,000,000, consumed
in 1844, 149,711,820 pounds of coffee, Great Britain, with a population o f
27.000.
009, consumed 31,934,000 pounds only, or less than one-fourth the
consumption o f the United States. In 1851 the figures remained nearly
the same, viz:— 148,929,000 pounds in the United States, and 32,564,000
pounds for Great Britain. Now the effect o f this increased consumption o f
Brazil coffee on the American trade is as follow s:—
Import o f coffee from Brazil....................... lbs.
“
“
“
____ . ...value.
Export of United States produce to Brazil....

1834.

1843.

26,571,308
$2,819,028
1,586,097

49,515,666
$3,392,960
2,409,419

1851.
107,578,257
$8,881,105
3,128,956

This increased export does not appear to suffice for the compensation o f
the large increase in the value o f coffee purchased, and it is time that some
movement were made to check English influence in that quarter and in­
duce Brazil to place her best coffee customer at least on as favorable foot­
ing as others.
Considerable ingenuity has been displayed in devising apparatus for pre­
paring coffee for the table. The ordinary coffee-pot is the plainest and sim­
plest o f a l l ; there is no contrivance for filtering the coffee. In Dresden
and other parts o f Germany, a thick piece o f flannel, or some other woven
material, is laid in a funnel, the ground coffee is placed on the flannel, and
the boiling water filters through the coffee, the flannel, and the funnel, to a




Coffee, and the Coffee Trade.

43

vessel below— carrying with it the flavor o f the coffee without the grounds
or sediment.
Platow’s Automaton Coffee-Pot has for its object to make coffee in less
time and in a better manner than by the ordinary method. The machine
consists o f two parts. There is at the top a glass vase which screws off and
on by moans o f wooden handles, and is furnished with a long narrow
straight tube, resembling the pipe o f a common funnel, and reaching nearly
to the bottom o f a metallic urn placed beneath the vase. Boiling' water
is poured into the vase in quantity sufficient for the coffee to be m ade; and
this is allowed to descend into the urn. The ground coffee is then placed
within the vase, on a small perforated silver plate. A lamp containing spirit
or naphtha is placed beneath the urn, and in a short time the peculiar action
o f the apparatus develops itself. The steam formed on the surface o f the
water in the urn forces, by its elasticity, the water up the tube into the glass
vase; where it acts upon the coffee in the usual way for extracting the qual­
ities o f the berry. W hen the coffee is so far prepared and is required to be
fined, the lamp is removed, the formation o f steam ceases, a partial vacuum
is formed in the urn, and the external atmosphere, pressing on the open vase,
presses or strains the coffee, first through the grounds and then through the
perforated silver plate, so that it trickles into the urn in the state o f a pure
bright decoction. It is thus seen that the liquid makes two descents and one
ascent between the vase and the urn, during the process. In a cheaper
form o f the apparatus, a common fire or lamp is used instead o f a spirit
lamp.
A coffee-pot o f rather complicated structure was patented by Mr. A n ­
drews o f Wolverhampton in 1842. This coffee-pot had no less an adjunct
than a small forcing-pump, placed near the handle. The boiling water was
poured in the forcing-pump, while the ground coffee was put in a perfor­
ated vessel in the middle o f the coffee-pot, and the hot water being forced
by the pump, was made to saturate the ground coffee in a way which (we
presume) was supposed to produce a result adequate to the costliness of
the apparatus.
W aller’s Coffee-Pot, patented in 1847, differs in many particulars from
all the others. A horizontal partition, perforated near the center with fine
holes, divides the vessel into two equal chambers ; an open pipe leads nearly
from the top o f the upper chamber to near the bottom o f the lower cham­
ber, and another pipe leads from the perforations some way down the lower
chamber, with a tap or cock which can be worked by a handle protruding
through the side o f the coffee-pot. The requisite quantity o f water, either hot
or cold, is poured into the upper chamber, and allowed to flow through the
perforations and small pipe into the lower cham ber; the ground coffee is
placed on the perforated plate, the spout is closed with a cork or plug, and
the vessel is placed on the fire. As the water becomes heated, the steam
generated has no outlet upwards or sideways, and it therefore presses on the
water, and forces it up the long pipe, whence it falls into the upper chamber
upon the ground coffee. W hen all the water is thus forced up, the coffee­
pot is removed from the fire, the vacuum in the lower chamber is condensed,
the plug is removed from the spout, the top o f the short pipe is opened, and
the water trickles through the ground coffee and through the perforations
into the lower vessel imbibing all the soluble and aromatic properties of the
coffee as it descends.*




Knight’s Cyclopedia.

44

Railroads in the Great Valley.

A rt. V.— RAILROADS IN THE GREAT VALLEY.
T he steam horse has commenced his career on the Western plains. For
many years he has preferred to follow the small valleys, and wind among
the hills of the Atlantic slope, venturing first through the Mohawk Gap, and
proceeding with cautious movement to the eastern shore o f Lake Erie. A t
long intervals he has also lent his aid to the planter in crossing the pine
desert which borders the Southern States.
The broad plain embraced by the mountain ranges o f the continent and
the Gulf o f Mexico is now, from one extremity to the other, invoking his
presence. Hitherto, his exploits have been accomplished where natural ob­
stacles were most numerous. Hereafter, the chief field o f his operations will
be in the wide plain o f the North American continent, where he may fly
along the track from city to city, from lake to lake, and from lake to gulf,
without turning to the right or to the left.
W h a t a field for his exploits!
In extent, numbering square miles by the m illion; its present population
counting more, by two millions, than all the old States east o f the moun­
tains, and, within the life-time o f persons now living, to number two hun­
dred millions. According to a calculation, made with care, it appears that
the people living on this plain, within our national limits, in 1850 numbered
12,541,139, counting only those north-westward of the principal range o f
the Apalachian Mountains.
W ithin the next twenty years this number
will swell to twenty-six millions. The Canadas and New Brunswick, within
the plain, contain about two millions o f people, and within the twenty years
will have some four millions. Here will then be thirty millions living on a
rich soil, in a variety o f climates, embracing an abundant supply o f mineral
and vegetable riches, to be exchanged with each other and with neighboring
communities. During the last twenty years railroads have increased in the
United States from 176 miles in 1832, to nearly 12,000 miles in 1852.
Their extent, at the end o f the twenty years to come, cannot safely be pre­
dicted. That it will exceed fifty thousand miles is quite probable. It may
be well to consider what routes occupied, partly occupied, and yet undeter­
mined, promise greatest utility to stockholders and the public. To this con­
sideration should be brought a good knowledge of the topography o f the
country, with some familiarity with the course o f trade, and the capabilities
o f the various sections to furnish traffic to railroad lines.
There are some routes so strongly marked that one needs only a tolerable
knowledge o f the geography o f the country to point to them on the map
with almost unerring certainty. One o f these is that which connects Buffalo
and Albany. It occupies the only gate-way through the Apalachian moun­
tains, except the comparatively unimportant one by Lake Champlain. In­
deed, the valleys of the Mohawk and Lake Champlain furnish a passage-way
between the two sides o f our Atlantic system o f mountains, that no other
routes can safely attempt a rivalry, except at a great distance. By railroads
from Oswego and Buffalo to Albany and Troy, the railroad traffic o f four
millions o f people on the Atlantic slope will be exchanged for that of some
six millions north-west of the mountains. A ll the other roads, connecting
and to connect the W est and East, necessarily encounter numerous compar­
atively high grades and many curves, making their distance practically
greater between New York and the heart o f the West, than the level route
through central New York. The routes over the mountains to Philadel­




Railroads in the Great Valley.

45

phia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, W ilmington, Charleston, and Sa­
vannah, may divide among them the business o f some four or five millions
living in the western valley. Those leading to Philadelphia and Baltimore
will naturally draw most o f this business, because they are large cities; and
still more, perhaps, because they are on the road to New York and the
Eastern States. These routes, already occupied, are mentioned in this con
nection because they necessarily give direction to the railroads making, and
to be made, in the West, with a view to Eastern traffic.
It seems as certain as anything in the future can be that the States north
o f the Ohio River, together with those west of the Mississippi, north o f the
latitude o f the mouth o f the Ohio, will, ultimately, if not immediately, di­
rect their railroad lines, made with a view to Eastern business, so as to fo r m
the easiest connection with the N ew Y ork roads. This will give to most o f
the great lines o f this portion of the W est a general direction from south­
west to north-east. To this there will be an important extension of all that
portion which is north o f the latitude o f the southerly bend o f Lake Michi­
gan. The railroads of the peninsula o f Michigan, for many years to come,
will naturally be directed from all quarters towards Detroit, as a market, a
port o f transhipment, and as a passage-way through Canada ; and towards
Toledo, as the gate-way to the country south o f Lake Erie and to Cincin­
nati. Westward of Lake Michigan, the railroads will be directed chiefly
towards Chicago, in order to pass the lake for a winter business in the East.
O f the routes commenced but not finished, the one most likely to rival
in importance that through the Mohawk gap, is that which will occupy, as
nearly as practicable, the line of latitude which touches the south shore o f
Lake Michigan, from the Mississippi to Toledo, and which passes thence east­
ward along the south shore o f Lake Erie to Buffalo. This necessarily takes
an east and west course between the heads o f the lakes, and it follows the
shore o f Lake Erie, because that is the most direct course towards Buffalo,
and because the great gathering points o f Commerce are on that shore. As
a trunk-road for the convergence o f business from other roads, and from
lakes and canals, it has no rival and can have no equal in the United States.
Near the south bend of lake Michigan it must gather in for a passage east­
ward all the winter traffic and much o f the summer travel and trade o f the
vast country west o f that lake, aided by converging railroads, plank-roads,
and the Illinois Canal. On its way from Chicago to Toledo it will receive
from the South several tributary roads, bearing produce for shipment down
the lakes. One of these is in progress o f construction, and two others are
being orepared for letting. A t Toledo it will receive from the North the
business o f the Southern Michigan Road and a railroad from Detroit, here­
after to be made. A t the same point it will connect with six hundred and
ninety miles o f canal and a railroad to St. Louis.
This, at some future day, will itself become one o f the great trunk-lines
of the country. From the South will come in, at Toledo, a railroad form­
ing the shortest practicable road between Cincinnati and the navigable wa­
ters o f Lake Erie. This is progressing northward o f Dayton, and may be
expected to reach Toledo in two or three years. Proceeding eastward, two
railroads, now in operation, come in at Sandusky City— one from Cincinnati,
and the other from Zanesville. A t Cleveland it is joined by two railroads,
branching off to Cincinnati and Pittsburg. Other roads are being made
from the forest city, into which, also, flows the Commerce o f six hundred
miles o f artificial navigation. A t Erie it is to be met by the Sunbury Rail­




Railroads 'in the Great Valley.

46

road, opening a way to Philadelphia and Baltimore. It also connects hero
with a canal to Pittsburg. At Dunkirk it receives the New York and Erie
Railroad; and, finally, at Buffalo it becomes one with the great Mohawk
Valley trunk-line.
Taking the whole o f this line, from Rock Island, on the Mississippi, to
the city o f New York, its peer cannot be found in the United States, nor,
as it seems to me, in the world.
Another trunk-line of some three hundred miles extent, having an east
and west course, will connect Cincinnati and St. Louis. This is under­
stood to be under contract at nine millions of dollars. Two others, one
from Memphis, the other from Vieksburg, will connect the South-Western
States with the South-Eastern at Charleston and Savannah. 'Ihe abovementioned are all the trunk-lines likely to be made, nearly following lines
o f latitude.
The other great trunk-lines o f the W est will have a general course south­
westerly and north-easterly. Many and cogent reasons favor this opinion.
Such is the general course o f the great rivers east o f the Mississippi. The
mountain and hill ranges are, o f course, in the same direction. The com­
mercial and manufacturing States and cities are north-east o f the chief com­
mercial and manufacturing cities o f the great valley. The British Prov­
inces and the United Kingdom , with whom is the main portion o f the for­
eign Commerce o f the W est, are situated north-easterly o f its center o f
business and population. W hether this foreign Commerce chooses for its
channel the St. Lawrence River or the Erie Canal and central New York
railroads, the railroads from Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Cairo, and St.
Louis must reach it in a north-easterly direction.
The English and Irish Channels, through which passes the greater part
o f our Commerce with Europe, are in the same latitude as the main entrance
into the Atlantic, from the G ulf o f St. Lawrence. The course o f water
transport, from the w’est end o f Lake Erie to the G ulf o f St. Lawrence, is
nearly in the same line as the railroads, which would connect with this wa­
ter channel the center o f the Mississippi basin, at St. Louis and Cairo.
The distance
“
“
“

in a straight line from Cairo to Toledo is...............................miles
“
“
“
Chicago..........................................
“
“
St. Louis to Toledo......................................
“
*
“
Chicago..................................

433
335
408
258

It has been stated, as a controlling reason why these railroads should be
directed to the south shore o f Lake Erie, that they would there enter the
host railroad route to New York and the New England States. In summer
another motive is added. W h en navigation is open on the lakes and the
Erie Canal, the traffic is floated at so cheap a rate, and in such safety, that,
for anything but passengers and light freight o f great value, railroads pass­
ing in the same direction, or towards the same destination, cannot compete
with success. Even for passengers, the proud steamers o f the lakes will
hold, with their rival carriers o f the land, a divided empire. This is espe­
cially true where the route by water is not materially longer than by land.
That the lake route is preferred to that by the great rivers, in intercourse
with the eastern world, and is growing in favor among the travelers o f the
western valley', is shown by the more rapid extension o f lake than of river
Commerce. According to a late report o f the Secretary o f the Treasury
made to the Senate, in obedience to its call, the steam tonnage on the up­
per lakes has more than quadrupled in eight years, while, on the Mississippi,




Railroads in the Great Valley.

47

it had only doubled in nine years. The sailing tonnage on the lakes in­
creased in a nearly equal ratio with that o f steam. As the steam tonnage
o f the lakes exceeded that o f the Ohio or Mississippi basin, and as the ton­
nage o f sailing vessels is scarcely less than two-thirds that o f steam, it seems
certain that the aggregate tonnage o f the lakes must now nearly, if not
quite, equal that of the western rivers.
W e have said that lake navigation was safer than river. According to
the document just referred to, the number o f persons lost on the lakes du­
ring the year ending July 1st, 1851, was sixty-seven, (G7,) and on the riv­
ers, during the same time, six hundred and twenty-eight, (628.) This com ­
parison does not tell the whole story; for while the lake air is proverbially
pure and health-giving, no small portion o f the river navigation subjects the
traveler to fever-engendering malaria. As a water route, therefore, the
lakes should be preferred for travel and freighting. This preference, thus
shown to be well founded, should be duly appreciated when long and ex­
pensive lines o f railroad are to be constructed.
The great interior commercial centers, in the river portion o f the valley,
are Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis. Perhaps Cairo may be­
come one. Pittsburg holds its communication with the lake region through
Cleveland and Erie. Cincinnati has its present railroad connecting with the
lakes at Cleveland and Sandusky. To the former the distance is 259 miles,
to the latter 219 miles. A n air line to Cleveland would measure 220 miles,
to Sandusky 184 miles, and to Toledo 180 miles. A near approximation
to an air line would be more feasible to Sandusky and Toledo than to Cleve­
land, as it would involve less additional cost over the cheapest practicable
route. A n air line to Detroit, through Toledo, would be 135 miles in
length.
For passengers between Cincinnati, Erie, and Buffalo, the Cleveland Road
will be preferred. For railroad freights the shorter and cheaper lines to
Toledo and Sandusky, in summer, will have the preference. The heavy
freights, between Cincinnati and Lake Erie, will, o f course, pass by canal,
to and from Toledo. The cost o f a railroad between these ports will be
less, by some 25 per cent, than the Sandusky Road, owing to its having
been a pioneer road, paying more for iron, <fec., has cost. It may, also, be
constructed for a less amount per mile, by some 20 per cent, than that
which connects Cincinnati with Cleveland.
And here it will be appropriate to direct our attention to another o f the
main trunk-lines o f the valley, passing through Cincinnati. Perhaps, in the
far future, it may be as important as that which skirts the south shore of
the great lake. Commencing at Detroit and terminating at New Orleans
and Mobile, it would pass through the cities o f Cincinnati, Lexington, and
Nashville, and the important commercial towns, Toledo, Dayton, and Flor­
ence, besides numerous places o f less note. By a short branch from the
Mobile line, it would reach Pensacola; and, by roads already made, it
would meet the south shore trunk-road at Cleveland and Sandusky— by the
former, passing through the flourishing city o f Columbus. By this road
the principal gulf cities and lake cities would be brought into close com­
munion o f interest and feeling. In a straight line, the distance between
Detroit and New Orleans is 940 miles. A feasible route could probably be
found not exceeding one thousand miles. By river, from New Orleans to
Cincinnati it is 1,556 miles, and thence, by the shortest traveled route, to
Detroit, over 300 miles— together 1,860 miles. This road, if judiciously




48

Railroads in the Great Valley.

located and managed, would, beyond a doubt, be profitable to its owners.
Its way business, if it bad no other, would insure that result.
Louisville and New Orleans will, probably, find the best railroad connec­
tion with the lake roads by way o f Madison, Lawrenceburg, and Dayton.
The Cincinnati roads, thence to Lake Erie, will be their roads.
The Central Railroad of Illinois, in connection with its continuation from
Cairo to New Orleans and Mobile, and which we will call the Cairo line, is
by some deemed the most important trunk-line between the g u lf and the
lakes. Compared with that which is to pass through Cincinnati, Nashville,
&e., it seems to fall quite in the rear. Neither the towns, the natural re­
sources, the populousness o f the region it traverses, nor its railroad connec­
tions, are equal to those o f the Cincinnati line. It has, besides, the disad­
vantage o f reaching Lake Michigan at a point from which, in the transaction
o f its eastern business, a navigation o f more than
miles must be per­
formed in order to meet the advanced position on Lake Erie which the Cin­
cinnati line first reaches. This will be a cheap navigation, but it will cost
something, and in spring and fall will call for a heavy rate o f insurance.
The Cincinnati line will have the advantage, too, in its connection with the
railroads leading from Nashville to Charleston and Savannah. The time
seems distant, if it shall ever arrive, when any other route between the lakes
and the Gulf of Mexico will take precedence o f that through Cincinnati.
The Cairo line, commencing at New Orleans and passing through Jackson,
would have the advantage o f the railroad business o f the river towns, Vicks­
burg, Memphis, <fcc., and, by taking a course from Cairo through Indianap­
olis to Toledo, reach Lake Erie by a line only 100 miles longer than that to
Chicago.
Another trunk-line, destined to a high rank, is that which is to connect
St. Louis, the city o f the Mississippi, with Lake Erie, at Toledo. Its length
by an air line would be 408 miles, and by the most profitable route need
not exceed 430 miles. It would pass over the lowest summit level between
the upper lakes and the river valley, with the exception o f that near Chi­
cago. The summit at Fort W ayne is less than two hundred feet above the
lake, and, practically, the whole route may be considered horizontal. It
passes along the richest river valleys that can be united in one line between
the great lakes and rivers; and its course is right for the most direct inter­
course between the northern Atlantic States, Canada, and Europe, and the
center o f the great valley. For heavy freight, it could not compete success­
fully with the route from St. Louis, by way o f Illinois River and Canal.
The distance by the two routes to Lake Erie would compare as follow s:—
From St. Louis to Lake Erie by railroad....................... miles
430 via Toledo.
“
“

“
“

*'
“

by rivers, crnals, and lakes..........
by railroad and lakes...................

1,067 via Chicago.
970 via Chicago.

For passengers and freight o f high value in proportion to weight, the di­
rect route would be preferred in summer, and would monopolize the busi­
ness in winter. A t St. Louis and Toledo, the extent of navigation it would
connect would be great, and the railroads it would meet extensive. This is
to be one of thousands, the way business o f which is sure to pay a fair divi­
dend from the start, and the termini o f which are, by nature and art, the
greatest gathering points of Commerce, by water and by land, which can
anywhere be found.
Another very important trunk-road, between St. Louis and Cleveland,
passing through Vandalia, Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Sydney, Marion, and




Railroads in the Great Valley.

49

Shelby, is in the same general direction, and it cannot fail to transact a large
through passenger business and a way traffic that would o f itself give it a
liberal support. Eastern freights on that portion o f this road west o f Bellefountain, destined for water transport, will find their cheapest route by way
o f Toledo and Sandusky.
Several o f the trunk-lines herein mentioned will be continued west o f the
Mississippi. At least two important lines will be occupied from St. Louis—
one in a north-westerly direction to Jefferson City and Independence, and
the other south-westerly into Arkansas. From Hannibal and Davenport, on
the Upper Mississippi, roads westward to the Missouri River are in contem­
plation. The former will connect with a line through Springfield, in Illinois,
to Lafayette, Iowa, and the latter with the Rock Island Road to Chicago.
A truqk-line o f great importance will be that which, as a continuation of
the roads which gather from the W est and South-W est at the head o f Lake
Erie, takes its course north o f Lakes Erie and Ontario, and so on down the
St. Lawrence to Quebec, and thence to Halifax. The various links o f which
it is composed will probably be constructed within the next five years. This
will be a rival line to those by New York and Boston for the travel between
Europe and the great valley.
The foregoing seem to be the leading routes along which the most pro­
fitable railroads o f the great plain will be operated. They will be the main
lines on which, within twenty years, the thirty millions o f the plain will
carry on their traffic with each other, with some fifteen millions on the A t­
lantic border, and the land portion o f their Commerce with foreign nations.
A t how small a cost per mile they may be built and operated, compared
with the railroads o f Great Britain and the Eastern States, is worthy of
special note. The average cost in Great Britain has been about $170,000
per mile. Mr. Derby, last year, made the average cost o f all the railroads
in the United States a fraction less than $30,000 per mile. According to a
tabular statement o f this Magazine, (vol. xxv., p. 121,) the cost in Rhode Is­
land was upwards o f $ 5 2,00 0per m ile; in Massachusetts, $45,433 ; in Penn­
sylvania, $40,576 ; in Maryland, $36,250 ; in New York, $ 3 6 ,8 6 1 ; in Ver­
mont, $35,367 ; in Connecticut, $31,757 ; in New Hampshire, $ 3 0 ,6 1 8 ; in
Maine, $26,338 ; in South Carolina, $24,807 ; and in New Jersey, $24,490.
In all the other States the cost has been less than $20,000 per mile*
Some o f these have not been thoroughly built, and are, therefore, no cri­
terion o f the cost o f roads o f the best construction. Improvements in su­
perstructure, and reduced price o f rails, enable companies at the present
time to build at less than heretofore. The railroads now in operation in
the W est have cost from $14,000 to $20,000 per mile. One o f the best,
the Cleveland and Columbus, cost $18,244. It could now be made as well
for about $15,000.
A railroad eastward o f Fort W ayne, la., upwards o f 130 miles long, is
understood to have been let to responsible contractors, to be made and fin­
ished for the running o f the engine, including equipage, engine-houses, and
stations, at $12,000 the mile. Several o f the trunk-roads before mentioned,
with iron at present prices, could be built in the best manner for $15,000
the mile. That from St. Louis to Toledo could be made deviating but
slightly from a straight line, and with a profile as nearly horizontal as could
he desired. It could probably be prepared for business for six millions. If
any one thinks stock in this road would not be better than in a quartz mi­
ning company o f California, we are not o f his opinion.
vol. xxvii.—no, i.
4




50

Railroads in the Great Valley.

The ability o f western railroads to pay their owners a large profit has
been fully proved. It is but a short time since the first railroad west of
Pennsylvania, laid with a T rail, was brought into use. The Madison and
Indianapolis, though not one o f the great routes, paid during its last fiscal
year 10 per cent dividend, after setting aside 1100,000 surplus for perma­
nent improvement o f the road. It is well known that the Central and
Southern Michigan Roads have paid well, although the former cost too much,
and the latter has but recently had its chief portion laid with a T rail.
Neither has had the advantage o f any eastern or western connection with
other roads.
The Cleveland and Columbus Railroad has much exceeded the expecta­
tions o f its sanguine friends in the amount o f business it has commanded,
and the profits it has been able to divide. The same remarks are applicable,
in a degree, to the Little Miami and Mad River Roads. N o well constructed
and well managed western road has failed to yield a large income. Such
being the result, in the infancy o f the country, and without a connection
with the eastern system o f railroads, what may we not reasonably expect
when the population shall be trebled, their economical resources quadrupled,
and connections formed with other lines east, west, north, and south; all
which may be relied on to come to pass within twenty years.
The trunk-roads o f the plain will possess an advantage over those in a
country of hills and ridges, in the feasibility o f making branch roads in any
di^eetijrrr^hich^Rie local wants o f villages may require. They will, also,
- - ^ :hlilih*kidM‘|(y?J)lank-roads which, in the wooded country, are being made
frotg/henrljr pyerjt^nsiderable village, and from the more important prairy
\

The great f>Iaio/Ss provided by nature, in her rivers and lakes, with navi­
gable waters," in length o f shores to be counted by tens o f thousands o f
miles. W ithin twenty years more than ten thousand miles o f railroad, and
double that extent o f plank-roads, will connect its various parts.
From
mountain to mountain, and from lake to gulf, in a web that will embrace
the whole.surface, telegraph wires will exchange thoughts, giving to the en­
tire population o f 30,000,000 a community o f ideas and interests which
must soon mold them into a decided homogeneousness o f character.
By means o f the St. Lawrence waters, improved for the passage o f large
sea-going vessels to the upper lakes, a direct ocean Commerce will be estab­
lished ; and, by the Mississippi, ocean steamers will visit Cincinnati, Louis­
ville, Cairo, and St. Louis. Twenty years soon pass away— but their effects
on the beautiful plain, magical, as from the rapidity with which they are
evolved, they may seem, will last forever. Before its last lustrum shall be
entered upon, the delusion, so hugged in the Atlantic cities, that with them
is to remain the empire o f Commerce for this continent, will, to eyes that
are open, be clearly visible.
H ow rapid is the transition 1 It seems but yesterday, when, to be .car­
ried 80 miles through the long day and night, seemed a great advance ojr
the earlier means o f western travel. A few short years will enable men
living on the great lakes and the Mexican G ulf to meet each other by tlio
light o f the same day, on the morning o f which they leave their respective
homes. Four-fifths o f the dwellers o f the plain, when the lines o f railroad
now commenced shall be completed, with their tributaries o f rail and plankroads, will be able to meet each other in some central place, with the travel
o f one d a y ; and half o f them may have ample time for coming together
“ from rise o f morn to set o f sun.” The people o f the Rocky Mountains




Protection its. F ree Trade.

51

may exchange salutations with their neighbors o f the Alleghanies on the
second day o f their journey towards each other. W h o can doubt that rail­
roads and telegraphs will make us one country in heart as in governm ent;
and that the great plain, already preponderating in population, will fix
within her bosom, during the present century, the great seats o f Commerce
and power of the nation.
j. w. s.

A rt. VI.— PROTECTION vs. FRE E TRADE.
THE LAW OF PROGRESS IN THE RELATIONS OF CAPITAL AND LABOR.
F re em an H unt ,

Esq., Editor Merchants Magazine :—

S i r : — In the article o f Professor Smith in the Merchants' Magazine for

January, 1852, he appears somewhat discontented that the discussion be­
tween him and myself has not been carried on under a correct title. He
has, however, no one to thank but himself for this circumstance; for it arose
out o f his Quixotic attempt, at all hazards, to defend Mr. Carey’s theory of
political economy, even if he broke in unceremoniously upon the discussion
o f another subject, in which Mr. Carey’s views were only incidentally men­
tioned. " For my part, I have no objection to any title which he may please
to give it, or to any issue which he may wish to make. H e will be aware
before this reaches him, that I have instinctively followed the course which
he has pointed out, though it is that which he has not very concisely fol­
lowed himself. Having got thus far, I am rather at a loss to proceed, for
the Professor appears something like as a man in the hush, who, being without
a compass, has lost his way, and therefore goes round and round, until he
comes again to the spot from whence he started. I am also fearful that
I may fall into the same track, for, having given up all idea that the Pro­
fessor would make any further remarks upon m y last, I transmitted to you,
several weeks since, a rejoinder, o f which I have not a correct copy, and
therefore such a circumstance is very probable.
But to the subject. The first and second pages appear to be quite irrel­
evant to the point at issue, and can only have been written to lead the mind
o f the reader from the real question. W e are not at issue upon the in­
creasing facilities o f the production o f manufactures, nor upon the decreasing
price o f such articles: these are two points upon which we perfectly agree.
On the third page I find the follow ing: “ R. S., and those who think with
him, will not admit the supposition, that the total product is not increased,
by at least a sufficient per centage to pay the increased proportion going to
labor, without impairing the remainder belonging to profit. To establish
this would be to prove that, in the progress o f society, labor is devouring
capital.” Now this does not appear to me very intelligible at first sight,
and I am not certain that I understand it, or even that the Professor himself
is aware of its purport. Now, if we will not admit, “ that the total product
is not increased,” etc., we must hold to the contrary, but this would have
precisely the opposite effect, to that which the Professor states. The remu­
neration of labor being increased, while the profit on capital remained the
same, labor would obtain all the advantage, without devouring the capital.
But this would be equally fa ta l to the Carey theory, because the rate o f
profit is known to decrease in all countries, and therefore no accumulations




52

Protection vs. Free Trade.

could take place, except from the savings o f labor; and no increased portion
could accrue to the capitalist as taught by Mr. Carey. Neither Ricardo nor
McCulloch saw clearly the operation o f the principle o f rent, or they could
not have supposed that profits could have been kept intact merely by keep­
ing the rate o f wages down. For if we were to concede the Carey theory,
that the most productive soils are last cultivated, the increased production
arising from that circumstance could avail nothing against the extra expense
o f carrying the products two or three thousand miles, and o f replacing the
fertility o f the soil, constantly abstracted by the increase of population ; and
therefore from these two circumstances a constantly increasing amount of
labor is required, to bring the same relative amount o f necessaries to the
point o f consumption. W h en the lowest kind o f labor has been brought to
that point of remuneration at which nature refuses to increase the number
o f that class, by its own propagation, the encroachment o f rent continues, by
the increase and competition of the other classes of society, until the rate of
profit reaches that point at which further accumulation becomes impossible;
and if population still continues to increase, capital must be consumed.
W e may be satisfied o f this, by observing the continued decrease o f the
rate of profit in England, as well as the continued and increasing amount of
emigration. W hile upon this point I must be excused for referring again to
the Professor’s article o f November, in reference to Mr. Porter’s statistics.
H e says : “ In order to give their proper weight to the facts collected by
Mr. Porter, we ought to take into account the population of the British
islands at the periods to which they relate. Thus, between 1812 and 1848
the population increased about 50 per cent: according to the theory o f
Malthus and R. S., the number o f persons having incomes between £ 1 5 0
and £ 5 0 0 ought to have increased in a lower ratio, but, in point o f fact, it
has increased threefold. There ought to have been less than 46,000 of
them, while there were 91,101, or twice as many as the law o f the English
economists allows.”
Now I am not aware, that the English economists have laid down any
law by which the relative increase o f population and income should be reg­
ulated, but I think the more we study these statistics the more we shall be
satisfied that they thoroughly accord with the Malthusian and Ricardo doc­
trine. It is true that an idea had got abroad that, relative to population,
England was decreasing in wealth, no doubt from the writings o f the
“ Anti-Corn-Law League,” and the serious decrease in the revenue; and
still this may be the fact, Mr. Porter’s statistics notwithstanding. Mr.
Porter has, however, proved, that the income o f a very small portion of the
population has increased, but the increase o f that income is “ very nearly
threefold greater than the increase during the same period, o f that portion
o f the population o f the United Kingdom subject to the income tax.”
The statement is, that there are 91,101 individuals— o f course including
clergymen, lawyers, merchants, tradesmen, confidential clerks, agents, en­
gineers, professional men o f all descriptions, public servants, landowners
and fundholders, and skilled mechanics, whose incomes are between fifteen
dollars a week and fifty— while the whole o f the upper and middle classes
include only 109,000 persons— something over one three-hundredth part
o f the whole population. After all, this is no proof that the wealth o f Eng­
land has materially increased; there are the 299 individuals to each one o f
the hundred thousand, whose wealth or income, according to Lord John




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

53

Russell and the “ Commissioners o f Inquiry,” have been diminished, which
would allow a pretty good margin for accumulation, without any absolute in­
crease o f capital. At any rate it is a startling fact disclosed by these statis­
tics, that all the appendages o f wealth and luxury are enjoyed— everything
beyond the mere necessaries o f life, by one three-hundredth part of the pop­
ulation of Great Britain. W e cannot forget in the meantime, that the
number o f landowners has decreased, from two hundred and forty to thirty
thousand, and that the late Sir Robert Reel was obliged to lav a tax on
property and income to maintain the revenue. Verily the Professor’s “ law
o f progress” works slowly in England, and probably lie will admit that cir­
cumstances alter cases, that the law works in an inverse ratio— the many
grow poor while the few grow rich. But I must return to the third page
o f the January article, from which I take the follow ing: “ If the theory o f
R. S. is correct— if capital has been gaining power at the expense o f labor,
and that in virtue o f a permanent law, which must continue to operate in
the future as in the past— then it is clear, that a duplication of real wages
must have been and must ever be accompanied by more than a duplication
o f profits. If it were not, profits would recede relatively to wages, and our
case would be made out.
If it were, then the increase of wages and
and the still greater increase of profits must be attended by a diminution of
the share of products going to rent, which is equally fatal to the Malthusian
hypothesis. The conclusion is to be avoided only by supposing the increase
o f production sufficiently large to cover a duplication and more than a dupli­
cation o f rent, after satisfying the double demand o f labor and the more
than double demand o f capital. A ll this, too, be it remembered, with a re­
duction in the cost o f commodities to the consumer o f more than fifty per
cent.”
The whole o f this paragraph is a mass o f mere sophistry, a tissue o f mis­
representation and false reasoning. In the first place no one has said, “ that
capital has been gaining power at the expense of labor, in virtue o f a per­
manent law, which must continue to operate in the future as in the past.”
The law laid down by Ricardo and others with respect to wages, may be
stated as follow s: the wages o f common labor must always recede to the
amount required to command the absolute necessaries o f life; and when
the price of necessaries permanently rises the money rate o f wages must
also rise, to cover the extra cost, or the laborers must diminish in number,
until an equilibrium is produced, either by an increase of the rate of wages
or a decrease in the price o f necessaries. W hen labor is mixed with capital,
as it is in the case o f skilled labor, notwithstanding this circumstance it
must to a considerable extent follow the same la w ; especially where the
amount o f capital required to learn the trade or profession is small. There­
fore all the simpler operations o f manufacturing industry may be classed in
this category. The Professor speaks in the latter part o f the sentence I have
referred to, as though any one besides himself had supposed, or hinted, that
a duplication o f real wages had at any time taken place since the fall of
Adam. It may be admitted, that in most cases of the invention or im­
provement o f machinery, the workmen have to some extent shared in the
extra amount of profit produced by those inventions; but when the m onop­
oly o f the invention ceases, wages always come down to the common level.
And as improvements in machinery are more effective for the production of
manufactures than for food and raw material, the manufacturing capitalist
has had the opportunity, not only o f reducing his workmen to the lowest




54

Protection vs. Free Trade.

necessary rate o f wages, but the reduction in the amount o f labor required,
by improvements in machinery, for the production o f a given amount of
manufactures, has allowed him at various times to obtain an increased rate
o f profit, at the same time that he reduced the price o f his g o o d s; and this
was no doubt the case o f Lowell. But when the competition of the foreign
manufacturer became more intense, through the repeal o f the British
“ corn law,” and the discovery o f Californian gold, the capitalist doubled
the amount o f machinery to each hand, and thereby nearly doubled the
amount of production, while wages remained nominally the same, although,
as I have since heard, they were absolutely increased, if reckoned in m on ey;
but not relatively to production. The corporations o f Lowell, as I under­
stand, have been in the habit o f finding the hands board, and as the prices
o f food and other necessaries increased, the price o f board was also increased,
at the expense o f the corporations; this may serve to show the operation o f
the principle o f rent, upon the profits o f capital and labor. But the time
arrived, when for the interest o f the capitalist it became necessary that the
rate o f wages should be absolutely reduced, and as this was already too low
for the convenience o f the operatives, many o f them chose to migrate in
search o f other employment, and the mills either became silent or worked
with little or no profit at all. Thus if wages have not been lowered in
money rate, we may say with Carlyle, “ Thanks to the inexhaustible West."
Before taking my final leave o f the very ingenious paragraph which I have
quoted, I would remind the Professor, that “ the reduction in the cost o f
commodities to the consumer o f more than fifty per cent,” relates only to
those commodities o f which manufacturing wages form the greatest part o f
the cost o f production— the prices o f food and raw material tending con­
stantly to increase. W ith regard to my views “ in reference to rent enter­
ing into the price o f commodities,” I think Professor Smith might have
gleaned that from m y previous articles; but, not wishing to be misunder­
stood, I wall take the opportunity to say, that in m y opinion, there can be
no doubt, that all the equal and necessary expenses o f production must
eventually enter into the price o f every commodity, but as rent is evoked by
the excess o f demand over supply, although it be a component part o f the
price, it is not an element o f cost, and it would be paid whether the supply
be increased or not, acting as a premium upon land capital; and therefore
what may be correctly termed rent does not enhance the price o f any com­
modity.
I must now pass over a certain quotation from Malthus, which appears to
have been a very necessary prop to the learned Professor’s argument, for he
has quoted it three or four times, and also the page from McCulloch, to come
the more readily at the Professor’s summing up o f that page. It is as fol­
lows : “ It teaches that wages rise because labor becomes more inefficient—
that more is given because less is received— that capital pays a larger divi­
dend to labor, because the fund from which it has to pay is diminished.
Now, it is true, that the exposition from McCulloch, o f the operation o f
wages and cultivation, is not quite so guardedly expressed as to prevent a
disingenuous construction, but Professor Smith must be aware that it will
not bear such a construction as he has put upon it. Let us q u ote: “ A rise
in wages is seldom or never exactly coincident with a rise in the price o f
necessaries, but they can never be very far separated. The price o f the
necessaries o f life is, in fact, the cost o f producing labor. The laborer can­
not work if he is not supplied with the means o f subsistence.” Thus, in­




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

55

stead o f wages having a tendency to rise, according to this they have a
tendency to fall, and in the nature o f things they cannot rise, beyond a bare
subsistence. Neither is it exactly correct to say, that “ labor becomes more
inefficient,” but, rather, that the land upon which it is necessarily employed,
is less fertile, or at a greater distance from market; and therefore it requires
a greater amount of labor for the production o f a given amount of food. It
would therefore be more correct to say, that as capital becomes more in­
efficient, the price o f the necessaries o f life has a tendency to rise, and there­
fore real wages diminish, but as it is necessary that the laborer should exist,
the money rate must be increased to make good the deficiency. That would
have been much nearer the truth; but let us see how American labor is
paid.
The Professor says: “ Our system, on the contrary, teaches that labor is
more highly paid, both as to proportion and as to absolute amount, when it
contributes and where it contributes, and because it contributes most to swell
the gross quantity o f the products out o f which, or from the value o f which,
wages must be derived, when, and where, and because, it is most produc­
tive.” This description o f the mode o f remunerating labor in this country
appears to me equally loose with that o f McCulloch, and in fact not very
materially different, but with the characteristic ingenuity o f Professor Smith,
it could no doubt be made to mean anything, to suit circumstances.
The
Lowell operatives, however, were not paid according to production, but ac­
cording to the necessary rate o f subsistence, in the s£me manner as the Eng­
lish laborer. W h en the price o f food raised, the increased cost was paid
out o f the profits o f capital instead o f wages. The Professor continues;
“ It (labor) is not allowed to monopolize all the gain resulting from its supe­
rior efficiency, though it obtains the larger share. Part is retained by the
capital through the increased aid o f which it was enabled to effect enlarged
and improved results; part goes to the consumer by the fall o f price.”
The perfect ideality o f the Professor’s theory o f the remuneration o f labor
is enough to make one laugh, if the subject were not o f too serious a nature
for jestin g; he really appears to be as innocent o f the operations o f this outof-door world as Casper Ilauser could possibly be after his twenty years’ con­
finement. If he will be pleased to ask the next working man which he meets
in the city of Rochester, whether his wages will provide his family with as
many necessaries now as they would ten years ago, he will then understand
how much the laborer is benefited by his larger share o f the profits, and
how much the consumer is benefited by the superior efficiency o f labor.
But to proceed. The Professor thinks, “ that it may be objected to the ar­
gument founded upon the diminished proportion which the declared or real
value o f exports from Great Britain bears to their official value, or quantity,
that it is limited to manufactured commodities, and that the advance in real
wages resulting in the diminution in their cost, may be counteracted by the
rise in the price o f agricultural products.” That is very true, it may be o b ­
jected to on that account; but the Professor thinks, that the statistics which
he cited in the November number, o f the agricultural production o f France,
and the statement o f Mr. Malthus, before referred to, o f the average propor­
tion which rent bears to the value of the produce in England is a sufficient
answer to that objection. This appears to be a little in the mode of begging
the question.
Suppose one were to say to an English workman: “ W h y, you need not
complain, that manufacturing wages have been lowering for the last thirty




56

Protection vs. Free Trade.

years; your condition must be m ending; it has been proved by some statis­
tical calculations, that the production of food in France has been quadrupled,
relatively to the increase o f population, within the last one hundred and
fifty years; therefore the working classes o f England must be in a thriving
condition; besides, the celebrated Mr. Malthus made a statement some
forty years ago, to the effect, that the wages o f labor must increase in pro­
portion to rent, therefore you ought not to complain, for he ought to know.”
In such a case would not the workman think the party mad who volunteer­
ed this consolation? W ou ld he not ask, what had the statistics o f France
to do with the condition o f English workmen? or the statement of Mr.
Malthus with the present time ? But the Professor tells us in the former
part o f his article, “ that he knows the condition o f the laboring classes in
England is bad enough, and that of those in France still worse,” and yet
now, he would persuade us, contrary to the testimony he has given us, and
in opposition to his own assertion, that their condition has been constantly
improving.
According to the statistics quoted by Professor Smith, the prices o f manu­
factures exported from Great Britain within the last thirty years, have been
reduced nearly sixty per cent; and according to the Edinburgh Review, also
quoted by the Professor, we find that the price o f wheat in the same time
has fallen something less than forty. But we must remember that the
whole o f this reduction in the price of manufactures, has fallen entirely upon
wages and profits, as the raw material o f which they are fabricated, has in
the meantime maintained its price, if it has not increased; therefore the
cost of labor, from some cause or other, must be considerably less than this
would represent. But we ought to make some allowance for the peculiar
position in which prices have been placed by the repeal o f the “ corn law,”
and the throwing open o f the trade in provisions to the whole world. Even
under present circumstances manufacturing productions have fallen relatively
twenty per cen t; but what might have been the case under other commercial
policy we can only guess.
The Professor next quotes statistics to show the large comparative de­
crease o f the agricultural population o f England, for the purpose o f assuming
a decrease in the cost o f agricultural production, but I think it unnecessary
to say anything upon this point, except that I think it would be strange if
the improvements in agricultural implements had not the effect o f keeping
the number o f hands nearly stationary, in a stationary business. I would
now call particular attention to the Professor’s quotation from the Edinburgh
Review, (on page 36,) in which is shown the relative progress o f population,
and the production o f agricultural produce, for thirty years previous to 1841.
From these statistics it appears that the population has increased about seven
per cent more than the production o f wheat, in thirty years, under the strict­
est system o f protection to agriculture, and at a time when two-fifths, or up­
wards o f twenty millions o f acres o f waste lands remained untilled. It ap­
pears also, from these statistics, that the price o f wheat has fallen from an
average o f 88s. to 56s. 9d. in the same period. The Professor says; “ It
would be easy to bring any quantity of testimony upon the point under
consideration.” I can only say, that I have no objection to as much as he
chooses, nor to rest the case upon what ho has already produced. He ap­
pears to think I have stated the rise in rent something too high. I have no
objection, however, to Mr. Porter’s statement, as he appears to like it best.
According to Mr. Porter, rent has increased throughout the United K ing­




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

57

dom 150 per cent, while the production o f wheat has increased little more
than 25 per cent— the price having decreased in the same period 40 per
cent. Rent would, therefore, according to Mr. Porter’s statement, at this
time buy four times the wheat in England as it would thirty years a g o ;
making an increase of income to the landowner o f 300 per cent, while the
farmer has increased the crop only 25. The proportion which rent would
bear to the crop would be represented as follow s: crop 125, rent 2 oO. Thus,
if rent, as according to Malthus, (the statement quoted four times by the
Professor,) bore the proportion o f twTo-fifths, or 40 per cent, o f the crop, it
would now stand as 90 to 125— the proportion o f rent to the crop having
been augmented from two-fifths to more than three-and-a-half fifths; proving
that Malthus was either originally mistaken as to the proportion and opera­
tion o f rent, or that circumstances have materially altered these proportions
and operations since his tim e; and that Mr. Carey’s theory o f the superior
increase o f food to population, with a decreasing proportion to rent, is an
utter fallacy. A nd yet the Professor sums up this matter in the following
modest strain: “ I f we suppose the same rate o f progress to have existed in
the ten years preceding 1801 as since, the increase o f population between
1790 and 1841 will amount to 73 per cent. The rent has advanced, ac­
cording to Porter, 150 per cent, or twice as fast, and inasmuch as the prod­
uce has augmented according to Malthus, twice as much as rent, it has in­
creased fo u r times as rapidly as the consumers.” Thus, after giving us
“ unexceptionable testimony” from the Edinburgh Review, and the assu­
rance of the “ exceeding great increase o f agricultural production” from
Mr. Porter, the Professor makes no calculation as to the relative increase
o f produce and population from the statistics he had quoted, but makes a
supposition as to the increase o f population, and then adds together the
increase o f rent and the statement o f Malthus, to prove that agricultural
produce had quadrupled, when the statistics show that it had increased only
25 per cent.
The Professor pursued the same mode o f begging the question with the
French statistics in the former part o f his article, when the price o f wheat
showed, according to the law o f supply and demand, that the increase o f
crop was not equal to that o f population. The Professor proceeds to say,
“ he thinks it has been made apparent, that capital in land follows the same
laws as that o f moveable property.” Now, I think quite the contrary. I
think it has been proved, that the value o f land in England, as measured
in rent, has increased 500 per cent more than the produce; and this is a
premium obtained out o f the profit o f circulating capital; and all without
expense to the landowner. The Professor’s ideas o f capital appear to be
somewhat confused, but no doubt that may arise in some measure, from the
absurdity o f the theory which he advocates. Many persons suppose that all
wealth is capital. Large amounts o f wealth may be accumulated, sold, and
used, but capital must at all times be limited by the power of producing
absolute necessaries. It is this circumstance which causes the difference in
the operation o f price, between manufactured articles and raw produce.
Money, whether o f paper or o f gold, beyond a certain necesssary amount, is
not capital; and as it is not consumed, beyond the necessary wear, it depre­
ciates faster than any other commodity.
The protectionists are complaining o f the falling off o f the exports o f
breadstutfs, & c .; but they should remember that the cheapest article must
be exported. This has not been caused by any lack o f demand in England,




58

Protection vs. Free Trade.

but because we had more money than grain. But to return to our subject.
The Professor continues, in rather a pedantic and supercilious tone, to show
his own and the superiority o f the Carey school, over that o f Ricardo and
Malthus, in the following manner: “ The difficulty with the Ricardo and
Malthus school o f economists is, that instead o f observing the facts, and
endeavoring to deduce a theory from them, they have invented an hypothe­
sis to which they are determined that facts shall be made to conform. It is
the old error o f the middle age scholastics, from which it has been supposed
that Bacon had redeemed the human intellect. Its followers are so given
over to strong delusion, that they answer the characteristic description o f
Shakspeare, o f which we have during the last year had so many brilliant
examples,
“ ‘And like a scurvy politician seem to see
The thing that is not.’ ”

I shall not attempt to vie with the Professor in quoting Shakspeare, for,
not being in possession o f Mr. Clark’s Concordance, I might not quote cor­
rectly ; I shall therefore give that u p ; but I must take leave to say, that I
think he has made a material mistake in the first line o f our quotation, as to
who are the parties implicated in the “ strong delusion,” which I must leave
to others to correct. "With regard to “ the old error o f the middle age, from
which it has been supposed that Bacon had redeemed the human intellect,”
I can only say, that unless that commodity called human intellect had been
stowed away somewhere in a large reservoir, so that it might have been
doled out to those who were deficient, I can see no ground for the supposed
redemption: for I know certain people in the community whose intellect is
so small that they cannot perceive the truth, even if they strike their heads
against it. But I must now return to the Professor, at whom I hope no
one will suspect I have been hinting, although he appears to proceed with­
out rule or compass, for he quotes again some passages from the June
article, which he had quoted and commented upon in a former number,
which I must be allowed to notice. He says : “ R. S. asks, if food tends to
increase more rapidly than population, how is it that capital has accumu­
lated unequally in the hands o f a few, and that number rapidly decreasing
in all countries ?” and then proceeds as follows : “ W e have shown by unim­
peachable authorities o f this very sect, that the number is not decreasing
but increasing.” Thus it is conceded, that “ capital has accumulated une­
qually in the hands of a few ” '— so few in England, that out o f a population
o f about thirty millions, one hundred and nine thousand comprise the whole
o f the middle and aristocratic classes, when, less than half a century ago, the
land alone was divided among two hundred and forty thousand proprietors—
showing most conclusively, that although the number o f taxable individuals
may have increased within certain limits, since 1812, including large as
well as small incomes, down to £ 1 5 0 a year, that this number o f taxable in­
dividuals has increased by the absorption o f the capital o f the other one
hundred and fifty thousand— proving, as far as England is concerned, the
other part o f the allegation, that “ the number o f capitalists is rapidly de­
creasing.” From the same paragraph from which we quoted before, we
have another quotation from the June number to the following eflect: “ If
food tends to increase more rapidly than population,” asks R. S., “ what
gives capital a continually increasing power over the wages of labor ?”
The Professor then says: “ It has been shown that labor is more and
more emancipating itself with the progress o f population and capital.” To




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

59

this I must decidedly object. The French statistics produced in the former
part o f the article, were obviously mere calculations, without taking into
account the whole o f the facts in the case, as shown before; and the Eng­
lish statistics contradict the conclusion. The Professor says, (on page 35,)
“ The number o f agricultural laborers in Great Britain has been constantly
decreasing in the proportion which it bore to the whole population and the
crop. Thus, Mr. Porter informs us, (Progress o f the Nation, vol. i., p. 148,)
that the total number o f families in Great Britain has increased, between
1811 and 18 31 ,from 2,544,115 to 3,414,175, or at the rate o f 34 per cent;
the number o f families employed in agriculture has increased only from
896,998 to 961,134, or at the rate o f 7| per cent. It was shown by the
census o f 1841, that the number o f persons employed in agricultural labor
was less absolutely and o f course still less proportionally than in 1831.
W e are not yet furnished with the information upon this point obtained by
the census o f 1851, but there can be no doubt, that the same decrease in the
proportion o f agricultural laborers has continued down to the present pe­
riod.” Now, this information exactly accords with our previous deductions,
and contradicts those o f the Professor.
The large farmers and large landowners in England have constantly been
swallowing up the small ones, and forcing this part o f the agricultural pop­
ulation into the cities, to increase the middle or the working classes, as the
case may b e ; and although the number o f persons having incomes o f fifteen
dollars a week and upwards to fifty, may have increased in a larger ratio
than population, this has been produced, as I have before intimated, by the
accretion o f smaller capitals, and therefore sustains my previous statement,
that the number o f capitalists is rapidly decreasing. W hile the number o f
taxable individuals has increased, in relation to population, at the rate o f
150 per cent, the increase o f the wealth o f that class has been “ very nearly
threefold greater,” than the increase o f the class itself. And, in relation to
population, the landowners have decreased within the same period 750 per
cent; therefore each o f the 150 o f the taxable individuals must have ab­
sorbed the capital o f five o f the missing landowners. Notwithstanding the
rapid relative decrease o f the English agricultural population, (350 per cent
in twenty years,) we are informed, both by the statistics from the Edinburgh
Review, and the quotations from Mr. Porter, o f the “ exceeding great in­
crease o f agricultural production in the same period; showing that the land
has not been going out o f cultivation, but that the labor has been driven off,
and replaced by a larger proportionate amount o f capital, in the shape of
improved machinery; and therefore the wages o f labor must have been re­
duced to the minimum o f subsistence, and their numbers thinned, either by
the operation o f nature’s immutable law, or forced into the large towns, to
compete for subsistence with the manufacturing populations. Thus, while
(according to Professor Smith) “ the labor cost o f agricultural products has
been diminished,” capital has increased unequally in the hands o f a fe w ,
and increased its power over labor, while rent also has increased. Thus the
Professor has assisted me to demonstrate those facts, o f which I was previ­
ously aware, and for which I owe him my most cordial thanks.
From the last quotation he proceeds as follows: “ It certainly was a
plausible figment of the imagination, that men in the first instance appro­
priate the most fertile soils, and only take the inferior grades into cultiva­
tion, as they are driven to it by necessity; for forty years the assertion that
they did so, stood uncontradicted.” Now I beg leave to say, with all due




60

Protection vs. Free Trade.

deference to Professor Smith and the Carey school in general, that in m y
humble opinion, it is not, at this moment, o f the slightest imaginable conse­
quence, whether the assertion were or were not a figment o f the imagina­
tion, for the principle o f rent derived from it, could operate only so long as
society remained in the agricultural state. As soon as Commerce and man­
ufactures began to collect people into large masses that principle of rent
was modified, and could only operate to the smallest possible extent, and
another principle o f rent, kindred in its operation, supervened, which had,
and continues to have, the same effect as the original. And although this
principle was not perceived by Malthus, Ricardo, or McCulloch, many o f the
general axioms, and the fin al conclusions o f those writers, remain intact,
and that is the reason why it may be said, that I belong to the same school.
But, notwitstanding, this “ figment o f the imagination” must be placed to
the account o f the Professor’s favorite author upon political economy j "Adani
Smith, as I have before demonstrated, though he did not carry it oufcto its
legitimate results. H e also perceived and enunciated that part o f the ulti­
mate principle o f rent which operates by the collection o f large masses o f
people in cities, requiring food and raw materials o f every description to be
carried from a greater distance, and therefore requiring an extra amount o f
labor for the same relative supply of necessaries to a given poin t; leaving
out that part o f the principle operating by the necessary abstraction o f fer­
tility by the increase o f population— the loss o f manure in various ways, and
the consequent extra amount o f labor required to obtain materials to keep
up the fertility o f the poorer and more distant soils.
The Professor thinks that the admission in the June article “ that
mankind will at all times cultivate the most available soils, those that will
produce the largest returns for the labor and capital ready at the time to
be invested,” oversets the Malthusian theory— assisted also by the following
assertion: “ A n d that it is not until labor is cheapened by competition, that
society can be forced into the expenses o f clearing and draining, which, in
some instances, cost more than the land was originally worth.” Now, I
must say, that I do not perceive any material difference between either o f
these propositions and the general principles of the Malthusian and the
Ricardo theory. It cannot be supposed that an individual possessing com­
mon sense, or the common instincts o f nature, would go two miles from his
dwelling to cultivate a piece o f land, when he might cultivate other land o f
equal quality at one half the distance, or that he would go to the expense o f
clearing and draining, while there was other land to cultivate that would
pay the common rate o f profit. It is evident, therefore, that if an individual
g o two miles instead o f one, to cultivate a piece o f land, it would be be­
cause it was “ the most available,” or, in other words, its relative fertility
must be such as to overpay the extra cost o f labor required ; and in regard
to clearing and draining it is also evident, that as soon as labor and capital
are sufficiently cheap and plentiful to allow o f the cultivation o f such land,
bringing the common rate o f profit, or the next best rate to the common
rate, it will be cultivated. It is obvious, therefore, that so long as selfinterest is the universal motive o f mankind, the rate o f profit could not in­
crease ; simply because every individual would take the most available or
the best land first. There is no other way o f accounting correctly for the
decrease o f the rate o f profit upon capital.
Money and the precious metals might be increased indefinitely, but this
would not decrease the rate o f profit upon capital. The precious metals




•

'W

The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

61

have the least pretension to be called capital, o f any existing commodity.
Under these circumstances their relative value would be lowered, but the
principal and interest would maintain the same relation to each other as
before, and the rate o f profit would still be indicated by a decrease in the
rate o f interest. From these premises we are therefore bound to say, that
if “ food increased fa ster than population,” the rate o f profit must also in­
crease, which neither Mr. Carey nor Professor Smith will assert. Whether
“ Malthus and Ricardo, if alive, would emphatically have declined such testi­
m o n y ” as that which I have just quoted from a former article, I am not
able to say, but this I may be allowed to say, that I never guarantied (by
.-^Application or otherwise) anything beyond their general and ultimate con/Pf , elusions. I therefore cannot be held accountable for their errors and mis“ '
"u t I cannot admit that their theory o f cultivation was an error,
> I have before stated, it is now of no consequence whether it were
one thing is certain, that there are more than twenty millions o f
ind in England untilled, which the “ corn law ” failed to force into
i; as also the present low rate o f profit; and yet England import\f
ed in /i 850, seventy-two millions of bushels o f grain.
\^0
Professor Smith has also quoted Professor Johnson to show that, in his
~ opinion, the loss of manure, by the sewerage o f each town o f a thousand in­
habitants, is equal to the fertility required for the production o f a thousand
quarters o f wheat, which I should presume does not assist the Professor’s
theory of production. Although quoted from a free-trjide article in the
North British R eview ,'I'm u st,b eg leave fc difler/botli from the reviewer
and Professor Johnson’ for elfhough'-these calculations are very ingenious,
and well calculated to attract the unthinking, little or no dependence can
be placed upon them. I t is)preUy well understood, that this is the only
loss o f manure permitted in England; and ‘ there can be no doubt that this
loss is overrated, as party writers h i c apt. to overrate small matters. For
sixty years England has been an impbitsr o f raw produce to a considerable
extent, and more especially within the last thirty, she has imported vast
quantities o f grain, beef, pork, lard, butter, cheese, eggs, coffee, tea, sugar,
spices, cotton, hemp, flax, tallow, hides, &c., besides manures. Thus it is
not too much to say, that she imports one-third o f her consumption, and,
according to the writer in the North British Review, “ the importation o f
food bears a higher proportion to the home produce, than the annual addi­
tion to the population.” And yet, with all the refuse matter remaining
from this large and increasing quantity o f food and raw material grown
upon other soils, the average fertility o f land in England has not reached
more than twenty-eight bushels— an amount far from equal to the produc­
tion o f the virgin soils o f America. It is not pretended by any o f the writers
quoted by the Professor, that any o f the land in England is going out of
cultivation, or becoming less valuable, which it ought to do, under the
operation o f such large importations, if Mr. Carey’s theory were true. On
the contrary, we find, according to the necessary sequence o f the Malthusian
and Ricardo theory, that the importations o f grain are constantly increasing
“ in a higher proportion to the home produce than the annual addition to
the population." Thus the production o f food in England is relatively de­
creasing, under all these favorable circumstances, and while she has twenty
millions o f acres o f uncultivated land. But if, as according to Professor
Johnson, the loss of manure by sewerage be great, there is still one thing to
console us, the labor and capital which it would require to collect it, is not




62

Protection vs. Free Trade.

also lost. This again brings to mind the fa lla cy of the theory o f the supe­
rior relative increase of food; labor-made fertility, although it may tend to
keep up the rate o f profit, can never increase it; because, first, the extra
labor must be paid for out o f the extra crop ; and, secondly, what is saved is
previously abstracted from other soils. Thus, if the mass o f human beings
did not abstract one atom o f fertility from the earth, nor were there one
atom wasted, we could not reach beyond the original fertility, and the rate
o f profit would even then diminish, from the cost of the extra labor required
in cultivation.
I should have preferred to have closed this article at this point, which is
already too long, but there is another important point, which I must beg to
be excused for noticing, with regard to the continued depreciation o f capital.
The Professor acknowledges the error he fell into in a former article, but
afterward endeavors to confuse and mystify the subject. Ilis original prop­
osition stands thus : “ Mr. Carey shows that capital in land obeys the same
law as capital invested in machinery; among other things, like other com­
modities, it will never bring as much as it cost to produce,” because the
progress o f capital and improvement enables man to reproduce the same
thing with less expenditure o f labor.” A nd he thus acknowledges its gen­
eral incorrectness : “ The proposition which I stated o f course did not relate
to an immediate sale. It is doubtless true, as a general rule, that any piece
o f machinery, upon its completion, will bring its cost. Every improved
machine for which a patent pan, be procured, will, during the duration of the
patent, produce; mere zkt/n.ifae,vqs( and the ordinary rate o f profit. But
every improvement is such in virtue of the fact that it ebeapeps something
else. The moment it comes .inio.qse, th§ ccmrpe^lity, whatever it may be,
the process o f obtaining which if- .facilitates, is offered in the market at re­
duced cost. But all existing commodities o f the same kind must also fall
to the same price. They will brjng «,nly what it now costs to produce
them.”
Now, I think it would be difficult to imagine a more complete repudia­
tion o f any proposition than the Professor has been forced into, in the pres­
ent instance. H e has acknowledged that “ every improved machine will,
during the term o f the patent, produce more than the cost and the ordinary
rate o f p rofit.” And, in fact, that all commodities “ will bring what it now
costs to piroduce them," and o f course a profit besides, or, instead o f improve­
ments continuing to increase, machinery must cease to exist, and society, in­
stead o f becoming more numerous and wealthy, must decrease in number.
I merely mention these circumstances to show the Professor how persons are
“ betrayed by the necessities o f a false system into flagrant inconsistencies."
In speaking o f improved methods, the Professor says: “ The moment it
comes into use the commodity is offered at reduced cost.” By which I
presume he meant to say, “ at reduced price.” But I humbly conceive that
this depends upon circumstances, and is not true as a general rule. It is
not for the interest o f individuals who invent improved methods to reduce
the price o f their machinery below that o f the o ld ; for although in some in­
stances it may cost less, they generally expect and always obtain, if it be
really an improvement, a greater price, and consequently an increased profit.
Neither is it for the interest o f the manufacturer who uses improved machi­
nery immediately to reduce the price o f his commodity. They each have
an interest opposed to this; both would naturally wish to be paid for extra
capital expended, before the price is reduced; and therefore this is not




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

63

done unless (he state o f the market enforces it. It is not the interest of the
public which the inventor or manufacturer wishes to serve, but his own.
And as improvements cannot become general at once, the old machinery is
generally worn out in due time, having paid its cost and profit long before
that period, which enables the manufacturer to replace it with new. If this
were not the case, who would be found to invest capital in machinery ?
The Professor endeavors further to illustrate his views upon this subject by
borrowing an idea from M. Bastiat, who says he can now purchase a Bible
for fifty cents, or half a day’s labor, which formerly cost the labor o f three
hundred days to produce a worse copy. W e must remember, however,
that fifty cents is what it now costs to produce it.
The idea, also, expressed in the following quotation, if I rightly under­
stand it, is also erroneous: “ Every step in improvement gives labor an addi­
tional command over some one of the constituents o f capital, and conse­
quently raises the rate, between the value o f existing labor and the sum
total o f capital.” If it is intended to say, as I presume it is, that these im ­
provements in labor increase its relative value to that o f capital, I must
object to the assertion as being contrary to fact. The Professor has himself
given us an incident by which we may prove the matter, pro or con. It is
stated that we can now purchase a Bible for the price o f half a day’s labor,
which at one time would take the price of three hundred days’ labor to pur­
chase. Now, let us suppose the value of the raw material necessary for the
production o f the Book to have remained stationary at one-eighth o f a day’s
labor. A t one time it would take 2,400 times as much raw material to
purchase the Book as was required for its production; whereas at present
it would require only four times as much. Has labor gained “ additional
command” over capital, or has capital gained additional command over labor in
this instance ? It matters not whether raw material has increased in price,
or whether labor has decreased; or whether each have moved in the direc­
tion indicated; it shows the same operating principle: all improvements
increase the relative value o f the land. It is not therefore true, “ that the
capital o f a nation which is making the slightest industrial progress, will
each day command less labor than it would the preceding day.” The
amount o f capital being limited, by circumstances which we have previously
explained, while it requires less labor each succeeding day to effect the same
amount o f production upon a given amount o f capital— capital must, o f
course, as we have seen in the instance above, continue to purchase or com ­
mand, a larger amount of labor instead o f a smaller. In continuation o f the
subject the Professor says: “ To show that the same proposition holds good
as to land, it is only necessary to demonstrate that it owes its whole value
to labor.” A n d then quotes from a speech o f Mr. Webster’s at Buffalo, to
show, that “ without human labor land is not worth a rush, from Dan to
Beersheba.” I must beg, however, to differ from both these great authori­
ties, with all due humility. But the Professor turns round upon his own
proposition and Mr. W ebster’s opinion, and restates the proposition in the
following manner : “ N ow the proposition is, that the land will not bring as
much as the cost o f the labor in and near it, to which it owes its entire
value. In the case o f a farm in the neighborhood o f a city suggested by
R. S., the difficulty is to enumerate and estimate the value o f the labor ex­
pended in the city, and to apportion it among the various tracts which
have had their value enhanced by such expenditure.” The second proposi­
tion is a direct acknowledgment that the first was untenable. It is admit-




64

O f the Coinage o f the United States.

ted indirectly, that the land will always bring more than the cost of the
improvements and the cultivation expended upon it: but to make out the
original proposition, “ that land will not bring as much as it cost to pro­
duce,” the Professor has attacked the value o f all “ the roads, railways, and
canals, the buildings, public and private, the fences, wharves, bridges, and
structures of every description, that g o to make the State what it is,” as
though the land itself had been produced by this expenditure of labor, in­
stead of the expenditure having been produced from the land. It would,
apparently, be almost as reasonable to expect that the value o f a machine
for the production o f cloth, which had been at work for an extended period,
could purchase back the whole o f its productions. But the cases are not
parallel. However large a quantity the machine had produced, it would
only purchase back a certain amount— the necessary cost o f its original pro­
duction, with a deficiency for wear and tear. But the position o f the land is
different, notwithstanding the assertion o f Professor Smith and Mr. Carey to
the contrary. The amount o f land being limited, the more other capital
and wealth is accumulated the larger relative price it will bring in the mar­
ket ; but whether it would purchase the whole o f the other capital and
wealth o f the State, or the world, I am not able to say : neither do I think
it important to study that problem.
W ith regard to Madame de Savigne having arrived at the conclusion
that land is not wealth, I think we may give her credit for the possession of
common sense, but I presume she did not, like Professor Smith and Mr.
Webster, conclude that land was not valuable.
Having now thoroughly examined what the Professor has said in favor
o f Mr. Carey’s theory, I must beg leave to say, with all due deferenco and
respect to all men who are earnestly engaged in the search after truth, that
although learned and eminent men in other countries may think it necessary
to study Mr. Carey’s economical works, I have seen no reason in this dis­
cussion, to alter my previously expressed opinion with regard to them, and
I hope it will not be deemed presumptuous in me to say, that in my opinion
“ it is a theory of antagonisms and is crammed with absurdities.” And as
Professor Smith has more than once intimated, in this correspondence, that
the truth o f Mr. Carey’s theory is the only tenable ground for “ protection”
to rest upon, I hope I shall, like Jack Lanton in the “ Spy,” have the pleas­
ure o f welcoming his return to the ranks o f freedom (of trade).
R. S.

A rt, VII.— OF THE COINAGE OF THE UNITED STATES.
CH A N G E IN T H E R E L A T IV E P R IC ES OF GOLD AND S IL V E R D U E T O T H E R ISE OF T H E ONE AS W E L L
AS T H E F A L L OF T H E O T H E R — R E M A R K S ON M R . G O U G E ’ S O BJEC TIO NS TO T H E R E D U C T IO N OF
T H E A M O U N T OF S IL V E R IN H A L F D O L L A R S — SU G G E S T IO N S AS TO T H E COINAGE OF L AR G E COIN
OF FROM F IF T Y T O FIV E H U N D R E D D O L L A R S E A C H , OF A M E A N ST A N D A R D B E T W E E N T H E M A R K E T
V A L U E OF GOLD AND S I L V E R .

F reem an H unt, E sq ., E d ito r o f the M erch a n ts' M a g a zin e , e t c :—
D ea r S ir .— The subjoined was written with the intention of sending it to you for
the M erchants' M aga zin e. I have been induced to publish it first in the N o r th A m e r i­
ca n by the publication of some opinions which seemed to me erroneous, or unsatisfac­
tory, and of which I hoped to lessen the influence by publishing mine.
In your periodical it will have a more permanent and accessible position.
Y ou rs, <fcc.,

ROBERT HARE.

T he price o f mercury rose within a quarter o f a century to double that
which it previously commanded, and as the extrication o f silver from its




O f Iks Coinage o f the United. States.

65

ores in Spanish America has been effected by a process requiring a propor­
tion of this metal to be consumed, the rise in the price o f the one could
not but augment the price o f the other.
Moreover, the anarchical state o f Mexico and other argentiferous regions,
caused the working of very productive mines to be suspended or abandoned.
Meanwhile, the growth o f population in countries where silver is used for
table service, and as specie, must have caused the demand for this metal to
increase.'* These circumstances have no doubt raised the market price o f
silver.
Gold is for the most part extricated by washing, and even so far as mer­
cury is used to extricate this metal, the increase o f its price would affect
gold as much less, as gold is dearer than silver for equal weight. Then,
again, the mercury used to collect gold is recovered by distillation. This is
not the case with the mercury used in the Mexican process for silver. In
that the mercury is wasted.
I presume I have said enough to show that there is good reason to sup­
pose that the change in the relative market price o f gold and silver has
been due in part to the decline in the supply o f silver, in proportion to the
demand, as well as to the augmentation o f the supply o f gold. In a recent
letter of Mr. Gouge to Mr. Hunter, Chairman o f the Financial Committee of the
Senate of the Umted States,objecting to the proposed reduction of the amount
o f silver in half-dollars, the idea that the change in relative value is in part
due to the enhancement o f silver, does not seem to have been considered.
H e urges that the proposed change in the quantity o f pure silver in the
half-dollar coinage, must tend to change or debase the standard o f our cur­
rency. H ad not that standard been already lowered relatively to silver by
the influx o f gold from California, and the price o f mercury, and other causes
making the extrication o f silver more costly or disadvantageous, Mr. Gouge’s
allegations might be true. But the degradation has taken place. Gold,
relatively to its former value, has fallen ; silver has risen.
Agreeably to Mr. Gouge’s just impressions, when a cheaper metal is cir­
culated at the same nominal value, the dearer disappears; under these cir­
cumstances gold has become the standard, being a legal tender at its former
weight. The reasons assigned by Mr. Gouge would induce a wish that, in­
stead o f lowering the weight o f our silver coin, that of the gold could be
raised by using as much more o f that metal as will compensate the decline
in price. But as an obstacle to this, we have the practical necessity o f
calling in all o f the present gold coinage, because the more valuable coin
would be hoarded, or selected for hoarding, for exportation, or manufactur­
ing, so that it could not be got into circulation. Moreover, as our gold coin
is no less a legal tender than our silver half-dollars, I d o not understand
how a creditor, in receiving payment in half dollars, o f which two will be
equal to one gold dollar, will be placed in a situation less advantageous than
if they were not introduced into circulation; since, in the absence o f the
silver, he would be paid only in equally depreciated gold.

* l was well inform ed that a mine, which yielded two million o f dollars annually, was abandoned
in consequence of the caving in of the earth so as to require about two millions to put it into work­
ing order. An effort was made, n )t without great encouragement, to obtain in this country the capi­
tal requisite to restore th- mine to a state o f productiveness. A succeeding money pressure put an
end to the p r.jeci.
V O L. X X V II.---- NO. I.




5

66

O f the Coinage o f the United States.

Unless equalization be effected by lessening tbe amount o f silver in the
half-dollar coinage, or augmenting it in that o f the gold dollars, or altering
both so as to bring them to meet half way, the two coins cannot both re­
main in circulation. An enhancement in relative value has driven the silver
from tbe field, and will o f course, a fortiori, so long as it endures, prevent
it from recovering the participation which it enjoyed.
Doubtless, were it not for the cost o f recoinage, it would be better to in­
crease the weight o f gold representing a dollar, and to diminish that o f the
silver in the dollars o f that m etal; but this would bo expensive. Therefore,
I would suggest that, while the diminution of silver in the half dollar coin
shall be carried out, Mr. Gouge’s objections notwithstanding, that a coinage
o f gold pieces o f fifty, one hundred, and five hundred dollars should be re­
sorted to, holding as much more gold as may biing them to a mean standard
between the existing gold and silver coinage.
This would cause half the difference of value arising from the deviation
to fall on the payer, and half on the receiver o f the gold. Coin o f all the
larger sizes would serve only to be hoarded or exported, since no one want­
ing gold as cash would wish to exchange the smaller pieces, however lighter
in proportion to nominal value, for the larger pieces.
The ability to change the smaller coin for the larger, would cause the lat­
ter, in an ordinary state o f things, to be as valuable as if they were to be of
the same standard.
W here strict reference to standard value should be required, resort to the
scale-beam would put it in the power o f those concerned to compensate for
the difference between the nominal value and standard value. Placing one
o f a large coin in one scale, and its nominal equivalent in smaller pieces in
the oth< r, it were easy to see how much its nominal equivalent should bo
below the standard equivalent. O f course a weight made to balance a coin
accurately would serve in its place.
One obvious advantage o f the proposed arrangement would be that our
smaller coin would be less in demand for exportation. W e should not coin
money for foreign crucibles. It may be conceived that ingots would serve
as well as coin for the larger pieces, but the process o f coinage afiords a
greater security for uniformity in dimensions than any other, and is, upon
the whole, as 1 sup] ose, about as cheap a mode o f attaining the object as
any which can be devised.
The practicability o f having a coin o f standard weight issued by the gov­
ernment, exchangeable for smaller pieces, representing fractions o f its value,
which have notoriously less silver than they ought to have in order to justify
and sustain their nominal value, is manifest from the eommutability o f silver
halves at the present time (which have not perceptibly diminished in weight
by rubbing) for smooth quarters, eighths, and sixteenths o f a dollar, which
are notoriously below the standard.
In fact, the currency o f the small pieces would be sustained in a way
analogous to that o f bank-notes, with this difference, that only a fraction o f
the value would be confided to the faithfulness o f the issuer.
I am of opinion that for the smaller change, metallic tokens, wholly de­
pendent on eommutability for value, would answer every purpose o f gold or
silver coin, without being liable to be carried off to pay a balance o f trade
arising from a famine, as in Great Britain in 1848, or in this count! y, by tho
fall o f the price o f cotton, as in 1837.
It would seem as if only one side o f the question was stated as respects




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

67

the expediency o f coining our golden dollars. I have found that the greater
size and weight o f the silver half-dollars is an inconvenience so much greater
than that o f the opposite attributes o f the golden dollar, that while I can
get gold dollars I shall never carry silver halves excepting for change. In
order to obviate the greater liability for loss, it is only requisite to have
suitable arrangements so as to keep the gold apart from the silver change.
That to which I have resorted is an interior purse o f leather within another
o f the same material. This affords three cavities,— the middle one for gold,
one o f the two remaining for larger, the other for smaller silver. The orifice
o f the inner purse, as well as that o f the outer is furnished with a steel
clasp, such as is used in common leather or steel purses.
Housekeepers find the gold dollars a great convenience. To travelers they
are desirable, because a good supply prevents the necessity o f taking as
change those small notes with which they are unacquainted.
r . h .

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.
POINTS DECIDED IN ENGLISH COURTS.

C arriers—L iability of R ailway C ompany— S pecial C ontract.— In the
Court o f Queen’ s Bench.
Appeals from County Court.— Sittings in Banc
after Michaelmas Term, November 26, 1851. Chippendale vs. the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railroad Company.
The plaintiff placed several heifers on a track o f a railway company, to be
conveyed by them from W . to B. The plaintiff paid for their carriage, and re­
ceived a ticket with the following memorandum subscribed:— “ This ticket is
issued subject to the owner taking all risks o f conveyance whatever, as the com­
pany will not be responsible for any injury or damage, however caused, occur­
ring to live stock o f any description traveling upon the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway, or in their vehicles.” Owing to the defective construction o f the truck,
three heifers escaped; two were killed, and the other was injured. The plain­
tiff sued the railway company in a county court far the value o f the three heif­
ers, and the judge directed the jury to find a verdict for the defendants:— Held
on appeal, (affirming the judgment below,) that the ticket constituted a special
contract, which absolved the defendants from liability for the injury to the heifers.
F raud— E vidence— P ost-dated C heck— In the British Court o f Exchequer.
Appeal from County Court, December 1, 1851. Watson vs. Poulson.
If a man tells an untruth, knowing it to be such, in order to induce another
to alter his condition, who does accordingly alter it, and thereby sustains dam­
age, the party making the false statement is liable in an action for deceit, al­
though in making the false representation no fraud or injury was intended by
him.
A post-dated cheek on a bank is not absolutely v oid: if paid without knowl­
edge o f the false date the payment is good: and though not admissable in evi­
dence to prove a contract, may be used to show fraud.
In Court o f Common Pleas. Trinity Term, May 30, 1851. Stainbank et al.t
vs. Fenning.
S hip— H ypothecation—P owers of the M aster— I nsurable I nterest.—
1. The master o f a ship borrowed money o f the plaintiffs for repairs, and gave
them, by way o f security, bills drawn by him upon the owner o f the ship and
upon the consignee o f the cargo, and also an instrument o f hypothecation, by
which he took upon himself and his owner the risk o f the voyage, made the
money repayable at all events, and the ship subject to seizure, and to process o f
the Admiralty Courts at any place, should the bills be not accepted or paid, the
plaintiffs forbearing all interest beyond the amount necessary to insure the ship




68

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

to cover their advances:— Held, that a Court o f Admiralty would not enforce
this instrument; and, therefore, that the plaintiffs took no interest in the ship.
2.
The master has no authority to hypothecate the ship to secure advances for
repairs, unless repayment is made to depend on the arrival o f the ship.
DESTRUCTION OF GOODS BY BLOWING THEM UP.

In the Court o f Errors and Appeals o f New Jersey. On error to the Su­
preme Court, November Term, 1851. The American Print W orks vs. Law­
rence; Hale vs. same.
In Trespass against the Mayor of New Yorlc fo r destroying goods by blowing
them, up, the defendant pleaded:— 1. A statute o f the State o f New York impos­
ing the duty upon the Mayor o f New York, in order to stop the progress o f any
conflagration, with the concurrence o f two Aldermen, to direct any buildings
likely to take fire and convey fire to others, to be pulled down and destroyed.
That the defendant, as Mayor, acting under such advice and concurrence, did
destroy certain buildings for that purpose which were peculiarly exposed to the
fire, and but for his action would have been immediately burned up with their
contents, and would have communicated the flames toadjoining buildings unless
instantly demolished. That the immediate destruction o f these buildings was
necessary, without waiting to remove the goods, in order to prevent the spread
o f the conflagration, &c., whereupon the defendant says he did necessarily and
unavoidably blow up and destroy certain goods in plaintiffs’ declaration men­
tioned, & c .:— Held to be a good plea.
2. The statute, under which the buildings were destroyed, being a constitu­
tional and valid law, and the act by which they were destroyed being a lawful
act, the defendant, as a public officer, was not liable personally for the necessary
and unavoidable consequences o f such act.
3. The defendant, secondly, set up a justification arising out o f the common
law doctrine o f necessity. That to prevent the spread o f the conflagration and
the destruction o f a large portion o f the city, the immediate destruction o f the
buildings was necessary, without waiting to remove the goods therein: and that
for this purpose the defendant, a resident citizen, &e., caused the said buildings
to he blown up, and did thereby necessarily and unavoidably destroy the goods,
&.c.:— Held a good plea.
4. In order to justify the destruction o f property under the plea o f necessity,
in order to prevent the spread o f a conflagration, it is not necessary to show any
individual or personal interest in the defendant in the property at stake.
5. The common law doctrine o f necessity considered.
6. The exposition o f the statutes o f any State, by the courts o f that State,
ought to be regarded as o f binding authority in the construction o f such statutes
by courts o f other States.
CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE PILOTAGE LAW OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

In the Supreme Court o f the United States, December Term, 1851.
A aron B. C ooley, plaintiff in error,
vs.
In error to the Supreme Court
The Board o f Wardens o f the port o f Phila­
■
o f Pennsylvania, for the
delphia, to the use o f the Society for the
Eastern District.
Relief o f Distressed Pilots, their Widows
and Children.
Mr. Justice C urtis delivered the opinion o f the Court.
These cases are brought here by writs o f error to the Supreme Court o f the
C ommonwealth o f Pennsylvania.
They are actions to recover half-pilotage fees under the 29th section o f the
act o f the Legislature o f Pennsylvania, passed on the second day o f March, 1803.
The plaintiff in error alleges that the highest court o f the State has decided




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

09

against a right claimed by him under the Constitution o f the United States.
That right is to he exempted from the payment o f the sums o f money demand­
ed pursuant to the State law above referred to, because that law contravenes
several provisions o f the Constitution o f the United States.
The particular section o f the State law drawn in question is as follow s:—
“ That every ship or vessel arriving from or bound to any foreign port or
place, and every ship or vessel o f the burden o f seventy-five tons or more, sail­
ing from or bound to any port not within the river Delaware, shall be obliged
to receive a pilot. And it shall be the duty o f the master o f every such ship or
vessel, within thirty-six hours next after the arrival o f such ship or vessel at the
city o f Philadelphia, to make report to the Master Warden o f the name o f such
ship or vessel, her draught o f water, and the name o f the pilot who shall have
conducted her to the port. And when any such vessel shall be outward bound,
the master o f such vessel shall make known to the Wardens the name o f such
vessel, and o f the pilot who is to conduct her to the Capes, and her draught of
water at that time. And it shall be the duty o f the Wardens to enter every
such vessel in a book to be by them kept for that purpose, without fee or re­
ward. And if the master o f any ship or vessel shall neglect to make such re­
port, he shall forfeit and pay the sum o f sixty dollars. And if the master of
any such ship or vessel shall refuse or neglect to take a pilot, the master, own­
er, or consignee o f such vessel shall forfeit and pay to the Warden aforesaid a
sum equal to the half-pilotage o f such ship or vessel, to the use o f the Society
for the Relief, &c., to be recovered as pilotage in the manner hereinafter di­
rected: Provided, always, that where it shall appear to the Warden that, in case
o f an inward bound vessel, a pilot did not offer before she had reached Reedy
Island; or, in case o f an outward bound vessel, that a pilot could not be obtained
for twenty-four hours after such vessel was ready to depart, the penalty afore­
said, for not having a pilot, shall not be incurred.” It constitutes one section
o f “ an act to establish a Board o f Wardens for the port o f Philadelphia, and
for the regulation o f Pilots and Pilotage, &e.,” and the scope o f the act is in
conformity with the title to regulate the whole subject o f the pilotage o f that
port.
W e think this particular regulation, concerning half-pilotage fees, is an appro­
priate part o f a general system o f regulations o f this subject.
Testing it by
the practice o f commercial States and countries legislating on this subject, we
find it has usually been deemed necessary to make similar provisions. Numer­
ous laws o f this kind are cited in the learned argument o f the counsel for tho
defendant in error; and their fitness, as a part o f a system o f pilotage, in many
places, may be inferred from their existence in so many different States and
countries. Like other laws, they are framed to meet the most usual cases, qua
frequentius accidunt; they rest upon the propriety of securing lives and property
exposed to the perils o f a dangerous navigation, by taking on board a person
peculiarly skilled to encounter or avoid them; upon the policy o f discouraging
the commanders o f vessels from refusing to receive such persons on board at
the proper times and places; and upon the expediency and even intrinsic justice
o f not suffering those who have incurred labor, and expense, and danger, to
place themselves in a position to render important service generally necessary,
to go unrewarded, because the master o f a particular vessel either rashly refuses
their proffered assistance, or, contrary to the general experience, does not need
it. There are many cases in which an offer to perform, accompanied by present
ability to perform, is deemed by law equivalent to performance. The laws of
commercial States and countries have made an offer o f pilotage service one of
those cases: and we cannot pronounce a law -which does this to be so far re­
moved from the usual and fit scope o f laws for the regulation o f pilots and pi­
lotage, as to be deemed, for this cause, a covert attempt to legislate upon another
subject under the appearance o f legislating on this one.
It is urged that the second section o f the act o f the Legislature o f Pennsyl­
vania o f the 11th o f June, 1832, proves that the State had other objects in view
than the regulation o f pilotage. That section is as follow s:—




70

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

“ And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after
the first day o f July next, no health fee or half-pilotage shall bo charged on any
American vessel engaged in the Pennsylvania coal trade.”
It must be remarked that the fair objects o f a law imposing half-pilotage when
a pilot is not received, may be secured, and at the same time some classes o f
vessels exempted from such a charge. Thus, the very section o f the act o f
18<t3, now under consideration, does not apply to coasting vessels o f less bur­
den than seventy-five tons, nor to those bound to or sailing from a port in the
river Delaware. The purpose o f the law being to cause masters o f such ves­
sels as generally need a pilot to employ one, and to secure to the pilots a fair
remuneration for cruising in search o f vessels, or waiting for employment in
port, there is an obvious propriety in having reference to the number, size, and
nature o f the employment o f vessels frequenting the port; and it will be found,
by an examination o f the different system o f these regulations which have from
time to time been made in this and other countries, that the legislative discre­
tion has been constantly exercised in making discriminations, founded on differ­
ences both in the character o f the trade, and the tonnage o f the vessels engaged
therein.
W e do not perceive any thing in the nature, or extent o f this particular dis­
crimination in favor o f vessels engaged in the coal trade, which would enable us
to declare it to be other than a fair exercise o f legislative discretion, acting upon
the subject of the regulation o f the pilotage o f this port o f Philadelphia, with
a view to operate upon the masters o f those vessels, who, as a general rule,
ought to take a pilot, and with the further view o f relieving from the charge o f
half-pilotage, such vessels, as from their size, or the nature o f their employment,
should be exempted from contributing to the support o f pilots, except so far as
they actually receive their services. In our judgment, though this law o f 1832
has undoubtedly modified the 29th section o f the act o f 1803, and both are to
be taken together as giving the rule on this subject o f half-pilotage, yet this
change in the rule has not changed the nature o f the law, nor deprived it o f the
character and attributes o f a law for the regulation o f pilotage.
Nor do we consider that the appropriation o f the sums received under this
section o f the act, to the use o f the Society for the Relief o f Distressed and
Decayed Pilots, their Widows and Children, has any legitimate tendency to im­
press on it the character of a revenue law. Whether these sums shall go direct­
ly to the use o f the individual pilots by whom the service is tendered, or shall
form a common fund to be administered by trustees for the benefit o f such pi­
lots and their families as may stand in peculiar need o f it, is a matter resting in
legislative discretion, in the proper exercise o f which the pilots alone are inter­
ested.
For these reasons we cannot yield our assent to the argument, that this pro­
vision o f law is in conflict with the second and third clauses o f the tenth section
o f the first article o f the Constitution, which prohibit a State, without the as­
sent o f Congress, from laying any imposts or duties on imports, or exports, or
tonnage. This provision o f the Constitution was intended to operate upon sub­
jects actually existing and well understood when the Constitution was formed.
Imposts and duties on imports, exports, and tonnage, were then known to the
Commerce o f the civilized world to be as distinct from fees and charges for pi­
lotage, and from the penalties by which commercial States enforced their pilot
laws, as they were from charges for wharfage, or towage, or any other local port
charges for services rendered to vessels or cargoes; and to declare that such
pilot fees or penalties are embraced within the words imposts or duties on im­
ports, exports, or tonnage, would be to confound things essentially different, and
which must have been known to be actually different, by those who used this lan­
guage. It cannot be denied that a tonnage duty or an impost on imports or exports
may be levied under the name o f pilot dues or penalties; and certainly it is the thing
and not the name which is to be considered. But having previously stated that in
this instance the law complained o f does not pass the appropriate line which limits




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

'll

laws for the regulation o f pilots and pilotage, the suggestion that this law levies
a duty on tonnage, or on imports, or exports, is not admissible; and if so, it
also follows that this law is not repugnant to the first clause o f the eighth sec­
tion o f the first article o f the Constitution, which declares that all duties, im­
posts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; for if it is
not to be deemed a law levying a duty, impost, or excise, the want o f uniform­
ity throughout the United States is not objectionable. Indeed, the necessity o f
conforming regulations o f pilotage to the local peculiarities o f each port, and
the consequent impossibility o f having its charges uniform throughout the Uni­
ted States, would be sufficient o f itself to prove that they could not have been
intended to be embraced within this clause o f the Constitution; for it cannot
be supposed uniformity was required, when it must have been known to be im­
practicable.
It is further objected that this law is repugnant to the fifth clause o f the ninth
section o f the first article o f the Constitution; namely, “ No preference shall be
given by any regulation o f Commerce or revenue to the ports o f one State over
those o f another; nor shall vessels, to or from one State, be obliged to enter,
clear, or pay duties in another.”
But, as already stated, pilotage fees are not duties within the meaning o f the
Constitution; and certainly Pennsylvania does not give a preference to the port
of Philadelphia, by requiring the masters, owners, or consignees o f vessels sail­
ing to or from that port, to pay the charges imposed by the 29th section of the act
of 1803. It is an objection to and not a ground of preferenceof aport, thatacharge
o f this kind must be borne by vessels entering it, and accordingly the interests o f
the port require, and generally produce such alleviations o f these charges, as its
growing Commerce from time to time renders consistent with the general policy
o f the pilot laws. This State, by its act o f the 24th o f March, 1851, has es­
sentially modified the law o f 1803, and further exempted many vessels from the
charge now in question. Similar changes may be observed in the laws o f New
York, Massachusetts, and other commercial States, and they undoubtedly spring
from the conviction that burdens o f this kind, instead o f operating to give a
preference to a port, tend to check its Commerce, and that sound policy requires
them to be lessened and removed as early as the necessities o f the system will
allow.
In addition to what has been said respecting each o f these constitutional ob­
jections to this law, it may be observed that similar laws have existed, and been
practiced on in the States since the adoption o f the Federal Constitution; that
by the act o f the 7th o f August, 1789, (1 Stat. at Large, 54,) Congress declared
that all pilots in the bays, inlets, rivers, harbors, and ports o f the United States,
shall continue to be regulated in conformity with the existing laws o f the States,
&o., and that this contemporaneous construction o f the Constitution, since acted
on with such uniformity, in a matter o f much public interest and importance, is
entitled to great weight, in determining whether such a law is repugnant to the
Constitution, as levying a duty not uniform throughout the United States, or as
giving a preference to the ports o f one State over those o f another, or as oblig­
ing vessels to or from one State to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. Stuart
vs. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299; Martin vs. Hunter, 1 Whea., 304; Cohen vs. Com­
monwealth o f Virginia, 6 Whea. 264; Prigg vs. Commonwealth o f Pennsylva­
nia, 16 Peters, 621.
_ The opinion o f the court is, that the law now in question is not repugnant to
either o f the above mentioned clauses o f the Constitution.
It remains to consider the objection that it is repugnant to the third clause o f
the eighth section o f the first article:— “ The Congress shall have power to reg­
ulate Commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, and with
the Indian tribes.”
That the power to regulate Commerce includes the regulation o f navigation*
we consider settled. And when we look to the nature o f the service performed
by pilots, to the relation which that service and its compensations bear to navi­
gation between the several States, and between the ports o f the United States




72

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

and foreign countries, we are brought to the conclusion that the regulation o f
the qualifications o f pilots, o f the modes and limes o f offering and rendering
their services, o f the responsibilities which shall rest upon them, of the powers
they shall possess, o f the compensation they may demand, and o f the penalties
by which their rights and duties may be enforced, do constitute regulations of
navigation, and consequently o f Commerce, within the just meaning o f the
clause o f the Constitution.
The power to regulate navigation is the power to prescribe rules in conform­
ity with which navigation must be carried on. It extends to the persons who
conduct it, as well as to the instruments used. Accordingly, the first Congress
assembled under the Constitution, passed laws requiring the masters o f ships
and vessels o f the United States to be citizens o f the United States, and estab­
lished many rules for the government and regulation of officers and seamen.
(X Stats, at Large, 55, 131.) These have been from time to time added to and
changed; and we are not aware that their validity has been questioned.
Now, a pilot, so far as respects the navigation o f the vessel in that part o f tho
voyage which is his pilotage ground, is the temporary master charged with the
safety o f the vessel and cargo and o f the lives o f those on board, and intrust­
ed with the command o f the crew. lie is not only one o f the persons engaged
in navigation, but he occupies a most important and responsible place among
those thus engaged. And if Congress has power to regulate the seamen who
assist the pilot in the management o f the vessel, a power never denied, we can
perceive no valid reason why the pilot should be beyond the reach o f the same
power. It is true, that according to the usages o f modern Commerce on the
ocean, the pilot is on board only during' a part o f the voyage between ports o f
different states, or between ports o f the United States and foreign countries,
but if he is on board for such a purpose and during so much o f the voyage as
to be engaged in navigation, the power to regulate navigation extends to him
while thus engaged, as clearly as it. would if he were to reman on board through­
out the whole passage from port to port. For it is a power which extends to
every part o f the voyage, and may regulate those who conduct, or assist in con­
ducting navigation in one part o f a voyage as much as in another part, or during
the whole voyage.
Nor should it be lost sight of, that this subject o f the regulation o f pilots
and pilotage, has an intimate connection with, and an important relation to tho
general subject o f Commerce with foreign nations and among the several states,
over which it was one main object o f the Constitution to create a national con­
trol. Conflicts between the laws o f neighboring states, and discriminations,
favorable, or adverse to Commerce, with particular foreign nations might be cre­
ated by State laws regulating pilotage, deeply affecting that equality o f commer­
cial rights, and that freedom from State interference, which those who formed
the Constitution were so anxious to secure, and which the experience of
more than half a century has taught us to value so highly. The apprehension
o f this danger is not speculative merely, for in 1837, Congress actually inter­
posed to relieve the Commerce o f the country from serious embarrassment,
arising from the laws o f different States, situate upon waters which are the boun­
dary between them. This was done by an enactment o f the 2d March, 1837, in
the following words:—
“ Be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for the master or commander
o f any vessel, coming into or going out o f any port situate upon waters which
are the boundary between two States, to employ any pilot duly licensed or au­
thorized by the law's o f either o f the States bounded on the said waters, to pilot
said vessel to or from said port— any law, usage, or custom, to the contrary not­
withstanding.”
The act o f 1789, (1 Stat. at Large 54,) already referred to, contains a clear
legislative exposition o f the Constitution by the first Congress, to the effect that
the power to regulate pilots was conferred on Congress by the Constitution ; as
does also the act o f March the 2d, 1837, the terms o f which have just been given.
The weight to be allowed to this contemporaneous construction, and the prac­




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

13

tice o f Congress under it, has, in another construction, heen adverted to. And
a majority o f the court are o f opinion, that a regulation o f pilots is a regulation
o f Commerce, within the grant to Congress o f the commercial power, contained
in the third clause of the eighth section o f the first article o f the Constitution.
It becomes necessary, therefore, to consider whether this law o f Pennsylva­
nia, being a regulation o f Commerce, is valid.
The act o f Congress o f the 7th o f August, 1789, sec. 4, is as follow s:—
“ That all pilots in the bays, inlets, rivers, harbors, and ports o f the United
States, shall continue to be regulated in conformity with the existing laws o f
the States, respectively, wherein such pilots may be, or with such laws as the
States may respectively hereafter enact for the purpose, until further legislative
provision shall be made by Congress.”
If the law o f Pennsylvania, now in question, had been in existence at the
date of this act o f Congress, we might hold it to have been adopted by Con­
gress, and thus made, a law o f the United States, and so valid. Because this
act does, in effect, give the force o f an act of Congress, to the then existing
State laws on this subject, so long as they should continue unrepealed by the
State which enacted them.
But the law on which these actions arc founded was not enacted till 1803.
What effect then can be attributed to so much o f the act o f 1789, as declares,
that pilots shall continue to be regulated in conformity “ with suck laws as the
Stales may respectively hereafter enact for the purpose, until further legislative pro­
vision shall be made by Congress."
If the States were divested o f the power to Iegisla'e on this subject by the
grant o f the commercial power to Congress, it is plain this act could not confer
upon them pow’er thus to legislate. If the Constitution excluded the States
from making any law regulating Commerce, certainly Congress cannot regrant
in any manner or reconvey to the States that power. And yet this act o f 1789
gives its sanction only to laws enacted by the States. This necessarily implies
a constitutional power to legislate; for only a rule created by the sovereign power
o f a State, acting in its legislative capacity, can be deemed a law enacted by a
State; and if the State has so limited its sovereign power that it no longer ex­
tends to a particular subject, manifestly it cannot, in any proper sense, be said
to enact laws thereon.
Entertaining these views we are brought directly and unavoidably to the con­
sideration o f the question, whether the grant o f the commercial power to Con­
gress, did per se deprive the States o f all power to regulate pilots. This ques­
tion has never been decided by this court, nor, in our judgment, has any case de­
pending upon all the considerations which must govern this one, come before
this court. The grant o f commercial power to Congress does not contain any
terms which expressly exclude the States from exercising any authority over its
subject matter. If they are excluded it must be because the nature of the power,
thus granted to Congress, requires that a similar authority should not exist in
the States. If it were conceded on the one side, that the nature o f this power,
like that to legislate for the District o f Columbia, is absolutely and totally re­
pugnant to the existence o f similar power in the States, probably no one would
deny that the grant o f the power to Congress, as effectually and perfectly ex­
cludes the States from all future legislation on the subject, as if express words
had been used to exclude them.
And on the other hand, if it were admitted that the existence o f this power
in Congress, like the power o f taxation, is compatible with the existence o f a
similar power in the States, then it would be in conformity with the contempory
exposition o f the Constitution, (Federalist No. 32,) and with the judicial construc­
tion, given from time to time by this court, after the most deliberate consider­
ation, to hold that the mere grant of such a power to Congress, did not imply a
prohibition on the States to exercise the same power; that it is not the mere
existence o f such a power, but its exercise by Congress, which may be incom­
patible with the exercise o f the same power by the States, and that the States




74

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

may legislate in the absence o f Congressional regulations. Sturgis vs. Crowinshield, 4 Whea. 193, Houston vs. Moore, 5 Wliea. 1, Wilson vs. Blackbird Creek
Co., 2 Peters, 251.
The diversities o f opinion, therefore, which have existed on this subject, have
arisen from the different views taken o f the nature o f this power. But when
the nature o f a power like this is spoken of, when it is said that the nature of
the power requires that it should be exercised exclusively by Congress, it must
be intended to refer to the subjects of that power, and to say they are o f such
a nature ns to require exclusive legislation by Congress. Now the power to
regulate Commerce, embraces a vast field, containing not only many, but exceed­
ingly various subjects quite unlike in their nature; some imperatively demand­
ing a single uniform rule, operating equally on the Commerce o f the United
States in every port; and some, like the subject now in question, as imperatively
demanding that diversity, which alone can meet the local necessities o f navi­
gation.
Either absolutely to affirm, or deny that the nature o f this power requires
exclusive legislation by Congress, is to lose sight o f the nature o f the subjects
o f this power, and to assert concerning all o f them, what is really applicable but
to a part. Whatever subjects o f this power are in their nature national, or ad­
mit o f only one uniform system, or plan o f regulation, may justly be said to be
o f such a nature as to require exclusive legislation by Congress. That this can­
not be affirmed o f laws for the regulation o f pilots and pilotage is plain. The
act o f 1789 contains a clear and authoritative declaration by the first Congress,
that the nature o f this subject is such, that until Congress should find it neces­
sary to exert its power, it should be left to the legislation o f the States; that it
is local and not national; that it is likely to be best provided for, not by one
system or plan o f regulations, but by as many as the legislative discretion o f
the several States should deem applicable to the local peculiarities o f the ports
within their limits.
Viewed in this light, so much o f this act o f 1789 as declares that pilots shall
continue to be regulated “ by such laws as the States may respectively hereafter
enact for that purpose.” instead o f being held to be inoperative, as an attempt
to confer on tbe States a power to legislate, o f which the Constitution had de­
prived ihem, is allowed an appropriate and important signification. It manifests
the understanding o f Congress, at the outset of the government, that the nature
o f this subject is not such as to require its exclusive legislation. The practice
o f the States, and o f the national government, has been in conformity with t' is
declaration, from the origin o f the national government to this time; and the
nature o f the subject when examined, is such as to leave no doubt o f the supe­
rior fitness and propriety, not to say the absolute necessity, o f different systems
o f regulation, drawn from local knowledge or experience, and conformed to
local wants. How then can we say, that by the mere grant o f power to regu­
late Commerce, the States are deprived o f all power to legislate on this subject,
because from the nature o f the power the legislation o f Congress must be ex­
clusive. This would be to affirm that the nature o f the power is in any case,
something different from the nature o f the subject to which, in such case, the
power extends, and that the nature o f the power necessarily demands, in all
cases, exclusive legislation by Congress, while the nature o f one o f the subjects
o f that power, not only does not require such exclusive legislation, but may be
best provided for by many different systems enacted by the States, in conformity
with the circumstances o f the ports within their limits. In constructing an in­
strument designed for the formation o f a government, and in determining the
extent o f one o f its important grants o f power to legislate, we can make no
such distinction between the nature o f the power and the nature o f the subject
on which that power was intended practically to operate, nor consider the grant
more extensive by affirming o f the power, what is not true o f its subject now
in question.
It is the opinion o f the majority o f the court that the mere grant to Congress
o f the power to regulate Commerce, did not deprive the States o f power to




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

75

regulate pilots ; and that although Congress has legislated on this subject, its
legislation manifests an intention, with a single exception, not to regulate this
subject, but to leave its regulation to the several States. To these precise ques­
tions, which are all we are called on to decide, this opinion must be understood
to be confined. It does not extend to the question what other subjects, under
the commercial power are within the exclusive control o f Congress, or may be
regulated by the States in the absence o f all Congressional legislation; nor to
the general question how far any regulation o f a subject by Congress, may he
deemed to operate as an exclusion o f all legislation by the States upon the
same subject. W e decide the precise questions before us, upon what we deem
sound principles, applicable to this particular subject in the state in which the
legislation oi" Congress has left it. W e go no further.
W e have not adverted to the practical consequences o f holding that the States
possess no power to legislate for the regulation o f pilots, though in our appre­
hension these would be o f the most serious importance. For more than sixty
years this subject has been acted on by the States, and the systems o f some of
them created, and o f others essentially modified during that period. To hold
that pilotage fees and penalties demanded and received during that time, have
been illegally exacted, under color of void laws, would work an amount of
mischief which a clear conviction o f constitutional duty, if entertained, must
force us to occasion, hut which could be viewed by no just mind without deep
regret. Nor would the mischief be limited to the past, If Congress were now
to pass a law adopting the existing State laws, if enacted without authority,
and in violation o f the Constitution, it would seem to us to be a new and ques­
tionable mode o f legislation.
If the grant o f commercial power in the Constitution has deprived the States
o f all power to legislate for the regulation o f pilots, if their laws on this sub­
ject are mere usurpations upon the exclusive power o f the general government,
and utterly void, it may be doubted whether Congress could, with propriety,
recognize them as laws, and adopt them as its own acts, and how are the legis­
latures o f the States to proceed in future, to watch over and amend these laws,
as the progressive wants of a growing Commerce will require, when the mem­
bers o f those legislatures are made aware that they cannot legislate on this sub­
ject without violating the oaths they have taken to support the Constitution o f
the United States.
W e are o f opinion that this State law was enacted by virtue o f a power, re­
siding in the State to legislate; that it is not in conflict with any law o f Con­
gress, that it does not interfere with any system which Congress has established
by making regulations, or by intentionally leaving individuals to their own un­
restricted action ; that this law is therefore valid, and the judgment of the Su­
preme Court o f Pennsylvania in each case must be affirmed.
LOSS OF A BAGGAGE CHECK BT A PASSENGER DOES NOT RELIEVE A RAILROAD
COMPANY FROM LIABILITY.

In the First District Court, (New York City, 1852.) Judge Green presiding.
Patrick Cass vs. The New York and New Haven Railroad Company.
This was an action to recover $100 00, the value o f a trunk and contents
placed in possession o f the baggage-keeper, in June last, but not delivered. It
appears that Bedura Ann Kelley took the cars at Stamford, Connecticut, for
New York, gave her trunk to the agent o f the cars and received a check for it,
but lost the cheek on the road; and the agent on the arrival of the cars at
Canal street, refused to deliver the trunk to her, although she pointed it out to
him and told him she had lost the ticket; also, that she could not read and did
not know the number o f the ticket. She again demanded the trunk, but he re­
fused, and she asked him to keep it for her till she called for it. She being sick
was subsequently taken to Bellevue Hospital, and did not leave there for five
months. When she came out she sold and assigned the trunk and contents to
plaintiff, who went with her to the depot and demanded the trunk o f the managing agent, but on search being made it could not be found.




76

Journal o f Mercantile Lazo.

The Judge held that in common law, the railroad company is liable for the los9
o f baggage intrusted to their care, and the giving a check to a passenger desig­
nating the number o f the baggage was intended to furnish the passenger with
additional security, and the loss o f the check does not relieve the company from
liability, unless some other person presents the check, and in good faith and
without notice the baggage is delivered to the party so offering the check.
Nothing o f the kind was shown here, and the plaintiff is entitled to judgment
for $100 (being amount o f claim) and costs.
ACTION FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT TO DELIVER FART OF A CARGO OF GUM.
When a contract is made between two firms to purchase poods on joint account, but bought in the
name of only one o f then], the original terms o f purchase cannot be varied without consent—and
liie silent party is entitled to his proportion of the gross bulk, at tbe price and upon the terms
originally contracted for.

Court o f Common Pleas, New York, before Judge Woodruff, May, 1852.
Davenport vs. Tilden and Blodgett, in action for a breach o f contract to deliver
to plaintiff part o f a cargo o f gum copal.
The transaction occurred in September, 1850, at which time a cargo o f gum
copal, belonging to Grinnell, Minturn & Co., was on board the ship Emily, lying
at this port. The defendants and a Mr. Gillespie, agent for the plaintiff, both
wished to purchase it, and thinking it might be got on better terms if but one of
the parties offered for it, the defendants entered into a written contract with the
plaintiff, through his agent, Gillespie, by which they agreed that, if they bought
the cargo, they would sell to Davenport & Co. from 30,000 lbs. to 40,000 lbs. o f
it, at the same price, and on the same terms and proportion, as they would pay
for it themselves. From the evidence for the defendants, it appeared that when
Gillespie was negotiating the contract for the plaintiff, he informed the defend­
ants that Davenport & Co. were a house in this city, which was not the fact, Mr.
Davenport having no partner, nor ever intimated that he had one. As the par­
ties did not wish Grinnell & Co. to know that the cargo was purchased on their
joint account, it was agreed that the plaintiff should not be delivered his part of
it on shipboard, and the whole cargo was brought on shore and stored by the de­
fendants. From the time the purchase was thus consummated by the defendants,
until early in the following December, various interviews took place between the
plaintiff and defendants in relation to his claim for half the cargo, which the de­
fendants would not deliver, except on terms which the plaintiff would not accede
to. The defendants alleged that they hod contracted to sell the gum not to the
plaintiff alone, or on his credit only, but to the firm o f Davenport & Co., and
that they would not take his paper for it. The defendants also alleged that in
their bargain with Grinnell, Minturn & Co., although they were to have a credit
o f six months, they also had the option o f paying cash and receiving a discount,
and that they would pay cash, and the plaintiff must do so also. After various
negotiations on the subject, the defendants, early in December, notified Daven­
port & Co., that they were ready to deliver the gum on received approved paper
for it, and if Davenport & Co. did not comply with this offer, they would consider
the contract at an end. The defendants purchased the gum at 10£ cents, and it
appeared that from September to February good gum could be purchased for
9£ cents, at six and eight months, but shortly after it rose 10 per cent.
The Court charged the jury. The first question which they had to determine
was whether the defendants made the contract as set forth in the complaint. It
was not denied by defendants that they had signed the paper which was read in
evidence. But it is denied that by this writing the defendants entered into a con­
tract with plaintiff alone. On the contrary, it is said that it was made with two
persons at least, and on the credit o f more than one individual.
If the contract was made with Davenport and another, the plaintiff cannot
maintain his action in his own sole name, in the absence o f a transfer to him of
the interest o f his co-contractor. On this part of the case, the court had to let
in evidence in order to see if Davenport & Co. meant only J. D. Davenport and
no one else; add whether J. D. Davenport was in fact the only party for whom




Journal o f M ercantile Law.

77

the agreement had been made; or whether putting in the word “ company” was
a mistake o f which he could avail himself in carrying out the contract. The tes­
timony of the plaintiff, to which there is no contradiction, shows that whatever
may have been the representations o f Mr. Gillespie, or however it was under­
stood by Tilden, in point o f fact, the plaintiff had no partner, and the agreement
was only for his own benefit, and not that o f any one else. And if so, although
the defendant may not be bound by it if there was any misrepresentation, still,
if it is a fact that Davenport had no partner, he is, therefore, a proper party to
stand here in court and assert his right, to the performance o f this agreement.
But if the defendants contracted on the credit of a firm, and on the representa­
tions of plaintiff’s agent that he or other persons were partners o f Davenport,
the defendants were not bound to deliver the property on the credit o f one per­
son only. And I do not understand that defendant ever refused to deliver the
gum on a demand made in the name o f Davenport & Co., or that the plaintiff'
ever claimed it on the credit o f Davenport & Co. But if your reflections lead
you to the conclusion that from the position o f Davenport’s agent, Gillespie, and
the knowledge which Tilden had on the subject, the agreement was intended and
understood by the parties, to be between the defendants and plaintiff alone, then
it is my duty to say that the defendants, on effecting a purchase o f the cargo,
were bound to sell not less than 30,000 lbs. of it to the plaintiff, on the same
terms as they paid for i t ; and also, that the plaintiff was entitled to an equal pro­
portion o f it in respect to quality, and on the same terms o f sale as the defend­
ants made with Grinnell, Minturn & Co., from whom they purchased it. And
the subsequent agreement between Tilden and Grinnell, that Tilden might pay
cash and receive a discount, could not affect the plaintiff’s right. It was said
that Tilden could make an after arrangement, by which he was to pay cash, and
then say to Davenport that he should also pay cash; but, according to the terms
o f the contract, if the sale was made at six months’ credit on the purchaser’s own
note, then the plaintiff was entitled to receive his portion o f the cargo from Til­
den, at six months’ credit on his own note. Because it was the duty of the sell­
er, before he made the agreement, to inquire whether Davenport was entitled to
have it on his own note. If you come to the conclusion that Tilden was entitled
to have the notes o f Davenport & Co., and that Davenport did not comply with
the contract by offering such notes, then you must find for the defendants. If
you find for the plaintiff, you will give him the difference between the price at
which the defendants agreed to sell, and the market value o f gum of like quality
and quantity at the time it was deliverable according to the contract.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—damages $184.
SUIT FOR COLLISION.

In the United States District Court, May 22d, 1852. Before Judge Judson.
Charles E. Kelsey and another, vs. the schooner William Kallahan.
The schooner Archelaus, Charles E. Kelsey master, on the night o f the 13th
of October, 1851, that being a bright and clear moonlight night, was beating her
way down the North lliver, W. S. W., flood tide, close hauled on her starboard
tack, five points on the wind, full and by. At the same time the schooner W .
Kallahan, P. M’Dermot master, was laying her course up the river, with the wind
free, heading rather towards the New Jersey shore. The two vessels were seen
by each at the distance o f about half a mile. The collision took place west o f
, the middle o f the river, at a point about two-thirds over from the east shore. The
Archelaus was struck on her lee bow, between her stem and fore rigging, going
down immediately, and proved a total loss.
Two questions have arisen:— 1st. Has the court jurisdiction o f the subject
matter o f the controversy ? On this point the facts are admitted, and out o f this
admission the question is raised. The collision occurred on the North lliver,
within the Southern District o f New York. At the precise time when the libel
was filed in the clerk’s office, the schooner W . Kallahan was on a voyage from
Albany to Philadelphia, and was not within the Southern District o f New York




78

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

— and that, at a subsequent day, she came within the district, and was here at­
tached by the process on this libel, and is now responding to the libel.
The time o f service o f process is the true period o f the commencement o f a
suit, and the jurisdiction attaches to the case from that day. The cause is there­
fore properly here.
2d. On whom shall the loss fall is the next question. After ascertaining the
position o f each vessel, as above stated, there is one important fact proved to the
entire satisfaction o f the court, which must be deemed a controlling fact in the
case.
At the time o f the collision, the schooner William Kallahan had no sufficient
look-out. The man placed forward was part way down the ladder o f the fore­
castle, and did not descry the Archelaus, and gave no order to the man at the
wheel o f the approach o f danger. It was peculiarly his duty and business, in a
place like that, to have remained at his post, and there is no doubt that if he had
been at his post, the collision would not have occurred.
As a strong corroborating fact, it appears that the man at the helm,immediate­
ly upon the accident, found fault with the look-out because timely notice had not
been given him, and in his testimony he adds, that the sails o f his vessel pre­
vented his seeing the Archelaus until she was about being struck.
The rule o f law is well settled, that a vessel with the wind free must give way
in time to a vessel close hauled on the wind, and that a vessel so sailing should
not only have a look-out, but that he should do his proper duty.
The evidence in the case shows that the fault rests with the William Kallahan,
and she. must stand responsible for the consequences.
Decree for libellants, with reference to a commissioner to ascertain the dam­
age.
DAMAGES FOR INJURIES RECEIVED IN RAILROAD CARS.

An action was brought before Judge Campbell, in the New York Superior
Court, by Patrick Carroll against the New York and New Haven Railroad Com­
pany, to recover damages for injuries received while riding in the cars o f that
company.
It appeared that, on the 25th o f October, 1851, the plaintiff took his seat in
the express train, with a ticket for New Rochelle, but as that train did not stop
there, he was carried on to Stamford; and the conductor gave him a free ticket
back to New Rochelle. Plaintiff got into the return train, which came into col­
lision with a freight train, running out o f time. Some o f the brakemen on the
forward part of the train were killed, and the plaintiff, being in the baggage car,
was severely injured.
The defendants admit their negligence in running their trains out o f time, but
they also charge negligence upon the part of the plaintiff, in leaving the seat in
the passenger car, which had been provided for him, and going into the baggage
car, a place o f danger, contrary to the rules in the printed notices in the cars.
They also rely upon the fiict that the plaintiff was a passenger gratuitously.
The court charged the jury that the defendants were bound to carry their pas­
sengers with safety, using the utmost care and diligence, so far as human fore­
sight could provide. If the plaintiff was in the cars as a free passenger, that
will qualify the responsibility ; still, if he was there with license, they are respon­
sible. The defendants’ negligence is not denied, but if both parties are alike
guilty o f negligence, the plaintiff cannot recover. But the negligence o f the
plaintiff must concur directly with the injury; it must contribute directly, not
remotely, not consequentially, to produce the injury. For instance, if the bag­
gage had fallen upon him, and injured him, while in the baggage car, he would
have been guilty o f negligence. You will consider whether there was negligence
on the part of the plaintiff. Admitting, also, that he was in an unsafe place,
contrary to the rules o f the company, you will consider whether he was not in
there with the assent and knowledge o f the conductor; if so, he was not there
wrongfully. If you find that the plaintiff was not guilty o f any negligence




Journal o f Mercantile Law .
which concurred to produce this injury, the defendants are liable.
plaintiff, $4,000.

79
Verdict for

ACTION TO RECOVER MERCHANDISE WRONGFULLY DETAINED.

In the Superior Court, New York, May 4th, 1852, before Judge Oakley. Da­
vid Dows and Ira B. Carey vs. James B. Perrin and M. M. Caleb.
This was an action to recover possession o f 4,822 bushels o f corn wrongfully
detained by defendants, as alleged in complaint.
The defendants answer, denying any title to the property in the plaintiffs, but
affirming that it belonged to one L. W . Brainard, and that defendant Perrin was
captain o f the canal-boat, on board o f which the corn was shipped.
It appeared that, August 7th, 1848, one Bioss negotiated with Niles & Wheeler,
produce and forwarding merchants at Buffalo, for this corn, agreed upon the
terms, and obtained the refusal o f it for a few days. Soon, Bioss returned to
the store with one J. F. Mack, and took from the clerk of Niles & Wheeler
bills o f lading o f the corn, in the name o f Mack, and consigned to the plaintiffs.
The corn was shipped to New York in the boat o f defendant Perrin, and the
bills o f lading were transmitted to the plaintiffs, who thereupon made advances
to Mack, to the amount o f the value o f the property, upon the agreement that
the same had been forwarded to them. Soon after Mack, who had for ten years
before been engaged in business in Rochester, and dealing with plaintiffs, ab­
sconded. Niles & Wheeler then telegraphed to plaintiffs that the corn had not
been paid for, and, requesting them to hold the same to their account, immedi­
ately resold it to P. Durfee & Co., and gave them the bill o f lading, which by
intermediate indorsements came into the hands o f Brainard, whom defendants
claim to be the owner. The defendant, Caleb, is the partner o f Niles & Wheeler,
in New York.
It was contended that the clerk o f Niles & Wheeler had no authority to
make out the bills o f lading, and consequently the sale to Mack was invalid.
The Court charged the jury that Niles and Wheeler, by giving these bills o f
lading, transferred the property to M ack; and that as the plaintiffs had made
advances upon these papers, the sale was to be deemed valid if the clerk had
the power to sign the papers. The jury were, therefore, to consider whether the
act o f the clerk, in signing the papers and delivering them to Mack, was done
by authority o f Niles and Wheeler, either express or implied. No express au­
thority is shown; but if he was held out to the world as an agent, in doing acts
countenanced by the principal; if he was in the habit o f signing and delivering
such papers, the law implies an authority. Again, the law implies an authority
where there is a recognition o f an act after it is done. Niles & Wheeler, in
this case, telegraphed to plaintiffs that they had stopped the corn, and that it
had not been paid for. The jury will consider whether this amounts to a re­
cognition o f the right o f the clerk to ship the corn, and make the proper papers
to the plaintiffs. If, from all the facts in the case, you conclude the authority
existed, you will find for the plaintiffs.
Verdict for the plaintiffs, $2,794 for amount, and $723 damages for detention.

PROMISSORY

NOTES— INDORSERS.

In the Superior Court, May 24, 1852, before Judge Sanford. John D. W il­
liams vs. Isaac T. Storm and others.
This was an action upon five promissory notes, made by the Empire Mills,
December 10, 1850, amounting to $10,000, payable to defendant, indorsed by
defendant and Austens & Spicer, to plaintiff.
The defendants contend that the notes were indorsed for the accommodation
o f the makers, without consideration, and that they were negotiated at usurious
rates of interest.
It appeared in evidence that there had been previous dealings between the




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

80

makers and indorsers ; the makers having consigned to the indorsers large quan­
tities o f wool, for which the indorsers o f these notes had given their acceptances
to the Empire Mills, the makers in this case ; that at length the indorsers had
told them that they could not take any more, and thereupon charged the balance
on hand to them. The Empire Mills then made these notes, declaring on the
face o f them, that they were given for this wool, and got them discounted at
12 per cent.
Upon this evidence tlm Court directed a verdict for plaintiff, subject to the
opinion o f the Court.
COMMON CARRIER— BILL OF LADING.

In the Supreme Court, New York, April 26, 1852. Before Judge Roosevelt.
Henry Gilbert vs. Charles Eolger and others.
The plaintiff alleges that he delivered to defendants twenty-seven packages of
goods to be forwarded by them to Buffalo, and shows a bill o f lading, signed by
defendants, acknowledging their receipt; but alleges that only twenty-five
reached their destination. He brings suit to recover for the value o f the two
missing packages, and damages.
The defendants answer that only twenty-five packages were in fact received
by them, and aver that they gave a bill of lading for twenty-seven by mistake.
The court instructed the jury that the bill o f hiding was not conclusive, but
between the parties, was open to explanation and alteration. But it is incumbent
on the defendants to show that it was made by mistake; and it is for you to
consider whether they have conclusively explained it. You have the testimony
o f the carman that he delivered twenty-seven packages; while opposed to this is
the written evidence of the pass-books and the manifest, together with that of
the captain o f the barge, showing that there were only twenty-five. It further
appears that plaintiff requested defendants to enter twenty-seven instead o f
twenty-five in the bill o f lading, although in fact the remaining two had not been
brought down to them, as he was in haste to leave that evening. If you con­
clude that the bill o f lading is wrong, the defendants are not liable. Verdict for
defendants.
LIABILITIES OF HUSBANDS FOR DEBTS, ETC., OF THEIR WIVES.

The following are sections o f an “ act in relation to the liabilities o f husbands
for the debts and contracts o f their wives contracted before marriage,” passed at
the last session o f the Legislature o f Maine, and approved by the Governor
April 26, 1852.
S ec. 1. Hereafter when any man shall marry, his property shall be exempt
from any and all liabilities for the debts or contracts o f his wife made or con­
tracted before marriage; but an action to recover the same may be maintained
against such husband and wife, and the property o f said wife held in her own
right, if any, shall alone be subject to attachment, levy, or sale on execution, to
satisfy all liabilities for such debts and contracts, in the same manner as if she
were unmarried.
S ec. 2. In any such action the wife may defend alone or jointly with her hus­
band, but no arrest o f the person o f such husband cr wife shall be authorized
upon any writ or execution arising under this act.
S ec. 3. Any married woman under the age o f twenty-one years shall have,
and may exercise, all the rights, privileges and powers enumerated in the several
acts now in force, securing to married women their rights in property, in the
same manner, and with the same effect, as though she were of full age.
S ec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its approval by
the Governor.




Ccmmercial Chronicle and Review.

81

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
ABU N D A N CE OF
IN C R E A S E D

C A P IT A L AND

G ENERAL

PRO DU CTIO N OF T II E

P R O SP E R IT Y — SA L E

P RECIO U S

M ETALS

UPON

OF R A IL R O A D BO N DS— E F F E C T OF T H B
THE

C O M M E R C IA L

V A L U E OF O T H E R

C O M M O D IT IE S— P RIC ES OF P RO DU CE IN T H E P A S T H A V E NOT B E E N D E P E N D E N T UPON T H E
OF CO IN — IL L U S T R A T IO N S OF T H IS S T A T E M E N T B Y C O M P A R A TIV E
C A U SE

OF SU CH

F L U C T U A T IO N S— T H E

AND P R O T E C T IO N — P R O FIT A B LE
M O V E M E N T S IN FO R EIG N

TRUK

80U R CE

OF

E M P L O Y M E N T FOR T n E

E X C H A N G E — S H IP M E N T S

OF

N AT IO N A L

PEOPLE

SUPPLY

T A B L E S — E X P L A N A T IO N OF T H E
P R O S P E R IT Y — F R E E

TRADE

T H E O B JEC T OF BO TH P A R T IE S —

SP E CIE — D E P O SITS

AND

CO IN A G E

AT THE

P H IL A D E L P H IA AND N E W O RLEA N S M IN TS — IM P O R T S INTO T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S — IM P O R TS E N T E R E D
A T N E W YORK

FOR M A Y , AND

C O M P A R A TIV E T O T A L

S T O C K IN W A R E H O U S E — IM P O R T S OF D R Y
EXPORTS

FRO M

NEW

YORK

FOR

MAY

GOODS

AND

FOR

FROM

FROM

JANUARY 1S T

SA M E

FOR

THR EE

PER IO DS— R E C E IP T S

J A N . 1 S T — E X P O R T S OF

YEARS—

FOR D U T IE S —

P RO DU CE— C A U SE S OF

F L U C T U A T IO N S IN S H IP M E N T S— D IS B U R S E M E N T OF J U L Y D IV ID E N D S A N D I N T E R E S T .

T he past month has been characterized by unusual commercial activity, con ­
sidering the lateness o f the season, and by a general buoyancy in monetary
affairs. Capital continues abundant, and even under the increased demand from
parties wishing to arrange their liabilities previous to their summer recreation,
there has been no advance in rates o f interest. This ease in the money-market
has led to less recklessness in business than was generally expected. Real es­
tate has advanced in price, not only near all the great centers o f business, but
generally throughout the country. This advance, however, has been very differ­
ent from that usually seen during the fever o f speculation, when all sections
have improved indiscriminately, or the highest price has been paid for fictitious
investments. T h e sales o f late, particularly near the large cities, have been to
more discrminating purchasers, and few large prices have been paid except for a
corresponding value.

It is true that some property has improved more than

others equally eligible, but there have been no active movements in “ water lots
or fancy building sites in “ cities” not yet incorporated. If any investments have
gone beyond the bounds o f prudence, the most noticeable are the purchases o f
railroad bonds, large amounts o f which have been placed either by public auction,
or by receiving proposals from competing bidders. W here a road has become
established, and the money borrowed forms but a part o f the saleable value o f
the property mortgaged for its security, the investment would seem to be a safe
one, even if the net income were not immediately sufficient to pay the interest
upon the bonds. But where the original subscription has all been sunk in un­
productive labor, and the bonds issued represent nearly the whole saleable value
o f the road, then the prospect o f an immediate permanent income becomes im­
portant, and a careful examination o f the claims o f the borrower would seem a
matter o f common prudence.
T he problem o f the effect the increased production o f gold is likely to have
upon the value o f property has become still more interesting since the contribu­
tion o f Australia has been added to the golden tide. W e have never felt the
same anxiety which has prevailed in other quarters, because we have believed
that the increase o f capital, under present circumstances, would so far augment
the facilities o f trade, and stimulate production, that the present balance between
supply and consumption would not be greatly disturbed.

W ere gold so readily

supplied without effort, that the mass o f the people could secure a fortune in
VOL.

x x v i i .— n o .




i.

.

6

82

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

idleness, then the increased consumption would tend to enhance prices.

This

result, however, is not at all likely to follow recent discoveries, and there is little
reason to fear for any undue advance in prices o f productive property. Even in
the past, the highest prices o f breadstuffs or o f real estate, either here or abroad,
have not been realized at the period o f the greatest stock o f the precious metals
on deposit or in circulation. A single stormy day in harvest time has more effect
on the price o f flour than the arrival o f millions o f gold dust; at this very mo­
ment, with a production o f gold from California up to this time o f over
$200,000,000, good flour is selling in New York at about $ 4 00 per barrel.
T he same absence o f any general connection between the values o f the necessa­
ries o f life and the supply o f the precious metals, will be found on reference to
statistics in Europe. The follow ing will show the comparative population o f
Great Britain, the stock o f gold and silver coin, and the price o f wheat per
quarter:—
Year.

Population.

Gold &. silver coin.

Price o f wheat.

1600..............................................
8,000,000
£34,000,000
8shillings.
1600..............................................
3,600,000
130,000,000
27 “
1700..............................................
6,500,000
226,000,000
36 “
10,000,000
380,000,000
115 “
1809....................................................
1829....................................................
12,800,000
313,000,000
82 “
1849.....................................
18,000,000315,000,000 44 “
1852....................................................
18,500,000
405,000,000
42 “
T he high price in 1809 was ow ing to the combined influence o f political
troubles and unfruitful seasons, and in 1829 the latter cause, together with the
sliding scale, produced a similar result, although not to the same extent.
There appears to be but little doubt, whatever the popular opinion may be
upon this subject, that other causes have done far more to depress or inflate
prices, since the year 1700, than the relative supply o f the precious metals. The
real source o f a nation’s prosperity is found in the blessing which attends upon
national industry. A working people, where each is left free to enjoy the pro­
duct o f his own toil, need no “ fostering ” to become wealthy. In this, the friends
o f a high tariif and the advocates o f free trade both agree, and from this point
their views diverge. T he latter believe that the people should be left free to
choose their ow n pursuits and objects o f toil; the former would compel them, as
far as possible, to produce all they consume. I f a man can earn tw o dollars in
the business o f his choice, during the time he can make a hat, which would cost
him one dollar if made abroad, free trade w ould give him the privilege. Tariff
objects to this, because while the man is making the hat he can consume his
neighbor’s butter and beans, and pay the latter a good price for it.

In all this,

Tariif loses sight o f the fact that while the man is earning his two dollars at some
other employment, he still consumes the produce and is in a better condition to
pay for it.

T he only force in the high tariff argument would be found in the

fact, if it existed, that the business o f producing butter and beans was overdone,
and that some must be driven out o f it, and compelled to make hats. This is
not true either in hypothesis or fact, for no business is overcrowded for want o f
protection, and if it were, partial legislation would not afford the remedy.
There has been little fluctuation in foreign exchange during the month, and the
demand in all sections o f the Union has been less than anticipated.

The fact

that the portion o f the cotton crop to be shipped has about all gone forward,
and that but a limited quantity o f new exchange could be made before next.




83

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

autumn, has kept up prices to about the specie point, hut has not led, as herein­
after noticed, to any very large shipments o f coin.

Som e farther exports will

doubtless follow weekly, but the supply is fully equal to the demand.
The follow ing will show the deposits and coinage at the Philadelphia and New
Orleans Mints for the month o f M a y :—
DEPOSITS FOB MAY.
N E W ORLEANS.

PHILADELPHIA.

From California.

Total.

From California.

Total.

$374,260
2,340

$384,167
11,081

$4,161,000
20,000

$4,336,000
20,000

$376,600

$396,148

$4,171,000

$4,366,000

167*332
13,506
32,445
108,120
218,140

$3,346*640
135,050
162,226
270,300
218,140

G o ld ..............................................
S ilv e r ............................................
Totaldeposits......................

GOLD COINAGE.

Double e a g le s ...............................
23,000
$46o"o00
Eagles........................................................................................
Half e a g le s .............................................................................
Quarter eagles...............................
Gold dollars.....................................
Total gold coinage.................

23,000

$460,000

539,542

$4,132,355

SILVER COINAGE.

Half dollars....................................
D im es..............................................
Three-cent pieces.............................
Total silver coin age...............

60,000
$30,000
...............................

21,500
100,000
1,820,600

$10,750
10,000
54,618

60,000

1,942,100

$75,368

263,2S0

$2,632

2,744,922

$4,210,355

$30,000

COPPER COINAGE.

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

83,000

$490,000

W e predicted that the deposits o f gold up to the first o f June would reach
$20,000,000; the above, added to our previous report, shows an aggregate o f
$20,500,000. Since the first o f June, about $4,000,000 have been received in
addition to the above, so that the total coinage o f California gold for the year
will probably exceed $50,000,000.
T he imports into this country from foreign ports for the month o f May show
a large decline from the corresponding month o f last year, and a still greater de­
cline from the same period o f the preceding year.

This falling o ff is seen more

or less at all o f the ports, but is most noticeable at the port o f New York, where
the difference will be seen in the follow ing com parison:—
IMPORTS ENTERED AT N E W YO RK FROM FOREIGN PORTS FOR THE MONTH OF M AY.

Entered direct. Ent’d warehouse. Free goods.

1852 .................
1851 .................
1850 .................

$6,096,996
8,942,711
7,492,958

$453,109
1,148,428
2,344,780

$789,046
788,326
808,216

Specie.

$380,584
111,443
2,883,623

Total.

$7,719,786
10,987,908
13,529,577

In the item o f specie for May, 1850, a portion o f the aggregate is made up o f
California gold received from Chagres, as from a foreign port. Exclusive o f
specie, the above table shows a decline in the imports from last year o f $3,537,314.
The withdrawals from warehouse continue in excess o f the amount stored, so that
the stock o f goods in bond is now much reduced. The follow ing will show the
u

ctuations at N ew York in this particular:—




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

84

1851

1851.

1850.

Entered Withd’ wn from Entered Withd’ wn from Entered Wiihd'n from
warehouse, warehouse, warehouse, warehouse, warehouse, warehouse.

January...........11,281,694 $1,584,652 $1,611,847 $1,024,246
February......... 1,003,383
1,788,997 1,240,329
899,438
M arch.............
916,519
1,605,849 1,181,925 1,068,437
April................
732,422
1,255,429 1,238,313 1,144,068
M a y.................
453,109
1,380,371 2,148,428
858,519
Total............

4,387,027

7,615,298

6,420,842

4,994,708

$950,753
717,662
1,013,485
1,498,293
2,344,780
6,524,973

$902,966
856,167
561,653
586,260
742,914
3,649,949

This shows the withdrawals for 1he first five months o f the current year to he
$3,500,000 in excess o f the entries, which would leave the stock very small, as
will be seen by the follow ing calculation o f the business since the 1st o f January,
1850
WAKKHOUSE AT NEW YORK.

Entered warehouse.

Withdrawn.

For the year 1850 ..............................................
For the year 1851...............................................
Five months of 1852..........................................

$15,099,750
13,903,152
4,387,027

$10,922,946
13,898,526
7,615,298

T ota l.............................................................

$33,389,929

$32,436,770

T he stock in warehouse on the 1st o f April, which commenced the current
quarter, amounted to only $6,199,630, including breadstuffs in bond.
T he falling ofl’ in the imports for May, as noticed above, added to the deficit
for the four months previously given, leaves the total imports at New York since
January 1st, nearly $11,000,000 behind the amount for the same period o f the
previous year, and about $7,000,000 less than the corresponding amount for
1850, as will be seen by the follow ing com parison:—
TOTAL

IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FROM FOREIGN TORTS FOR FIVE MONTHS, ENDING MAY 3l8T.
Entered direct. Ent’ d wareh’Be. Free good?.
Specie.
Total.

1852 ...........
$39,418,731
$4,387,027
$6,281,838
$1,448,434 $51,536,030
1851 ...........
50,290,562
6,420,842
4,468,928
1,278,099
62,458,431
1850 ...........
41,217,862
6,524,973
4,946,991
5,902,099
68,591,925
O f this decline from last year, $4,353,368 consists o f dry goods, o f which
$504,349 has been realized since the first o f May, as will be seen by the follow ­
ing com parison:—
IMPORTS OF D R Y GOODS AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK DURING THE MONTH OF MAY.
ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.

1850.

1851.

1852.

Manufactures of w ool.........................
Manufactures of co tto n .....................
Manufactures of s ilk .........................
Manufactures of fla x .........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...................

$768,810
556,829
1,030,895
367,677
52,528

$5S6,350
237,349
918,399
268,986
124,013

$397,305
277,351
518,368
263,607
246,796

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

$2,776,739

$2,135,097

$1,703,427

W ITHD RAW N FROM WAREHOUSE.

1850.

1851.

1852.

Manufactures of w ool.........................
Manufactures of cotton.......................
Manufactures of silk...........................
Manufactures of f la x .........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...................

$28,095
40,507
46,720
37,506
6,083

$76,800
52,646
49,343
28,980
28,615

$70,584
37,902
138,717
40,355
26,705

T o ta l...........................................
Add entered for consumption...

$158,911
2,776,739

$236,384
2,135,097

$314,263
1,703,427

Total thrown upon market.. .

$2,935,650

$2,371,481

$2,017,690




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

85

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.

1851.

1850.

185!.

Manufactures o f w ool.........................
Manufactures of c o tto n .....................
Manufactures of silk...........................
Manufactures of f la x .........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...................

$243,543
199,548
49,868
56,004
4,926

$107,244
92,118
111,418
59,082
9,177

$109,136
39,519
111,309
26,580
19,817

T o t a l............................................
Add entered for consumption . .

$553,389
2,776,739

$379,639
2,135,097

$306,961
1,703,427

Total entered at the port___

$3,330,128

$2,514,736

$2,010,387

IMPORTS OF D RY GOODS AT THE PORT OF N E W YORK FOR FIVE MONTHS, ENDING M AY

28.

ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.

1850.

1851.

1S5S.

Manufactures o f w ool.........................
Manufactures o f cotton......................
Manufactures o f s ilk .........................
Manufactures of fla x .........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...................

$5,744,476
5,532,648
7,025,638
4,211,341
933,610

$5,513,126
5,355,438
10,296.506
3,291,168
1,742,901

$4,588,869
4,295,267
8,156,557
2,643,389
1,858,522

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

$23,447,713

$26,199,139

$21,542,604

W ITH D RAW N FROM WAREHOUSE.

1850.

1851.

1852.

Manufactures o f w ool.........................
Manufactures of cotton......................
Manufactures of silk...........................
Manufactures of fla x .........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...................

$346,837
608,095
514,153
202,023
75,215

$474,386
822,051
520,655
332,322
220,667

$179,610
1,004,230
1,163,650
666,149
219,324

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

$1,746,323
23,447,713

$2,370,087
26,199,139

$3,732,968
21,542,604

Total thrown upon the market.

$25,194,036

$28,569,226

$25,275,569

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.

1851.

1850.

1852.

Manufactures of wool.........................
Manufactures of co tton .....................
Manufactures o f s ilk .........................
Manufactures o f flax..........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...................

$587,385
825,023
496,309
321,539
60,529

$589,058
763,854
861,037
322,661
190,080

$683,436
536,078
1,434,510
187,772
187,967

T o t a l............................................
A dd entered for consumption.. .

$2,280,785
23,447,713

$2,726,590
26,199,139

$3,029,757
21,542,604

Total entered at the p o r t __

$25,728,498

$28,925,729

$24,572,361

The receipts for duties also exhibit a decline from last year:—
RECEIPTS FOR DUTIES AT NEW YORK.

1852.

1851.

1850.

For the month of M a y ...........
Previously reported.................

§1,952,110 86
10,065,521 19

$2,504,640 16
11,842,839 82

2,311,900 68
9,213,325 61

Total since January 1___

$12,017,632 65

$14,347,479 98

$11,525,226 29

Notwithstanding the decrease in the imports, the exports from this country t«
foreign ports, will compare favorably with the shipments for the corresponding
period o f any former year. The following will show the clearances from the
p ort o f New Y ork:—




86

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
EXPORTS FROM NEW YO RE TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR MAY'.

Domestic produce. For’n dutiable. For’ n free.

1852 ......................
$4,249,924
$545,973
4,402,052
361,015
1851 ...........................
1850 ...........................
3,610,977
310,231

$106,818
113,371
36,401

Specie.

Total.

$1,834,893
4,506,135
741,735

$6,737,608
9,382,573
4,699,344

In the above it will be seen that the shipments o f specie show a large decrease,
while the amount o f merchandise is about the same.
parison for five m onths:—

The follow ing is a com­

EXPORTS FROM NEW YO RK TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR FIVE MONTHS, ENDING MAY

Domestic produce. For’ n dutiable. For’n free.

1852.............
1861..............
1850..............

$18,579,462
18,678,550
14,945,666

$1,936,981
1,716,462
1,555,414

$395,719
314,910
375,083

31ST.

Specie.

Total.

$9,067,654
12,631,148
1,573,290

$29,979,806
33,341,060
18,449,461

W e continue our monthly statement o f the comparative exports o f some o f
the leading articles o f produce from New Y ork to foreign ports, from January
1st to June 21st.

1851.
Ashes— Pots .. . bbls.
Pearls
Beeswax...........
B rea d stu ffs —
Wheat flour ■bbls.
Rye flour .
Corn meal. .
W h e a t.........
Rye..............
Oats............
Bariev.........
C o rn ...........
Candles— Mould, bxs.
Sperm........
Coal.................
Cotton.............
H ay.................
H ops...............

10,415
1,007
159,740
324,418
4,385
20,276
215,788
2,001
943,370
22,035
1,285
3,043
193,848
2,541
113

1852.

1851.

1852.

6,794 Naval stores.. . •bbls. 167,990 199,590
315 O ils —
123,596
W h a le ......... galls. 704,538
26,722
Sperm........... ......... 236,577 243,541
525,527
Lard..............
18,075
6,683
Linseed........
7,084
23,731 P r o v is io n s —
656,873
Pork............... .bbls.
24,698
18,307
........
15 182
94.314
234,996
3’630
Cut meats. . ..lbs. 2,602,3441,056,498
347
........ 1,450,945 295,366
521,160
Cheese...........
395,288
30,382
Lard..............
1,604 R ice ................. ..tcs.
16,950
20,453
16,372 Tallow............... ..lbs. 1,210,560 259,537
247,434 Tobacco— crude pkgs.
9,989
11,725
5,691
manu’d. lbs. 1,843,925 1,754,496
452 Whalebone___ ......... 728,727 204,598

This table exhibits many items o f much interest.

It will be seen that the

exports o f wheat, rye, flour, cotton, naval stores, and b e e f have largely increased,
while our shipments o f Indian corn, oils, cut meats, butter, cheese, lard, tallow
and whalebone have largely declined. The increase in rye is ow ing to the de­
mand for the continent, whither over 200,000 bushels have been sent within the
last three months.

Cotton has o f course gone forward more freely ow ing to a

larger crop here, and increased production abroad.

The shipments o f corn have

declined, this article not suiting the foreign taste as well as wheat. Oils have
been high and scarce, but are now going forward more freely under recent or­
ders.

B eef is more in demand, and if our countrymen could be persuaded to

take the proper pains to prepare it for a foreign market, w ould soon becom e one
o f our most profitable articles o f export.
There will be a large amount o f money disbursed for dividends and interest
on the 1st o f July, which will tend to keep down the rates o f interest in our
larger Eastern cities to 4 a 5 } per ce n t; while the large amount o f railroad
bonds and the like securities sold, and the money received for cereals and cotton,
will make capital more abundant throughout the interior.




87

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
FLUCTUATIONS OF STOCKS IN THE BOSTON MARKET.
In the M erch a n ts’ M a g a zin e for June, 1852, (vol. xxvi., page 727,) we gave a table of
the fluctuations of forty different stocks in the Boston market, showing their highest and
lowest points, and the date, with the market value, gain or loss for the month of Aprilt
1852, Ac., derived from the carefully prepared “ money article ” of the Boston Com ­
m onwealth. W e now subjoin, from the same reliable source, a similar table for the
month of May, 1852. This table shows the unusual feature of every stock having ad­
vanced or held its own, with the exception of the Yermont Central. The advance in
dividend securities has been very large.
FLUCTUATIONS

FOE

MAT

IN FOETT

DIFFEEKNT

STOCKS,

SHOWING

TIIEIE HIGHEST AND

LOWEST POINTS, AND THE DATE, W ITH THE PRESENT MARKET VALUE, GAIN OR LOSS FOE
THE MONTH, AND NUMBER OF SHARES SOLD IN EACH.

Stocks.

Boston and Lowell....................... . . .
Boston and Providence................ . . .
Boston and Worcester................. . . .
Boston and Maine-....................... . . .
Michigan Central.......................... . . .
Manchester and Law rence........ . . .
Vermont and Canada................. . . .
Fitchburg...................................... . . .
Eastern......................................... . . .
W estern........................................ . . .
Northern........................................ . . .
Concord......................................... . . .
Concord and Montgomery........... . . .
Cheshire, (old stock )...................
Cheshire, (preferred)....................
Old Colony................................... . . .
Rutland...........................) ............ . . .
South Shore..................................
Sullivan......................................... . . .
Reading, (par 5 0)......................... . . .
Wilmington, (par 5 0 )................... . . .
Norfolk C ou nty...........................
Ogdensburg...................................
Vermont Central.......................... . . .
Vermont and Massachusetts.. .
Pittsburg Copper Co.................... . . .
Edgeworth C o .............................
East Boston C o............................ . . .
Canton Co..................................... . . .
Essex C o....................................... . .
Bank o f Commerce...................... . . .
Bank of North America.............. . . .
Faneuil Hall Bank..................... . . .
Exchange Bank ........................... . . .
Traders’ Bank...............................
Ogdensburg 7’s.............................
Vermont Central 7’a ................... . . .
Do. 6’s. 1855.................................
Rutland 7’s ...................................
Norfolk County Bonds.................




Highest
sales.

109*
94*
106*
110
101
lo o t
104
107*
103*
108
68*
54*
47*
65
66
38
9£
20f
39*
33*

Day Lowest Day
mo. sales. mo.

24
22
18
28
13
25
27
27
24
18
6
28
24
3
27
22
25
13
1
4
18

6
17
6
19
18
26
26
21
27
24

107*
90
102*
105*
99*
94*
100
103*
96*
105
63*
52
42*
45
60
63*
34*
9*
20f
38*
31*
28*
26
15*
20*
107
8
22*
80*
105
103*
103*
103*
106*

11
2
4
26
12

98
87*
73
95
71*

5

19
19*
24
107
8*
25*
84
118*
104*
105
104
108*
91

3

..

i
i
i
i
i
i
10
1
3
5
31
5
17
3
7
3
5
15
20
11
3
1
1
8
1
17

Value
From
May
April 30.
31. Gain. Loss

110
2*
98* 3*
106* 4*
110
4*
100*
i
100
6
104
4
107
3*
103* 6*
107* 3*
63* 2
54* 2*
45* 8*
45
0
65
6
65* 3*
38* 5
9* . .
20* . .
39*
i
32* 1*
30
1*
29
3
17*
22
i*
108
5
8
4
0
24* 1*
1
81
26
t
1 115* 10*
1 104* 1
3 104* I t
10 104
1*
8 108
1
. . 105* 2*
4 100
4*
8
90* . .
76
15
99* 6
3
75* 4t
5

Shares
sold.

22
558
476
202
666
209
208
438
187
500
1,044
121
401
1
143
75
137
259
396
811
1,472
704
4,703
1* 39,063
2,432
7
2,663
10,859
1,102
1,260
241
32
89
82
none
$39,800
$254,800
$11,500
$51,800
$17,100

88

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
It will be seen, by referring to the table in the June number of the M erch a n ts’

M agazin e, that the amount of business in the fancies has not been so large as in the

month o f April, transactions being more confined to dividend-paying securities, which
have been in active request, more particularly about the middle of the month. North­
ern now (June 1) sells, dividend off, at half a dollar per share less than on the 30th of
April, but including the dividend, the actual gain for the month has been §2 per share.
Essex Company has been very active throughout the month ; May 1st it sold for 105,
but reached 117 on the 7th, and then fell off to 108 May 13th. Again it started up,
and touched 118 on the 19th, since which time it has been moving about between 115
and 118, sometimes varying $2 to $3 in one day.
OF THE INCREASED AND INCREASING SUPPLIES OF GOLD.
The following article on the increased supplies of gold from California and Austra­
lia, is condensed from a late number of the London A thenceum . Although many of
the “ facts and figures ” it contains have already appeared in former numbers of the
M erchants' M agazin e, their repetition in this place is necessary for the purpose o f
elucidating the conclusions of the writer of the article in the Athenceum ,
“ The estimates of the values of the quantity of gold and silver existing in Europe
and America, at the commencement of the year 1848, are taken from the work of M.
Chevalier, on money, published in 1850.
“ No supplies had been received from California till late in 1848. The total stock
of gold and silver in the year 1500, when America was discovered, is computed at
£40,000,000 sterling, of which the amount o f gold was only £12,000,000. This sum,
compared with the large amount received from the mines of America, subsequent to
1500, accounts for the great revolution in the value of gold, which took place soon af­
ter the voyage of Columbus.
“ In 1848, however, there was a large accumulation of gold and silver in the world,
on which the new and large supplies could operate but slowly in any alteration of
value, compared with the immediate effect produced in the value of money at the
time of the discovery and first working of the South American mines.
“ In 1848, there was a mass of £1,727,000,000 sterling of both metals.
ESTIMATE OF THE VALUE OF THE TOTAL QUANTITY OF GOLD AND SILVER EXISTING IN VA­
RIOUS FORMS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR

Silver.

1848.

Gold.

America.........................
Europe...........................
Russia............................
Africa and other places

£1,087,000,000
£401,000,000
90.000.
000 25.000.
000
13.000.000
44.000. 000
100, 000,000

Total....................
As existing a . d . 1500

£1,180,000,000
28,000,000

£570,000,000
12,000,000

Total........................................................................ £1,208,000,000
Add silver................. . ........................................................................

£582,000,000
1,208,000,000

Total pounds sterling........................................................................ £1,790,000,000
Deduct for exportation, wear and tear, and losses by casualties..........
64,000,000
L eavin g...............................................................................................

£1,726,000,000

“ A third part of this was gold. And if we suppose, as we have reason to believe,
that the new produce yielded by the sources of supply in California and Australia
will amount annually to £20,000,000 sterling, or §100,000,000, a few years will lead
to an important alteration in the present exchangeable value of gold. The new sup­
ply would then be at the annual increase of 3 f per cent on the stock existing in 1848.
In 1850 and in 1851 the increase was actually at the rate of 2 to 2£ per cent on the
stock of gold in 1848.
“ The annual supply of the precious metals in 1800 and 1848 is stated as follows:




89

Journal o f Banking, Currency , and Finance.
ESTIMATED VALUE OF THE ANNUAL

QUANTITIES

OF

GOLD

AND

SILVER

PLACED IN THE

MARKETS OF THE W O RLD AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY---- SAY
IN THE YE AR

1800 I--Silver.

America............................................................................
Europe, excluding Russia, but including T u rk e y .__
Russia..............................................................................
A frica ..............................................................................
Archipelago of A s ia .....................................................
Divers other sources......................................................

Gold.

£7,000,000
560,000
200,000
...............
...........
80,000

£1,920,000
140,000
88,000
280,000
650,000
180,000

£7,840,000
T otal........................................................................
Silver....................................................................................................

£3,258,000
7,840,000
£11,098,000

Total gold and silver

ESTIMATED VALUE OF THE ANNUAL QUANTITIES OF GOLD AND SILVER PLACED IN THE M ARKKt'S OF THE W O RLD IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE DISCOVERY OF THE CALIFORNIAN MINES,
OR SAY IN THE EARLY PART OF

1848.

Am erica..........................................................................
Europe, excluding Russia,but including T u rkey.. . .
Russia......................... ....................................................
A frica ..............................................................................
Asia, excluding Russia and Turkey.............................

Silver.

Gold.

£6,200,000
1,320,000
210,000
.............
900,000

£2,100,000
360,000
4,100,000
550,000
2,800,000

T ota l........................................................................
£8,630,000
Silver....................................................................................................
Total gold and silver......................................................................

£9,910,000
8,630,000
£18,540,000

“ Comparing these two statements, the results are as follows :—
YEAR

1848

COMPARED W IT H

1800.

Silver.
Less.

America.
Europe .
Russia..
Africa...
Asia, <fec

£800,000
...............
...............
...............
...............

Total.........................
£800,000
Less....................................................
More

Gold.
More.

Less.

More.

........................................
£760,000
...............
10 000
...............
........................................
820,000
...............

£180,000
240,000
4,012,000
270,000
1,970,000

£1,590,000
800,000

£6,672,000

£790,000

£6,672,000

“ Comparing the two periods in the most general manner, we find that the annual
supply had increased in forty-eight years thus:—
Gold in 1800 ..................................................
£3,260,000
Gold in 1848 ..................................................
9,910,000
Increase............................................................................... £6,650,000
Silver in 1800..................................................
£7,840,000
Silver in 1848..................................................
8,630,000
Increase...............................................................................£790,000
“ The greater increase in the annual supply of gold than in that of silver before
1848, arose almost wholly from the Russian supplies. These supplies had proceeded
at the rate of about £4,000,000 a year for about ten years prior to 1848; so that,
generally, for nearly ten years prior to the discovery of California, the annual supplies
of gold had been far greater in proportion than the annual supplies of silver.
“ The produce of California, up to the end of 1851, has been fully £30,000,000 ster­
ling, or $150,000,000; of which £14,000,000 sterling was obtained in 1851.
“ The produce of Australia, to the end of 1851, during six months only, was not
less than £500,000 sterling, and most likely £1,000,000 sterling.
“ The disposal of all this produce becomes the important and interesting question.




90

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

STATEMENT FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES OF THE VALUE OF THE .COINAGE OF GOLD, THE PRO­
DUCE OF THE UNITED STATES TERRITORY, AT THE FOUR MINTS OF THE UNITED STATES,
(PH ILAD ELPH IA, NEW ORLEANS, CHARLOTTE, AND DAHLONEGA,) DURING THE YEARS AS
UNDER.

From California. Other sources.

1848
1849
1850
1851

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

£9,000
1,230,000
7,255,000
10,640,000

£19,034,000
From the establishment of the oldest of the mints in 1792
to the end of 1847, 65 years.............................................
Total.................................................................................

£170,000
185,000
133,000
86,000

Total.

£179,000
1,415,000
7,388,000
10,626,000

£574,000

£19,608,000

2,561,000

2,561,000

£3,135,000

£22,169,000

STATEMENT FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES OF THE VALUE OF THE COINAGE OF GOLD AND SIL­
VER AT PARIS DURING THE YEARS AS UNDER.

Silver.

Gold.

Total.

1849 ........................................
1850 ........................................
1851 ........................................

£7,360,000
3,000,000
2,270,000

£1,090,000
4,600,000
9,640,000

£8,450,000
7,600,000
11,910,000

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

£12,630,000

£15,330,000

£27,960,000

It is important to bear in mind that the £15,330,000 of gold coinage shown above was n o t
derived wholly from new supplies of gold, but was obtained to a considerable extent by the con­
version into coin of a part of the gold bullion previously existing in the markets o f Europe, and es­
pecially in France. The published accounts do not enable us to state precisely what portion o f the
£15,330,000 was old and what new gold bullion; but perhaps more than half or even three-fourths
was old.
Note.

The general effect o f the evidence furnished by these two tables is as follows :—
In the United States there has been actually coined and added to the
circulation o f that country since 1848.............................. ■............ gold
In France there has been a similar coinage of..........................................

£19,000,000
15,000,000

Making together.................................................................................
Deduct for French gold coin obtained from old stock o f bullion already
in Europe prior to 1848, say....................................................................

34,000,000
10,000,000

California supply...........................................................................................

24,000,000
39,000,000

Surplus added to floating stock in market..................................................

6,000,000

“ Judging from the present amount (£20,000,000) of bullion in the Bank of England
it is probable that these figures are not very far from the truth.
“ The amount of metallic money in France has, for the last two hundred'years, been
enormous. Paper money never took root there. In 1843, the amount, as estimated
by M. Leon Faucher, was thus:—
Gold coin..........................................................................
Silver coin........................................................................
T o ta l........................................................................

£14,000,000 stg.
120,000,000
£134,000,000

“ Both metals are legal tender in France, as in the United States. Until 1850, sil­
ver was the cheaper metal, and therefore silver was mostly sent to the French mint
to be coined, and gold coin was withdrawn from circulation as soon as issued. Since
1850, this state of things disappeared. The agio on gold ceased; and in and from
1851, gold has been at a discouut in Paris, compared with silver. This gave rise to
the enormous increase in the gold coinage of France, or. in other words, gold became
the cheaper metal. Gold will take the place of silver, independently of any aid from
government, while the existing mint regulations are continued. It is so in the United
States, where, since the act of Congress in 1834, gold has been overvalued as compared
with silver, and hence the strong tendency to introduce gold into the currency, in place
of silver. The conclusion drawn from these facts is this :—




91

Journal o f Banking, Currency , and Finance.

‘“ That so long as the process, which has been going on bo extensively Bince 1849,
in the United States and France, of introducing a gold coinage in replacement of sil­
ver continues, the effect will be to lessen very much the effect of the new supplies,
both (1) upon the relative values of gold and silver, and (2) uj on the general state of
trade and prices.
“ 1And this position is readily illustrated. For, if instead of £24,000,000 stg._ of
gold having been absorbed for coin (out o f £30,000,000 produced) since 1848, leaving
only £6,000,000 of gold to operate by way of positive addition to the previous stock
of that metal, the whole £30,000,000 had been left so to operate, it is tolerably plain
that the effects would have been much more serious and startling than any which have
hitherto been observed.
“ ‘ We may, perhaps, reckon with certainty on the continuance of the present ab­
sorption of gold as coin, at the rate of £20,000,000 a year, for some time to com e;
but then no change must take place in the mint legislation of the countries at present
having a double standard.’
“ It is stated, on good authority, that Australia will supply this year £10,000,000
stg ; and California £15,000,000 stg.
■‘ The immediate effect of this supply, caused by its accumulation at the fountain­
head of circulation, the commercial capitals of the world, is to lower the rate of interest
until the bulk of it be taken thoroughly into the circulation of the world, displacing
other currency— silver and paper.
“ The increased amount of gold will greatly stimulate production, which, in the
opinion of practical men of eminence and ability, will at first lower the prices of com­
modities, notwithstanding the large supplies of gold, before they can be rendered high­
er, which can only be the result of a very large demand and consumption, which will,
however, ensue. Where there is a large and excessive amount of floating capital, the
tendency is always towards its conversion, more or less gradual, into fixed capital.
Any sudden conversion of this kind would change an easy money market into a com­
paratively tight one.”
PRODUCTION OF THE PRECIOUS METALS FROM 1492 TO 1852.
An officer of the United States Treasury Department at Washington, in answer to
a semi-official inquiry made at the Department, has presented an elaborate report, es­
timating the production of the precious metals from 1492 to 1852. The writer, after
an examination of the standard authors upon the subject, Humboldt, McCulloch, and
Jacobs, estimates the total product of the world, exclusive of Australia, as follows:—
America, exclusive of the United States..................................................$6,817,833,800
California, received at Mint.................................................. $98,408,000
California, foreign exports, manufactured, etc.................... 51,592,000
Other United States gold at Mint........................................ 15,855,000
Ditto not brought to M int....................................................
1,145,000
Total United States..............................................................................

161,000,000

Total America....................................................................................... $1,044,833,800
Europe and Asia, exclusive of Russia.......................................................
1,155,000,000
Russia............................................................................................................
213,581,000
Total production, 1492 to 1852.......................................................... $9,013,414,800
The present annual product of the precious metals, the writer estimates as follows :
All South A m erica.......................................................................................
Add for any probable increase, according to the best authorities...........
Hungary, Saxony, and Northern Asia........................................................
Russia, at the highest estimate of late years............................................
Africa and South Asia (a rough estimate)................................................
Carolina, Georgia, e t c ...................................................................................
California.......................................................................................................
Total




$30,110,000
3,290,000
4,000,000
20,000,000
1,000,000
500,000
64,500,000
$124,000,000

92

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

The compiler of the estimate remarks:— “ It is not clearly expressed by any of the
authorities quoted, whether the amounts of the precious metals stated to have been
produced at different periods, applies to the amount coined or to the entire production,
but the inference is strongly in favor of the latter.
“ The limited production of gold and silver in the last years of the fifteenth centu­
ry, may be very naturally accounted for in the limited number of people who at first
ventured to explore the New World, and in the scarcity of those metals in the lands
first occupied by Columbus; but it will, perhaps, excite surprise to find that the first
deposits of California gold in the mints of the United States, in the year 1851, exceed
the highest annual production of gold and silver in Mexico and South America by
nearly 40 per cent.”

CAPITAL AND DIVIDENDS OF BANKS IN NEW YORK.
W e give below a statement of the capital and dividends of the several banks in the
city of New York for the first half o f the year 1852, as compared with the same
time in 1851. The capital which paid dividends last year averaged 4J- per cent for
the preceding six months. This year 14,592,500 of new capital pay3 dividends, and
the average is slightly less.
Banks.

Capita!.

American Exchange...............
Bank o f Am erica....................
Bank of Commerce.................
Bank of New Y ork.................
Bank of North America..........
Bank o f the Republic............
Bank of the State of N. York.
Bow ery......................................
Broadway.................................
Butchers’ and Drovers’............
Chatham...................................
Chemical...................................
Citizens’ .....................................
City............................................
Fulton........................................
Greenwich...............................
Hanover.....................................
Irvin g........................................
Leather Manufacturers’ ...........
Manhattan.................................
Mechanics’ .................................
Mechanics’ Banking Associat’n
Mechanics’ and Tradesmen’s . .
Mercantile.................................
Merchants’ ...............................
Merchants’ Exchange...............
Metropolitan.............................
National...................................
New York Dry Dock...............
New York Exchange...............
North River...............................
O cean ........................................
Pacific........................................
People’s ....................................
Phoenix......................................
Seventh Ward..........................
Tradesmen’s..............................
U n ion ........................................

$1,600,000
2,001,200
5,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
2,000,000
365,650
500,000
600,000
300,000
800,000
350,000
720,000
600,000
200,000
500,000
300,000
600,000
2,050,000
1,440.000
632,000
200,000
600,000
1,490,000
1,235,000
2,000,000
750,000
240,000
130,000
655,000
1,000,000
422,000
412,500
1,200,000
500,000
400,000
1,000,000

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

$35,044,350




1st div.
5
4
4
4
new.
new.
4
4
4
5
new.
6
new.
5
5
5
new.
new.
4
4
5
4
5
new.
5
5
5
6
new.
5
5
4
new.
4
6i

5
5
4*

1851.

1851

Amount.

1st div.

Amount.

$75,000
80,048
183^*56
40,000

5
4
4
5

4
4
5
4
6
5

$75,000
80,048
183,956
50,000
85,000
35,000
80,000
17,266
20,000
50,000
12,000
18,000
15,000
36,000
30,000
10,000
17,500
10,500
24,000
82,000
72,000
25,000
12,280
30,000

4

49,400

5
5
4
5
4

37,500
10,000
5,200
32,250
40,000

3*
4
6}
5
5

14,406
48,000
50,000
20,000
50,000

3i

80,000
17,266
20,000
25,000
18,000
36,000
30,000
10,000
24,000
82,000
72,000
25,280
12,000
74,500
61,750
37,500
10,000
32,250
50,000
16,908
48,000
50,000
20,000
60,000
1,281,458

H

4
4
4
10
4
6
4
5
5
5
n
n

4.15

1,878,206

03

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

For the sake of comparison, we give the aggregate capital and dividends of the
banks in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, as follows :—

1851.
Capital.

Boston..............................$21,760,000
New Y ork..................... 30,451,850
Philadelphia..................
7,725,000

Dividend.

$884,298
1,281,458
314,750

1852.
Rate.

Capital.

Dividend.

Rate.

4.06 $24,410,000 $1,021,250 4.11
4.28 35,044,350 1,378,206 4.15
4.07
7,755,000
378,250 6.00

CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
In the M erchants' M aga zin e for September 1851, (vol. xxv., page 353,) we published
under our “ J o u r n a l o f B a n k i n g , C u r r e n c y , a n d F i n a n c e ” a detailed statement of
the condition of each bank in South Carolina, from the official copy of their returns,
made to the Controller-General, for June 30th, 1851; and in the number for Novem­
ber, 1851, (same volume, page 615,) and also in the M erch a n ts’ M a g a zin e lor April,
1852, (vohxxvi., p. 475,) we gave the aggregate condition of all the banks in the State,
the former for the 31st of August, 1851, and the latter for the 31st of December,
1851. W e now subjoin a similar aggregate statement of their Auditor for the 31st of
March, 1852:— *
DEBTS DUE BY THE SEVERAL BANKS OF SOUTH CAROLINA ON THE 31.ST OF M AUCn, 1 8 5 2 .

Capital s to c k .......................................................................................
Bills in circulation................................................................................
Net profits on hand............................................................................ .
Balances due to banks in this State...................................................
Balances due to banks in other States..............................................
A ll other moneys due which bear interest...............................
State Treasury, for balance, Current Fund......................................
State Treasury for balance, Sinking Fund.......................................
State Treasury, for loan for rebuilding the c it y .............................
Cash depositedf....................................................................................
Total liabilities......................................... ....................................

$5,991,885
3,933,779
647,94S
1,253,914
328,894
13,675
29,543
522,909
1,759,160
2,543,449

73
12
25
69
87
00
39
30
11
41

$17,025,159 87

RESOURCES OF THE SEVERAL BANKS ON THE 3 1S T OF MARCH, 1852.
1852.

Specie on hand.....................................................................................
Beal estate.................. ......................................................................
Bills of other banks in this State........................................................
Bills of banks in other States....................................... ...................
Balances due from banks in this State..............................................
Balances due from banks in other States.........................................
Notes discounted on personal security..............................................
Loans secured by pledge of its own stock........................................
Loans secured by pledge of other stock ..........................................
Domestic exchange..............................................................................
Foreign Exchange..............................................................................
Bonds....................................................................................................
Money invested in stock.......................................................................
Suspended debt and debt in s u it......................................................
State Treasury.....................................................................................
Branches and agencies........................................................................ .
Bonds under law for rebuilding Charleston.....................................
Interest and expenses of State loan................................................. .
Money invested in every other w ay..................................................
Total resources of the banks.

$682,912
224,765
416,111
20,765
106,981
165,737
7,024,718
221,660
486,849
2,452,896
568,828
906,705
837,938
491,385
87,087
1,519,121
320,833
50.793
439,064

62
77
47
00
94
51
90
77
81
86
45
61
67
66
50
92
79
10
53

$17,025,159 87

* This statement embraces the Bank of the State of South o f Carolina, and the Branch o f the
same at Columbia; the South-Western Railroad Bank ; the Planters’ and Mechanics’ Bank; Union
Bank o f Charleston ; State Bank o f South Carolina ; and the Bank o f South Carolina.
t And all other moneys due, exclusive o f bills in circulation, profits on hand, balances due other
banks, and money bearing interest.




94

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.
STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE,

The United States Senate passed, on the 25th of March, 1852, a resolution request­
ing the Postmaster-General “ to report to the Senate the whole number of letters
which passed through the Post Office o f the United States during the fiscal year end­
ed June 30, 1851 ; distinguishing the paid from the unpaid, those paid by stamps
from those paid in cash,” together with certain other matters.
From the communications of the Postmaster-General and the Auditor of the De­
partment, we condense the subjoined statistics:—
POSTAGE COLLECTED IN THE LEADING CITIES.

The postages collected during the fiscal year ending June 30tli, 1851, were as fol­
lows :—
New York. Philadelphia.
Boston.
New Orleans.
Baltimore.
Cincinnati.
St. Louis.
8581,830
8197,010
8176,756
$117,886
$99,670
$82,333
$53,062
DEAD LETTERS CONTAINING MONET, ETC.

The number of dead letters received during the fiscal year is estimated by the offi­
cer in charge o f that department at 2,7 50,000. During the same period the number
o f dead letters containing money, opened, registered, and sent out for delivery,
was 645.
The
The
The
The
The

aggregate amount of money found in the sam e...............................
number of such letters delivered........................................................
amount of money therein.....................................................................
number of letters returned unclaimed................................................
nominal amount of money in the same................................................

$40,336 73
5,347
$36,090 61
1,106
$4,246 12

A few of the unclaimed letters have been restored to their owners since the close
of the fiscal year, and the remainder are yet on hand in the dead letter office.
There is also another class of dead letters which contain articles of value other
than money, such as bonds, notes of hand, drafts, bills of exchange, checks, certificates
o f deposit, certificates of stock, and other papers having a value capable of being
expressed in dollars and cents. During the same year the number of letters of this
class registered and sent out for delivery was 10,088. Their inclosures having a
nominal value of $1,292,125.
Of these 6,631 were restored to their owners; 3,263 were returned unclaimed, and
194 remained in the hands of postmasters to whom they had been sent for delivery.
LETTERS PASSED THROUGH THE POST OFFICE

IN 1851.

By calculation, the Auditor estimates the whole number of paid and unpaid letters
which passed through the Post Office of the United States during the year aforesaid
71,185,285
(exclusive of California, foreign and dead letters) a t .........................
Deduct number estimated to have been prepaid by stamps...................
1,270,088
Leaves paid by cash and unpaid..................................................................
Then estimating the number paid by cash to have been 3-64th of this
amount, we have as paid letters.............................................................
Leaving as unpaid letters.............................................................................
Paid by stam ps.............................................................................................
Free...................................................................
Drop.................................................................................................................
Conveyed by European steamers................................................................
Conveyed by Havana steamers....................................................................
Conveyed by California steamers.................................................................
Dead letters.....................................................................................................

69,915,197

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

83,252,735

19,207,471
60,707,726
1,270,088
3,646,016
715,428
3,909,186
56,903
1,323,867
2,416,250

Letters which passed through the Post Office of the United States during the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1851.
The amount of postage due on dead letters for the same year was $165,125, by
estimate.




Journal o f Banking, Currency , and Finance.

95

The number of free letters is computed from the returns of postmasters for a single
quarter, and may be regarded as rather below the actual amount, as in some cases
postmasters fail to enter in their returns the free letters delivered from their office,
upon which by law they are allowed a commission of two cents.
PRINTED MATTER PASSED THROUGH THE POST OFFICE IN

1851.

The number of newspapers and pamphlets chargable with postage which passed
through the Post Office of the United States during the year ended June 80, 1851,
w a s ..................................................................................................................
82,695,812
According to a calculation made by Mr. Bradley, of the Washington
city Post Office, the free printed matter passing through his Office
during the same period was.....................................................................
3,460,050
Exchange newspapers and documents franked by Governors of States,
<Sec,, estim a ted ...........................................................................................................

5 ,000,000

Total printed matter.............................................................................

91,155,922

It is proper to remark that in computing the number of free letters no allowance
is made for such free printed matter as is mailed at other offices than Washington
city ; and as it is never entered on way-bills by postmasters, and no returns are made
therefor, this office has no data upon which to base even a calculation.
COST OF TRANSPORTATION AND POSTAGES COLLECTED IN THE SEVERAL STATES, ETC.

The following table shows the amounts actually credited for the transportation of
mails, by States, and differs slightly from the amounts actually paid. It also shows
the amounts by postage collected in the several States
Transportation. Postages col’d.

Transportation. Postages col’d.

Maine
$47,690 25 $161,891 57 Mississippi... . $81,189 93 $99,388
100,784 21 Tennessee . . . 74,142 59 115,441
N . Hampshire.. 27,662 00
48,648 93 103,700 68 Missouri . . . . . 101,313 28 138,623
V erm ont........
Massachusetts.. 132,164 84 540,686 65 Arkansas.. . . . 61,244 90
32,528
62,176 19 177,592 38 Iow a.............
05
Connecticut.. . .
48,787
59,220 44 Louisiana. . . . 66,546 89 165,802
Rhode Island.. 12,088 20
Hew York........ 321,251 60 1,351,373 63 Texas............
20
50,162
106,049 71 Minnesota . .
New Jersey.. . 56,813 37
1,192 89
3,550
Maryland.. . . '. 143,150 97 174,280 72 K entucky.. . . 87,121 70 148,404
45
20,503
Delaware........
8,717 85
Indiana........
82 154,269
Pennsylvania.. 146,105 64 595,070 86 Illinois___ __ . 156,685 71 209,063
Virginia........... 169,425 21 244,229 13 Ohio.............. . 138,543 88 485,758
84,288 34 Michigan__ . 36,720 22 116,799
North Carolina 154,126 10
South Carolina 107,281 74 113,918 30 Wisconsin. . . . 34,434 77 102,540
G eorgia........... 144,262 86 170,054 59 California. . . . 111,515 87 302,247
23,831 58 Oregon.......... .
9,875 80
Florida............. 31,701 55
6,847
350 00
Alabam a........ 139,349 30 133,391 63 New Mexico.
441
U tah ...............................................................................................................
1,171
Nebraska.........................................................................................................
42
District of Columbia.....................................................................................
42,039
New York to Bremen......................................................
166,416 68
73,550 00
New York to Havre.........................................................
Bremen p o sta g e ...........................................................................................
19.308
Miscellaneous entries....................................................................................
274
Charleston to Havana......................................................
50,000 00
19.308
Across the Isthmus of Panama, under treaty with
New Grenada................................................................
45,318 86
6,404,373

23
97
31
72
90
66
35
36
67
77
20
78
50
74
33
95
03
48
96
86

76
25
76
65

The above table of transportation embraces (with the exception of what is paid for
the sea service) only such items as are classified by States upon the books of this of­
fice. A portion of the expenses of the Department charged to transportation, con­
sisting of river mails, route agents, irregular service, and some cases of recognized
service, are consequently not included.
The number of letters conveyed by the Cunard, Collins, Bremen, and Havre lines
for the same period is as follows, viz :—




Journal o f Banking , Currency , and Finance .

9j
By
By
By
By

the
the
the
the

Cunard line, •whole number............................. T..............................
Collins line...........................................................................................
Havre line........................ ................................................................
Bremen line.........................................................................................

2,613,771
843,144
139,030
313,241
3,909,186

Unpaid by the Cunard lin e ...........................................................................
Paid by the Cunard line..................................................................................
Unpaid by Collins lin e ...................................................................................
Paid by Collins line.........................................................................................
Unpaid by Bremen line...................................................................................
Paid by Bremen line........................................................................................
Unpaid by Havre line.....................................................................................
Paid by Havre line ...........................................

1,515,860
1,097,911
497,165
345,979
206,032
107,209
91,072
47,958
3,909,186

Number of newspapers conveyed by same lines, respectively, and the amount of
postage collected on the same :—By Cunard line, 637,168 ; By Collins line, 224,278 ;
by Bremen line, 7,180; by Plavre line; 3,920; total, 872,546; at two cents each,
$17,450 92.
Amount of postage on letters by Cunard and Collins lines, respectively, collected
in the United States and Great Britain, and the amount o f commissions paid to our
postmasters on the balance due and paid to the British Government:—
By Cunard line collected in United States...............................................
By Cunard line collected in Great Britain................................................

$309,494 44
226,543 17

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

$536,037 61

By Collins line collected in United States................................................
By Collins line collected in Great Britain................................................

131.127 85
74,713 86

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

$205,841 71

The balance due and paid to the British Government was....................

# $59,490 78

It is estimated that three-fourths of the postages by the Cunard and Collins lines
collected in the United States have been collected in the large offices, at which the
commissions are 124 per cent, and that the average rate of commissions paid on the
remaining one fourth has not exceeded 30 per cent. According to this calculation,
the commissions paid to our postmasters on the balance due and paid to Great Britain
amounts to $10,039 06 ; to say, $44,618 09, at 124 per cent, $5,577 26 ; $14,872 69,
at 30 per cent, $4,461 80 ; total, $10,039 06.
A portion of this sum is returned to the Department in the shape of surplus com­
missions at the large offices.
The amount received from the British Government on closed mails was $45,279 41.
The amount paid to the British Government on closed mails was $6,306 60.
The number o f letters conveyed between New York and California, and New York
and Oregon, via Chagres and Panama, and the amount of postages collected thereon,
are as follows :—
Number of letters sent and received.................................................
Amount of postage thereon........................................................................
$443,848 57
Unpaid (estim ated)........................................................
Paid
“
........................................................
85,492 47
Total......................................................................................................

1,323,667
$529,341 04
----------------$529,341 04

The post bills sent to this office from New York do not distinguish between the
California and Oregon letters ; nor do they state the number of newspapers sent and
received by the same line, nor the number of free letters.
The number of letters and newspapers conveyed by the Charleston and Havana
steamers, aud the amount of postage collected thereon, are as follows:—Letters,
56,903 ; newspapers, 24,664 ; amount of letter postage, $9,156 87 ; amount of news­
paper postage, $739 92 ; total, $9,896 79.




VOL,

REVENUES OF THE GERMAN CUSTOMS UNION IN 1851

X X V I I . ----- NO,

For the following copy of a paper received at the Department of State, from J. G. F lugel, Esq., United States Consul at Leipsic, the editor is in­
debted to the Consular Bureau, at Washington. The information it contains will be interesting to readers of the M erch a n ts' M a g a zin e :—
AN ACCOUNT SHOWING THE PROPORTION OF THE REVENUES OF THE GERMAN CUSTOMS UNION RAISED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES RESPECTIVELY, IN THE YE AR
AND THE DISTRIBUTION THEREOF ACCORDING TO POPULATION.---- COMPILED FROM THE OFFICIAL “ CENTRALBLATT DER ABGABEN,” ETC., BERLIN ,

1852.----

Import duties.

i"4

States.

Prussia............................. thalersa
with which
Luxemburg....................................
Bavaria...........................................
■^Saxony..........................................
Wurtemburg................ ................
Baaden ..........................................
Hesse Cassel................................
Hesse Darmstadt.........................
Thuringian S tates.......................
Brunswick......................................
N assau..........................................
Total......................................

Population.
16,669,153
189,783
4,526,650
1,894,431
1,805,558
1,360,599
731,584
862,917
1,014,954
247,070
425,686

29,728,385

Amount
of common
gross receipts.
15,572,929

Expon and Import, export,
transit duties
and transit
Amount
Amount payable payable to
duties payable
of common
to each State, each State, ac- to each State,
net receipts
according to cording to its
according to
for distribution. its population. population. its population.
14,347,476
11,211,383
244,203
11,455,586

77,114
1,210,539
2,119,847
348,527
652,625
433,046
412,803
391,793
390,143
74,829
861,492

*10,445
904,991
1,995,287
330,237
353,482
342,256
402,501
391,793
229,523
71,310
636,384

127,645
3,044.546
1,274,161
1,214,387
915,115
492,051
580,383
682,640
166,175
286,309

22,545,687

20,005,240

19,994,795

* Less

2,241
53.463
29,736
21,325
16,070
8,641
10,192
15,931
3,534
5,028

129,886
3,098,009
1,303,897
1,235,712
931,185
500,692
590.575
698,571
169,709
291,339

Balance due to or from the
common fund which each
State has had.
To pay.
3,111,161

To receive.

136011
2,166,021
786,761
899,766
534,069
157,434
191,371
306,489
63,289
219,591
649,541

410,364

20,405,159

4,610,752

4,610,762

10,445c
19,994,795

6 The thaler, 69 cents Am erican currency,




b Frankfort

is regulated by a specific arrangement, and not by population, c A special payment by Prussia, on account o f the Union.

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

1851,

TRANSMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, BY J. G. FLUGEL, UNITED STATES CONSUL, LEIPSIC.

B®

Jisarnal o f Bm M ncr, Currency, and Finarntt,
CAPITAL M D S m S E r m OF RANKS IB F in iA B E L I'H IA .

Tbe arareaed table o f capital, pay and market valae of stock, per cent and amossst
o f sSrodeocis o f certain banks in Philadelphia is derived fro m the L edger ;■ —
3snk&
Rsiladsdpfeia.................. .................
F an oei^ and Jtf ecbaiacs7. * ...........
GiyaieJ...............................................
CeramereifO . „ .............................
HedMMDiea> .................. .....................
W se-tem ............................................
iv w ib t r s i i k j t i t s ................ ..
-M&iraJattTsrwry’ slid MeiAaBi£sr, . ,
S€hDihW2rt!k...................................... ..
I s s a iB g t e a ._______ . . . .................
l& a k t>f Css^raeire.............
P . T n ir a la p ,
.a ......
Tradesmen’ a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TbSa!..

...........

Capital.
$1,160,900'
1,25-0,900
1,25-0,900
3,000,900
880,0 0
&90,00t>
350,090
309,000
259,000
25®,990
250,009
225,080.
>50,999-

Per
cent.

100.00
59.09
12.50
50.00
20.00
50.00
35.00
25.80
60.90
60.00
50:09
2280
60.00

Market.
• Tfalue.
$140 0&
10 00
12 15
59 OO
29 OO
64 0©
55 00
21 50
1 0 00
63- 90
61 00
5 2 00
5 2 00

$1,175,000

Pen
GC'Nt.
51
3
4
0
&
54
5
5
5
5

&

Ame«s&
paid.
$57,54)9
87,50®
87,600
40,009*
48,000
25.009
ll,5Gf>
12,800
12,508*
12,500
12,5(*>

11,250*
4,509*

$318,250

The ahwye BEKsasjt e f dsrhiwids e& ib®- same amount of capital is $13-,00€t morefiramras declared by ihesame becks at the semi-annual, period in November, 1853, aadi
less iban in May, one y cay ago . I t -will be seen that t ie dividends average- %
iriile less than 5 per cent for the ball year.

im

FF3HSXLVASIA MAN BILL,

Wc- pnlJiibbe&ttr, lor the- benefit of onr European a& well as American- capitalists,
■arte Ttftsr It* tire jeg e s of Sire iS tjsh a ytiti M a g a zin e, the a-st of the Legislature of Psan v f h x a t a , pass ed May Sd, sod approved May 4t.b, 185 2, authorising a loan of fhye millions
vS di®35S, isx) the jssj® t>J tbs beads o f the Commonwealth for the same. The acts
passed by I ’ssaroylT.EHaa are justly denominated “ Omnibus Bills,” as they frequently
EHolstacs; a great- variety i f distinct subjects. The present act, for instance, eomraeatss 'with sertkso 303, all tiro sections preceding it relating to topics of a totally difEasreni naiim.-, and set-h-avmg the-remotest bearing upon the lo a n Bill. W e do hopsf la t tie g n a t State t>i PeuBsylyania, whizh has redeemed its public ^credit, ■will fat­
her t i e example e f 5 » w York, and »lber States in the Baioa, by devoting one bill
3j» one object, m in other *3suds, by abolishing a disgraceful system of “ log rolling f —
p a ssim

m a t %j >,

A t® A m m in - JSAT 4 t b , 1852.

S e x m n x 3S>3, That the Governor and StateTreasurer he and they arehereby auihar-

aefl and tsrp covered to borrow, on the faith of the Commonwealth, during the year
thousand eight bsodrsd and fifty-two, at such times and in such amounts as they
may deem best fev the interest of the State, any sum sot exceeding five millions c l
sSidhas, and issue bends o f the Goionionwealth for the same, bearing a rate of inter­
est nut exceeding a per cent per annum, payable semi-anaually ; which bonds shall
not b e siibjeci to taxation for any purpose whatever, and shall be reimbursable is
twenty-fire years from llieir date ; and the in in so borrowed shall be applied to ths
payment of the S per cent loans that, ate payable at the option of the Commonweals!*
a f l t r the years c b b thrassand eight hundred and forty-six and forty-seven, to the «ancellatioB of the certificates issued to domestic sreditojs and the outstanding and un­
claimed list west certificates, in the manner hereinafter prodded. And the balance of
said five millions shall he applied is the extinguishment of any of the 5 per eeat
bonds of the State now outstanding and for no ether purpose.
S ije. 302. That the heads for said loan shall he issued in snais of either one thou­
sand, five thousand, *1 hen thonrand dollars each, with coupons or interest certificates
attached in j i b s equal in amount t o the etmi-annnal interest thereon; which certify
tales ria l] he jedetmnhle in geld ana silver, or an equivalent, cx the first days «
mbs




Journal o f Banking , Currency , and Finance .

99

February and August in each and every year, at such place as may be designated by
the Governor and State Treasurer; and said officers shall procure the engravings for
such bonds and certificates, and cause the same to be signed and countersigned as
hereinafter directed, and take such other steps as may be necessary to carry out the
true intent and meaning of this act. And the Governor is hereby authorized to draw
warrants on the State Treasurer for such sums as may be necessary to pay the proper
expenses incident to the negotiation of such loan, and said warrants shall be paid out
of any moneys iu the treasury.
S ec . 103. That the State Treasurer shall advertise for at least two months in one
newspaper in Boston, one in New York, and one in Philadelphia, and one paper in
London, one in Amsterdam, and one in Paris, in Europe, inviting sealed proposals for
loan herein authorized, or any parts thereof; which proposals shall state the price in­
tended to be paid in gold and silver, or its equivalent, by the bidder for each thou­
sands dollars of such loan; and at noon on the day appointed for that purpose the
State Treasurer and Auditor General, in the presence of the Governor and Secretary
of the Commonwealth, and of such other persons as may attend, shall proceed to open
said proposals and allot the loan to the highest and best bidder or bidders, whereupon
bonds shall be issued to the person or persons entitled to said loan as hereinbefore
provided, which bonds or certificates of loan shall be signed by the Governor and
countersigned by the State Treasurer and Auditor General, and the State Treasurer
shall sign or authorize said coupons or certificates of interest to be signed; P ro v id ed ,
That in making proposals for the loan authorized by this act, the holder or holders of
any of the bonds of the Commonwealth of certificates for interest, and the holders of
domestic creditor certificates, shall be authorized to bid for auy part of said loan to
the full amount of such certificate or certificates, together with the unpaid interest
thereon; P ro v id ed also , That at the time o f making proposals for the said loan, ap­
plication may be made for any part thereof, at au interest of 4 per cent, or a less rate,
upon condition that the loan shall be for a greater period, and not exceed thirty five
years, exempt from taxation, with the interest thereon payable semi annu lly, the
Governor is hereby authorized and empowered to entertain and carry into effect such
proposition, should he deem it advisable for the best interest of the Commonwealth ;
P ro v id ed fa r th e r , That the notice to be issued in Europe for proposals shall precede
the notice in this country at least one month.
S ec. 104. That immediately after the negotiations of the loans herein provided for,
the State Treasurer shall give notice in one newspaper in Boston, one in New York,
and one in Philadelphia, to the holders of all certificates of loau then due, and to the
holders of certificates issued to domestic creditors, to present the same at his office at
Harrisburg, or at such place as he may designate in Philadelphia, for final payment;
and in case such holders shall refuse or neglect to surrender the certificates aforesaid,
the interest thereon shall cease to be paid by the State within sixty days of the time
of paymeut fixed in such notice ; P rovid ed , That it shall be lawful for the Governor
and State Treasurer, in addition to gold and silver, to receive at par. in payment for
the loan herein authorized, any of the bonds of the State, domestic creditor certificates,
and the certificates issued for unpaid interest; the certificates of loan paid and can­
celled under the provisions of this act, after having been copied into a book to be
kept in the office of the State Treasurer for that purpose, shall be destroyed by the
State Treasurer and Auditor General, in the presence of the Governor and Secretary
oi the Commonwealth.
S ec. 105. That when the loan provided in this act shall have been negotiated, and
the indebtedness cancelled as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the State Treasurer to
ascertain as near as possible the aggregate amount of interest saved to the Common­
wealth by the provisions of this act, as compared with the interest now paid, deduct­
ing all contingent expenses; and shall, at the time of making the then next semi-an­
nual payment of interest, aud semi aunually thereafter, pay over to the Commission­
ers of the Sinking Fund a sum equal to the amount so saved; and all premiums which
may be received under the provisions af this act, and all unclaimed balances, if any,
shall be also paid over to the Commissioners o f the Sinking Fund, to be applied to
the cancellation o f the public debt, in the same manner that all other receipts to that
fund are applied.
S ec. 106. That the Governor and State Treasurer be and they are hereby author­
ized and empowered to issue certificates of loan in the manner and form provided for
in the foregoing section of this act, reimbursable at a period not exceeding thirty-five
years from their date, to any and all of such holders of the 5 per cent loan of the




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

100

Commonwealth as may signify their willingness to receive new certificates of lo.an,
bearing an interest of 4 per cent or a less rate per annum, exempted from taxation,
with coupons or interest certificates attached, payable semi-annually in gold and sil­
ver ; and they shall further have the right to give the necessary notice and take such
other steps as may he proper to accomplish the true intent and meaning of this sec­
tion ; and it shall be the duty of State Treasurer to communicate to the next Legislature
a detailed statement of the proceedings under this act, showing the bids received for
the loan, the names of the parties making such bids, and such other matters as may
be deemed interesting and useful; P rov id ed , That the certificates of loan authorized
by an act “ to provide for the immediate completion of the North Branch extension of
the Pennsylvania Canal,” approved the second day of April, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-two, shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever;
and it shall be the duty of the Governor to cause coupons to be attached to said certifi­
cates in the same manner and form as those required to be attached to the bonds to be is­
sued under the provisions of this act; A n d provided, That no bids below par shall be
entertained for any of said loans ; A n d p rov id ed fu r th e r , That proposals for the loan
to complete the North Branch Canal shall be forthwith published for at least thirty
days in one newspaper in Philadelphia, one in New York, and one in Boston.
COST OF LEGISLATION IN MASSACHUSETTS.
The legislature of Massachusetts meets annually on the 1st Wednesday in January.
The Senate is composed of forty members, and the House of some four hundred. The
pay of members is two dollars per day, and traveling expenses. The Governor re­
ceives a salary o f $2,500, and is chosen annually.
The Com m onw ealth furnishes the following statement of the expenses of the Leg­
islature for the last two sessions— that is, for the sessions o f 1851 and 1852. The
session for 1851 commenced January 1st, and ended May 26. The session for 1852
commenced January 7 th, and closed May 24tli.
EXPENSES OF SESSION OF

1852.
$11,672
114,126
4,550
3,265
250
466

Senate....................................................
House of Representatives...................
Clerks.....................................................
Messengers, door-keepers, < t c . . . . VJ..
Chaplains and election sermon . v . '
...............
Resolves in favor of sick menders, v . . . . . . . . 7. .vftS V .............

00
00
00
50
00
70

$134,330 20
Pay of Council, old b oa rd.. .
................................... .......
Pay of Council, new board.......... . .. ..................... ............

$355
2,992

Newspapers, about.....................................................................................
Total, 1852 ..........................................................................................

3,347 00
5,000 00
$142,177 20

EXPENSES OF SESSION OF 1 8 5 1 .

Senate..........................................................................................................
House of Representatives.........................................................................
Clerks ..........................................................................................................
Doorkeepers, <tc.........................................................................................
Members per resolves...............................................................................

$12,158
118,124
4,804
250
712

00
00
00
00
20

$139,469 20
Pay of Council, old board..
Pay of Council, new board.

$461
2,953
3,414 00

Newspapers, about.

$142,883 20
5,000 00

Total, 1851 . . .

$147,883 20




101

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.
RECEIPTS OF BULLION, ETC., AT PANAMA, ON ENGLISH ACCOUNT.

The annexed statement exhibits the amount of specie and bullion received at Tanama by the British Consul from California and Mexico, and from Peru and Chili, for
each month in each of the past two years :—

1851.

1850.
California
and Mexico.

January...
February.. .....................
March . . . .
A pril........
M ay........
J u n e ........ .....................
J u ly ......... .....................
August___
September. .....................
O ctober.. . .....................
November.
December. .....................

212,769

412,992
402,439
401,596
414,392
754,098

Peru and
Chili.

California
and Mexico.

Peru and
Chili.

$747,861
578,803
611.530
595,005
572,716
739,479
728,994
440,207
582,100
699,826
797,333
756,090

$773,662
610,280
310,377
525,806
109,727
368,460
245,155
415,191
512,334
503,735
542,603
661,089

$591,109
616,618
963,547
619,860
828,224
844,000
696,912
772,931
869,528
780,837
708,811
792,398

Total.

$5,578,420

Total amount received at Panama, as above, in 1 8 5 0 ...
Total amount received at Panama, as above, in 1 8 5 1 ...

$9,080,565
$12,466,666
14,658,995

Total in two years.....................................

$27,125,661

A portion of this went to England direct from Chagres, and the balance by way of
Hew York. Of the above aggregate, $10,195,142 was from California and Mexico.
Since, soon after the first discovery of gold in California, several large English bank­
ing houses have had agents in San Francisco and in the mining regions, buying up
gold dust, and shipping it to London. A large amount of dust has been drawn from
California in the way of Commerce, in payment for cargoes of merchandise sent out
direct from English ports.
SALE OF INDIANA CENTRAL RAILWAY BONDS.
The bids for the two hundred thousand dollars of the *7 per cent convertible bonds
of the Indiana Central Railway Company were opened at the office of Winslow, La­
nier & Co., New Y'ork, in June, 1852. There were bids for $535,000, more than
$500,000 of which were at over 90 per cent. The $200,000 offered were awarded at
prices varying from 95-10-100 to 97-72-100, making an average sale at 95-53-100 per
cent, which is the best price yet obtained for a Western Railway loan. The successful
bids were as follows:—
Average net’g.

$4,000..
5,000.
5,000
5,000.
2,000.
1,000.
5,000.
7,000.
5,000.
5,000.
5,000.
00 000
15/100.

..a t
...
...
...

97.72
96.75
96.56
96.35

...

95.91

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

95.81
95.80
95.75
95.67

$3,908
4,837
4.828
4,667
1,918
959
4,793
6,706
4,790
4,787
4,783

80
50
00
00
40
10
00
70
00
50
50

14,334 00

Average net’g.

5,000..
34,000..
4 ,000..
5,000..
5,000..
10,000..
9,000..
10,000..
21,000..
5,000..
8,000..

...
...

95.55
95.52

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

95.50
95.35
95.31
95.30
95.26
95.25

...

95.10

4,777
32,470
3,820
4,775
4,767
9,531
8,577
9,526
20,002
4,767
7,608

95.53

$191,062 70

$200,000.. .at

50
80
40
00
50
00
00
00
60
50
00

The successful bidders for the bonds were Clark, Dodge A Co., Norwich Savings In­
stitution, Clinton Gilbert, Charles S. Francis, W. & J. O’Brien, Mervin & Gould, De
Coppatt <fc Co., John Ferguson, Peter McMartin, John Thompson, A. Wylie, jr., C. T.
Cromwell, Thomas McKenzie, and Chubb Brothers.




102

Journal o f Banking , Currency , and Finance .
IDENTITY OF INDORSERS.

In a former number of the M erchants' M aga zin e , we published a few remarks on
this subject. Those remarks have elicited from a correspondent of the E ven in g B u l­
le tin the subjoined statement o f facts, which are of great importance to Banks and
Bankers:—
A person traveling from one part of the country to another, provides himself with
funds in the shape o f drafts drawn to his order, on banks and brokers. He cannot
take gold, because it is inconvenient on account of its weight to carry it about his
person, and it is dangerous to put it in his trunk. It is unsafe to carry bank-notes, be­
cause of the exposure to pick pockets, to say nothing of the discount on such funds at
different points. So, for his own convenience and security, he obtains drafts. These
he knows cannot be ca-hed without his indorsement. If his pocket-book is stolen, he
can obtain duplicate drafts, and the only inconvenience is loss of time.
He presents his draft at the counter o f the bank where they are made payable,
and is politely informed that he is not known to be the person represented in the
draft, and that it will be necessary for him to identify himself He will probably re­
ply, by assuring the teller that he is the proper person, and that there can be no mis­
take about it. The teller replies that it is very probably so, but there must be some
evidence shown before the draft can be paid. If the stranger is an unreasonable man,
his face will be flushed with mortification and anger, and he will inquire haughtily for
the cashier. When shown into his room the same scene is gone over, only that by
this time the stranger, by the delay, begins to think that he is suspected of being a
swindler or forger. The cashier lays aside his pen and very patiently endeavors to
show him the necessity for this caution. After some time thus spent, the stranger is
convinced of one thing at least; namely, that unless he carries some evidences of his
identity about him, such as his attested signature or other proof, he must find a refer­
ence ; and he goes away mortified to comply with what he thinks, in h is case at least,
is unnecessary precaution.
Some time ago a person went to the post-office, in our city, and inquired for a letter.
One answering to his description was delivered to him, which he opened. It contained
a draft drawn in favor of the party to whom the letter was addressed. He wrote
that name upon it and presented it at the bank, on which it was drawn for payment.
Being a stranger to the teller, payment was refused, unless the party could identify
himself. He then took from his pocket the letter which contained the draft, and ex­
hibited that as proof, that he was the person represented. This seemed conclusive
evidence to the teller, and the money was paid.
The real owner, not receiving his remittances, wrote to his correspondents that he
had received no letter from them as he expected. They replied and gave a descrip­
tion of the draft. On inquiry at the bank, it was found that the indorsement was a
forgery; and the bank was, of course, obliged to pay the amount to the true owner.
Only a few weeks ago, the cashier of a bank in the city of New York was thus im­
posed upon. A person who was lodging at one of the hotels, requested the proprietor
to go with him to the bank and introduce him, that he might get a certificate of de­
posit cashed, which was made payable to his order. The polite landlord did so, and
the money was paid. When the certificate was forwarded for payment to the bank
which issued it, answer was returned that the indorsement was forged. The bank
whirh cashed it must of course lose the amount.
Is it to be wondered at, that banks and brokers are cautious in dealing with stran­
gers ? Let travelers and strangers, in visiting places where they have no acquaintance,
get such evidence of their identity as can easily be secured by their hand-writing
properly attested.
THE SMALL NOTE CURRENCY,
New York has provided, and after the experience of fourteen years under the Gen­
eral Banking system, perfected, as near as may be, a reliable small note currency for
the people. New England had preceded us, under what is known as the Suffolk sys­
tem. The first is secured by stock collaterals and made redeemable at Albany or in
this city, at the uniform rate o f not exceeding one-quarter of one per cent. The last,
without collaterals, is made redeemable at par at the Suffolk Bank in Boston. The
New York plan, for ultimate security, is the best. The other, owing to popular opin­
ion throughout New England, which rejects all small notes not provided for at the




Journal o f Ba&khig, Currency, and Fin/mx.

103

Suffolk Bank, is substantially as convertible. The New Y o r k plan le quite as profit­
able, if not more so, to the honest banker as the other, for while collateral secsrri t y is
required, the security is taken in interest-paying stocks, and a charge equal to fifteen
•days interest allowed on redemption at Albany and New York.
The Metropolitan Bank of New York has made both systems smiform ia trade. Tin?
New York small notes, whether redeemed at Albany or New York City, are depos­
ited at one-quarter of one per eent off. The New England notes, redeemable in Ba&•tojB, at fifteen cents off each hundred dollars. Under this manage meat, -every «r&y
smobjectionable to the banker, who aims only at a fair interest on his business, tbeoe
’would seem to be nothing wanting to a safe and convertible system o f email -notes.
Y et attempts have n o t been withheld to defeat this purpose, and, if possible, super-eede our own State currency, simply because a few of the makers of it, keeping ere
•offices o f general banking business in the interior, are not content with the shave 6®
which they have been reduced by legal regulation. First, resort was had to the
Banking Law o f New Jersey, but the recent Legislature of tliat State, sensible o f th e
abuse, ordered par redemption at points contiguous to New York and Philadelphia.
Next, a bank in Michigan, based, for the sake of plausibility, on government securities,
was used to the extent of some four hundred thousand dollars, and its notes si.ia.vorl
sat three-fold the usual rate, by their own makers, -in Wall-street. The Metropolitan
Bank has corrected tills dodge, and, after a fierce contest o f a single week, in Mschtgan, has brought the bankers to terms. Another project is now started. A u Natsoor
ill Bank ” at Washington, owned in part or altogether in New York, is to be used for
circulating small cotes of inferior value to our own currency. This is announced. a*
biased on State stocks deposited .at Washington, with whom, or b y whom, does not a p ­
pear, nor ought the question to weigh with die public, unless the notes are made as.
geod in New York as New York small notes.
The chief objection to all these schemes is, that they aim to defeat our own sakrtary
currency laws, and for this should be diecoiratenamced by the public. T h e y are the
-entering wedge to a general system of irredeemable “ shin-plasters.” The purpose is*
to issue the notes at par to the money-borrower, and redeem them at the largest shav«s
practicable, from the public wh© receive them in ordinary trade. The makers p r e ­
s u m e largely on the indifference of the latter to a fractional discount, in good times*
and a yet larger loss b y redemption when money grows scarce. The scheme is a vi«ious (Mae. It aims to abrogate our own laws, and to supplant our owa currency. It
ts without apology in this State, where the banker is allowed interest on his collateral*
Albany, and receives interest on his issues paid out on paper discounted.
Should the “ National” issue foe driven to its nominal home— which we trust will
foe the case through the Metropolitan or some ether agency—it -is quite possible d ie
F r e e Banking Laws o f the remoter States in the West will be resorted to. Indeed, a
"S tate Stock Bank” at Cairo, Illinois, is already announced, and if under the eesafolance of “ security ” and -the .promise o f 1 or 2 per cent redemption here, the sots*
can foe forced into New York circulation, the scheme may soon be tried.— Tim a s.
©EHAND LOR MONEY*
W e are ‘requested by the editors o f the D u b u q u e H e r a ld t® call the atfcentikxs of
our capitalists to the facte contained in the following paragraph from the editorial ojL
UEffis o f that Journal
"Capitalists abroad will be better able to appreciate the state o f our money m a r k e t
^roci a few facts we will preseut, than from any speculative disquisition we could write
on the subject. By a reference to our advertising column it will be perceived that the
■only banking houses in the place, offer from 6 to 10 per centum for money placed with,
them on deposit. This speaks more than could a large treatise, and we trust it is suf­
ficiently significant in its importance to induce capitalists from abroad t o b rin g hither
.eojse of their surplus wealth for investment.”
FINANCES OF CONNECTICUT*
The message of Governor Seymour, of Uounectieut, states, that the financial affair*
o f the State are in a most prosperous condition. Its ordinary expenses for the fiscal
year ending on the 31st of March, were $109,847 £3, which with $26,832 paid to the
School Fund, and $646 76 unpaid taxes, made a total of $137,326 18. The receipts
for the year, including the balance of $26,266 22 on hand, were $176,456 21, Leaving




104

Journal o f Banking, Currency , and Finance.

a remainder of $39,103 03 beyond the expenditures.

$8,000 of this has been appro­
priated to the payment of the indebtedness to the School Fund, which is now dis­
charged in full, and the State commenced its present fiscal year entirely free from
debt, and with $31,000 in its Treasury. Under these circumstances, the Governor
recommends that the State tax be reduced from one to three-fourths of one per cent.
The Governor reiterates his recomendaticn in favor of the adoption of the system of
free banking in Connecticut.
ADULTERATION OF COINS IN PARIS.
The Paris correspondent of the N a tio n a l In tellig en cer says, that remarkable inge­
nuity has been shown in Paris recently in the adulteration of m oney; and if the coins
thus put in circulation were only used in the purchase of the corresponding coffee,
there would not be much cause of complaint. The worthies engaged in this branch
of forgeries are not so much counterfeiters of money as money alterers, or, to use the
words literally, money changers. The m odus operand i is as follows:— They take a
genuine five-franc piece, and go to work as if they were about to manufacture a verita­
ble snuff box out of it. The process is obvious. One side of the coin is carefully re­
moved by the use of a very thin fine saw ; as much of the interior as possible is then
cut o u t; the space left vacant is filled with a composition having the same weight,
and nearly the same sound or r in g as silver ; then the side is carefully soldered on
again, and the coin has of course the same outward appearance as before. Most of
of the pieces thus altered bear the effigy either of Louis XVTII., Charles X., or
Louis Philippe. The fraud was first detected at the Bank of France. The deteriora­
tion of the coins thus altered is about seven-tenths.
OF BONDS ISSUED BY RAILROAD CORPORATIONS IN MAINE.
The following “ act in relation to bonds issued by railroad corporations,” was ap­
proved by the Governor of Maine, January 30th, 1852, and is now in force.
AN ACT IN RELATION TO BONDS ISSUED BY RAILROAD CORPORATIONS.

S ection 1. Every railroad corporation within this State, shall have power to issue

its bonds for the purpose of building or furnishing its road, or paying any debts con­
tracted in the building and equipment of the same; bearing interest not exceeding six
per cent per annum ; and secured in such manner as they may deem expedient.
S ect . 2. Bonds issued under the provisions of this act, shall not be for sums less
than one hundred dollars; and all bonds issued by any company under this act, shall
be binding on said company and collectable in law, notwithstanding such bonds are
negotiated and sold by such corporation at less than the par value thereof.
S ect . 3. This shall take effect on and after its approval by the governor.
RICH MEN IN MASSACHUSETTS.
It is estimated that there are in Massachusetts 1,496 persons worth $50,000 and up­
wards. Of this number, 26 persons are worth a million or more, 45 a half million.
Of the whole list, 705, or nearly half, began life poor or nearly so. Two hundred and
eighty-two received their wealth by marriage. Of the whole list, 90 are farmers, 53
manufacturers of cotton, woolen, <fcc., 463 are merchants, 75 lawyers, 31 physicians, 12
clergymen, 46 brokers and speculators, 11 publishers, 4 editors, 50 shoemakers and
shoe dealers, 10 tailors and clothes dealers, 15 carpenters, 9 masons, 23 butchers and
provision dealers, 14 distillers. Those put down as benevolent are 375. Old bachlors 68.
THE MERCHANT THAT KEPT TWO BANK ACCOUNTS.
The W a ll S treet J ou rn a l gives the following dialogue between two merchants in
"Wall-street:—
A . — Where do you keep your account? B . — I keep two ; one in the Bank of New
York, and the other in the Metropolitan Bank. A . — Why do you keep two ? B .—
Why, I have been in the habit of getting all the discounts I required from the good
old New York, and I always keep a small balance in the Metropolitan, in order to get
rid of my uncurrent money. Comment is unnecessary.




Commercial Statistics.

105

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.
FOREIGN COMMERCE OF PORTS IN THE UNITED STATES COMPARED.
The following statement, showing the amounts of revenue from customs, collected
at forty-three of the principal ports of the United States, from the 1st of July, 1851,
to the 31st of March, 1852, and the comparison with that o f the corresponding period
o f the preceding year, is interesting, as exhibiting the comparative foreign Commerce
of the principal ports of entry in the United States. It will be observed that there
is a decrease in the ports of New York and Boston, and a slight increase in those of
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The greatest proportionate increase is in
San Francisco. The inland ports generally exhibit a very large increase.
1850—51.
1851—52.
New York........ 824,375,012 §32,121,112 Sandusky...........
Boston...............
4,924,400
4,711,112 Eastport.............
Philadelphia.. .
2,830,899
2,890,043 Gloucester, Mass.
New Orleans......
1,777,682
1,806,471 New Bedford... .
Baltimore..........
776,380
800.772 Providence..........
Charleston, S. C.
455,263 Bristol.................
601,387
San Francisco..
596,931
1,779,945 New London. . . .
St. Louis...........
142,406
197,990 Rochester............
Portland............
142,169
180,321 Lewiston.............
Savannah ........
159,602
113,632 Ogdensburg ___
Salem................
117,976
89,429 D etroit...............
Mobile...............
62,398
90,729 Nashville............
Alburg, Y t........
57,684
28,422 Pittsburg, Pa___
Oswego..............
56,259
59,746 Chicago...............
Buffalo..............
51,240
78,021 B a th ...................
Richmond.........
55,468
48,901 Wilmington........
New H a v e n __
49,454
57,722 Cape Vincent... .
Norfolk..............
45,158
34,853 New bury port . . .
Cleveland.........
51,578
80,052 Georgetown, D. C.
Cincinnati..........
78,712
87,517 Alexandria, Va. .
Louisville..........
41,605 Sackett’s Harbor.
48,897
Plattsburg........
40,395
48,585

1850—51.
§19,913
18,305
17,244
15,832
30,849
17,209
15,604
11,284
11,595
12,320
23,545
10,085
2,177
4,861
11,214
11,270
6,144
3,061
9,935
5,724
1,950

1851-52§33,580
14,163
14,085
16,763
22,423
11,991
7,781
9,377
18,215
16,878
23,921
55,844
12,386
2,168
6,683
19,174
15.521
12,530
13,022
27,686
12,483

IMPORTATION OF EGGS INTO GREAT BRITAIN.
It appears from the annual returns relating to trade and navigation that in the year
ending the 5th of January, 1852, the number of eggs imported was 115,526,236, being
an increase on the preceding, when the number was 105,689,060. In the year end­
ing the 5th of January, 1851, the duty wa3 £38,577, and in the year ending the 5th of
January, 1852, £42,149.
THE BANK AND COD FISHERY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
, Esq., Collector of the Marblehead District in Massachusetts, has sent
us the tabular statement on the following page, showing the tonnage employed and
product of the Bank and Cod Fishery in the District of Marblehead, which includes
the porta of Marblehead and Lynn, for the year ending December 31st, 1851. The
statement is official, and the most complete that has ever before been published. It
will be found, in connection with the series of papers on “ The Fisheries of the United
States,” published in former numbers of the M ercha nts' M aga zin e, quite interesting,
as well as useful, in illustrating the importance of this important branch of productive
industry:—
J

ohn

G

il l e y







Com mercial S tatistics.

AMOUNT OF THE TONNAGE EMTLOYED AND PRODUCT OF THE BANIt AND COD FISHERY DURING THE FISHING SEASON ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1851.
Total fish,
Tonnage. Crew. Am’fcof
Fish landed & cured.
Oil.
Master’s name.
Q.uin’Is. Price. Amount. Bbb. Calls. Price. Amount. Tons. ft. Men. fish & oil. Bounty. oil & bounty.
Owner’s name.
Vessel’s name.
$2,574 88
360 17 00 $204 00
83 03 e $2,242 75 $332 13
815* 2 50 $2,038 75 12
Sch’r Erie.. . . John H. Gregory Thomas Chapman
4,226 09
353 09
570 17 00
823 00
88 26 7 3,873 00
“ Ceres. . John Quiner..» . J. T. Dissmofe .. . 1,420 2 50 3,500 00 19
4,241 11
310 61
450 17 50
262 50
77 62 9 3,930 50
Mary Susan.. H. F. Pitman. . . J. Gilley, 2d ..« * 1,400 2 62 3,668 00 15
306 53
4,159 53
570 17 00
76 60 7 3,853 00
823 00
Zac. Taylor.. . John Q uiner... . H. Warren........... 1,412 2 50 8,530 00 19
333 26
4,450 76
600 16 00
83 30 7 4,117 50
320 00
Ben. Franklin. G. K n igh t... . . . R. B. Ireson. . * *. 1,519 2 50 3,797 60 20
289 56
3,790 56
480 16 00
256 00
72 37 7 8,501 00
Barnard........., G. Knight.. . *. D. Symonds, jr.. > 1,298 2 50 3,245 00 16
3,578 95
286 15
2,986 80 18
540 17 00
806 00
8 3,292 80
71 51
Martha.......». G. Cloutman . . . T. Tindley, j r . . . . 1,140 2 62
360 00
5,116 00
480 16 00
256 00
92 47 10 4,756 00
Alciope.......... G. K nigh t... . . . J. Bridgeo.......... .. 1,800 2 50 4,500 00 16
314 11
4,155 11
78 50 7 3,841 00
480 16 00
256 00
S. Knight... . . G. Knight........ . T. J. P ea ch ......... 1,434 2 30 3,585 00 16
345 56
4,121 81
272 00
86 37 7 6,776 25
480 17 00
Atlantic. . . . T. Wooldridge. . E. Dixey . . * . . . . 1,337* 2 62 3,604 25 16
204 06
4,144 92
73 49 7 3,850 86
306 00
540 17 00
G a zelle........ G. Cloutman . *,. J. S. Bailey......... 1,353 2 62 3,544 86 18
3,974 09
321 09
420 16 00
224 00
80 26 8 3,653 00
W. Franklin.. S. H. Brown . . . J. Glass, j r ........... 1,270 2 70 3,429 00 14
341 89
4,883 09
480 17 00
272 00
85 45 7 4,041 20
3,769 00 16
Decatur......... R. Courtis . . . . , . A. H. Missewey . 1,396 2 70
31309
1,918 96
1,548 37 3
90 17 50
62 50
78 26 9 1,600 87
539* 2 87
E ssex. . . __ _ S. Standley . . . . . J. Clothey............
299 03
3,758 13
238 00
74 72 7 3,459 10
420 17 00
Beverly......... R. Courtis . . . . . T. B. Pedrick. . . . 1,193 2 70 3,221 10 14
338 57
4,402 47
420 17 00
238 00
84 61
7 4,063 90
Robin............. R. B. Ramsdell.., R. B. Ramsdell... 1,417 2 70 3,825 90 14
349 39
3,673 39
204 00
360 17 00
87 33 7 3,824 00
Rose.. , .......... J. Hidden......... . F. F. Swett.......... 1,200 2 60 3,120 00 12
328
76
4,054 37
272 00
82 18 7 3,725 61
3,453 61 16
480 17 00
Bird................ W. Bowler.. . . . , , R. Ireson.............. 1,303* 2 65
2,870
50
3,194
16
323 60
2,678 50 12
360 16 00
192 00
80 87
974 2 75
7
Gen. Jackson., S. H. Brown...... , W. G. Anthony . .
23081
1,556 31
68 00
483 2 50 1,207 50 4
120 17 00
70 19 7 1,275 50
Eliza A n n .... G. Barker, 2 d .... T. Barker.............
860 00
96 45 7 4,237 04
4,597 04
262 50
450 17 60
Rebecca........ K. Martin, 2 d ..., W. Frost, 2d___ _ 1,517 •2 62 3,974 54 15
286 44
8,646 14
238 00
420 17 00
71 58 7 3,359 70
Elizabeth...... H. F. Pitman.»., B. R o s e ............... 1,178 2 65 3,121 70 14
141 85
1,271 85
150 00
35 44 6 1.130 00
980 00 10
800 15 00
700 1 40
Odd Fellow.. . J. 0 . Bow den..,. A. J. Bowden . . .
3,408 36
360 00
224 00
93 50 7 3,048 36
420 16 00
Am v Knight. G. Knight........ . B. Knight............ 1,078 2 62 2,824 86 14
360 00
4,620 00
210 00 107 87 7 4,260 00
420 15 00
Emeline........ W. Humphreys. . J. Chadwick........ 1,500 2 70 4,050 00 14
360 00
8.302 50
192 50 104 15 7 2,942 50
330 17 50
Ariel.............. J. P. Turner.. . . L. Turner............. 1,100 2 50 2,750 00 11
1,772 00
1,555 75
216 25
64 06 5
210 00
Colonel Orne., J. B. Topliam.... J. B. E llw ell___
961* 1 40 1,345 75 14
420 15 00
48 59
846 59
298 00
11 00 5
238 00 4
60 00
170 1 40
120 15 00
Botanick........ W. Goodwin . . . . W. Goodwin . . . .
255 00
292 79
37 76
45 00
10 75 3
210 00 3
90 16 00
150 1 40
Lavanclia . . . J. Glass . . . . . . .
885 60
89 27
25 48 5
974 87
75 00
810 60 5
150 15 00
579 1 40
Cadet............ J. W h ite.......... . J. W h ite .............
262 50
89 32 7 3,870 24
357 36
4,227 59
450 17 50
Balance......... K. Martin, 2d .... E. B. Thompson.. 1,377 2 62 3,607 74 15
88,116 03 ■
409 1% 270
6,774 50 2,310 53 217 94,890 53 9,038 86 103,929 39
35,015
Total at Marblehead. . . .
52,487 87
10,678 00 700 82 111 49,975 00 2,512 87
15 237
A t the port of Lynn. . . . .
13,104 3 00 39,302 00
17,447 50 3,011 40 328 144,865 63 11,551 73 166,417 26
27,507
4 4 . 127,418 03
Total amount in the district of Marblehead.. 48,119

IMPORTS OF IRON INTO THE PORT OF NEW YORK IN 18 51.
A STATEMENT OF THE IMPORT OF VARIOUS KINDS OF IRON INTO THE PORT OF NETV YO RK IN EACH MONTH DURING YE AR ENDING DECEMBER

Sheets and plates. Hoops and rods.
Tons.* cwl:. qr. lbs. Tons. cwt. qr. lbs*

511 2 3 10
650 17 2 1
512 19 1 14

354
422
919

0 0 21
7 1 5
1 0 13

First quarter............

1,674 19 2 25

1,795

8 2 11

A p r il........................
M a y ..........................
June........................ ..

1,079 10 2 6
1,332 4 1 26
1,072 7 1 19

814 12 1 0
1,407 9 3 12
977 7 3 14

Second quarter........
First 6 months........

3,484
5,159

2 1 22
2 0 19

3,299 9 3 26
5,094 18 2 9

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

A u gu st....................
September...............

792 18 2 10
1,012 17 3 13
1,075 7 3 27

947 19 2 21
615 3 2 15
930 8 3 9

Third quarter...........

3,061

4 1 22

O cto b e r...................
N ovem ber...............
D ecom ber...............

1,398 13 3 24
700 13 1 10
296 10 1 23

Fourth quarter.__ _
Second 6 months. . .

2,395 17 3
6,457 2 0

Total in 1861...........
Total in 1860...........
Excess in 1851 . . . .




1
3

10,616 4 0 22
9,575 19 1 23
1,040

4 2 27

2,293 12 0

0
0
0

1,495 0 2 14
118 13 i 18
1,191 8 3 24

8,658 0 0 9
5,764 9 3 1
15,639 17 0 14

5,828

5

7,945 10 0

0

2,805

30,062

5,667 10 2 3
17,097 18 3 18
11,415 4 3 15

3,774 5 0
7,546 4 2
6,080 16 0

0
7
0

368 5 1 5
1,296 17 1 26
628 10 1 16

17,861 7 3 6
34,680 12 2 ‘25
24,605 6 3 8

1 3 13
6 1 24

34,180 14 1 8
40,008 15 1 13

17,401 5 2
25,346 15 2

7
7

2,293 13 0 19
5,098 16 0 19

77,861 7 1 11
107,209 14 1 7

3,907 14 3 2
4 242 4 3 3
3,630 14 3 11

9,512 13 3 27
22,852 12 1 17
29,020 8 2 13

6,379 11 1 26
4,072 0 0 0
3,910 12 0 3

1,189 16 0 11
608 13 0 0
2,363 17 0 21

22,910 14 2 12
33,403 11 2 20
40,741 9 1 20

1

4,162

6 1

97,055 15 2 25

2,372 15 0 0
5,835 6 0 0
2,066 2 1 17

2,519
972
1,798

2 0 24
6 0 8
0 2 21

10,113

4 2 11

6,157 4 0 20
5,999 17 1 20
4,441 0 1 1
16,588
26,701

11,780 14 1 16

982 7 1 0
768 1 2 21
391 14 i 23

2 0 21
8 0 12
3 1 23

4,183
2,674
1,930

1 0

61,395 15 0

1

17,367 8 0 18
14,998 18 0 9
7,468 0 0 12

16
25

8,787 18 3 0
20,568 8 0 16

39,826
101,222

9,530 14 0 6
3,6 IS 11 2 26

47,269 14 2 12
50,919 12 3 2

141,230 16 2 25
70,032 14 1 25

6,612

i
i

2 i

8

31, 1851.

Total each month.
Tons, cwt* iT'. lbs.

3,247 10 0
883 0 0
3,815 0 0

6

2,142 3
4,435 15

Pie iron.
Rus. Sw. &. Nor. iron.
Tons. cWt., qr . lbs,, Tons. cwt. qr. lbs.

772 0 i 18
1,133 19 i 1
3,922 1 i 14

2,278 6 0
2,555 12 i
5,279 6 l

2
4
5

Railroad iron.
Tons. cwt qr. 1bs.

3,649 18 0 18

6 1 11
1 1 12

71,19 82

* A ll tons o f 2,224 lbs;

10

14,362

4 2

3 0

0

4

6 3 24

29,823 8 3
25,941 13 1
13,950 11 2

3
4

7

3 1 17
7 3 18

5,289 8 3 25
9,451 15 1 1

69,715 13 2 14
166,771 9 i 11

50,983 3 1 25
38,951 15 2 2

14,550 11 1 20
12,993 1 3 18

273,981 3 o 18
186,091 15 2 20

11,274
25,636

12,031

7 3 23

1,657

9 2

2

87,889

7 3 26

Com mercial S tatistics.

January... . . . . . . . .
February..................
March.......................

Bars.
Tons. CWt.qr•.lbs.

108

Com m ercial S tatistics.
THE CHEESE TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES,

The C in cin n a ti P r i c e C urrent, in accordance with its custom, gives a brief review
of the cheese trade for the season of 1851-52, from which we derive the subjoined
statements. The following table shows the monthly average price for good merchant­
able Western Reserve Cheese in the months of each year, from 1848 to 1852 :—
’ 4 8 - 9 . ’ 49 - 50 .

’48-9. ’49 50. ’50-1. ’SI-2.
April . . . .cts.
May...............
J u n e .............
S u ly .............
August..........
September . .
October.........

H

«4

64
6

64

0

6

54
54
54

6

6

64
64

6

November.. ,
Decem ber....
6
January........
64 February. . . .
64 March...........
64 Y early a v . . .

6

64

6

64
5f

6

6J
64

64
64
6f
6
64
64

64
6
64
6f
74
64

’ 50 1. ’ 51 - 2 .
64
64
64
7
74
64

64
64
64
64
7
6

It is seen the average prices for the past season are better than for either of the
three preceding years.
The receipts at the port of Cincinnati during the last five years ending March 81,
were, in boxes, as follows:—

1847-8.

1848-9.

1848-50.

1850-1.

1851-2.

139,878

152,373

124,755

189,494

253,844

Estimating the average weight of boxes at 35 pounds, and the amount received
would be as follows in pounds:—

1847-8.

1848-9.

4,895,730

5,333,055

1849-50.

1850-1.

1851-2.

4,466,425

6,632,180

8,884,540

Thus, it is seen, the receipts since 1847-8 have increased very nearly 100 per cent.
With regard to the f uture of this trade, we may say there is every prospect that
the increase for years to come will be even more rapid than heretofore, and it is very
safe, we think, to predict that in ten years, i. e„ in 1861-2, the receipts at this port
will be 30,000,000 pounds, which amount is 13,000,000 less than the present yearly
receipts at the port of New York.
Cincinnat i is the distributing point for a vast extent of territory, where the con­
sumption of cheese is rapidly increasing. The following States are now supplied, in
a great measure, from this point; namely, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois,
Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, besides a por­
tion o f Ohio. The free population of these States, according to the last census, was
about eight millions, leaving twelve millions for the remainder of the United States.
Now let us see by whom the cheese is produced. The amount of cheese produced by
each State during the year ending June 30, 1850, was as follows:—
Maine............................. lbs.
New Hampshire.................
Vermont..............................
Massachuset's.....................
Rhode Island.....................
Connecticut.........................
New York...........................
Delaware.............................
Maryland.............................
District of Columbia..........
North Carolina...................
South Carolina...................
Florida.................................
Georgia................................
Total............................

2,201,195
3,196,568
6,755,006
7,124,461
296,748
4,513,019
49,785,905
500,819
2,395,279
3,187
3,925
none.
434,850
95,043
4,810
18,324
46,391

Wisconsin.

30,423
20,314
1,148
92,018
28,440
179,577
228,744
1,042,551
21,350,478
666,986
1,283,858
201,597
198,444
440,961

Total.

35,765,539

Alabama..
Mississippi.
Louisiana.
T exas.. . .
Arkansas.
Tennessee..
Kentucky..
Michigan .
Ohio........
Indiana. .
Illinois.. .
Missouri..

77,375,527

Thus, it is seen, the States containing a population o f about twelve millions pro­
duce over seventy-seven million pounds of cheese annually, while the Western and




Com m ercial S tatistics.

109

Southern States, 'with a free population of eight millions, produce only thirty-five mil­
lion pounds. Of the former, New York produces forty-nine million, and of the latter,
Ohio produces twenty-one million. The Southern States produce a very small quan­
tity in proportion to their population, and as it is not now, nor is not likely to become
a profitable business in those States, the consumptive demand must be supplied from
Ohio, and hence we may look for a steady increase in the trade at this point, Cincin­
nati being, as already remarked, the distributing market for the South and West, and
as railroads are extended, the area of country supplied from this place will increase.
Before many years elapse, North and South Carolina and Georgia will be connected
by railroads with Cincinnati, and, indeed, already the merchants of that city are re­
ceiving orders from Georgia, the Chattanooga Railroad having connected some por­
tions of that State with the western rivers.
When the statistics of this trade in the United States are fully considered in con­
nection with the facts presented, our prediction that the yearly trade at the port of
Cincinnati will in ten years have increased to thirty million pounds, will not be regard­
ed as too large an estimate. This increase would be greatly less than that experi­
enced in New York. The receipts at that port in 1834 were 6,340,000 pounds; in
1844, 29,672,000 ; and in 1850, 43,097,000.
COMMERCE OF SWEDEN.

The following table of the Commerce of Sweden during the year 1850, is derived
from official tables just published. It will be seen from this table that Sweden im­
ports more from Brazil than any other country, and that her exports to Great Britain
and Ireland are double what they are to any other country. The trade of Sweden
with the United States, in exports and imports, amounts to Rd.bko. 4,157,000.
Norway................................................................Rd. bko.
Finland.............................................................................
Russia................................................................................
Denmark...........................................................................
Prussia.............................................................................
Mecklenburg.....................................................................
L u b e ck .............................................................................
Hamburg..........................................................................
B rem en.............................................................................
Hanover and Oldenburg................................................
N e th e rla n d s .................................................................
Belgium.............................................................................
Great Britain and Ireland...............................................
France.......................................................................................
Spain..........................................................................................
Portugal...................................................................................
Gibraltar and Malta........................................................
I t a ly .........................................................................................
A u stria.............................................................................
E g y p t ...............................................................................
A lg ie r s .............................................................................
Rest of North A fr ic a ....................................................
■United States..........................................................................
West In dies....................................................................
Brazil.......................................................................................
Plata States, rest of North and South America.........
Cape of Good H op e.......................................................
East Indies and Australia....................................................
Total Bho. R d ..........................................................

Imported.
Exported.
2,317,000
778,000
422,000
691,000
1,698,000
272,000
1,733,000
3,673,000
451,000
1,374,000
51,000
452,000
4,083,000
1,313,000
647,000
111,000
243,000
186,000
1,000
89,000
561,000
468,000
74,000
266,000
3,332,000
7,741,000
479,000 2,074,090
245,000
342,000
153,000
839,000
52,000
152,000
248,000
82,000
11,000
298,000
5,000
1,639,000
2,518,000
161,000
.............
4,330,000
299,000
.............
31,000
131,000
1,215,000
211,000
23,987,000

24,505,000

The import of coffee was, in 1841, 5,300,000 lbs.; in 1850, it was about 8,000,000
lbs. Raw sugar was imported in 1841 in the quantity of 14,500,000 lbs.; in 1850, it
reached 25,000,000 lbs. Arrac, rum, and cognac, in 1846, 290,000 cans; in 1850,
390,000 cans.
The commercial fleet consisted, in 1840, of 2,171 vessels, o f 175,558 tons; in 1850, of




110

Commercial Statistics.

2,744 vessels, o f 225,966 tons. The merchant fleet of Stockholm decreases annually,
while that of Gothenburg and Gefle increases rapidly. In 1850, 841 vessels were en­
gaged in foreign trade, with a burden o f 141,746 tons, their crews amounted to 1,283
officers, and 8,050 men, an increase, since 1840, of 283 officers and 1,106 men.
Tire Navigation act was used in Sweden in 1850 by 7 English ships, of 2,522 tons;
in England, by 112 Swedish vessels, of 26,032 tons.
MARINE DISASTERS ON THE NORTHERN LAKES.
J o h n C. D odge , Esq., agent for the New York Board of Underwriters, has sent ns

a tabular statement of marine disasters, losses to vessels, (fcc., on the Northern Lakes in
1851, and also a comparative statement for the years 1848 to 1851, inclusive, a sum­
mary of which we here subjoin:—
LOSS OP LIFE, DAMAGE TO VESSELS, ETC., IN

Loss of
life.

Date.
March..............
A p ril..............
M a y ...............
June................
J u l y ...............
August...........
Septem ber. . .
October........ a
N ovem ber__
December.. . .

10
16
..

1
1
2
39
1
5

Damage to vessels.
English.
LJ. States.

$30,300
3,000
500
2,500
400
9,000
12,000
3,800
500

$350
30,770'
47,580
11,300
19,750
12,570
25,650
70,350
75,000
73,100

1851.

Damage to cargoes.
English.
U. States.

Total.

$5,000
24,350
14,350
8,650
8,200
4,350
92,600
102,350
4,000

$350
67,420
74,930
27,450
32,400
21,170
49,000
180,950
182,650
78,600

$1,360
1,500
1,500
10,000
6,000
1,500
1,000

75
$62,000 $366,420
$22,850 $263,650
Tot’l dam’e to Eng. cargoes 22,850 Tot’l dam’e to Amer. ves’Is 366,420
$84,850
GENERAL

$630,070
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.

1818.
Loss
Loss
Loss
Loss

of
to
to
to

$714,920

1819.

1830.

1851.

Grand

life........ .
40
46
430
75
591
American vessels . ...........$230,963 $189,750 $397,580 $366,420 $1,184,713
American cargoes.
106,700 161,250 114,850 263,650
846,450
English vessels . . .
31,600
11,000
26,700
62,000
131,300
23,000
6,500
2,500
22,850
54,850

Grand totals

...........$392,263 $368,500

$541,630 $714,920 $2,017,313

TIMBER TRADE OF QUEBEC.
The timber forming this trade consists o f white pine, red pine, oak, elm, tamarac
and spruce. White pine forms three-fourths of all the timber received at Quebec.
The aggregate amount of all kinds, in cubic feet, exported from there to Great Brit­
ain, for two seasons, has been as foHows:—

I860.

1851.

Increase.

22,128,203

23,951,393

1,823,195

The vast amount of commerce made lay this amount of timber, with the staves,
sawed lumber, and articles of produce exported from Quebec, is indicated by the arri­
vals at that port. The arrivals by sea at Quebec have been, for two seasons, as fol­
lo w s :—

1851.

1850.
Ships.

Tonnage.

1,018

536,379




Ships.
1,185

Tonnage.

Ships.

505,024

107

Increase.
Tonnage.

68,655

Com m ercial Statistics.

Ill

COMMERCE OF CEYLOY,
STATEMENT 3H05V2-NS THU VALUE OF IM POSTS AND- EXPO RTS INTO AND- FROM THE ISLAND
OS’ CEYLON, ALSO THE TOTAL REVENUE DERIVED THEREFROM IN THE SHAPE OF CUSTOM
DUTIES,

TOGETHER

W IT H

THE

NUMBER

OF

VESSELS

W HICH ENTERED INW ARDS AND

CLEARED OUTWARDS.
V essels
o u tw a r d .
T on s.
6 8 ,4 8 3

£

£

£

1 8 3 6 ______

V esselski w ard.
T on s.
7 1 ,2 3 2

1 4 0 ,1 0 0

4 1 1 ,1 6 7

3 0 8 ,7 0 3

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

8 1 ,3 4 5

8 3 ,5 6 3

1 3 7 ,5 6 4

5 9 5 ,8 8 8

3 2 6 ,8 8 0

3 8 3 8 ..

..

9 6 ,2 9 2

9 5 ,6 6 7

1 0 7 ,5 3 8

5 4 7 ,5 0 1

2 9 3 ,3 1 5

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

1 0 5 ,8 3 8

1 0 0 ,1 6 6

1 8 4 ,0 1 0

6 6 1 ,9 2 0

3 7 5 ,6 0 8

3 8 4 0 .....

1 0 3 ,0 0 5

1 0 4 ,0 1 5

1 1 6 ,9 4 3

7 3 3 ,5 1 3

4 0 9 ,9 4 7

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

1 0 9 ,6 0 6

1 0 9 ,1 8 7

3 1 0 ,2 5 0

1 8 4 2 .....

1 2 4 ,6 9 2

1 9 2 ,7 4 5

4 6 3 .4 4 5

3 3 4 3 ...........

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

8 7 9 ,0 7 0
7 9 4 ,7 5 8

1 3 9 ,6 2 2

1 2 5 ,7 0 0

1 ,0 3 4 , 5 3 1

4 2 1 ,0 8 3

3 8 4 1 ............

1 6 9 ,1 2 8

3 6 2 ,9 5 3

1 5 5 ,0 9 0

1 ,3 6 7 ,6 0 4

5 8 2 ,3 6 7

3 8 4 5 ...........

1 9 6 ,3 6 4

1 8 9 ,8 1 5

1 4 8 ,5 1 0

1 ,4 9 4 ,8 2 4

5 8 3 ,1 0 0

1 8 4 6 ............

2 1 1 ,9 4 6

2 1 2 ,4 2 4

1 4 1 ,7 7 1

1 ,3 7 2 , 7 0 1

8 7 9 ,2 8 6

3 8 4 7 ... .
1 8 4 8 ...........

2 2 8 .7 3 8

2 2 8 ,9 0 8

1 5 0 ,3 2 6

1 ,4 2 1 ,7 3 7

9 6 1 ,1 2 9

2 2 9 - '1 5 5

2 3 3 ,8 4 2

1 1 9 ,3 6 5

1 ,2 3 5 - ,4 4 3

1 ,4 4 8 , 9 0 1

3 8 4 9 .... .

2 3 4 ,1 3 5

2 3 2 ,8 3 6

1 1 9 ,1 9 2

1 ,3 6 7 ,5 4 9

1 ,2 0 6 ,1 4 9

3 8 5 0 .....

2 4 2 ,2 8 4

2 4 8 ,3 9 8

1 2 9 ,4 5 7

1 ,4 8 8 ,6 7 8

1 ,2 4 6 , 9 5 6

T sa r.

T o ta l
revenue.

V a lu e o i
im p o r t s .

STATEMENT SHOWING THE EXPORTS OF THE. PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF

V a lu e o f
e x p o r ts .

3 6 8 ,3 8 3

COLONIAL

FRODUCM

DURING THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS.
I X P 0 R T 3 OF PRODUCE.
C o ffe e .

C innam on',

C w ts.

L bs.
7 2 4 ,3 6 4

G allon s.
4 0 9 .0 1 2

C ocoa -n u t' OiT.
C asks.
_____

C w ts.
1 0 ,4 8 2 !

C oir.

5 5 8 ,1 1 0

6 3 0 ,6 7 7

8 ,9 7 6

3 6 .7 3 7 f

3 9 8 ,1 9 8

2 4 2 ,6 8 0

2S4

2 4 .S 9 5 J

6 9 6 ,5 9 2

3 5 7 ,5 4 3

_____

2 2 ,1 9 5 ^

1 8 4 0 _____

3 8 9 ,3 7 3

4 7 5 ,7 4 2

_____

2 3 ,4 4 1

1 8 4 1 --------

3 1 7 ,9 1 9

3 2 1 ,9 6 6

. . . .

2 1 ,6 4 8 *

1 8 4 2 ______

1 2 1 ,1 4 .5

4 7 5 ,9 6 7

_____

2 6 ,1 3 1

T ear.
3 8 3 6 -------3837

--------

3 S 3 - 8 -------- . . . . .
1839

4 9 ,5 4 1

_____

C b ils &
b u n d le s .
1 7 ,9 2 3

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

. ___

_____

_____

9 4 ,8 4 7

6 6 2 ,7 0 4

7 2 6 ,2 0 6

_____

2 0 ,1 8 7 *

3 8 4 4 _____

_____

3 3 3 ,9 5 7

1 ,0 5 7 , 8 4 1

4 4 3 ,3 0 1

_____

2 5 ,9 7 6 *

1 7 8 ,6 0 3 -

4 0 8 ,2 1 1

2 8 2 ,1 8 6

--------

1 9 ,5 4 .0 !

_____

_____

1 7 3 ,8 9 2

4 0 1 ,6 5 6

1 2 3 ,9 8 1

--------

2 3 ,1 9 7 !

3 8 4 7 _____

_____

2 3 ,5 2 0 4

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

8

2 5 ,1 9 9 4

10

3843

3 8 4 5 _____
1843

_____

2 9 3 ,2 2 1

4 4 7 ,3 6 9

1 9 7 ,8 5 1

3 8 4 8 _____ ............
3 8 4 9 _____ . . . .

2 8 0 ,0 1 0

4 9 1 ,6 8 8

3 1 1 ,5 2 6

2 7 3 ,5 9 3

7 3 3 ,7 8 2

5 1 8 ,2 7 9

. . . .

2 8 ,4 2 2

3 8 5 0 _____ ............

2 7 8 ,4 7 8

644,85-7

407,960

____

39 ,886 !

2

120

HAVIGATIOS OF THE UNITED STA TE S AND THE UNITED 1IMGD0M,

The following table will show the amount of tonnage which entered the ports of
©ieat Britain and the United States for nine years;—
UNITED STATES.

1842. . . , . .
1843. . . . .
1844___ ..
1 8 4 5 ___ ,.
18 46___ ..
3 8 4 7 ... .. .
3 8 4 8 ... .
1849'.. .,. .
I8 6 0 ___ . .
m i . . . , ..

American.
1,510,111
1,113,523
1,977,438
2,035,486
2,221,028
2,101,858
2,658,321
2,573,016
3,084,349-




Foreign.
732,755
531.752
9-16,992
910,563
969,178
1,120,346
1,405,191
1,710,515
1,779,623
1,939,093

Total.
2,242,886
1,648,275
2,894,430
2,946,049
8,189,206
8,221,704
3,798,593
3,368,836
3,352,639
4,998,440

GREAT BRITAIN.

Fritish.
1,680,838
2,919,528
3,087,437
3,689,853
3,022,808
4,238,056
4,020,415
4,390,375
4,070,544
4,388,245

Foreign.
974,769
1,005,894
1,143,896
1,353,735
1,407,903
1,552,096
1,519,046
1,680,894
2,055,152
2,599,988

Total
2,655,607
3,925,422
4,231,383
4,043,588
4,430,771
4,790,152
4,539,461
5,071,269
6,125,69®
6,988,243

112

R a ilro a d

,

Canal, and Steam boat S tatistics.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
COMMERCE OF TI1E NEW YORK CANALS.
The following tables, derived from the official report of the Canal Commissioners,
show the the total quantity of each article which came to tide-water on all of the
canals, and the estimated value of each article during the years 1849, 1850, and 1851:
STATEMENT SHOWING T IIE TOTAL QUANTITY OF EACH AETICLE W B IC H CAME TO THE HUDSON
E IV E E ON A LL THE CANALS DURING THE YEARS

1849, 1850,

AND

1851.

THE FOREST.

1849.

1850.

554,531

656,000

484,160

297,431,140 425,095,442
51,258
1,868,083
1,497,627
1,666,262
154,159,359 202,224,000
11,977
12,411
31,289
62,237

457,288,982
57,706
3,189,179
157,251,190
12,640
28,198

Fur and p e ltr y .......................................... lbs.

1851.

PRODUCT OF WOOD.

feet
Boards and scantling...............
Shingles........................................................M.
T im b e r............................................cubic feet
S ta ves..........................................................lbs.
W o o d ........................................................ cords
Ashes, pot and pearl................................ bbls.

AGRICULTURE.— PRODUCT OF ANIMALS.

Pork.............................................................bbls.
73,985
B e e f..................................................................
105,492
Bacon............................................................lbs.
8.477,754
Cheese...............................................................
42,097,818
Butter................................................................
20,880,409
L a r d .................................................................
9,083,062
................
Lard o i l ............................................... gallons
W o o l............................................................. lbs.
12,731,402
H ides.................................................................
596,364
Tallow........................................................................................

46,618
97,259
9,680,000
32,584,000
17,102,000
8,278,000
67,460
11,986,000
458,000
578,000

45,013
77,798
10,901,923
25,598,945
9,564,268
10,814,940
240,768
10,517,408
671,743
267,310

F lo u r ..........................................................bbls.
3,263,0S7
3,256,077
Wheat.....................................................bushels
2,734,389
3,670,754
B y e ...................................................................
322.942
472,305
Corn....................................................................
5,121,270
3,228,056
Corn m e a l................................................ bbls.........................
11,983
Barley.................................................... bushels
1,400,194
1,744,867
Oats...................................................................
2,407,895
2,469,637
Bran and sliipstuffs..................................... lbs.
2,022,031 402,464,000
Peas and beans..................................... bushels
160,234
79,515
Potatoes...........................................................
242,211
230,699
Dried fruit....................................................lbs.
780,369
1,468,000

3,358,465
3,163,682
302,608
7,670,345
7,335
1,881,101
8,634,682
45,476,249
129,502
600,182
1,426,350

VEGETABLE FOOD.

ALL OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

Cotton.......................................................... lbs.
316,094
Unmanufactured tobacco................................
1,896,056
H em p......................................... ............................................
Clover and grass seed.....................................
2,479,098
F la x se e d ..........................................................
1,381,684
H o p s .................................................................
1,877,805

1,114,000
796,000
66,000
1,418,000
1,146,000
860,000

237,330
3,698,690
1,161,040
559,400
156,500
550,886

1,517,095
95
908

2,810,498
63
100

MANUFACTURES.

Domestic spirits...................................gallons
2,107,595
Beer.......................................................... bbls..........................
Linseed oil...........................................gallons
.................




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
1850.

1849.
Oil meal and cake......................................lbs.
Starch ..............................................................
Leather.............................................................
Furniture..........................................................
Agricultural implements................................
Bar and pig lead..............................................
Pig iron..............................................................
Castings............................................................
Machines, and parts thereof...........................
Bloom and bar iron.........................................
Iron ware..........................................................
Domestic woolens............................................
Domestic cottons.............................................
Domestic s a l t ..................................................
Foreign salt......................................................

113

1851.
6,814,000
2,556,933
8,203,605
1,056,719
816,840
16,400
6,756,400
2,470,730
153,310
33,449,234
3,700
824,340
2,249,835
12,962,156
1,195,000

6,392,000
2,744,000
7,176,000
1,102,000
16,000
88,000
5,276,000
1,580,000
280,000
22,126,000

5,532,610
1,116,300
11,167
9,636,166
27,906,016
1,737,690
1,055,513
2,498,425
283,333

1,018,000
1,868,000
13,164,000
1,326,600

OTHER ARTICLES.

51,323,818
2,551,600

Gypsum..................... .

Eggs.................. :..
Mineral coa l..............
F ish ........................... .
Copper ore.................
Flint enameled ware .

25,169,939

110,244,928

1,578,000
87,916,000
6,950,000
3,280,000
32,146,000
458,000
104,000
2,000
94,112' 000

, UNDER THE DIVISIONS

869,350
104,167,030
9,669,600
3,678,264
40,622,220
277,515
417,780
111,020,090

AS

SPECIFIED IN

1850.

1849.
The fo r e s t.......................
A griculture.....................
Manufactures...................
Merchandise......................
Other articles...................
T o t a l......................... ..........

t—*
QO

THE ABOVE TABLE.

1,579,946

947,768
926,048
39,669
7,105
113,273

921,337
895,096
53,553
5,349
135,366

2,033,863

2,010,700

STATEMENT SHOWING THE ESTIMATED VALUE OF EACH ARTICLE W H ICH CAME TO THE HUDSON
R IV E R , ON ALL THE CANALS, DURING THE YEARS

1849, 1850, 1851.

THE FOREST.

Fur and p e ltr y .......................................... lbs.

1849.

1850.

1851..

$692,864

$818,845

$605,200

6,365,724
202,668
440,490
908,612
60,743
1,518,035

7,226,127
205,399
697,465
745,482
58,855
S41/731

758,421
512,798
1,244,360
866,789
514,666
580,922
2,736,211
1,955,122
2,923,832
2,391,863
635,814
620,868
............ 42,506
4,072,358
4,37?,578
59,637
54,891
...............
40,524

663,940
661,300
980,956
1,663,606
1,338,997
973,340
168,537
4,101,416
68,432
18,712

PRODUCT OF WOOD.

Boards and scantling................................. feet
Shingles...........................................................M.
Timber.............................................. cubic feet
Staves............................................................ lbs.
W o o d ..........................................................cords
Ashes, pot and pearl ..............................bbls.

4,459,157
153,774
119,598
693,701
56,892
1,016,800

AGRICULTURE.— PRODUCT OF ANIMALS.

Pork............................................................. bbls.
Beef...................................................................
Bacon..............................................................lbs.
Cheese...............................................................
B utter...............................................................
Lard...................................................................
Lard oil................................................... gallons
W o o l............................................................ lbs.
H ides.................................................................
T allow ........................................ ; ....................
V O L . X X V I I . ----- N O .




I.

8

114

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
VEGETABLE FOOD.

1819 .
Flour.......................................
Wheat......................................
B y e ........ ................................
Corn.........................................

1850 .

16,315,435
2,993,160
187,545
2,970,482

.................bbls.
Barley....................................... ...........bushels
Oats..........................................
Bran and shipstuffs...................................lbs.
Peas and beans................................... bushels
Potatoes ..................................
Dlied fru it.............................

868,115
868,084
242,755
160,234
117,918

78,007

1851 .

16,280,425
3,937,763
315,928
2,000,890
85,949
1,417^827
1,014,678
927,853
89,382
123,269
132,019

13,436,542
3,051,110
198,099
4,447,682
20,172
1,484^541
1,363,352
366,691
143,299
342,275
114,108

153,239
159,005
4,960
92J06
27,745
159,647

25,530
813,712
75,460
41,817
3,130
146,380

394,301
475
591
79,859
144,054
1,148.06S
110,180

632,489
315

ALL OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

Cotton.....................................
Unmanufactured tobacco__

29,240
237,007

Clover and grass s e e d ..........
Flax seed.................................
H o p s ........................................

148,746
30,536
162,893
MANUFACTURES.

Domestic spirits.....................
Beer..........................................
Linseed oil.......................
Oil meal and cake...........
Starch ...............................
.Leather........................... .
Furniture..........................
Agricultural implements..
Bar and pig lead..............
Pig iron..............................
Castings.............................
Machines and p a rts .........
Bloom and bar ir o n .........
Iron w a r e .........................
Domestic woolens.............
Domestic co tto n ...............
Domestic salt.....................
Foreign salt........................

526,938
.gallons
___ lbs.

66

4,300
52,769
47,428
27,895
442,508

85,155
135,734
1,230,572
105,672
15,840
820
67,563
74,350
15,831
668,985

891,204
558,532
52,612
5,311

725,419
539,312
56,975
1,196

47,349
118,482
14,949
197,544
90,951
14,319
15,747
240
1,823,914

26,100
139,882
19,339
220,945
102,282
12,547
62,667
...............
2,205,495

885,080
111,631

777

503
96,362
558,120
62,131
895.991
698,816
73,666

111

OTHER ARTICLES.

Lave cattle, hogs, and sheep..................... lbs.
Stone, lime, and clay.......................................
Gypsum.............................................................

................
74,060
5,742

Eggs.........................................................................
Mineral coal.......................................................
56,633
F ish ...................................................................
...............
Copper ore.................................................................................
Flint enameled w a re......................................
...............
Sundries............................................................
2,183,548
STATEMENT SHOWING THE AGGREGATE VALUE

OK THE PRO PERTY

HUDSON R IV E R , ON AI.L THE OANALS, DURING

THE

YEARS

W H IC H

CAME TO THE

1849, 1850, 1851,

UNDER

THE DIVISIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE ABOVE TABLE.

1849.

1850.

The forest......................................
Agriculture.....................................
Manufactures.................................
Merchandise..................................
Other articles................................

17,192,796
38,455,456
3,899,238
508,048
2,319,983

$10,315,117
38,311,546
3,960,854
663,615
2,323,495

$10,380,259
36,520,296
4,365,907
406,711
2,789,257

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

$52,375,521

'$55,474,637

$54,452,430




1851.

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

115

GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD.

The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad now extends from Galena to Cherry Valley,
a distance o f 84 miles, and has two branch roads. It is among the most profitable roads
in the west, from an advertisement in the C hicago D em ocra t we learn that this road
has declared a half-yearly dividend of eight per cent on the capital stock paid in of
the first division o f the road. This makes the entire dividend for the fiscal year 1851-2,
equal to fifteen per cent, beside leaving a large surplus of cash on hand.
The following table shows the earniDgs of the entile road and branches for the past
three fiscal years. In the month of May, 1849, are included the earnings of March
and April preceding. The cars commenced running in March, 1849.
M ay................................. .............
June............................... .............
July................................. .............
August........................... .............
September.....................
O ctober......................... ..............
November......................
December....................... ............
January.......................... .............
February......................... .............
March...............................
April............................... .............

1849-50.
81,231 83
913 35
1,002 52
2,743 13
43
7,106 03
48
5,008 21
5,350 46
5,132 02
4,985 81
6,008 67

1850—51.
810,826 01
9,953 40
9,715 62
7,777 28
14,058 85
17,041 40
12,653 11
12,520 96
11,593 39
6,172 34
14,523 66
13,096 96

18,51-52
$16,122 14
18.886 20
19,096 68
14,360 96
19,443 26
24,918 14
19,301 10
18,632 48
18,667 38
21,859 15
24,559 50
20,825 35

§50,225 54

$140,533 08

$236,672 28

TOLLS, TRADE, AND TONNAGE OF THE CANALS.

The following statement, condensed from the late report of the Auditor of the Canal
Department, presents an exhibit for several years of the average tonnage of the boat,
of the time necessary to make a passage, and the cost to bring a barrel of flour from
Buffalo to Albany, of the lockages at Alexander’s lock, and the total tons delivered
at tide-water from the Erie Canal, and of the total tolls, is as follow s:—
Y e a rs .

1841____
1844____
1847____
1 8 4 8 ____
1849____
18 50____
18 51____

Average Daysbetw’ n Fr’t on a
tonnage Albany & bbl. flour.
Cents.
buffalo.
of boat.
9
71
41
60
49
n
10J
77
67
68
9
71
56
8f
68
9
58
76
49
78
H

Lockages at
Alexander's
Lock.
30,320
28,219
43,957
34,911
36,918
38,444
40,396

Tons delivered at
tide-water from

Erie Canal,
532.520
790,816
1,431,252
1,184,337
1,266,724
1,554,675
1,507,677

Total.
tolls.
$2,034,882
2,446,374
3,639,381
3,262,218
3,268,226
3,273,896
3,329,737

A comparison o f the results of the last year’s business with that o f 1841, ten years
ago, shows that while the boat has nearly doubled its capacity, the time necessary to
make a passage from Buffalo to Albany is diminished half a day, transportation is
cheapened 80 per cent, or 22 cents on a barrel of flour; and that while the lockages
at Alexander's Lock have increased only 33 per cent, the tons arriving have increased
200 per cent. And that though the tons arriving from the Erie Canal last year are
77,000 more than in 1847, the lockages are 3,600 less.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL RAILROAD ENGINEER.

George Stanford, an engineer on the Michigan Central Piailroad, at the time o f a
late accident on that road, had his head cut badly and his back bruised. Before the
collision took place, but when it was too late to obviate it. he exclaimed: “ This is all
carelessness, and if I am killed, it will serve me light— I will not jump off.” That
engineer was an honest man, and an intelligent believer in that beautiful Providence
that works no miracle to save men from the consequences of transgressing wise laws.




116

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
MAINE LAW CONCERNING RAILROADS.

The following act concerning railroads passed by the Legislature o f Maine, wan
approved by the Governor on the 13th of April, 1852, and takes effect from and after
October 13th, 1852.
AN ACT CONCERNING

RAILROAnS.

S eo. 1. It is hereby declared that no railroad company has or shall have the right

to assign its charter or any of its privileges, immunities or franchises, without the ex­
press authority of the legislature therefor ; nor shall any railroad company, without
such express authority, lease its road or any portion thereof, or grant the use and en­
joyment thereof or any portion of the same, to any other person or corporation, or in
any way grant the use, possession or control of the same to any other party or cor­
poration, or in any way place the control and management o f the said road in the
hands of any other officers or parties than those contemplated by the charter. And
any such lease, contract, agreement, assignment or transfer, heretofore or hereafter
made, is hereby declared to be null and of no effect; and it shall be the duty of the
Attorney General, on suggestion or request of any person complaining of a violation
of the provisions o f this act, by any such corporation, to file an information, in the
nature of a quo warranto, against said corporation before the Supreme Judical Court;
and said court is authorized to pass such judgment, order, or decree, as to justice and
equity may appertain in all such cases. A n d ■provided, that nothing in this act shall
extend to any agreement for the lease of the Somerset and Kennebec Railroad to the
Kennebec and Portland Railroad, on the terms mutually agreed on by the stockhold­
ers in both of said companies; nor to effect any mortgage made for securing the debts
of any corporation, or with any portion of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad
which lies within the States of New Hampshire and Vermont.
S ec . 2. This act shall take effect in six months from and after its approval b y th e
Governor.
A PROFITABLE RAILROAD IN GEORGIA.

The last report of the Georgia Railroad Company gives the same encouraging assu­
rance of the value of the railway system, that all their previous reports have done.
Their road is 171 miles long, with 48 miles of branches, and they declare dividends
on a capital stock of $4,000,000. They also have a debt, created by subscriptions to
other railroad companies. These subscriptions amount to $570,890, and consist of the
stocks of the Georgia and East Tennessee, Nashville and Chattanooga, Montgomery
and West Point, Atlanta and Lagrange, and Rome Railroad Companies, and the
Augusta and Nashville Telegraph Company. After paying interest on these debts,
$52,691 55, the net profit remaining was $431,087 93, or 10.78 per cent on the cap­
ital. The company paid a dividend of 7 per cent, and devoted $151,087 93 to the
payment of the debts. It is evident that without this debt created to aid other works
calculated to benefit their road, the company might have declared a dividend of nearly
13 per cent. In fact, the business of this road has exhibited an actual profit of about
13 per cent for years past. The company have pursued the policy of subscribing to
the stock of other roads, leading from their road to the interior. The debt created by
these subscriptions will be paid off out of the profits of their road, in less than four
years, and the company will enjoy largely increased profits, while their markets will
command the tribute of Alabama and Tennessee.
THE FIRST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE.

The Charleston M ercu ry says the first locomotive built in this country was con­
structed for and used on the South Carolina railroad.
“ This engine would be a curiosity if placed alongside o f one of Norris’s or Bald­
win’s last improvements. It was named the ‘ Best Friend,’ and was built under the
direction of Mr. E. L. Miller, of Walterboro’, at the West Point Foundry of Messrs.
Kemble, New York. The engine had no tender, but carried its own wood and water.
The wheels were of wood, with spokes like a wagon, and the wheel armed with a
wrought-iron tire.
“ The engineer who ran the first locomotive that was used on this or any other road
in the United States, was N. K. Darrell, an apprentice brought up in Dotterer’s Ma­
chine shop. He is now, and has been for many years past, the well-known and effi­
cient master o f the company’s workshops in Charleston.




Railroad , Canal, awe? Steamboat Statistics.

117

“ After a few trips, the wooden wheels of the ‘ Best Friend ’ gave way, and were
replaced by cast iron ones, the pattern for which was made, and the wheels cast by
another of Dotterer’s apprentice boys, J. D. Petsch, then the foreman of that well
known establishment. These, it is believed, were the first cast-iron wheels used on
railroads in this country.
“ The ‘ Best Friend ’ blew up after a brief career, and from its wreck another en­
gine was built by Mr. Petsch, at the company’s workshop, of which he was then in
charge. It was called the “ Plienix.” Previous to this the crank axle had been used;
but in the reconstruction of this engine, Mr. Petsch introduced the straight axle with
outside connections, and also wrought iron tires on the cast-iron driving wheels, neither
o f which, it is believed, had before been tried in this country. Mr. Petsch is now the
able and efficient superintendent of the motive-power and transportation department
o f the South Carolina railroad, in which important position he has rendered valuable
service, by the many improvements he has embodied in the plan and construction o f
locomotives, machinery, workshops, etc.”

HAMILTON, EATON, AND RICHMOND RAILROAD.

From a recent statement of the president of this company, it appears that the coat
o f the road from Hamilton to Richmond, Ind., 44 miles, including water and other
stations, will be $713,103 35, of which the sum of $532,767 has been provided, re­
quiring only $280,335 35 to finish the whole line. The estimate of the work remain­
ing to be done is $178,548 11. The road is to be finished as a first class road in every
respect, and will open a great thoroughfare into Indiana. Arrangements have been
made with the Cincinnati and Hamilton Company to run the road as soon as ready;
and it is supposed cars will run out some distance to Eaton, the middle of the present
month, (June, 1852,) and to Richmond in the fall of 1852.
THE RIGHT OF WAY OYER LAND BELONGING TO THE STATE.

Judge Hurd, of the Supreme Court of Ohio, has decided that the State o f Ohio, by
granting a charter for a railroad from Columbus to Zanesville, very clearly granted the
right o f way over the canal, which, of necessity, must be crossed in making the road.
The judge held that if the legislature bad the power to grant the right of way for a
railroad over the lands of private individuals who derived their title from the United
States government, they had the power to grant the same right of way over the land
belonging to the State. It will be recollected that the Board o f Public Works of
Ohio enjoined this road from proceeding with the work on the ground of the unconsti­
tutionality o f the charter which authorized it to cross the canal.
VALIDITY OF A PATENT FOR IMPROVEMENT IN CARS.
An action was recently brought before the United States District Court (Judge
Kane) by Ross Winans vs. the York and Maryland Railroad Company, to recover
damages for the infraction of a patent granted to the plaintiff for an improvement in
the construction of cars, rendering them better adapted to American railroads.— The
object of the invention is, among other things, to make such an adjustment of the
wheels, axles, and connection with the body as shall cause the car to pursue a more
smooth, even and safe course, than it does as they are ordinarily constructed. It was
proved to be indispensable to comfort and safety at the speed now run by passenger
trains. The jury brought in a verdict for $5,400 damages and costs.
PROFITABLE RAILROAD STOCKS.
The Utica and Schenectady Railroad Company have probably done the most profit­
able business of any railroad corporation in the world. This road, seventy-eight miles
in length, was constructed and put into operation for a million and a half of dollars.
The total receipts in about fourteen years have been $6,856,046. Expenditures for
the same period, $2,637,842.
Excess of earnings over current expenses during that
time, $4,218,204—reimbursing the whole cost of the road and yielding a clear net
profit of $2,718,204 or over 18)- per cent per annum.




118

Commercial Regulations.

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
COMMERCIAL TR E ATY BETW EEN THE UNITED STATES AND COSTA RICA.

The following is a correct copy of the “ Treaty o f Friendship, Commerce, and N avi­
gation between the United States o f A m erica and the Republic o f Costa R ica," con­
cluded and signed in the city of Washington on the 10th of July, 1851, and duly
ratified on both parts, and the respective ratifications exchanged at Washington on
the 26th day of May, 1852:—
TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES

OF

AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA.

In the name o f the Most H oly T rinity :— Commercial intercourse having been for
some time established between the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica, it
seems good for the security as well as the encouragement of such commercial inter­
course, and for the maintenance of good understanding between the United States
and the said republic, that the relations now subsisting between them should be reg­
ularly acknowledged and confirmed by the signature of a treaty o f amity, Commerce,
and navigation.
For this purpose they have named their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say ;
The President of the United States, Daniel Webster, Secretary of State;
And his Excellency the President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Seuor Don Felipe
Molina, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of that republic to the
United States;
Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found to be in due
and proper form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles:—
A rt . 1. There shall be perpetual amity between the United States and their citi­
zens, on the one part, and the government of the Republic of Costa Rica and its citi­
zens on the other.
A r t . 2. There shall be, between all the territories of the United States and the
territories o f the Republic of Costa Rica, a reciprocal freedom of Commerce. The
subjects and citizens of the two countries, respectively, shall have liberty freely and
securely to come with their ships and cargoes to all places, ports, and rivers in the
territories aforesaid, to which other foreigners are or may be permitted to com e; to
enter into the same, and to remain and reside in any part thereof respectively; also
to hire and occupy houses and warehouses for the purposes of their Commerce; and
generally the merchants and traders of each nation, respectively, shall enjoy the most
complete protection and security for their Commerce, subject always to the laws and
statutes of the two countries respectively.
In like manner the respective ships of war and post-office packets of the two coun­
tries shall have liberty freely and securely to come to all harbors, rivers, and places
to which foreign ships of war and packets are or may be permitted to com e; to enter
into the same to anchor there and refit; subject always to the laws and statutes of
the two countries respectively.
By the right of entering the places, ports, and rivers mentioned in this article, the
privilege of carrying on the coasting trade is not understood; in which trade national
vessels only of the country where the trade is carried on are permitted to engage.
A r t . 3. It being the intention o f the two high contracting parties to bind themselves,
by the preceding articles, to treat each other on the footing of the most favored na­
tion, it is hereby agreed between them that any favor, privilege, or immunity what­
ever, in matters of Commerce and navigation, which either contracting party has ac­
tually granted, or may hereafter grant to the subjects or citizens of any other State,
shall be extended to the subjects or citizens of the other high contracting party gratu­
itously, if the concession in favor of that other nation shall have been gratuitous;
or in return for a compensation, as nearly as possible of proportionate value ami
effect, to be adjusted by mutual agreement, if the concession shall have been condi­

tional.
A r t . 4. Ho higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the ter­
ritories of the United States of any article being of the growth, produce, or manu­
facture of the Republic of Costa Rica, and no higher or other duties shall be imposed




Commercial Regulations.

11&

on the importation into the territories of the Republic of Costa Rica of any article
being the growth, produce, or manufacture of the territories o f the United States,
than are or shall be payable on the like articles being the growth, produce, or man»facture of any other foreign country; nor shall any other or higher duties or charges
be imposed in the territories o f either of the high contracting parties, on the exporta­
tion of any articles to the territories of the other, than such as are or may be payable
on the exportation o f the like article to any other foreign country; nor shall any prnhibition be imposed upon the exportation or importation of any articles the growth,
produce, or manufacture of the territories of the United States, or o f the Republic of
Costa Rica, to or from the said territories of the United States, or to or from the Re­
public of Costa Rica, which shall not equally extend to all other nations.
A r t . 5. No higher or other duties of payment, on account of tonnage of light or
harbor dues, of pilotage, of salvage in case either of damage or shipwreck, or on aecount o f any other local charges, shall be imposed in any of the ports of the Republic
o f Costa Rica, on vessels of the United States, than those payable in the same ports
by Costa Rican vessels; nor in any of the ports of the United States on Costa Rican
vessels, than shall be payable in the same ports on vessels of the United States.
A r t , 6. The same duties shall be paid on the importation into the territories of the
Republic of Costa Rica o f any article being of the growth, produce, or mauufacture
o f the territories of the United States, whether such importation shall be made in
Costa Rican or in vessels of the United States; and the same duties shall be paid on
the importation into the territories of the United States of any article being the
growth, produce, or manufacture of the Republic of Costa Rica, whether such impor­
tation shall be made in United States or Costa Rican vessels.
The same dues shall be made, and the same bounties and drawbacks allowed, On
the exportation to the Republic of Costa Rica of any articles being the growth, pro­
duce, or manufacture of the territories of the United States, whether such exporta­
tions shall be made in Costa Rican or in United States vessels; and the same duties
shall be paid, and the same bounties and drawbacks allowed, on the exportation of
any article being the growth, produce, or manufacture of the Republic of Costa Rica
to the territories o f the United States, whether such exportation shall be made in
United States or in Costa Rican vessels.
A r t . 7. A ll merchants, commanders o f ships, and others, citizens of the United
States, shall have full liberty, in all the territories of the Republic of Costa Rica, to
manage their own affairs themselves, or to commit them to the management o f whom­
soever they please, as broker, factor, agent, or interpreter; nor 6hall they be obliged
to employ any other persons in those capacities than those employed by Costa Ricans,
nor to pay them any other salary or remuneration than such as is paid in like cases by
Costa Rican citizens; and absolute freedom shall be allowed in all cases to the buyer
and seller to bargain and fix the price of any goods, wares, or merchandise imported
into or exported from the Republic of Costa Rica as they shall see good, observing
the laws and established customs of the country. The same privileges shall be en­
joyed in the territories of the United States by the citizens of the Republic of Costa
Rica under the same conditions.
The citizens of the high contracting parties shall reciprocally receive and enjoy full
and perfect protection for their persons and property, and shall have free and open
access to the courts o f justice in the said countries respectively, for the prosecution
and defense of their just rights; and they shall be at liberty to employ in all cases
the advocates, attorneys, or agent of whatever description, whom they may think
proper, and they shall enjoy, in this respect, the same rights and privileges therein as
native citizens.
A r t . 8. In w h a tev e r relates to the p olice o f the ports, the la din g an d unlading ships,
the safety o f the m erchandise, good s, and effects, the succession t o personal estates
b y w ill or otherw ise, and the disposal o f personal p ro p e rty o f e v e r y sort and d en om ­
ination, b y sale, donation, exchange, testam ent, or in a n y other m an ner w h atsoever, a s '
also the adm inistration o f ju stice, the citizen s o f the t w o h igh con tracting parties
shall recip roca lly en jo y the sam e privileges, liberties, en d rights as native citizens,
and th ey shall n ot b e ch arged in a n y o f these respects w ith any higher im posts or
duties than those w h ich are p a id or m a y be p a id b y native c itiz e n s ; subm itting, o f
cou rse, to the loca l la w s and regulations o f each cou n try resp e ctiv e ly .

I f any citizen of the two high contracting parties shall die without will or testa­
ment in any of the territories of the other, the consul general or consul of the nation
to which the deceased belonged, or the representative of such consul general or con­
sul in his absence, shall have the right to nominate curators to take charge of the




no

Commercial Regulations.

property o f the deceased, bo far as the laws of the country will permit, for the benefit
o f the lawful heirs and creditors of the deceased, giving proper notice of such nomin­
ation to the authorities of the country.
A r t . 9. The citizens of the United States residing in the Republic of Costa Rica,
and the citizens of the Republic of Costa Rica residing in the United States, shall be
exempted from all compulsory military service whatsoever, either by sea or by land,
and from all forced loans or military exactions or requisitions; and they shall not be
compelled, under any pretext whatsoever, to pay other ordinary charges, requisitions,
or taxes, greater than those that are paid by native citizens of the contracting parties
respectively.
A e t . 10. It shall be free for each o f the two high contracting parties to appoint
consuls for the protection of trade, to reside in any of the territories of the other
party; but before any consul shall act as such, he shall, in the usual form, be approved
and admitted by the government to which he is sent ; and either of the high contract­
ing parties may except from the residence of consuls such particular places as they
judge fit to be excepted. The Costa Rican diplomatic agents and consuls shall enjoy
in the territories of the United States whatever privileges, exemptions, and immuni­
ties are or shall be granted to agents of the same rank belonging to the most favored
nation; and in like manner the diplomatic agents and consuls of the United States in
the Costa Rican territories, shall enjoy, according to the strictest reciprocity, whatever
privileges, exemption, and immunities are or may be granted in the Republic of Costa
Rica, to the diplomatic agents and consuls of the most favored nation.
A e t . 11. For the better security of Commerce between the citizens of the United
States and the citizens of the Republic o f Costa Rica, it is agreed that, if at any time
any interruption of friendly intercourse, or any rupture should unfortunately take
place between the two high contracting parties, the citizens of either of the two high
contracting parties, who may be within any of the territories of the other, shall, if
residing upon the coast, be allowed six months, and if in the interior, a whole year to
wind up their accounts and dispose of their property; and a safe conduct shall be
given them to embark at the port which they themselves may select; ana even in the
event o f a rupture, all such citizens of either of the two high contracting parties, who
are established in any of the territories o f the other, in the exercise of any trade or
special employment, shall have the privilege of remaining and of continuing sueli
trade and employment therein without any manner of interruption, in the full enjoy­
ment of their liberty and property as long as they behave peaceably, and commit no
offense against the law s; ana their goods and effects of whatever description they
may be, whether in their own custody or intrusted to individuals or to the State, shall
not be liable to seizure or sequestration, nor to any other charges or demands than
those which may be made upon the like effects or property belonging to the native
citizens of the country in which such citizens may reside. In the same case debts be­
tween individuals, property in public funds, and shares of companies, shall never be
confiscated, sequestered, nor detained.
A rt . 12. The citizens of the United States and the citizens of the Republic of Costa
Rica respectively, residing in any of the territories of the other party, shall enjoy in
their houses, persons, and properties, the protection of the government, and shall con­
tinue in possession of the guaranties which they now enjoy. They shall not be dis­
turbed, molested, or annoyed in any manner on account of their religious belief, nor
in the proper exercise of their religion, either within their own private houses, or in
the places o f worship destined for that purpose, agreeably to the system of tolerance
established in the territories of the two high contracting parties; provided they re­
spect the religion of the nation in which they reside, as well as the constitution, laws,
and customs of the country. Liberty shall also be granted to bury the citizens o f
either of the two high contracting parties who may die in the territories aforesaid, in
burial places of their own, which in the same manner shall be freely established and
maintained; nor shall the funerals or sepulchers of the dead be disturbed in any way
or upon any account.
A r t . 13. In order that the two high contracting parties may have the opportunity
o f hereafter treating and agreeing upon such other arrangements as may tend still
further to the improvement of their mutual intercourse, and to the advancement of
the interests of their respective citizens, it is agreed that at any time after the expi­
ration of seven years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present
treaty, either o f the high contracting parties shall have the right of giving to the
other party notice of its intention to terminate articles i , 5, and 6 of the present
treaty; and that, at the expiration of twelve months after such notice shall have




121

Commercial Regulations .

been received by either party from the other, the said articles, and all the stipulations
contained therein, shall cease to be binding on the two high contracting parties.
A r t . 14. The present treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be ex­
changed at Washington or at San Josd de Costa Rica within the space of one year,
or sooner if possible.
In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same and have
affixed thereto their respective seals.
Done at Washington this tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one.
D A N I E L W E B S T E R , [ l . s.]
F. MOLINA,

[l.

s.]

RECIPROCAL TRADE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

The following act proposing a reciprocal trade between the Hawaiian Islands and
the United States, has been officially published in the P o ly n e s ia n , the organ of that
government. It only remains for the congress of the United States, in order to secure
a free import into the Hawaiian Islands, of flour, fish, coal, lumber, staves and heading,
the produce or manufacture of the United States, to pass an act admitting the sugar,
syrup, molasses, and coffee of the Hawaiian Islands into all the ports of the United
States.
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE UNITED
STATES OF NORTH AM ERICA.

Be it enacted by the King, the Premier, and Chiefs of the Hawaiian Islands, in
council assembled:—
S ec . 1. A ll flour, fish, coal, lumber, stave and heading, the produce or manufacture
o f the United States, shall be admitted into this kingdom free of all duty, provided the
government of the United States will admit the sugar, syrup, molasses and coffee, the
produce of the Hawaiian Islands, into all the ports of the United States on the same
terms.
S ec. 2. The evidence that articles proposed to be admitted into the ports of this
kingdom under the preceding section, are the produce or manufacture of the United
States, shall be a certificate to that effect from the Hawaiian consul of the port from
which such articles are imported, or in case there shall be no such consul resident in
such a port, a certificate to that effect from the collector of the port.
S e c . 3. This act shall take effect the day it is concurrred in by the government of
the United States, and continue in force until annulled by the government of the
Hawaiian Islands, or of the United States. Provided always, that previous to such
annulment, the government desiring to make the same, shall give twelve months notice
of their intention so to do.
Done at the Palace in Honolulu this first day of March, in the year of our Lord, one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
KAMEHAMEHA.
KEON LANA.

OF THE RELIEF OF SICK AND DISABLED SEAMEN.
TO COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS AND OTHER OFFICERS ACTING AS AGENTS

UNDER

THE

ACTS

FOR THE RELIEF OF SICK AND DISABLED SEAMEN AND BOATMEN.
T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t , May 11, 1852.

With the view of bringing together into one circular all existing regulations, and
prescribing for your government such additional instructions as the enlargement of the
fund and the increased demands upon it seem to require, the following regulations
have been adopted by the department, v iz:—
1st. Hospital relief is to be confined to American seamen and such foreign seamen
as have served for three consecutive years on board American vessels, and to boatmen
who are liable to pay hospital money.
2d. The agent o f the fund is the only person authorized to admit patients to its
benefits, and in all cases he will furnish the applicant with a written order o f admis­
sion after being fully satisfied of his right to relief; and where provision is made by
contract with a private institution, or an individual, these orders must be produced as
vouchers in all settlements under such contracts.




122

Commercial Regulations.

3d. Seamen or boatmen deemed incurable, or those employed in the fisheries, are
not entitled to the benefits of the marine hospital fund.
4th. The period of hospital relief is restricted to four months, and is not to be ex­
tended for a longer time, except by the special authority of the department
At all ports, except those on the Pacific, where no hospitals have been provided by
the government, the following limitation and rules will be observed :—
In ports north of Newbern, North Carolina, there will be allowed for suitable board­
ing, lodging, and nursing, the sum of three dollars per week for each patient, and in
those south of that place three dollars and fifty cents per week for each patient.
Medicioes will be paid for at the usual apothecary rates, but in no case shall the
cost of them exceed ten cents per day for each patient.
Professional services to each patient at the rate of twenty-five cents per day, not in
any case to exceed six dollars and twenty-five cents for any one patient, and applica­
ble only to not exceeding ten patients. Fur all patients above ten, the maximum aggre­
gate charge not to exceed three dollars, at the rate of twenty-five cents per day up to
that sum.
No charges for medical and surgical services will be paid until the patient is dis­
charged, and in all cases the accounts rendered for those services must show the num­
ber and names o f the patients, the number of days, attention to each, and a specifica­
tion of their diseases.
Whenever seamen or boatmen shall abandon their profession, and enter upon other
employments, they will not be entitled to hospital relief during the continuance of
such other avocation; and in no case where disease has been contracted during such
abandonment, and while engaged in other pursuits, will relief be extended.
A t all ports on the Pacific, the cost of boarding, lodging, nursing, medicines, medi­
cal and surgical aid, and all other attentions and care of marine hospital patients, will
be specially regulated, from time to time, at each port by the Department upon a
full statement o f facts and circumstances connected with the care and medical treat­
ment o f them.
THOMAS CORWIN, Secretary o f the Treasury.
COMMERCIAL TR E ATY BETW EEN FRANCE AND SARDINIA,

The following are the chief poiuts of the new treaty of Commerce concluded be­
tween France and Sardinia. It is another step in advance of free trade principles.
1. The abolition, by Sardinia, of all export duty on raw spun silks, also on skins of
kids and lambs. 2. The abolition, by the two countries, of import duties on the same
articles. 3. The reduction, by Piedmont, to a uniform duty of 3f. 80c., the hectolitre
instead o f 10f., and 14f. on all sorts of wines ; of lOf. instead of 30f. on brandies of
the first quality ; of 5f. 50c. instead of 18f. on common brandies, and 10c. instead of
30c. on every bottle o f wine, brandy, liquor, or vinegar containing less than a litre.
4. The reduction, by France, to 15f. instead of 20f. the 100 kilogrammes of the duties
on Sardinian oils. 5. The admission, by France, at a reduced duty of 3f. of 12,000
kilogrammes per annum of the steeled cast iron of Savoy. 6. The reduction, by
France, of one-half of the existing duties on the Cheeses of Savoy, and some facilities
for the importation of cattle from that province.
Letters from Genoa state.that trade has revived wonderfully in the city since the
treaty of Commerce with France came into operation on the 14th February last. The
improvement has given rise to a project for converting the Darsena into docks, at a
cost of f. 18,000,000.
The Sauli Palace, one of the finest specimens of Genoese architecture, is to be de­
molished to make room for improvement. A French company has bought it for that
purpose, to the great wrath of the citizens.
TO REGULATE THE SALE OF OATS IN MAINE.

The following “ act to regulate the sale o f oats,” was passed at the last session of
the Maine Legislature, and approved by the Governor, February 14th, 1852.
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE SALE OF OATS.

From and after the passage of this act, all oats offered for sale in this State, shall
be sold by strike measure, or thirty pounds per bushel, and whenever any oats
shall hereafter be offered for sale, and either the seller or buyer shall require it, said
oats shall be sold by the aforesaid weight.




I

Commercial Regulations.

123

THE LAW OF MARYLAND REGULATING FILOTAGE,

We publish below a copy of the new Pilot Law of Maryland, which passed the
Legislature of that State in April, 1852 :—
S ection 1. B e it enacted by the General Assembly o f M aryland , That J. Smith
Hollins, William Graham, Samuel T. Thompson, and John Haynie, or any three or
more of them, be and they are hereby appointed a board to examine any person who
shall desire to be admitted a pilot, he first producing a certificate from the Circuit
Court of the county where he resides, or from the Court of Common Pleas of the city
of Baltimore, in case he resides in said city, of his honesty and good behavior, and
paying to the said board the sum of five dollars, and to the register of the board sev­
enty-five cents, and if upon public examination the person shall appear to the board
o f sufficient ability, skill, and experience, they shall grant him one of three kinds of
warrants of appointment and license, according to the qualification of such person,
thereby authorizing such person for one year from the date of such warrant, either to
pilot vessels o f any draft of water, or vessels not exceeding twelve feet draft, or
vessels not exceeding nine feet draft; and every person receiving a warrant of ap­
pointment and license agreeably to this act, shall thereafter be reputed a lawful p ilot;
but no person shall be entitled to receive a warrant as aforesaid, as a first rate pilot,
unless he hath employed himself at least three years in the business of piloting ves­
sels of any draft, or unless he shall have served at least five years as an apprentice to the
business of piloting ; and every pilot shall receive his warrant of license every year
in the month of April or May, and that no warrant shall be granted at any other
time, or renew license applied for, unless the pilot had been carried to sea, or confined
by sickness so as to prevent his application within that period; and every first-rate
pilot shall pay two dollars, and every second-rate pilot shall pay one dollar and fifty
cents, and every third-rate pilot shall pay one dollar, to the register of the board, and
the board may renew any license or not, as they may think proper.
S ec. 2. A n d be it enacted, That every member of the said board, before he proceeds
to examine any person applying for a warrant as pilot under this act, shall take the
following oath of affirmation, to be administered by a Justice of the Peace, to wit:—
“ I , ---------------- , do swear (or solemnly, sincerely, anti truly declare and affirm) that I
will impartially examine and inquire into the capacity, skill, and experience of any
applicant or applicants in the art of piloting in the Chesap ake Bay, and the rivers
thereof, and will admit them as I find them qualified, or reject them if 1 shall find
them unqualified, without favor, affection, or reward.”
S ec . 8. A n d be it enacted, That the said board may make and use a common seal,
and alter and renew the same at their pleasure, and may appoint a register, who shall
enter in a book to be provided for that purpose, all applications to and other proceed­
ings o f the said board, and the register shall countersign all warrants for pilots granted
by the board, and every such warrant shall be under the seal of the said board.
S ec . 4. A n d be it enacted , That it shall not be lawful for any person to act as a pi­
lot, notwithstanding his having obtained a warrant as aforesaid, unless he, or the com­
pany to which he belongs, shall keep one sufficient boat, of twenty-six feet keel,
straight rabbit at least, and decked and well found, under the penalty of one hundred
and fifty dollars for every vessel such person shall undertake to pilot; and the name
of every boat, and the place she belongs to, shall be put on her stern, and on her main­
sail and on her foresail, in large letters.
S ec . 5. A n d be it enacted, T hat i f a n y person, n ot h a vin g a w arrant as a p ilo t a gree­
a ble to this act, shall presum e to tak e u p on h im self to con du ct or p ilo t a n y vessel bound
from a n y p ort in this S ta te to sea, or com in g from sea, and bound u p any river o f this
S tate, to any p ort thereof, every such person shall forfeit one hundred and fifty d o l­
lars, and such person shall also be liab le for all dam ages occasioned b y his undertaking
to con d u ct or p ilot any vessel, b y action a t com m on l a w : Provided, that this p ro h ib i­
tion shall n ot exten d to p rev en t any p erson from assisting any v e s s e l in distress, i f
such person shall d eliv er up such vessel to any p ilot w h o shall co m e o n b o a rd and offer
to con d u ct o r p ilo t such vessel, and he shall p a y such person on e-h a lf the fees r e ce iv e d
b y him for the p ilota g e o f such v e s s e l; and provided, that this proh ib ition shall not
exten d to p rev en t any m aster or ow n er o f a n y vessel from p ilo tin g o r con du cting any
ve s s e l o f w h ich he m a y b e m aster or ow ner.
S ec. 6. A n d be it enacted, T h a t the said board o f exam iners m a y m ak e such rules
and orders for the g ov ern m en t and reg u la tion o f p ilots ap p oin ted and licensed b y them
as th ey m a y think p rop er, not con trary t o the provisions o f this a c t ; and the said
b oard m ay, b y their order, d ep riv e a n y o f th e said p ilots o f their license, or suspen d




124

Commercial Regulations.

them for a limited time, for breaking such rules or orders, or omitting anything required
by the same, or for acting in any manner contrary thereto; and if any of the said pi­
lots so suspended or deprived, during the time of their suspension or deprivation, shall
take upon himself to pilot or conduct any vessel, such pilot shall forfeit and pay one
hundred dollars for every such offense.
S ec . 7. A n d be it enacted, That if any of the said board of examiners shall die, re­
sign, refuse to act, or remove from the city of Baltimore, or be otherwise rendered in­
capable to act, the remaining examiners, or a majority of them, shall fill up such
vacancy, provided they shall so regulate their appointments as to have at least one
member o f the board a person skilled in the business of piloting.
S ec . 8. A n d be it enacted, That all persons now holding license to act as pilots in
the waters of this State may renew the same according to the provisions of this act,
as if the several acts of Assembly relating to pilots and pilotage, heretofore passed
were stijl in force.
S ec . 9. A n d be it enacted , That any pilot who may be licensed to act as such
agreeably to the provisions of this act, may charge and recover for his services, such
reasonable compensation as may be contracted for by such pilot, and the owner, mas­
ter, agent, or consignee of any vessel which may be piloted by him.
S ec . 10. A n d be it enacted, That the act passed at November Session, 1803, chapter
63, entitled “ an act to establish pilots and regulate their fees,” and all the acts supple­
mentary thereto, relating to pilots and pilotage, are hereby repealed, provided that
nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to compel any master, owner, or
agent to pay any pilot except he be employed as pilot.
REDUCTION OF ANCHORAGE DUTIES BY BRAZIL,

The following translation of a decree of his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, interest­
ing to those concerned in the trade to that country, has been officially communicated
to the Department of State, at Washington.
DECREE NO. 928, o f MARCH 6 , 1852.
Pursuant to the provisions of the 28th article of the law No. 369, of September 18,
1845,1 think it proper to decree :—
A rtic le 1. From and after 1st July, 1852, the anchorage duty upon vessels trading
between foreign ports and the ports of the empire will be reduced to three hundred
reis the ton ; and the same class o f duty now levied upon coasting vessels shall be
abolished.
A r t . 2. That part of the provisions of April 26, July 20, and November 15, 1844,
which has not been altered by this decree, will continue in force.
Joaquim Jose Rodrigues Torres, of my Council, a Senator of the Empire, Minister
and Secretary of State for Financial Affairs, and President of the National Exchequer
Court, will so understand the above, and cause it to be executed.
Palace of Rio Janeiro, March 5, 1852, the thirty-first of the independence of the
Empire.
By his Majesty the Emperor.
JOAQUIM JOSE RODRIGUES TORRES.

ACT TO REGULATE THE SALE OF COTTON IN ALABAMA.

The following A ct passed at the last Session of the Legislature o f Alabama, and
approved February 10th, 1852, is now in force
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE SALE OF COTTON BT COMMISSION MERCHANTS.

S ection 1. Be it enacted, Ac., That from and after the passage o f this act, all cot­

ton sold by commission merchants to brokers or buyers shall not be considered as de­
livered and the ownership given up, until the same is fully paid for ; any order for
the cotton, law, custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
S ec . 2. And be it further enacted, That any cotton broker engaged in the business
o f buying cotton, either on his or their own account, or for others, who shaU buy or
engage to buy, cotton from a planter or commission merchant and shall fail or refuse
to pay for the same at the time agreed to, and shall make way with, or dispose of any
cotton purchased and not paid for, shall be deemed guilty of fraud and embezzlement,
and shall be liable to be imprisoned, on conviction, in the penitentiary not less than
one nor more than five years, at the discretion of jury trying the case.




Nautical Intelligence.

'

125

BRITISH COMMERCIAL AND NAVIGATION TREATIES.

The Gazette of London gives the following list of potentates &c., with whom com­
mercial treaties have been made by Great Britain.
The Emperor of Austria, the King of the Belgians, the Republic of Bolivia, the
City of Bremen, the Republic of Costa Rica, the King of Denmark, the Dominican
Republic, the Republic of the Equator, the French Republic, the City of Frankfort,
the King of Greece, Republic of Guatemala, the City of Hamburg, the King of Han­
over, the Republic o f Liberia, the City of Lubeck, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
Schwerin, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz, the Mexican Republic, the King
o f the Netherlands, the Republic of New Grenada, the Grand Duke of Oldenburg,
the Sultan o f the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Peru, the Queen of Portugal, the
King of Prussia and the other States forming the German Commercial Union, v iz:—
Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemburg, Baden, the Electorate of Hesse, the Grand Duchy of
Hesse, the States forming the Customs and Commercial Union of Thuringia, Nassau,
and Frankfort; the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, the Emperor of Russia, the
King of Sardinia, the King of the Two Sicilies, the King of Sweden and Norway, the
Grand Duke of Tuscany, the United States of America, the Oriental Republic of
the Uruguay, the Republic of Venezuela.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
OF LIGHT VESSELS AS A GUIDE TO MARINERS.

The following notice to mariners, dated Trinity-house, London, 6th January, 1852,
has been received for publication in the M erch a n ts’ M a g a zin e, from an official source:
Notice is hereby given that this corporation has issued directions to the masters
and mates o f their several Light Vessels to the following effect, namely:—In the event o f any Light Vessel being driven from her station, the master or mate,
whichever be in charge, is carefully to consider whether she has driven to such a dis­
tance, or in such a direction, as to make it dangerous to shipping to continue to show
her lights, and if the distance or direction be not such as to endanger the safety of
vessels running on their course, the L ig h ts a n d B a lls are to be continued in the usual
manner. But should the Light Vessel have driven so as to be of no use as a guide
to shipping, the u su a l L ig h ts a n d B a lls are, in that case, to be discontinued, and two
R e d L ig h ts substituted, one at the end of the davit forward, the other on a stanchion
beside the ensign staff; and a R e d F la r e L ig h t shown every quarter of an hour during
the night.
And further, when vessels are observed from a Light Vessel to be in distress, or to
require assistance:—
I f in the d a y tim e, two guns are to be fired on board such Light Vessel, each at an
interval o f five minutes, and repeated every half-hour until assistance be observed ap­
proaching. I f in the n igh t tim e, two guns are to be fired on board such Light Ves­
sel, at similar intervals, each followed by a white rocket thrown in the direction of the
vessel in distress, and these signals are to be continued until the required assistance
has been rendered.
Masters o f vessels, pilots, and other persons are earnestly requested to take such
necessary note of these regulations as may be useful both for the avoidance of danger
to themselves, and for aiding their endeavors to render assistance to others.
By order
J. HERBERT, Secretary.
FIXED LIGHT IN THE STRAIT OF SUNDA.
H yd r o g ra ph ic -O ffice , A d m ir a l t y , April 19th, 1852.

Her Majesty’s Government has been officially informed that on the 28th o f last No­
vember, a Fixed Light was established by the Netherland Government, on Fourth
Point, in the Strait of Sunda. The Tower, which is built of stone, stands on the sea
beach nearly 3 miles from Anjer, in 6° 4' 50" south, and in 105° 56' 35" east o f Green­
wich. The Light is displayed at an elevation of 94 feet above the level of the sea,
and may be seen in aU directions from the deck of a vessel at the distance of 16
miles.




N autical Intelligence .

126

REVOLVING LIGHT ON THE SOUTH POINT OP BARBADOS.

"VVe are indebted to the Department of State at Washington, for the subjoined of­
ficial notice to mariners, touching the revolving light on the South Point of Barbados.
H y d r o g ra p h ic -O ffice , A d m ir a l it y , March 24, 1852.

Notice is hereby given, that her majesty’s government has established a revolving
light on the South Point of the Island of Barbados; and that it was to be displayed
on the first of this month.
The base of the tower is 55 feet above the sea, from which it is 200 yards distant,
and stands in latitude 13° 2 '4 5 " N., and longitude 59° 33' 30" W. of Greenwich.
The tower is 90 feet high, and is painted in alternate red and wLite bands, each being
feet in depth.
The light is thus 145 feet above the level of the sea, and revolves once in every
minute; after an eclipse of 14 seconds it again appears, gradually increases for 24
seconds to its greatest brilliancy, and then in 24 seconds more is eclipsed.
From the light, Seawell Point bears about N. E. by E. | E., and Needham Point
W . N. W . £ W .; and except from between the opposite bearings the light is visible
in all directions from the deck o f a vessel within the distance of 18 miles.
Vessels approaching the island from the eastward are recommended not to run down
their longitude to the northward of 12° 55' N .; and as soon as the light is discovered
to bring it to bear west, steering from thence W. by S. and not passing it at a less
distance than 2 miles.
I f coming from the north eastward the light will not be visible until it bears to the
westward of S. W. by W., being concealed by the high laud forming Seawell Point;
and if kept in sight well open of that point, it will lead clear of the Cobblers, a group
o f dangerous reefs which extend some miles from the eastern side o f the island.
Mariners are advised to give them a wide berth, on account of the prevailing current
to the westward.
When the light is brought to bear N. E. a course may be shaped for Needham
Point; but in hauling up into Carlisle Bay, that point should be kept at the distance
o f a third of a mile.
THE SOUTHERN COAST OF FLORIDA.
The Superintendent of the United States Coast-Survey has communicated to the
Secretary of the Treasury, under date, Coast-Survey Office, Washington, May l l p
1852, the subjoined information, compiled from official records of the L st survey, re­
specting the Southern Coast of Florida, -which are placed on record in this depart­
ment of the M erch a n ts' M a g a zin e for the benefit of navigators :—
A series of signals (fifteen in number) have been erected by one of the Triangula­
tion parties of the Coast-Survey aloDg the line of the reef, indicating dangerous
points, and so distributed that vessels may in safety make the intermediate run be­
tween any two of them. Navigators will find them highly useful. They are suffi­
ciently remarkable always to secure attention in the day-time, and may be seen some
two or three miles with the naked eye, or from six to ten with ordinary glass. Each
signal consists of a mangrove pole from thirty to forty feet high, fixed in an iron screw
pile, which has been sunk in the solid material of the reef, and surmounted by a bar­
rel painted black. It is stated that with these guides there can be no difficulty in the
way of steamers keeping close in and running in smooth water. The Isabel (Charles­
ton, Key West, and Havana packet,) always hugs the reef close, to avoid the easterly
current, and take advantage of the eddy setting westward.
The following list shows the reefs upon which signals have been placed as de­
scribed :—
1. Fowey Rocks. 2. Triumph Reef. 3. Long Reef. 4. A shoal, (coral formation,)
without a name, interior to Triumph and Long reefs, described as extending from Ce­
sar’s creek, about seven miles northward, and lying midway between the line of Keys
and main Florida reef. The waters inside the reef are here divided by these shoals
into two main and well-defined channels; the outside being the deepest, and the in­
side o f sufficient depth for vessels drawing less than ten feet. Small vessels may
pick their way through in various directions; but these are believed to be the only
well-marked channels. The screw’-pile has been placed at the northern extremity o f
the shoals. 5. Ajax Reef. 6. Pacific Reef. 7. Turtle R eef. 8. Triangle R e e f or




N autical Intelligence.

127

Grecian Shoals. 9. French Reef. 10. Pickle R eef 11. Conch Reef. 12. Crocus
R eef 13. Alligator R eef 14. The Washerwoman Shoal. 15. The American Shoals,
near Key West.
One of the most experienced navigators of this coast. Captain Rollins, of the Isabel,
who passes along the reef four times monthly, has already appreciated and hand­
somely acknowledged the aid of these signals.
The points have been designated, and the erection o f the signals directed by
Lieutenant James Totten, United States Army, assistant in the Coast-Survey.
ELECTRICITY APPLIED TO TUE CAPTURE OF TIIE WHALE,

The N ew B e d fo r d M er c u r y gives an account of some interesting experiments, illus­
trating the effect of electricity to facilitate the capture of the whale. The most promi­
nent features o f this new method are thus described :—
Every whale at the moment o f being struck with the harpoon is rendered power­
less. as by stroke o f lightning, and therefore his subsequent escape or loss, except by
sinking, is wholly impracticable; and the process of lancing and securing him, is en­
tirely unattended with danger. The arduous labor involved in a long chase in the
capture of the whale, is suspended, and consequently the inconvenience and danger of
the boat3 loosing sight of or becoming separated from the ship, is avoided. One or
two boats only would be required to be lowered at a time, and therefore a less num­
ber both of officers and seamen than heretofore employed, would be ample for the
purposes of the voyage.
“ The electricity is conveyed to the body of the whale from an electric galvanic
battery contained in the boat, by means of a metallic wire attached to the harpoon,
and so arranged as to reconduct the electro current from the whale through the sea
to the machine. The machine itself is simple and compact in construction, inclosed in
a strong chest weighing about 350 pounds, and occupying a space in the boat of about
three and a half feet long by two in width, and the same in hight. It is capable of
throwing into the body of the whale eight tremendous strokes of electricity in a
second, or 950 strokes in a minute, paralyzing in an instant the muscles of the whale,
and depriving it of all power of motion, if not actually of life.”
SEAMEN’S WAGES AT SAN FRANCISCO.

Pondicherry, by the r u n ............................................................................................
$140
Sandwich Islands, by the run...................................................................................
45
Batavia, China, and back, by the month..................................................................
35
Oregon, Humbolt, and back, by the month............................................................
40
San Diego and South, and back, by the m onth....................................................
40
Batavia, by the run....................................................................................................
140
China, by the run......................................................................................... ...........
130
Manilla, by the ru n ....................................................................................................
130
East Indies, New York, and Boston, by the month..............................................
35
Calcutta, by the ru n ..................................................................................................
150
United States via Cape Horn, by the month.........................................................
40
Valparaiso and Callao, there discharged, by the m onth......................................
45
Harbor, by the month................................................................................................60 to 60

STETTIN AND SWIENEMUNDE.
Sik t t is ,

10th April, 185*2.

Pursuant to a new regulation of the Prussian Government, dated 2d of March, all
ships bound for Stettin can be cleared at Swieuemunde on and after the 1st of May,
tinder sail, and without any detention, if provided with a double set of manifests,
containing as follows:—
S h ip

Number
o f bills of
Lading.

C a pta in

Name
of
Consignee.




Number
of
Packages.

fr o m

Mark
and
Number.

Descrip­
tion of
Goods.

Gross Weight
or
Measure.

Statistics o f Population, etc.

128

THE DIFFERENCES OF LONGITUDE OF SAVANNAH.

The Superintendent of the United States coast survey reports to the Secretary o f
the Treasury under date, Coast Survey Office, May 11th, 1352, that from the preliminary
computations of Assistant L. F. Pourtales, combined with previous results obtained by
Assistant S. C. Walker, the differences of longitude of Savannah, Georgia, (the cupola
of the Exchange,) Charleston, South Carolina, (Professor Gibb’s Observatory,) Wash­
ington, D. C., (Seaton station of the coast survey,) and Greenwich, England. The
differences between Savannah, Charleston, and Washington, rest entirely upon tele­
graphic determinations.
H. M.

Savannah W . of Charleston................................................................
“
W. of Washington..............................................................
“
W. of Greenwich................................................................

0
0
5

S.

4 37.12
16 22.39
24 20.95

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, &c.
DEAF, DUMB, BLIND, INSANE, AND IDIOTIC POPULATION OF THE U, STATES.
TABULAR

STATEMENT

OF

DEAF

AND

DUMB, BLIND, INSANE, IDIOTIC, RETURNED

BY THE

SEVENTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES.

States and Territories.

Maine............................................
New Hampshire.........................
Vermont......................................
Massachusetts...........................
Rhode Island..............................
Connecticut...............................
New Y o r k .................................
New Jersey.................................
Pennsylvania.............................
Delaware.....................................
Maryland....................................
District of Columbia.................
Virginia......................................
North Carolina...........................
South Carolina...........................
Georgia........................................
Florida.........................................
Alabam a....................................
Mississippi...................................
Louisiana....................................
Texas...........................................
Arkansas....................................
Tennessee...................................
Kentucky....................................
O h io ............................................
Michigan.....................................
Indiana........................................
Illinois.........................................
Missouri.....................................
Iow a ............................................
Wisconsin...................................
California.....................................
Minnesota....................................
O regon................... ...................
Utah.............................................
New Mexico...............................

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




Deaf and dumb.

163
144
64
389
1,307
203
1,225
254
19
711
407
145
252
22
211
68
89
377
539
947
475
259

Blind.

201
136
138
497
64
192
1,272
213
829
46
307
23
996
632
222
309
26
308
217
218
76
81
46S
530
665
122
349
257
211
47
50

Insane.

Idiotic.

536
386
652
1,647
252
462
2,580
386
1,891
70
553
22
1,026
491
204
306
8
245
149
208
41
63
478
507
1,352
136
679
249

558
352
281
791
107
300
1,739
426
1,448
101
393
11
1,285
774
295
577
37
505
210
173
108
102
854
849
1,399
190
919
371

282

333

40
48
2

77

4

4

93
3

1

2

3

2

98

11

38

9,702

15,768

15,706

129

Statistics o f Population , etc.
POPULATION OF FRANCE.

From the official report published iu the Paris M on iteu r of the 14th ult., we learu
that the population of France in 1851, was 35,781,821. In France the census is taken
every five years, and we may refer to the last eight enumerations as the best possible
indication of the progress o f the country during the half century:—
1801......... . .
1806......... . . .
1821......... . . .
1831.........

Population.
27,349,003
29T07A25
30,461,875

Increase.
1,758,422
1,354,450
2,107,348

1836____ . . .
1841____ . . .
1846____
1851____ . . .

Population.
33,540,910

34’ 240' m

35,781,821

Increase.
971,687
689,268
1,170,308
381,335

The great falling off in the ratio o f increase during the last five years, is no doubt
attributable, partly to the political troubles which have driven so many French citizens
abroad, and partly to the ravages of the cholera in 1849. But the births during 1846
and 1851 exceeded the deaths to the number of 512,000, so that the decrease must
chiefly have been owing to emigration. One department leg B a w es-P y ren ees, has lost
11,000 inhabitants by this cause alone.
STATISTICS OF BRITISH EMIGRANT VESSELS.

A very interesting return to the British House of Commons has been printed, show­
ing the number of passenger ships which have sailed from ports in the United King­
dom with emigrants on board during the last five years, distinguishing the ports under
the superintendence of an emigration office, and showing the number of such ships
which have been wrecked, or destroyed at sea, and the number of lives so lost. It
appears that from 1847 to 1851 inclusive, the numberof emigrant vessels that sailed
from ports in the United Kingdom was 7,129, of which 252 were chartered by the
Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioner, of which t-here was only one wreck. The
per centage of loss was .396, or l in 252. Of ships dispatched from ports under the
superintendence of government emigration offices there were 5,964, out of which
there were 30 wrecks, and the per centage of loss was .503, or one in 199. There
were 913 dispatched from ports not under the superintendence of government emi­
gration offices, of which there were 13 wrecks, and the loss was 1.42 per centage, or
1 in 70. In the 7,129 ships which sailed in the five years there were 1,494,044 pass­
engers. The number of lives lost by shipwreck was 1,043. The per centage of loss
was .069 or 1 in 432. No lives were lost by the ships chartered by the Emigration
Commissioners.
CHANCES OF LIFE AS DEVELOPED BY THE CENSUS.

Among the interesting facts developed by the recent census, are some in relation te
the laws that govern life and death. They are based upon returns from the State of
Maryland, and a comparison with previous ones. The calculation it is necessary to
explain, but the result is a table from which we gather the following illustration:—
10,268 infants are born on the same day and enter upon life simultaneously. Of
these 1,243 never reach the anniversary of their birth. 9,025 commence the second
year, but the proportion of deaths still continues so great, that at the end of the third
only 8,183, or about four fifths of the original number survive. But during the fourth
year, the system seems to acquire more strength, and the number of deaths rapidly
decreases. It goes on decreasing until twenty-one, the commencement of maturity
and the period of highest health. 7,134 enter upon the activities and responsibilities
o f life— more than two-thirds of the original number. Thirty-five comes, the meridian
o f manhood; 6,302 have reached it. Twenty years more and the ranks are thinned.
Only, 5,727, or less than half of those who entered life fifty-five years ago, are left.
And now death comes more frequently. Every ) ear the ratio o f mortality steadily
increases, and at seventy there are not a thousand survivors. A scattered few live on
to the close of the century, and at the age of one hundred and six the drama is ended.
The last man is dead.
POPULATION IN MONTREAL IN 1852.

Montreal contains a population of 57,715 ; a large increase since the previous cen­
sus. There are 26,020 French Canadians, and 11,736 Irish residents. In 1850 the
population was 48,207.
VOL. X X V II.---- NO. I.




9

130

Statistics o f Population, etc.
STATISTICS OF THE POPULATION OF HUNGARY.

Dr. S chuttes, in his U ngarn, puts down the population of Hungary in 1850 at
about 16,000,000 ; of which 5,278,665 are Magyars; about 5,000,000 Sclavacs, Croats,
Ruthen, Raizen, and Schokazen; Wallachs 2,908,876 ; Germans 1,377,484, and small­
er tribes about 400,000. The entire population of Hungary in 1842, according to Fenyes,
was 12,880,406. Fenyes is a Hungarian, and the most reliable statistician who has ever
written on Hungary. Haeunfler, an Austrian statistician, puts down the population
in 1842 at 13,876,170.
CIRCULATION OF THE LONDON PRESS,

The returns of the English stamp office, published in the London T im es o f the 1st
inst., give some extraordinary statistics relative to the London newspaper press. By
these returns it appears that the circulation of the T im es exceeds by over i'uur-and-ahalf millions of copies, the aggregate circulation of all the other London newspapers
put together. Here is a full comparative list:—
CIRCULATION OF LONDON PAPERS.
MORNING.

Times. .....................
Advertiser.................
Daily News...............
Herald.......................
Chronicle...................
P ost... .......................

1845 .

1848.

1849 .

1850 .

....
___

8,100,000
1,440,000

....

2,018,025

___

1,002,400

11.021,500
1,538.997
3,053,638
1,335,000
1,151,304
964,500

11,300,000
1,528,220
1,357,000
1,147,000
937,500
905,000

11.900,000
1,549,143
1,152.000
1,139,000
912,547
829,000

873,0.00
964,000
630,000
539,000

834,500
776,950
585,000
492,000

EVENING,

Sun............................ ___
Express.....................
Globe......................... ___
Standard.................... ___

1,098,500
852,000
846,000

893,312
888,018
720,000
652,500

The circulation of the whole of these papers, exclusive of the T im es , in 1850,
(tested by the number of stamps issued at the stamp office) was not quite seven anda half millions, while the number of stamps paid for by the T im es was precisely
11,900,000, thus exhibiting the fact of the T im es possessing a positive average circu­
lation of over 38,000 copies per diem. As the T im es has no free list, and sells only
for cash, this result is the more surprising. It is understood that the circulation in
1852 is over 40,000 copies a day. By the returns alluded to, it appears that while'
the T im es has been gaining ground for the past seven years, all other newspapers,
both morning and evening, have been rapidly sinking, in 1845 the T im es ciiculated
8,100,000 papers, and all the other journals upwards of 9,000,000; but in 1850 the
circulation o f all the other papers had fallen to under seven-and-a half millions, while
that of the T im es has risen to nearly 12,000,000, and is constantly' augmenting. It is,
in fact, conceded that most of the London morning newspapers are published at a loss,
while the profits of the Tim es are known to exceed $500,000 a year. The T im es pays
for stamp advertisements and excise duty, about $500,000 a year to the government.
The daily circulation of the London papers is now about as follows:—
Times.............................................................................................
Morning Advertiser.....................................................................
Daily News...................................................................................
Morning Herald.............................................................................
Morning Chronicle.........................................................................
Morning Post.................................................................................

40,000
5,000
3,000
3,000
2,900
2,800

Most of the papers are falling off in their circulation yearly, and the evening jour­
nals are in a still worse position.




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

131

JOURNAL OF M IN IN G AND MANUFACTURES.

COPPER MINING OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

NVe give below a table of the several mining companies of Lake Superior, showing
the capital, number of bands employed, and value of products, Ac., A c.:—
Names of Lake Superior
Copper Companies.
North-West Mining Co...........
Copper Falls Mining Co.........
North-Western Mining C o .. .
North American Mining C o ..
Albion Mining C o...................
Cliff M in e ................................
Lac le lielle Mining C o .........
Iron City Mining C o...............
Isle Roy ale Mining C o...........
Cape Mining Co.......................
Pittsburg & I. Roy. Min. C o..
Liskanett Mining Co...............
American Mining Co...............
Ontonagon Mining C o ............
Sistagna Mining C o................
Chesapeake Mining Co...........
Minnesota Mining Co..............
Algonquin Mining C o.............
Ridge Mining C o.....................
Adventure Mining C o.............
Forest Mining C o ...................
Ohio Trap Rock Mining C o ...
Merchant Mining Co...............

Capital.

$50,1)00
65.000
10,000
70,000
15,000
207,360
28,000
1,500
14,000
500
18,000
30,000
3,000
15,000
3,000
5,000
29,000
2,400
5,000
15,000
15,000
15,000
2,000

Total................................. $618,760

Annual
Power Male product.
used, hands. Tons.

Nature o f
product.

Water. 114
80 Native copper
Horse. 30
10 Native copper
.......................
Hand.. 14
Steam. 110
85 Native copper
. . .......................
Hand..
9
Steam* 180 1,028 Native copper
6
Horse.
10 Gray ore . . . .
. , .......................
Horse. 15
,,
Steam. 19
.. ............
Horse.
6
2 In g o t.............
Hand.. 25
Horse. 25
25 Native copper
Horse. 15
i Native copper
Hand.. 20
Hand.. 10
Hand.. 10
Steam* 80 257 Native copper
.......................
Hand.. 28
Horse. 16
5 Native copper
Horse. 16
8 Native copper
Horse. 30
5 Native copper
Horse. 10
10 Native copper
Horse.
1
.•
789 1,525*

Value of
product.

$17,000
3,000
....
17,000
....
157,000
660
....
....
....
760
7,500
190

77,100

....
1,250
2,000
1,000
2,500

....
$386,960

COTTON PLANTERS SHOULD BECOME COTTON SPINNERS.

The Executive Committee of the Georgia Agricultural Association have put forth,
in an extra, au address to the Southern cotton planters, in which is submitted a very
valuable and important suggestion. The subject will be brought forward for dis­
cussion at the convention to be held next month in Montgomery, Alabama. From
this address we make the following extract, containing important considerations for
the cotton planter :—
“ Great Britain habitually imports about one sixth more raw cotton than she manu­
factures, and, according to Baines, in his history of cotton manufacture, makes a profit
o f 10 per cent upon the exportation of a portion of that excess to Havre. And she
converts iuto yarn and exports about one-fifth more of the amount of her imports of
raw cotton. This is not the place to inquire into the means by which she is enabled
to monopolize so large an amount of our raw staple, and to engross so large a profit
by a mere transfer o f w hat she cannot use at home across the channel. It is more
german to the purpose of this paper to inquire if the cotton planters of the United
States may not themselves spin and export part or all o f that excess of yarn which
Great Britain spins but does not make into cloth ? The more direct and practical
proposition is, may not the cotton planters look forward to the time when the expor­
tation of raw cotton will be as rare as the exportation of seed cotton was thirty or
forty years ago ? There are not as great difficulties now to the spinning and exporta­
tion of yarns as existed some sixty years ago to the ginning and exportation of clean




And horse-power.

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

132

cotton. Then the cotton-gin was in the hands of the patentees, who endeavored to
make a ‘ great East India concern of it ’ by establishing ginners at numerous points in
the cotton region and coercing the planters to sell their cotton in the seed, by refusing
to sell rights to use the gin. That scheme of monopoly, amounting almost to fraud,
was defeated by the ingenuity of Nathan Lyons, who invented the saw gin. Now,
all the elements for ginning, carding, and spinning exist in machinery of almost perfect
construction, and its adaptation to the planter’s wants is alone necessary to enable
him to spin his own crop at his own homestead. The spinning of cotton— as was one
time the ginning of it— is a distinct pursuit, employing a distinct capital, and creating
a distinct and antagonizing interest to that of the planter. The same energy that
enabled him to unite the ginning out of his crop with the production of it, will now
unite, in his own hands, the production, ginning, carding, and spinning. And he will
find that he will add proportionally more to the profits of his investment by carding
and spinning than he has by ginning his crop, for the women and children may be
readily taught to spin in winter what they have aided in cultivating and gathering.”

THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD AIINES.

By the recent arrivals at London, from Port Philip, accounts have been received
with regard to the Victoria Gold Mines up to the 27111 January, 1852. It appears
that the excitement was rapidly increasing, and that about 20,UU0 people had aheady
reached the place from the neighboring colonies. Special instances were mentioned
in which parties had obtained gold valued at about £30 per day for several successive
days, while even since the scarcity of water the average at the chief point of opera­
tion had been £3. These results were principally obtained from surface diggings on
a slope of the range not a quarter of an acre ill extent. It was estimated that since
the discovery the general yield, including what had found its way into the banks,
had been at least £1,000,000 sterling, and that already, up to the 18th of January,
£660,000 had been exported to this country. When the winter rains should set in, it
was anticipated that tne most extraordinary consequences would be witnessed. In
the meantime labor was fetching high rates; reapers were paid 28s. a day, besides a
considerable allowance of spirits, and servants who previously obtained about £30 to
£35 per annum were now readily engaged at £60. The retail business of the place
had improved in proportion, the expenditure by the mining population being distin­
guished for its extravagance. The latest price of gold was £2 18s. to £3 per ounce.
The amount brought by the present vessel is understood to be £160,000. 'The Him­
alaya and Sarah Anne, which left previously with 26,647 and 14,004 ounces,have yet
to arrive.
It appears that news had been received of the discovery of gold in New Zealand,
in the island of Waiheki, about fifteen miles east of Auckland.

COMPARATIVE COST OF MINING IN CORNWALL AND LAKE SUPERIOR,

The following i9 a comparative estimate of the expenses of mining in Cornwall,
England, aud Lake Superior, which is derived from the L a k e S u p erio r J ou rn a l, pub­
lished at Detroit, Michigan :—
Lake Superior.

Sinking shafts, per ft o t ..............
Drifting,
“
...............
Stopeing,
“
..............
Miners allowed per month........
Laborers “
“
Carpenters"
“
....
Smiths
“
“
....
Sawyers, per one thousand feet
Timber, (free)............................
Water charges...........................
Engineers, per month.................
Pitmen,
“
.................
Man and horse, per day............




$14
8
4
35
26
40
40
18

00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00

20 00
85 00
3 00

Cornwall.

$7
3
2
15
9
17
17
5
0

00
50
00
00
00
00
00
50
30

35 00
20 00
1 25

133

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures .
THE COAL TRADE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

From an elaborate article in Poor’s R a ilro a d J ou rn a l for May 15, Mr. Leavitt, the
■working editor of the Independent, has prepared the following table, showing the
growth of this trade at intervals of five years, indicating the three different coal re­
gions and the different channels by which the coal is brought to market:—
/-------------------------------------------------------------------T O N S .-------------------

Region.

Channels.

1820. 1825.

1810.

1815.

1840.

Leh igh .. Lehigh Canal . . 365 28,393 41,750 131,250 225,318
Sch’ylkill Schuylkill Canal . . . 6,500 89,984 339,508 452,291
“
Reading Railr’d ................................................................
Lackaw’a D el & Hud. Can’l .................. 43,000 90,000 148,470
Susque’a. Susquehan’a Riv.................................................... 15,505

1845.

1851.

429,453 989,269
263,537 579,156
820,237 1,605,084
273,435 795,059
188,401 415,099

Total in the year............ 365 34,893 174,734 560,758 841,584 1,975,163 4,383,667
Going back to 1835, as the time when the trade might be considered as established,
we find the increase in the five years ending 1840 was 280,826 tons, or 50 per cent;
in 1845 it was 1,133,529 tons, or 123 per cent; in 1851, six years, it was 2,408,554
tons, or 122 per cent The average of the three periods gives 98 per cent as the rate
o f increase every five years, making an increase of 4,295,993 tons in 1856, or a total
for that year o f 8,679,660 tons.
The writer before us makes a calculation somewhat different, which leads to 117
per cent, which he reduces to 100 per cent as a ratio, or that the trade will continue
to double in extent every five years for a long period to come. For convenience, call
the crop of 1851 four millions, of 1856 eight millions, of 1861 sixteen millions, and
that of 1871 thirty-two million tons. The writer says:—
“ Is there any reason why this rate should be diminished? We think not. In the
first place, population is increasing at the same rapid rate as heretofore. Secondly,
coal is only just beginning to be used throughout New England, where, ultimately, it
must displace all other means of heat for domestic purposes, as well as o f mechanical
power for manufacturing purposes. New England, as the oldest settled, and already
the most bare of wood, must become, and at no distant day, the greatest consumer of
Pennsylvania anthracite. Baltimore will probably supply herself, and to some extent
the coast below her; but the great cities of Philadelphia and New York, and the
whole Atlantic coast north and east of Philadelphia, must become every year more
and more dependent upon the coal fields of the Schuylkill, the Lehigh, and the Lack­
awanna. This whole north-eastern region of the United States, at once the coldest,
the most populous, and the most mechanical, and therefore, by all three reas<*ns, re­
quiring the greatest amount of fuel for domestic and mechanical purposes, has, as yet,
only begun to use our Pennsylvania coal. So far from any decrease in the rate of
consumption, there are the strongest reasons for believing that the rate will be in­
creased.”
I f the duty on coal should continue to give the great land-proprietors the power
to levy a quarter of a dollar per ton on all the coal that is dug there, it will yield
them in 1871 the very pretty income of eight or nine millions per annum.
AMERICAN BOHEMIAN GLASS.
A

le x a n d e r

C ummings , the editor of the Philadelphia B u lletin , on a recent visit to

Boston, took the opportunity of visiting the New England Glass Works, which, for the
extent and variety of their operations, probably surpass all others in the country.
The editor of the B u lletin says:—
“ We were especially struck with the fact, new to us, that most of the exquisite,
richly colored and decorated glass-ware, which is so much admired under the name
of ‘ Bohemian Glass,’ is manufactured at these works. The variety and beauty of the
articles manufactured there would scarcely be credited by one not a visitor; but we




134

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures .

can assure our readers that we saw many works that could not be surpassed in Bo­
hemia or anywhere else in Europe. The various processes by which the different colors
and the rich gilding are produced we are not prepared to describe, but they are produced
at these works in the utmost perfection. The company has the advantage of a charter
and large capital, which enable them thus to compete successfully with foreign
manufactures in this w ork; Massachusetts having none o f that holy horror of cor­
porations which has retarded so much the development of manufacturing industry in
our own State”
DISCOVERY OF GOLD AT QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S ISLAND,

In reference to the golden wealth of Queen Charlotte’s Island, in the Pacific, a let­
ter in the New York C ou rier a n d E n q u ir e r , mentioning the discovery by persons em­
ployed by the Hudson’s Bay Company, says that “ in less than one hour $13,000 worth
of gold and quartz intermixed was discovered, and much more might have been se­
cured but for the imprudence of one of the party, who, in his eagerness to secure
some of the large pieces, gave the Indians a silver dollar for each large piece of gold.
The Indians, although ignorant of the value of the gold, were accustomed to the use
of silver from trading with the Hudson Bay Company. After receiving a few dollars
they attacked the white men and drove them off to their vessel, and they were obliged
to get under way and leave the harbor. Several vessels with armed men have since
left San Francisco for the island. The island is about two hundred and forty miles in
length, and from twenty to one hundred in breadth, with a beautiful soil and climate.
The coast abounds with excellent harbors and large quantities of fish. It has a popu­
lation d from 7,000 to 10,000 Indians, who lead a roving life, always moving in large
bodies from one part of the island to another. The island is nominally a British pos­
session, but it is not inhabited by a single white man.
NORTH-WEST COPPER MINING COMPANY.

The North-West Mining Company have made a statement and exhibit of the ope­
rations and financial affairs of the company, from which it appears that the income
realized from the sale of copper since the organization of the company, in 1849,
amounts to the sum of £94,819 83, and the aggregate expenditures, for the same pe­
riod, for mining, &c., real estate, live stock, improvements, and steam-engines, amount
to the sum of $172,183 9f>. The results, as will be seen below, for the past three
years, are encouraging in the annually increasing quantity of copper raised; and it i»
reasonable to hope that such increase will continue for some time to com e:—
Mineral raised.

Fine copper.

1849 ............................... lbs.
1850 .....................................
1851 ......................................

44,196
270,873
434,993

34,322
195,020
293,199

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

750,062

522,541

Percent.

at

Cash realized.

77f
72
671

$6,672 71
35,786 66
53,360 46

69J

$94,819 83

VULCANIZED INDIA RUBBER.
D aniel W ebster, in the India rubber case of G oodyear ns. D ay , describes minutely

the invention claimed by Goodyear for vulcanizing India rubber, as follows:—
“ It appears from the evidence in this case, that Chas. Goodyear, in the year 1834,
came into the field of operations in the manufacture of India rubber.
“ He turned his attention to this subject, not as a matter of business or trade, but
by way of commencing and carrying on a series of experiments, by which he could
bring to the test the question whether this very extraordinary substance was capable
of rendering any benefit to society, to see whether there was any way, given among
men skilled in the arts, by which this article could be cleared of its stickiness—its ten­
ancy to harden in the frost and soften in the heat; for it is well known that the arti­




135

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

cles manufactured up to the year 1834 were entirely useless. If they were exposed
to the sun, they became sticky, you could not separate them after their surfaces came
in contact; and if exposed to the cold, they became hard and rigid.”
To remedy these defects, Mr. Goodyear continued his experiments for years, until
he at last invented the vulcanizing process. The great peculiarity of this vulcanizing
process is this: if you take a compound of sulphur and rubber in a dry state, and
grind and mix them together, and apply heat, the consequence is, that the substance
softens, and softens, and softens, as the degree of heat increases, until it reaches a cer­
tain hight in the thermometer, say 212° Fahrenheit, or along there, a little more or
less.
“ Anybody who ever tried the effects to see what would be its operation upon this com­
pound, and found that a great degree of heat, softened and rendered it more and more
plastic as the degree of heat was augmented, would naturally be of opinion, that if
that heat were carried still higher, the whole substance would melt. I say that every­
body would be of that opinion, reasoning a p r i o r i , and founding his conclusions upon
a general knowledge of the effect of heat. But Mr. Goodyear, as the result of un­
tiring experiment, found out that although the application of heat produced a melting
effect upon this compound, rendering it more and more plastic and soft a3 the degree
o f heat augmented, yet when that heat, going on, had got up to a certain much higher
degree, its effect was the reverse of what it had been, and then the rubber composition
commenced to vulcanize and harden— in fact, to make metallic the vegetable sub­
stance.”
GOLD MINES IN VAN DIEMAN’ S LAND.

The news from Van Dieman’s land, in relation to the productiveness of the gold
mines, is more fl ittering than any accounts before received. Labor and merchandise
have advanced most rapidly.
In the Melbourne Argus, of January 19, we find the following statistics, relative to
the gold obtained from the gold fields of Victoria.
FROM MELBOURNE.

Oz.

Dec. 29, 1851. Favorite, Sydney..........................................................
Dec. 30, “
Himalaya, London..........................................................
Jan. 6, 1852, Hirondelle, Sydney......................................................
Jan.
7, u Sword Fish, Hobart Town..............................................
Jan.
8, “ Phebe, Sydney..................................................................
Jan. 15, “ Brilliant, London..............................................................
Jan. 15, “ Thomas and Henry, Sydney .........................................
JaB. 16, u Sarah Aune, London..................

744
26,547
1,703
900
2,504
42,594
1,000
14,004

dwt. gr.

6
5
0
0
0
0
0
6

12
0
0
0
0
10
0
0

89,996 17

22

FROM GEELONG.

Jan. 8, 1852, Brilliant, London...............................................................
Total........................................................ ..................................

12,483

1

4

102,479 19

0

Making a total with that previously shipped, omitting fractions o f an ounce, of
220,305 ounces, amounting, at £3 per ounce, to the sum of £680,915.
The article closes with the following announcement:—
“ We have hastily thrown these few facts together, by way of asking our English
friends, what they think of the prospects of a little colony, which, in less than four
months, has managed to export 9 tons, 3 cwt., 58 lbs., 9 oz., of gold, and has plenty
more to follow $”
LIQUID LEATHER.

Dr. Beruland, of Larria, in Germany, is said to have discovered a method of mak­
ing leather out of certain refuse and waste animal substances. He has established a
manufactory near Vienna; no part of the process is explained; but it is stated that
the substance is at one stage in a state o f fluidity, and may then be cast into boots,
shoes, Ac. Such a discovery is not improbable.




136

Mercantile Miscellanies.
THE VALUE OF AST ACRE OF COAL LAND.

The Pottsville (Pa.) M in in g R eg ister alluding to the cheapness of land in that quar­
ter a few years ago, says now an acre of coal land is worth ¥18,000. Many set down
a higher figure. In the South basin, (that is, from the Sharp Mountain to the Mine
Hill,) where we have all the veins, (thirteen, including, red and white ash,) the whole
thickness of the coal is ninety feet. Allowing one-half o f this for fault and waste in
mining, we have 45 feet, or 15 yards in thickness, of merchantable coal. There being
48,000 square yards to the acre, we have, by multiplying this number by the thick­
ness. 72,000 square yards or tons of coal per acre ; which at a rent ot 25 cents per
ton, brings $18,000. This is a fair estimate of the real value o f an acre of our coal
land, without exaggeration or embellishment. It is not strange, therefore, that our
lands have, and are still increasing in value. In England, coal lands not possessing
near the intrinsic value of ours, sell at from one to two thousand pounds sterling per
acre.

M E R C A N TILE M ISCELLANIES.
M

OLD MERCHANT’S ADVICE.

M artin T akemthroegh— who must be a son or grandson of old G oahead P ctem through— through

the medium of the Palmetto State Banner, gives the following ad­
vice to his nephew, J ack G oingthrough :—
M y B ear N ephew :— I am rejoiced to learn that you are in good health, and are
just commencing business on your own account. I have heretofore remarked your
shrewdness in commercial transactions in which you were engaged for the benefit of
others, and I feel confident, that having launched upon your own boat, and started on
your own hook, you will still maintain a character which weighs so greatly in my es­
timation. Being so nearly related to myself, it is of course my desire that you shall
meet with the most complete success. You are intelligent and enterprising— two
qualities, without which, little or nothing can be achieved.
Thirty years ago, I launched my bark upon the same tempestuous sea. I had
nothing to begin with, it is true ; but I did not despair— I know that others had suc­
ceeded in making the same voyage. I tried it, on the square, for some time, that is to
say, I did not take any of the little advantages of which others availed themselves^
for purposes of gain. But I soon found that, riches being the object in view, I must
adopt their plan or I would never succeed in business. It is too late in the
day for one to think of acting upon the principle that “ honesty is the best policy ”— it
is an erroneous doctrine— it won’t do in the 19th century. Men must suit their con­
sciences to their interests— have easy consciences. They must know and acknowledge
but one rule for their guidance upon every occasion— that rule is short ana pointed—
embraced in one word— “ S kin !”
Occasionally you may find one, who, in his folly, strictly acts up to his vaunted prin­
ciple, honesty. What is the consequence ? He remains poking and groveling in the
mud for a life time, while every day he beholds his neighbors, who are not so squeam­
ish as himself, rearing their palaces and reveling in luxuries to him unknown. He
may be thought well of by a few poor fellows (dupes of honesty) like himself, but the
majority having a different standard of excellence, will give him the cold shoulder and
keep him jammed to the wall. Such a fate should never be mine, and if I am at all
acquainted with your spirit it will never be yours. I got along gradually at first.
Ten per cent satisfied me then, but I found it wouldn’t do, so I commenced increasing
and continued to increase. Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sometimes one hundred
per cent. Complaints, of course, I had almost any quantity— but what of that?
Where I lost one customer I would gain two others. Some couldn’t use my sugar;
they said it was all sand, but this was a vile misrepresentation— only thirty per cent
was sand, and that of the cleanest kind. Sand is wholesome: it is an invaluable aid to
digestion. I was actually contributing to the health of the silly beings, by mixing
sand with my sugar; but they knew it not, and the manufacturer had to bear the
blame, of course, as I would not acknowledge my agency. They said my liquor was
half w ater; well, so it was, and so much the better for it. A ll parties were benefited.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

137

Liquor, we all know, is hurtful— if, then, I weakened its strength, by adding a portion
of that delightful beverage appropriated for the use of the whole human family, and
made it less powerful for evil, I was undoubtedly entitled to commendation rather
than abuse. At all events I put cash into my pocket by the operation, and received
their curses in a philosophical spirit, that could not have been excelled by Socrates
himself. So with coffee and tea—the first was half rocks, and the last almost entirely
composed of sloe leaves. You cannot conceive how 1 was vilified— but what of that ?
I was making money like dust— folks knew it, and I was outwardly respected accord­
ingly. I was a rising man then, and I have been rising ever since.
You must S kin in self-defence. There are but two classes in the world— the S k in ­
n er and the Skinned. The former are wise men; the latter are fools. If you do not
skin, you must assuredly be skinned— so you can make your choice. Pay no attention
to derogatory remarks, but skin on.
We are no worse than the majority of business men. There is trickery in all trades
and professions. Each is trying with might and main to get the advantage of the
other. The lawyer, the doctor, the merchant, the workman— all are on an equality.
Some ignorant people may call it swindling—but, poor souls! they know no better,
and deserve to be bitten for their egregious ignorance. They learn soon that the only
way to keep from being bitten to death, is to bite back. They make your sharpest
biters, those who have been well torn. They bite all mankind for what they think is
an injury inflicted on them by one. A dog blessed with the hydrophobia is not a cir­
cumstance with them!
It is perfectly safe, if you manage right. Your eye teeth must be cut before you
venture out into deep water. As for conscience, as I before intimated, no business
man can keep one and succeed in the world. It is nothing but a dead weight, always
holding him back, when it is evidently his interest to go forward. If you have not
already come to the conclusion to discard it, I must beg you to do so, by all means.
No merchant, with a conscience, ever gets fat— no such a one ever sleeps well of nights.
I assert with perfect truth, when I say that I never feel better than when I have just
gone through with a skinning operation. My spirits are revived, and I number my
gains with a joyousness utterly astonishing to weak nerves.
Do not boggle at what some call lying. “ Men are born liars.” Lie with emphasis—
lie with seriousness— lie with impudence. Never lie unless you can see a chance to
make something thereby— then lie boldly. A man, especially a merchant, who always
tells the truth, and nothing but the truth, must frequently be the victim of disappoint­
ment. He cannot succeed, and it is perfectly useless for him to think of it. I told the
truth ouce, and I have repented it to this day. I lost a thousand dollars. I could
have made it just as easy as winking. That sum, singly, is not much to me
now, but just think— in the ten years since I committed that offence, how much might
have been made with it. It would have quadrupled itself at the least calculation. I
took a solemn oath, never to catch myself again!
Be always on hand. Never lose a chance. Remember, it is the early bird that
snaps up the worm. Every human gudgeon is hooked up by somebody ; so take your
chance. They are curious— show them y o u r elephant. Keep a little good liquor to
treat them with. Don’t drink yourself, but fill them to the muzzle before commencing
trade. They purchase with desperation when about half or three parts fuddled. Any­
thing— everything— nothing comes amiss. Backbite your neighbors— declare they are
knaves, swindlers, cheats, thieves— wouldn’t trust them out of sight. Then, when you
have got them well screwed in your vice, squeeze, until they are as dry as dust. That
is the way, my dear nephew, to show yourself worthy of the appellation of a business
man, and to do honor to my instructions. Your loving uncle,
M artin T akemthrough.

SMUGGLING IN SPAIN.
The M a d rid G azette contains a decree extending the line of custom-houses through
the province of Zaragosa, from Justinana and Navarre, as far as the province of
Huesca. This measure has been taken in consequence of the increase of smuggling and
the complete and dangerous organization of smugglers in that department. The gov­
ernment begins to find that it is impossible to maintain its protective system without
recourse to custom-houses in the interior.




138

Mercantile Miscellanies .
LANDING A STEAMBOAT PASSENGER.

The Poughkeepsie Engle reports an interesting law case which has recently been decided
in the Circuit Court of Oyer and Terminer, in that place. It seems that a gentlemen
by the name of Whinfield, belonging to Poughkeepsie, took passage at New York on
the steamboat Oregon, buying a through ticket to Albany, as, owing to the competi­
tion, a through ticket could be bought for a less price than a way ticket. When the
boat reached Poughkeepsie, Whinfield offered his through ticket and attempted to go
ashore; but the officers of the boat forcibly resisted him, and carried him against his
will to Albany. Whinfield brought a suit against the owners and officers of the boat
for assault and false imprisonment; contending that a through ticket entitled the holder
to land wherever he pleased on the way. The court sustained this position ; ruling,
that a through ticket entitled a passenger to land at any place where the boat stopped;
and that in fact all the passengers had a right to walk ashore at any place. That a
passenger not paying his passage, when demanded, was liable to be put on shore im­
mediately ; but if the steamboat came to Poughkeepsie or any other dock, a passen*
ger who had not paid his passage had a right to go ashore without any detention from
the owners or employees of the boat; and that in fact the owners must collect the
passage money before starting ; and that if not collected at that time, it was a debt,
and to be collected as other debts ; and that it was false imprisonment to detain any
passenger from landing. Under this ruling the jury found a verdict of §150 and costs
against the captain, clerk, and ticket agent of the Oregon.
A SELF-WINDING OR PERPETUAL CLOCK.

After years o f mathematical labor and mechanical results, Professor Willis, o f Roch­
ester, has completed and has now in constant operation a self-winding clock, which
determines the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years o f time
with unfailing accuracy, continuing in constant motion, by itself, never requiring to
be wound up, never running down, but moving perpetually so long as its components
exist. It might easily be called a perpetual motion, and it is so in one sense, but the
inventor very properly makes no such claim. The scientific will at once understand
fcliis upon inspection. The Rochester D em ocrat says that the clock stands upon two
uprights about six feet high, with a large highly-finished dial. Its mechanism is all
exposed to the closest scrutiny, and the movement of its simple escapement and its
direct motion is as plain to the eye as the truth and force o f its well applied principles
to the mind.
BUSINESS OF DUBUQUE IN 1851.

It appears from the report of a committee appointed by the city council of Dubuque,
Iowa, that the number of steamboats that arrived there during the boating season of
1851 was 353, and the number of departures 352. Dubuque exported 4,287 tons
o f merchandise of the value of §233,207 59; and imported 24,663 tons of the value
o f §1.175,207 40. The number of immigrants who have been landed from steamers
we find to be 2,824. The articles embraced in the above summary of exports consist
chiefly of the agricultural products of the soil, lead, horses, cattle, and hogs. The im­
ports were mostly made up of dry goods, groceries, queensware, machinery, leather,
lumber &c. The amount of insurance by merchants and others upon exports was in
and about the sum of §1,749, and that paid upon imports §8,814, making the aggre­
gate paid for insurance the sum of §10,563,
OF THE COASTING TRADE BETWEEN NEW YORK AND VIRGINIA.

An act was passed by the legislature of New York on the 20th March, 1852, “ ex­
empting vessels and persons engaged in the coasting trade between the port of New
York and the Capes of Virginia, from Quarantine,” as follows:—
S ec. 1. Article first, title second, chapter fourteen, of the first part of the revised
statutes, entitled o f the place of quarantine, and the vessels and persons subject thereto,
shall not apply to Vessels and persons engaged in the coasting trade between the port
of New York and any of the Capes of Virginia; and all such vessels and persons
may at all times enter the port of New York without being subject to quarantine, the
same as if they did not pass to the south of Cape Henlopen, except in case there taiay
be sickness on board, when they shall be subject to the existing provisions of laws.




The Book Trade .

13 9

TH E BOOK TRADE.
1.— F iv e T ears in a n E n g lish U niversity. By C iiarlks A stor B risted, late Foun­
dation Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. 2 vols. New Y ork: G. P. Putnam,
155 Broadway.
Mr. Bristed’s book has a right to a place among the latest voyages to unexplored
regions, and by the side of the last journey to the interior of Africa. Polar seas and
regions are rather better known to the American public, than the modes of life and
course of studies in the Great English Universities. Our ignorance in this respect, is
the more striking from our familarity with the German Universities, with which
numerous books, learned and familiar, and the experience of many an American student
have made us acquainted. In the colonial times, young Americans of aspiration used
to repair to the English Universities, but very few have found their way there since.
Mr. Bristed’s experience, therefore, wras something unique and well worth narrating.
Mr. Bristed has very decided talent for description, the minuteness of observation, the
eye for details, which give vividness aud life. His pictures of university life are as
piquant as Howitt’s similar sketches of German student life. Having graduated at
New Haven also, he is enabled to contrast his experience of the American with the
English College system, much to the disadvantage of the former. The book, in fact,
under a narrative form is much more; it is a formal expose of the defects of American
classical scholarship, of the superiority of English, and of the mode by which the
inferiority is to be removed, which is the substitution of the English system. W e
confess we were more struck in Mr. Bristed’s Companion, with the points o f
resemblance than of difference, between the English and American system of college
study and discipline. They were both formed on the same model— the monastic discip­
line; both breathe the same school-boy spirit. The difference is a difference of degree,
not of kind. The American collegian ends his college course at twenty, the English
begins at about that a ge; the American devotes about seven years to the classics, the
English student, twelve or more; and above all, the English student pursues his course at
a mature age. But the system is the same; competition, artificial incitements, coaches,
steam, petty restraints, study to pass examination, not to learn. The fact is, England
and America must alike acknowledge the literary sovereignty of Germany in classical
learning. The best labors of English scholars consist in working up the results of German
, erudition, translating German treatises, editing German editions. What is Liddel and
Scott’s Lexicon, cited by Mr. Bristed as proof of Oxford industry, but a translation in
the main ] When the classics are studied by men, as a profession, such results may be
expected, but we study them as an inferior branch, preparatory to law, divinity, or
medicine, not, like the faculty of Philosophy in Germany, co-ordinate with them. Mr.
Bristed’s hook, however, is full of valuable suggestions; it is written in a frank,
manly spirit, with much earnestness, and withal good humor, full too of those personal
details which make such interesting reading. For how many pleasant hours is the
world indebted to the amiable egotism of its Pepyses and Berneys ! A t the same time
we cannot too much applaud this race instead of an American man of wealth earnestly
laboring in the cause of good letters. We think Mr. Bristed underrates American
scholarship. We have not space to show how; but really it seems scarce confirma­
tion of his complaint, when in a book so professedly scholarly, there occur such errors
as indagim us fa c ile andiisse, etc., which we can of course call nothing but misprints.
Is it impossible to have Latin and Greek correctly printed in New York ?
2.— H a r p e r s N ew M o n th ly M agazine. Vol. 4. D ecem ber, 1851, to M a y, 1852. 8vo.,
pp. 863. New York: Harper & Brothers.
A fourth volume of Harper’s Magazine was completed with the May number. It
is unnecessary to repeat what all the world in the United States and the Canadas
well knowr, that nowhere else can he found the same amount of agreeable reading,
at the same expense, as in these pages. The good taste of the work, the excellence
of its varied contents, and the discrimination in their choice are well appreciated. The
aid of such writers as the Abbotts, and the entertainment and instruction of their ar­
ticles cannot be too highly valued. It is a work that should be received into every
family. Each volume improves in appearance. Many of the articles in these pages
are profusely illustrated with well executed cuts. Indeed no labor or cost seems to
be spared to make this work as complete, and tasteful, and perfect as possible.




140

The Book Trade .

3-— P h ila d elp h ia as it is in 1852 : B ein g a C orrect G uide to a ll the P u b lic B u ild in g s;
L iter a r y , S cien tific , a n d B enevolen t In stitu tion s ; a nd P la ce s o f A m u sem en t, R e ­
m arkable Objects, C om m ercial W arehouses, a n d W h lesale and R e ta il S tores in
P h ila d elp h ia and its V icin ity.
W ith Illu stra tion s, a nd a M ap o f the C ity and its
E n v iron s. By R. A. S mith. 12mo., pp. 452. Philadelphia: Lindsay <fc Blakiston.

The title of this work explains its contents at length. It is sufficient to say that it
is issued in very good taste, and contains many well executed cuts.
4. — The W o rld H ere a n d T h e r e ; o r N otes o f Travelers.
Edited by C harles D ickens. N o. 4, 12mo., pp. 231.

From “ Household Words.’ *

5. — T h e E xisten ce o f a G od a n d H um an Im m orta lity P h ilo so p h ica lly Considered, and
the T ru th o f D iv in e R ev ela tion Substantiated. By J. B ovee D ods. 12mo., pp.
215. New Y ork: Fowlers and Wells.
This author is a pleasant and easy writer. In his discussion of the subject of the
existence of the Deity he has presented many strong facts in a forcible and popular
manner.
6. — T h e H ive a n d the H o n e y -B e e ; w ith P la in D irectio n s f o r

O btain ing a Con­
siderable A n n u a l In crea se f r o m th is B ra n ch o f R u r a l E con om y.
T o w hich is
added a n A cc o u n t o f the D iseases o f B ees, w ith th eir R em edies. A l s o R em a rk s
a s to th eir E nem ies, and the B est M ode o f P r o te c tin g the B ees f r o m th eir A t ­
tacks. By H. D. R ichardson. With illustrations on wood. 8vo., pp. 72. New

York : C. M. Saxton.
— J ou rn ey to Iceland, a nd T ravels in Sweden a n d N orw a y. Translated by C h a r ­
F. C ooper . 12mo., pp. 270. New Y ork: G. P. Putnam.
Madame Pheiffer, the author of this volume, is the woman who through curiosity
made the tour of the world. The same motive led her to Ireland. She is shrewd,
sensible, and often striking in her observations, and the reader will follow her with
interest throughout her trip. The volume forms number eight of Putnam’s Cheap
Library.
7.

lotte

8. — L es A ven tu res de Telem aque, fi l s d' U lysse. Par M. F enelon. D’apres l’edition
de M. C harles B run. 12mo., pp. 395. New Y ork: Leavitt & Allen.
Fenelon’s Telemachu9 i9 a work too well known to the public to require explana­
tion. For two hundred years it. has been the admiration of mankind. This edition is
issued in very good taste, in clear and distinct type, and substantial paper. The sig­
nification of the most difficult words is added at the foot of each page, and a brief
compendium of ancient history and geography, so far as may be necessary, to increase
the intelligibility of the work, is placed at the close, as an appendix. We have never
seen a better edition for youth.
9. — N otes, E x p la n a to r y and P ra c tic a l, on the B o o k o f R evelation s. By A lbert
B arnes. 12mo., pp. 506. New York: Harper tfc Brothers.
This is an excellent work on a subject upon which so much has been written,
and so little is actually known. The author entered upon the task of exposition
not precisely from any previous purpose, or to establifh a theory of his own, but
rather in the coarse of his private studies. Finding much in historical writers to con­
firm the views which arose in his own mind, he was led to complete and publish them.
His well known ability and success in biblical investigations are such as to entitle this
work to a cordial reception.
10. — M iscellan ies. By Rev. J ames M artineau. 12mo., pp. 472. Boston: Crosby
& Nichols.
The contents of this volume consist of articles which have heretofore appeared in
the English periodicals, but they treat of such high themes, and possess such a lofty
tone, clearness of moral discrimination, affluence of imagery, and vigorous precision
o f language, that they not only made quite an impression upon their first appearance,
but have been regarded, and with justice, as worthy to be reproduced in a more
permanent form. The titles of some of the articles are the following :— “ The bat­
tle of the Churches;” “ The Church of England;” “ Church and State;” “ Life and
correspondence of Thomas Arnold ;” and among liberal Christians this volume will
find great favor, and they will regard its appearance, in the present 6tate and tenden­
cies o f opinion, as very timely.




The B ook Trade .

141

— St. P a u l s E p is tles to the C orin th ian s : an A tte m p t to C onvey th eir S p irit and
Significan ce, By J ohn H amilton T hom.
12mo., pp. 400.
Boston: Crosby Jc

11.

Nichols.
A ll scholars and deep students are warned off from these pages. They are designed
for the unlearned; for those who desire religious truth with simplicity, sincerity, and
love. The author belongs to that class known as liberal Christians, and while he dis­
plays in his annotations of Paul’s Epistle all that depth of thought and elegance of
diction, peculiar to his brethren, yet he has farther advanced than is usual, into a
field which is often comparatively overlooked. He not only believes, but feels that it
is through the heart alone man can sympathize with whatever exists behind the veil;
that the feelings of the heart are the ultimate source of all thought and all action ;
that love and its kindred affections only, constitute all that is immortal of the acqui­
sitions of man on earth.
12. — T h e Two F a m ilies : an E p isod e in the H isto r y o f Chapelton. By the author of
Rose Douglas. 12mo., pp. 261. New Y ork : Harper & Brothers.
Some very agreeable and pleasing scenes will be found in these pages, and the
whole work is written with much strength and force. But there are several of the
characters strongly depicted which are destitute of any attraction whatever. Indeed
they are such that scarcely a reader can desire their acquaintance. These are blem­
ishes which seriously mar what might have been made, with a little modification, a
very attractive tale.
13. — T h e Hoxcadji in S yria . By G eo. W m. C urtis. 12mo., pp. 304. New York:
Harper tfc Brothers.
There may be some readers who will be pleased with this work. The author is
happy in the selection of his language, which is generally the most mellow and soft
words. The order of their arrangement is less harmonious, and often made at the
expense o f the thought, which should never be done. There are many pleasing and
agreeable passages, but nothing which the reader will call “ downright good.” The
effort to polish and finish is glaring all over, and often there is a far-fetchedness in the
thoughts, an absence of that truthful and natural adaptation to the subject which is
requisite to agreeable reading of every kind. It is, in other respects, a work of much
better taste than most writers possess, though art has done more than nature here.
W e do not desire to deter auy reader from a book which he ought to possess, and
which is worth far more than the mere cost. It belongs to a peculiar and difficult de­
partment of composition, and we have examined it as such.
14.— T h e B ritish C o lo n ies; th eir H isto r y , E x t e n t , C on d ition , and R esources. By R.
M. M artin . Part 38. New York : John Tallis & Co.
A finely executed portrait of Sir Ralph Abercromby embellishes this number. In
its pages the history of the colony of Cape Town during the year 1814 is continued.
15. — T allis's S crip tu re N a tu ra l H istory f o r Youth. P a r t 13. 18mo. New Y ork:
John Tallis & Co.
It contains sixteen colored and finely executed plates of birds which are mentioned
in scripture, accompanied with a very interesting and instructive outline of their natu­
ral history.
16. — T h e Illu stra ted A tl a s a n d M odern H isto r y o f the W orld . By R. M. Martin.
Part 47. New Y o rk : John Tallis & Co.
This part contains a beautiful engraving of the city of Edinburg, and some addi­
tional pages of the Index Gazetteer. We have often expressed our gratification at
the elegant execution of these maps.
17. — L illia n a n d oth er P oem s. By W. M ackworth P raed . N ow first collected.
12mo., pp. 290. New York : J. 8. Redfield.
It is a very unusual circumstance in these days that the author of poems of so much
merit as these, should never attempt the task of their collection from the ephemeral
publications in which they have first appeared. On the contrary, the labor ha3 been
done in this country for an English poet who was far too careless of his reputation.
The contents of the volume consist of numerous pieces, some of which are of consid­
erable length, and others are quite brief. They possess a delicate sensibility and a
richness of fancy intermingled often with a tone of sadness which imparts to them an
intense charm.




142

The B ook Trade .

18. — The L ife and L etters o f B a rth o ld G eorge N ieb u h r, with E ssoqjs on his C haracter
and Influence.

By C hevalier B unsen and P rofessors B randis and L orbell .

12mo., pp. 563.

New York : Harper tfe Brothers.

A large portion of this work consists of letters, and extracts of letters, by Niebuhr.
It is not a selection from his learned and general correspondence, but simply bio­
graphical. It aims to communicate whatever can throw light upon the natural ca­
pacities and dispositions of this distinguished man; his mental development, his
studies, his art and literature, his profound sympathies, and, not less, his faults and
weaknesses. Much i9 also presented respecting his public career; perhaps to as great
an extent as was possible, while such a mass of his memorials, dispatches, and valuble collections of letters remain inaccessible to the public.
19. — The L eg isla tiv e G uide ; containing all the Rules for conducting Business in Con­
gress; Jefferson’s Manual and the Citizen’s Manual, including a concise System of
Rules of Order, founded on Congressi- nal Proceedings, with copious Notes and
Marginal References, explaining the Rules and the Authority therefor; designed to
economize Time and secure Uniformity in the Proceedings of all Deliberative As­
semblies, and also to meet the Wants of every private Citizen who desires to un­
derstand the right way to transact public business. By J. B. B urleigh, LL. D.
8vo., pp. 287. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
The title of this work amply explains the fullness of its contents. Something o f
this kind seems to be required, which shall serve as a standard authority upon the
order of proceedings in all public assemblies. This is the only work with which we
are acquainted that is worthy to fill such a position.
20. — T h e S ola r S y s te m : A D escrip tiv e T reatise u p on the S u n , M oon , a n d P la n ets,
in clu d in g a n A cc o u n t o f a ll recent D iscoveries. By J. R. H ind , Secretary o f the
Royal Astronomical Society. 12mo., pp. 198. New York: G. P. Putnam.
A series of works on popular and practical science is one of the features of Put­
nam’s Popular Library ; and this volume is the first of that series. It is admirably
adapted to pre.-ent the reader, within a small compass, with a view of the present
state o f astronomical science, embracing the recent discoveries in astronomy, and its
last results.
21. — T h e T em perance Tales. By Lucies M. S argent. New Illustrated Edition.
2 vols. in one, 12mo., pp. 632. Boston: John P. Jewett.
The temperance tales of Mr. Sargent were among the earliest productions devoted
to the progress of that movement, and have become familiar as “ household words.”
They were prepared for the purpose of doing good, and, we believe, it is universally
acknowledged that they have been eminently successful m that respect. Hundreds
o f thousands have already been scattered over the earth. Editions have been pub­
lished in England, Scotland, and Botany Bay, at Madras, and in South India; and
several of the tales have been translated into the German and other European lan­
guages. The present edition comprises the whole series, and is, perhaps, the best
edition that has yet been published of these standard tales.
22. — O n the S tu d y o f W ord s . By R. D. F rench , B. D. From the second London
Edition. 12mo., pp. 236. New York : J. S. Redfield.
These lectures on the study of words were prepared under the conviction on the
part of the author, that there were many words in our language, which in their origin,
changes, and present use, presented historical facts extremely interesting and instruc­
tive. A considerable number of such words treated in a suitable manner to illustrate
this conviction foim the contents of the volume. The reader will soon be convinced
of the correctness of these views, and find in those pages much that is useful and inter­
esting relative to many words and synonyms.
0 3 — R ev o lu tio n a r y M em oria ls , E m b ra cin g P o em s by the Rev. W . W h eeler Case ,
P u b lish ed in 1778, with a n A p p e n d ix C on ta in in g B u rg o y n e's P ro cla m a tio n in
B urlesque, dec., A c. Edited by S tephen D odd. 12mo., pp. 69. New Y ork: M.

W . Dodd.
This is a new edition of poetic pieces published iD Revolutionary times. Of course
they breath the spirit of the day. Their poetic merit is inconsiderable, but as illus­
trative of seventy six, they are curious and striking.




143

The Book Trade.
24. — N ig h ts

h i a B lo c h -H o u s e ; o r Sketches o f B ord er L i f e : E m b ra cin g A d ven tu res
A m o n g the In d ia n s, Tents o f the W ild H u n ters , and E x p lo its o f B o rd er H eroes o f
*he W est. By H enry 0 . W atson. With numerous Illustrations. 8vo., pp. 448.

Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo

Co.

The plan of this work is such as to unite the interest of the novel with the useful­
ness of history. Under this freedom the author describes, in most glowing terms,
individual adventures among the Indians of the West. True in their general outlines
and their more important features, they are sketched with a liveliness of fancy and a
fullness o f spirit, which is wanting in the mere historical description. The reader can
here obtain a better idea of Western life in those early days, than if they were writ­
ten with more tameness. He can scarcely fail to be interested in all parts of tki3
volume.
25. — H eroin es o f H istory. Illustra ted .
New York: Cornish &. Lamport.

Edite.d by M ary E. H f.wett .

12mo., pp. 825.

The design of this volume is to present within moderate limits, sketches of the
lives of women rendered illustrious by their heroism and virtues. Its list contains the
names of Semiramis, Nictoris, Zenobia, Boadicea. Berengeria, Laura, Joan of Arc,
Isabella of Castile, Ann Bolyn, Lady Jane Grey. <£c., comprising sixteen in all. The
sketches, which are spirited, are chiefly personal, brief, and interesting. They are
each accompanied with a portrait executed with more than ordinary skill and taste.
26. — R esearches R esp ectin g A m e r ic a s V esp ucius a nd his V o y a g es, B y V iscount
S anturem , Ex-Prime Minister of Portugal. Translated b y E. V . C h il l e . 12mo.,
pp.221. Boston: Little tfe Brown.
This work is from an intelligent and accomplished source, whatever the author
may be politically at home; and the reader will quickly become enlisted in its inves­
tigations. They relate to many important particulars in the life of an ancient naviga­
tor, which have lost none of their interest through the lapse of time.
27. — I x io n a n d oth er P o em s.
Ticknor, Reed & Fields.

By H arvey H ubbard.

12mo., pp. 165.

Boston

The poems flow from a highly cultivated, artistic pen. The reader will find in
them much that is polished and skillfully said, with many nice conceptions and pleas­
ing fancies. But they possess few traces of that fine poetic fancy which stamps the
great poet; or that exuberance of soul which mellows all that fancy paints or imag­
ination conceives.
28.

— T h e A p p r o a c h in g C r is is : B e in g a R eview o f H r. BushnelVs recent L ectu res on
S u p ern a tu ra l ism. By A ndrew J ackson D avis. S vo ., pp. 221. New York: Pub­

lished by the Author.
In these pages the author has endeavored to meet the question of Rationalism or
Supernaturalism, which he regards as the great one of the day. He plants himself
upon that sense of repugnance, which a large portion of mankiid entertain toward the
extreme views o f an antiquated theology. Regarding this repugnance as the true
voice of mankind, he proceeds to examine the views and doctrines of Supernaturalism.
There is great vigor, energy, and clearness in this thought, with a directness and force
that carry their peculiar weight with them.
29. — A B io g ra p h ica l a nd C ritica l D ic tio n a r y o f P a in te r s , E n g ra v ers , S cu lp tors, a nd
A rch itects. F rom A n c ie n t to M odern T im e s ; w ith the M o n o g ra m s , C iphers, and
M old s used by D istin gu ish ed A r tis ts to C ertify th eir W ork s. Bv Rev. S. S poon er ,
A. B. M. D. 8vo., Nos. 1, 2, 8, 4, 5, 6, 7. New York : G. P. Putnam.
In ten numbers this work will be completed. The extent and variety o f its con­
tents is apparent from the title. One wonders how it is pos=ible for an individual so
fully and completely to investigate so extensive a field. This is, however, explained
by the author in his statement, that he has devoted to it his leisure for twenty years.
His aim has been to give the cream of the whole history of the fine arts in such a
form that all can afford to buy and read. The biographical notices are no less instruc­
tive than interesting; particularly in the department filled by the ancients. Amer­
ican art is also carefully and extensively noticed ; on the^whole the lover of the arts
will be greatly pleased with this work.




The Book Trade.

114

30. — T he A r t Jou rna l f o r M a y and Ju n e.

New York : George Virtue.

These two numbers contain some very fine engravings. “ The Mother,” in the June
number is executed with great skill and is a fine display of art. “ Juliet and the
Nurse,” is poorly done : “ Crossing the Ford,” in the May number is well designed:
“ The Sea-shore in Holland,” is quite picturesque and striking. The smaller cuts aud
engravings are chiefly well executed specimens of art in former days. The text is
unusually full in its descriptions of works of art, and is quite instructive as well as
entertaining.
31. — B oydell's Illu stra tion s o f S hakspeare.

Parts 42 43.

New Y ork : S. Spooner.

No. 42 contains an engraving of a scene in the third Act of Henry VIII. apd another
from the fifth Act in Coriolonus. They are better done than usual; the persons are
numerous and their persons and postures are natural, and their countenances express­
ive of much fine sentiment. In the next part the engravings represent a scene in the
fourth Act of Timon of Athens, and in the fourth Act of Titus Andronicus. These
are good, but, perhaps inferior in expression to those of the previous number.
32. — M em oir o f R ev. S tep hen B . Sm ith.
Abel Tompkins.

By T. J. S a w y e r .

12mo., pp. 423.

Boston :

This is a biography of an active, laborious, and resolute man, who rose to high in­
fluence and distinction among the Universalist denomination of Christians.
33. — C osm os: A S ketch o f a P h y s ic a l D es cr ip tio n o f the U niverse. By A l exan de r
V on H umbolt . Translated from the Germau by E. L. Otte &, B. H. Paul. Vol 4,
12mo., pp. 234. New York: Harper & Bros.
The work of this eminent man, has been, in parts, so long before the public that it
has become well known and justly esteemed. This is the fourth and latest volume
uow re-printed for the first time in this country by the Messrs. Harper.
— G races and P ow ers o f the C h ristia n L ife . By A. D. M ayo . 12mo., pp. 250.
Boston: Abel Tompkins.
It is good to turn away from the dry and barren skeleton o f theology which is on all
sides forced upon the gaze of the public, to a work like this which has flesh and blood
and sinews and life. It contains, to a large degree, the spirit of Christianity with its
peculiar geniality and richness, and buoyancy, and happiness, and is worth hundreds of
massive tomes of the usual character. It is written in good taste and in a cultivated
style.
34.

35. — B iog ra p h ica l

L it e r a r i a : o r B io g r a p h ica l Sketches o f m y L ite r a r y L i f e and

By S amuel T ay lo r C o l e r id g e . Fom the second London edition, pre­
pared for publication, in part, by the late Henry Nelson Coleridge; completed and
and published by his widow. Large 12mo., pp. 802. New York: Wm. Gowans.
Of all the works of Coleridge, this is the one that has proved most acceptable to the
public, and which presented the fullest and most correct idea of the man himself.
His conversation, his opinions on literary men and subjects, brief essays, &c., will be
here presented in a very agreeable and instructive manner. Much credit is due to the
publisher for bringing out this valuable work and for the tasteful manner in which it
has been done.
O pinions.

36. — The Y ea r-B ook o f F acts in. S cience a n d A r t , E x h ib itin g the m ost Im p o rta n t D i s ­
coveries and Im provem en ts o f the P a s t Y ear, in M ech an ics and the U seful A r t s ;
N a tu ra l P h ilo so p h y , E lectricity , C hem istry, Z oolog y and B o ta n y , G eolog y and G e­
og ra p h y, M eteorology and A stro n o m y . By J ohn T im bs . l2 m o ., p p . 327. P hil­
a d elp h ia : A. Hart.

Every one who is interested in science or its progress, will place a peculiar value
upon this volume. It is a history of science during the past year. It embraces every
invention and discovery of importance, and these are described in brief and compre­
hensive terms.
37. — F a lk la n d ; a N ovel.
B. Peterson.

By Sir E. L. B u lw e r .

38. — R em orse, a nd oth er Talcs.
Bunce & Brothers.




8 vo ., pp. 99.

By G. P. R. J ames.

Philadelphia: T.

8vo., pp. 134.

New York: