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HUNT’S
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
E s t a b li s h e d J u l y , 1 S 3 9 9 b y F r e e m a n H u n t *
VOLUME XLI.
JULY,
1 8 5 9.
NUMBER I.
CONTENTS OF NO. I., VOL. XLI .
ARTICLES.
A rt.
p a g k
I. ATTRIB U TES OF MONEY.
By
Merchant, of Boston, Mass-----
19
II. THE PANAMA CANAL Translated from the French o f M. C h e v a l i e r b y G i d e o n
F o r r e s t e r B a r s t o w , o f Boston, Mass.....................................................................................
31
C h arles
H.
Carroll,
III.
COMMERCIAL AND IN DU STRIAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. No. l x v i .
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. Early Settlement—Effect o f Gold Discovery—
Site o f the City—Bay—Buildings—Local business—Pacific Commerce—Improvement
o f Population—Passengers—Gold Exports—Valuation — Classified Population—Other
Industries—Agriculture—Manufactures—Value o f Gold—Prices o f Merchandise - Quartz
M ills-Destination of G old—Yield—Decrease per head—Mint Established—Operations
of—Import of Treasure—Export of other Produce—Manufacturing Industries—Flour
M ills—Saw Mills Gold Assay—Sugar Refineries—Furniture—Paper Mills—Capital im
ported in the State—Goods imported for six years—Home Produce supplants Imports
—Surplus Exported—Quantities and Values—Value of Imports and Exports—Tonnage
and Freights—Destination o f Tonnage—General Improvement o f the Place—Changing
Character of the City Relations—Natural Wealth—City D ebt—Im proved Revenues—
Regular Administration................................................................................................. ............ 43
IV .
FRANCE. N o n. Evidence available for the Treatment o f the Subjects in the succeed
ing Pages—The Comptoir d'Escompte - Position o f the Bank of France during the Sus
pension-Measures of the new Government. By J o s e p h S. C r a w l e y , Esq., o f Phila
delphia, P a ................................... ................................................................................................... 55
V.
STRICTURES ON A R E V IE W OF MR. CAREY’ S LETTERS TO THE PRESI
DEN T. B y H e n r y C a r e y B a i r d , Esq., o f Philadelphia, Pa............................................ 63
J O U R N A L OF M E R C A N T I L E
L A W.
Forged Bill o f Exchange—Liability o f the P ayer.............................................................................
Judgment Entered on Confession—What is a Sufficient Statement................................................
Notes of D ecisions...................................................................................................................................
Forfeiture for Undervaluation.—Decision in Admiralty—Evidence—Loss o f Cargo...................
Decision in Admiralty on Appeal—Collision....................................... ..............................................
71
72
73
74
75
C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E A ND R E V I E W .
Influences o f the Month—War and Imports—Large Arrivals—Two years in one—Small Trade
last year-*-More required this—Goods sold w ell—Yearly Averages—Supply not large—Fall
in Produce—Discount of Bills—Rise in Sterling—Demand for Gold—Weekly Exports and
Exchange—Rates of Exchange-O ur Demand for Gold—French Expenses—failures in Eu
rope—Rates o f Interest in Europe—Paper Money o f Germany — Hoarding — Caution in
making Loans—Rates of Money in New York—Distrust o f Paper—Government Loans—
Receipts and Exports of Specie—New York Assay-office—United States Mint—Specie from
New York and Boston—Product of G old-A ustralia and California—Kinds o f Specie Ex
ported—Migration—Excess of Gold Exports over Imports—Drain from the Interior—Drafts
npon the Banks - Money wanted for Crops................................................................................. 76-85
V OL. XLI.-----N O . I.
2
CONTENTS
18
OF
J O U R N A L OF B A N K I N G ,
N O . I . , V O L . X L I.
CURRENCY,
A ND F I N A N C E .
Price of Consols............................................................................................ •••••••••■•• •........... ••••
City Weekly Bank Returns—Banks of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, 1 Ittsburg, St Louis, Providence......... ......................................................................................................
Illinois State Indebtedness......................................................................................................................
Report of the Boston Clearing House, for the year ending March 31,1859 ...................................
Taxes in Tennessee.— Revenue of Great Britain................................................................................
Loaning Money in Minnesota.—Board o f Currency...........................................................................
Specie and Interest in Paris and London.............................................................................................
Claims of Citizens of the United States against Foreign Governments..........................................
Rates of Discount in England................................................................................................................
STATISTICS
OF T R A D E
A ND
COMMERCE.
96
97
98
99
Trade of Shanghae.....................................................................................................................
Trade o f Smyrna for 1858.—Shipping Trade o f Trebizond...................................................
C hili: Its Finances and Commerce..........................................................................................
Commerce of Nova Scotia.—Cotfee Trade...............................................................................
Consumption and Value of Oysters.—Memphis Cotton Statistics.......................................
Cotton Exported to M exico.......................................................................................................
JOURNAL
OF
101
102
INSURANCE.
103
104
Life Insurance Companies in Massachusetts................................................
Risks and Losses in Massachusetts.—Providence Insurance Companies.
NAUTICAL
™
$9
90
91
92
9i>
94
95
INTELLIGENCE.
The Floating School of Baltimore........... .............................................................................................
Breakwater Harbor o f Liverpool.— Marine Losses for May..............................................................
Marine Disasters on the Lakes, 1856-57-58.—Austrian V essels.......................................................
Restoring the Drowned...........................................................................................................................
COMMERCIAL
105
106
107
108
REGULATIONS.
Convention between the United States and B elgium ........................................................................ 109
Circular to Collectors of the Customs —Plated Ware—Castors, Liquor Stands, e tc.................... I l l
Linen Shirt Bosoms.—Manufactures of Metal, etc.—“ Bird Musical Box.” ..................................... 112
POSTAL
DEPARTMENT.
United States Mail Steamers for Europe..............................................................................................113
Postage to Turks Islands.......................................................................................................................... 115
RAILROAD,
CANAL, AND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S .
Coal Burning Engines.............................................................................................................................
Connecticut Railroads.—French Railroads..........................................................................................
The Jointed steamship...........................................................................................................................
Railway Legislation in Austria and Prussia.........................................................................................
British and American Railways.-Roads, Railways, and Canals made in India since 1S48.........
JOURNAL
OF M I N I N G ,
MANUFACTURES,
A ND ' A R T .
Manufacture of different Kinds of Leather.—Copper Mines.............................................................
Manufacture of Paper from Straw.—Staining and Polishing Marble..............................................
New Steel Wire.—Means of Preserving Timber.................................................................................
Statistics of British Coal Mines.—Oil from Asphalt...........................................................................
Bleaching of Leather.—Franklinite, Improver of Iron......................................................................
Cotton, Woolen, and Worsted Manufactures in England....................................................................
Lead: its Price and Supply.—Salt and Salt Springs in Nebraska.....................................................
STATISTICS
OF
AGRICULTURE,
&c.
OF
POPULATION,
Notices o f new Books or new Editions.
131
132
133
134
MISCELLANIES.
Austria: Its Commercial Resources.....................................................................................................
One too many............................. ............................................ ......... ..............................................*
Acceptance of Original and Duplicate Bills.—Macklin’s Advice to his Son...................................
Be Short— Moral influence of a Literary Taste.................................................................................
A Useful Life................
Sketch of the New York Board o f Brokers........................................................................................
Living and Means.—Whalers at Falkland Isles..................................................................... ' . **
THE
127
128
129
139
&c.
Population o f Germany...........................................................................................................................
Population o f Ecuador.-Population of Texas.....................................................................................
Signers of the Declaration......................................................................................................................
Condition o f Tenement Houses in New Y ork .....................................................................................
MERCANTILE
121
122
128
124
125
125
126
.
Breadstnffs in Europe..............................................................................................................................
Agriculture in the Northwest................................................................................................................
Resources of South Carolina.—The Cotton Power..............................................................................
W ine Making in Missouri and Ohio.—Tobacco at the South.............................................................
STATISTICS
116
117
118
119
120
135
133
]37
13S
139
140
141
BOOK T R A D E .
142-144
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND
COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
J U L Y ,
1 859.
Art. I .— ATTRIBUTES OF MONEY.
I h a d sketched for publication in your Magazine some thoughts on the
Attributes of Money, when your May number came to hand, containing
the strictures of your contributor “ B.,” on my article relating to Com
mercial Value, published in March last. Finding these thoughts pertinent
to his questions, I will, with your leave, communicate them, along with a
reply to him, in this article.
Patience is not only a qualification, but a necessity, in the prosecution
of any science. I hope he will, not get out o f patience with political
economy, because students are not yet well agreed in all points regarding
its principles. Enough has already been developed to show that there
must be a perfect consistency in its parts, and there can be no doubt
that its conclusions will be established sooner or later with the unalterable
precision of mathematics; they are irrefragable, like the principles of
astronomy, however men have differed, and may differ, in their thoughts
about them. Ptolemy taught astronomy as well as he knew ; neverthe
less the earth did not stand still, according to his teaching. “ And yet it
moves,” notwithstanding the church, and its persecution o f Galileo forv
saying so. Events are occurring that will give an impetus to the study
of political economy, and its practical application to finance and trade,,
such as the world has never known before. The sudden and almostfabulous supply of gold, for example, has opened upon our abnormal,
banking system a power of expansion that must, in the nature o f things,,
damage the interests of trade and o f society, to a degree past all en,
durance. With nothing to check or control this system but the selfinterest of men, who are authorized by law to issue promises to- pay
money they never possessed, and that never existed, filling the whole,
nation with obligations as impossible to comply with as promises to de
liver the stars of heaven ; with the competition o f thousands of banks
now, or soon to be, in getting interest on these fictions as money wherever
a bank can be planted, we cannot fail of being punished by a commer-
Attributes o f Money.
20
cial crisis every three or five years, that will convince our merchants
that political economy is a science which has been neglected too long in
connection with their business.
Double entry, which compels an even balance of debit and credit, in
real as well as personal accounts, and the practical nature o f the mer
chant’s aims and habits of thought, render him more competent to in
vestigate this branch of the subject than the closet student. Within a
few days, in examining the attributes of money for this article, I have
arrived at a startling conclusion, that I believe has never before been dis
covered or thought of, i. e., that one-half the amounts due on our debtcirculating property are, from the necessity of the case, in virtual bank
ruptcy ; and, from a parity o f reasoning, one-half the people concerned
in it are hopelessly bankrupt all the time. I think this will be made
plain to any experienced accountant in the following exposition.
I have assumed in a previous article that the currency of this country
amounts to $600,000,000, and the whole property as 25 to 1 o f the
currency, or $15,000,000,000. O f this about two-fifths is in circulation,
or $6,000,000,000, being 10 to 1 o f the currency. The currency is
$200,000,000 o f money circulating, at 10 to 1, $2,000,000,000 of property;
and $400,000,000 o f bank debt circulating, at 10 to 1, $4,000,000,000 of
property. These sums and proportions are as nearly correct as they can
be estimated at this time in our actual business.
Then we have
$4,000,000,000 of property circulating through debt and credit, depend
ing upon the $400,000,000 of debt currency for the adjustment o f its
obligations. In other words, somebody owes $4,000,000,000 on this
property, and, as the debt must be balanced by credit, somebody is creditor
for it all. The currency and property will mingle in all ways and in all
proportions, but the average, or settlement, must come to this; there is
$2,000,000,000 o f property circulating in money without debt,
$4,000,000,000 circulating in debt without money, and $9,000,000,000
not circulating; that is, not in market and not in debt. It follows that
if anybody owns o f the debt-circulating property more than he owes,
somebody owes for the same just so much more than he owns, thus :—
A owes $20,000, and bis assets are............................................................
B “
40,000,
“
“ ...........................................................
$60,000
$30,000
30,000
$60,000
A being worth $10,000, B is bankrupt $10,000. The account must be
held to the inexorable law o f double-entry.
This condition of things is in accordance with the nature o f the cur
rency by which it is produced, there being in this currency two obliga
tions existing to pay one and the same value. The bank cannot pay
until it is furnished with value by, or from, the discounted note to pay
with, because it loans debt ttnd not money. In fact, the bank debt is
merely a portion of the general debt o f the community, organized into cur
rency, one-half fiction as to value, and circulating with the $4,000,000,000
— part and parcel of the same thing, the element o f value being absent
on the bank side. Like parent, like child ; the whole mass of obligations
is therefore lame o f one leg. It will be observed that the $400,000,000
of bank currency is in excess of the reserve o f coin which performs its
function in the money-circulating property.
The reader may at first suppose the debtor to have some interest in the
money-circulating property, or in the property out o f circulation, to alter
Attributes o f Money.
21
this relation of debt and credit, but it is not so ; the fact that he is a
debtor makes him an exclusive partner in the debt-circulating property,
and subject to all its embarrassments. It must be considered that the con
traction of currency, which reduces the money value of the assets o f debt
ors, does not reduce the sum o f their obligations, and creditors gain the
property that is lost by debtors in cnnsequence o f the contraction. A false
price determined the sum of the obligation that is required to be paid in
the appreciated value o f a reduced currency. Sometimes it may require
double the property, on the new valuation, to procure the dollars necessary
to discharge the old obligation. He who owes nothing is not injured by
the appreciation of the value of money which causes a general fall of
prices, because his money is worth just so much more as his property
is worth less than before.
If I am bankrupt $1,0,00J, it does not
help my case that my neighbor is worth $10,000, and I see no way
to relieve, or alter, the conclusion that about one-half the people con
cerned in the business transacted through the debt-banking system, em
bracing nearly all our merchants and manufacturers, are hopelessly
bankrupt. Certainly this is curious and very lamentable if true. I am
not disposed to assert it dogmatically, but present it as an open question
for the investigation o f merchants, bankers, and economists. If any one
can point out any fallacy in the argument, I will thank him kindly to
present the figures in your pages; I cannot find it myself.
The popular and brilliant work of Buckle on Civilization, will, I think,
have great influence in promoting the study of political economy. Ralph
W aldo Emerson also gives it a prominent place in his admirable lectures,
and I make no doubt teachers are yet to come in this country who will
demonstrate the truth with more accuracy than the economists of Eng
land. I believe our greater rashness in banking will chasten us into
knowledge through suffering; but as for Mr. Carey, I apprehend he is
too much imbued with the old prejudice of partisan politics, and there
fore looking for the truth in the wrong direction— in the laws o f man
and not in the laws of God.
Now, I hope your contributor “ B.,” who seems to be getting out of
patience with all political economy but Mr. Carey’s, will have patience
with me if I remind him that the nine questions he propounds for my
consideration, seem to imply that he is groping in that ancient darkness
of the science, into which Adam Smith cast illumination, and which,
among European economists, he has the credit of having dispelled, namely,
the belief that money alone is wealth, and things valuable only as they
will exchange for money. It is, I am >sorry to say, far from being dis
pelled, and is still directing thousands o f misguided men to fabled gold
fields, through danger and suffering, to hopeless poverty, starvation, and
untimely death.
I consider money to be last thing we want; at the same time it should
be the exclusive currency, because money alone will prevent debt and
embarrassment. It is utterly impossible for an industrious community,
pursuing the arts of peace with an open commerce, to have too little
money ; it will come without their seeking.
They may substitute debt
for money in the currency; then they will infallibly have debt in their
general traffic beyond their means o f payment— too much debt but not
too little money. There must be always about ten dollars o f debt created
by, and depending upon, every one dollar of convertible debt currency,
that without such currency could have no existence.
22
Attributes o f Money.
I have said that our banking system creates obligations impossible to
fulfill; this statement will be comprehended on perusal of the following
article, taken from the Shoe and Leather Reporter, published in New York
and Boston simultaneously :—
LONG DEBTS AND BAD DEBTS.
According to a Boston print, Edward Everett sums up the case of the financial
crisis of 1857 in the one, short, expressive word d e b t . Doubless he would sum
up the case of a conflagration in the one, short, expressive word f i r e . If any
other man should sum up in this way he would be considered no wiser than the
rest of us. Debt, like fire, is a good servant sometimes, but always a bad master ;
it is well enough in its place, but very ill out of it. The cause of the crisis of
1857 was not legitimate debt for value received, but debt for that bastard thing,
the promise to pay a value that was never r e c e iv e d and never c r e a t e d , and
which is accepted for money— a fiction occupying the place of a value. People
do not comprehend that the promise to pay a thing that never existed is an
obligation impossible to fulfill: they suppose there is an equivalent for every
dollar, aud they suppose rightly ; there is an equivalent for every dollar that
exists, but none for the dollar that does not exist. There can be no equivalent
to fictiou but fiction. Our bad debts are the consequence of this transparent
blunder ; dollars of debt are issued against dollars of debt, and when somebody
demands dollars of money in exchange, there is a crisis. The simplest mind
ought to discover this at a glance, yet people are thoroughly befogged with it.
I propose to make this matter plain by a simple illustration. There is one
Kohinoor diamond in the world, and only one. What if we create a corpora
tion to deal in Kohinoor diamonds, the one being put in for capital, with authority
to issue ten different promises to deliver the diamond on demand ? So long as
the diamond remains on deposit, and people are satisfied they can get it by pre
senting the certificate of claim, the certificate may pass, and command an equiva
lent iu commodities, and the promise to pay the diamond cau be readily dis
charged, or, more properly, evaded, by presenting another promise against it of
the same sort. All these promises make good “ deposits.” A checks upon B
for one diamond, aud B pays in the promise of 0. The “ grand confidence” of
the public will thus make the community worth, apparently, ten Kohinoor
diamonds, while they, and the world, possess but one ; aud that same confidence
will pay interest in cloth, and corn, and wine, and other good things, to the
diamond corporation, for their sound currency, as good as diamonds. But then
somebody discovers that where diamonds are so plenty, the equivalent in com
modities is much smaller than in Pekin or iu London, where the lapidary finds a
use tor the article itself. He pays the equivalent for one of our diamond
promises, walks into the office of the corporation, and walks out with the gem.
Another, hearing the good report of the Loudon market, walks in with another
of these promises. Mr. Teller hands out the promise of (J lor the same thing.
“ But, Mr. Teller, I want the diamond.” “ Well, 1 give you (J’s promise, which
is just as good ; it commands the equivalent in market; anybody will take it
for dry goods, or wet goods, or hardware, or software.” “ Perhaps so, but I
happen to want nothing dryer, or wetter, or harder, or softer, than a Kohinoor
diamond for the London market. 1 have the promise of your corporation for
the specific thing, and know no equivalent. You will please hand out the diamond.”
At this point in the negotiation, the teller probably puts his finger to his eye,
and, lifting the lid, replies, “ Do you see anything green under there?” This
reply is no invention of mine; it was once made by the teller of a bank out
West, aud may be considered the improved Western method of declaring a crisis.
Perhaps the reader will think this trifling. There is no perhaps in my
opinion of the matter ; it is trifling, and to just such trifling is committed
the vast business of this country—the hopes and aims of men, the happiness of
families, and all the serious material purposes of life. It is precisely as impos
sible to discharge, with one dollar, obligations to pay ten dollars, as to discharge
with oue diamond obligations to pay ten diamonds. Once make the promises to
pay a thing that never was, and exchange them against promises of the same
Attributes o f Money.
23
sort, whether the original existing thing be one diamond or a million of them—
one ounce or one dollar of gold or a million of them—and the opposite promises
must discharge each other ; each is the equivalent of the other, and there is no
equivalent anywhere else. If anybody gets possession of one of these promises
and demands the value—the thing itself—and withdraws iti from circulation,
there is a corner somewhere. It is exactly the cornering trick of the Stock Ex
change, elaborated and extended over the whole country, there are engagements
out to deliver more shares than were ever made, and settling day reveals the fact.
But unhappily it is not usually the issuer who gets cornered ; it is the honest
man who has given value for the worthless promise. He is remote from the
bank, and people do not see the finger of the bank in the transaction, but it is
there, ordering the attachment and directing the execution. The man is aghast:
he had worked hard and worked well—shows ten thousand dollars clear net
estate upon his books—upon his books, but alas, not anywhere else ; these dollars
of his stock account are promises to pay as good as his own ; there is a corner,
and he is in it.
If the diamond corporation had loaned only the one diamond they possessed,
instead of promises to pay nine more that nobody possessed, there would have
been no corner, no impossibility, in their contract, and none in the contracts de
pending upon it, because the diamond, or the equivalent to obtain it, would
have passed in each transfer, and would repass back to the original lender—the
corporation— who would thus obtain the diamond or their certificate for it, if
they had loaned the certificate instead of the diamond itself. This is all we of
the shoe trade need, and all that anybody needs, i. e., that an existing value, and
not a promise to pay a value that never existed, shall pass in each transfer. If
we buy or borrow from the bank, we want the thing we buy or borrow, as from
an individual, and if we take a certificate, or a credit from it, the bank must
hold the thing until the return of the certificate or presentation of our check,
as ours, and subject to our order, precisely as a merchant would hold wheat, or
beef, or leather on storage, as the property of the buyer after he had sold i t ;
the certificate may pass fifty times from hand to hand, without embarrassing
ant body. As it is, the banks lend tne ownerhsip of the thing several times
over, when they never possessed the thing itself; and when called upon to pay, they
have only promises to meet the demand ; then they demand of their debtors a
value they never loaned, and their debtors have only promises wherewith to
respond. Of course there is a crisis. They may screw the thing from their
debtors, so long as the debtors can obtain it by any sacrifice of their property,
but there is a corner that cannot be passed—shares that cannot be delivered,
because they were never made—dollars that cannot be paid, because they never
existed.
It is among the marvels of the age (hat this business has continued so long,
and that men accustomed to mental exercise, like Mr. Everett, should see only
an accumulation of debt in the corner of 1857, and not the inevitable impos
sibility in the obligations of the community that was clearly developed in that
crisis, and was its only cause. Nothing is so much needed as sound thinking
and plain speaking on this subject, by and from men who have the ear of the
town. Awaken the public to the facts of the case, and the abomination will be
abated speedily, without injury to anybody, even to the banks themselves, who
can easily change from the existing system to the legitimate business of borrow
ing and lending money. This would secure an immediate and great increase of
commerce, and lasting benefit to the nation.
Debt of an abnormal character is the canker o f this country, and we
need a sound American political economy to remove i t ; yet it only em
barrasses, it does not prevent, the aggregate accumulation of wealth here
for more than the sum of the precious metals expelled by it, amounting,
since the California gold reached its present magnitude o f production,
to just about the whole manifested supply received in the Atlantic States
— say 150,000,000 yearly— with the accumulation that so much wellemployed capital would yield in addition thereto.
24
Attributes o f Money.
It has nothing to do with the character of our commodities, whether
agricultural or manufactured, that we o f the Atlantic States either gain
or lose the precious metals, but everything to do with the character and
volume of our currency. I do not wish to controvert Mr. Carey’s posi
tions, but merely to state my own in reply to the questions of your con
tributor. I cannot avoid saying, however, that Mr. Carey repels simple
students like myself by his involved and turbid manner o f expressing very
simple ideas. For example, we are told that he “ demonstrates that
value is determined by the cost o f reproduction; that the cost o f repro
duction is the only measure o f value
“ that value is the measure o f the
resistance to be overcome in obtaining those commodities or things required
Jor our purposes— o f the power o f nature over man." I really am not
able to see anything in all this but the simple idea labor, which is no
measure o f value to me, more than any single commodity in which labor
is embodied.
The first six questions of your correspondent may all be condensed into
the first; there is but one idea in all o f them, i. e.— “ How is it that
prices in Europe have not so increased within the last three centuries, as
to have arrested long since the continuous, never ceasing flow o f the
precious metals from America thereto ?”
The reply is, that they flow out of Europe as they flow in, according to
their value, as measured by commodities. The precious metals move by
a law as simple as that which governs the movement of all other com
modities ; they go from where they are produced to where they are worth
the most, which is where they are the most employed; and they leave
Europe as they find more employment elsewhere.
Your correspondents’s questions would seem to imply that the precious
metals have been embargoed in Europe for the last three centuries. They
have often returned from Europe to the United States; they flow wide
and everywhere as they are needed, and will not remain in any country
beyond the true measure o f relative value, as compared with other com
modities, in all parts o f the earth accessible to trade. The moment the
currency of a nation, whether it be exclusively of money, or mixed with
debt convertible into money, exceeds in volume the currency of another
nation, in relation to commodities of general utility, the excess runs off.
This cannot be prevented by any law o f Congress, or policy o f government,
in a state of peace, and ought not to be if it could.
At present the
silver of Europe is flowing to Asia, because gold is falling in value in re
lation to silver, as well as to everything else. Gold spreads from its great
sources o f supply, in California and Australia, through America and
Europe, where the legal relation of 15J- of silver to 1 of gold is still con
tinued. O f course the silver coins are appreciating above their legal
value in relation to gold ; they command a premium in France and else
where, and are being rapidly transferred to Asia, where silver maintains
its value because it is in use for currency almost exclusively, and gold is
taking the place of silver in the currencies o f Europe. M. Chevalier, in
his recent work on “ The Fall in the Value o f Gold,” very justly says
that France has served temporarily as a parachute to retard the fall of
gold, for France had an abundant supply o f silver both in and out of
her currency. Gold will be substituted for this before its depreciation,
in relation to silver, will become very considerable in the world, but that
depreciation is as certain to take place as any other occurrence depending
upon the operation o f natural law.
Attributes o f Money.
25
Your contributor’s last three questions are—
“ 7th. In view of the phenomena presented in France, Northern Ger
many, Sweden, and Denmark, into which the precious metals have been,
and still are, flowing, is it not probable, or even quite likely, that those
metals possess some life-giving property ? May it not be that they im
part . activity to the movements and the industrial pursuits of men ?
And would it not seem that their influx prevented other things from
remaining in supply and demand as before?
“ 8th. If they do not possess any such property, why is it that while
they can be neither eaten, drunk, nor worn, they are held in more uni
versal regard by man than any other commodity known to him ?
“ 9th. Why, if they have no grand and distinctive quality, is it that
they have been thought worthy of so much legislation, and of so many
disquisitions in State papers, books, magazines, and newspapers, by dis
tinguished and thoughtful men ?”
These surely are very singular questions to put to me, who, o f all men
in the world, have persisted the most strongly on the utility of the precious
metals as currency, and on maintaining their value by use. They might
be more appropriately asked of his friend Carey, who is a paper currency
theorist, and apparently expects by tariff legislation to dam the outflow
of the precious metals, so that we can circulate certificates o f the owner
ship of gold, and the gold for the same sum at one and the same tim e;
that is, eat our cake and have it too. W e have tried this for nearly eighty
years, through much individual suffering; although the nation prospers
in the general accumulation of wealth, and in general progress, far be
yond either of those he names above, and notoriously beyond any other
on the face of the earth, and why ? Because we so generally go to school,
keep at peace, and w o r k .
If your correspondent’s questions are designed to controvert any posi
tion or opinion o f mine, it must be the one that the precious metals have
no superiority to other commodities as wealth.
I infer that he thinks
they have some special superiority in forming the aggregate o f wealth.
As to their “ grand and distinctive quality,” I appreciate it more strongly
than himself, without doubt.
On this point I wish to present some
thoughts that may be new to him and to your readers in general ; he
may be surprised to find that distinctive quality is the stronger and
better with the smallest possible proportion o f money to commodities.
More distinctly in reply to his questions, 8th and 9th, I would remark,
that the “ universal regard” in which the precious metals are held by man,
is owing to the almost universal delusion still prevailing that they are
the only wealth, and the expression o f value in money, which is mere
price, the only value existing in property. It is a canard to say, as do
the English economists, and J. Stuart Mill in particular, that Adam
Smith destroyed this fallacious idea, except in the minds of a few accom
plished economists.
Every State Legislature in this country acts upon
the idea that the more dollars we have the more wealth we have, and, in
their blind zeal to count dollars, they are utterly unable to distinguish
between the fact and the fiction; they imagine that they make money
out of promises to pay money that was never created, and cannot be
made to comprehend that the money flies before the .fiction as men flee
from a pestilence.
Nearly all the members honestly believe the coin in our currency is all
that belongs properly to our commerce, and the $100,000,000 o f debt,
26
Attributes o f Money.
organized into currency, an absolute addition of so much money that we
should not otherwise possess.
Even a conspicuous Boston newspaper,
claiming among- its editors more culture and intelligence than their fel
lows in the same city, ridiculed Mr. Walker’s assertion at the meeting of
merchants there, to consider upon the suspension o f specie payment in
October, 1857, that the paper currency drove the coin out of the country,
as worthy only o f a note o f admiration !
I except, however, the Legislature o f Arkansas from the general charge
of ignorance on this subject.
Money possesses two attributes, co-existent and inseparable, yet totally
distinct in their functions; they are value and pr ice . V alue it derives
from, and reciprocates with, the metal o f which it is composed. If half
the use of the precious metals is in currency in the world, as I suppose
at present, then half their value is in currency ; if half their use is in
the arts, half their value is in the arts. Money, in this respect, being a
metal, is a commodity— the product of labor— and its value will be
greater or less in the compound ratio of its utility and scarcity, like that
of every other commodity. This I carefully stated in the article cited by
your correspondent. Double the supply o f money upon the market, ail
other things remaining as before, and we must exchange two ounces or
two dollars of gold for the thing which would have exchanged for one
ounce or one dollar before ; just as doubling the supply of wheat, other
things remaining equal, will make it necessary to give two bushels for
that which we had bought with one before.
This is its office as a commodity ; its value is intrinsic, and cannot be
imparted to anything else, but falls with an increase of volume and rises
with a decrease, like oranges, or apples, or flour, or cotton. It is
merely one of the commodities of commerce in general use, adopted by
the common consent of the world as the medium of exchange.
The other attribute, pr ice , it derives from its office of the medium of
exchange, or currency. In this respect it is not a commodity, but a vast
public engine, or institution, of immense power, and, in its normal con
dition, of immense usefulness. This attribute it imparts to all the property
and labor o f the world. Much as we see, and hear, and think o f money,
its function, or power, for good or evil as currency— not as a commodity
— is almost wholly misapprehended.
Our whole system of commercial
finance is founded upon the misapprehension that 'price is value, and that
increasing prices increases values ; so we increase dollars and fancy we
are increasing wealth. It is all a mistake.
The prices of wheat and
iron, for example, may be increased to any extent by the increase of
money, without increasing their value, except in relation to the com
modity of money itself, which is thereby cheapened. The bushel of wheat,
or ton of iron, will procure in exchange no more corn or wine, by reason
of their enhanced prices, caused by the increase of money, to double its
former volume, but the ounce or dollar of money will procure only half
as much wheat, or iron, or corn, or wine, as before.
Now money, in its office of currency, with its attribute of price, is not
alone; it has a cunning and bad partner, that, pretending to the attribute
of value, which it does not possess, and assuming falsely the name of
money, has managed to get possession o f the business, and do infinite
mischief. That partner is debt, dishonest in principle and destructive in
practice.
•Money as a commodity, with its attribute o f value, is obviously wealth,
Attributes o f Money.
27
and forms its relative portion of the capital o f the country, blit it is not
by any means the best kind of wealth; because its metals are inferior in
utility to iron and many other commodities.
It depends mainly upon
the element of scarcity for its value. Were either of the precious metals
as plenty as iron it would no longer be precious; with all its beauty it
would be less valuable than iron.
Money as currency, or the medium o f exchange, with its attribute of
price, is not wealth, for neither its increase nor decrease increases or
diminishes the wealth o f the community a single fraction ; it is an in
stitution whose power is increased by concentration, and it is an important
function of sovereignty to establish and control it for the benefit of the
whole people. With one-half or one-tenth the amount of currency we
now possess we should have precisely as much wealth as now— the same
property and the same value of property as at this moment, only at onehalf or one-tenth the price.
Precisely in the ratio of increase o f its
volume it falls in value, and precisely as it declines in volume it rises
in value, other things remaining as before.
Such is the dual nature of money, but price being its greater and all
powerful attribute, it follows that the less we have o f it, and the more
property that is not money, the better, provided its metal pieces are not
so diminutive as to slip through the fingers. Once having an organized
currency, the less vve have of it, in relation to our commodities, the
greater will be its value, and the greater its power, and, could we main
tain the relation of more commodities and less currency than any other
nation, so long as we did so we should command the commerce o f the
world. This may be effected either by a decrease of currency or by a
relative increase of merchandise and other property, but a decrease of
the volume of currency would infallibly secure the increase of merchandise
and property, because it would secure their production and their prompt
exchange for money, with the nearest community having a more expanded
and cheaper currency than our own.
Let us return to the hypothesis of 25 of property to 1 of currency, and
the circulating property two-fifths o f the whole, or 10 to 1.
If we
assume, for the sake of argument, three hundred millions of dollars as
the sum of the currency, the whole property would be $7,500,000,000;
then if we double the currency, without increasing the property, the price
o f the property increases to $15,000,000,000; but there is no more
property than before; not a dime of value or wealth is added thereby.
The result is a fall in the value of money, or currency, of one-half; two
dollars of money being worth no more than one had been, because it will
circulate no more property, nor supply any more wants than one had
done before. This is the immense power of pri<e in the currency, the
addition of $300,000,000 of currency adding $7,500,000,000 of price
to the property of the nation, without altering its value in the least degree,
except in relation to the commodity o f money, and the altered relation is
in the money itself.
But only two fifths, or 10 out of 25 of the property, is in circulation,
on the average, against the whole currency ; it follow's that in estimating
the power of the currency to increase prices, we must take the ratio of
10 to 1 ; thus, two-fifths of the whole property of $7,500,000,000 being
$3,000,000,000, adding $300,000,000 of currency increases the price of
the $3,000,000,000 to $6,000,000,000.
Now, I ask your correspondent to reflect upon this, and he will see
28
Attributes o f Money.
why we part with the precious metals to Northern Europe and the ends
of the earth, notwithstanding Mr. Carey’s theory of value, or his notion
of the movement of raw material and manufactured commodities. Every
dollar of currency increased, whether in gold or in bank debt, adds ten
dollars o f price to our commodities in the aggregate. Assuming the
original currency to be $300,000,000, and our values level with Purope,
so that the commodities we produce the more advantageously go to Europe,
and those Europe can produce more advantageously come here, in a
normal, wholesome traffic; then let California add $50,000,000 in gold
to our currency, and it will add 10 to 1, or $500,000,000 to our prices—
our commodities will be too dear, and many that were before exportable
cannot be exported; the average rise of price will be 16§ per cent,
and this rise will be shared by the imports. What law of Congress, ex
cept a declaration o f war, or non-intercourse, can prevent this gold from
being shared with the rest of the world ? Certainly none other. There
never was a statute framed in any country, though the thing has been
often attempted, that prevented, or could prevent, money— the metal—from leaving the market where it is worth less for that where it is worth
more, nor ever can be. It will flow to England, France, Northern Europe,
and the ends of the earth, until it finds the market where money, gold
and silver, is at the highest, and merchandise, relatively, at the largest
value.
There is but one way, in a state o f peace, for us to prevent this gold
from leaving the United States except by contracting the currency, which
is to produce an additional $500,000,000 in commodities, collaterally
with the $50,000,000 of gold ; nothing less will do it, but this will, for
this will prevent any rise o f prices, and o f course any depreciation in
the value of gold, and it will add $550,000,000 to the wealth of the
nation, not in price, but in absolute value, for the whole is the clear
product of labor, the value of the gold being maintained by the relative
increase of 10 to 1 of commodities. But this must be an accumulation
over and above the ordinary production o f the country, which may or
may not be possible.
I am not quite certain either way, for the
natural power of this nation has never yet been put to speed in the pro
duction of commodities. From the, beginning of the century we have
bought gold and silver, and instead o f retaining it for money, by pro
ducing commodities and property, to maintain the relative value o f the
metals, we have gone to work industriously in producing dollars o f debt
in currency, as if the money burnt our fingers, and have thus cheapened
and driven it out. I am not at all certain that we could not produce an
extra $500,000,000 o f commodities and fixed property yearly, and retain
the California gold. Of course we should export $50,000,000 of addi
tional commodities yearly, instead o f the gold, and I think a still larger
amount, depending, however, upon the degree of reduction of the other
portions o f the currency to which we might resort.
But one thing is entirely certain ; we can retain the California gold
by contracting the debt currency, and export $50,000,000 of commodities,
instead of the gold, annually, until we displace the whole amount of the
debt currency, whenever the national government choose to exercise the
power expressly granted in the Constitution over this subject. Except in
a period of inflation o f the currency, which is expelling gold in large
quantities, as now while I write, in the latter part of May, we can make
this change, putting money in the place of debt in the currency, with a
Attributes o f Money.
29
great increase of business, and without any appreciable fall of prices ;
for the moment the volume of our currency falls to the level of the cur
rencies of Europe, we must sell merchandise and not money.
The more commodities of general utility a nation, or a community,
can produce with the least currency, the greater will be their exports,
the more active, sure, and prosperous their business, and the greater
their wealth. It is strange that this transparent fact should be overlooked
or ignored, as it is, by the merchants and legislators of this country.
Where the dollar will buy the most there the dollar will go. If fifty
cents will buy as much in New York as one dollar in Boston, who will
take a dollar to Boston 2 If ninety-nine cents will do the same, customers
will not go to Boston ; New York will do all the business. In my opinion
this is the whole cause of the acknowledged gain by New York upon the
distributing trade of Boston ; it is the preposterous overbanking in Bos
ton— a penchant for manufacturing dollars of debt and using them in
the place of dollars o f gold, instead of manufacturing commodities and
increasing the business of the city and State by exchanging them for
gold. Boston usually keeps her dollars as cheap and saleable as possible,
and of course her commodities dear anil unsaleable in proportion.
The same policy prevails throughout the State. In every small town,
having any business pretensions, a bank is established, the favorite and
profitable issue of which is the notes o f the smallest denominations, and
these are constantly hunting the money— the gold and silver— out of every
hole and corner of the Commonwealth as fast as it comes in. People
generally cannot be made to see that by this policy they are involving
their neighborhood unnecessarily in debt; they see and feel the debt with
all its embarrassments, and make pitiable complaint of the difficulty of
getting money, but do not comprehend the cause, for they have not the
remotest idea that the bank note is not money. For this reason it is
quite impossible to get the Legislature of Massachusetts to consider the
petitions that have been repeatedly presented of late years to restrain the
circulation of bank notes below the denomination of five dollars. What
can be more obvious than that getting the money to replace this circula
tion is equivalent to the production and sale o f manufactures or other
merchandise out of the State to the same amount? It is the selling of
goods for cash, and the creation o f so much absolute wealth. It is dis
creditable to the intelligence o f the Massachusetts Legislature that they
cannot comprehend a truth so plain and undeniable as this.
If the expansion of debt banking were as great in relation to the ex
changes in New York as in Boston, New York would have 109 banks,
instead of 54 as at present; or if it were as much condensed, relatively, ^
in Boston as in New York, Boston would have only 14 banks, instead of
45 as now. It is like 169 men in Boston seeking subscribers for a work
of no value, against 54 among the same number of people in New Y o rk ;
the 169 will get the most subscribers in the aggregate. All these are trying
to find a cranny in the same amount o f business into which they can stick
a dollar of fiction to earn 6 or 10 per cent per annum from the credulity
of the people, as effectually as a dollar of value would earn it from their
good sense. Boston is ahead in this business, and customers having good
dollars to sell are going where there are fewer dollars in proportion to
commodities, of course where the dollar is worth the most. The law of
value takes care of this sort o f thing with lynx-eyed precision.
Your correspondent perhaps may think Boston could remedy this by
so
Attributes o f Money.
establishing a tariff against New York, and she could, with the same
propriety, and precisely as much effect, as the nation can remedy the same
difficulty by the same means— a tariff—in our exchanges with Europe.
There is no reason, that I can see, why the economical rule of the division
of labor, according to soil, condition, education, taste, capacity, and all
natural advantages, should not apply with equal force to nations, as to
States, towns, families, or individuals, and it does so apply in spite of
human statutes. I find no evidence in statistics that imports have ever
been retarded, or exports accelerated, by our tariff law's. W e always
import with the inflation of the currency bubble, as we are doing now,
(in May,) until we ruin so many merchants that we think it not worth
while to proceed any farther in that direction, when we let down the cur
rency and proceed to exporting merchandise again. Taxes could scarcely
be collected more unequally, or unjustly, than by our tariff scheme; the
rich man, who happens to be a bachelor or a small consumer, pays little,
while the poor man with a large family pays much.
Taxes, to be equitable, should be assessed upon the property that govern
ment protects, or upon those who enjoy the property and have the means
to pay. They should be laid, if at all, as lightly as possible upon the
mere labor employed in producing the property that others enjoy. As a
question of political economy, taxing consumption is taxing labor and
not capital. It is taxing production and adding cost to commodities,
thereby embarrassing our exports. “ Protection ” in this senseis a misnomer,
it is reactive, and by raising the cost of commodities and general prices
here, it protects or pays a premium to some special manufactures at the
cost of the general production o f the country, and thus becomes a bounty
on imports.
The government should tax capital and not labor, erase the word
smuggling from our vocabulary, put a stop to Custom-house litigation,
turn the custom houses to better uses, join in the expense of collection,
and collect the National with the State taxes, and save the time and cost
of much Congressional talking.
The expense of collecting the revenue
from customs is three million dollars annually, beside the cost of erecting
new custom-houses. A meie fraction of this sum would pay the expense of
collecting it with the State taxes by a simple rule of pro rata assessment,
without visiting any man’s domicil. It would release an army of men to
perform some better service for their country, and save a great amount of
labor and of trouble to merchants. And it would produce a steady and
properly increasing revenue.
The multiplication table cannot be changed, even by Omnipotence,
because Omnipotence has made it a law unto himself; the Universe is its
measure, and it measures the Universe. When twice two shall produce
five, the multiplication table and its author will cease to be— the planets
will fly from their orbits, and chaos come again. They who believed the
sun stood any stiller at the command of Joshua than it had stood before,
were false teachers, falsely taught, and it appears the world has not yet
outlived the delusion. W e cheat ourselves transparently when we fancy
the law of gravitation and attraction to be suspended for an instant, and
we are not less deceived in respect to the law of supply and demand,
when we think we improve its operation by a law of Congress. Things
will go and come where they are attracted by value, the prime element
of which is use, and not where they are directed by legislation ; they re
fuse to be mismanaged long.
The Panam a Canal.
31
True we have a margin of oscillation in our desires; we may accept
an inferior in place o f a superior commodity for any use, and if we do
not desire the superior article we may save the employment, business, and
creation of wealth that would be necessary to procure and retain it. W e
can create and accept debt for currency, with all the embarrassment and
suffering that debt produces in the exchanges of commerce, and save the
employment, and business, and the creation of wealth, necessary to pro
cure and retain the money which alone will prevent the debt. W e may
live in caves like bears, or in hollow trees like owls, and have very little
to do and less to enjoy, but if we would have good homes and escape
barbarism we must work.
Money is one of the greatest engines of civilization; perhaps it is the
greatest of them a ll; we can do without it, on condition of living in
continual anxiety, with perpetually recurring bankruptcies, and occasional
frenzies like those of 1814, ’ 19, ’37, and’57, but if we would have security
in business, comfort in our dwellings, and prosperity in the State, we must
have no extemporized and cheaply constructed currency; we must have
no currency but money, that can only be procured and maintained by
LABOR.
C. H. C.
Art. II.— THE PANAMA CANAL.
A lmost as soon as the Europeans had discovered America, they com
menced the search for some natural opening, something like a strait, in
this long Isthmus of Panama, which barred the way to the great East,
then called the Land of Spices, the object at which Columbus and his
followers aimed. In 1520, during his transient friendship with Montezu
ma, Fernando Cortes anxiously sought from him the secret o f the strait,
which he longed so much to find, between the Atlantic and the Pacific
Oceans. Unfortunately there was no strait, either in the domains of
Montezuma, or in the rest o f the territory which divides North from
South America. Providence had only shown the opportunity, leaving it
to man, as is often the case, to improve it ; and all that Montezuma could
do was to point out to Cortes the course of the River Goasacoalo, and
the low ground back of Tehuantepec, as affording facilities for the con
struction of an artificial canal.
If the sacred fire which animated the great Cortes, the unfortunate
Nanes de Balboa, and the other conquistadares, had continued to inflame
Spain, the isthmus would have been pierced through at that time. But
this glorious period was suddenly cut short by the tyranny of Phillip II.,
and the genius of Spain, from that time till now, when the spirit of 1789
has animated this generous people, has lain stifled under the leaden cloak
which this stubborn despot, the enemy of all innovations and all liberties,
has imposed upon it. From time to time the Spanish government, striving
to shake off its torpor, has made some incomplete and feeble demonstra
tions. Thus some very imperfect travelings were made here and there,
in directions indicating a favorable line for a road or canal. A paved
road, or rather a good mule path, was constructed across the narrowest
part of the isthmus, from the city o f Panama, which has given its name
to the whole isthmus, and the famous harbor of Portobello.
Some-
32
The Panam a Canal.
tiling o f tine same kind must have existed in Mexico, from Tehuantepec
to the river Goasacoalo, of which I have already spoken, which runs into
the Atlantic Ocean some distance south of Vera Cruz, and which is
navigable for a short distance, for it is certain that cannon, cast at the
Philippine Islands, were carried over it to arm the fortress of St. Juan
d’Ulloa.
But it is not a road that is wanted so much as an artificial arm of the
sea, permitting the largest ships to pass without unloading. Besides
these very routes were soon abandoned, and the road from Panama to
Portobello, though well paved, soon got out o f repair.
Levels have been also taken for a canal following the course o f the
river San Juan from the lake of Nicaragua to the Atlantic Ocean. This
was done during the reign o f Charles III. of Spain, (1759-P789) an en
lightened prince, who was, however, unable to infuse a new spirit into
the counsels of Spain. These preliminary arrangements produced no
results.
"When by heroic efforts, presaging a nobler future, the Spanish colonies
on the American continent gained their independence, the project of
piercing the isthmus was renewed with great zeal. The liberator, Simon
Bolivar, became interested in it. He caused levels to be run which yet
left much to be desired, behind the city o f Panama, by a Swedish en
gineer, Capt. Falmask, and an Englishman, Mr. Loyd. Since then all the
independent governments, who have territories on the isthmus, have con
ducted examinations of the same kind. Mexico, for example, having ex
amined and re-examined the line from Tehtfantepec to Guasalcoalco.
The States of Central America, now unfortunately divided, have had
their explorers, who have investigated the feasibility o f the passage laid
open for three-quarters of the way by the Lake of Nicaragua, and the
river flowing from it. One of the most deeply regretted victims of the
civil disorders that rend that fair country, General Morasau, while at the
head of the government of United Central America, commissioned a
learned officer o f the English navy to examine this route carefully. En
terprising sons of the Anglo Saxon race have come spontaneously from
the United States, impelled by the feeling that to no people more than to
them is it important that this barrier to navigation and commerce should
be broken through. This interest has increased greatly since the discovery
o f gold in California. With that energy, at once intense and ingenious,
that characterizes the race, and sometimes in spite of a people distrustful
o f such enterprising and ambitious neighbors, and feeling themselves
without power or resources to oppose them, they have carefully examined
its depths and its valleys, its gulfs and its bays. Their marks are found
wherever there is a hope of forcing a passage. By them, at the present
time, a common road has been established, and a railroad started in the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In Honduras, Mr. Squier, personally and by
the aid of intelligent assistants, has located a line of railroad, which has
many chances of success. Further south, the Isthmus of Panama, pro
perly so called, has been crossed, through many difficulties, by a railroad,
by the great activity o f another citizen of the United States, Mr. Aspinwall.
The Isthmus o f Darien, joining South America, and belonging to it,
has also been examined by this adventurous race, but nothing has, as
yet, resulted from these examinations.
The Panam a Canal.
33
In Nicaragua, explorations have been made lately, and we can no longer
doubt the possibility, I dare to say even the facility, o f cutting through
the barrier between the Lake of Nicaragua, or the upper Lake of
Leon, (or Managua,) and the Pacific Ocean.
To a cursory examination, the region between Panama and Portobello,
or Chagres, presented remarkable facilities for the establishment of a
maritime canal. In spite of indications made known in his New Spain,
by the Nestor of the learned world, the illustrious Humboldt, the impres
sion very generally prevailed that a trench, a few feet deep, would serve
for a canal between the two oceans. So positive were the assertions on
this subject, that in 1843 the French government commissioned an en
gineer to take travels there. M. Napoleon Garella, appointed to this
duty, discharged it with all the care that could be expected, but the re
sults obtained destroyed the hopes o f those favoring the project. Thus,
the palm has been awarded to the interesting country surrounding the
Lake of Nicaragua. There must be the grand line of communication, by
which Western civilization, represented by America and Europe, is to go
to animate with its spirit the continents and archipelagoes of the Pacific;
to wake from slumber, or to snatch from anarchy, the people who inhabit
them, and to receive for its reward an abundant harvest o f riches and o f
glory. A work, pregnant with such great results, and thus presenting
itself as a mighty instrument of the most signal change that can be
foreseen in the civilization of this world, merits an examination at our
hands.
The best line for a ship canal through the Isthmus of Panama is that
which takes advantage of the Lake of Nicaragua, obtaining from this in
exhaustible reservoir a supply o f water for the two branches, directed one
towards the Atlantic, the other towards the Pacific Ocean. The superiority
of this line depends upon the following circumstances :—
1st* The immense supply of water contained in the Lake o f Nicaragua.
2d. The slight elevation of the lake above the ocean, making but few
locks necessary.
3d. The facility with which the canal can be brought to commodious
ports on either ocean.
4th. The comparatively thickly settled state of the country through
which it passes.
5th. The salubrity o f the climate.
The Lake of Nicaragua is a sort o f interior sea, for it is 110 miles
long, by 34 miles broad, presenting a general depth of about 80 feet,
while towards the center it reaches to 280 feet. Forty rivers, many of
which are navigable, bring to this magnificent lake the tribute of their
waters. Besides these, it receives, through the Biver Tipitapa, the over
flow o f Lake Leon, or Managua, which is on a higher level, and which is
thirty-three miles long, with a perimeter of ninety miles. Nothing com
parable to these natural reservoirs is to be met with on any other part o f
the Isthmus. From Lake Nicaragua issues a stream, the Biver San Juan,
which, in times past, before its course had been disturbed by earthquakes,
was navigable for three-masted vessels ; this fact is proved by documents
drawn from the archives o f the city of Granada, in Nicaragua, the
originals of which I have seen in the hands of M. Bouhand, a French
merchant established in that place. There is, then, in this lake twenty
times the quantity of water needed for the supply of the canal proposed;
VOL.
XLI.---- N O.
I.
3
34
The Panam a Canal.
for it. is well known that the quantity o f water needed for a canal is
quite small when compared to that of a river, navigable to the same ex
tent. W ere a canal to be constructed through the country back of the
city of Panama, and that is the most feasible line after that o f Nicaragua,
a supply of water cannot be obtained without reaching a depth of 280
feet, or by forming a tunnel three or four miles long, and 125 feet high,
so that ships may pass through. These two works are frightful, and yet
M. Garella declares that they are the only alternatives, as may be read
in his interesting work. Besides these, two canals for supply must be
dug, at great expense, forty and forty-five miles long.
It is characteristic of the isthmus that, in a length of 1,500 miles, it
presents a number o f points, where the chain of the Andes lowers its
crest, which, with these exceptions, from Mount St. Elias, in North Amer
ica, to the Straits of Magellan, it had constantly kept in the region of
perpetual snow. A marked depression has already been pointed out at
Tehuantepec— there is another, quite remarkable, near the city of Panama;
a third is seen south of the junction of the isthmus with the continent
of South America, between the River Atrato and the Pacific Ocean ;
another has been pointed out in Honduras, through which Mr. Squier
has carried his line of railroad. But no part of the country is so low as
that about the Lake of Nicaragua.
In fact, this lake is only 122 feet
above low-water mark on the Atlantic, and the levels reported by M. Belly
lead us to the belief that, on the line from the lake to the Bay of Salinas,
a summit level has been found, only 132 feet above this lake; and if the
canal, on leaving Lake Nicaragua, is carried through the Lake of Leon,
the summit level will be 50 feet lower, and only about 210 feet above the
ocean. Now the lowest summit level behind the city of Panama is twice
as high.
The examinations o f M. Garella make known a marked depression o f
the Cordilleras at that point, over an extent of about twenty-five miles,
many valleys or crossings were discovered, whose elevations did not ex
ceed 525 feet, but none lower than 380 feet above low water; and the
line for the canal could not be carried through the lowest of these ; that
recommended by M. Garella passing over a summit 460 feet high.
The plain of Tarifa, or the country behind Tehuantepec, between that
city and the River Guasacoalo, is 660 feet above the ocean. The eleva
tion of the summit at Rancho Chiquito, through which Mr. Squier has
laid his railroad, in Honduras, is much greater, being 3,000 feet high, an
elevation not unattainable by a railroad, but quite impracticable for a ship
canal. As to ihe line proposed along the course of the Atrato, and which
has been urged with some warmth, it should no longer be thought of, it
is impracticable. Until there is some, new route discovered, which is not
likely, though not absolutely impossible, in parts of the isthmus yet un
explored, (and there are portions of it which are as unknown in Europe
as if they were in the center of Asia,) the advantage of the lowest summit
rests with Nicaragua, and for a ship canal this is a most important con
sideration.
The third requirement, that of a safe and spacious harbor on each
ocean, is found in Nicaragua. On the Atlantic coast, the canal terminates
naturally at the port o f San Juan, lately called Greytown. This port is
good, though not remarkably so, being well protected from the N. E.
wind, the most dangerous in this region. On the Pacific eoast there are
The Panam a Canal.
35
many good harbors, besides that o f Realgo, wbicb is of great size, and
■which the historian Juarros declares to be the best in all the Spanish
domains of his time, when they included, besides the Peninsula, the greater
part of the continent o f America, with its numerous archipelagoes.
This opinion has never been contradicted. Capt. Sir Edward Belcher,
of the English navy, who explored this country in 1838, speaks o f the
port of Realgo in terms justifying the enthusiasm of Juarros. In this
particular, the line by Panama, the only one, I repeat, which can be com
pared with that of Nicaragua, is less highly favored. On the Atlantic,
the harbor of Portobello is too far o ff; that of Chagres, which naturally
presents itself, is inadequate in many respects, but it is true recourse may
be had to Simon Bay, which is near. On the Pacific, we cannot count
on the harbor of Panama, which no longer exists, ships being obliged to
auchor in the bays of the Pearl Islands, some miles distant. An artificial
port must he built here. On this point M. Garella has furnished some
hints, which should be followed out, and the whole subject specially in
vestigated.
As regards the local population, and resources for carrying on the work,
Nicaragua leaves nothing to be desired. Along this line are cities con
taining twelve, twenty, and thirty-five thousand inhabitants. The country,
covered with villages, is fertile enough to support an army o f laborers.
Messrs. Rouhand and Dunatrey have mentioned tracts of land that have
yielded four crops of maize in a year. There is nothing like this on the
Isthmus of Panama, properly so called. There the country between the
two oceans is almost uninhabited, with the exception of a smali number
o f ranchos, peopled by a few herdsmen, and it seems destined to con
tinued sterility on account o f the deadly miasmata rising from the stag
nant water of its marshes. In Nicaragua, the horrible yellow fever, which
rages with such fury around Vera Cruz, on the pleasant shores of Cuba,
and on the plains of New Orleans, is not known. That inveterate fever,
to which travelers are exposed, even when remaining but a short time on
the Isthmus of Panama, is hardly known in Nicaragua. All the energy,
which distinguishes the citizens of the United States, was required to
complete the Panama Railroad, whose' importance I would not depreciate,
but which, in comparison with a ship canal, is after all but a small affair.
The obstacles the builders o f this road had to surmount, in bringing a
corps of laborers into the country, and in keeping those whom they had
brought, at great expense, from the United States, and whom the fever
demoralized and decimated, would have disconcerted less determined
men. Difficulties of this kind wdll not be met with in Nicaragua.
From this rapid exposition o f local circumstances, we can form some
idea of the cost of constructing the ship canal o f Nicaragua, as compared
with other works which have been designed and completed. The two
divisions of the work, upon which it may be useful to fix our attention,
are—
1st. The construction of a canal along a part o f the River St. Juan,
running from the lake to Greytown.
2d. The excavation of a trench, by which the lake may be put into
communication with the Pacific Ocean.
Examinations of the course of the San Juan, and the land bordering it,
made by different persons, justify the opinion that the canal, which will
not, by a great deal, be required through its whole extent, is but one of
36
The Panam a Canal.
those enterprises for which the art of the engineer is perfectly prepared,
and which will not involve an exorbitant outlay. But the trench between
the lake and the Pacific, rises, it must be confessed, above the class of
ordinary works. It has been seen that the minimum summit, between
the lake and the Atlantic, is not less than 132 feet, to this must be added
26 feet for the depth of the canal. A cutting of 158 feet, however short,
is a great affair. It is true, even before the new' era of public works opened
by railroads, men have resolutely undertaken tasks of this kind, and have
come off triumphant. The most remarkable of these is the canal made
by the Spaniards in the seventeenth century, near the city of Mexico, to
lower the waters of some lakes, which threatened to submerge that fine
capital. From exact information, obtained on the spot by Humboldt, we
learn that the cutting of Nuechueta, made for this purpose, was from 150
to 200 feet deep for half a mile, and from 100 to 130 feet for more than
two miles ; the total length of the cutting being thirteen miles. The
proposed cutting between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific presents
nothing more formidable than this, though the ship canal must be of
much greater dimensions than that for draining the plain of Mexico.
Thirty years ago, during the construction of the canal from Arles to
Boue, a trench was cut through the Plateau de la Leque, from 130 to 165
feet deep, for a distance of 1^ miles. It is true that there the canal is
reduced to a width of 23 feet, and the ship canal must be at least three
times as wide, supposing it restricted at these points to a width necessary
to pass one ship. But if we reflect that the Mexican canal was made by
rough and barbarous implements, and that at La Leque even, old fashionedmeans only were used, we can readily admit that the Nicaragua Canal
may be included among those enterprises which offer a fair chance for
success, now that engineers can avail themselves of new instruments of
superior power for moving material. N ot only can the locomotive and
the railroad be used, but, in general, the art of working deep excavations
has been enriched by various mechanical contrivances, for the saving of
time and money. Thus, unless the cutting, to be made between the lake
and the Pacific, strikes ledges of very hard rock, as basalt, porphery, or
trachytes— and it is not unreasonable in these volcanic regions to fear
what geologists call intrusions— or unless the work encounters a sliding
material, which would be much worse than granite or basalt, there is no
need of making a monster of it.
Our engineers will be able to cope
with it.
Following the line indicated by M. Belly, we shall meet, according to
his observation, with nothing but slate and limestone.
Whether this
last is peculiarly hard, or whether the dip of the slate is such as to give
rise to slides, we are not informed, but these facts can be determined by
the sinking of pits.
This cutting of about 165 feet, for a distance of three or four miles,
is the difficult, and, to a certain extent, the doubtful part of the under
taking. But we should bear in mind that this cutting may be greatly
lessened by increasing the length o f the canal, extending it through the
Lake Leon, or Managua, which is above Lake Nicaragua, and connected
with it by a river easily made navigable.
Between this lake and the
Pacific, the ground is quite low, as travelers from the seventeenth century
to the present time have reported. The Emperor of the French, when
undergoing the mysterious discipline imposed upon him by Providence,
The Panam a Canal.
37
occupied his lonely hours in the Castle o f Ham with study and medi
tation, and produced, as is well known, the best publication that has yet ap
peared on the subject o f the Panama Canal. In this work, which the
Revue Britlanique copied entire in 1849, the illustrious author does not
hesitate to give the preference to the line through the Lake o f Leon.
One great advantage possessed by this line is the fact that it can be brought
out at the excellent harbor of Realgo.
The summit level between the lake and Realgo is only about fifty-six
feet above the lake, twenty-six feet being added for the depth o f the canaj,
the maximum cutting is reduced to eighty-two feet, about one half the
depth required on the line pointed out by M. Belly and Thomas de
Gamond, which, starting from Lake Nicaragua and passing through the
Valley of Sapoa, joins the Pacific at the Bay of Salina. Now it is well
known that, in works of this kind, every increase in depth of cutting in
creases the expense in much more than the direct proportion.
Matters of policy have compelled the governments of the country with
whom M. Belly has treated, to accept the line to which public attention
has been directed by him and Thomas de Gamond, but this may be
changed hereafter, express provision for it having been made in a special
clause of the treaty. The question of exact location is left open, to be
decided by more careful investigations, which are now being made; for
in this particular the Panama Canal is much less advanced than that of
Suez, plans for this last, both general and in detail, having been prepared
under the direction of engineers of the first class, in consultation with
some of the most eminent practical men in Europe.
The length of the canal, following the Sapoa line, will be— along the
channel, or by the side o f the River San Juan, 109 miles; across Lake
Nicaragua, 481 miles; thence to Salina Bay, on the Pacific, 131 miles;
making a total of 171 miles. If the canal is to be brought out at Realgo,
after passing through Lake Leon, it must, on leaving the San Juan River,
cross the Lake Nicaragua for 87 miles, follow the course of the River
Tipitapafor 20 miles, cross Lake Leon for 38 miles, and descend to Realgo,
a distance of 29 miles; making a total of 283 miles. As far, however,
as we can judge from information now before us, the cost on this line
will be less than that on the first, work being required only for a distance
o f about 160 miles, the lakes and rivers being navigable for the remainder.
There are already in existence canals of a greater length than 283 miles.
The Southern Canal, and the lateral canal of the Garonne, forming to
gether one system, are longer than this. The Erie Canal, which, in the
United States, is justly called the Grand Canal, is 365 miles lon g ; and
there are others that could be named.
In fine, if the line to the harbor of Realgo be adopted, the Nicaragua
Canal may be classed with other public works. It will not cost more, it
will cost even less, than some of our lines of railroad; less, for example,
than that from Paris to Lyons, which is good stock. The revenue must
necessarily be very great. The commerce, which in a few years this canal
will furnish passage to, seems almost illimitable. Statistics show that the
interchange of commodities between Europe and the basin of the Pacific
Ocean, and between the east and west coasts o f America are already
greatly developed, and yet the progress made is as nothing compared to
that promised by the future. Now that Christian civilization is gaining
an entrance into the empires of China and Japan, is extending its power
88
The Panam a Canal.
over the populous regious of India and its dependencies, is colonizing
with its children the rich and vast archipelagoes o f the Pacific; the com
merce, which the canals of Panama and Suez will minister to, attains to
unheard-of dimensions.
I shall not pretend to estimate it, but would
refer the reader to the calculations o f M. de Gamond, who has shown
throughout his work great judgment in this particular. I would also
ask the reader to estimate the population, and the variety of natural and
manufactured productions of the country connnected by these canals, and
to ask himself what must be the commerce that will spring up under the
ever-increasing need of production and exchange which affects the whole
human race. ,
The bearing of politics upon this canal must now be examined ; that
is, how far will it be supported or opposed by the different maritime
powers.
W e have now to examine the ship canal through the Isthmus of Pana
ma in its political aspects. I do not mean by this that I shall attempt to
unfold the changes it will bring about in the political balance of the
world. My aim is not so high. I seek only to discover if there be any
o f the maritime powers whose interests, real or supposed, may be op
posed to this enterprise, and how far it may, in consequence, be retarded
or thwarted.
I say the supposed, as well as the real, interests ; for we take warning
from the Isthmus of Suez. Yielding to illusions or prejudices, or to the
suggestions of an irritable vanity, States sometimes resist that which is
useful to them with as much obstinacy as that which tends to their
destruction. Have we not seen the government of Great Britain, repre
sented in succession by two cabinets o f different politics, that o f Lord
Palmerston and that o f Lord Derby, who is still in power, heap up de
clarations upon declarations, I might say, sophisms upon sophisms, against
the project of the Suez Canal; which is, notwithstanding, destined to
facilitate for England the administration, the commerce, the defence of
her vast Indian empire.
But the Suez project has not been shaken by the somewhat rusty
thunderbolts o f Lord Palmerston. It stands good, with equal assurance,
against the arguments, remarkable as coming from a man of so much
talent, brought to bear against it by the present Chancellor of the Ex
chequer, Mr. Disraeli. But the Isthmus o f Panama has been more for
tunate, having been spared even these assaults, in which more powder is
wasted than harm done. The representatives and organs o f the whole
maritime world have not only given it their sympathy but their approval.
The human imagination, fruitful as it is in creating phantoms, has not
yet conjured up even a seeming interest opposed to the junction o f the
Atlantic and Pacific Ocean by a ship canal.
England and the United States, the extent o f whose commercial marine
places them, by a long interval, in the first rank of maritime powers,
have shown their earnest desire to have a ship canal through the Isthmus
of Panama ; not, however, to the exclusion of railroads distributed from
point to point, as that from Panama to Chagres, already open ; that of
Tehuantepec now being built; and that of Honduras, which Mr. Squier,
a man of remarkable activity and talent, has been for some years ad
vocating. England and the United States have many motives impelling
them toward the basin of the Pacific Ocean. Both have great possessions
The Panam a Canal.
39
there.
The one has Australia with all its dependencies, and British
Columbia, an immense province still unsettled, but where it is said gold
mines of exceeding richness have been discovered, which will soon draw
there a large population, for mines of the precious metals have an irre
sistible attraction for man. The other has California whose progress is
a miracle, to which the Mexican province o f Sonora, also famous for gold,
seems soon to be added, and which, once in the hands of the North Am
ericans, will furnish as much gold as the streams of Sacramento and
San Joaquim. For both these nations, this canal would be the opening
o f China and Japan, and in a still higher degree, o f the west coast o f
America, comprising the republics o f New Granada, Equador, Peru,
Bolivia, and Chili to their trade, as well as a part of Mexico. Fully
persuaded of the benefits of this canal to the commerce o f the world,
these two powers, at first looking upon each other as rivals, have each
sought to secure an exclusive influence in Central America, or rather in
the basin of Lake Nicaragua, in order to control this passage. Led by
the power of good sense, no less than by the force of mutual opposition
to a clearer understanding of their common interests, they signed, in
1850, a treaty, called after the two statesmen who negotiated it, Mr.
Clayton on the part of the United States, and Mr. Bulwer for Great
Britain, the main object of which was the establishment of this canal.
The official title of the treaty indicates this clearly, being, “ A treaty for
the purpose of facilitating and protecting the construction of a ship
canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.”
The preamble of
the treaty declares that the canal referred to is one to be constructed in
the Nicaragua basin. It is proposed, it declares, “ to fix the views and
intentions of the high contracting parties in relation to certain projects
of communication by means of a ship canal, which may be constructed
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by way of the River San Juan,
and by one or two lakes of Nicaragua and Managua, ending in a port, or
in any other way, on the Pacific Ocean.”
Then follows the eight articles composing the treaty, all of whose stipu
lations develop merely the same thoughts; that is, the canal once con
structed shall be held neutral, and to facilitate its construction the two
governments grant to it their protection, and will exert all their influence.
The third article is in these words :—
“ Persons, with their property, employed, or to be employed, on this
work, shall be protected, from its commencement to its full completion,
by the governments of the United States and Great Britain, against all
unjust detention, confiscation, seizure, or violence whatever.”
The fourth article says:— “ The contracting parties will employ all the
influence they can respectively exert with the States whose governments
possess, or claim to possess, any power or right whatever over the terri
tory crossed hy the canal, or near any waters it may be advantageous to
make use of, to induce these States or governments to aid the construc
tion of this canal, by all means in their pow'er; and, in addition, the United
States and Great Britain agree to employ their good offices, in such
place and manner as may seem expedient, to secure the establishment of
free ports, one at each terminus of the above mentioned canal.”
Finally, the 7th article is as follows:— “ As it is desirable no time
should be lost in the commencement and construction of this canal, the
governments of the United States and Great Britain declare that they
40
The Panam a Canal.
will give their support and encouragement to sucli persons or company
as shall first offer to carry on the enterprise, provided it gives evidence
of the possession o f the needed capital, the consent of the local authorities,
and such conditions and elements as are in harmony with the spirit and
object of this treaty.”
This 7th article, as we see, secures the good will of the two great
powers to the enterprise of M. Belly, in virtue of a well conceived treaty
he has signed with the governments o f Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
The British Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lord Malmesbury, with an
earnestness that does him honor, has notified M. Belly, in a letter since
published, of his intention to confer upon him the benefits of the ClaytonBulwer treaty. Assured of the true meaning of a publication of M. Belly,
in which the misdeeds o f certain individual citizens of the United States
seemed to be laid to the charge of the American nation, and being con
vinced o f the earnest desire felt for their active co-operation, the United
States will, we doubt not, follow the example o f Great Britain.
Among the other maritime nations, that which stands at the head,
France has at present but a small commercial interest in the basin of
the great ocean, in that part at least to which the ship canal of Panama
facilitates the access. Her navy is powerful, distinguished as much or
more by the knowledge and coolness of its officers, by the courage and
skill of its sailors, as by the number and good construction o f its ships.
But with her, the mercantile marine is in a deplorable state of depression ;
measures of pretended protection have crushed, instead of stimulating
and strengthening, it. The French flag holds an humble rank in foreign
commerce.
Still she has in these quarters some valuable positions.
Tahiti will become, when she chooses to make it so, a smart place for
furnishing and repairing ships, and a point of conveyance for a multitude
o f vessels. The Marquesas are not without value; and should she ever
learn again the secret which enabled her to found the colonies of St.
Domingo and Canada, New Caledonia may be a colony, which will re
compense her for a part of the admirable possessions which she lost
under Louis X V ., and during the wars of the revolution and the empire.
• But until this new order of things comes round, her part, in reference
to a ship canal, will rather be that of a curious observer of the for
tunes of another, or that of a disinterested arbitress, favoring by the
disposition she has of interesting herself in all human affairs, which
is, according to the use she makes of it, a virtue or a fault, the construc
tion of a means of intercourse which will be a benefit to the world.
The personal sympathy o f the French emperor will doubtless be easily
gained for this enterprise, for he has, in times past, been its most dis
tinguished advocate. No one, more than he, has contributed to fix the
thoughts of the intelligent public o f two continents upon the best loca
tion for the canal; to him, more than to any one else, belongs the merit
of having designated Nicaragua as the place for the canal, and pointing
out, upon the map, the line it should follow through the two lakes of
Nicaragua and Managua, terminating at Realgo.
It is true, State policy has its inexorable necessities, before which the
power of the greatest monarchs spontaneously stops, and rightly so, for
the noblest manifestation of power is to resist personal instincts, and to
restrain private feelings when the interests of the State require it. But
as regards the canal between the two oceans, nothing of this kind is to
The Panam a Canal.
41
be expected. Not only the general wants of mankind, but those o f each
State in particular; not only well understood interests, but the instruc
tive feelings and prejudices o f all nations call for the construction of this
canal, and the gratitude of all will be given to that nation which shall
boldly take the initiative in it. The almost total absence of French com
merce in these quarters, the marked insignificance of French establish
ments on the Pacific, show clearly that France need not make professions
of disinterestedness in all that she may do in favor o f this canal. The chil
dren of New York and Liverpool, of Washington and London, know that
the French flag is scarcely seen on the Pacific Ocean ; we need not there
fore declare this to the statesmen of England and the United States.
Passing rapidly in review all the commercial States, we can see how
great is the interest all the world has in the opening of the isthmus by a
ship canal ; Rotterdam and Hamburg, Liverpool and New York, the in
dustrious Z.jllverein with its thirty-four millions of industrious laborers,
Switzerland whose patience and economy have naturalized manufactures
among her rugged mountains, Austria with her remarkable woolen
fabrics, as well as the workshops o f Manchester and Birmingham, and
the manufactories of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the mills of
Liege and Berviers, will all be benefited by it. Russia needs a ship canal
to communicate conveniently with her American possessions, now aban
doned to a miserable tribe of savages, but worthy of a better fate, and
for the more rapid settlement of the Valley of the Amoor, which she has
just, by a stroke of the pen, added to her numberless provinces. Spain
wants it, as an outlet for the ever-increasing produce of her magnificent
island of Cuba, and to shorten the distance between her and the Philippine
Islands, which have, up to this time, added nothing to her power and
commerce. Thus there is but one wish in the world, that this project
for a ship canal, through the Isthmus of Panama, should be brought
down from the clouds of speculation to the solid ground of reality.
The initiative to be taken by-the French nation does not demand finan
cial sacrifices of any importance. A moral support, a strongly marked
patronage is all that can be expected.
It may be that owing to the
earnestness and asperity that has arisen in the discussions between Eng
land and the United States, relative to Central America, that the presence
of a conciliatory and disinterested umpire, such as France may bo, will be
necessary to the success of the enterprise.
W e have as yet hardly mentioned the convention made by M. Belly
with the States of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the only States in’ Central
America having territory bordering on the line of the canal. This may
be found in detail in the publications of M. Belly and Thomas de Gamond.
It is impossible to deny that it is clear, precise; that all important ques
tions that may arise have been considered in it, and that the interests o f
the whole world have been cared for in a satisfactory manner. The
governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, through their Presidents,
General Martines and Don Juan Mora, have displayed an excellent spirit
and a patriotism at once noble and intelligent.
They have not re
coiled before anything tending to accomplish the work. The privileges
granted to the contractors are such as will attract capitalists. The charter
is to continue for ninety-nine years from the date of the opening of navi
gation; a tract of land two-and-a-half miles wide on each side of the
line has been granted; the tariff o f passage and freight agreed upon is
42
The Panama Canal.
highly remunerative, being a maximum price of ten francs per maritime
ton, and sixty francs per passenger. Experience will determine what
changes, if any, must be made in this tariff. The passenger rates may
be collected, that for ships will probably be found too great.
For a vessel of a thousand tons 10,000 francs seems to be a high
charge. The harbors forming the outlet of the canal on the two oceans
have been already declared free ports, and will ever enjoy all the immuni
ties this title carries with it. All flags, without exception, are here placed
upon an equality. The contracting States will each o f them reserve 4
per cent of the gross receipts of the line, during the term of the charter;
and in return they agree to protect the stockholders, their agents, and
their property against all attacks, foreign and domestic, under penalty
o f damages, to be fixed by arbitrators, and deducted from the 8 per cent
granted by the company.
In order to complete the agreement with the two contracting States, a
preference has been declared in the treaty for the line starting from the
mouth of the Sapoa on Lake Nicaragua, and terminating at Salina Bay
on the Pacific Ocean. But, as I have already remarked, this preference,
which may greatly enhance the difficulties and expense o f the construc
tion, is not decisive. The line by Realgo may be adopted, if that by
Salina Bay is shown to be too difficult.
Such is the project presented to the capitalists o f Europe, or rather
o f the world. It is for them, as well as for those named in the charter,
to examine into this matter, and plans, prepared by men whose reputation
entitles them to confidence, should be laid before the public, as has already
been done with the Isthmus o f Suez. It would be a great honor to our
age, and a great service to the future, if these two enterprises, each the
complement of the other, should be brought to a speedy termination.
The spectacle of such changes, worked by the industry of man on the
earth’s surface, has a grandeur which captivates the heart, and which
cannot be without effect in turning minds from warlike enterprises, which,
in spite o f the wreaths of glory with which the vulgar imagination sur
rounds them, are nothing more, in the eye of the Christian and the philoso
pher, than vagaries o f human reason, and fearful abuses of human power.
Man loves the sight of power, and rashness even has its charms. To
lead men to love peace she must be made to appear powerful, majestic,
audacious even. We must learn that in her quiet field, force may be dis
played in as colossal proportions as in the delirium o f battle. In this
respect, undertakings like those of the ship canals of Suez and Panama
are calculated to exert a moral influence, which should commend them to
all civilized nations.
m. c.
Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States.
43
Art. III.— COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CITIES OF TIIE UNITED STATES.
NUM BER L X V L
SAN
FRANCISCO,
E A R L Y SETTLEM ENT— EFFECT
B U S IN K 8 S — P A C I F I C
OF GO LD
D I S C O V E R Y — S IT E O F T H E
COM M E R CE — IM P R O V E M E N T
V A L U A T I O N — C L A S S IF IE D
C IT Y — B A Y — B U IL D IN G S — L O C A L
O F P O P U L A T IO N — P A 8 S E N G E R 8 — G O L D
P O P U L A T IO N — O T H E R
V A L U E OF G O L D — P R IC E S O F
CALIFORNIA.
EXPO RTS—
I N D U S T R IE S — A G R I C U L T U R E — M A N U F A C T U R E S —
M E R C H A N D IS E — Q U A R T Z M I L L S — D E S T IN A T IO N O F G O L D — Y I E L D — D E
C R E A S E P E R H E A D — M IN T E S T A B L I S H E D — O P E R A T I O N S O F — IM P O R T O F T R E A S U R E — E X P O R T O F O T H E R
P R O D U C E — M A N U F A C T U R IN G
IN D U S T R IE S — F L O U R
F I N E R IE S — F U R N I T U R E — P A P E R
M IL L S — S A W
M IL L S — G O L D
A SSA Y— 8U G A R
M IL L S — C A P I T A L IM P O R T E D I N T H E S T A T E — G O O D S
IM P O R T E D
RE
FOR
S I X Y E A R S — H O M E P R O D U C E S U P P L A N T S I M P O R T S — S U R P L U S E X P O R T E D — Q U A N T IT IE S A N D V A L U E S —
V A L U E O F IM P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S — T O N N A G E A N D F R E IG H T S — D E S T IN A T IO N O F T O N N A G E — G E N E R A L
IM P R O V E M E N T O F T H E P L A C E — C H A N G IN G C H A R A C T E R OF T I I E C IT Y R E L A T I O N S — N A T U R A L W E A L T H
— C IT Y D E B T — I M P R O V E D R E V E N U E S — R E G U L A R A D M I N I S T R A T I O N .
T he events o f the last ten years have attracted great interest to this
seaport of the Pacific. In 1848, it was composed only o f a few huts, and
was the resort of some few whalemen and northeast traders, who took
away tallow, hides, and horns. The discovery of gold attracted thither
crowds from all nations, concentrating in a single decade in its lap wealth
and refinement which are usually the result o f centuries o f prosperity,
and with the swelling population and accumulating capital its traffic has
become of great importance. The south promontory, which divides San
Francisco Bay from the Pacific, is a sandy level, on which stands the
city, at the bottom o f the bay, skirted by extensive flats, which are now
being formed into docks, some of which project 2,300 feet into the bay,
to obviate the shallows of the water, and afford safe moorage for vessels
of all classes. The nature of the soil required an early resort to plank
ing for the streets. The first houses erected were mostly o f wood or
adobe, to which were attached tents and booths. This feature of con
struction heavily involved danger of fires, which frequently desolated the
city. As the wooden houses were, however, gradually replaced by those
o f brick or stone, fires have become less frequent. Although the gold
discoveries were undoubtedly the immediate cause of the development of
prosperity in San Francisco, it does not now depend exclusively upon the
mines. Indeed, should gold cease to be produced, such large local, agri
cultural, and manufacturing interests have sprung up with such extended
ramifications with the other American countries o f the Pacific, and with
China, Australia, and the isles of the ocean, that the city would not the
less cease to be prosperous. The population is one of the most motley
that can be discovered in any city of the world, and necessarily so, since
gold was the attraction which concentrated male adventurers from every
country of the world. The objectionable features are, however, fast dis
appearing ; females are becoming more numerous; and local and lasting
interests are consolidating a permanent population o f a higher order.
The numbers vary greatly at different seasons of the year. In the wet
season the mining population come in from all quarters, and depart again
when the dry season sets in. The gold o f the mines has been the attrac
tion that brought the enterprising to her shores, and the progress o f events
may be indicated in the following table o f the number of passengers ar
44
Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:
rived annually, the exports of treasure, and the valuation and rate of tax
ation of property:—
Tears.
1849..
1850..
1851..
1852..
1853..
1854..
1855..
1856..
1857..
1858..
Passengers
arrived.
91,405
.36,462
27,182
66,988
33,233
47,531
29,198
28,119
22,990
43,259
Gold
Personal
Exported.
Rate.
Real estate. Improvem’ ts. property.
Total.
84,9 21 ,2 6 0
2 7,676,346
42,582,695 $2 0 0 1816,859,054 in pers’aL :8 4,772,160 $ 2 1 ,62 1 ,2 1 4
U
4 6,5 86 ,1 3 4
3 10
2,874,441
11,141,463
14,016,903
U
5 7,3 31 ,0 2 4 4 41
15,676,366
2,805,381
18,481,737
5 1,328,653
3 884 17,889,850 $ 6,158,300 4,852,000 28,900,150
43,080,211
3 85J 19,765,285
9,159,935
5,837,607
34.762,827
4 8,887,643
3 851 18,607.800 8,394,925 6,073,847
32.076,572
48,5 92 ,7 4 3
2 80
4,194,970
30,368,254
17,827,617
8,345,667
2 30
4 7,452,307
16,106,890 7,814,920 15,784,295
39,706,105
Total . 426,367 418,438,906
The population of California in 1831, was estimated by Forbes at
23,025. In January, 1849, it was placed at twenty-six thousand, of whom
eight thousand were Americans, and five thousand foreigners. The com
pilers of the Register adopt the following figures, as representing her
present population :—
Males between 18 and 45 years..............................................................
Males over 45 years, or disabled............................................................
Females, white..........................................................................................
Children between 4 and 18 years.........................................................
Children under 4 years.............................................................................
183,000
42,500
85,000
85.000
18,500
Total American population..........................................................
Foreigners—French............................................................
15,000
English...........................................................
2,000
Irish ..............................................................
10,000
Germans........................................................
10,000
Mexicans........................................................
15,000
V arious..........................................................
15,000
--------Chinese.....................................................................................................
Colored.....................................................................................................
Indians...........................................
365,315
Total population...........................................................................
67,000
38,687
2,000
65,000
638,002
The largest number o f arrivals in San Francisco was, it appears, in
1849, and it was again large in 1852, producing the large export o f metal
in 1853. That amount has not since been maintained. The population
has turned its attention to other sources o f wealth. Agriculture now
employs great numbers in the State, and the results o f their labors were
as follows for some items:—
Years.
1856
Number of acres
cultivated.
............................
611 ,96 3
W heat,
bushels.
3,879,032
Barley,
bushels.
4,519,678
Oats,
bushels.
1,107,359
1857
1858
................
......................
3,205,484
3,568,669
5,088 330
5,382,718
1,201,405
1,322,231
684,267
756,734
These, with other sources o f industry, give more development to the
trade of San Francisco than that which is derived merely from gold. The
progress of manufacturing and agricultural industry has reduced the
prices of many articles, and given steadiness to trade. When her gold
was discovered it was very difficult o f sale. The diggers were required
to give a large quantity for a small proportion o f the necessaries of life.
45
San Francisco, California.
The man whose labor yielded him one-and-a-half to two ounces, or $25
to $30 per day, got rich no faster than he who earned one dollar in the
Atlantic States. The shippers o f the produce, freighters, and merchants
made money, because they got the gold at so cheap a rate. This natur
ally had a two-fold influence; it discouraged the production of gold, and
promoted the supply of all those things in comparison of which it was
cheap. This supply has been afforded by increased importations and
local productions, until gold is now the dearest relatively. In illustration
of this fact, we have compiled a table o f prices for three years:—
O O M P A R IT IV E P R IC E S I N S A N F R A N C IS C O , C A L IF O R N IA .
Bread, pilot . . . .lb.
Boots, long grain..
Bricks, face...........
Coffee, Rio.........lb.
Candles, adamant'e
Coal, hard............
Sheeting... . . .B|
Drilling, bl’d.. 28 in.
Sarsaparilla . . . .T.
Flour, Gailego.......
Com m ea l............
Cod, dry.................
Corn..................lb.
Wheat...................
Shovels, A. L. H ..
Picks......................
Apples, dried........
Gunpowder..........
Boards, clear.........
Molasses................
Oil, whale..............
Beef, mess............
Pork, mess.............
H am s....................
Lard.......................
Butter....................
Cheese..................
R ic e ......................
Soap.......................
Sugar, N. Orleans..
Brandy, American.
Tea, Hyson............
May, :1852.
November, 1852.
. .. a
81
16 a
17
2 75 a 3 25
3 00 a 4 00
a 40 00
a 65 00
13 a 134
IS
17i a
42 a
43
31 a
33
12 00 a 45 00
a 23 00
7a
6a
7
n
11 a
12
9a
91
10 00 a , . . 10 00 a
8 50 a 8 75 35 00 a 40 00
13 00 a 14 00 19 00 a 20 00
12 a
13
13 a
14
4
5a
3i a
5i
3a
Si
10 a
12
35 00 a
60 00 a 55 00
25 00 a . ,. . • 20 00 a
9 a . ,. •.
a lii
3 37 a 3 62
3 25 a 3 50
15 00 a 80 00 275 00 a $300
65 a
70
70 a
72
1 45 a 1 50
65 a
65
a 30 00 16 00 a 17 00
20 00 a 22 00 50 00 a 54 00
25 a
26
a
22
20 a
40
85 a
22
65
60 a
40 a
41
9a
10
14 a
16
9a
8i
H a
17
6a
6a
7
6i
9a
10
6§ a ....
65 a
95
45 a
50
35 a
40
40 a
41
May,:L853.
6a
1 50 a 2 75
a 45 00
a
12
26 a
28
12 00 a 14 00
. ,, . . a
5f
8i a . ,
6 00 a . ,. . •
10 00 a
6 50 a
6a
7
2a
n
oa
24
.. • a 25 00
12 50 a
. ,. . . a
8i
2 00 a 2 25
70 00 a 75 00
75 a
80
. . •a
55
20 00 a ‘25 00
26 00 a 28 00
20
19i a
23 a
25
34 a
35
24 a
25
6a
7
6a
,. .
6| a
48 a
50
36
35 a
April1, 1S59.
64 a
6i
a
a
18 a
a
a i 2 50
.... a
7i
9a
10
.... a .. . .
9 00 a 9 25
5 00 a 5 75
5a
5i
2a
24
2f
2i a
10 00 a 11 00
1 00 a 2 60
12 a
124
3 00 a ■. . .
35 00 a 50 00
25 a
28
37i a
40
12 50 a ,
21 00 a . . . .
14 a
13 a
14
25 a
26
.... a
16
5 a ....
4 a ., . . .
n a 10
60 a
62
45 a
70
The decline in food, building materials, tools, clothing, everything in
short required by the digger, has been marked, while im proved means o f
communication between the mines and the cities have placed them within
the reach o f the digger. I f we take four articles— say flour, beef, pork,
and butter— in illustration, the comparative values November, 1862, and
April, 1859, are as follow s:—
April, 1859.
Decrease.
November, 1852.
$ 4 0 00
$9 00
Flour, 1 bbl............................... ...........
$31 00
12 60
Beef, 1 bbl............................................
17 00
4 50
Pork, 1 b b l...........................................
54 00
21 00
33 00
16 00
Butter, 100 lb s .....................................
41 00
25 00
T otal.........................................
$152 00
$67 50
$84 50
The man who dug gold in 1852 was required to give nine-and-a-half
ounces for those articles which he gets now for four ounces; that is to
46
Commercial and Industrial Cities o j the United States:
say, for two-and-a-lialf ounces o f gold in 1852 be got one barrel o f flour;
he now gets five barrels for the same quantity.
The mining industry seems to have taken more the direction of quartz
mining, than which no branch of industry has in the past year received
more attention. The increase in the number of mills, and the energy
and enterprise displayed in the opening of new veins and the erection of
machinery, may be referred to as the best evidence o f the progress of
this important department of our productive wealth. The number of
quartz mills in operation in April, 1857, was 138, with an aggregate of
1,521 stamps, the cost of the erection o f which was $1,763,000. In N o
vember, 1858, there were 279 mills, of which 119 were propelled by
steam, 153 by water, and 7 by horse-power, with an aggregate of 2,610
stamps. The cost o'f machinery was estimated at $3,270,000. It will
thus be seen that the number of mills doubled in about eighteen months.
In addition to the stamps here enumerated, there are employed 519
arastras, o f which 310 are connected with different quartz mills, and the
remainder are employed in different sections o f the quartz region.
The supply o f gold from the mines seems to maintain very nearly its
annual amount, but the amount per head is probably less than formerly.
The destination of the metals is seen in the following table o f the exports
for three years and for the first quarter of 1859 :—
TREASU RE EXTO RTS FROM
S A N F R A N C IS C O .
Jan. 1 to Apr. 1,
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
To New Y o r k ................
England....................
New Orleans............
Panama..................
China........................
Sandwich Islands . . .
Manilla......................
Australia..................
Mexico......................
Chili...........................
Society Islands........
Vancouver Island... .
Other ports..............
|39,765,294
8,666,289
130,000
253,268
1,308,852
241,450
133,265
56,518
..........
11,398
5,800
..........
126,860
$35 ,28 7 ,7 7 8
9,347,748
244,000
410,929
2,993,264
86,803
278,900
32,000
41,500
33,479
$ 35 ,578,286
9,265,789
313,000
299.265
1,916,007
96,672
49,975
631
14,500
11,500
2,000
500
$ 7,275,397
1,718,818
216 ,00 0
70,582
854,548
40,8 40
Total....................
$50,697,434
$48,976,697
$47,548,025
$10 ,17 6 ,1 8 2
220,296
This amount for the quarter is less by $1,229,473 than for the corre
sponding quarter of 1858. These exports of the metals do not give the
amount mined, since considerable sums are carried by passengers and not
reported. This may amount to 10 per cent of the manifested exports.
The production of gold soon made the presence o f a mint imperative in
San Francisco, and one was established in 1853, and began to coin in
1854. Its operations have been as follows:—
U N IT E D S T A T E S M IN T , S A N F R A N C IS C O .
Y ears.
1854 ................... . . . .
1 8 5 5 ..................... ____
1 8 5 6 ..................... ____
1 8 5 7 .....................
1 8 5 8 ..................... ____
Total........
.. .
Bars.
$5,641,504
3,270,594
3,047,001
816,295
$12,775,896
G old.---------------------------x
Fine bars.
Bars and coin.
$5,863
$ 9,7 31 ,6 7 4
88,783
20,957,677
28,315,538
122,186
. . ...
12,490,000
19,276,096
$21 6 ,7 8 2
$ 90 ,770,866
,--------- Silver.----------,
Bars.
Total.
19,753
$ 16 4 ,0 7 5
200,609
50,000
147,502
$43 ,36 2
$ 562,187
$23 ,60 9
San Francisco, California.
47
There is, however, a consideiable amount of treasure imported into
San Francisco. Last year the amount was $3,068,753, of which, singu
larly, §700,000 was dust from Victoria.
In addition to the gold received from the mines, other industries begin
to pour their proceeds into the city :—
R E C E I P T S O F C A L IF O R N I A P R O D U C E A T S A N F R A N C IS C O F R O M
AU GU ST 1 S T , 1 8 5 5 , TO
DECEM BER 25T H , 1 8 5 8 .
Flour.............
"Wheat...........
Barley..........
Oats...............
Potatoes........
Corn...............
R ye...............
Buckwheat...
Beans.............
Bran..............
Hay...............
Aug. 1,1655, to
July 1, 1656.
178,644
468,672
297,699
148,906
390,759
7,142
770
1,662
30,976
31,951
July 1,1656, to
July 1, 1857.
152,609
340,030
455,823
157,344
343,681
10,821
3,526
1,536
55,268
38,169
95,185
Julv 1, 1857, to
July 1 to
July 1,1856.
Dec, 25, ’58.
141,825
179,690
243,052
337,179
667,568
576,219
186,039
241,328
330,307
159,280
9,096
3,430
2,899
1,191
2,635
1,7 3-8
65,076
43,037
36,044
30,690
70,361
53,554
The manufacturing industry which has sprung up is stated by the B ul
letin as follows:—
There are in the State 135 flouring mills, the aggregate capacity of
which is upwards of 2,400,000 barrels per annum, and their assessed
value is §1,500,000.
Of saw mills there are 385, the value of which is estimated at $2,000,000,
and their capacity at about 500,000,000 feet annually. The lumber fur
nished by these mills from the exhaustless forests of the coast range, the
Sierra Nevada, and the Humboldt Bay region, not only supplies our own
markets, but is rapidly becoming an important article of export to the
ports of the Pacific. Large quantities o f lumber are required in mining
operations. In the county of Tuolumne alone the yearly consumption
amounts to $800,000.
There are thirteen establishments for the refining and assaying o f gold
and silver, several of which are of an extensive character.
The chemical works near the Mission Dolores have an annual value of
about $ 100,000.
In San Francisco there are two extensive sugar refineries, the value of
which is estimated at $160,000, and their capacity at 15,600,000 pounds
of sugar per annum, besides 300,000 gallons of syrup.
The manufacture of furniture is becoming a business o f considerable
importance. A large proportion of the best furniture used in this State
is now manufactured in San Francisco. One establishment alone employs
from thirty to fifty hands.
The manufacture of agricultural implements is principally located in
San Francisco. Its machinery is of the most approved description, and
twenty-five men are constantly employed by its proprietors in making
plow's, reapers, threshers, &c., which are considered superior to similar
machines from the East.
A paper mill has been erected; is estimated at about 890,000, and
with the present machinery it is capable of furnishing upwards o f 300
tons of paper per annum.
The San Francisco market is now abundantly supplied by California
manufacturers with almost every variety o f perfumery, which compares
48
Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:
favorably with imported articles in the same line. A match factory has
recently been completed, the capacity of which is believed to be sufficient
to supply the demand in California. There are in the State thirty tan
neries, of an aggregate capacity sufficient to supply the demand for
leather. In different parts of the State there are extensive broom manu
factories; their aggregate capacity is about 360,000 brooms per annum.
The manufacturing of soap and candles has been carried on to a consid
erable extent in various parts of California. The aggregate capacity of
the soap factories is about 3,500,000 pounds per annum. There are two
starch manufactories, at which a superior article o f starch is produced in
large quantities. The number of distilleries in the State is five, o f an
aggregate valuation of $200,000. There are also- 86 breweries, which
are valued at $200,000. The number of glue manufactoiies is four, of
a capacity sufficient to supply the wants of the State. In San Francisco
there are several extensive oil and camphene manufacturing establish
ments. They are capable o f refining upwards of 600,000 gallons of
camphene per annum, besides a large quantity o f oil. The importation
of stoneware from the East has been almost entirely stopped by the pot
teries now in operation here.
The building o f steamers and sailing vessels is carried on w'ith consid
erable activity in San Francisco. The United States Government is now
building a steamer at Mare Island, and a sloop-of-war is soon to be built
at the same place. Timber suitable for the largest vessels is found in
abundance in California and Oregon. The dry-dock at Mare Island, which
is of sufficient capacity to accommodate vessels of the largest class, has
been made available to the merchant marine of the Pacific at reasonable
rates of dockage. The cost, of constructing these works was $1,400,000.
The bridges constructed in different parts of this State are valued at
about $725,000. Some of these are of California design, and highly
creditable to the mechanical skill and ingenuity o f the State. The num
ber of ferries is about 140, of which three are operated by steam. The
capital employed is $250,000.
The macaroni and vermicelli manufactories not only supply the home
demand, but furnish considerable quantities o f their products for expor
tation.
A cordage and oakum manufactory has been in successful operation
during the last eighteen months.
m
There are in San Francisco two extensive steam barrel factories, the
machinery o f which is of California invention and manufacture. In ad
dition to these there is a large number of smaller establishments for the
making of barrels, kegs, etc.
W agons and carriages of the most substantial and ornamental charac
ter are extensively manufactured in all parts o f the State.
The stone and marble yards of San Francisco and Sacramento form a
prominent feature in the home industry of California. The vast marble
quarries o f El Dorado, Calaveras, and Suisun furnish an abundance of
the best of material; but the facilities for sawing and transportation are
inadequate.
An extensive tub and pail factory' has recently been put in operation in
San Francisco. Its capacity is 500 pails per day. The machinery em
braces the most recent improvements. The forests of Washington Terri
tory furnish an abundance o f timber well adapted to the making of pails
and tubs.
49
San Francisco, California.
The manufacture of woolen goods on a large scale is soon to be com
menced in the vicinity of San Francisco. At present, wool forms a large
item in the list of our exports, while woolen goods are among the heavi
est items of import; and there can be no doubt that an establishment of
this character will prove highly remunerative to those engaged in it, as
'well as highly beneficial to the State at large, for it will give employ
ment to a large class of persons who are unable to endure the kind of
labor required in mining and farming. It will also afford employment to
boys, who, without such facilities for procuring employment, will grow
up in idleness and vice.
The manufacture of piano-fortes and other musical instruments, billiard
tables, clothing, hats, boots and shoes, saddles and harness, trunks, tin
ware, candies, cigars, and indeed of all staple articles, is carried on to a
much greater extent than is generally supposed, and with satisfactory re
sults. The successive annual fairs of the Mechanics’ Institute have served
to show, in a most conclusive manner, the inventive powers and the skill
of her mechanics.
It is obvious that when 500,000 persons have arrived in the State, and
have established all these industries, that a vast amount of capital has
been carried thither, and it is very probable that, although California has
added to the gold currency of the world, she has not up to this time in
creased its capital. The nature o f the imports into San Francisco is seen
in the following table :—
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF IMPORT8 OF LEADING ARTICLES OF MERCHANDISE AT THE PORT
OF SAN FRANCISCO FROM 1853 TO 1858, INCLUSIVE.
Absynth
A cid....
Acid___
Alcohol. ...................bbls.
Alcohol..
Apples, dried., .half bbls.
Axes.. . .
Axes...
Barley..
Bags, gunny............bales
Bags, gunny............. bdls.
Bags, gunny............... No.
Bacon...,trcs., bhds. &cks.
Bacon ..
Beer....
Beer.__
Beer.. . .
Beef.__
Beans ..
Beans ..
Blankets
Boots &shoes........cases
Brandy..,pps., bhds. & cks.
Brandy . ..................bbls.
BraDdy.
Brandy .
Brandy.
Brandy. ..................PkgsButter . . . .hhds. &casks
Butter..,
Butter...
V OL. XLI.---- N O . I.
1853.
1857.
1856.
1855.
1854.
1851
2,992
134
723
4,593
2,793
16,466
1,964
186
....
3,036
140
....
2,600
7,345
12,225
1,017
3,856
2,880
4
1,642
1,101
64,674
476
16,433
1,328
4,024
2,031
324
774
29,639
8,239
2,397
105
645
8,204
2,923
9,791
8,032
331
5,959
398
3,186
8,060
8,421
15,699
2,909
526
2,043
3,515
2,563
12,980
4,320
1,607
17,530
3,130
12,937
8,712
21,718
40,378
1,589
82,165
1,992
32,768
15,658
4,428
6,733
681
2,185
51,836
7,187
3,267
159
2,541
3,729
1,570
6,715
2,334
117
8,840
5,293
2,991
21,080
3,664
1,609
19,392
3,474
15,309
14,645
4,627
40,298
1,323
82,030
7,022
4,864
....
2,861
4,156
673
1,467
36,549
3,882
1,363
422
2,442
2,439
751
7,353
2,876
422
59,610
6,511
1,662
78,087
6,822
5,018
12,196
7,002
16,197
10,521
1,588
41,425
1,927
60,705
5,073
4,426
....
2,702
3,351
1,071
4,678
35,770
6,515
1,903
3,100
1,432
1,000
2,178
3,620
11,698
3,455
5,913
3,179
1,053
1,132
954
55,892
341
31,574
2,625
3,832
7,691
613
880
38,245
4,029
4
2,372
1,288
557
10,474
8.405
97
294,065
8,437
4,392
375,942
8,410
9,371
23,998
12,775
23,062
16,281
686
102,471
3,992
67,557
8,661
13,073
....
2,655
5,386
411
16,563
77,189
18,146
50
Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States :
Cement............... . .bbls.
Coal, anthracite..
Coal, Cumberland.
Coal, English.......
Coal, Sidney . . . .
Coal, C hili..........
Coal, Vancouver..
Coal, Oregon . . . .
Coffee..................
Corn...................
Corn meal.. . .puncheons
Corn meal............ . .bbls.
Cordage.. . .bales &bdls.
Cordage...............
Cordage............... ..pkgs.
Champagne. .bskts. bxs.
Cheese.................
Cheese.................
Dry goods...........
Dry goods.. . casesbx s.
Dry goods........... . .pkgs.
DuclT..................
Duck....................
D u ck.................. . .pkgs.
Drugs <fc medicines
Fish, cod. .casks <fc drums
Fish, c o d ............
Fish, mackerel....
Fish, mackerel...
Furniture............
Flour................... . .bbls.
Flour.......... 200 lb. sacks
Gin.....................
G in .....................
Gin..............kegs &cases
Glass, window . . . .boxes
Hams.......... trcs. casks
H am s..................
Hams................. . .pkgs.
Hardware, .casks bbls.
Hardware., .cases &csks.
Hardware . . . . . . . .pkgs.
H o p s .................
Hops................cases, etc.
Ice........................
Iron, bar..............
Iron, bars.............
..........
Iron, plates
Iron............ pkgs. &bdls.
Iron, sheet..........
Iron, sheet............
Iron, p ig .............
Lard.....................
Lard...................
Lard...................
Lumber, eastern.. M.feet
Lumber, eastern.. pieces
Lumber, domestic.M.feet
1858.
8,437
62,951
95,477
11.983
33.392
2,183
15,379
3,181
8,623
1,663
3,185
46,142
18,703
374
5,790
....
12,469
3,817
12,285
868
869
12,457
15,508
1,160
901
581
23
15,602
1,160
1,665
10,543
16,484
33,370
22,084
1,388
107
36,468
15,964
5,295
6,577
864
1,655
16,545
23,955
1,682
52
3,148
177
109,534
13,919
67,158
7,324
134
2,172
118
8,135
30,151
122
178
37,434
44,395
1857.
1856.
200
938
20,063 243,359
262,671
8,770
20,799
24.251
32,444
2,196
4,490
16,692
6,645
1,691
3,032
1,566
3,427
400
180
1,260
3,960
45,851
96,599
12,226
19,232
791
810
6,033
12,085
404
1,852
7,248
13,695
5,095
6,491
22,612
18,620
1,810
5,458
1,119
7,968
7,884
29,719
28,823
9,521
1,511
4,845
1,781
4,702
1,647
15,071
143
192
20,604
18,282
1,491
4,708
246
442
2,880
10,562
3,807
8,984
22,276
26,323
7,928
36,968
. . . »
33,765
1,788
2.398
1,570
1,431
30,068
7,682
10,672
16,746
5,251
15,572
4,213
5,441
610
145
1,429
2,309
7,879
9,941
20,152
9,434
951
1,265
36
513
3,356
980
211
157
178,989 119,681
10,495
5,602
51,364
38,300
2,118
3,478
1,069
1,369
1,100
1,210
220
435
6,803
13,082
20,683
22,645
325
403
867
68,548
40,971
39,641
36,135
1855.
680
133,635
1854.
4,084
86,021
CO
‘/O
oo
r—
H
Butter................
Candles.................
10,683
173,707
37.465
20,494
10,207
34,559
38,494
29,395
888
4,883
1,481
29,354
42,787
23,880
1,743
4,225
3,166
473
6,157
4,079
1,492
2,070
3,301
2,412
2,156
....
84,096
42,699
60,365
53,275
3,107
2,337
2.260
261
129
5,811
16,610
98,557
2,035
446
884
7,765
13,323
8,708
8,845
13,577
5,170
34,093
26,159
16,343
4,158
2,872
3,947
9,968
8,637
5,891
31,156
14,956
17,677
8,862
11,606
19.305
5,988
865
3,881
2,132
4,054
872
10,341
9,431
4,886
144
....
948
14,535
21,580
21,374
1,804
2,377
1,010
718
4,466
12,918
7,984
4,183
3,113
4,875
1,543
3,367
25,437
19,972
23,787
26,642 150,420 299,597
67,349 199,143
23,627
970
2,187
1,247
240
329
238
1,110
1,396
4,073
11,540
22,905
12,003
20,105
29,523
16,180
11,342
9,264
5,057
419
82
827
1,999
2,171
4,035
10,442
9,024
28,424
2,717
9,140
3,687
226
532
998
340
73
426
3,209
4,220
3,459
47^
444
438
62,819 113,113 121,331
8,514
15,729
12,557
21,719
27,420
36,467
4,284
4,153
22,858
184
802
1,669
82
788
1,300
596
610
1,797
13,699
3,840
43,144
15,512
20,129
37,S28
. . . .
615
. . . .
5,600
15,484
66,000 182,099 395,199
54,639
30,932
41,821
San Francisco, California.
ShiDgles.......... ..........M.
51
1858.
1857.
1856.
1855.
1854.
1853.
6,211
5,407
318
3,699
1,785
1,913
1,259
1,662
574
1,745
991
2,787
139
7,221
184
340
1,118
1,919
179
880
528
8,559
6,223
3,267
72,021
1,745
97,166
4,302
4,851
1,071
1,813
1,079
1,888
771
2,064
1,065
9,394
7,369
6,841
36,090
4,980
42,125
1,236
3,579
8,611
3,888
9,914
63
666
1,729
692
11,618
3,580
672
729
4,867
5,669
4,939
8,027
1,606
9,227
13,833
5,918
28,497
11,805
105,156
2,176
15,064
104,914
2,386
7,883
44
1,169
2,668
Liquors.. . .pipes & casks
Liquors............
....
...
Liquors............
1,128
Liquors..........
7,267
1,765
Liquors..........
3,525
4,269
4,000
Matting...........
2,384
3,244
6.019
Macaroni <fc vermicelli.bxs.
3,231
Molasses &syrup., .bbls.
1,780
4,319
74,332
51,198
65,268
Molasses &syrup.. ..kegs
....
1,948
250
Molasses & svrup.. .cases
56,513
Nails...............
59,468 132,226
1.303
Nuts .. . . . . . . . .
1,695
5,420
4,688
5,511
Nuts.............. .bags, etc.
8,428
....
,,,,
O ats..............
....
1,143
2,282
Oakum.............
2,971
1,771
8,607
12,719
4,116
8,142
Oil, whale. . . . ........bbls.
4,547
295
Oil, linseed. . . .
16
35
85
1,234
Oil, linseed.. . . ........bbls.
1,203
1,267
1,425
Oil, linseed.. . ,
1,795
965
609
1,532
332
....
390
500
Oil, linseed___
....
24,651
13,320
15,055
35,459
5,338
Oil, oliv e........
4,780
9,873
9,359
Oil, China____ ..........jars
4,295
....
16,550
Oil, China....... ----- pkgs.
5,594
... •
....
299
386
Oil, la rd ........
418
304
Oil, lard...........
32,678
13,544
12,941
51,169
16,996
20,099
Pork..............
338
161
496
444
Powder..........
....
30,616
6,377
11,893
26,223
29,769
Powder..........
20,430
5,423
2,239
3,518
4,417
5,516
6,430
Powder........ .
1,004
843
842
566
2,145
625
Paints........ casks <fc bbls.
45,281
29,634
28,235
10,203
30,155
Paints......... kegs &cases
24,677
....
139
485
622
1,079
3,256
Paints............
1,935
810
2,136
Pitch...............
569
2,157
1,056
1,992
2,104
1,647
3,423
546
Pitch...............
473
....
346
217
233
661
825
Pickles, &c.. . .
19,935
8,504
27,368
4,125
15,635
Pickles. Ac___ ........ kegs
2,084
Pickles, &c.. .cases &bxs.
48,043
96,187 130,350 104,938 100,383 116,735
....
120
67
145
50
Raisins..........
437
38,462
19,270
38,548
26,700
34,550
4,853
Raisins............
104
41
66
109
163
215
Rucn.............. puncheons
680
291
811
1,200
753
1,076
R um ..............
588
772
778
140
332
2,277
Rice, Carolina.trcs. &csks.
2,380
4,773
7,282
13,443
2,770
6,768
Rice, Carolina.
.
.
.
.
112
34
981
95
177
Rice, Carolina. ----- pkgs.
395,283 517,525 313,417 194,994 163,108 404,374
Rice, foreign..
3,817
4,591
1,899
2,959
5,224
6,269
Sardines........
948
562
658
566
875
2,631
Salt.................
10,945
5,350
6,139
12,751
1,071
16,647
S a lt..............
19,239
12,235
21,142
20,074
32,512
10,997
Salt............. bags ifc sacks
1,890
780
1,345
3,682
911
699
S a lt..............
2,825
2,146
737
3,212
2,295
Shot............kegs <£c cases
1,826
619
2,196
10,150
123
163
755
Shovels........... ........ bills.
1,492
368
1,100
732
1,409
Shovels..........
2,895
.
.
.
.
409
1,320
1,504
5,804
...«
Shovels.........
628
550
1,599
1,946
646
1,495
Sugar, east’n.trcs. &hhds.
69,670
33,986
17,489
67,601
35,313
Sugar, eastern
38,449
569
86
229
38S
Sugar, east’n.kegs & cases
330
1,493
....
422
1,443
270
3,285
2,795
Sugar, foreign.
Sugar, foreign. .........bags 158,658 ,170,592 154,373 124,893 116,007 159,452
....
....
624
659
623
4,228
S ugar, raw . ..
52
Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:
Soap.........
Spices, etc
Spices___
Spirits turpentine . .bbls.
Spirits turpentine., .cases
Starch....... .cases & boxes
T a r.......... ..............bbls.
Tea.......... ..............pkgs.
Tobacco...
Tobacco...
Tobacco..,
Tobacco... ..............pkgsTin plates..
Whisky....
Whisky... ..............bbls.
Whisky...,. .kegs dz cases
Wine . . . . .hhds. & casks
Wine......... ..............bbls.
Wine.........
Wine . . . .
W heat.. . .
Z in c........
1858.
1857.
1856.
1855.
1854.
1851.
63,649
7,211
2,305
185
31,539
32,478
1,019
28,721
270
11,468
8,181
292
11,500
296
8,833
2,593
6,114
973
51
27,906
15,860
331
77,681
9,145
1,637
535
21,893
43,882
635
16,439
870
7,620
5,339
2,037
8,242
557
13,125
2,850
7,889
2,625
206
76,041
25,625
520
83,386
21,164
5,782
2.565
25,222
34,915
3,975
89,699
1,978
12,432
8,865
1,888
10,541
212
25,787
665
11,422
1,974
234
126,663
....
629
90,668
33,765
115,227
20,728
1,433
22,008
15,090
1,375
53,378
1,754
17,543
8,295
36
9,894
216
11,349
311
13,758
3,087
682
8,223
16,634
2,072
53,034
1,024
12,179
7,151
987
6,122
415
10,607
1,691
5,314
1,408
213
58,719
19,525
521
94,778
26,535
....
891
7,209
34,341
2,649
162,156
2,129
19.942
8,730
338
29,936
553
18,670
1,819
9,156
2,481
1,794
156,137
80,186
690
....
....
120,212
....
670
The quantities of many of the most important of these articles, it will
he observed, as grain, &c., declined as the home product increased ; hut
with the growing wants of an improving community others were received.
In fact, the mere growth of local manufactures involved the import of
new materials. The increased productions of the place also involved an
export of the growing surplus, the leading items of which have been as
follows :—
EXPORTS OF CALIFORNIA PRODUCE FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
Barley.......
Beaus...........
Bread.........., .bbls. dz cases
Flour...........
Hides........... ................No.
Horns..........
Lumber. . . .
Marble........
Oats.......... .
Potatoes . . .
Quicksilver..
Salmon........
Skins and fu rs..................
Tallow.......
Wheat . . . . ,
Wine........... . bbls. dz casks
W o o l..........
Value . . .
1854.
1855.
1856.
1S57.
1858.
15,600
78,160
4,884
58,115
43,000
115,716
112,770
• ...
76,260
147,839
182,602
2,218
4,708
9,005
170,447
114,000
10,650
182,570
20,770
4,036
16,330
168,933
77,371
6,326
2,233
176,476
16,049
26,212
1,612
1,480
918
4,500
8,900
3,184
25,910
20,963
2,500
49,306
16,671
25,965
447
23,024
• ...
4,967
539
86,413
1,700
22,840
175,000
360,000
600,000
9,428
68,811
10,000
27,262
2,141
27,000
1,068
8,781
1,230
1,100,000 1,428,351
$2,719,266 $2,551,690
The value of the foreign trade of San Francisco is as follows:—
FOREIGN TRADE OF SAN FRANCISCO.
Tears.
1866 ................
1857 ..................
1858 ..................
Imports.
$7,296,839
9,137,414
8,989,733
,----------------------------- Exports.--------------------------------,
Foreign goods.
Domestic goods.
Total.
$715,512
2,225,182
3,003,854
$10,002,662
12,210,719
12,035,393
$10,718,074
14,435,901
15,039,247
53
San Francisco, California.
These exports, of course, embrace the specie sent to foreign countries,
and the imports embrace some two to three millions of silver received
coastwise. This large business has been attended by a great development
in the tonnage movement, as follows:—
Years.
Coastwise.
Foreign.
Atlantic.
1853.........................
1854.........................
1855.........................
1856.........................
1857.........................
1858.........................
67,213
69,230
146,495
138,149
182,036
136,781
147,180
101,401
99,812
87,019
88,289
233,569
260,045
153,313
147,870
149,370
109,526
119,269
Total.
Freights.
474,438
'111,751,994
5,311,612
313,944
3,999,755
394,177
374.538 '
4,592,104
2,842,671
379,850
3,761,708
489,619
The destination of this tonnage is seen in the following returns of arrivals and departures :—
.ARRIVALS, EXCLUSIVE OF THOSE FROM DOMESTIC PACIFIC PORTS.
Domestic Atlantic ports
Great Britain................
Europe..........................
China..........................
East Indies...................
South America............
Mexico .......................
Australia......................
Vancouver Island.........
Pacific islands..............
Whaling grounds........
1855.
1856.
1857.
1858.
147,870
26,608
13,242
17,296
149,370
11,729
10,434
27.110
6,319
6,913
6,531
3,375
278
9,205
2,879
109,525
16,992
12,681
23,324
8,000
8,197
6,052
4,729
919
6,517
1,564
114.321
14,737
6,469
20,379
8,135
10,566
6,835
6,342
53,098
7,250
1,330
3,626
6,460
13,874
3,609
The only striking discrepancies that are noticeable in the foregoing
data consist, first, in the continued decrease of the whaling tonnage. The
business has not- proved lucrative, and we have to remark a continually
diminishing quantity of shipping owned at this port so employed from
year to year. The high rates paid to hands, and the large expenses of
outfits, do not admit of our rivaling the more economical expeditions fitted
out by other countries. Second, the prominence of the movement to
Fraser River is strongly illustrated by the increased commerce with Van
couver. Third, the excess of the arrivals of tonnage from South Amer
ican ports this year is accounted for by increased imports of Chili coal
over those of the preceding year.
1855.
Domestic Atlantic ports ..
Great Britain......................
Europe................................
China.................................
East Indies.........................
South America.................
Mexico...............................
Australia ............................
Vancouver Island...............
Pacific islands...................
Whaling grounds................
. . . .
. . . .
....
15,870
15,712
13.663
2,535
05 O O
DEPARTURES, EXCLUSIVE OF THOSE TO DOMESTIC PACIFIC PORTS.
. . .
900
72,734
46,425
65,075
8,873
12,588
638
17,526
3,855
1857.
1858.
16,814
....
....
88,313
23,861
63,813
23,977
10,188
2,032
9,086
1,333
12,456
8,284
48,809
19,241
28,347
81,809
20,738
65,120
27,387
2,076
From the facts here gathered it will be seen that San Francisco is fast
outgrowing its stage of a mere landing place for miners. It is becoming
the center of a thriving State, and the gold product is bearing annually
a less proportion to its aggregate business and industry. Its population
54
Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States,
is becoming more permanent and settled. The excitement of speculation,
■which the first extraordinary discoveries produced, is now fast settling
down into regular business. The actual profits to be derived from gold
digging are coming to be ascertained. The relative value of surface
washing to quartz crushing, and of different quartz mills to each other,
is getting to be justly estimated. The immense losses which the first
blind and reckless outlay of capital involved, are ascribed to their true
causes. Experience has separated the true from the false, and afforded
guides for thejudicious employment of capital, where before all was chaos.
Of the crowds that thronged into California, the majority have at least
gained nothing by the adventure, but the most sagacious and persevering
have struck out the true road to prosperity; and while the turbulent and
disappointed are disappearing from the scene, regularity, order, security
in person and property, and safety in business are being developed. The
mass of pioneer speculators who overrun the country did it no service,
but to afford, in their abortive efforts, instructive lessons to those who
were watching the results. The titles to land and property have become
better defined, and, as a consequence, capital from abroad seeks invest
ments on easier terms. The quantities of goods required for consump
tion have been ascertained with considerable accuracy. The natural
wealth of the country is also being developed, and in a region where two
crops of superior grain are gathered from one sowing, the agriculturist
was not slow in discovering that plowing was the easiest mode of procur
ing gold; and the small manufactures are rapidly supplying local wants,
and therefore assisting to steady the markets.
The credit of the city, as well as the State, has been trifled with, but
matters in that respect are improving. The funded and recognized float
ing debt of the city and county may be thus stated :— Ten per cent city
bonds, issued in 1851, $1,449,800; 7 per cent school bonds, (city,) issued
in 1854, $60,000 ; 10 per cent fire bonds, (city,) issued in 1854, $200,000 ;
6 per cent bonds, (city,) issued in 1855, in accordance with the report of
the Board of Examiners appointed to ascertain the legal floating indebt
edness of the city, $324,500; equitable and legal floating debt of the
city and county, as per report of the Board of Examiners in 1858, which
is now' being bonded at 6 per cent interest per annum, $1,169,357 ; total
outstanding indebtedness of city and county, $3,203,657. It is proper
to remark in this connection, that the Commissioners o f the Funded
Debt hold mortgages belonging to the sinking fund o f the bonds of 1851,
which, in connection with other cash assets; reduce the actual city and
county debt to $3,066,016. It should be borne in mind that the debt,
although apparently largely increased during the past year, has only been
so expanded by the adjustment of old liabilities, contracted during the
flush times preceding the revulsions of 1855-56.
Like the State, the
financial affairs of the city are now well managed, and every expense re
duced to a cash basis. For the past two years there has been an eco
nomical and honest government, with a revenue constantly accumulating
to meet accruing expenses.
55
France.
Art. I.— F R A N C E .
NUMBBB II.
I.
EVIDENCE AVAILABLE
FOR THE TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECTS IN THE
SUCCEEDING PAGES.---- THE COMPTOIR
d ’ e SCOMPTE.
N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g the unhappy censorship which at present exists
over the French press, there have appeared, in various forms, publications
which throw light upon the course of operations which has distinguished
the new government. In the elaborate papers o f M. Eugene Forcade, in
the R ev u e des D e u x M on d es , entitled. “ L es In stitu tion s de C redit en
F r a n c e in the keen and sarcastic strictures of M. P. J. Proudhon, in
the “ M a n u el d u S pecu la teu r a la B ou rse
in the sagacious views of
Mr. Tooke, in the sixth volume o f the History o f P rices; and in many
other publications by authors of celebrity and talent, there exist the
materials from which to form an unimpassioned judgment as to the
economical problem now in course of solution in France.
I may also
mention, as indispensable in a treatise like the present, the statistical and
current information contained in the J ou rn a l des F conom istes, and the
A n n u a ire de l'E ion om ie P o litiq u e.
From the materials thus afforded, I
have largely drawn, in the preparation of the following pages, and if I
do not give my authority at every step, it is from an unwillingness to en
cumber the text with a profusion of notes and references.
In order that nothing may serve to dim our perception of the financial
measures put in force by the government, since the coup d'etat , it will be
well to exhibit the financial position of France at that date.
The period, from the revolution of 1848 to the date o f that event, was
distinguished by the inauguration of a special financial policy, which,
however necessary it may be held to have been, was nevertheless marked
by some exceptional measures, and there is no doubt that had it not been
for the favorable course of events, the abundant harvests, and the con
sequent low price of breadstuff's, and the establishment in favor of France
of a very heavy balance of trade, that that policy would have been pro
ductive of most disastrous consequences.
“ During the years 1848, 1849, and 1850, there was presented in France
the singular and suggestive spectacle of a central authority, resting upon
foundations obviously insecure— administering a system of paper credit
exposed to all the dangers o f inconvertibility on the one hand, and on
the other, to the large and hasty advances on inferior securities, through
the medium of popular discount banks; and still not only escaping any
serious damage, but scarcely encoutering any serious peril.” * The nature
of this phenomenon will appear from a review of the measures which
were put in force, and from the causes which may be held to have pre
vented any serious termination o f them.
In the first place the provisional government, by decrees o f Tth and
8th of March, 1848, established the class of institutions known as
Com ptoirs d 'F scom p te ; and in the second place decreed on the night of
the 15th of March, 1848, the suspension o f cash payments at the Bank
o f France; an important provision of the decree being the authorization
* Tooke’s History o f Prices, introduction to part vi., volume vi.
56
France.
of the issue of notes of the denomination of two hundred and one hun
dred francs; the smallest hitherto having; been of the denomination of
one thousand and five hundred francs. This measure was certainly ren
dered necessary by surrounding circumstances; the extreme internal dis
credit which prevailed, and the consequent drain of bullion from the
vaults of the bank. The establishment of the Com ptoir d' Excom pte may
be considered the initiative step, afterwards so boldly extended by Louis
Napoleon, of opening to the nation extraordinary facilities for obtaining
credit, and of imparting an artificial impetus to the prostrate condition
of commercial operations.
The discounts of the paper of commerce by the Bank of France are
confined to bills having not less than three signatures. In the ordinary
operations of buying and selling, the holder of bills can only offer to a
bank two names, his own and that of the purchaser. The inevitable
operation therefore of this provision in the constitution of the Bank of
France, is, that the merchant or tradesmen having the paper to otter must
carry it to a third party, as an intermediary—this third party being a
broker or banker—who, bv affixing his own name, being thus provided
with the necessary securities to offer, has the power to reimburse himself
from the bank.
The principle of demanding the security of three names to a bill may
be defended on two grounds.
In the first place, it forms a safeguard against the operations in what
we call accommodation paper, inasmuch as the difficulties in the way
of the manufacture of such paper are considerably increased, from the
necessity of procuring the third security. It is true that it may not be
a perfect safeguard against such operations, as it is open to possibility
that accommodation bills may be made even with three signatures; but
while it is comparatively easy to make an accommodation bill for the
purpose of raising money between two parties, the obligation imposed
upon the third party, to hold himself responsible for the face of it, by an
indorsement, cannot but act as a very powerful check, and must be suffi
cient for all practical purposes.
But in the second place, while this provision acts as a check upon the
discount of accommodation bills, it prevents therefore, at the same time,
the expansion which that class of operations entails in the circulation of
a country. The discount of a bill, given and received for a bond fid e
purchase and sale, inasmuch as such a bill represents actual value, is a
limit beyond which all advances are an unhealthy expansion. “ En escomptant cet effet, une banque publique le retire de la circulation, l’y
remplace par une somme equivalente de ses billets, et generalise ainsi le
credit particulier que I’effet represente.” Extraordinary facilities, by which
discounts may be obtained upon paper not representing actual values,
have the effect to expand the circulation beyond its natural limits, and
to inflict upon a community the evil of high prices ; they create the im
pression of activity and a great degree of prosperity, which have no
foundation in fact; and the result is to cause, at periodical intervals, com
mercial crises and the extensive ruin of individuals. Our own financial
history exhibits, in a singularly appropriate degree, the evil effects of
looseness in the exercise of this financial function.
In exercising so delicate a function as that of discounting, by which
the reins which control the currency of a country are held, a bank can
not be too careful or too miuute in its censorship over the paper which
France.
57
is presented to it for discount. Upon the careful exercise of this function
depends the continued prosperity of a country in a financial point of
view, and the avoidance of periodical monetary crises. “ Les abus d’une
pareille prerogative ne pourraient etre prevenus que par un controls
minutieux et severe, exerce sur la moralite et la solvability des deux
premiers signataires, sur la sincerite de l’effet, sur la realite de l’operation commerciaie, qui aurait donne naissance a chaque etfet et a chaque
credit particulier determine. Une banque publique ne pourrait negliger
un pareil controle sans compromettre le credit general, qui a pour gage
la solidite des credits particuliers, et elle ne pourrait 1’exercer efficacement qu’en se noyant dans des details et s’accablant de soins qui paralvseraient son action. II v a done la une fonction, un service que reelamant
les interets de la solidarity commerciaie et du credit general, et que les
banques publiques ne sont pourtant point en etat de remplir; elles s’en
dechargent par la condition de la troisieme signature. C’est au troisieme
signataire que cette fonction est devolue.”*
Such are the satisfactory reasons brought forward to sustain the prin
ciple which governs the Bank of France in its operations of discounting.
But the decrees establishing the C om ptoirs d 'F scom p te were based
upon entirely different principles.
The capitals o f the Comptoirs were to be subscribed— one-third by in
dividuals in m oney; one-third by the cities in which they were re
spectively located, in local securities ; and one-third by the government in
treasury bonds. The capital o f the Central Comptoir at Paris was fixed
at 20,0000,000 francs, in shares (actions ) of five hundred francs each,
available to bearer. The decrees set forth that the company should be
administered by a societe anonym e, “ dispensee txceptionellem ent de Caute
risation d u conseil d'etat ,” and fixed its duration three years from the
day o f commencing operations. A f er considerable difficulty, attending
the realization of the subscriptions, the Comptoir in the early part of the
year 1848 went into operation.
According to its statutes, its operations
were limited to the discounting of the paper of commerce, payable in
Paris, or in the Departments. All other operations were interdicted.
These discounts were permitted to be made upon paper having two signa
tures, and of which the maturity (echeance) should not exceed one hun
dred and five days for paper payable at Paris, and sixty days for the
paper payable in the Departments. The rate of discount was fixed at 6
per cent for all values, and interest was allowed on deposits of 4 per cent,
but which in September, 1849, was reduced to 3 per cent.
But such was the uncertainty of affairs, and inactivity of commerce,
immediately succeeding the revolution ; the indisposition to buy on the
part of purchasers, that such transactions as are represented by commer
cial paper were very limited, and there was in consequence a scarcity of
bills. But at the same time there were existing in the warehouses of the
merchants large stocks of goods, which they were obliged either to hold
or to sell at great sacrifices.
The decrees o f 21st and 26th March therefore ordered “ the creation at
Paris, or in other cities where the want o f them was felt, m agasins gen er a u x , places under the surveillance of the State, and where merchants and
manufacturers could deposit merchandise of various kinds, and manufac
tured goods of which they might be the proprietors” The decree added
* Forcade’s Critique sur les Institution de Credit en France.
58
France.
that “ les recepisses extraits de registres d soache, transferring the owner
ship of the goods deposited should be transferable by indorsement.” Be
sides the magasins g en erau x , there were established at Paris six S ou sCom ptoirs , devoted to special classes of business. There was a S ou sCom ptoir ,” “ des entrepreneurs de Batimens,” “ des Metaux,” “ des
Denrees Coloniales,” “ de la Librairie,” “ des Fils et Tissus,” “ de la Mercerie.” The operations of the S ou s-C om ptoirs are as follows:— A mer
chant desirous of raising money, and having no bills to offer, presents to
the Sous-C 'om ptoir of his particular branch of trade his own note, drawn
to the order of the S ou s-C om ptoir, fortifying it by giving “ en nantissement soit des marchandises en nature, soit des recepisses de depbt de
marcliandises effeotue dans les m agasins generaux, soit des titres ou autre
valeurs.”
The S ou s-C om p toir guaranties to the Com ptoir d 'E scom pte
the payment of the bill transferred to i t ; this guaranty thus forming the
second signature required by the statutes of the Com ptoir d'E scom pte.
In the first fifteen months o f its existence, in the midst of a great in
dustrial and commercial crisis, the Com ptoir d'E scom pte had discounted
at Paris 244,297 bills, representing a total sum o f 192,455,260 francs. It
had received beside for collection, in effects, " su r la p rov in ce," 134,899
bills, representing 28,693,100 francs.
In 1854, the Com ptoir d'E scom pte was empowered to make advances
on “ R en tes F ra n coises les actions et obligations d'E ntreprises In du strielles,
ou de Credit, conslitnees en S ocietes anonym es ," but only for two-thirds of
the value, at market quotations, and for ninety days. There was also set
in operation in Paris a “ S ou s-C om p toir de Chemins de F e r ," whose opera
tions consisted wholly in making advances on railway shares, and the
Sous-Comptoirs, “ des F ils et T issu s," and “ de la m ercerie" were abolished.
The magnitude of the operations of the Comptoirs may be shown from
the fact that during the year ending June 30th, 1857, the Com ptoir N a
tional d 'E scom pte de P a r is had discounted 722,265 bills, amounting to a
sum total of 614,897,139 francs—-a sum less, however, than the previous
year, when the figures ran to 649,^22,782 francs, for 736,380 bills. It
also made advances on public funds to the amount of over fifty million
francs.
On the 25th o f July, 1854, the Comptoir received its final definite
constitution, prolonging its privileges thirty years, from the 18th o f March,
1857, with the privilege of raising its capital to forty million francs; and
the guaranties by the government and city of Paris, for their respective
portions of the capital, were to be withdrawn on the 31st December, 1857.
The Bank of France enables the Comptoirs to extend their operations
by re-discounting the bills taken in the first place by the Comptoirs from
the public. In 1 48, the year of the beginning c f this class of opera
tions, the bank discounted of such paper in Paris $17,500,000, and at the
branches twenty-nine millions. It also made advances a Recepisses, or
warrants of the magasins, $12,500,000.
In reviewing the nature o f the operations of the Comptoir d’Escompte,
we are struck with the apprehension that in a crisis similar to that which
assailed France in 1847-48, that institution would be placed beyond the
reach of salvation. Its operations depend entirely upon the stability of
credit
What are the resources of the Comptoir ? They consist o f its
discounted obligations, some of which rest upon individual securities,
some upon the deposits o f merchandise, and some upon the shares and
obligations of stock companies. As long as a season o f perfect confidence
France.
59
exists these securities are perhaps sufficient to enable it to continue its
existence. But with these securities in its portfolio how could the Comptoir return its deposits upon a sudden and violent demand? There is
evidently no way open to it but to carry its effects to the Bank of France,
and demand advances upon them from that institution. But in the pro
posed situation, the Bank of France, from a spirit of self-preservation,
would be obliged to refuse; it would be subject to the same demands,
and the example of 1848 has been sufficient to show that the bank, not
withstanding the wisdom which usually presides in its direction, and the
wholesome checks which are thrown around its operations, is not free
from the same vicissitudes to which all other banks are subject. The
goods and merchandise which the Comptoir would hold would rapidly
depreciate in value, and could only be sold at enormous sacrifices; the
bonds and obligations of joint-stock companies would suffer the same de
preciation, and it is difficult to conceive o f any situation in which the
Comptoir could extricate itself from the difficulties which such a crisis
would impose, but by the immediate suspension of cash payments.
II.
POSITION OF THE BANK OF FRANCE DURING THE SUSPENSION.
In order to complete the picture, which we set out to present in section
1, it will he necessary to give here, in as brief terms as possible, the
course of events regarding the suspension of the Bank of France during
the years 1848-50, and the causes which led to the removal of the sus
pension in 1850 without any disastrous consequences. The following ex
tracts are from the report of Comte d’Argout, governor of the bank.
“ From the 26th of February to the 14th of March, (1848,) the metallic
reserve at Paris fell from twenty-eight millions to fourteen millions of
dollars. On the 15th of March more than two millions of dollars was
paid away in coin ; and in the evening of that day there remained in the
bank at Paris only eleven million eight hundred dollars. To morrow,
(16th of March,) the crowd of applicants will be still more considerable;
and in a few days the bank will be entirely drained of specie.”
The measures connected with the decree of suspension are thus
described :—
“ In the night of the 15th of March, (1848,) on the proposition of the
council general of the bank, a decree was prepared. It declared the notes
of the bank to be legal money, and until further orders it relieved the
bank from the obligation of paying them. But as notes not exchangeable
against specie ran the risk o f being discredited, a clause in the decree
confined their emission within definite limits, and fixed seventy millions
of dollars as the maximum of circulation. It was also ordained that the
condition of the bank should be published every week in the Moniteur.
“ The decree also authorized the emission of notes of twenty dollars
(one hundred francs) each. The emission of notes of fifty and twenty five
francs had been demanded. But such notes, while they might facilitate
payments in small transactions, would only do so at the expense of
seriously stimulating the exportation of coin, at a time when it was ne
cessary to retain in France as much coin as possible, and to contribute,
as far as possible, to its reappearance in circulation. The council general
of the bank refused its assent to this proposition.”
The suspension was extended to the departmentalles, and they were in
corporated with the heal office at Paris, and the conjoined circulation
was fixed at ninety millions o f dollars.
60
France.
Besides the advances which the bank made to the Coraptoirs and
m agasins generaux, amounting to fifty-seven millions of dollars, it ad
vanced to the treasury at various times, during the years 1848-49, a sum
equal to about one hundred and fifty millions of francs.
Before the close o f 1848, the condition of the bank was as follows :—
Circulation, $75,000,000; discounts,$30,000,000; and bullion, $50,000,000.
The rise in the bullion from less than twelve to fifty million dollars, in less
than a year, is remarkable, and may be explained on the following
grounds— the substitution of the small notes for coin, and the large
balance of trade in favor of France, consequent upon the diminution of
imports and increase of exports, amounting in 1848 to over fifty millions
of dollars.
In December, 1849, the circulation had reached very nearly the maxi
mum of ninety millions, and the metallic reserve had increased to almost
the same. The maximum was then extended to one hundred and five
millions. On the 6th of August, 1850, the National Assembly, on motion
of M. Gouin, passed a law authorizing the immediate resumption of cash
payments. At this date the circulation of the bank stood at one hundred
million dollars, bullion ninety millions, and the discounts had fallen to
twenty million five hundred thousand.
Viewing the financial condition of the Bank of France therefore at
this date, it seemed that during the whole time of the suspension, her
position was becoming strengthened from the action of a concatenation
of favorable causes; and that upon the whole France, as a nation, could
not have been more favorably situated for the financial experiments in
troduced by the autocratical government. There was in the first place
the extension of the available resources of the bank, consequent upon the
issue of the small notes; there was an absence of any great demand for
discounts; and on the part of the nation at large there was the preva
lence of an extremely low price for breadstuffs ; and there was the estab
lishment of a balance trade in her favor, amounting in the four years,
1848-51, to two hundred and eighty millions of dollars. She only needed
an external impetus to enable her to spring forward vigorously in a career
of development, and that impetus was boldly and rapidly administered by
the new government.
III.
MEASURES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT.
The policy of the new government may be best stated in the graphic
language of Mr. Tooke :—
“ Addressing itself to an immense mass of details, and producing day
by day volleys of decrees, dealing with almost every conceivable subject,
the financial policy of the government was still directed to the immediate
accomplishment of six specific objects as essential to success.
“ In the first place it was sought to stimulate and extend the construc
tion of new railways, and the completion of old lines which had long lain
as heavy burdens on the resources of the Budget of Public Works, by
granting a multitude of concessions to new or old bodies of shareholders,
on terms far more liberal to the subscribers than had been previously con
ceded in France.
“ In the second place decrees were promulgated for immense public
works in Paris, with a view not only of embellishing the capital, and
placing it more completely under the military command of the authorities,
but also as the most direct means of affording employment to the metro
France.
61
politan population ; and the same plan o f expenditure was gradually ex
tended to most of the large towns.
“ Thirdly, measures were adopted for the formation of companies destined
(according to official phraseology) to bring the resources of credit to the
advancement o f industry. The earliest of these companies was the So
ciety de Credit Foncier, founded on the 28th of February, 1852 ;* and
parts of the same system were the decrees of the 3d and 28th of March,
(1852,) which directed the Bank of France, for the first time in its history,
to make advances on the security of railway shares and obligations, and
ajsojyi obligations of the municipality of Paris.
rnrth object was to obtain from the Bank of France a resolution
ts rate of discount from five to three per cent per annum, and
ccomplished on the 5th of March, 1852.
I
flh object was to remodel extensively the constitution o f the
ranee; to prolong its exclusive privileges to the 31st of Decem; and to spread over a period of fifteen years the repayment by
of the loan of three millions sterling due to the bank, under
al agreement, in the course o f 1852.
These measures were
announced on the 3d of March, 1852. And lastly, it was a
principal object of the new policy to accomplish the reduction o f the 5
per cent rentes into 41 per cents, not only for the purpose of reducing
the amount of dividend, but also as a powerful means o f convincing the
public that the rate o f interest in France was effectually reduced; and
that a scheme of reduction, which had* baffled-the monarchy and the re
public, was‘ 6ff ea$y*accorn plishm';nt tmdt'r'a's'lpteWe jl’/esident.”
W ith the plenitude’ ’o f a power which felt and acknowledged no con
trol, the new government accomplished one by one these several measures.
Before the end of 1852, it had granted concessions to railways amounting
to one hundred million dollars.
The principles upon which these con
cessions were granted were peculiar ; the State not only guarantied a par
ticular rate of dividend on the capital to be expended on any given line,
but encouraged the larger companies to grant subventions or contributions
to smaller ones. The effect of these favorable financial conditions soon
became perceptible in the activity imparted to railway enterprises in
France, and this, united to the extensive public works in Paris and the
chief towns, by which large numbers of the population found the means
of employment, began to create the impression of an astonishing indus
trial development.
A t the time of the decree of conversion o f the 5 per cents into 41
per cents, the capital represented by the French 5 per cent debt was
about seven hundred and twenty-five million dollars.
The amount of
dividend was about $36,250,000. The conversion would therefore pro
duce a yearly economy o f interest o f over $3,500,000. In 1847, the
number of holders o f 5 per cent rentes was about 230,000 persons, and
their average annual dividend was say one hundred and twenty-five dol
lars. But after the revolution of 1848, a considerable part of the de
positors in savings banks, owing to the suspension o f the Bank of France,
were compelled to accept 5 per cents in reimbursement of their claims;
and hence at the time of conversion in March, 1852, the number of 5 per
* Also, the Sor.ietr. ne.nr.ral de Credit M oM lier, established by decree of 18th o f November, 1852,
an institution which wields far more influence than the Credit Fancier, and which subscribed to
foreign account, no less than one hun
the Imperial loan, to be hereafter spoken o£ on home and
dred and twenty-five millions of dollars.
62
France.
cent rentiers had risen to nearly 750,000 persons, and the average annual
dividend of each holder had fallen to less than fifty dollars.
A t the date o f the decree the price of the 5 per cents was 103, and the
terms offered were repayment, or conversion into 4-J per cents at par.
We cannot do better than quote here the singularly beautiful and vigor
ous language with which Mr. Tooke depicts the circumstances with re
gard to this measure :—
“ The project of reducing the interest of the five per cents was not
new in France. It had been agitated and discussed on several occasions
under the monarchy, and at periods when the maintainance for a con
siderable time of the price of the five per cents, very materially above
par, had rendered the success of any reasonable plan of conversion ab
solutely certain.
“ But it was not forgotten on the occurrence of these conjunctures, and
it was an argument put forward by a sagacious and eloquent party in
France, that, besides mere financial considerations, there were moral and
political considerations to be regarded as fundamental parts o f the posi
tion o f the five per cent debt.
“ It was urged that the five per cents were the only remnant and legacy
of the public obligations due by the State to its creditors, which had sur
vived the first revolution.
Two-thirds of the public burdens o f France
were confiscated or extinguished between 1789 and 1798, and the 5 per
cents represented that Tiers Consolide, which alone survived the decree
of the Directory, in pursuance of which all the obligations of France
in 1798 were discharged ^two-thirds by bonds “in theft1na'tnr?) and issue
assignats, and one-third by inScfiptibfis 'in fhe'Gfand' 'Livre ; ’a financial
confiscation which, on the most- moderate computation, reduced to ruin a
hundred thousand families, leawifig lt> the erowds-'of rentiers o f that time,
in the words o f Cretet, “ a la plupart d’entre eux trop pour mourir, et
trop peu pour vivre.” It was pointed- bpf with earnestness that a debt,
so inherited by the State, the result‘ol a violent operation, by which the
rights of the creditors had been in a great measure taken away, stood in
a position very different from that of obligations contracted between bor
rower and lender on perfectly equal terms, and with perfect liberty on the
part of both to consider and provide for the contingencies of the future.
“ These arguments had always prevailed, and it bad passed almost into
a financial maxim in France, that not merely the faith and honor of the
State were pledged to the defence of the 5 per cents against any scheme
of interference, except under the pressure of some overwhelming danger,
but also, that it nearly concerned the progress and prosperity of the State
to foster among the French people habits and sentiments founded upon
a strong belief in the eminent eligibility of the public debt, as a mode of
investment for savings, and eminently eligible because in no danger of
sudden measures of modification.
“ It is probable that even Louis Napoleon was not insensible to the
practical force of the views now stated, for in the days of the coup d’etat,
(28th of December, 1851,) he considered it prudent to quiet alarms,
which were then expressed, by formally announcing that no plan for re
ducing the 5 per cents was in contemplation, adding, however, that no
scheme of such a nature would be adopted without due previous w-arning.
“ The immediate effects o f the decree of conversion of the 14th o f
March, 1852, however much they might surprise and embarrass the authors
ot the measure, were precisely those which prudent observers had ahvays
Strictures on a Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President. 68
foreseen to be the necessary consequences of any scheme so sweeping
and sudden.
“ There was an instant and violent panic among the crowd of small
holders, and for several days the stock brokers of Paris were overwhelmed
with orders from the provinces to sell five per cents. The small premium
of 3 per cent rapidly disappeared ; the stock fell to a discount, and the
whole scheme of conversion was on the point of complete failure.
“ The course pursued by the treasury was characteristic. M. Bineau,
the Minister of Finance, summoned to his hotel the bankers and money
dealers of Paris, and intimated to them that the government were re
solved to carry through the conversion, and would reimburse to them
whatever sums they might ultimately lose, provided they would enter into
such arrangements as would render it certain that the quantity of 5 per
cents, poured into the market by the public, should be absorbed with
sufficient rapidity to keep the price above par. This course was pursued,
and technically the conversion was accomplished, but at a cost so large
that we are justified in believing that for some years the nominal reduc
tion o f interest can afford no bona fide relief to the treasury. A simple
decree of the President of the 28th of April, 1852, created as much 3
per cent stock as was required to reimburse the bankers for the whole of
the losses sustained by them in obeying the orders of M. Bineau; and
in spite of considerable animadversion on the extraordinary nature of such
a mode of increasing the public debt, no explanation was afforded.
“ Such was the process, and such the results of the measure of March,
1852, a measure inofficial phraseology always described as the great con
version, happily achieved by the Presidency of December.”
Art. V.— STRICTURES ON A REVIEW OF MR. CAREY’S LETTERS TO THE
PRESIDENT.*
As an important preliminary to the examination of Mr. Richard Sulley’s
“ review,” we would distinctly disclaim any intention or desire to attempt
a defence of Mr. Carey or his investigations. W ith the Hon. John Bell,
we fully believe of Mr. Carey, that “ a life-long seeker of the truth, he has
been able to shed such a flood of light upon his favorite subject of inquiry,
as must soon sweep away the popular errors and prejudices to which the
discordant views of his predecessors in the same field of inquiry have
given rise, and which the ignorant demagogue and the interested political
partisan have contributed to keep alive.”
W e are now merely concerned with his reviewer, and so far as it is
possible, we shall confine ourselves to an examination o f his facts and
arguments. W ith regard to these we must be allowed to express some
surprise, that a gentleman evidently undertaking his work with great
deliberation, should produce such a meagre array of statistics, and should
with these, and the mere statement o f a few false doctriues of the Eng* “ Free Trade and Protection: or, a Partial Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President.”
B y R ichard S ulley, Esq., of Fort Wayne, Indiana. M erchants' M agazine , vol. xl., p. 531.
64 Strictures on a Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President.
list political economists, attempt to controvert the writings of one who,
to say the least, has acquired a large reputation as an original thinker and
a vigorous writer.
Without pausing to examine the views of your correspondent, respect
ing the slow progress of political economy, and the causes thereof, we
come to his assertion, that for any one to look for a remedy of the many
evils under which this country is now suffering, in “ revamping the old
exploded system of protective commercial policy, seems truly absurd.”
This we are well aware is the favorite style of argu m ent nowin use among
the “ free traders,” and so common is it in England, that we seldom read
an article on the subject in one of their newspapers in which the same
ideas do not occur. However, as the mere opinion of your correspondent,
its value will no doubt, in the estimation of your readers, depend to some
extent upon the manner in which certain points of importance in his
paper stand the application each of its proper test. To a few of these
we now ask attention.
“ In the first place,” says Mr. Sulley, “ the science of political economy
teaches that there is only one source from which the wages of labor can
be ’p erm an en tly paid ; and that is, the profit of capital. Therefore, when
the profit of capital increases, other things remaining the same, the rate
of wages will be increased, also there will be an increased demand for
labor, and vice versa." We are farther told by your correspondent, that
“ we have only to keep these principles in view, and perhaps we may be
able to unravel the present mystery.” But we are not satisfied with the
principles theriiselves, for, in short, we are not a blind follower of the
“ professors of the dismal science ;” one of the dogmas of which school
is here reproduced. We are even prepared to hazard something in ex
pressing the opinion, that these professors have never established a single
important vital principlein political economy. We proposethen to examine
with some care into the so-called principles furnished us by your correspon
dent ; see what they really mean, and ascertain whether they be entitled
to any consideration.
In this inquiry, we are at once naturally led to ask the question, what
is capital ? In vain do we seek among the writings of the English school
for a distinct definition of this important word. Not one of them has
furnished this definition, and not one of them is there who applies the
word uniformly with the same meaning. Each and all of themconfound
it with w ealth , and they use both as though they stood for the same
thino'. But discord and confusion are the characteristics of the teachings
of these philosophers.
C apital is the instrument by the aid of which production is directed
to the uses of man, and is found existing in the form of land and its
various improvements, steam engines, mills, furnaces, mines, houses,
agricultural implements and products, money, books, schools, colleges,
and mental development—including a knowledge of all the truths de
monstrated by science in its various branches. The last is one of the
most important portions of the capital of a people, but by the English
school it is of course not considered as forming any part of it whatever.
It is however almost impossible to overestimate its influence in this con
nection.
W ea lth is the power of man to command the always gratuitous ser
Strictures on a Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President. 65
vices of nature. It must not, however, be confounded with capital, the
instrument by the aid o f which these services are obtained.
By an enumeration of those things which constitute capital, it is
apparent that it is the result o f accumulations in the past— for even land
itself is indebted to these accumulations for its value— and that the great
advantage which it confers upon its individual possessors, is that it gives
to them a certain power over the men of the present who are without it.
The largest and most dependent class of those at the control of capital
are generalized under the name o f l a b o r .
Now, we are informed by your correspondent that the sole “ source
from which the wages o f labor can be permanently paid,” is “ the profit
o f capital
in other words the profit which accrues to the possessors of
these.acccumulations of the past. But is it not rather to production that
we must look for either temporary or permanent wages to labor? Is not
the application of labor necessary to production 1 Is not capital postively
dependent upon this application of labor for a profit or return ? W ould
it, therefore, be a whit less absurd to say that labor itself was the only
“ source from which wages could be permanently paid ?”
But we are farther told that when the “ profit o f capital increases,”
“ the rate of wages will be increased, and also there will be an increased
demand for labor, and vice versa." What, let us inquire, does this really
mean ? Simply, that as the men who have possession o f these accumula
tions of the past obtain a larger proportion of the things produced, the
proportion received by the laborers of the present will increase. Was
ever a more absurd proposition offered to intelligent men ? N o ! as well
might we be called upon to give our assent to the assertion that black is
w h it e ! What, then, are the relations of labor and capital ? W hat are
those conditions under which the returns to labor are largest ? W hen
production is greatest, and when the proportion o f that production re
ceived by capital is least— when the p ow er o f the accum ulations o f the
p a st over the mass o f the p eop le o f the p resen t decreases m ost ra p id ly and
p erm a n en tly ! In order to satisfy ourselves that this is true, we have only
to bear in mind that the one source from which come returns— “ profits ”
to capital, or wages to labor— is production; that of production the en
tire amount is divided between labor and capital solely, and it stands out
before us a self-evident fact, as clear as the noonday sun.
But it may be profitable to us to trace out the practical operation of
the process still farther. As the proportion o f the entire production
which is received by labor from time to time increases, labor itself be
comes gradually emancipated from the control of capital, and laborers
are day by day, and even hour by hour, enabled to become capitalists.
Then a portion at least of them, become competitors in the market for
the purchase of the labor of other men, which like every other commodity
increases in price with an increased demand. In addition, while many of
these newly-made capitalists have thus become competitors for the pur
chase of labor, they have one and all ceased to be competitors for its sale.
Thus is the condition o f labor improved by a compound operation— an in
creased demand and a diminished supply.
Passing over several points we come to the following:— “ W e have
here,” says Mr. Sulley, “ a reference to France and to French statistics,
and some conclusions, apparently without any foundation to support them.
W e take the following as a specimen :— ‘ In France, the quantity of food
V O L.
XLI.-----N O .
I.
5
66 Strictures on a Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President.
has increased twice more rapidly than population, and yet her manufactur
ing industry has attained the large dimensions of 4,000,000,000 of francs,
being probably twice the total amount of land and labor a century since.’
Now,” continues Mr. Sulley, “ the first part of this statement is so con
trary to our preconceived notions, and, as we believe, to the facts of the
case, that we hope to be excused if we should controvert it at some length.
W e know that the importation of food into Great Britain increases every
year, and notwithstanding these vast importations, and those of raw
material, and the industrial application of science and machinery to
cultivation, the production of agricultural produce does not increase at
the same rate as her population ; and if it cannot be done under these
favorable circumstances, we conclude it cannot be done in France, nor in
fact in any country.”
Especially do we ask the reader’s attention to the mode of reasoning
by which Mr. Sulley attempts to prove his position. Mr. Carey presents
in his 21st, 22d, 23d, and 24th letters, the two systems— those of France
and Great Britain, and their fruits. Mr. Sulley so far from attempting to
show what these two systems actually result in, tells us what is not done
under that of Great Britain, and very illogically concludes, fo r that reason,
that what Mr. Carey asserts as being done in France cannot be. This is
begging the very question at issue, and is unworthy of one who aims so
highBut let us examine the statistics of the agriculture of Great Britain
and France. In Homans’s “ Cyclopedia o f Commerce,” New York, 1858,
page 849, we find a table in which we regret to say there are a few errors.
These are unimportant, however, and we have not felt at liberty to correct
them. The table is as follows :—
ACCOUNT OF THE EXTENT OF LAND IN THE UNITED KINGDOM UNDER THE PRINCIPAL DESCRIPtion s of cr ops in 1862-53 ; th e a v e r a g e r a te of troduce p e r ac re ; th e total
p r o d u c e ; th e amount of s e e d ; th e product under deduction of s e e d ; an d th e
total value of produce .
Crops.
E ngland.
W h e a t....................
B a r le y ..................
Oats and r y e ...........
Beans and peas.......
Produce
Total
Acres per acre, produce,
in crop. quarters. bushels.
3,000,000
1, 000,000
2,000,000
500,000
3*
4i
H
Si
90,000,000
43,200,000
72,000,000
15,000,000
Seed,
Produce,
one-seventh under deduc- Price
of produce, tion o f seed, per
Total
quarters, quarter. value.
quarters.
9.642.857
1,607,143
45s. £20,096,428
771.428
1,285,714
267,857
220,200,000
Potatoes, turnips, & )
Glover ....................
Fallow .
H o p s ....
Gardens.
S c o tla n d .
W h e a t................... .
B a r le y ................... .
Oats........................
Beans and peas.. . .
Flax-----
Gardens..
27
20
28
26,000,000
1^400,000
350,000
450,600
1,200,000
50,000
6,248,572
7,714,286
2,250,000
23,592,858
2,500,000 I £ 7 per
C acre.
1,300,000
800,000
50,000 £15 do.
250,000 £15 do.
Quarters.
9.100,000
34
4
14,400,000
5
48.000,000
3
1,200,000
72,700,000
Fallow .
Potatoes .
Turnips...
Clover . . .
4,628.572
7,714,286
1,607,143
Seed,
one-sixth.
189,583
300,000
1,000,000
25,000
£67,439,286
947.917
1,500,000
5,000,000
125,000
43
26 •
20
28
2.038,021
1,950,000
5.000,000
175,000
7,572,917
100,000
■mono [£]f lr
200,000
)
450.000 j acre5,000 £15 do.
35,000 £15 do.
3,290,000
7,700,000
75,000
525,000
£17,463,021
Strictures on a Review o f M r. Carey's Letters to the President. 67
I reland .
W h e a t ..........
B a r le y ..........
Oats...............
Quarters.
400,000
3
320,000
8i
2,200,000 5
P otatoes.................
1,400,000
F l a x ........................
Gardens..................
Seed,
one-sixth.
200,000
9,600,000
8,960,000
88,000,000
100,560,000
J
1,000,000
933,834
9,166,(567
186,666
1,833,333
40
24
20
11 , 100,001
J-
11, 200,000
140,000 £15 do.
25,000 £12 do.
2, 100,000
30(1,U00
4,783,000
Total.
2,000,009
1,119,)99
9,166,067
£25,886,660
19,475,000
*399,460,000
7,666,724
42,265,776
£110.788,973
In the “ Encyclopedia Britannica,” eighth edition, vol. x., page 246, will
be found the following tables, giving the statistics of the “ Primary and
Secondary Improved Crops” o f France in 1853 :—
PRIMARY CROPS IN
Potatoes.......
Wheat..........
Spelt.............
Meslin...,........
Buckwheat,..
R y e ..............
Barley.........
Oats..............
Maize............
Acres
cultivated.
2,‘27 8,320
18,805,148
11,696
2,251,044
1,609,311
6,368,862
2,936,186
1,414,996
1,561,089
Total........
38,231,252
Crop,
quarters
per acre.
35.90
4.28
9.89
4.46
4.18
S.11
4.61
5.43
4.02
1863.
Total crop
Value
in bushels.
per acre.
654,333,504 £3.46*3
412,108,811
3.125
925,381
2.109
80,311,249
2.505
61,540,052
1.492
189,011,824
1.823
109,695,908
1.833
822,101,426
1.593
50,204,622
1.199
1,940,850,183
1863.
Total crop
in bushels.
99,818,168
. . . .
Total produc
tion.
£7,995,833 3
43,858,333 3
31,948,150 0
6,183,333 3
2,414,583 3
11,116,666 6
5,462,500 0
11,954,166 6
2,850,000 0
£123,984,166 4
SECONDARY IMPROVED CROPS IN
Vine land__ _
Gardens........
Pulse..............
Mangel-wurtzel
H ope..............
Rape...............
Hemp..............
Hemp-seed....
Flax................
Flax seed........
Madder..........
Tobacco..........
O lives............
Chestnuts.......
Pasture mt ads.
Total...........
Acres.
4,813,934
891,332
133,145
142,493
2,043
468,151
435,288 j
1
242,168 |
36,262
19,658
312,599
1,125,326
14,211,564
23,561,163 #
Quarters
per acre.
2. 66
....
1. 60
36 18
..
1. 80
'
.35
6,150,014
Value
per acre.
£3.363
6.915
2.113
1.951
18.861
4.106
Total production.
£18,960,416
6,214,583
2,058,333
1,141,916
39,583
2,018,150
4,101,110
1.155
1,425,000
9,391,936
41,243,113
1.05
2,039,251
9.168
2,256,250
81 .60
94 .84
24 16
4. 08
18 95
25,412,409
14,914,911
61,914,609
36,120,640
2,164,418,102
10.080
10.913
2.850
.410
1.624
356.250
191,916
810,833
554,106
25,129,166
2,461,384,929
£61,829,162
The “ .otal crop ” we have added to that in the “ Encyclopedia ” from the
data therein given.
The mere exhibit of these statistics is, in our opinion, all that is
necessary, to show that like his logic, your correspondent’s “ preconceived
notions” in reference to French and English agriculture are at fault.
W e have thought that it might not be uninstructive to those who boast
* This column is given by Homans in “ quarters,” but for the sake of more convenient compar
ison we have turned it into “ bushels.”
68 Strictures on a Review o f M r. Carey's Letters to the President.
of the capacity of the United States to feed the world, to give here some
of the crops of the United States as found in the census of 1850, which
are as follows:—
Bushels.
I
100,485,944 jRye...........
Wheat.............................
Indian corn......................
592,071,104 Oats.........
Peas and beans...............
9 219,901 Barley......
Irish potatoes.......................
65,797,896
Buckwheat
Sweet potatoes....................
38,268,148
Bushels.
14,188,818
146,584,179
5,167,015
8,956,912
By these figures it will at a glance be seen what an insignificant posi
tion we occupy when compared with France, in all of the great staple
articles of food, except Indian corn.
After the examination of two or three additional points we will close
our paper. Here is one:—
“ But,” says Mr. Sulley, “ if a protective tariff o n ly is the one thing
needful to place any country in a position to ‘ maintain external com
merce,’ how is it that the United States is not in that position? Have
we not had bants and tariffs without end ?”
What, we would ask, has Mr. Sulley’s conclusion to do with his premises ?
What good would one hundred “ free trade” tariffs do to a people who
could only prosper with a protective one ? What has the question of
banks to do with the premises? We do not find that he there says any
thing whatever about banks! Now, it is just for the reason that we
have had these tariffs without number, the m ost o f w hich were not p r o
tective, that the United States has not been placed in the position to
maintain external commerce with any countries but those which con
sume raw materials—the precious metals included.
In reference to the conditions necessary to develop the manufacturing
industry of the United States, Mr. Sulley says:— “ The time may be
approaching, notwithstanding, when labor may be sufficiently cheap in the
United States to allow o f the profitable production o f manufactures, and
even to spread them to some extent over tfie States.” This is not Che
only place in the course o f his review in which he assumes that cheap
labor is the great desideratum. Let us look into this matter. In
Great Britain there are employed in mining, manufacturing, and
all the various branches of the mechanic arts, about 1,500,000 men, women,
and children— rather more than one-twentieth of the entire population.
Can it be possible that to the low wages of this small number o f people,
and the still smaller number so employed at any one time in previous
years, Great Britain is indebted for her overshadowing power ?
W h y is it that this limited number of persons, many of them feeble
women and small children, has the power to produce such immense
quantities of manufactured goods, and at such prices as to be enabled to crush
the manufactures o f every country of the world into which they can gain
access ? Can it be owing to their low wages ?
Should we not rather look for the cause in the development of her coal
mines ? Would we not be more likely to find it in the fact, that from
the product of these mines, and the application o f steam, these persons
have a power estimated as equal to that o f 600,000,000 of men ?
How would it be possible for 1,500,000 men, women, and children,
unaided by steam, successfully to compete with those of Great Britain,
seeing that the latter have brought to their aid that which is equivalent
Strictures on a Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President. 69
to 600,000,000 of slaves, who have not to be clothed, and who neither
eat nor drink ?
Would it not be of vast advantage to the people of the United States
to call to their aid, by means of their mines and minerals, a power equal
to that which we now see possessed by Great Britain ? and are not our
coal and other mineral lands far greater in extent and richness than those
of Great Britain ?
But it may be urged that we lack the capital necessary to acquire this
power. Inanswerwe wouldsay, that capital resultsfromproduction; produc
tion from the application of labor, and all that is necessary for the
accumulation of a capital of this description, far surpassing that of Great
Britain, is stability—regularity in the business affairs of the country; in
a word, an absence of those periodical crises which bring ruin upon the
land. On no class of men have the desolating effects of these crises fallen
with so heavy a hand, within the past quarter of a century, as upon those
who have been striving to develop these mines, and give value to these
minerals, and thus add untold power to the people and wealth to the nation.
The explanation of this is simple. The investments thus made are of
the most permanent nature, and lose their value more completely than any
others on the occurrence' of a revulsion. Thus unable to realize the
means invested in these works, their owners are ruined and reduced to
beggary before the business of the country revives.
Were it our intention—which it is not—to enter into an argument on
the respective merits of “ free trade” and protection, we would attempt
to show somewhat in detail, the vast advantages to be gained by a people
in calling to their aid the power of steam—how protection looked to
effecting this desirable object, and how “ free trade” was directly and
avowedly at war with it—as well in theory as in practice. But the ques
tion which underlies these is too vast for this occasion, and in fact our
text hardly permits of it.
W e will pass over Mr. Sulley’s objections to Mr. Carey’s views respect
ing the grinding effects o f the tax of transportation, with the mere re
mark, that if he would look to the fact, that our railroad system has cost
more than $1,000,000.000— has brought ruin upon nearly every one con
nected with it, the nation included— that its demands upon the people
amount to more than $150,000,000 per annum, equal to the entire value
of our agricultural exports, (cotton and tobacco excluded,) for the two
years from July 1st, 1855, to June 30th, 1857; he will find that no na
tion of the same population, claiming to be civilized, is at the present day
called upon to give as large a proportion of its entire production to mere
transporters. W hat power would not the one-half portion of the amount
expended in railways give to us if directed to the development of our
mining, manufacturing, and mechanical resources, in addition to that
already expended, and which need not have been invested in railroads,
had the policy of the government favored concentration of population ?
If he will farther contemplate the fact that the demands of these rail
roads form but a portion of the tax of transportation exacted from pro
duction ; and that in addition to these we have the charges of ships,
steamboats, wagons, &c., &c.., which call for at least an equal amount,
making an aggregate of $300,000,000 —or $23,000,000 more than the
entire value of the exports of domestic produce for the year ending June
30, 1857—he will find that it is not so insignificant and unimportant a
matter as he imagines.
70 Strictures on a Review o f M r. Carey’s Letters to the President
In conclusion we would offer a few comments upon Mr. Sulley’s views
in regard to the effects o f manufacturing upon agricultural production.
He says:— “ But to return, Mr. Carey also holds that by this equality o f
location, and the increase of agricultural science, the land w ould become
m ore prod u ctive. Now let us inquire how far this may be true. No
doubt it would be an advantage that land should have all the refuse, or
manure, thrown back upon it which has been produced from its crops,
and as much more as can be obtained, and agricultural science also is a
very good thing in its w ay; but both these advantages may have been
overrated; that is, separately and distinctly from other circumstances.
Both science and manure require labor to apply them, and to make them
profitable; but science, poverty, and wealth have hitherto been found in the
same connection. But if the above assumption be true, what is the rea
son that the manufacturing States o f this country have not profited by it,
and at least kept up their fertility ? Instead of this, the New England
States, except Vermont, have declined in agricultural production, and yet
have increased in population. They appear to have declined absolutely,
while the other States o f the Union have only declined relatively.” That
the New England States should have “ declined absolutely” in their yield
o f agricultrual products cannot be at all surprising, when it is considered
that for years past tens o f thousands of their very best men have annually
emigrated to the West, leaving behind them the very old and very young,
as well as almost all of the weaker sex. Neither would it be surprising
if the new States which have been receiving these strong able-bodied
men should increase their product absolutely. But the only fair way of
judging of the effects of a diversity of employment, or its absence, upon the
agriculture of the States of the Union, with our nomadic population, is by
looking to the yield of crops per acre. That the New England States may
have declined in this respect even, is possible, although accurate data for
determining this question are not available. But is it more than half a
century since manufactures assumed any magnitude in even Mas
sachusetts or Connecticut ? May they not justly be said prior to 1825
to have rather been in the course o f establishment than as perma
nently, and to any considerable extent, established ? W hat was the principal
occupation— the almost exclusive employment of the people of Massachu
setts from the date of the landing of the Pilgrims until 1800? W as it
not agriculture ?
But what do we find in regard to the yield of crops per acre in Massa
chusetts—be it borne in mind, naturally of a soil almost the most barren
in the land ?
While of wheat Alabama and Georgia raise five bushels to the acre,
North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee seven, New York, Ohio, and
Indiana twelve, Maryland thirteen, Iowa and Wisconsin fourteen, Florida
and Texas fifteen, Massachusetts raises sixteen bushels, being the highest
average throughout the cou n try. Noris this all, for we find almost the same
state of things in regard to oats. This statement can be extended
with advantage to other of the New England States; it appearing while
of Indian corn, South Carolina raises to the acre eleven bushels, Alabama
fifteen, Georgiaand Louisiana sixteen, North Carolina seventeen, Mississippi
and Virginia eighteen, that in Maine the average is thirty-two, in Vermont
thirtv-three, and that of all the States Connecticut is the highest —yielding
forty bushels. In potatoes it is much the same, North Carolina being
71
Journal o f Mercantile Law.
sixty-five bushels, Maryland and Ohio seventy-five, Indiana and Iowa
one hundred, the yield runs up to one hundred and seventy-eight in Ver
mont, and two hundred and thirty in New Hampshire.
But why should we multiply evidence, when it is self-evident that a
rotation of crops—one of the great requisites of agriculture—is more com
pletely within the control of the farmer who has a market at his door?
Then can he raise anything which will growupon his land and is valuable for
food. On the other hand, he who has to look to a distant market can
raise those crops, and those only, which will bear transportation to a dis
tance. It is equally clear that the nearer the market, in nine times out
of ten, or rather in ninety-nine out of a hundred, the more readily can
the refuse be restored to the land, and the more readily can a supply of
manure be obtained.
We might enlarge upon this and other points upon which we have
touched, and we might take up others which we have not treated, but
time and space will not permit, and for the present we must leave the
subject.
JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.
FORGED BILL OP EXCHANGE— LIABILITY OF THE PAYEE.
In the Supreme Court, New York—Special Term. Before Judge Suther
land. Carl Adolph Miller vs. William Moore and Henry De Bahm.
Plaintiff came to this country in 1854, leaving a large amount of money de
posited with Messrs. Bouzon & Sou, bankers at Veney, Switzerland. In the
spring of 1855 he wrote to the firm to send a draft to him for the money so
deposited, and about the last of July in the same year he received a letter from
them, inclosing a draft written in French, drawn at Lausanne on the 28th of
April, 1855, by T. Marcel od Messrs. De Rahm & Moore, bankers in this city,
for the sum of $690 48, payable to the order of Bouzon & Son. The following
is a translation of the draft:—
“ L ausanne,
the 27th o f April, 1858.
“ On the 27th of June next, pay, in view of this second draft, (the first draft
not being paid,) to the order of Messrs. Bouzon & Son, the sum of six hundred
and ninety dollars, 48-100, value received, which you will pass, with or without
advice. Good for six hundred and ninety dollars, 48-100.
“ F . MARCEL.”
“ T o M essrs. D e R iiam & M oore, at New Y ork.”
Indorsed :—
“ Pay to the order of Mr. Adolph Miller, on account of,
Y eney, 24 o f August, 1858.
“ Per BOUZON & SON,
'
“ EUGUENE BOUZON."
,
The draft was indorsed by the plaintiff and presented, but acceptance was re
fused by the defendants, on the ground that the first draft had been paid by them.
Plaintiff alleged, on information and belief, that the first bill of exchange was
paid by the defendants to some person unknown, unon a forged indorsement of
plaintiff, and without his knowledge or authority, which is the reason the defendants
refuse to pay him. He therefore demands judgment for the amount, ($1,690 48,)
with interest from the first day of July, 1855.
The defendants demurred to the complaint on the ground :—1st. That it did
not show that the draft was accepted by the defendants ; 2d. That it appeared
by the complaint that acceptance of the draft was refused by the •defendants ;
72
Journal o j Mercantile Law.
3d. That it did not appear by the complaint that the said Cai-1 Adolph Miller,
the plaintiff, was the same person mentioned in the complaint as the indorser of
the draft mentioned therein.
Held by the Court.—The first and second bill of exchange were but one instru
ment in effect. One of them was presented and paid to the wrong person by
means of a forged indorsement. Either the plaintiff or defendants must suffer
the loss. Both are innocent parties; but where one of the innocent parties is
defrauded by a third, he who put confidence in such third person must bear the
loss.
This is a rule of reason and of universal appreciation, and it shows that the
plaintiff’s complaint contains a good cause of action against the defendants on
the other bill of exchange, and that the defendant’s demurrer is not well taken.
The plaintiff must have judgment on the demurrer with costs, and with liberty
to the defendants to answer in ten days on payment of costs.
JUDGMENT ENTERED ON CONFESSION----WHAT IS A SUFFICIENT STATEMENT.
In the United States District Court.
vs. Edgerton.
Before Judge Davies.
Winnebrenner
This was a motion to set aside a judgment entered upon confession. The facts
appear in the opinion.
D a v i e s , J.— Jones, a subsequent judgment creditor to the plaintiff in this case,
moved to set aside this judgment, upon the ground that the statement upon
which it was entered was not in conformity with section 383 of the Code.
It is a mistake in the counsel for the plaintiff to suppose that this motion is
founded on any irregularity in entering up the judgment. If it had been, then
it would certainly be necessary for the moving party to specify in his moving
papers the grounds of his motion. The defects complained of are not mere
irregularities. They are matters of substance, and if established, render the judg
ment void. (Van Beck vs. Sherman, 13 How., 472 ; Dunham vs. Waterman, 3
Smith, 9.) In the latter case, the Court of Appeals held that when the object
of the party was only to set aside the previous judgment, the proper method of
attaining it was by motion ; and the court also held that the judgment, having
been confessed without a compliance with the provisions of the Code, was to be
deemed fraudulent aDd void as to the other judgment creditors of the defendant.
The justice at Special Term held that the first, third, and fourth statements of
causes of indebtedness then sufficient, and denied the motion to vacate the judg
ment so far as it averred them. Prom that denial an appeal had been taken to
this court.
The first cause of indebtedness is stated in these words :—“ Amount due from
the defendant to the plaintiff, for plaintiff’s liability and guaranty, now past due
to Richard S. Williams, as President of the Market Bank, city of New York,
$8,005 43.”
Third—Amount of our promissory note indorsed by the plaintiff for defendant,
due July 10, 1858, and held by C. Dord & Co., $2,220 85
Fourth— Amount of two promissory notes, indorsed by plaintiff for defendant,
one due April 27, 1858, and the other due on the 27th day of June, 1858, both
held by the Importers’ and Traders’ Bank of the city of New York, for the sum
of $5,508 86.
Subdivision 2 of section 383 of the Code declares that if the judgment be con
fessed for money due, or to become due, the statement in writing required, must
state concisely the facts out of which it (the money due or to become due) arose,
and must show that the sum confessed, therefore, is justly due or to become due.
And the third subdivision of this section declares, that if it (the judgment)
be for the purpose of securing the plaintiff' against a contingent liability, it (the
statement) must state concisely the facts constituting the liability, and must show
that the sum confessed, therefore, does not exceed the same.
The Court of Appeals, in Chappell vs. Chappell, (2 Kem., 215.) in consider
ing a judgment confessed under the second subdivision of this section, hold that
Journal o f Mercantile Law.
73
the creditors are entitled to the facts out of which the indebtedness arose ; that
the statute looks not to the evidence of the demand, but to the facts in which it
originated ; in other words, to the consideration which sustains the promise. The
rule laid down in this case, has been followed in Purdy vs. Upton, (10 How.,
494 ;) Brydere rs. Johnson, (11 How., 503 ;) Van Beck rs. Shennan, (18 How.,
472 ;) Kendall rs. Hodgins, (7 Abbott, 309;) Dunham vs. Waterman, (3 Smith,
9.) All these cases, except that in 11 Howard, are confessions of judgments un
der subdivision second of section 383 of this Code.
But the Code required that if the judgment be given to secure the plaintiff
against a contingent liability, the statement required must state concisely the
facts constituting the liability, using precisely the same language as in subdivi
sion second, the same section. Now it cannot be contended that these statements
show the facts constituting the liability of the plaintiff to pay the several sums
mentioned therein. In statement first, no particulars of the defendant’s indebted
ness are stated to show whether, in truth, he owed the plaintiff anything, or of
the liability or guaranty therein referred to. It is not stated for whom the
liability was given, or upon what considerations. No particulars of the guaranty
are given ; no statement showing how or why the plaintiff is bound to pay any
thing on such liability or guaranty.
So in regard to the promissory notes in statements three and four. The facts
in regard to them are not only not concisely stated, but are not stated at all. It
does not appear whose notes they are, or that the liability of the plaintiff on them,
is a liability incurred on behalf of the defendant, and one which he is under any
legal obligation to protect. No consideration for the promise of the defendant
to pay the amount of these notes is shown. It is said they are notes indorsed
for the defendant by the plaintiff but whose notes is not stated, or how indorsed,
or why, for the defendant. In Boyden os. Johnson, (cited Strong,) justice said :—
“ The statement in question (in that case) so far as it relates to future sales,
is objectionable, not only on account of its indefiniteness, but as no fact is stated
showing any objection to sell any goods at any future period. If a judgment by
confession can be allowed to have any future indebtedness, it should be particu
larly specified, and should be called for by some existing liability. The Code is
explicit, that when the object is to secure the plaintiff against a contingent
liability, there must be a statement of the facts constituting the liability.”
In the present case there is no statement of any facts showing the liability of
this plaintiff to the defendant, to pay these several notes, or any fact stated
showing the liability of the defendant to repay the same to plaiutiff. For aught
that appears in these statements, the liability of the plaiutiff may have been in
curred for some other person than the defendant. I have no doubt that the state
ments are defective, and the order appealed from, holding them sufficient, is
erroneous, and should be reversed.
NOTES OF DECISIONS.
In the Court of Appeals. Bowen vs. the New York Central Railroad Company.
When the presumption of negligence has been established against a carrier of
passengers, in an action for damages resulting from un accident, it can only be re
butted by proving that the accident resulted from circumstances against which
human prudeuce and foresight could not guard.
The rule is to be understood as requiring, not such particular precautions as it
is apparent, after the accident, might have prevented the injury, but such as would
be dictated by the utmost care and prudence of a very cautious person before the
accident and without knowledge that it was about to occur.
Buck vs. Burk.
The defendant, a shopkeeper in New York city, agreed to pay a debt of $2,000
in “■merchandise out of my store, No. 44 Maiden lane, on demand ; said merchan
dise to be sold and delivered at not above 25 per cent of the cost price.”
Held, 1. That his obligation was discharged by delivering goods at 25 per cent
above the cost to him, though much more than 25 per cent above the wnolesale
market price at the time of delivery.
74
Journal o f Mercantile Law.
2. That he was at liberty to continue selling his goods, without replenishing
the stock, until demand for a delivery in full of the contract; and that so long
as he retained sufficient for that purpose, the other party could not complain that
he was left to a selection from an inferior assortment, and goods less marketable
than at the date of the contract.
3. That after reasonable notice to select his goods at the place named in the
contract, the plaintiff was bound to accept them at any other reasonable con
venient place to which they might be removed, and that a subsequent demand at
the original place, or elsewhere, for delivery at the original place, was ineffectual.
4. A refusal to deliver goods to the value of $20. which had been packed up
in boxes for removal, after the notice to plaintiff to call for his pay at the defendant’s
original location, did not constitute a breach of the contract.
5. The contract permits the demand of merchandise in parcels.
FORFEITURE FOR UNDERVALUATION.
In the United States District Court. Before Judge Betts. The United States
vs. 5 cases of cigars.
This was a suit to forfeit the cigars for being undervalued in the invoice, with
intent to defraud the United States of the legal duty on them. The cigars were
imported from Havana in October, 1857, in the ship Crosby, and were consigned
to Mervin & Yeaton, of Philadelphia, by Cornell & Co., of Havana, who now
claimed them. The cases contained, amongst others, 3,100 Regalias, Lord Wel
lington, and were invoiced at $19, and appraised at $26, and re-appraised at $26 ;
11,000 Londres Comercianti, invoiced at $18, and appraised at $25, and re-ap
praised at $25 ; 17.000 2d a. invoiced at $15, and appraised at $22, and re-appraised
at $22 ; 2,000 3 a, 6,000 and 6,000 invoiced at $12. and appraised at $18, and re
appraised at $18 ; 4,000 Garantizada flor, invoiced at $13, appraised at $20, and
re appraised at $20 ; 1.500 2 a, invoiced at $11, appraised at $17, and re-appraised
at $17 ; 1 a, 10,100 of another brand, invoiced at $12, appraised at $18. and re
appraised at $18 ; 7,900 2 a,invoiced at $11, and appraised at $15, and re-appraised
at $16 ; 21,000 Vegueritas, invoiced at $15, appraised at $18. and re-appraised
at $20 ; 1.000 2 a, appraised at $18, and re-appraised at $2o. The whole importa
tion was invoiced at $1,308, and appraised at $1,846 40c., and re-appraised at
$1,877 30c. Several merchants and importers of cigars were examined for the
prosecution, and testified that such cigars could not have been purchased at
Havana at the time they were imported at anything like the prices at which they
were invoiced. For the claimants, several witnesses were examined, who testified
that these cigars were invoiced at their fair market value, at the time, in Havana.
Evidence was also adduced to show that similar cigars, invoiced at a similar price,
had passed the Custom-house in New York and Philadelphia. To account for
the low price at which these cigars were purchased, it was alleged that the panic,
which had then reached Havana, lowered the price of cigars, in many instances,
$5 per thousand. Verdict for the United States.
DECISION IN ADMIRALTY— EVIDENCE— LOSS OF CARGO.
In the United States District Court, January 25.
Robert L. Stuart, et al., vs. Herman Boyer.
Before Judge Betts.
This was a libel filed to receive the value of 17 boxes of sugar belonging to
the libelant, and alleged to have been put on board lighters belonging to the re
spondent, to be carried to Brooklyn from the ship Greenland, then lying at
Quarantine, but alleged not to have been delivered. The bills of lading of the
sugar called for 3,225 boxes. There were two lighters engaged in the transporta
tion, and receipts for 3,225 boxes were produced on the part of the libelant, all
of which were admitted by, the respondent to be correct, except two, one for 510
boxes, and one for 408 boxes, which he claimed to have been altered after their
signature, by the master of the lighter; the first by the addition of the words
“ and ten;” and the second, by the addition of the words “ and eight.” The
mate of the Greenland was examined by deposition, and testified that those words
Journal o f Mercantile Law.
75
were written before signature. The master of the lighter, who was examined in
court, testified that they were not there when he signed them. The general
character of both these witnesses for truth was not impeached.
The master of the other lighter, who signed a receipt immediately under the
receipt for the 510, testified that when he signed he examined the other receipt,
and it was then but 500.
As to the other receipt, it was in evidence that the lighterman was directed to
bring only 400. The mate of the Greenland testified that after the 400 were
put on board and the receipt for that number drawn up. eight more, which had
been used on deck as a staging, were put on the lighter and the receipt altered
in this respect before signature.
It was testified by several lightermen that the eight boxes were not so loaded
as testified by the mate, but that they were put on the lighter to make up the
400, and before the boxes were counted by the mate and the lightermen.
It was also testified by several witnesses, contradicting both the mates of the
Greenland, that two boxes of sugar were lost overboard from the ship while be
ing loaded on the lighter.
Held by the Court.—-That on the evidence the libelant have not shown that the
respondent received on board of his lighters the 17 boxe3 claimed in the libel,
and he is not, therefore, liable for their value.
DECISION IN ADMIRALTY ON APPEAL— COLLISION.
In the United States Circuit Court. Before Judge Nelson. Northern Dis
trict of New York, May 23. Lucius H. Pratt vs. the propeller Kentucky.
N elson , J.—This is a libel filed by the owner of the schooner Cataract against
the propeller Kentucky, to recover damages in a case of collision occurring on
Lake Erie on the 19th of May, 1857. The court below decreed against the Ken
tucky as in fault, the sum of $19,427 75. The collision took place some twenty
miles above Long Point, and several miles from the Canada shore, on the eve
ning of the day above mentioned.
It was a clear starlight night, and the lights of the approaching vessels were
seen by the hands of the other several miles from the place of collision, and were
plainly in sight and observed by them from the time first seen down till the mis
fortune happened. The wind was about an eight-knot breeze, and northerly, the
schooner going up the lake with her starboard tacks on board, the propeller
coming down in a direction to enter the "Welland Canal.
It is agreed that when the lights were first discovered the vessels were approach
ing each other nearly dead ahead, the hands on the schooner claiming that the
propeller was rather to their starboard. The difference, however, in this respect,
is of no importance, as, under the state of facts, not seriously in controversy
upon the evidence, it was the duty of the schooner to keep her course, and that
of the propeller to adopt the proper measures to avoid her. This is the. settled
rule of navigation, which both vessels were bound to observe, and the omission
to observe it on the part of the propeller led to the collission ; for the proof is
clear that the schooner kept her course from the time she first discovered the
propeller, several miles distant, down till the vessels came together. It is unim
portant to institute an inquiry into the particular ground of fault on the part of
the propeller, which doubtless led to the collision, as the rule of navigation just
stated fixes the responsibility, under the circumstances of the case, irrespective
of any such inquiry. The schooner kept her course, and beside this we do not
see that she could have done anything more than was done on her part to have
prevented the misfortune.
The rule we have stated has been so frequently announced and enforced, in the
Supreme Court of the United States, as well as in this court, that we shall not
stop to refer to the authorities. If any rule can be settled by authority, the one
in question has been.
Some objections are taken by the counsel for the claimants to the damages
awarded to the libelant. We have looked into them, but do not see that they
are well founded. We think the court below right in the views taken of the
case, and shall affirm the decree.
76
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
IN F L U E N C E S O F T H E
TRADE
M ONTH — W A R
LAST Y E A R — M ORE
AND IM P O R T S — L A R G E
R E Q U IR E D T H I S — GOODS
A R R IV A L S — T W O
N O T L A R G E — F A L L IN P R O D U C E — D I S C O U N T OF B I L L S — R IS E
W EEKLY EXPORTS
AND EXCH AN G E— R A T E S
GOVERNMENT
L O A N S — R E C E IP T S
A V E R A G E S — SU PPL Y
IN S T E R L I N G — D E M A N D F O R
OF E XC H AN G E — OUR DEM AN D
P E N S E S - - F A I L U R E S IN E U R O P E — R A T E S O F I N T E R E S T IN E U R O P E — P A P E R
H O A R D IN G — C A U T IO N IN M A K IN G
Y E A R S IN O N E — S M A L L
SO LD W E L L — Y E A R L Y
FO R
GOLD
G O L D — FREN CH E X
M ONEY OF G E R M A N Y —
L O A N S — R A T E S O F M O N E Y IN N E W Y O R K — D I S T R U S T OF P A P E R —
AND
EXPORTS
OF S P E C IE —
NEW
Y O R K A S S A Y -O F F IC E — U N I T E D
S T A T E S M IN T — S P E C IE FR O M N E W Y O R K AND B O S T O N — P R O D U C T OF G O L D — A U S T R A L I A A N D C A L IF O R
N I A — K IN D S OF S P E C IE E X P O R T E D — M IG R A T I O N — E X C E S S OF
G O L D E X P O R T S O V E R I M P O R T S — D R A IN
F R O M T H E IN T E R IO R — D R A F T S UPON T H E B A N K S— M O N E Y W A N T E D FO R CROPS.
T he money market during the month has gradually “ tightened” under the
influences of adverse foreign exchanges, growing out of the circumstances of
the war, and the large imports of goods that have not ceased to arrive. In rela
tion to the latter feature it will be observed, in the usual commercial tables an
nexed to this article, that the value of goods arrived for the month of May has
been $23,552,646, this exceeds by $4,847,391 the quantity that arrived in May,
1857, which was the largest amount ever received up to that time. It is to be
borne in mind, however, that both the receipts and manufactures of goods were
very small in 1858, and that the consumption of the country was maintained at
a fair rate. Hence stocks ran down to a low point, and must this year be replen
ished. The more so that some sections of the country were never more pros
perous. The goods that have arrived have therefore sold well, and although the
amount is apparently large for one year, it will be seen, by comparing this year
and last with the two that preceded, that the supply is after all less than the
average. Thus the imports for the five months ending with May, 1859, were
$105,095,053 ; for the same period of 1858 they were only $51,668,192. The
average of these two seasons is only $78,381,625, against $105,590,301 in 1857.
The same remark applies more particularly to dry goods. The country was in a
position up to January 1,1859, when a large quantity of goods was likely to be
wanted. They arrived and sold well, so much so that each successive month
has shown receipts as follows :—
IMPORTS OF GOODS AT NEW YORK.
January.......................
February......................
March............................
April..............................
May...............................
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
$15,578,064
16,036,283
20,256,958
20,054,885
18,411,112
$19,006,732
25,524,492
21,135,504
21,218,318
18.705,255
$8,105,719
9,209,043
11,729,702
11,169,025
11,454,709
$19,467,962
18,848,370
20,820,456
22,425,619
23,552,646
The business of these five months being, in a manner, two years in one, the
large supplies have been well disposed of, and the importers have remitted
promptly. As the war disturbance increased, however, and cotton fell rapidly
abroad, reaching a loss of $10 per bale, and every packet brought accounts of
extensive failures on the continent, with rising rates in money, the difficulty of
remitting increased, commercial bills came to be avoided, and bankers’ sight
drafts the favorites up to 11 per cent, at the same time the circumstances abroad
caused gold to be the very best medium with which to purchase goods. In this
77
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
state of affairs, in the midst of large imports, a considerable quantity of bills
became paralyzed, and specie flowed rapidly out, at rising rates of exchange.
If we take the weekly export for some years, April 1st, when the war panic
commenced this year, to June 12th, with the weekly rate of sterling bills, the
result is as follows :—
April
2 ......
9 ........
16........
23........
30........
May 7 ........
14........
21........
28........
June 4 ........
12......
1855.
18,56.
$1,293,969 $1,243,922
6,850
348,717
1,657,919
698,593
12,500
300,265
1,474,388 1,844,638
...........
10,700
2,130,249 1,564,616
15,570
222,723
2,189,567 1,268,150
226,608
162,048
1,807,098 1,106,850
Total___ 11,156,895
1857.
1858.
QO
O
WEEKLY EXPORT OF SPECIE FROM NEW YORK.
$742,233
468,698
779,892
106,200
1,711,390
671,569
1,826,629
357,156
2,714,002
489,688
3,394,892
$115,790 $1,343,059
250,246
576,108
203,163 1,637,104
15,850 1,495,089
136,873 1,680,743
106,110 2,167,101
720,710 1,926,491
532,862 2,300,000
400,300 5,126,643
51,425 2,325,762
16,616 1,877,294
8,429,355 13,262,349
2,590,245 22,383,277
Kate of
9* a 91
9# a 91
9* a
10 a
10* a
10* a
10* a
10* a
10* a
10 a
10f a
10
10*
io*
10*
10*
104
10*
10*
11
This displays the unusual character of the movement, and also the fact that a
shipment of over $22,500,000 of gold, between April 1st and June 12th, was
followed by a further rise in bills. The agent of the eminent house of Rothschilds
have advanced the rate to lOf, sixty day bills, for the week ending June 12th.
The comparative rates of bills were as follows :—
April 1.
May 2.
June 1.
June 18.
London...............
91 a
9*
10* a 10*
10 a 10*
10 a 11
Paris.................. 5.15 a 5 .11* 5 .1 1 * a 5 .1 0
5 .1 2 *a 5 08f 5.12 a 5 .06*
Antwerp............ 5.15 a 5.121 5 .1 3 fa 5 .1 2 * 5.10 a 5.061 5.10* a 5.06*
A m sterdam ....
41* a
411
42 a 42*
421a 42*
421a
42*
Frankfort............
41* a
41*
41f a 42
431 a 43*
431a
44
Bremen.............
79 a
791
79J a 79*
79* a 801
80 a
801
Berlin, &c....................... a . .
73 a 731
74* a 751
74* a 741
Hamburg...........
361a 361
371a 371
87 a 38
371 a 38
This maintenance of the rates of bills, under a large export of specie, indicates
not only the demand for remittance for goods, and the non-availability of produce
bills, but also the demand for gold abroad. The actual expenditures of the war
are immense. Independently of the money spent in Prance on the increased
army and navy, the purchase of provisions and stores, besides their conveyance
to Italy, the reconstruction of the materiel, making new equipments, buyiug
horses, railway fares, and almost an iufinity of other items of cost, there are sent
daily from Marseilles 3,000,000 francs in specie, or $600,000. This makes
$220,000,000 annually. It is not likely that the exportation of money to this
amount can last; but, if it should, we shall scarcely err in estimating the cost
of the war at $400,000,000 per annum. In addition to this enormous expendi
ture, mostly in coin, which is hoarded in the disturbed countries, failures and
distrust throughout Germany have promoted there an active demand for the
metals, for bankers’ reserve, and for hoarding. This latter operation may be ex
pected to increase as the war progresses. Among the numerous failures which
followed hostilities, we may enumerate here :—
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
78
Arnstein & Eskels, "Vienna.
Com and 8 & Eydan Gin, Vienna.
"Valeier & i-ohn, Vienna.
Schrdel & Sohn, Vienna.
A Masels & Sohn, Vienna.
Rudolph Khunel, Vienna.
Diem
English, Vienna.
G. Blanc, Trieste.
Planehe & Co., Trieste.
J. F. Gartner & Co., Trieste.
S. Petersburger, Trieste.
F. C. c-chmidt, Trieste.
M. Greger & Co., Trieste.
Bruder Pockery, Trieste.
M .K olinsky. Trieste.
Carl Zoller, Trieste.
C. "Weischman, Witnie, & Sohn, Trieste.
De TVeikenitz, Luterath & Co., Trieste.
Joh. Max Ripka & Co., Brunn.
S. Just's Ww. & Sohne, Brunn.
Ilerzig & Sohne, Reichenberg, Bohmen.
S. M. Schwarzschild, Frankfort.
M. A. Lehmann, Franktort.
Leih & Commerz Bank, Cassel.
C. W . Muller & Co., Solingen.
A. S evastopol & Sons, merchants, London, in
the Mediterranean trade.
Fromel & Co., bankers, Augsberg,
Bank of Thurningin, (owing to the flight o f the
manager.)
Lloyd, Reilly & Co., London, in the Australian
trade.
TVolf & Co., bankers, Berlin.
These failures are for very large sums, and spread distrust, causing demand
only for gold, and values of all kinds sink in comparison with that; at the same
time there is no demand for capital for any business or commercial enterprises.
There are few merchants of England or Western Europe who will project ven
tures to other countries, when the course of the war is so uncertain ; and the
demand for all sorts of merchandise is so much diminished that no one demands
capital to embark in it. Hence, although gold is actively running out from the
great reservoirs, the supply of capital at the leading centers is increasing, seek
ing employment at lower rates, but this only on the most undoubted securities.
The first panic of the war caused a demand to extinguish obligations, and the
rate of interest rose ; that accomplished, the rates are again falling for invest
ment, where the security is undoubted. The following are the rates of interest
at the leading centers :—
Dec. 23. ..
April 1. .,
15.
27.
May 3 ..
17.
23..
June 9.
Vienna,
Hamburg. Bremen. Frankfort. Berlin. Antwerp. Amsterdam. Leipsic. Interest. Gold.
3
4
3
5
5— 101i
2 ia S «
4
3
5
3
5—108
3-g- a 3^ 3
8
5
3i
3
5
3
5
5—112
3£
3*
3i
7
5
4
3
5
5— 120
5£
3i
4
5
3
6
5—
143
5
6
3*
5
4
4
6
3
6
5— 145
H
.—
.
..
2*
5
4
4
6
6
5— 143
O
2i.
Paris. London.
3
2t
2*
8i
-4
4
4
3*
4*
4f
4
8
The large amount of paper money afloat in Germany, reaching nearly
$200,000,000, and the forced circulation of Austrian paper, has produced, as it
will be observed, an immense rise of gold in Austria, and circulating money
seems everywhere to have disappeared. Notwithstanding the large imports of
gold into Great Britain and France, it will be seen, by a table of the coin in the
banks of France and England, under the financial head in . this number, that
these two banks lost $25,000,000 in specie in sixty days, and that at a season
of the year when it generally accumulates. These are features which may be
come exaggerated as the war advances. The continued demand for gold may
cause goods and stocks to be sent to the United States to realize it, in addition
to those goods ordered at the same time ; although the prices of breadstuffs have
advanced there since the opening of the war, it has caused no demand for them
here. The chances are that the good crops of England and Western Europe,
supported by the supplies from the Black Sea and Egypt, will suffice for con
sumption there.
This general position of the external exchanges has caused much caution on
the part of the banks and money lenders, and sent up the rates of money as high
as we indicated in our last number. Capital was never more abundant than now.
The rates of money in New York are as follows :—
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
79
RATES OF MONET AT NEW TORE.
March 15th.
Loans on call, stock securities. .
Loans on call, other securities. •
Prime indorsed bills, 60 days. .
Prime indorsed bills, 4 to 6 mos
First-class single signatures .. .
Other good commercial paper .
Names not well known..........
4 a
44 a
44 a
5$ a
6 a
7 a
a
5
6
54
64
7
8
10
April 15th.
4 a
5 a
6 a
6 a
64 a
8 a
9 a
5
6
84
64
7
9
10
June 1st. Juno 18th.
5 a 6
6 a6
6 a 7
6 a7
6 a 7
7 a 8
6 a 64 64 a 7
7 a 8
8 a 9
61a 8 7 a 8
9 a 10
7 a 9 8 a 9
9 a 10 9 a 10 10 a 12
10 a 12 10 a 12 12 a 16
May 15th.
The rates of money at the close of February was advanced, it will be remera-
bered, by the bids for the government loan then taken, and which raised the
amount of money in the sub-treasury to over nine million dollars in March ;
since then the payments have gradually drained the treasury down to $3,400,000,
a loss of nearly six million dollars, which has been exported. On the 11th of
June, the Secretary of the Treasury gave notice for sealed proposals, to be
received until the 20th, for the issue of any portion or the whole of five mil
lions of dollars in treasury notes, in exchange for the gold coin of the United
States, under the authority of the acts of Congress of 1857 and 1859, the in
terest not to exceed 6 per cent. The amount of bids was $13,000,000, at rates from
5i a 6 per cent, by 27 bidders. The average award was about 5.81, or 1{ per cent
higher than the award last year. This demand for cash caused some further ad
vance in the rate of money. It is to be observed that a portion of the advance
in the rate of money is due to the decline in sugar and cotton, of which paper
large amounts mature in June and July. The comparative receipts and ship
ments of specie have been as follows from New York :■—
GOLD RECEIVED FROM CALIFORNIA AND EXPORTED FROM NEW YORK WEEKLY, WITH THE
AMOUNT OF SPECIE IN SUB-TREASURY, AND THE TOTAL IN THE CITY.
,-------------
185?i.---------------
Received.
8 . . . ......................
1 5 . .. . . . $1,607,440
2 3 . ..
1,567,779
S O ... . . .
Feb. 5 . . .
1,348,507
1 3 . .. . . .
...........
2 0 . ..
1,640,430
2 7 . .. . . .
Mar. 5 . . .
1,279,134
1 2 . .. . . .
11,000
1 9 . ..
2 6.. . . . .
1,403,949
Apr. 2... . . .
..................
9 ...
1 6 . .. . . .
1,325,198
41,2 08
23.. .
3 0 . .. . . .
1,550,000
May 7 . . .
1 4 . .. . . .
1,626,171
........
2 1 . .. . . .
1,575,995
2 8 . .. . . .
June 5 . . .
.
.
.
1,446,175
1 2 . ..
Jan.
----------------------------------
18 59.
>
Specie in
Total
Exported.
Received.
Exported. sub-treasury. in the city.
$2,398,684
............. $ 1,052,658 $4,202,151 $ 32 ,601,969
1,045,490 $ 1,3 76 ,3 0 0
218,049 4,312,987
33,093,699
1,244,368
567,398 4 ,851.666
3 4,323,766
57,075
1,210,713
467 ,69 4
7 ,230,004 3 4,9 8 5 ,2 9 4
2,928,271
606,969
8,103,546
84,095,987
48,850
1,319,923
361 ,55 0
8,040,900 3 3,460,000
641,688
1,013,780 6,770,555
33,1 15 ,5 1 0
1,287,967
128,114
358 ,35 4
7,193,829
33,6 64 ,0 0 0
297,898
1,427,556
7,215,928
3 3,915,893
225 ,27 4
933 ,13 0
307,106
8,677,357
3 4,207,411
116,114
870 ,57 8
9 ,046,759
34,089,942
88,120
208,955
8 ,041,268
34,227,800
115.790
1,343,059
1,032,814
7,6 8 6,70 0
32,9 18 ,8 0 0
250,246
576,107
7,232,451
32,981,118
203,163
1,404,210
1,637,104 7,079,111
32,557,778
15,850
1,496,889
6 ,894,810 32,972,965
136,873
1,723,352
6,568,681
1,680,743
3 2,897,686
106,110
2,169,197
6,481,913 3 2,568,645
7 2 0 ,71 0
1,480,115
1,926,491
6,020,400
31,191,731
532,862
2,223,578
5,488,205
31,5 78 ,2 0 9
1,938,669
4 00 ,30 0
5,126,643 4 ,752,084
2 9,171,906
.
51,425
2,825,972
4,327,155
2 8 ,0 55 ,4 6 4
1,513,975
16,616
1,877,294
3,684,754
2 5 ,8 16 ,9 5 4
Total......... 16,422,982 11,769,891 14,220,668 29,863,924
Commercial Chronicle and Review .
80
The operations of the Assay-office have, been as follows :—
NEW YORK ASSAY OFFICE.
DEPOSITS.
/----------------------Foreign. —1------------------.
Gold.
Silver.
Coin.
Bullion.
Coin.
Bullion.
January..
February.
March . ..
A p r il__
May . . . .
------------------ United States.--------Gold.
Silver.
Coin.
Bullion.
Coin. Bullion.
$4,120
$4,000
$13,000
6,000
8,000
8,000
6,000
10,000
$23,380
....
57,700 $9,000
82,000
3,000
3,000
10,000 31,000 28,000
2,000
10,000 29,000
....
___
___
___
___
$365,000 $2,500
669,000
2,300
351,000
3,500
328,000
1,000
162,000
600
Total . $31,000
$46,000 $225,080 $42,000
....
1,875,000 $9,900 $25,620
PAYMENTS BY ASSAY OFFICE.
Bars.
6,000
4,500
4,000
7,000
Coin.
January ........
February ___
March
April.
May..
$387,000
750,000
255,000
336,000
156,000
$252,000
Total___
$1,884,000
$685,600
10,000
290,000
74,000
59,600
In the same period the transactions of the United States Mint at Philadelphia
have been as follows :—
UNITED STATES MINT, PHILADELPHIA.
/-------- Dep O S ltS .-------- S
Gold.
Silver.
Gold.
-Coinage.Silver.
Cents.
January.................. .. .........
February ............................
March..................................
April...................................
May.....................................
$148,040
80,155
67,000
74,200
215,760
$51,635
77.650
107,640
100,015
86,710
$59,825
147,983
119,519
42,520
76,640
$66,000
127,000
108,000
128,500
104,000
$35,000
27,000
27,000
29,000
25,000
Total.............................
$575,150
423,650
446,487
523,500
143,000
The aggregate export from New York and Boston in May was as :follows :—
May.
January 1 to
June 12.
1858.
1857.
Boston...........................
New York....................
$1 ,211,479
11 ,421,032
$1,727,640
26,967,795
$2,175,197
11,769,891
$3,027,899
18,956,366
T ota l....................
$12 ,632,511
$28,695,435
$13,945,088
$21,983,265
'
It may be useful here to record the export of treasure from San Francisco and
Australia for the last two years :—
California.
1857 .............
1858 .............
GOLD PRODUCT.
,---------------------Australia.----------------------»
Ounces.
Price.
Yalue.
$49,840,186
47,452,307
2,483,685
2,500,184
Decrease..
$1,887,879
Increase...........................
..............
16,499
80s.
80
£9,934,740
10,000,000
Total.
$49,67 3,700
50,003,680
................
$339,980
The demand for gold has been enhanced, and with the demand a fall in prices
takes place, which is equal to a rise in the value of gold to its producers, and that
circumstance may stimulate a larger supply, but not probably so. Gold is the
material of war, and a great and exhausting war will require immense quanti
ties. It is also the case that the Asiatic demand for silver has also revived at
the latest dates, and its value in London was 62-Jd. per ounce. In the month of
May the demand for coin for export has been active; some of the leading shippers
81
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
have preferred eagles.
twelve months :—
The kinds of specie exported have been as follows for
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIE EXPORTED FROM NEW YORK FOR TWELVE MONTHS.
American
French Spanish
American
Sov’reigns. D ’ bloons.
Bars.
silver.
gold
silver.
coin.
Ttrtal.
June $217,712 $1,086,346 $20,496 $218,050 $89,793 $25,185
$650 $1,638,566
908,346 15.000
26,492
July. 289,475
22,315
3,000
1,966 1,256,194
Aug. 742,238 2,374,527
4,000
34,289
57,105
1,600 10,802 3,224,570
Sep. 661,815
1,000
3,480
43,736 56,440 • . . . 1,742,470
976,979
Oct. 206,370 3,248,540
8,170
71,339
2,400 76,280 3,638,276
25,177
Nov.
37,192 1,874,195
76,100 2,065,532
9,800
78,245
1,106,108
6,120
Dec. 282,967
4,840 869,567
1,000 2,261,352
Jan . 369,826 1,664,445
8,863
1,089
2,000
1,985,223
Feb.
43,922
130,000
73,469 1,722,872 36,092
2,002,822
1,807
Mar. 887,617 2,499,996 47,474
86,779
24,600
60,029 8,2p6,495
Apr. 571,754 2,188,888 124,423
82,588
600
2,500 2,970,76 3
88,900 263,125 349,260 6,881,223
May. 2,610,081 3,467,221 69,363
43,003
$6,450,507 22,067,473 333,408
390,820 1,643,161 346,107 708,587 32,774,476
Of the whole amount there was little American coin exported until the month
of May, but a good deal of foreign coins, that came in by immigrants. The
number of them is now small, while on the other hand the number of passengers
going abroad is unusually large, requiring a great deal of money.
It will be observed from the above tables that while the receipts of gold in
New York from California have been ©8,078,660 since April 1st, the exports
have been direct ©22,505,983, an excess of ©14,427,323. The amount in the
city has been reduced in the same time ©4,863,336, leaving a sum of ©9,563,987
which has been drawn from the interior of the country to support the drain from
the city. It has resulted from the operation that exchanges have risen in the
interior, on New York, and money has gradually become dear. If we refer to
the bank tables, under the financial head, we shall observe the course of contrac
tion, and falling lines of specie and loans, when the reverse was the case at the same
period last year. The markets at all points become more stringent under the
drain. This is the season of the year when the accumulation of money are
naturally greatest—when the crops of the past year have been mostly realized,
and funds concentrate anew for the movement of the incoming crops. The war
has been a heavy draft upon those funds before the crop demand sets in, and as
those crops are generally represented as very large they will require much money.
The imports of the month of May present a very large aggregate, as compared
with the last year, and perhaps the quantity entered direct for consumption is
larger than ever before in the corresponding month. It is also the case that the
entries for warehouse are larger than in any previous year, with the exception of
1857, when the goods accumulated to take advantage of the modified tariff, to
come into operation in the following month. The importation of free goods is
large this year, by reason of the articles made free under the tariff of 1857 : —
FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK IN MAY.
1856.
Entered for consumption.............. $12,392,421
Entered for warehousing..............
3,733,350
Free goods....................................
2,151,057
Specie and bullion.......................
134,284
1857.
1858.
' 1859.
$5,451,191 $6,574,612 $15,222,311
10,508,421 2,626.978 4,746,614
1,674,810
1,928,573 3,461,285
1,070,833
324,540
122,436
Total entered at the port............ $18,411,112 $18,705,255 $11,454,703 $23,552,646
Withdrawn from warehouse........
1,548,339
2,262,173
2,666,573
1,628,434
VOL. XL.— NO. I.
6
82
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
Although these imports are larger than last year, and also in excess of the
same month of former years, it will be observed that, taking the average of the
eleven months for this year and last, the amount is but $17,500,000 each, or less
than the average of the two previous years. For the five months the same re
sult is to be observed :—
FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FOR FIVE MONTHS, FROM JANUARY 1ST.
1856.
1857.
1858,
1859.
Entered for consumption............. $67,782,614 $62,766,051 $29,667,957 $76,920,748
Entered for warehousing............ 12,249,016 29,574,660 9,827,520 13,772,181
Free goods...................................
9,841,214
8,267,379 10,496,484 13,762,628
Specie and bullion.......................
467,408
4,982,111
1,676,231
640,051
Total entered at the port............. $90,340,252 105,590,301 $51,668,192 105,095,053
Withdrawn from warehouse.......
9,260,986 1 2,364,162 19,551,824
9,146,490
The excess over last year is considerable, but the aggregate is after all less
than for 1857, and the operation for the eleven months shows a still greater de
cline as compared with 1857 :—
FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FOR ELEVEN MONTHS ENDING MAY 31.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
Six months............................
$89,912,809 105,254,740 109,688,702 $91,082,433
January....................................... 15,578,064 19,006,732
8,105,719 19,447,962
February..................................... 16,036,283 25,524,492
9,209,043 18,848,370
March............................................ 20,256,958 21,135,504 11,729,702 20,820,456
-April............................................ 20,057,835 21,218,318 11,169,025 22,425,619
May.............................................. 18,411,112 18,705,255 11,454,703 23,552,646
Total for eleven months....... 180,253,061 210,845,041 161,356,894 196,177,486
It will be interesting to separate the foreign dry goods from other merchandise,
and we therefore aDnex our usual monthly tables. The total of foreign dry
goods landed at the port, for the month of May, is more than double that of the
corresponding period of last year, and also of the previous one. The quantity
entered for consumption direct this year is very large; it is compensating for
the small sales of the last year :—
IMPORTS OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS AT NEW YORK FOR THE MONTH OF MAY.
ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.
1856.
1857.
Manufactures of wool...................
Manufactures of cotton................
Manufactures of silk....................
Manufactures of flax...................
Miscellaneous dry goods..............
$1,152,057
607,018
1,098,341
509,452
310,871
$303,300
340,133
308,962
66,078
109,666
Total.....................................
$3,677,739
$1,128,139
185S.
1859.
$944,178 $2,939,269
595,666 1,543,239
786,112
1,821,294
257,357
749,496
162,290
268,524
$2,745,603
$7,321,822
WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.
1856.
1S57.
1858.
1859.
$151,078
69,003
115,549
54,672
22,674
$280,009
189,866
175 305
172,627
49,485
$101,962
34,632
17,880
58,439
13,012
Manufactures of wool..................
Manufactures of cotton...............
Manufactures of silk....................
Manufactures of flax...................
Miscellaneous dry goods..............
$68,652
34,138
124,287
24,866
10,430
Total.....................................
Add entered for consumption.. . .
$262,323
3,677,739
$412,976
1,128,139
$867,292
2,745,603
$225,925
7,321,822
Total thrown on market___
$3,940,062
$1,541,115
$3,612,895
$7,547,747
83
Commercial Chronicle and Review,
ENTERED FOR WAREHODSING.
1856.
1857.
1858.
Manufactures of wool................
Manufactures of cotton............... .
Manufactures of silk.................. .
Manufactures of flax..................
Miscellaneous dry goods............
$254,845
124,049
207,265
42,556
85,865
$822,948
289,336
567,869
129,235
190,752
$185,342
81,839
46,571
70,904
41,556
$486,832
76,862
74,070
77,897
66,924
Total..................................
Add entered for consumption. . . .
$714,580 $2,000,240
8,677,739
1,128,139
$426,212
2,745,603
$782,587
7,321,822
$3,171,815
$8,104,409
Total entered at the port.... .
$4,392,319
$3,128,379
1859.
Last year the quantity withdrawn from warehouse exceeded the quantity en
tered by §441,080 ; this year the reverse has been the case, under the large im
ports.
The receipts of foreign dry goods at the port of New York, since January
1st, exceed those of any preceding year for a corresponding period, but are not
more than the average of the two previous years :—
IMPORTS OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK, FOR FIVE MONTHS,
FROM JANUARY 1 S T .
ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.
1856.
Manufactures of w ool............... ..
Manufactures of cotton.............. .,
Manufactures of silk...................,
Manufactures of flax...................
Miscellaneous dry goods..............
$9,541,082
7,775,879
13,018,148
4,035,079
3,239,228
1857.
1858.
185ft
$7,311,527 $3,978,482 $13,381,282
8,833,095
3,501,188 11„3:89,538
11,246,964
5,706,309 13,324,975
3,044,136
1,400,866
4,6-73,576
3,195,390
1,220,336
2,624,809
Total.................................... . $37,609,416 $33,631,112 $15,807,181 $45,396,200
WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.
1856.
1857.
Manufactures of wool................
Manufactures of cotton............. .
Manufactures of silk...................
Manufactures of flax................. .
Miscellaneous dry goods........... .
1858.
$745,437
1,424,649
1,151,440
693,932
213,567
1859.
$982,071
1,722,977
1,171,994
712,939
339,537
$2,033,111
2,724,955
2,263,144
1,358,310
809,305
$761,545
1,029,171
397,803
574,682
217,059
Total..................................... ..
Add entered for consumption.. . .
$4,228,025
87,609,416
$4,929,618
33,631,112
$9,178,825
15,807,181
$2,980,260
45,396,200
Total thrown upon market,. . $41,837,441 $38,560,730 $24,986,006 $48,376,460
ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.
1856.
Manufactures of wool.................
Manufactures of cotton..............
Manufactures of silk..................
Manufactures of flax.................
Miscellaneous dry goods............
Total................................... ..
Add entered for consumption.... .
1857.
$843,422 $2,769,628
945,072
1,622,990
1,179,510
2,374,429
413,172
1,135,082
314,667
549,345
$3,695,843
37,609,416
$8,451,474
33,631,112
1858.
1859.
$948,997
1,337,346
812,188
505,410
358,519
$944,437
605,611
277,129
291,278
185,167
$3,962,460
15,807,181
$2,403,656
45,396,200
Total entered at port......... . $41,306,259 $42,082,586 $19,769,641 $47,799,856
The quantity thrown on the market during five months last year was §5,216,365
more than the quantity brought into port in the same period, showing the con-
84
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
siderable reduction in stocks which took place. This year the quantity put on
the market has exceeded the arrivals by §576,604, showing the firmness of the
market.
The exports of domestic produce from New York to foreign ports have been
more than for last year. The shipments of specie were remarkably large for
1857, but have been exceeded this year. The shipments of specie for May have
been larger than for any previous month in our history ; among the former ship
ments the more noticeable are §6,462,367 for June, 1851; §6,004,170 for July,
1851; §6,547,104 for September, 1854; §7,939,354 in June, 1857 ; §6,271,717
in August, 1857 ; and §7,535,052 in December, 1857.
EXPORTS FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
Domestic produce........................
Foreign merchandise (free).........
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)..
Specie and bullion......................
$5,563,205 $6,046,643
68,194
169,451
247,079
294,839
3,812,865
5,789,266
$4,262,789 $5,180,662
308,096
113,799
426,002
229,990
1,790,275 11,421,032
Total exports.......................
Total, exclusive of specie ..
$9,691,343 $12,300,199
5,878,478
6,510,933
$6,397,353 $17,335,782
4,606,578
5,914,750
Thus the exports from New York to foreign ports, exclusive of specie, since
-January 1st, are §1,664,411 more than for the first five months of last year, and
less than for either of the two previous years. The specie shipments for the
same time show an immense increase, and exceed those of any former year for
the same period :—
EXPORTS FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR FIVE MONTHS, FROM JANUARY 1.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
Domestic produce......................... $29,503,439 $29,056,328 $22,197,453 $23,556,187
Foreign merchandise (free)..........
421,879
1,176,049
623,792 1,258,063
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)...
1,273,569
1,789,548
1,929,435 1,601,841
9,923,473 14,458,708 11,765,785 25,700,991
Specie and bullion.......................
Total exports......................... $41,122,360 $46,480,633 $36,516,465 $52,116,081
Total, exclusive of specie.. . 81,198,887 32,021,925 24,750,680 26,415,091
The exports from New York to foreign ports for the expired portion of the
fiscal year, exclusive of specie, are less than for the corresponding eleven months
of last year, and much less than for either of the preceding years. We have
added the exports of specie for eleven months at the foot of the summary, in or
der to show the total foreign exports for the period indicated, and this item is
larger than ever before :—
EXPORTS, EXCLUSIVE OF SPECIE, FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR ELEVEN MONTHS
ENDING WITH MAY.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
Six months.................................... $39,915,729 $43,596,601 $34,702,441 $27,994,834
January.......................................
5,511,230
4,884,170
4,689,739 4,114,008
February.....................................
6,606,209
5,938,786
4,173,577 3,735,633
March...........................................
8,703,244
9,015,891
5,180,860 5,876,001
A p ril...........................................
5,499,726
5,672,145
6,099,926 6,774,699
M ay.............................................
5,878,478
6,510,933
4,606,578 5,914,750
Total ten months......................... $71,114,616 $75,618,426 $59,453,121 $54,409,925
Specie for same time.................... 20,474,418 36,409,114 33,727,897 39,342,463
Total exports, 11 months... $91,589,034 112,027,540 $93,181,108 $93,752,388
Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.
85
The cash duties received at the port were, for the first six months of the fiscal
year, less than in 1858, but since then the large imports have brought them to
an excess over last year, but less than for either of the years 1857 or 1856 :—
CASH DUTIES RECEIVED A'f NEW YORK.
1857.
1858.
1859.
Six months ending January 1.
In January............................
February.................................
March.....................................
April......................................
M a y .......................................
$22,978,124 43
4,637,378 43
5,117,249 85
8,752,184 98
3,301,607 05
1,907,289 71
$16,345,553 57
1,641,474 59
2,063,784 86
2,213,452 15
1,786,510 41
1,748,227 54
$15,387.618 49
3,478,47138
3,328,68893
3,164.01125
8,212.06049
3,014,52039
Total 11 months.............
$41,593,834 45
$25,749,003 12
$31,585,370 93
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
PRICK OF CONSOLS,
The New York Courier remarks that, notwithstanding the more abundant
supply of capital in Europe during the present century, there are only four years
in which the price of Consols has reached par. These were the years 1844 and
1845, just before the railway explosions in England, and in 1852 and 1853, just
before the Russian war. The range in these years was—Y ears.
1 8 4 4 .................
1 8 4 5 .................
Highest.
lo o t
Lowest.
96i
|
9 It
Y ears.
1 8 5 2 ...............
1 8 5 3 ...............
Highest.
lO lf
101
Lowest.
95*
90J
Since then the range has been as follows :—
Years.
Highest.
1864.............................................
...........................................
1856 ...................................... ...
1857
...................................
1858
....................................
1 8 55
95|— August and October.
93J—March.
96 —July.
94t—January.
9Sf—November.
Lowest.
85£—March.
J—October.
90 —February.
87f—October.
94f—January.
8 6
In the eighteenth century Consols were frequently and for long periods at or
above par, viz.
Years.
1 7 3 2 .....................
1 73 3 .....................
1 73 6 .....................
1 737.....................
1 73 8 .....................
1 73 9 .....................
1 74 0 .....................
1 74 1 ....................
1 742.....................
Highest. Lowest.
96
92
100
105
102
97
98
98
98
Years.
1 743.....................
1 749.....................
1 75 0 .....................
1751.....................
1 752.....................
1 753.....................
1 7 5 4 .................... ............
1 7 5 6 ....................
Highest. Lowest.
100
91
98
97
101
104
104
102
90
From the latter year (1755) they did not reach par until the year 1844—ninety
years.
The public funds of Great Britain have undergone some fearful vicissitudes.
In 1700, on the death of the king of Spain, they fell to 50 per cent. After the
peace of Utrecht, in 1715, they rapidly rose, and between 1730 and the rebellion
in 1745 were never below 89 ; but during the rebellion sank to 75. They fell
to 53 in 1782, at the close of the American war ; and, mounting afterwards to
86
Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.
97$ in 1792, fell in 1798 to 471. This was the lowest they ever reached. Be
tween that and the highest point, 107, attained in the year 1737, the difference
was equivalent to 127 per cent, sufficient to annihilate many fortunes, or to con
fer great wealth on those who purchased when the funds were at the lowest.
From 1755 to 1844, a period of nearly ninety years, Consols were always below
par.
The most trying periods of the present century to Great Britain were in the
years 1802-3, 1814-15,1819, 1825, 1830, and 1847. Of the causes of the de
preciation, it may be said that the rapid depreciation in 1802-3 was the result
of the war with Napoleon. In 1814-15, that of the hundred days and the bat
tle of Waterloo. In 1819, the commercial and bank failures were greater than
ever before known. In 1825, a reaction took place after great expansion ; emi
nent banking and mercantile firms failed, and credit was shaken.
In 1830, the French revolution caused a severe disturbance of the commercial
circles of Europe, and the fall of 1847 was caused by the critical condition of
the Bank of England, the famine in Ireland, and general distress among com
mercial men. It was greater than had been known during the prior eighteen
years, exceeding that which followed the declaration of war by the French Con
vention, the first bank suspension, (1797,) and the Irish rebellion of 1798. On
the other hand we see in 1853-4-5, Great Britain and France engaged in an ex
pensive war, their grain resources materially cut off from the East, an immense
export of gold, and yet three per cent Consols are higher than during the peace
ful periods of 1846-7.
The extraordinary decline in the above-mentioned period will appear by the
following summary:—
Years.
1 7 4 6 -6
1778
1782
1 7 9 4 -5
1 7 9 7 -8
1803
1814
1815
1819
1830
1847
Highest.
Rebellion....................................... .
American Revolution......................
“
f ......................... ............
French Revolution......................... ............
Failure of the banka......................
French War.....................................
M
C«
............
Lowest.
75
61
72$
72*
65|
79’
............
.............
French Revolution. .........................
Famine year.................................... .
61
53
61
47i
50i
611
51$
64$
77$
78$
In order to show the more recent changes, we annex the highest and lowest
rates of three per cent Consols for each month of the past three years :—-
,---- 1856.- - - - - ,
January...............
February.............
March.................
April...................
May....................
June...................
July....................
August..............
September........
October...............
November...........
December.,........
Highest.
9 it
9 2±
93$
931
95$
95$
96
95 $
95J
93J
94$
94$
Lowest.
86$
90
91
91$
92$»
92$
96$
94$
91$
91
92
94$
,---- 1857.- - - - - ,
Highest
94$
93$
93$
93$
94
94
92$
91$
91
90$
91$
91$
Lowest.
92$
92$
93
92$
92$
9 3$
9 0$
8 9$
8 9$
8 7$
88$
91
,---- 1858.- - - - - ,
Highest.
95$
97$
97$
97$
98
97$
96$
97
97$
98$
98$
97$
Lowest.
94$
95$
9 6$
9 6$
97$
97$
95
96
96$
97$
97$
96$
Journal o f Banking , (Currency, and Finance.
CITY
W EE KLY
BANK
87
R ETU R N S.
NEW YORK WEEKLY BANK RETCRNS.
Loans.
Jan. 8
15
22
29
Feb. 5
12
19
26
Mar. 5
12
19
26
Apr. 2
9
16
23
80
May 7
14
21
28
June 4
11
128,538,642
129,349,245
129,540,050
129,663,249
130,442,176
129,106,318
127,476,495
125,866,083
125,221,627
126,205,261
127,587,943
127,751,225
128,702,192
129,865,752
129,968,924
129,192,807
128,706,705
129,519,905
129,680,408
128,701,553
127,137,660
125,006,766
122,958,928
Specie.
28,3 99 ,8 1 8
29,380,*712
29,472,056
27,725,290
25,991,441
25,419,088
26,344,955
26,470,171
2 6,769,965
25,5 30 ,0 5 4
25,043,183
2 5,182,627
25,732,161
2 5,748,667
25,478,108
26,068,155
26,329,805
26,086,632
25,171,335
26,090,008
24,319,822
23,728,311
22,132,275
Circulation.
7,9 3 0,29 2
7,586,163
7,457,245
7.483.642
7,950,855
7,872,441
7,766,858
7 ,736,982
8 ,071,693
8, 100,021
7,996,713
7,998,098
8,221,753
8,449,401
8.293,459
8,289,112
8,300.672
8,804,032
8,490,933
8,352,723
8,232,653
8.427.642
8,391,116
Deposits.
1 13 ,800,885
116,054,328
116,016,828
113.012.564
114,678,173
109,907,424
108.937.564
109,00 0 ,8 9 2
108,646,823
107,458,392
108,353,336
106,581,128
110,176,088
111,692,509
111,695,711
112,627,270
113,217,504
115,586,810
113,141,178
112,731,646
107,064,005
103,207,002
99,042,966
Average
clearings.
2 0,974,263
2 0,598,005
20,9 50 ,4 2 8
19,174,629
22,712,917
2 0,560,606
1 9,911,207
19,785,055
2 2,626,795
21,2 70 ,2 8 3
21,9 11 ,5 4 3
2 0,237,879
22,4 38 ,9 5 0
2 3,549,945
23.607,914
23,671,453
23.655.166
26,714,767
24.445,039
2 4,177,516
2 1,501,650
20.628.166
20,159,422
Actnal
deposits.
9 2,8 26 ,6 2 2
9 5,456,323
95,0 66 ,4 0 0
93,837,935
9 1,965,256
8 9,346,818
89,026,357
88,215,837
8 6,8 00 ,0 2 8
86,1 88 ,1 0 9
86,4 41 ,7 9 3
86,343,249
8 7,737,138
88,142,544
8 8,087,797
88,9 55 ,8 1 4
89,562,338
88,872,043
88,696,639
88,554,130
85,562,355
82,578,836
78,883,536
BOSTON BANKS.
Jan.
May
3
10
17
24
31
7
14
21
28
7
14
21
28
4
11
18
25
2
June
9
16
23
30
6
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
...
.. .
..
.
..
..
..
..
. .
Date.
Jan.
3 ,...
10___
1 7 ....
24 . .
81___
Feb. 7 . . . .
14___
21___
Loans.
6 0,0 69 ,4 2 4
6 0,310,965
6 0,106,798
5 9,4 00 ,8 5 4
5 8,992,556
59,120,142
5 9,087,249
5 9,099,993
5 8,636,328
58,892,981
5 8,436,379
58,1 52 ,7 4 2
5 7 ,6 72 ,8 0 4
5 8,031,003
58.320,346
58,496,225
58,160,215
5 8,178,264
58,211,765
58,445,596
57,9 96 ,4 5 6
57,318,243
57,430,695
Specie.
8,548,934
8,2 9 5,39 2
7,9 3 1,71 2
7,383,391
7 ,088,736
6,814,589
6,671.619
6 ,679,740
6,4 1 0,56 3
6,3 8 6,58 0
6,265,661
6,238,518
6,370,283
6 ,401,822
6,488,147
6,496,137
6,726,647
6,910,187
6,907,557
6,851,787
6.700,975
6 ,874,399
6,7 3 8,38 4
Circulation.
6 ,5 4 3,13 4
7,0 1 6,10 4
6,793,723
6 ,609,374
6 ,224,137
6 ,514,576
6 ,332,342
6 ,275,458
6,283,959
6 ,578,472
6 ,372,298
6,2 2 7,15 0
6,108,505
6,386,853
7,358,859
6,985.273
6,812,855
6.65S.260
7,241,597
7,064,757
7,013,197
6,664.483
7,009,878
Deposits.
2 2,3 57 ,8 3 8
2 1,6 15 ,4 6 8
21,1 27 ,7 1 2
2 0,727,905
2 0,598,451
2 0,845,520
19,983,531
2 0,0 8 2 ,9 6 0
19,469,489
1 9,935,649
19,202,029
19,809,807
19,908,785
20,899,191
21,422,531
2 1,666,840
2 1.663,615
21,990,246
21,852,338
21,468,499
20,845,917
20,769,103
20,718,977
Due
to banks.
1 0,789,135
1 1,263,766
1 1,139,700
10,4 30 ,4 5 4
9 ,657,823
9 ,506,146
9 ,391,733
Due
from banks.
9 ,184,941
8 ,477,968
8 ,456,312
7 ,945,389
7 ,767,582
7 ,665,274
8,410,087
8,663,857
8,237,661
7 ,850,530
7,998,226
7 ,704,870
7 ,542,472
7 ,289,128
7,090,735
6,8 1 5,16 0
6 ,673,623
6 ,330,719
6 ,817,368
6,864,684
7,5 2 4,27 4
8,509,638
8,343,446
7 ,834,888
7,346,135
8,077,777
7,805,577
7,5 6 5,82 6
7 ,549,033
7 ,8 5 2,92 4
WEEKLY AVERAGE OF THE PHILADELPHIA BANKS.
Circulation.
Loans.
Specie.
Deposits.
26,451,057
26,395,860
26,365,385
26,283,118
26,820,089
26,472,569
26,527,304
26,574,418
6,063,356
6,067,222
6,050,743
6,099,317
6,138,245
5,970,439
5,991,541
6,017,663
2,741,754
2,854,398
2,830,384
2,769,145
2,709,311
2,786,453
2,804,032
2,782,792
17,049,005
17,138,607 •
17,323,908
17,498,219
17,557,809
17,007,167
16,384,087
16,129,610 •
7,083,737
7,137,234
7,111,264
7,037,715
6,547,510
7,057,113
6,763,270
Due banks.
3,4 2 4,56 9
3,2 9 7,81 6
3 ,258,315
8,093,921
3,159,539
3,307,371
3,695,963
3,9 6 4,00 0
88
Mar.
A p r.
M ay
June
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
2 8 ..
7 ..
1 4 ..
2 1 ..
2 8 ..
4 ..
1 1 ..
1 8 ..
2 5 ..
2 ..
9 ..
1 6 ..
2 8 ..
3 0 ..
6 ..
..
..
..
..
Loans.
26,5 09 ,9 7 7
2 6,719,383
26,685,873
26,856,891
2 6,967,429
27,7 37 ,4 2 9
27,884,568
28,808,106
27,817,918
27,747,339
27,693,408
27,435,268
26,837,976
26,406,4 58
26,177,875
Specie.
5,9 8 2,26 0
5,9 2 6,71 4
6 ,046,248
6 ,136,539
6,296,429
6,363,043
6,144,905
6,404,375
6,689,591
6,680,818
6 ,349,390
6,286,620
5,922,147
5,521,759
5,415,587
Circulation.
2 ,778,252
2,901,337
2 ,900,832
2,923,551
3,029,255
3,425,196
3,580,447
3,364,531
3,179,236
3,081,102
3,152,725
3.090,007
3,014,659
2,975,736
2,992,198
Deposits.
16,012,765
16,372,368
16,703,049
16,899,846
1 7,476,060
1 7,154,770
17,002,878
17,829,494
17,804,212
17,781,229
17,441,125
17,603,264
17,182,349
16,454,661
16,386,995
Due banks.
4,0 8 6,65 1
3 ,854,990
3,841,605
3,9 2 9,01 0
4,1 0 9,45 5
4 ,3 2 9,34 3
4,6 6 8,13 5
4,519,146
4,4 3 9,45 7
4,2 1 7,83 4
4,1 6 0,78 0
3,930,536
3,462,753
3,403,572
8,367,146
NEWr ORLEANS BANKS.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
3 ..
1 0 ..
1 7 ..
2 4 ..
8 1 ..
5 ..
1 2 ..
1 9 ..
2 7 ..
1 2 ..
1 9 ..
2 6 ..
2 ..
9 ..
1 6 ..
2 3 ..
3 0 ..
7 ..
1 4 ..
2 1 ..
2 8 ..
Short loans.
20,5 37 ,5 6 7
2 0,4 53 ,4 1 7
2 0 ,9 04 ,8 4 0
21,4 42 ,1 6 7
21,837,791
21,8 09 ,6 2 8
2 2,594,245
22,6 77 ,3 9 0
2 3,126,625
2 2,944,605
22,633,181
22,4 20 ,4 4 4
2 2,4 65 ,7 3 0
21.655,921
21,132,186
20,2 87 ,9 0 3
19,926,487
19,443,947
18,948,824
18,925,857
18,594,556
Specie.
16,013,189
16,294,474
16,343,810
16,279,655
16,101,158
16,365,053
16,700,188
16,949,263
16,806,998
16,828,140
17,013,593
16,837,405
16,179,137
16,250,790
15,975,547
16,705,599
15,650,736
15,539,235
15.534,148
15,203,875
14,784,944
Loans.
JaD.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
Circulation.
9,5 5 1,32 4
1 0,383,734
1 0,819,419
1 1,224,464
11,616,119
1 1,913,009
1 2,148,174
12,241,954
12,522,244
12,581,934
12,777,999
12,681,931
13,054,416
12,985,616
12,777,079
12,666,116
12,578,111
12,711,640
12,513,001
12,326,726
12,032,821
Deposits.
Exchange.
22,643,428 9 ,882,602
21,756,592
9,866,131
2 2,194,957 9 ,666,070
22,549,305
9,492,871
22,554,889
9,508,703
2 2,743,175 9,747,755
23,830,045
9,686,145
9,474,473
23,620,711
23,203,848
9,217,655
2 3,501,784 9,046,372
2 2,364,430 8,563,771
22,589,661
8,770,788
2 2,465,730 9 ,059,382
2 2 ,0 66 ,1 6 4 9,493,761
22,356,833 9,949,531
21,792,705 10,055,454
21,315,664 9,537,886
21,396,145
9,271,213
20,569,681
8,439,088
19,890,960 7,428,213
19,445,178 7,190,460
PITTSBURG BANKS.
Specie.
Circulation.
3..
1 0 ..
1 7 . . ............
2 4 . . .............
3 1 . . ............
7 .. ............
1 4 . . .............
2 1 . . ............
2 8 . . ............
7 .. .............
1 4 . . .............
2 1 . . .............
2 8 . . ..........
4 . . .............
1 1 . . ............
1 8. . ____ : .
2 5 . . ............
2 . . ............
9 . . ............
1 6 . . ............
2 3 . . ............
3 0 . . ............
6 . . ............
6 ,743,540
6 ,970,837
6 ,964,674
6,988,923
7,027,680
6,953,599
7,001,804
6,945,722
6 ,982,847
7 ,069.162
6 ,991,949
7 .213,664
7,2 1 2,51 3
7 ,197,068
7,245,963
7,327,114
7,276,965
7,235,561
7,161,874
7,082,987
7,090,569
1,287,552
1,294,567
1,308,325
1,307,145
1,260,532
1,219,551
1,223,396
1,213,552
1,133,754
1,100,171
1,156.682
1 ,112,770
1,113,769
1,128,686
1,191,797
1,155,780
1,182,273
1,141,556
1,089,513
1,053,799
1,086,945
1,063,567
2,042,348
2 ,023,948
1,961,493
1,965,723
1,904,978
1,958,098
1,919,658
1 ,9 3 7 ,4 9 8
1,867,848
2 ,029,468
1,961.843
1,954,903
2,080,363
2,035,188
2,089,498
2,084,153
2 ,000,344
2,010,948
2,101,348
2,024,673
1,952,238
1,930,468
Distant
balances.
2 ,331,233
2,540,573
2 ,380,707
2 ,057,217
1,861,866
2 ,000,056
1,879,644
2 ,174,619
2,320,031
1,959,638
2,432,776
2 ,420,725
2,545,873
2,582,084
2,243,528
2,449,421
2 ,100,219
2,029,992
2,127,956
2,062,447
2,089,701
Deposits. Due banks.
1,811,780
16'J,902
1,767,594
216,097
1,804,149
179,451
1,781,474
241,121
1,739,046
215,608
1,748,144
202,505
1,724,773
164,859
1,699,020
134,859
1,683,030
175,640
1,637,796
160,996
1,638,243
220,822
1,625,949
215,029
1,602.283
180.567
1,704,191
2 37,290
1,747,237
196,288
1,751,230
262,922
1,782,131
274,549
1,856,843
291,061
1,899,805
2 1 2 ,68 2
1,865,657
2 2 8 ,1S7
1,774,093
1,699.393
1,666,775
Journal o j Banking, Currency, and Finance.
89
S T. L O U IS B A N K S .
Exchange.
3,297,559
3,345,015
3,331,189
3,409,026
2,480,693
3,557,028
3,540,103
3,549,330
3 ,545,202
3,400,186
3,296,937
3,422.612
3,337,296
3,339,900
3,464,386
3,425,470
3,410,135
3,435,940
3,475,945
8,691,958
3,615,197
3,678,049
Jan.
8
15
22
29.
Feb. 5.
12 .
19.
26.
Mar.
5.
12 .
19.
26.
Apr.
2.
9.
16.
23.
30.
May
7.
14.
21 .
2 8,
June
Jan,
Feb.
Mar.
4.
17..........
7 .........
21.........
6.........
21.........
Apr. 4.......
May
2.........
Loans.
18,037,795
18,298,481
18,533,944
18,327,546
18,333 574
18,483,550
18,260,520
Circulation.
2,030,608
1,992,670
2 ,116,870
2,185,385
2,032,235
1,865,125
1,932,210
1,819,745
1,808,100
1,733,620
1,673,475
1,596,806
1,566,380
1,516,840
1,492,055
1,439,085
1,332,355
1,360,835
1,359,241
1,333,815
1,274,605
1,267,675
PROVIDENCE BANKS.
Circulation.
Specie.
537,884
2,003,313
1,789,673
451,771
1,927,359
412,571
1,967,389
375,757
377.945
1,943,450
1,938,448
387,317
399 ,29 4
1,920,391
Deposits.
2 ,513,422
2,446,451
2,411,858
2,324,691
2,288,175
2,374,941
2,394,688
Specie.
1 ,705,262
1,578,800
1,584,541
1,640,541
1,599,203
1,682,084
1,678,054
1 ,636,054
1 ,575,362
1,569,742
1,605,802
1.642,589
1,542,211
1,531,199
1,525,315
1,434,491
1,435,568
1,549,133
1,574,657
1,642,616
1,373,194
1,367,181
Due oth. b’ks.
1,307,647
1,135,309
968 ,15 4
978,410
255,892
972,491
803,729
ILLINOIS STATE INDEBTEDNESS.
From investigations into the amount of scrip and other evidences of indebt
edness, which have from time to time been issued by the State, it appears that
on the 1st of December, 1846, the total amount of interest scrip dated March
1st, 1 8 4 0 In circulation, was....................
Amount of canal indebtedness.
Ninety days checks...................
Accepted contractors’ orders ..
Scrip issued by Governor Ford
Total in circulation, December
$ 2 8 6 ,7 2 4
2 96,759
315
19,943
204 ,33 7
1, 1 8 4 6 .........................................
72
98
00
00
15
$ 8 0 7 ,0 7 9 85
Of the above there was funded daring Governor French’s term, dated July
1st, 1847 :—
In bonds for the principal..................................................................................
For lost or stolen scrip .......................................................................................
$ 76 2 ,0 0 0 0 0
7,000 00
Total..............................................................................................................
$ 7 6 9 ,0 0 0 00
Leaving a balance in circulation of only $38,079 85 ; yet, by examination, it
appears that, from December 1st, 1854, to December 1st, 1856, there was taken
up with the fund appropriated for the purchase of indebtedness, the sum of
$47,398 50, of different kinds of canal indebtedness, an excess of nearly $10,000
more than there was outstanding.
90
Journal o j Banking, Currency, and Finance.
R EPO RT OF THE BOSTON CLEARING HOUSE,
FOE
TH E
TEAR
ENDING
MARCH
31, 1859.
In presenting to this meeting the third annual report of the association, in
conformity with the provisions of the constitution, we would beg leave to state,
that we do not find much matter of note to comment upon in regard to financial
and banking affairs during the year which has just ended.
The great financial troubles of 1857 have been followed by a long protracted
stagnation in all branches of trade and industry throughout the country, the par
alyzing effect of which has acted more or less on our banking institutions.
The demand for money has been limited; good business paper has been scarce,
and much sought for by the banks generally; and although our resources have
been large, and our loans higher than at any former period, still the ruling rates
of interest have been so reduced that the profits for the past year must, of ne
cessity, be small, compared with former years.
Two new banks (the Bank of the Metropolis and the Safety Fund Bank) have
been organized, and are now in successful operation, under the provisions of the
general banking law of 1851, whereby any ten or more persons are authorized
to beer me a body corporate for the purpose of carrying on the business of
banking.
The essential difference between this law and the law by which banks are or
ganized under special charters, is in the obligation of all banks doing business
under the first-Damed law to secure the circulation of their bills, in full, by pledge
of public stocks of any city or town in either of the New England States, State
of New York, or the United States ; and the amount so secured to be exempt
from taxation, provided it does not exceed three-fourths of the capital stock ;
and also the right to pay from their own counters bills of any bank in this Com
monwealth.
In this connection, perhaps it may not be considered inappropriate to inquire
if there does not appear to be a want of harmony between the two laws ? And
if, in some particulars, one is not in direct conflict with the other ? Or else, by
the passage of the general banking law, are not all the banks in this State re
lieved from certain restrictions imposed upon them under their special charter ?
By reference to the 69th section of the 36th chapter of the Revised Statutes,
it will be seen that it is provided, “ If, during the continuance of any existing
bank charter, any new or greater privileges shall be granted to any bank which
may hereafter be created, every bank in operation at the time of such grant
shall be entitled to the same privilege.”
And, also, by the 11th section of chapter 93, all banks are prohibited from
paying any bills from their counters except their own.
By the provisions of the general banking law in regard to this subject, it ap
pears that new, if not greater, privileges are allowed to banks ; and iu view of
this fact, the question at once suggests itself, have not the banks in this Com
monwealth, doing business under special charters, the right, by the enactment of
the general banking law, to pay from their own -counters bills of any of the other
banks in this State ? And, also, have they not the right to avail themselves of
all new privileges which may have been granted to any new bank ?
The specie held by the associated banks for the past year has been larger than
ever before in this city, the highest amount being on the 10th day of December,
viz., $9,669,000. The average for the year has been $8,538,000, which sum is
much above the limits required by law.
From actual calculation it appears that 9.49 per cent has been the sum required
in specie, during the past year, to meet the balances growing out of the daily
exchanges at the Clearing House; which fact would seem to indicate that the
legal minimum of specie is sufficient for almost any emergency which may arise
in the ordinary business of sound, legitimate banking.
Still, the committee would respectfully suggest that, in order to maintain the
position which the Boston banks have so justly held, each aud every bank con
nected w-ith this association should keep on hand a specie reserve larger than the
amount required by law, which, in the aggregate, would average on the legal lia
I
91
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
bilities—that is, the circulation and deposits—for the past year, about §4,025,000 ;
so that the weekly published statement may never exhibit the volume of specie
to be less than §5,000,000.
We are all members of one fraternity, and there is a community of interests
which cannot be overlooked or ignored. Our influence and dependence is recip
rocal, and any deviation from sound and healthy rules of finance by either one
of us acts promptly on the whole. Hence, the great importance of such united
conservatism in all our financial transactions as will serve to give increased con
fidence in, and stability to, our banking institutions.
The amount of public stocks held by the Auditor of this Commonwealth on
the 1st instant, for the security of the circulation issued by the banks, under the
general banking law, was §182,000.
Four new banks have become connected with this association since our last
meeting, viz., the Hide and Leather, the Mutual Redemption, the Metropolis, and
the Safety Fund, making an addition, in all, of sixteen since the first establish
ment of the institution.
The whole number of banks now connected with the Clearing House is fortyfive, with an aggregate capital of §35,771,700, the increase lor the past year
having been §2,361,700.
The exchanges for the year ending March 31, amount to §1,262,795.000 ; bal
ances received and paid during the same time amount to §119,323,000; the
whole amount of certificates issued by the Merchants’ Bank to April 1st, 1859,
was §12,229,500; the amount canceled to the same date was §9,069,500 ; the
total amount in circulation among the associated banks to the same time was
§3,160,000.
The following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year :— Daniel
Denny, Chairman; Charles Gf. Nazro, Secretary; Andrew J. Hall, Thomas
Lamb, A . D. Hodges, J. Amory Davis, Benjamin E. Bates, Clearing House
Committee.
TAXES IN TENN ESSEE,
The population of the State has increased about 50 per cent since 1840, but
the expenditures have increased 300 per cent. The State tax is mainly raised
by an ad valorem tax on property and a tax on polls. These have been at the
following rates:—
TAXES ON $100 PROPERTY.
State.
Poll.
1840.........
1841.........
1842.........
1843.........
1844.........
1845.........
1846.........
1847.........
1848.........
1849.........
5
5
5
6
H
ll
H
ni
Hi
1850.................
1851.................
1852.................
1853.................
1854.................
1S55.................
124 1856.................
12i 1857.................
15 1858.................
15 1859.................
12*
12i
12i
12*
12£
State.
Poll.
........
114
Hi
Hi
........
___
14
14
15
15
15
15
40
40
40
50
50
50
.cents
REVENUE OF GREAT BRITAIN,
ABSTRACT OF THE GROSS REVENUE OK THE UNITED KINGDOM IN THE TEARS ENDING MARCH
SI, 1858 AND 1859.
1859.
18,98.
1859.
1858.
Customs........... £24,117,943 £23.109,104 Post-office........ £3,200,000 £2,920,000
Excise.............. 17,902,000 17,825,000 Crown lands. . .
280,040
276,654
Stamps............
8,005,769
7,414,710 Miscellaneous..
2,125,941
1,596,887
Tuxes..............
3,162,000
3,152,033
Property tax...
6,683,587 11,586,115
Total........ £65,477,283 £67,881,612
I
92
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
LOANING MONEY IN MINNESOTA,
Minnesota has no usury law restricting the contracts of borrower and lender,
except one of fifteen per cent, applicable to banks only. The law gives the mort
gagee the right to sell mortgaged premises in six weeks after default of any of
the conditions of the mortgage, and the mortgagor can redeem in twelve months
by paying twelve per cent interest on the amount of debt and costs from the
time of sale. The mortgagee may sell by a bill in chancery in nine months, and
get the full interest called for by the contract. There is a redemption right here
also to the mortgagor by paying the interest for a year—12 per cent. Money
loans from 15 to 36 per cent, and there is no difficulty in getting 15, 18, and 20
per cent for a year or two years, and good improved St. Paul property, or lands
worth from three to six times the sum loaned—estimating the property always
below the views of the owner—as security. The interest is payable semi-annually.
BOARD OF CURRENCY.
A t a meeting of this Board, held in May last, at the Directors’ Rooms of the
Mercantile Library, Mr. James Gallatin, the president, being in the chair, the
Hon. George Opdyke, as chairman of the Committee of the Board of Currency,
presented a report on the “ Past and Present State of our Currency,” from which
the following abstract is gathered :—
ANNUAL VIEW OF GROSS CIRCULATION AND DEPOSITS, AS COMPARED WITH THE POPULATION
OF OUR CITY, AND RATIO TO POPULATION.
Population o f
Money
Circulation
city and
to each
Tears.
and deposits.
suburbs.*
inhabitant.
1 85 4
.....................................................
$ 69 ,911,288
7 65,777
$91 30
1 855 .............................................................
72,0 32 ,1 4 0
7 96,888
90 40
1 85 6 ...............................................................
9 1,438,549
837 ,88 8
109 10
1 857 ...............................................................
104,448,329
878 ,88 8
118 80
1858 ...........
85,1 25 ,6 2 7
919 ,88 8
92 60
1859 ...............................................................
1 19 ,144,832
9 6 6 ,88 8
123 30
1 86 0 ...................................................................................................
1 ,016,368
.............
The following summary has been prepared by a committee of the Board of
Currency. It shows, in the first place, the progressive accumulation of bank
cash liabilities, under the heads of “ circulation and deposits,” for each year from
1834 to 1858 ; secondly, the population of the same dates; and finally, the ratio
of combined circulation and deposits to each individual:—
Circulation and
deposits.
Tears.
1 8 3 4 .. $ 1 7 9 ,5 0 6 ,5 56
1 86 ,77 3 ,8 6 0
1 8 3 5 ..
255,40 5 ,4 7 8
1 8 3 6 ..
276 ,58 3 ,0 7 5
1 8 3 7 ..
200,83 0 ,0 9 4
1 8 3 8 ..
225.411,141
1 8 3 9 ..
182,665,429
1 8 4 0 ..
172,180,375
1 8 4 1 ..
146,142,881
1 8 4 2 ..
114,732,236
1 8 4 3 ..
169,718.431
1 8 4 4 ..
1 8 4 5 ..
177,629,357
1 8 4 6 ..
202 ,46 5 .4 9 7
197,312,299
1 8 4 7 ..
Per
Per
Circulation and
Population. head.
Population. head.
Tears.
deposits.
2 1,764,086 $10 65
14,413,204 $ n 83 1 8 4 8 .. $23 1 ,7 3 2 ,2 68
9 17
12 61 1849..
2 2,463,723
14,814,617
205,922,038
2 3,191,876
15,230,948
16 77 1 8 5 0 ..
240,953,121
10 39
11 87
15,663,597
17 66 1861..
284,122,963
23,935,017
1 6,113,564
3 28 ,906,080 24.693,158
13 31
12 46 1852..
25,464,299
13 36
16,581.849
13 59 1853..
348,094,831
17,069,453
10 70 1 85 4 ..
392,877,921
2 6,249,440
14 97
17,577,073
27,047,581
13 95
9 79 1 855..
377,352,565
18,105,785
408,45 3 ,6 1 2
2 7,858,722
14 66
8 07 1 85 6 ..
18.656,796
445 ,13 0 ,1 7 4
2 8 ,6 82 .8 6 3
15 52
6 15 1 85 7 ..
1 9,229,558
8 81 1 85 8 ..
11 56
3 41 ,140,393 29,5 20 ,0 0 4
19,825,721
30,370,145
14 91
8 96 1 85 9 ..
452 ,87 5 ,0 9 6
............................................
. .
20,446.137
9 90 I 8 6 0 ..
31,233,289
21,091,908
9 35
* The increase of population for the decade is assumed at 58 per cen t Between 1840 and 1850,
the increase was 81 per cent, and from 1830 to 1S40, it was over 66 per cent.
Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.
93
SPECIE AND IN TER E ST IN PARIS AND LONDON,
A t the close of the year 1858, we published tables of the monthly amounts of
specie held respectively by the Banks of France and England, with the bank
rates of interest. Since then the war has produced remarkable fluctuations,
and we bring down the table to the latest dates. The rate of interest in Eng
land remained at 21 per cent, until the famous ultimatum of Austria produced
alarm, the effect of which was to cause a demand for money to cover outstand
ing obligations, and the bank raised the rate to 3 per cent, and subsequently to
31 per cent. When the demand subsided as wants were satisfied, and no business
was undertaken to require money, while gold began to pour in from America
and Australia, the banks put down the rate to 31 per cent, and in the first
week in June to 3 per cent, the bullion standing as follows :—
BANK OF ENGLAND.
,—
1856_ _ _ , ,—
Specie.
Dis.
January........ £10,416,951
February....... 10,613,719
March............ 10,553,565
April.............
9,858,607
May...............
9,788,582
June............. 13,073,758
July.............. 12,378,327
August.......... 12,494,945
September . . 12,141,311
October......... 10,784,254
November....
9,530,152
December.... 10,486,298
1857. — , ,—
Specie.
6 £10,182,406
6
9,979,246
6
10,310,496
6
10,322,297
6
9,808,127
41 10,290,640
41 11,516,856
41 11,259,906
41 11,276,088
6
10,662,692
7
7,170,508
61 10,753,281
Dis.
1858. — % ,----- 1859.---- ,
Specie.
Dis.
Specie.
Dis.
6 £13,857,107 6 £19,192,350 21
6
16,574,647 3
19,747,174 21
6
17,713,242 3
19,922,732 21
61 15,307,339 3
18,596,634 21
64
17,926,986 3
17,041,313 41
6
18,020,944 3 17,967,887 3
51 17,938,447 3
........................
51 17,340,421 3
........................
6
18,039,465 3
........................
7a8 19,496,991 3
........................
9al0 18,638,916 3
........................
8
18,921,171 21 ........................
These returns correspond to the monthly returns of the Bank of France,
which, under the war influence, raised its rate of interest as follows :—
January.........
February.......
March............
A p r il............
M ay..............
June.............
July......... ..
August..........
September...
October........
November....
December . . .
1
QO
ers
1_
BANK OF FRANCE.
,— 1887. -
,—
1858. -
r—
1859. -
Specie.
Specie.
Die.
Dis.
Specie.
Dis.
Specie.
Dis.
6 $ 3 5 ,8 y 7 ,l 39
6 $ 47 ,128,830
$38,64 4 ,5 0 6
5 $101,809,400
36,585,131
6
4 0,176,922
6
5 3,035,138 41 101,499,640
41,678,545
6
38,268,236
6
63,323,865
4 101,457,204
Si
45,9 80 ,4 0 2
6
60,293,190 5
71,780,888 4
101,994,253
43,749,456
53,688,381
5
6
82,993,386
4
96,153,141
4
53,397,182
6
5
53,680,536
85,716,528
4 107,164,504 4
49,195.570
43,203,714
5
51 9 8,991,934 4
4 5,975,784 » i 105,283,051
46,412,781
5
4
4 6,296,110
4 4,229,960 6
116,953,892
3
42,286.591
6| 103,007,890 3
31,212,119
6
6
35,585,613
30,706,956
8 101,062,022
3
44,630,221
6
6 106,472,948
36,247,389
....................
3
H
n
Si
It will be observed that the specie in both banks declined $25,000,000 in sixty
days, to the May returns, and in France it has risen higher than ever. This in
crease in France is due to the extraordinary results of the loan under the law of
May 2d. The law required 10 per cent of the amount bid for to be paid in nine
days. The amount asked for was 520,000,000 francs, and the amount bid was
2,509,559,776 francs, requiring a deposit of 250,955,977 francs, in addition to
which 45,302,703 francs was paid in advance on the loan, making 296,258,680
francs, or nearly $60,000,000, paid in on the loan. Of the amount 100,000,000
francs was paid in the Departments, and the remainder in Paris, where 73,000,000
94
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
francs was immediately returned to those who did not get stock. This large
operation sustained the bank reserve, in face of the heavy war disbursements.
The decline in the value of money is the worst symptom, indicating no confidence
among commercial men in a speedy termination of the war.
CLAIMS OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.
The State Department has just published a list of the claims held by citizens
of the United States against foreign governments, with the names of claimants,
nature of the claim, and the result of action, if any, either by our government
or by the foreign government against which the claim is made. From this list
we have compiled an interesting summary, showing the number and aggregate
amount of claims against each government. The number of claims where the
amount is not stated is also given. The list takes date from January, 1816, and
is made up as late as the files of the State Department would permit:—
CLAIMS ON FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.
Great Britain......................
France .............................
Spain...........................
Portugal............................
Belgium...........................
Holland .............................
Denmark.........................
Prussia................................
Russia................................
Austria..............................
R om e.................................
Turkey..............................
Greece.............................
Naples............................. .
Sardinia........................... .
China...............................
Feejee Islands...................
Sultan of Johanna........... .
H ayti............................... .
Dominica.........................
Mexico...............................
Guatemala........................ .
Nicaragua.........................
Costa Rica.........................
New Granada..................
Venezuela.......................
Ecuador...........................
Peru.................................
Chili.................................
Brazil................................
Buenos Ayres....................
Uruguay...........................
Paraguay..........................
Old Republic of Colombia
Total.....................
Amount
not stated.
66
10
86
15
..
4
1
1
No.
19
4
167
22
20
3
2
-Claims.----------*
Am ount
$9,8 19 ,9 8 9
2 ,820,944
5,712,270
171,729
159,351
38,200
12,040
2
1
401 ,00 0
5 ,0 0 0
1
1
100,000
2,400
47
1,711,539
1
6
2
379
20,000
174,174
26,000
3 0,276,506
8
19
10
17
20
1
61
10
41
3
2
2
32
6 0 6 ,74 8
664,237
1,054,657
1,352,830
49,465
3,078,815
624,005
1,025,941
64,873
16,791
985 ,00 0
2,128,219
496
894
$ 5 9 ,98 6 ,7 3 3
6
1
2
9
1
7
11
4
122
4
24
4
51
5
.
16
2
31
14
1
.
It will be observed that the largest claims are against Great Britain, France,
Spain. Mexico, Peru, and the old Republic of Colombia. The claims against
Mexico are more than half the total amount. Peru is now in a situation, from
95
Journal o j Banking, Currency, and Finance.
her large guano monopoly revenues, to yield satisfaction. Mexico should be
strictly dealt with, for, from present appearance, we shall not only have an in
creased file of claims for money, but have claims against her for lives of American
citizens. The well-known case of a citizen of the United States taken from our
own territory, and imprisoned eighteen months by Mexican officials iu a Mexican
jail, is one of the late outrages. The reports from our consuls, and from officers
of the navy on the west coast of Mexico, do not give assurances that our flag is
more respected than years ago.
RATE S OF DISCOUNT IN ENGLAND.
BATES OF DISCOUNT FOR FIRST CLASS BILLS AT THE UNDERMENTIONED PERIODS, BROUGHT
BEFORE A COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT.
Av. per
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. J’ne. July ■Aug. Sept., Oct. Nov. Dec.
Y e ars.
annum.
1 8 2 4 ............... . . . .
Si 34 34 34 34
34 34 34 34 34 34 3 10 0
4
4
4
4
Si 34 3 4 34 3 4
1 8 2 5 ............... . . . .
44 44 3 17 6
5
5
4
4
4
4 10 0
1 8 2 6 ...............
5
5
4
44 4 4 4
3
3
3
3
3 5 9
4
3
3
1 8 2 7 ............... ____
34 34 34 34 3
3
1 8 2 8 ...............
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
34 3 0 10
s
3
3
3
3 7 6
1 8 2 9 ...............
34 34 3
34 34 4
34
4
2 16 3
3
1 8 8 0 ...............
24 24 24 2 f 3
24 24 24 24
4
4
4
4
3 13 9
1 8 8 1 ............... . . . .
Si 3
34
34 34 4
34 4
3
3
2f
3 2 11
1 8 3 2 ...............
34 34 34 34 34 3
24 24
3
1 8 3 3 ............... . . . .
2i
24 2 4
24
34 34 2 14 7
24 24 24 24 3
3
24
1 8 3 4 ............... . . . .
Si 3
34 34 34 8 7 6
34 34 34 34 4
4
1 8 3 5 ............... . . . .
Si 34 3 4 34 34 4
34
34 34 34 34 3 14 2
4
5
5
1 8 3 6 ............... . . . .
3| 34 3 4
34 34 4
44
64 54 4 6 0
1 8 3 7 ............... . . . .
&i 54 5 4 54 44 44 44 4
34 34 34 34 4 8 9
24
3
3
1 8 3 8 ............... . . . .
3i 3
34 34 3 0 0
24 2| 3
24 3
5
1 8 3 9 ............... . . . .
34 34 34 3 4 4
54 6
64 64 64 64 5 2 6
44 44 4 4
6
1 8 4 0 ...............
6
44 4 4 4 4 44 44 5
6 4 4 19
5
5
4 17 11
1 8 4 1 ............... . . . .
5J 5
44 44
44 44 44 5
54 5
1 8 4 2 ............... . . . .
4f
34 3
34 34
44 34 3 4
24 24 24 24 3 6 8
2
2
2
1 8 4 3 ............... . . . .
24 2
2| 24 2
24 24 2
24 2 3 4
2
2
2
2
2
1 8 4 4 ............... . . . .
2i
24 24 24 2 2 6
14 2
If
2| 3
1 8 4 5 ............... . . . .
2f
2 19 2
21 24
24 3
34 44
24 2 f
4
3
5
4
3 15 10
1 8 4 6 ...............
34 3 f 3
34
34
44 4
6
6
6
5 17 1
1 8 4 7 ............... . . . .
7 10
34 44 4 4 44 7
54 6
24
3
3
3
1 8 4 8 ............... . . . .
44
34 34 34 34 34 3
24 3 4 2
2 6 3
1 8 4 9 ............... . . . .
24
24 2 4
24 24 24 24 24 2
24 24 24
2
1 8 5 0 ...............
2
2
24 2 4
24 2
24 24 24 24 2 5 0
3
24 3 1 3
1 8 5 1 ............... . . . .
3
3
34 3
3
34
3 4 34 34 2 f
2
1 8 5 2 ............... . . . .
24
24 2
14 I f 44 I f 14 14 14 J4 1 18 2
3
1 8 5 3 ............... . . . .
3
24
8
34
34
34 34 4
54 3 13 4
54 6
1 8 5 4 ............... -----5 44 44 5
5
5
54 54 5
44 44 44 4 18 9
1 6i* 64* • 64*
1 8 5 5 ............... . . . .
5
5
4 13 4
4f
4 34 34 3
34
H
4
2§
i
'•
1 8 5 7 ...............
1 8 5 8 ...............
i
6 4 * 6 4 * 6 4 * 6J* ■6*
44
64t « * t 6 4 f 6 J f
7f
6 6 64 64 « t
.. 1 !
1 8 5 9 ...............—
24
34
3
24
3
3
24
34
3
3
‘1
44
44
44 j
54t
6
6
3
3
3
! 7t 7t
16*
! 7+
s f lo t
3
}7
3
n
6
17
8
8
24
The rates during the latter part of the year 1857 were so variable and extrav
agant that it would now be difficult to recapitulate them. In October, the rates
were 6, 7, and 8 per cent; in November, 9 and 10 per cent; and in December
were somewhat less. We have adopted the rates charged by the Bank for June,
July, October, and November of that year. In 1847, the high rates were owing
to the famine in Ireland, and the heavy export of gold to the United States and
to the continent, iu payment of the large importations of grain.
* 60 days.
t 90 days.
$ Bank o f England rates.
96
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
TRADE OF SHANGHAE,
We have received from Dr. M. W . Pish, of Shanghae, a very full report of the
commerce of that port for the year 1858, from which we have compiled a few
particulars, which may be interesting to our readers. The following is a sum
mary of the total arrivals and clearances at Shanghae for the last year :—
.--------Entered.-------- .
,-------- Cleared.--------- ,
"Vessels.
Tonnage.
Vessels.
British.............................................
American........................................
Allother.........................................
290
97
367
120,205
56,280
66,139
174
56
148
Tonnage.
77,496
88,270
89,029
Total...................................
754
242,624
378
154,795
It will be seen that the tonnage under the flag of the United States wasmuch
the largest in proportion to the number of ships employed, as the vessels were
mostly of the heavier class, many of them being clippers. The following will
show the declared value of the imports and exports at Shanghae for the year
1858 :—
Goods and merchandise.
Specie and bullion........
Imports.
$29,470,000
6,113,000
Exports.
$47,777,000
15,038,000
Known total
Add opium............
$35,683,000
24,722,000
$62,815,000
Grand total.
$60,305,000
The quantity of opium, (the article being technically contraband,) can only
be estimated, but the facilities are not wanting for arriving at a very satisfactory
conclusion. The estimate includes 25,122 chests Malwa, valued at 12,058,560
taels, and 7,238 chests Patna, valued at 3,763,760 taels. The imports of
Shanghae for the year 1858, include 414,505 pieces of American gray twills, and
36,400 pieces of American sheetings.
TEA EXPORT FOR THE YEAR
1858.
Black.
Green.
Great Britain............................. pounds
12,507,037
8,214,620
Poo chow, Hong Kong...........................
765,417
1,146,736
Australia................................................
826,129
143,602
Montreal........................................................
43,914
684,148
Continent direct.....................................
529,080
72,775
71,089 21,051,555
United States................................................
..........
9,600
Manilla..................................................
Total 1858..................................
14,242,666
EXPORTS OF SILK FROM SHANGHAE,
31,223,036
Total.
$20,721,657
1,912,153
469,731
628,062
601,855
21,122,644
9,600
45,465,702
1858.
Raw.
Thrown.
Total.
Great Britain............................................ bales
Hong Kong.......................................................
Foo-chow..........................................................
United States....................................................
Manilla..............................................................
24,957
37,804
209
1,614
201
1,494
4,971
8
19
2
26,451
42,775
217
1,633
203
Total......................................................
64,785
6,494
71,279
97
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
Besides this, the export of coarse, refuse, and cocoons, was as follows to Great
Britain :—
391
138
921
Coarse...............................
Refuse..............................
Cocoons...........................
Total bales exported in the year 1858....
72,729
TRADE OF SMYRNA FOR 1858.
The following are the official returns of the trade of Symrna for the year
1858
America......................................
Austria........................................
Belgium.................................... .
France.........................................
Great Britain................................
Greece.........................................
Holland.......................................
Malta...........................................
Turkish ports...............................
Sardinia.......................................
Tuscany.....................................
Ionian Islands..............................
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Papal States................................
Exports.
Imports.
19,123,110
60,739,270
433,700
83,184,580
123,966,220
1,802,960
2,120,410
948,880
21,708,480
4,190,860
1,940,640
1,884,690
10,837,600
1,350,630
630,100
478,240
175,500
72,500
18,510,820
38,093,700
2,998,230
41,733,080
110,471,120
3,708,020
4,000,230
1,997,100
67,735,590
3,828,480
2,353,600
304,800
57,500
421,000
Total................................
265,588,270
295,743,470
Showing that the trade of Smyrna suffered considerably from the crisis of
1857. In that year the import trade amounted to 305,936,710 piastres; in 1858
to 295,913,470 piastres; leaving a difference of 10,023,240. The export trade
suffered still more. In 1857 it amounted to 299,667,790 piastres; in 1858 to
265,588,270 ; difference 34,079,520 piastres.
SHIPPING TRADE OF TREBIZOND,
The following interesting tabular statement of the shipping trade of Trebizond
during the year 1858 has just been issued :—
Flag.
British..........
Austrian........
French..........
Russian........
Turkish........
Il-hami Pasha.
Greek.............
Dutch......... ...
Prussian........
Wallachian . .
,-------------------- Im ports.--------------------- . .-------------------- Exports.-------------------- ,
No. Sail- Steam- Ton- Value cargoes, N o. Sail- Steam- Ton- Val. cargoes,
ves’ls. ing. ers.
nage.
francs.
yes’ls. ing. ers. nage.
francs.
19
45
51
63
89
14
34
2
1
3
11
4
..
47
49
..
34
2
1
3
8
41
51
16
40
14
..
..
..
8,798
80,9^0
15,740
10,675
27,030
5,242
6,034
786
555
840
12,862,800
29,200,975
17,027,000
593,200
26,017,575
5,035,300
880,300
1,507,525
634,750
............
19 11 8
45
4 41
50 . . 50
63 47 16
89 49 40
14 .. 14
34 34 . .
2
2 ..
1
1 ..
3
3 ..
8,798
30,920
15,390
10,675
27,030
5,242
6,043
736
555
340
480,460
8,800,402
6,681,177
1,150,997
9,375,000
1,539,526
125,450
5,000
.
........
Total___ 321 161 170 106,070 93,743,225 S20 151 169 105,740 28,138,001
Passengers arrived and departed by sea during the year....................
50,500
V O L. XLI.-----N O . I .
7
98
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
CHILI: ITS FINANCES AND COMMERCE,
The revenue and expenditures of Chili have been as follows :—
Revenue.
$4,427,906
Years.
1851.... ___
1852....
1853....
Expenditure. Years.
$4,712,147 1854.........
4,937,384 1855.........
5,511,918
pu b lic debt ,
Revenue.
Expenditure.
$5,924,806
6,484,686
6,287,626
1 8 5 5 -6 6 .
Jan. 1, 1855.
Redeemed.
£683,300
667,400
£29,300
15,300
£654,000
642,100
£1,340,700
$6,703,500
£44,600
$223,000
£1,296,100
$6,480,500
Consolidated interior debt, 3 per cent, recognized July 30, 1856...........
Sequestrations recognized, at 3 percent..................................................
1,475,675
484,725
6,833 bonds at 6 per cent...............................
6,574 bonds at 8 per cent...............................
Total foreign
Or...............
Jan. 1, ’56.
Total foreign and domestic......................................................
$8,440,900
COMMERCE OF CHILL
1854.
1855.
Exports of domestic produce.................................
Exports of foreign products...................................
$13,278,416
1,348,740
$16,108,398
1,568,513
Total exports..............................................
Imports from foreign countries..................
$14,627,156
17,428,299
$17,676,911
18,443,287
$32,055,453
$86,120,198
Total commerce
VALUE OF PRINCIPAL EXPORTS.
1854.
QUANTITIES OF MINERALS EXPORTED.
1855.
Flour.................... $1,885,577 $3,229,784 Copper in bars., .qtls.
405,580 1,078,118
Grain
Copper in bars... 2,772,366 2,909,916 Ores of copper..........
662,269 1,729,798 Silver &
,copper ores..
Native copper . . .
881,893 1,322,366 Ores of silver...........
Ores of copper...
Ores of silver . . . . 1,428,462 1,603,889 Ores of cobalt...........
5,963
93,560 Silver in bars.. marcs
Silver &cop’r ores.
89,984
115,326
Vegetables, <fcc. ..
1854.
1855.
171,9S9
144,216
445,042
1,974
157,617
177,765
257,852
559,560
9,873
255,799
4,348
270,984
801,577
IMPORTS OF SUGAR, COFFEE, TEA, AND IRON, AND VALUE OF TOTAL COMMERCE.
Sugar,
arrobas.
Years.
1844.. ___ 246,217
1845.. ___ 330,307
1846.. ___ 607,427
1847.. ___ 511,887
1848.. . . . . 413,956
1849.. ___ 227,097
1850.. . . . 508,281
1851.. ___ 850,729
1852.. ___ 730,757
1853.. ___ 711,635
1854.. ___ 731,427
1855.. ___ 1,518,815
Coffee,
Tea,
Iron,
quintals, pounds, quintals.
i,yby 26,713 b8,bU0
1,722 31,652 52.963
1,941 25,227 18,991
921 33,728 14,968
2,064 49,568 32,989
1,447 53,032 43,956
2,737 36,613 58,969
1,670 80,447 38,842
4,188 104,207 115,835
3,069 65,895 14,175
2,954 89,yt>0 52,859
4,618 112,264 155,740
Exports.
Imports.
Total.
$4,881,561 $8,596,674 $13,478,235
5,623,181
9,104,764 14,727,945
6,340,384 10,149,136 16,489,520
7,021,334 10,068,849 17,090,183
7,234,469
8,601,557 15,836,026
9,424,220 10,722,719 20,146,939
11,392,452 11,788,195 23,180,647
9,666,354 15,884,972 25,551,326
12,216,486 15,347,332 27,563,818
11,230,844 11,553,696 22,784,539
14,627,156 17,428,299 32,055,452
17,676,911 18,433,287 36,110,198
MERCANTILE MARINE.
Vessels.
Tons.
Men.
2,824
1855-6 ............
1847-8 ............
105
12,628
—
Increase...
160
49,377
••• ■
99
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
COMMERCE OF NOVA SCOTIA,
The Reciprocity Treaty has been the means of enlarging the trade between
the United States and the colonies. In this Nova Scotia participates as well as
Canada; but the shipping and commerce of the former are yet on a limited
scale. The manufactures of Nova Scotia are few in number, consisting princi
pally of coarse cloth, flannel, carpets, hats, paper, tobacco, leather, spirits, and
agricultural implements.
In the year 1856, the number of arrivals at ports in Nova Scotia was 5,451,
as follows:—
From.
British.
Great Britain...................................
British North America....................
British West Indies.........................
United States.................................
Others.............................................
139
2,078
310
2,898
169
Total........................................
Clearances...............................
5,094
5,271
Foreign.
9
15
..
308
25
357
342
Total.
Tons.
148
2,093
310
2,706
194
5,451
5,613
65,630
175,196
37,985
305,352
21,138
605,301
564,005
The following shows the total value, in pounds sterling, of imports and exports
of Nova Scotia in each of the years 1854, 1855, and 1856 :—
Years.
Imports.
1854 ...................................................
1855 ...................................................
1856 ...................................................
£1,791,082
1,882,703
1,869,832
Exports.
£1,247,668
1,472,215
1,372,958
Ship-building is a leading manufacture in Nova Scotia. The number of ves
sels constructed in 1854 was 244, and their tonnage 52,814. Besides farming,
t he chief occupation of the inhabitants is fishing, and some combine both pur
suits. There were in 1851 employed in the fisheries of Nova Scotia and Cape
Breton 812 vessels, with a tonnage of 43,333, and manned by 3,681 men ; 5,161
boats, with 6,713 men ; and the number of nets and seines was 30,154. The
quantity of fish cured was 196,434 quintals, and there were also obtained 1,669
barrels of salmon, 3,536 of shad, 100,047 of mackerel, 52,200 of herring, 5,543
of alewives, and 15,409 smoked herrings, valued at £217,270 ; as well as 189,250
gallons of fish oil, valued at £17,754. The total value of the fisheries is esti
mated to exceed £200,000. The exports o f the Province consist principally of
fish, sugar, molasses, rum, cotton and woolen goods, timber, etc. The total value
of the exports in 1854 was £1,247,658. The principal articles imported are
flour, sugar, tea, manufactured goods, etc.
COFFEE TRADE,
The Hamburger Borscnhalle of February 16, 1859, contains a statement rela
tive to the present position of the coffee trade, which appears to have been made
up at Amsterdam :—
On the 1st January, 1858, the total stock of coffee in Europe was.. ..tons
Imports of coffee into Europe in 1858 .......................................................
109,061
186,973
Total..................................................................................................
Stocks in Europe on January 1, 1859..............................................
296,034
54,713
Deliveries in the year 1858...................................................
241,321
Adding thereto the direct importation into the Baltic ports, as well as into
100
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
Portuguese, Spanish, and some smaller Mediterranean ports, not included in the
above, there can be no doubt that the amount of coffee wanted for European
consumption exceeds 250,000 tons, and that the consumption was about one
million bags larger than the importations.
A similar state of things we find in North America:—
Stocks in all ports of the Union on 1st January, 1S58, were..............tons
Imports of coffee in 1858.............................................................................
23,034
101,632
Together................................................................................................
Less exports in 1858.............................................................................
124,666
3,199
Balance..........................................................................................
Stock on the 1st January, 1859....................................................
120,867
8,744
Deliveries for consumption in 1858......................................
112,123
From which it appears that the consumption of coffee in Europe and America
together does now amount to the enormous figure of 353,444 tons, and that with
a continually increasing consumption.
■The consumption of coffee in the following principal consuming countries was
as follows
German
Zollverein,
tons.
Years.
1850................
1851................
1852................
1853................
1854................
1855................
1856................
1857................
1858................
29,899
35,609
35,877
47,295
55,805
61,234
62,517
61,035
65,000
Belgium,
tons.
North
America,
tons.
16,586
17,484
20,736
18,759
18,441
20,186
17,778
21,750
21,168
60,062
80,904
91,514
78,432
80,126
93,919
97,422
77,033
112,123
Exports
Java
Price
of Java, govern m’t crop, from Brazil,
bags.
bags.
cents.
986,599
3'0i
264
1,063,700
868,343
271
231
656,726
291
1,060,462
331a 34 1,102,705
33 a 831 753,064
885,101
33 a 34
915,001
34
1,344,774
2,036,264
1,902,789
1,640,179
1,986,224
2,409,265
2,100,313
2,099,449
1,830,500
STOCK, IMPORTS, AND DELIVERIES OF COFFEE IN THE SIX PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN MARKETS.
/— Stock,
January
1.— %
,----- Importations.----- »
i® 9 .
1858,
1857.
1858.
....................... tons
.............................
36,108
3,939
.............................
.............................
2,071
8,383
55,784
11,615
17,170
5,706
7,727
10,706
68,125
28,836
46,864
12,978
23,483
25,401
74,134
9,747
33,835
9,898
11,867
26,159
Total. .............................
60,447
106,707
Stock on January 1, 1857 and 1858..........
205,687
69,993
165,640
106,706
Total................................................
Stock December 31.........................
275,680
106,706
272,346
60,449
Deliveries in twelve months.
168,984
211,897
Holland.......
Antwerp . . .
Hamburg ...
Trieste.........
Havre..........
England___
Yery considerable, also, is the increase of the consumption of coffee in France,
where the import duties in 1846,1847, and 1848 amounted to 15,800,000 francs,
15.300.000 francs, and 13,378,000 francs, whilst in 1857 they amounted to
27.300.000 francs, and in 1858 to 28,142,910 francs. Ten years ago 300,000
cwt. were sufficient for French consumption, which in 1856 wanted 466,000 cwt.,
in 1857, 559,000 cwt., and in 1858, 564,000 cwt. This is very important, in so
far as France has differential or discriminating duties, and high duties on coffee,
which of course favor most the importation of Indian coffee from the other
101
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
side of the Cape, so that we may conclude the main portion of French coffee
consumption to be of those clean-tasted sorts. In Austria, too, the consumption
of coffee is continually increasing. In 1850, the same was estimated at hardly
300.000 cw t.: in 1856, duty was paid on 372,000 cw t.; in 1857, 387,000 cwt.;
in 1858, for eleven months only, on 396,000 cwt., so that we estimate the whole
year 1858 at 430,000 cwt.
The greatest increase in consumption has taken place in Holland, but as the
article in that country pays no import duty, we have no exact control over i t ;
yet the consumption in Holland does at any rate not amount to less than 350,000
bags, or 400,000 cwt. Upon the whole, the consumption of coffee in Europe
since 1850 has on an average increased 5 per cent per annum, and in North
America 11 per cent.
With every new year the wants of consumption require an additional quantity
of about 400,000 cwt., which wants the growers, in the present state of coffee
cultivation, cannot fully satisfy. The above list of crops in the two principal
coffee producing countries shows not an increase of production, but a decrease.
Pedang, where the production, which in 1850 was 60,000 cwt., has increased to
200.000 cwt. in 1857, and Ceylon, where it has increased from 350,000 cwt. in
1850 to 556,000 cwt. in 1858, are the sole countries where the cultivation of
clean-tasted coffee does increase; for St. Domingo and Laguayra have remained
stationary for a long series of years, and the smaller West India coffee-growing
countries do all show a decrease of production.
CONSUMPTION AND VALUE OF OYSTERS,
The following statistics are thought to be reliable :—
No. o f bushels.
Value.
Virginia.......................................................................
Baltimore..................................................................
Philadelphia.............................................................
New York...................................................................
Fair Haven..................................................................
1,050,000
3,500,000
2,500,000
6,950,000
2,000,000
$1,050,000
3,500,000
2,600,000
6,950,000
2,000,000
Total................................................................
Add for other cities and towns, Providence, Boston, Ac.
16,000,000
4,000,000
$16,000,000
4,000,000
20,000,000
$20,000,000
Total................................................................
M EMPHIS COTTON STATISTICS.
The Memphis Appeal remarks :—The following table exhibits the total ship
ments of cotton from this port from July 1, 1851, to May 1, 1859, showing the
amount shipped, and the direction it has taken :—
July l to July 1.
1851 to 1 8 6 2 .....................................................
1852 to 1 8 5 3 .....................................................
1853 to 1 8 5 4 .....................................................
1854 to 1 8 5 5 .....................................................
1855 to 1 8 5 6 .....................................................
1856 to 1 8 5 7 .....................................................
1857 to 1 8 5 8 .....................................................
1858 to 1 85 9 , July 1 to May 1 .............._____
Entire total.................................
New Orleans.
237,672
Up river.
16,706
22,521
23,156
16,427
34,306
30,184
28,800
82,475
254,575
Total.
171,430
193,056
177,517
2 0 9 ,58 0
305,243
2 74 ,04 5
233,081
320,047
1,883,999
102
Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
This table, which was kindly supplied us by Tobias Wolfe, Esq., our excellent
wharfmaster, has the disadvantage of disagreeing with the commercial year ; but
it is amply sufficient to show how largely our up river commerce is increasing.
From September 1 to May 1, the shipments were as follows :—To New Orleans
243,214 bales ; Ohio River 53,267 bales; St. Louis 23,815 ; total amount gone
up the river during the present season, 77,082 bales. Until the present year, the
greatest amount of cotton sent up the river in any one season, was 34,306 bales,
whereas during only two-thirds of the present season it has amounted to 77,082
bales.
SHIPMENTS.
The total shipments from this port from September 1, 1858, to May 1, 1859,
were—
To New Orleans................................................................
To Ohio River....................................................................
To St. Louis........................................................................
243,214
53,267
23,315
Total........................................................................
820,296
To this must be added 196 bales sent by railway to the interior, and we have
a total of 320,492 bales sent off from the city.
STOCK ON HAND.
We have personally and with great care counted the stock of cotton remain
ing in the sheds on Saturday. W e found in the public sheds of C. W . Mosby,
Gunnis & Hill, and Rosser, a total of 1,655 bales; on the bluffs and at the rail
road depots 344 bales ; at the pickeries 15 bales ; in private sheds 4,197 bales.
Total stock on hand 6,211 bales. In no one place or shed did we find 1,000
bales; in one we found over 800 and under 900 bales ; in one over 600 ; in three
over 500; two over 400 ; two over 300 ; one over 200 ; five over 100 ; the rest
were under 100.
RAILROAD RECEIPTS.
The receipts from September 1,1858, to May 1,1859, were—
By the Charleston R oad...................................................
“
Ohio Road..............................................................
“
Mississippi Road....................................................
181,170
30,888
42,278
Total......................................................................
254,336
The Charleston and Mississippi together have brought in 223,448 bales.
The Charleston Railroad had brought in at the corresponding period last year,
106,840 bales, and the Mississippi Railroad 47,861 bales ; increase on the two
roads 105,635 bales.
As the river receipts have only been collected for two months, we are without
data to furnish upon that point.
The amount of cotton yet to come in from the planters is not large, as good
prices and hard money have drawn the cotton to market more rapidly than is
the case in duller seasons.
COTTON E XPO RTED TO MEXICO.
The San Antonio Texan states that within the past year fourteen hundred
bales of cotton have been exported from that place alone to Mexico for manu
facture, and it predicts that the quantity will be doubled the present year.
103
Journal o f Insurance.
JOURNAL OF INSURANCE.
LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN MASSACHUSETTS.
An act was passed by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts , in June,
1856, by which, in effect, all companies doing business in that Commonwealth
are required annually to furnish the Insurance Commissioners with an attested
statement setting forth, “ in form, the number, date, and amount of each policy,
the age of the insured at the period of its date.”
A subsequent act, approved March 27th, 1858, made further provisions.
The results of the calculation of the present values of the outstanding obliga
tions of fourteen life insurance companies, doing business in Massachusetts, may
be found by reference to the following table.
The calculation is based upon the assumption that four per cent compound
interest will be realized from investments, and that the rate of mortality among
the persons assured will be the same as that indicated by the English “ Actuaries ”
life table:—
SYNOPSIS OF THE STANDING ON THE 1ST OF NOVEMBER, 1858, OF FOURTEEN LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN MASSACHUSETTS.
HOME COMPANIES.
Names of companies.
Massachusetts Hospital...............
New England Mutual.................
State Mutual...............................
Berkshire.....................................
Massachusetts Mutual.................
Date
of
charter.
1818
1835
1844
1851
1851
Total................................
No. o f Amount inpolicies.
sured.
52
3,160
1,737
759
1,299
$133,200
10,158,795
2,762,988
1,646,800
2,706,930
Present net
value of
policies or
reinsurance.
Net
assets.
$17,343
$18,320
703,628 1,363,094
274,081
408,612
74,917
85,807
97,164
121,812
7,007 $17,408,713 $1,167,085 $1,997,648
FOREIGN COMPANIES.
Mutual Life, New York............. 1842 11,067 $35,184,053 $4,007,639 $5,062,576
Mutual Benefit, New Jersey.. . .
1845
5,671 19,526,010 1,114,198 2,492,294
8,348 21,021,565 2,081,495 2,155,410
Connecticut, Connecticut............. 1846
National, Vermont....................... 1848
1,005
1,560,375
92,564
97,772
Union Mutual, Maine.................
1849
1,639
3,874,132
348,325
542,639
Manhattan, New York................ 1850
2,705
8,558,965
467,262
549,135
3,337
6,288,690
267.853
299,557
Charter Oak, Connecticut........... 1850
American Ternperauce. Conn.. . .
1851
1,067
1,616,150
66,328
97,568
656
1,443,541
59,246
98,466
Knickerbocker, New York.......... 1853
Total................................
Grand total.....................
35,495 $99,073,481 $9,404,914 $11,395,422
42,502 116,482,195 10,671,999 13,393,070
HOME OOMPANIES.
Names of companies.
N et assets
to each
$100 o f
reinsurance
Massachusetts Hospital...........................
New England Mutual.............................
State Mutual...........................................
Berkshire.................................................
Massachusetts Mutual..............................
$105
193
149
114
125
T o ta l...........................................
171
Keceipts
o f the
past
year.
..........
$343,908
75,147
55,235
85,740
$560,031
Expenses Expense for
o f the
each $100
past
o f reyear.
ceipts.
..........
$24,352
6,155
7,226
13,288
$7
8
13
15
$51,023
9
104
Journal o f Insurance.
FOREIGN COMPANIES.
Mutual Life, New York....................
Mutual Benefit, New Jersey.............
Connecticut, Connecticut...................
National, Vermont.............................
Union Mutual, Maine.......................
Manhattan, New York......................
Charter Oak, Connecticut..................
American Temperance, Conn............
Knickerbocker, New York................
$1,274,784
748,625
103
887,821
48,378
149,843
300,949
117
196,913
52,890
52,300
$123,643
65,503
54,148
6,345
20,662
44,009
32,656
11,000
14,610
9
8
6
13
13
14
16
20
27
T otal......................................
Grand total............................
$3,712,507
$4,272,539
$372,586
$423,609
10
9
RISKS AND LOSSES IN MASSACHUSETTS,
The report of the Insurance Commissioners for the year ending on the 1st of
November, 1858, contains returns from one hundred and sixty-five companies, of
which one hundred and seventeen are chartered in the State. Of the latter five
are life insurance companies, and the rest are devoted to fire and marine insurance.
The report gives the following summary comparison of the fire and marine busi
ness iu the 112 Massachusetts companies for the last two years :—
i---------------------- Risks.---------------------- , ,------------------ Losses.-------------------»
1847.
1858.
1857.
1858.
In stock companies.. $73,267,269 00 $70,858,938 00 $3,150,813 42 $2,153,326 90
In mutual marine, &
mutual fire <fe ma
53,452,163 00
49,530,173 00 2,051,815 47 2,187,370 81
rine ......................
Total marine.. $126,719,432 00$120,499,111
In stock companies.. $138,114,290 001132,854,841
In mutual fire and
marine..................
S,600,614 00
9,991,974
In mutual fire comp’s
200,350,764 00 204,733,847
00 $6,202,628 89 $4,340,697 71
42 $553,691 76
$422,95253
00
03
7,335 32
417,854 62
14,13778
208,23672
Total fire .............. $348,065,668 00 $347,580,662 4 5 $978,881 70
Total risks, fire <fc
marine.............. 474,785,100 00 468,079,773 45 6,181,510 59
$645,32703
4,986,02474
This shows the very sensible net decrease of 19.34 per cent of marine loss,
and 33.95 per cent of fire loss in favor of the last year, illustrating the great
uncertainty of these branches of insurance.
PROVIDENCE INSURANCE COMPANIES.
W e extract from official returns, January 1st, 1859, the following :—
AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND ; INCORPORATED MAY, 1 831.
Capital..................................................................................................
Capital actually paid in, in cash.........................................................
Amount of bills receivable, as per account.......................................
Amount of cash on hand, less balance of bank account....................
Amount of cash in hands of agents and others, balances of accounts
and due for premiums......................................................................
Other assets not above specified, Mutual Insurance Company scrip.
$150,000
150,000
75,323
2,937
00
00
54
20
15,301 56
463 32
LIABILITIES.
Amount of marine risks outstanding..................................................
Amount of premiums thereon............................
Amount of fire risks outstanding........................................................
Amount of premiums thereon.............................................................
1,705,545
64,515
5,468,205
62,469
00
83
00
02
Nautical Intelligence.
105
ATLANTIC FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND; IN
CORPORATED MAY, 1852.
Amount of capital................................................................................
Amount of capital actually paid in, in cash......................................
$150,000 00
150,000 00
LIABILITIES.
Amount of marine risks outstanding..................................................
“
of premiums thereon..............................................................
“
of fire risks outstanding.........................................................
“
of premiums thereon.............................................................
“
of outstanding claims adjusted and not due.........................
“
of outstanding claims unadjusted..........................................
317,539
20,166
9,549,160
127,931
8,400
3,000
00
80
00
76
00
00
NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
T H E FLOATING SCHOOL OF BALTIMORE.
Prom the annual report in January, 1858, of the Board of Trade of Balti
more, we extract the annexed account of the floating school in that city :—
The initiatory steps toward the establishment of this excellent institution were
taken in November, 1854, when the Committee on Commerce, who had been re
quested to confer with the city School Commissioners, having succeeded in ob
taining their favorable consideration of the subject, “ it was proposed,” according
to the record of the Baltimore Board of Trade, “ that a Public Floating School
be established in Baltimore, to be under the direction of the Public School
Commisssoners. and to partake of all the benefits now enjoyed by the other
public schools; in addition to the teachers appointed by the commissioners, to
have a person well skilled in practical seamanship, whose duty it should be to
instruct the boys during their leisure hours in the common manoeuvres and de
tails of a ship’s deck. After instruction, the principal teachers to supply
ship owners in the State of Maryland with a certain number of boys, who shall
receive from the ship a rate of wages at least adequate to a supply of clothing ;
on the return of the ship the boys to be again placed at school, and their place
to be supplied by others, until all have been at least one voyage.”
In November, 1855, the Board was officially informed of the passage of the
desired ordinance by the City Council, and of the readiness of the School Board
to co-operate in carrying out the provisions of said ordinance. Messrs. B. S.
Courtney, Robert Leslie, Hugh A . Cooper, John Williams, Laurence Thomsen,
and William P. Lemmon were thereupon chosen a committee, to act in concert
with the School Commissioners, and to proceed to effect the practical operation
of the project. These gentlemen set about their duties with commendable zeal
and vigor, and with the assistance of the Board, and contributions from a num
ber of merchants, a sufficient fund was soon raised for the purchase of the U. S.
sloop-of-war Ontario, which had been condemned as unfit for the service, and
which, at the solicitation of a special committee of the Board, in an interview
with the Secretary of the Treasury, was offered at public sale. This vessel was
fitted up for the accommodation of two hundred to three hundred boys, and the
school was opened in May, 1857.
In January, 1858, there were under tuition some forty-eight scholars, of the
ages of thirteen to seventeen, the school being under the superintendence of Mr.
Robert Kerr, formerly of the Western Female High School. After a due course
of elementary instruction, which is given with reference to their intended occu
pation, the pupils are enlightened in the theory of navigation ; and, under the
guidance of Capt. Philip S. Marshall, they are perfected in the routine of prac
tical seamanship. Mr. Smithson, the janitor, acts as Oapt. Marshall’s assistant
in the nautical exercises, and as first officer; a log-book being kept, with every
106
Nautical Intelligence.
entry likely to be made during a regular voyage. In these exercises the boys
perform all the practical work of a ship’s deck, such as furling, reefing, and
setting the sails, changing the ship’s course, splicing, coiling, and knotting rope,
etc. After the school hours all hands are called on deck, and drilled for one
hour in all the manoeuvres generally necessary in the Sailing and management
of vessels, being duly stationed, with their petty officers, captains of the tops,
boatswains, mates, etc. The most satisfactory results have thus far attended the
efforts of the teachers. Several other cities are about to follow the example of
Baltimore, in rearing up, in this manner, a superior class of men for our mercan
tile marine.
BREAKW ATER HARBOR OF LIVERPOOL.
Mr. George Bennie, C. E., has projected for the port and harbor of Liverpool
a jetty or breakwater, from the Black Bock Point, at the entrance of the Mersey,
on the Cheshire shore, in a line nearly parallel to the Lancanshire shore. The
breakwater will take a northwesterly direction, and curve outwards towards the
Victoria Channel, across the Brazil and Burbo Banks, for a distance of up
wards of three miles, when it will be ended by a lighthouse. Simultaneously
with the construction of a breakwater, it is proposed to continue the line of
quay wall of the north docks in a direction curving inwards as far as Forrnby
Point, so as to assimilate the form of entrance into the Mersey to a trumpet’s
mouth. The advantages proposed by this plan are said to be—
1. The general improvement of the entrance into the harbor, by which the
flow and ebb of the tides will be more regular, and more favorable to the deepen
ing and preserving the low water channels, and to their navigation generally.
2. The protection of the north docks, (occasionally inaccessible in stormy
weather,) and of the Bootle and Pormby shores, from the violent effects of the
prevailing winds.
3. The acquisition of nearly 2,000 acres of valuable land, which will be en
closed between the new wall and that shore.
4. The probable conversion of from 30,000 to 40,000 acres of sandbanks,
now rapidly accumulating and rising above low water along the whole shore in
front of the Leasowes, from the Bocky Point to the entrance of the Dee estuary
at Hilibre Point.
5. The prevention from entering into the harbor of vast quantities of drift
sand, which come from the North Burbo Banks, in southwesterly gales.
6. The prevention of many shipwrecks and loss of lives and property which
occur annually.
7. The reduction to a minimum of the great expenses now incurred in maintaintaining the lights, buoys, steam tugs, dredgers, etc., now employed in pre
serving the direction and depth of the sea channels, and which heavily tax the
40,000 ships and 40,000,000 of tons carried by them annually. Finally, the
preservation and improvement of the port and harbor of Liverpool, and which,
like its neighbor, the estuary of the Dee, will be entirely ruined if prompt
measures be not taken to prevent it.
MARINE LOSSES FOR M AY.
The marine losses for May show an aggregate of forty-one vessels, of which
eight were ships, seven were barks, nine were brigs, fifteen were schooners, and
two were steamboats. The total value of property lost was one million two
hundred'and sixteen thousand seven huudred dollars. This is the value of the
property totally lost, exclusive of damage to vessels not amounting to a total loss.
The vessels reported in this list are chiefly American, although some foreign are
107
Nautical Intelligence.
included—when bound to or from an United States port, or known to be insured in
this country:—
Total losses for January.....................
for February, (corrected)
“
for March, (corrected) ..
“
for April, (corrected).. . .
“
for May...........................
"Vessels.
45
40
41
39
41
Yalue.
$ 1,1 09 ,0 0 0
888 ,00 0
8 23 ,20 0
983,500
1,216,700
206
147
342
$ 5,2 2 0 ,4 0 0
4 ,1 0 4,34 0
9,413.000
Total for five mouths................
Same period in 1858 ................
“
in 1857 ................
MARINE DISASTERS ON THE LAKES,
,--------------
No.
Steamboats......... .
Propellers.............
Barks.................
Brigs...................
Schooners.............
Scows..................
Total..........
72
340
590
— 1857.----- ,
1856.----- ,
Loss.
$617,790
888,960
147,700
208,900
1,245,799
17,595
$3,126,744
1 S 5 6 -5 7 -5 8 .
No.
40
65
27
44
277
28
481
,— 1858.— ,
Loss.
$ 223,250
254,542
98,314
99,620
651 ,55 9
60,600
No.
37
42
26
26
205
26
Loss.
$ 9 8 ,37 5
9 1 ,8 3 0
123,778
43,590
339,741
34,9 18
$ 1,387,935
362
$ 73 2 ,2 3 2
AUSTRIAN VESSELS.
To the Editors of the Shipping and Commercial List :■—
I beg to inclose you the following communication respecting Austrian vessels,
which I received from London this morning. By giving it a place in your
valuable paper you will much oblige, your obedient servant,
KOBT. MACKIE, Lloyd’s Agent.
N ew T ore , June 4th, 1859.
F oreign Office, May 19th, 1S59.
:— I am directed by the Bari of Malmesbury to state to you that her
Majesty’s government have received the answer of the French government to
the inquiries which, as you were informed in my letter of the 10th, had been
put to them by her Majesty’s ambassador at Paris, respecting the extent to
which Austrian vessels are liable to capture by French and Sardinian cruisers.
The first inquiry which Earl Cowley was instructed to make was whether Aus
trian vessels, arriving at ports of call, would be allowed to leave such ports for
their destination without being liable to capture ; the second, whether Austrian
vessels which have sailed for Austrian or for neutral ports, prior to the declara
tion of war, will be liable to capture.
The French government have stated in reply that, as far as France is con
cerned, it cannot be doubted that Austrian vessels would, in the cases specified,
be subject to capture and condemnation, in virtue of the general principle of the
law of nations, acted upon in England as well as in France, according to which
every ship belonging to an enemy met with at sea, after the declaration of war,
is a good prize.
It is assumed that the question relates to neutral ports called at for orders,
since if an Austrian vessel, in ignorance of war having broken out, should enter
a French port, she would be protected by the special decision of the Emperor,
dated May 3d, which grants safe conduct not only to the vessels of the enemy
actually in French ports, but to those also which shall enter such ports in
ignorance of the state of war. Your obedient servant,
S ir
E. HAMMOND.
T o Capt. G. A. Halstead, R. N., Secretary, Lloyd’s.
108
Nautical Intelligence.
RESTORING THE DROWNED.
The following rules, from Hall’s Journal of Health, were published in the
London Lancet; which also publishes the names of the eminent men who had
successfully tried the plan, and we reproduce them :—
1. Treat the patient instantly, on the spot, in the open air, freely exposing the
face, neck, and chest to the breeze, except in severe weather.
2. Send with all speed for medical aid, and for articles of clothing, blankets,
etc.
I.— TO CLEAR THE THROAT.
3. Place the patient gently on the face, with one wrist under the forehead.
(All fluids, and the tongue itself, then fall forwards, and leave the entrance
into the windpipe free.)
II.----TO EXCITE RESPIRATION.
4. Turn the patient slightly on his side, and apply snuff or other irritant
to the nostrils.
Dash cold water on the face previously rubbed briskly until it is warm.
I f there be success, lose no time ; but—
III.— TO IMITATE RESPIRATION.
5. Eeplace the patient on his face, supporting the chest on a folded coat or
other article of dress.
'
6. Turn the body very gently, but completely, on the side and a little beyond,
and then briskly on the face, alternately ; repeating these measures deliberately,
efficiently, and perseveripgly, fifteen times in the minute only ;
(When the patient reposes on the thorax, this cavity is compressed by the
weight of the body, and expiration takes place ; when lie is turned on the side,
this pressure is removed, and inspiration occurs.)
7. When the prone posiiion is resumed, make equable but efficient pressure,
with friction, along the back; removing it immediately before rotation on the
side;
(The first measure augments the expiration, the second commences inspiration.)
All these movements are performed systematically by the same individual.
IV .— TO INDUCE CIRCULATION AND WARMTH.
8. Hub the limbs upwards, with firm pressure and with energy, using hand
kerchiefs, etc.
(By this measure the blood is propelled along the veins towards the heart.)
9. Replace the patient’s wet clothing by such other covering as can be in
stantly procured, each bystander supplying a coat or waistcoat.
V.— TO EXCITE INSPIRATION.
10. Let the surface of the body be slapped briskly with the hand ;
11. Or, let cold water be dashed briskly on the surface, previously rubbed
until it is dry and warm.
The measures formerly recommended and now rejected by me are—the re
moval of the patient, as involving dangerous loss of time; the bellows or any
forcing instrument, and especially the warm bath, as positively injurious ; and
the inhalation of oxygen, as useless.
The inhalation of dilute pure ammonia has in it more of promise.
The value of galvanism remains to be tested ; can it excite the action of the
heart, or stimulate the muscles of inspiration ; or by inducing contraction of the
muscles of the limbs, propel the blood along the veins?
Commercial Regulations.
109
COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
CONVENTION B ETW E EN THE UNITED STATES AND BELGIUM,
PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The following are the terms of the Convention between the United States of
America and the King of the Belgians :—
A rticle 1. There shall be full and entire freedom of commerce and naviga
tion between the inhabitants of the two countries, and the same security and
protection which is enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of each country shall be
guarantied on both sides. The said inhabitants, whether established or
temporarily residing within any ports, cities, or places whatever of the two
countries, shall not, on account of their commerce or industry, pay any other or
higher duties, taxes, or imposts, than those which shall be levied on citizens or
subjects of the country in which they may b e; and the privileges, immunities,
and other favors with regard to commerce or industry enjoyed by the citizens or
subjects of one of the two States shall be common to those of the other.
A rt. 2. Belgian vessels, whether coming from a Belgian or a foreign port, shall
not pay, either on entering or leaving the ports of the United States, whatever
may be their destination, any other or higher duties of tonnage, pilotage, anchor
age, buoys, lighthouses, clearance, brokerage, or generally other charges whatso
ever, than are required from vessels of the United States in similar cases. This
provision extends not only to duties levied for the benefit of the State, but also
to those levied for the benefit of provinces, cities, countries, districts, townships,
corporations, or any other division or jurisdiction, whatever may be its designa
tion.
A rt. 3. Reciprocally, vessels of the United States, whether coming from a
port of said States or from a foreign port, shall not pay, either on entering or
leaving the ports of Belgium, whatever may be their destination, any other or
higher duties of tonnage, pilotage, anchorage, buoys, lighthouses, clearance,
brokerage, or generally other charges whatever, than are required from Belgian
vessels in similar cases. This provision extends not only to duties levied for the
benefit of the State, but also to those levied for the benefit of provinces, cities,
countries, districts, townships, corporations, or any other division or jurisdiction,
whatever may be its designation.
A rt . 4. Steam vessels of the United States and of Belgium, engaged in regular
navigation between the United States and Belgium, shall be exempt in both
countries from the payment of duties of tonnage, anchorage, buoys, and light
houses.
A rt. 5. As regards the coasting trade between the ports of either country,
the vessels of the two nations shall be treated on both sides on the same footing
with the vessels of the most favored nations.
A rt. 6. Objects of any kind soever introduced into the ports of either of the
two States under the flag of the other, whatever may be their origin, and from
what country soever the importation thereof may have been made, shall not pay
other or higher entrance duties, nor shall be subjected to other charges or re
strictions, than they would pay, or be subjected to, were they imported under
the national flag.
A rt . 7. Articles of every description exported by Belgian vessels, or by those
of the United States of America, from the ports of either country to any coun
try whatsoever, shall be subjected to no other duties or formalities than such as
are required for exportation under the flag of the country where the shipment
is made.
A rt. 8. All premiums, drawbacks, or other favors of like nature, which may
be allowed in the States of either of the contracting parties, upon goods im
ported or exported in national vessels, shall be likewise, and in the same manner,
110
Commercial Regulations.
allowed upon goods imported directly from one of the two countries by its ves
sels into the other, or exported from one of the two countries by the vessels of
the other to any destination whatsoever.
A rt. 9. The preceding article is, however, not to apply to the importation of
salt, and of the produce of the national fisheries; each of the two praties reserv
ing to itself the faculty of granting special privileges for the importation of those
articles under its own flag.
A rt. 10. The high contracting parties agree to consider and to treat as
Belgian vessels, and as vessels of the United States, all those which, being provided
by the competent authority with a passport, sea letter, or any other sufficient
document, shall be recognised, conformably with existing laws, as national ves
sels in the country to which they respectively belong.
A rt. 11. Belgian vessels and those of the United States may, conformably
with the laws of the two countries, retain on board, in the ports of both, such
parts of their cargoes as may be destined for a foreign country ; and such parts
shall not be subjected, either while they remain on board or upon re-exportation,
to aDy charges whatsover, other than those for the prevention of smuggling.
A rt . 12. During the period allowed by the laws of the two countries re
spectively, for the warehousing of goods, no duties, other than those of watch
and storage, shall be levied upon articles brought from either country into the
other while awaiting transit, re exportation, or entry for consumption. Such
goods shall in no case be subject to higher warehouse charges, or to other formali
ties, than if they had been imported under the flag of the country.
A rt . 13. In all that relates to duties of customs and navigation, the two high
contracting parties promise, reciprocally, not to grant any favor, privilege, or
immunity, to any other State which shall not instantly become common to the
citizens and subjects of both parties respectively ; gratuitously, if the concession
or favor to such other State is gratuitous, and on allowing the same compensa
tion, or its equivalent, if the concession is conditional.
Neither of the contracting parties shall lay upon goods proceeding from the
soil or the industry of the other party, which may be imported into its ports, any
other or higher duties of importation or re-exportation than are laid upon the
importation or re-exportation of similar goods coming from any other foreign
country.
A rt. 14. In cases of shipwreck, damages at sea, or forced putting in, each
party shall afford to the vessels of the other, whether belonging to the State or
to individuals, the same assistance and protection, and the same immunities, which
would have been granted to its own vessels in similar cases.
A rt . 15. It is moreover agreed between the two contracting parties that the
consuls and vice-consuls of the United States in the ports of Belgium, and, re
ciprocally, the consuls and vice-consuls of Belgium in the ports of the United
States, shall continue to enjoy all the privileges, protection, and assistance usually
granted to them, and which may be necessary for the proper discharge of their
functions. The said consuls and vice-consuls may cause to be arrested and sent
back, either to their vessels or to their country, such seamen as may have deserted
from the vessels of their nation. To this end they shall apply in writing to the
competent local authorities, and they shall prove, by exhibition of the vessel’s
crew list, or other document, or, if she shall have departed, by copy of said
documents, duly certified by them, that the seamen whom they claim formed part
of the said crew. Upon such demand, thus supported, the delivery of the de
serters shall not be refused. They shall, moreover, receive all aid and assistance
in searching for, seizing, and arresting such deserters, who shall, upon the requi
sition and at the expense of the consul or vice-consul, be confined and kept in
the prisons of the country until he shall have found an opportunity for sending
them home. If, however, such an opportunity should not occur within three
months after the arrest, the deserters shall be set at liberty, and shall not again
be arrested for the same cause. It is, however, understood that seamen of the
country in which the desertion shall occur are excepted from these provisions un
less 1hey be naturalized citizens or subjects of the other country.
A rt. 16. Articles of all kinds, the transit of which is allowed in Belgium,
Ill
Commercial Regulations.
coming from or going to the United States, shall be exempt from all transit duty
in Belgium, when the transportation through the Belgian territory is effected on
the railroads of the State.
A r t . 17. The present treaty shall be in force during ten years from the date
of the exchange of the ratifications, and until the expiration of twelve months
after either of the high contracting parties shall have announced to the other its
intention to terminate the operation thereof; each party reserving to itself the
right of making such declaration to the other at the end of the ten years above
mentioned ; and it is agreed that, after the expiration of the twelve months of
prolongation accorded on both sides, this treaty and all its stipulations shall cease
to be in force.
A rt. 18. This treaty shall be ratified, and the ratification shall be exchanged
at Washington, within the term of nine months after its date, or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed the present treaty
in duplicate, and have affixed thereto their seals, at Washington, the seventeenth
of July, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight.
LEW IS CASS,
[ i. s.l'K
H. BOSCH SPENCER, [ l . s . ]
And whereas the said Convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the
respective ratifications of the same were exchanged in the city of Washington
on the 16th instant, by L ewis Gass, Secretary of State of the United States,
and H enry W. T. M ali , Consul-General of Belgium in the United States, on
the part of their respective governments,
Now, therefore, be it knovvn that I, J ames B uchanan, President of the Uni
ted States of America, have caused the said Convention to be made public, to
the end that the same and every clause and article thereof may be observed and
fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
Done in the city of Washington, this nineteenth day of April, in the
[l . s.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, and of the
independence of the United States of America the eighty-third.
JAMES BUCHANAN.
By the President:—
L e w is C ass, Secretary o f State.
CIRCULAR TO COLLECTORS OF THE CUSTOMS.
T r ea su ry D epa rtm e nt , M ay 19,1859.
The immunity of our merchant vessels at sea from seizure, search, detention,
or visit, in time of peace, by vessels of war of any foreign nation, being now
admitted by all the maritime powers of the world, it is very desirable that the
flag of the United States, the proper indication of the nationality of our vessels,
should always be promptly displayed in the presence of a ship of war. I am di
rected by the President to instruct collectors of the customs to request the
captains in the merchant service at their respective ports always to display their
colors as promptly as possible, whenever they meet upon the ocean an armed
cruiser of any nation.
H OW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury.
PLATED W A R E — CASTORS, LIQUOR STANDS, ETC.
T reasury D epartment, May 17, 1359.
S i r :— I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of Messrs.
Samuel Buckley & Co. from your decision assessing a duty of 30 per cent on
certain articles described as “ plated ware,” being plated castors and liquor stands
containing cut glass bottles. The duty on cut glass being 30 per cent, under
schedule B of the tariff of 1857, you appear to have assessed the duty at that
rate on the articles in question under the final paragraph of the 20th section of
the tariff act of 1842, which provides that “ on all articles manufactured from
two or more materials, the duty shall be assessed at the highest rates at which
112
Commercial Regulations.
any of its component parts may be chargeable.” The importers contend that
“ plated castors,” with or without bottles, should be subjected to a duty of 24
per cent under the classification in schedule O of “ manufactures, articles,vessels,
and wares, not otherwise provided for, of brass, copper, gold, iron, lead, pewter,
platina, silver, tiu, or other metals, or of which either of those metals or any
other metal shall be the component material of chief value,” the metal being the
material of chief value. It seems, from the best information which the Depart
ment has been able to obtain on the subject, that as a general practice, under
previous tariffs, the metal duty has been assessed on “ plated castors,” whether
they were furnished on importation with bottles or not, and the glass duty on castor
bottles, when imported separately from the stand. No sufficient reason is per
ceived for departing from that practice under the existing tariff. The article in
question will, therefore, be subjected to duty at the rate of 24 per-cent under the
classification in schedule C as claimed by the importer. I am, very respectfully,
HOW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury .
A . W . A ustin , Esq., Collector, &c., Boston, Mass.
LINEN SHIRT BOSOMS.
T r ea su ry D epartm ent , May 18,1859.
S ir :—I acknowledge the receipt of your report, under date of the 4th ultimo,
on the appeal of F. A . Reichard from your assessment of duty at the rate of 24
per cent, under the tariff of 1857, on an article described as “ linen shirt bosoms.”
It appears from the sample submitted to the Department, and the papers in the
case, that the article in question is a linen fabric intended for a shirt bosom,
probably plaited by hand and stitched by machinery, but not tamboured or
embroidered by hand or otherwise, and requiring to be sewed into the shirt before
it can be used. Tou assessed a duty of 24 per cent under the classification in
schedule C of “ articles worn by men, women, or children, of whatever material
composed, made up, or made, wholly or in part, by hand
or “ clothing ready
made, and wearing apparel of every description, of whatever material composed,
made up or manufactured, wholly or in part, by the tailor, seamstress, or manu
facturer.” The importer claims entry at a duty of 15 per cent under the
classification in schedule E of “ manufactures of flax, not otherwise provided for.”
It was decided by this Department, under the tariff of 1846, that the classifica
tions in schedule 0 under which the duties in this case have been assessed, refer
to articles ready and fit to be worn in the state in which they are imported ; but
if not so made up or fit to be worn, though intended for wear when completed,
they are entitled to entry as a manufacture at a rate of duty appropriate to the
component material. To that view the Department still adheres ; and the article
in question not being fit for wear in its present state, but rather the material to
be used in the manufacture of shirts, and being a linen fabric, will be treated as
a manufacture of flax, and subjected to a duty of 15 percent under the classifica
tion in schedule E of “ manufactures of flax, not otherwise provided for.” I am,
very respectfully,
HOW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury.
A ugustus S chell , Esq., Collector, &c., New York.
MANUFACTURES OF M ETAL, ETC.— (( BIRD MUSICAL BOX,”
T rea su ry D e partm ent , May 1 8, 1859.
S ir :—I have to acknowledge the receipt of your report, under date of the
15th ultimo, as to the dutiable character of an article called by the importers,
Messrs. Paillard & Martin, a “ bird musical box,” which you appear to have re
garded as a “ manufacture of metal.” subject to a duty of 24 per cent under
schedule 0 of the tariff of 1857, while the importers claimed to enter it as a
musical “ instrument,” at a duty of 15 per cent, under schedule E. A sample of
the article is not before me, but it is described in your report as a box manu
factured of gold, and that on touching a spring a small lid flies open, and an
artificial bird rises up and sings a tune, and the lid closes; and that there is an
apartment at one end of the box for snuff. Upon these facts it is decided by you
to be a snuff box with a highly ornamented accessory. It appears from the
113
Postal Department.
description thus given to be a gold snuff box with a musical attachment, and not
to belong to the class of musical instruments provided for in schedule E of the
tariff. Not being provided for elsewhere in the tariff, it must be held to fall
within the classification in schedule C of “ manufactures, articles, vessels, aud
wares, not otherwise provided for, of brass, copper, gold, iron, lead, pewter,
platina, silver, tin, or other metal, or of which either of those metals, or any other
metal, shall be the component material of chief value,” and to be subjected to
the duty of 24 per cent exacted by you in the case. I am, very respectfully,
A ugustus S ch e ll,
H OW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury.
Esq., Collector, &c., New York.
POSTAL DEPARTMENT.
UNITED STATES MAIL STEAMERS FOR EUROPE,
S C H E D U L E O F T H E D A Y S O F S A IL IN G O F T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S M A IL S T E A M E R S, B E T W E E N T H E
U N IT E D S T A T E S A N D E U R O P E , F O R
Vanderbilt . . . .
Havre.............. . . “
Vanderbilt...... ..May
“
German Lloyd..
“
Vanderbilt.. . .
Havre............... . . “
Vanderbilt.......
German Lloyd. . . “
“
Vanderbilt__
H avre............ .. “
Vanderbilt . . . ..July
German Lloyd. .. “
“
Vanderbilt__
“
Havre............
Vanderbilt . . . . . “
German Lloyd. . . Aug.
Vanderbilt . . . . . “
Havre............ . . “
“
Vanderbilt . . .
German Lloyd. ..Sept.
Vanderbilt . . . •• “
“
H avre............
Vanderbilt . . . . . “
German Lloyd. . . Oct.
Vanderbilt .. . . “
H avre............ . . . “
Vanderbilt . . . . . . “
German Lloyd. . . “
Vanderbilt . . .
Havre............ . . . “
Vanderbilt . . . . . “
German Lloyd. . . . “
.. Dec.
Havre............ . . . “
German Lloyd.
..
«
“
1859.
] Departures from Southampton.
Vanderbilt . . . .
30 German Lloyd.. . “ *17
7 Vanderbilt . . . . . “
25
14 Havre..............
21 Vanderbilt___ . “
8
28 German Lloyd.. . “ *14
“
OO
Vanderbilt . . . .
11 Havre..............
18 Vanderbilt . . . .
“ * 12
25 German Lloyd..
«
20
2 Vanderbilt___
9 Havre .............. . “
27
16 Vanderbilt___
*9
23 German Lloyd.. . “
30 Vanderbilt . . . . . . “
-17
6 Havre.............. . . “
24
13 Vanderbilt . . . .
20 German Lloyd.. .Sept. *6
07 Vanderbilt___ . . “
14
3 Havre.............. . . “ 21
28
10 Vanderbilt___ . . “
17 German Llovd.. ..Oct. *4
24 Vanderbilt . . . .
1 Havre.............. . . “
19
8 Vanderbilt . . . . .. “
26
15 German Lloyd.. ..Nov, *1
22 Vanderbilt . . . .
29 Havre.......... . .
Vanderbilt . . . . . . “
23
12 German Lloyd.. . . “ *29
19 Vanderbilt___
26 Havre..............
“
14
3
10 German Lloyd.. . . “ *27
Departures from New York.
Departures from Havre.
Vanderbilt .
Vanderbilt .
Havre........
Vanderbilt .
Vanderbilt . ........ “
Havre........
Vanderbilt .
22
Vanderbilt . ........ “
20
Havre........ ........ “
26
Vanderbilt . ........ Aug. 3
Vanderbilt . ........
Havre........
Vanderbilt .
Vanderbilt .
Havre........ ........
Vanderbilt .
“
17
“
20
Vanderbilt . ........ Oct. 12
Havre........
Vanderbilt .
Vanderbilt .
Havre........ ........ “
Vanderbilt .
15
Vanderbilt .
Havre . . . ..
24
31
* The Bremen steamers of the North German Lloyd Line, running on the route between New
York and Bremen, have been employed to convey the United States mails to and from South
ampton, provided no American steamers offer to take the mails on the regular Bremen schedule
days ; the day of departure by this line from Southampton being Tuesday instead o f Wednesday.
VOL. XLI.---- NO. I .
8
114
Postal Department.
IM P O R T A N T IN S T R U C T IO N S .
The single rate of letter postage by either of the above lines, (and the same in
respect to the British lines,) to or from any point in the United States, (except
Oregon and California.) for or from any point in Great Britain, is 24 cents—pre
payment optional. Newspapers, each two cents United States, and two cents
British ; each country to collect its own postage, whether the paper is sent from
or received in the United States. (British newspapers usually come British post
age paid by a penny stamp, equal to two cents.) They must be sent in narrow
bands, open at the ends. Letters for the continent of Europe, to pass through
Great Britain, in the open mail, must be prepaid 21 cents when the Atlantic
conveyance is by United States packets, and 5 cents when by British packets,
except from California or Oregon, when the sum to be prepaid is, in the former
instance, 26 cents, and in the latter 10. Thus, in the one case, the Atlantic sea
postage is to be collected at the mailing office in the United States; and in the
other^ left to be collected, together with the British transit, and other foreign
postage, at the office of delivery. Between Great Britain, and Oregon, aud
California, the single rate of letter postage is 29 cents.
Periodical -woiks and pamphlets may be sent from the United States to the
United Kingdom, and vice versa, at two cents of United States postage each, if
they do not exceed two ounces in weight, and at 4 cents per ounce, or fraction
of an ounce, when they exceed that weight; to be collected in all cases in the
United States; and the same will be subject to an additional like charge in the
United Kingdom. When sent to France, Algeria, or cities in Turkey, Syria,
and Egypt, in which France has post-offices, via England, or to other foreign
countries, without passing through the United Kingdom, they will be chargeable
with 1 cent an ounce, or fraction of an ounce, United States postage— prepay
ment required.
Single rate of letter postage to or from Bremen, by the Bremen line, 10 cents
— prepayment optional. Newspapers each 3 cents, being the Uuited States and
German postage—prepayment required. Letters and newspapers to other parts
of the continent may also go by this line, subject to various rates; for which see
Foreign Postage Table.
Single rate of letter postage to or from France or Algeria, 15 cents the
quarter ounce, prepayment optional. Newspapers, periodical works, books
stitched or bound, pamphlets, catalogues, papers of music, prospectuses, circulars,
and all other kinds of printed matter addressed to France, Algeria, or cities of
Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, in which France has post-offices, (viz , Alexandria,
Alexandretta, Beyrout, Constantinople, Dardanelles, Galatz. Gallipoli, Ibraila,
Ineboli, Jaffa, Kerassund, Latakin, Messini in Asiatic Turkey, Mitylene, lthodes,
Saloniea, Samsoun, Sinope, Smyrna, Saiina, Trebizond, Tripoli in Syria, Tultcha,
Varna, and Volo,) can be dispatched to France direct, or by wray of England,
on prepayment of the United States postage, viz., newspapers, 2 cents each ;
periodical works, catalogues, or pamphlets, 1 cent an ounce, or fraction of an
ounce ; and all other kinds of printed matter the same as domestic rates ; to be
in all cases collected in the Uuited States, whether sent or received. France, in
like manner, collects its own postage on all kinds of printed matter, whether sent
or received. The United States exchange offices for French mails are New York.
Boston, and Philadelphia. For rate3 of postage in French mail to countries be
yond France, see Foreign Postage Table.
Single rate of letter postage by the Prussian closed mail to Prussia, Austria,
and all other German States, 30 cents, being the full postage, prepayment
optional. Newspapers. 6 cents each, being also the full postage, prepayment re
quired. This mail is sent by every steamer, being landed at Liverpool by the
British, and at Southampton by the American lines.
Letters for Brazil, Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, or any other part of the
Argentine Confederation, and the Republic of Paraguay, are sent in the British
mail via England, the departures of British mail packets from Southampton for
Brazil, &c., being regularly made on the 9th of each month. The single rate of
V
Postal Department.
115
postage to Brazil and Montevideo is 45 cents ; and to Buenos Ayres, &c., 33
cents, payment of which is compulsory in the United States.
The system of registration of valuable letters adopted in the United States,
has been extended to the correspondence with Great Biitain. Prussia, Bremen,
and Canada. Letters addressed to either of those countries will be registered on
the application of the person posting the same, in the same manner and on the
same terms as those deliverable in the United States, provided that the full post
age chargeable to destination, together with a registration fee of five cents on
each letter, is prepaid at the mailing office. Such le ters should be mailed and
forwarded to the respective United States exchange offices in the same manner
as domestic registered letters are mailed to those offices.
N. B. All letters to and from foreign countries (the British North American
provinces excepted) are to be charged with single rate of postage,if not exceed
ing the weight of half an ounce; double rate, if exceeding half an ounce but
not exceeding an ounce ; quadruple rate if exceeding an ounce but not exceeding
two ounces ; and so on, charging two rates for every ounce or fractional part of
ounce over the first ounce. Letters in the mail to France are to be charged with
single rate of postage, if not exceeding the rate of one-quarter ounce ; double
rate, if exceeding a quarter but not exceeding half an ounce ; and so on, an
additional rate being charged for each quarter ounce or fractional part of a quar
ter ounce. Letters addressed to the British N'ortli American provinces are rated
in the same manner as domestic letters, one rate being charged for each half ounce
or fractional part of half an ounce. Postmasters should be careful where the
postage is prepaid to collect the proper amouut. They should be particular to
notice the route indicated on the envelops of letters, and to collect postage
accordingly. Letters mailed at some offices, marked “ via England,” or “ via
Prussian dosed mail,” for a German State, are frequently taken upon the prepay
ment of Bremen rates, and those marked “ via Bremen ” at Prussian closed mail
rates, &c. Refer in all cases to the Postage Tables.
If letters for foreign countries, marked "‘ paid,” are dropped into the post-office
without being paid, the postmaster will erase the word “ paid,” and write on the
back of the letter the words “ not paid,” with his name and title of postmaster.
The mails for the Pacific leave New York on the 5th and 20th, Charleston
and Savannah on the 4th and 19th, and New Orleans on the 5th, 12th, 201h, and
27th of each month—the 12th and 27th being the days via Tehuantepec.
Mails for Mexico will be dispatched semi-monthly by steamships between New
Orleans and Vera Cruz. United States, letter postage, 10 cents under 2,500,,
and 20 cents over 2,500 miles from the mailing office ; to be prepaid when sent
from, and collected when received in the United States. Newspapers, 2 cents
each, to be collected in the United States, as above.
Single rate of letter postage to Havana, Aspinwall, Panama, and the British
West Indies, 10 cents under 2,500. and 20 cents over 2.500 miles ; newspapers, 2
cents; and to West Indies, (not British,) Honduras, and St. Juan, (Nicaragua,)
34 cents under 2,500, and 44 cents over 2,500 miles ; newspapers, 6 cents each
-—prepayment required.
JOSEPH HOLT, Postmaster-General.
P ost-O ffice D epartment, April 8 0,1S59.
POSTAGE TO TURKS ISLANDS.
We are requested to state that it is no longer necessary to collect in the United
States any British postage upon letters addressed to Turks Islands, and forwarded
in the mails to St. Thomas, arrangements having been made by the British Postoffice for levying and collecting such postage on the delivering of the letters at
destination.
In future, therefore, the United States postage only is required to be prepaid
upon letters for Turks Islands, which is 10 cents the single rate, if the distance
does not exceed 2,500 miles; and 20 cents, if the distance is over 2,500 miles.
116
Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMROAT STATISTICS.
COAL BURNING ENGINES.
The Railway Times says :—We present below the operation of the coal burn
ing engines upon the same road, and also of some of those upon the Providence
and Worcester Railway for the month of May. We have taken the opportunity
during the past month, to make a number of trips upon coal burning engines, in
order to see how the'great reduction is being made in fuel expenses upon the
above roads, looks upon the ground.
L O C O M O T IV E F U E L R E P O R T , BOSTON A N D P R O V ID E N C E R A I L W A Y , F O R M A Y ,
Name of
eDgine.
1859.
Pounds o f Pounds o f
No. of
coal
coal per
miles run.
used.
mile.
Description o f
the train.
2,888
2,840
1,845
495
1,800
2,392
1,980
2,310
1,710
1,268
1,743
1,267
1,246
260
260
340
W. R. Lee............
Washington..........
New York............
New York............
Roxbury................
Mansfield..............
Tahconic................
Canton.................
Rhode Island.. . .
Neponset..............
Massachusetts. . . .
Iron Horse.......... .
King Philip..........
Attleboro’ .......... .
Providence...........
Bristol...................
61,718
50,952
46,376
17,000
59,981
89,390
42,344
67,890
54,052
40,903
50,084
47,800
51,690
11,440
11,524
11,592
25.84
21.76
25.13
34.34
33.32
37. ST
21.88
29.
31.60
32.25
28.73
37.72
42.25
44.
44.32
34.
The average number of cars in the passenger train has been five; the weight
per cent, with its load, averages 14 tons; (car 12 tons, load 2 tons.) thus the
average weight of train would be 70 tons. The average number of freight cars
has been 45 short, or 22£ loDg (eight wheeled) cars. The long car weighing
seven tons, and the average load per long car five tons, the average weight of a
freight train would be 270 tons.
P R O V ID E N C E A N D W O R C E S T E R R A I L W A Y .
Name of
engine.
P r o v i d e u c e ...............
W o o n s o ck e t.............
G en eral G reen . . . .
S la ter .........................
Isa a c D a v is ...............
Description of
the train.
Miles run.
........
........
........
2,340
2,386
2.250
Pounds of Pounds o f
coal per
coal
used.
mile run.
57,590
49.900
46,900
46,580
82,500
83,730
26.50
19.25
20.00
19.50
87.00
40.00
Upon the Boston and Providence Railway, we have observed carefully the
detail of coal burning upon the engine “ Washington.” This locomotive takes
the 7.20 passenger train from Boston to Providence, and returns with the 11.05
train to Boston. As far as Mansfield, the train consists of six long cars ; from
Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
117
Mansfield to Providence of four cars. The time running, was one hour and 42.5
minutes; time standing, 17.5 minutes; whole time, two hours. Speed, including
stops, 21.5 miles per hour ; excluding stops, 25.17 miles per hour. The amount
of water evaporated per pound of coal was 9.45 pounds, including fuel used for
firing, which consisted of 183 pounds of coal and eight cubic feet, (about 200
pounds) of wood. The fire was fed at intervals of from two and one-half to
three minutes; the effect of a fresh addition of coal to the furnace was seen
after four seconds at the top of the chimney in a light puff of brown smoke; if
the fire door was held open for ten seconds after firing, no smoke appeared when
it was shut; but if shut at once, the smoke (not very black) was seen for about ten
seconds. The engine steamed very freely, indeed it was blowing off half of the
trip. The engineer of this engine is John Johnson, and the fireman, John Tuttle.
The engine is a full-blooded “ Griggs,” (fire brick arch, air holes in the door, and
the chimney of pattern common upon his engines.)
CONNECTICUT RAILROADS.
The following abstract from the report of the Railroad Commissioners of
Connecticut, shows the cost of the railroads in the State, their length, & c.:—
The chartered capital of the several railroads lying in this State,
in whole or in part, i s ....................................................................
$23,675,838 00
Of which there has been paid in ......................................................
18,727,361 31
The total amount of funded and floating debt is...............................
11,256,092 50
Making total apparent expense chargeable to construction account. * 29,993,459 81
The total length of road constructed under charter granted in whole
or in part by this State, is.................................................... miles
783
Of which is constructed in this State................................................
602
The aggregate length of double track is............................................
122
Making the entire length of track in use...........................................
906
The total expenditure for working the road has been................. ..
$20,146,693 67
For fuel, oil, and waste......................................................................
326,017 06
For salaries, wages, <fcc., chargeable to passenger and freight depart
ments, and miscellaneous expenses........ .....................................
19,820,677 61
There has been expended during the past year—
For maintenance of way........................................
For maintenance of motive power and cars.......................................
Making for repairs and renewals a totalcost of...............................
The total income of the railroads in this State during the past year
has been.........................................................................................
Their net earnings have been............................................................
Their reported surplus is...................................................................
Passenger and other trains have been running in all............... miles
Carrying passengers..........................................................................
$479,591 73
262,451 84
742,012 97
3,117,982 15
1,046,434 92
165,380 68
1,978,662
2,572,516
The whole number of accidents to persons during the year was thirty-four,
and of these twenty-one occurred to persons lying or walking upon the track.
FRENCH RAILROADS.
The French Government has presented to the Legislative Body bills for carry
ing into execution the arrangements come to some time back between it and the
railway companies, relative to the guaranty to be accorded by the former to the
118
Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
latter for the execution of new lines and embranchments. The whole capital
guarantied will be as follows:—To the Orleans Company, for concessions
definitively made, 601,000,000 francs; for eventual concessions, 214.000,000
francs—total, 815,000,000 francs, (£32,000,000 ;) to the Northern Company,
definitive concessions, 139,500.000 francs ; eventual concessions, 60,500,000 francs
—total, 200,000,000 francs, (£8,000,000 ;) to the Eastern Company, definitive
concessions, 505,000,000 francs: eventual concessions, 17,000,000 francs—total,
522.000. 000 francs, (£20,880,000 ;) to the Western Company, definitive con
cessions, 291,000,000 francs; eventual,--------- , (£11,640,000;) Southern, defini
tive concessions, 119,000,000 francs ; eventual concessions, 13,000,000 francs—
total, 132.000,000 francs, (£5,280,000 ;) Mediterranean, definitive concessions,
814.000. 000 francs; eventual concessions,311,000.000francs—total. 1,125,000,000
francs, (£45,000,000.) Thus the total of the government guaranty amounts to
the enormous sum of £123.400,000 sterling. This constitutes the estimated ex
pense of the new lines and embranchments to be executed, and it exceeds by
£16,800,000 the cost of the old lines.
The following official return respecting railways will be found of great
interest:—
t 858. —,
.- 1 8 5 7 .—,
Total Aver.
Total
Aver,
worked worked worked worked
on Dec. during on Dec. during
Names of lines.
Northern...........................
Eastern.......... ................
Ardennes.........................
Western.............................
Orleans.............................
Mediterranean.................
Lyons to Geneva...............
Southern...........................
Dauphine...........................
Ceinture (round Paris) . . .
Besseges to Alais..............
Anziu to Somain................
Carmaux to Albi...............
Graissessac to Beziers.......
Totals and averages
31.
kilos.*
924
1,617
152
1,144
1,743
1,813
228
794
129
17
32
19
15
52
the year. 31.
kilos.
kilos.
891
850
1,550 1,397
88
52
1,060
960
1,579 1,479
1,736 1,648
216
175
728
782
109
88
17
17
30
82
19
19
8
11
••
the year.
kilos. ■
815
1,255
17
928
1,342
1,622
137
649
70
17
3
19
8,679
8,098
6,874
7,442
••
Total receipts
in f,rancs
1858.
1857.
55,300,018
51,513,505
54,207,341
48,026,578
1,677,033
183,742
43,098,642
41,262.231
60,098,701
58,468,365
95,958,636
93,652,225
4,743,829
2,642,432
12,491,560
15,652,502
1,650,284
878,094
1,451,213
1,545,562
915,365
71,648
349,541
372,070
110,766
19,144
335,239,015
311,108,012
THE JOINTED STEAMSHIP.
A short time ago a vessel of very novel description appeared in the East India
docks. She was of iron, built in compartments or sections, with this remarkable
peculiarity, that each section, instead of forming part of an ordinary rigid,
indivisible vessel, as in the Great Eastern, was a distinct vessel, complete in itself,
and connected to the other sections by a moveable joint of extreme simplicity,
and immense strength. The joints were constructed by giving to the after end
of each section a concave form, enabling it to contain and overlap the convex
bow of the adjoining section. Through the overlapping parts, at the sides of
the vessel, were inserted massive iron bolts, resting in stout wrought iron sponsons,
* The kilometre is five-eighths o f a milo.
Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
119
firmly attached to the ship's sides and framework. These bolts, which constituted
the pivots or centers of the joints, were attached to powerful levers under the
decks, by means of which they could be drawn inwards for disconnecting, or
pushed outwards for connecting the sections. The vessel was, in fact, a “ jointed
ship,” capable of bending at the joints both upwards and downwards, accommodat
ing herself to the rise and fall of the waves, and fitted with powerful gear for
instantaneously detaching one or more of her sections when required. We under
stand the following desiderata are attained by this new system of naval construc
tion :—
Vessels of exceedingly light draught, and of length far greater than hitherto,
carrying the largest cargoes, may be used without danger of breaking their backs,
or even straining; the yielding of the joints obviating that liability. The great
length, light draught, and narrow midship section permits the attainment of
unprecedented speed, whilst the facility for detaching part of the vessel in case
of collision, fire, sudden leaking, or grounding with a falling tide, affords a means
of saving life, and a portion of hull and cargo, when otherwise all would be lost.
In steam shipping a great economy of time and expense is effected. One section
carries the engine aDd crew ; all the other sections are appropriated to cargo.
On the arrival at its destination of' a “ jointed ship,” the engine and screw sec
tion is immediately detached, transferred to another jointed vessel of same guage
of joint, and dispatched at once without incurring the delay of unloading one
cargo and loading another. The detention of marine engines during repair of
the hulls is also avoided by this system. The sections of jointed vessels can load
at inland ports, proceed separately, by canal or river, to the nearest seaport, there
connect with the steam section, and take their cargoes direct over sea, avoiding
the delay and expense of transhipment. The Jointed Ship Company, of Rood
Lane, are going to run an iron screw collier, as a pioneer vessel, in the London
coal trade, ller coal-laden sections, when detached from the steam section, will
act as lighters, and deliver their coals direct to all waterside premises, docks,
canals, and creeks of the Thames ; avoiding the expense of coal whipping and
loss by breakage of the coals.
RAILW AY LEGISLATION IN AUSTRIA AND PR U SSIA.
The preliminary regulations for the organization of railway companies, and
for the construction of railways do not materially differ throughout Germany,
and may be briefly described as follows :—
When an association of private individuals desires to construct a railway, they
lay a full description of the project, with an appropriate estimate of the capital
required, before the minister charged with the supervision of the schemes, i. e.
the Minister of Commerce or of Public Works, as the case may be.
If there is no prima facie objection, they receive power to make a detailed
survey. The plans are then submitted to a commission, who examine it in detail,
hear objections, and decide questions of interference with private property, and
the mode of crossing roads, &c. If the landowners cannot agree with the com
pany as to the price of the land, the amount is fixed by one of the ordinary
tribunals, the company being at liberty to proceed with their works as soon as
they have paid money into court.
120
Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
BRITISH AND AMERICAN RAILW AYS,
Captain Galton’s yearly report on the railways of Great Britain to the Board
of Trade for the year 1857, has just appeared in the columns of the London
Railway Times of October 2d, 9th, and 16th ; he gives many tables of data and
comparison with railways in other countries. As some of his figures are interest
ing, it may not be amiss to reprint them. The pound sterling is rated at $5 in
the following table :—■
R A I L W A Y S T A T IS T IC S F O R T H E Y E A R E N D IN G D E C E M B E R S l S T ,
Miles constructed and in use...............................
Amount expended per mile of road ..................
Total cost of all in use.........................................
Net e a r n i D g s ...................................................................................... ......
Receipts per m ile..............................................
Working expenditure per mile .. „ ......................
Wages of engine drivers per annum..................
Wages of firemen per annum.............................
Wages of conductors per annum.......................
Wages of laborers per annum...........................
3st class passengers, fare per mile ....................
2d class passengers, fare per mile.....................
3d class passengers, fare per mile......................
Length of railway open for every million of people
England.
9,119
*174,750
1,574,94 9,130
4.1 per cent
*15,525
7,820
450
300
260
195
4 bents
3 “
1857.
United States.
26,210
$41,375
1,084,438,750
6.7 per cent
*6,170
3,330
983
525
745
313
2 cents
1 “
I “
O
647 miles
378 miles
The above table shows the great difference in the cost of railways in England
and America ; it shows how much larger are the receipts per mile in England
than in America; it shows how much cheaper passengers are transported in the
United States than in England ; it shows that the wages paid in America are
much greater than in England ; and it shows the important fact (all important
to the stockholder,) that the net returns in dividends and interest are 63 per cent
greater in the United States than in England. The net returns of previous years
showed a far greater difference than this in favor of the United States. The
net returns of the railways of England in 1850 being only one-aud-eight-tenths
per cent.
ROADS, RAILW AYS, AND CANALS MADE IN INDIA SINCE 1848.
A Parliamentary paper gives the following interesting facts iu relation to the
railroads of Iudia :—
Madras Presidency...................
Bombay.....................................
Scinde..........................................
Bengal.......................................
Punjaub......................................
Straits Settlements....................
Nag pore..................................... ..............
Mysore.......................................
Hyderabad...............................
T o ta l.............................
,--------- ----- Roads.---Total.
1st class. 2d & lid class.
3,709f
4,393*
3,909
3,721
3.764J
1,835*
5,240
4,304
9,285
10,426
112
112
so
247
277
1,090*
1,415*
751
688
24,828*
29,353*
Canals.
512
...
223
12
...
...
...
..•
747
Journal o f M ining , Manufactures, and A rt.
121
JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART.
MANUFACTURE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF LEATHER.
In the process of tanning leather—which is a modification of the tanning
process—alum is made to do the work of part of the bark, or sometimes is used
by itself. The skin is at once submitted to the action of the alum before putrifaction has commenced, or it will fail to effect the change required. As soon,
therefore, as the hair can be removed by the lime process, the skins are washed
and cleansed, and are then placed in bran and water, after which they are ready
for the alum. A bath of alum and salt is now prepared, at a temperature of
about one hundred and ninety degrees, in which the skins are placed for about
nine or ten minutes. They are then taken out, and the water is thickened with
the yolk of eggs and wheat flour, forming a kind of paste, with which the skins
are coated and then dried. The subseqent processes then vary, according as the
leather is required for gloves or other purposes. The chamois and the buff
leather are dressed in a different manner, nor are they made of the skins of the
animals from which they have derived their names, but from the sheep and ox.
These leathers are very slightly tanned indeed, and are then dressed with oil,
which is afterwards fulled and scoured out, so as to remove any sensation of
grease which they might otherwise communicate to the hand. True morocco
leather is the skin of the goat, tanned and dried, and may be known Irom its
imitations by the veins on the inside, which are very well marked in the real
skin, and deficient in that of sheep. The dye always shows these veins in the
darker shade, and makes them in this way very manifest. A vast proportion
of the skins sold as morocco leather are those of the sheep ; and a still worse
imitation is now sold, which has no leather whatever in its composition, but
is a varnish spread on a stout linen or cotton cloth, and then stamped in the same
way as the imitation sheep. Russian leather is the skin of the horse or calf,
tanned with the bark of the birch, which gives it that peculiar smell which is so
agreeable to most persons, and seems to preserve it from the attacks of insects.
COPPER MINES.
The following statement exhibits the progress of the Minnesota mines for the
last four years :—
Product of rough copper.. .tons
Average product per month.. . .
Perc’tage of yield of ingot copper
Av. price obtained per lb.. .cents
Gross value...............................
Cost of mining...........................
Transportation.............................
Smelting.....................................
All other expenses....................
Total cost....................................
Net earnings.............................
1855.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1,434
119}
71
27.09
§549,876
189,780
35,395
22,971
32,787
280,933
268,543
1,859
155
72}
25.67
$701,906
241,749
42,271
34,932
37,589
356,541
345,365
2,058
171}
74
23.63
$736,000
279,402
49,558
41,077
32,502
402,538
333,462
1,834
153
70.1
22.66
$595,000
273,746
43,184
38,273
29,624
384,827
210,176
122
Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.
MANUFACTURE OF PA PER FROM STRAW .
A German invention for treating straw so as to produce a pulp suitable for
the economical manufacture of paper, is said to successfully meet the difficulties
that have heretofore attended the process. The straw is first steeped entire for
sixty hours, in spring, rain, or river water, of a temperature of from fifty-five to
eighty-five degrees, according to the season of the year. After some hours, the
water becomes gradually warm and discolored, and an active fermentation takes
place. After sixty hours, the liquid is suffered to run off, and the straw is
washed with a plentiful supply of water, in order to remove all the soluble
coloring matter. The straw is then drained, and while still damp is subjected to
the action of millstones, rolling on a plane surface, or passed between a pair of
rollers, in order to flatten the straw. It is then forced between other rollers fur
nished with cutters, or other suitable apparatus, whereby the straw is formed
into filaments or fibers, as long and continuous as possible.
When thus reduced, the straw is exposed to the air and sun. for the purpose
of drying it, after which process the straw will have assumed a pale yellow
color. By subjecting the straw to the action of water, and subsequently exposing
it to the air and light, it becomes bleached to a certain extent; but by means
of a subsequent process, it is completely divested of all coloring matter, and is
rendered perfectly white. After having been submitted to the processes referred
to, the straw is steeped for one or more days, according as it is in a more or less
filamentous state, in one or more chemical preparations, the filaments being first
treated either with the alkaline solutions, or by the solutions of hypoehloride of
soda or potash ; and sometimes for a longer or shorter period, with the prepara
tions of hypoehloride of lime, until the straw has acquired the requisite degree
of whiteness. By these processes the straw becomes reduced to beautiful fila
ments, which may readily be converted into pulp.
STAINING AND POLISHING MARBLE.
The modern processes for treating marble are probably equal, if not superior)
to anything practiced by the most skillful artists in the marble of the ancient
schools. In staining this material, the principal colors used are red, blue, and
yellow. The red and yellow may be prepared by reducing gamboge, or dragon’s
blood, to a powder, and grinding them separately in a glass vessel, with spirits
of wine. The strong tincture, thus extracted, may be laid on the marble with a
pencil, producing the finest traces, and penetrating deeply when the stone is
heated. The blue is imparted by a watery solution of the drug known to dyer3
as Canary Turnsol. The marks are traced with a pencil, and strike deeply into
the stone ; the outline must be circumscribed with wax, or the color will spread.
A beautiful shade is produced, which is not likely to fade. The polishing process
pursued by marble workers is commenced with the use of sharp sand, which is
worked until the surface becomes perfectly flat. Three applications of fine sand
follow each other successively, and then of emery and tripoli, and the last polish
is given by tin putty. The polishing rubbers are coarse linen cloths, or bagging,
wedged tightly into an iron planing tool. Water is used freely.
i
Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.
123
NEW STEEL W IR E .
Of late great improvements have been made in the production of iron and
steel in England, and wire has in its turn been greatly improved, both in the
quality of the stock employed and the processes of manufacture. The British
admiralty, by fixing a standard for their cable, first led the inventors of that
country to improve the quality of wire, tmd when the makers began to vie with
each other the standard was soon left behind, and much greater excellence at
tained. The latest and greatest improvement is the patent steel wire of Messrs.
Webster & Horsfall, of Birmingham, of which we are favored with some par
ticulars by Messrs. Nunn, their agent in this city. He, himself, has been for
many years a wire maker, and knowing, as he does, the various qualities in the
market, his decided opinion as to its superiority is worth a great deal among
those who use this article. The Icarus, Pandora, and Melpomene, three steam
frigates of the largest class in Her Majesty’s navy, are being rigged with it, and
the British admirality report indorses its great strength and especial applicability
to the manufacture of rope cable or rigging. We find that it takes 2,800 pounds
to break a No. 10 patent steel wire, while the same gauge iron wire breaks with
800 or 900 pounds; a No. 16 patent steel wire is broken with 1,100 pounds,and
the same gauge iron wire is broken with u strain of 300 pounds. Thus a steel
wire need only be one-third as heavy and bulky to bear the strain of iron, and
this lightness will extend its application to rigging and mining purposes.
The comparative strengths of new steel wire and hemp, when made into cable,
will be seen at a glance by the following table of the relative diameters of the
same strength, made from actual experiments :—
Steel wire rope.
Ilemp rope.
5 inches.
4t
H
s
2f
2
2*
14
13
12
11
9
H
5i
We are glad to say that it has been introduced into this country by Mr. Nunn,
and at every trial has proved to be an invention of great importance.
MEANS OF PRESERVING TIM BER.
Oils are preservatives of wood, as is evidenced in the case of whaling ships,
which seem to be proof against decay. Hot oil has been experimented with in
impregnating wood ; but while it rendered it more durable, it injured the tenacity
of the fibers. From the well known preservative nature of arsenic, it would be
effectual for preserving timber, but its use is attended with much danger. Tim
ber impregnated with a solution of tannin is rendered preservative, by the tannin
combining with the albumen, and forming an insoluble compound, in the same
manner that leather is produced by the combination of the tannin with the
gelatin of skins. Creosote is an excellent preservative of wood, and the efficacy
of common tar, for this purpose, is attributed to the creosote it contains. The
boiling of timber in wood tar renders it highly preservative, but it impares its
124
Journal o f Mining, Manufactures, and A rt.
strength. About two gallons of creosote to every one hundred gallons of water,
makes a sufficiently strong solution lor use. Burnet’s process for preserving
wood consists in the use of a chloride of zinc solution—one pound to every five
gallons of water, and is applied in the same manner as the corrosive sublimate.
For ship timber it is much superior to the corrosive sublimate, because the com
pound it forms with the albumen of the wood is insoluble in salt water, which is
not the case with the mercury compound. The chloride of zinc, and the sulphate
of copper are the most simple, and the best preservatives, considering the cost.
Shingles for roofs of houses, boiled in a solution of the sulphate of copper or
pure salt, will last many years longer than they otherwise would.
STATISTICS OF BRITISH COAL MINES.
No. o f
collieries.
Tons of
coal raised.
Durham and Northumberland.. .............................................
Cumberland.............................................................................
Yorkshire.................................................................................
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire............................................
Warwickshire...........................................................................
Leicestershire........................................................................
Staffordshire and Worcestershire............................................
Lancashire...............................................................................
Cheshire...................................................................................
Shropshire................................................................................
Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and Devonshire....................
North Wales ............................................................
South W ales.!........................................................................
Scotland...................................................................................
Ireland.....................................................................................
268
28
874
194
16
14
563
359
31
55
99
84
325
425
70
15,828,525
942,018
8,875,440
‘’’3,687,442
898,000
698,750
7,164,625
8,565,500
760,500
750,000
1,225,000
1,046,500
7,182,304
8,211,473
120,630
Total, 1858....................................................................
2,095
65,394,707
District.
OIL FROM ASPHALT,
A patent for making a lubricating oil from asphalt has recently been obtained
in England by Dr. Simpson, of Edinburgh, and Professor W . Thomson, of
Belfast. The asphalt, according to their invention, is first distilled at a tem
perature a little below that of a red heat. This produces a thick liquid, which
is again distilled at the same temperature. The second distillation brings over a
more limpid liquid—a fine residuum of charcoal being left in the retort. This
oily liquid is subjected to stirring or agitation in a wooden vessel, with about
one-tenth of its bulk of sulphuric acid. Much of the impurities unite with the
acid, and when allowed to settle fall to the bottom of the vessel. The clear
liquid is then drawn off, and agitated with a caustic alkali, or mixture of quick
lime and chalk, allowed to settle, and the clear drawn off. The resultant oil is
then agitated with sulphuric acid, as before, and again with the alkali or chalk,
allowing time after each operation for the impurities to settle, and the oil has
become a pale yellow color. It is then put into an iron retort and distilled at
a moderate heat, when about one-third of the quantity comes away as naptha.
The heat is then elevated, when the remainder comes over—leaving a small
residuum of charcoal— and is an oil nearly limpid ; one part of sperm oil mixed
with nine parts of it making a good oil for machinery.
Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, aud A rt.
125
BLEACHING OF LEATHER,
Mr. L. W . Fiske is the originator of an improved process in bleaching and
stuffing leather. The “ set ” is composed of four gallons of clear water, from 130
to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, to every four pounds of sulphuric acid, of about the
specific gravity from 1.823 to 1.847, or 65 to 66 degrees Reaumur, one-half
pound of dissolved alum, one-half pound of dissolved borax, and from three to
five pounds of common salt. The bleach is composed of four gallons of water,
of 140 degrees Fahrenheit for every six pounds of sugar of lead, and one-fourth
pound of common chalk, dissolved in dilute muriatic acid. For stuffing, the in
ventor uses, for every three gallons of common stuffing, one-fourth of a pound
of finely powdered alum, one-fourth of a pound of finely powdered borax, onefourth of a pound of finely powdered sugar of lead, dissolved in a quart of hot
water. This solution is then mixed with one pound ot superfine flour, and to it
is added a half tea-cup full of gum tragacanth, dissolved in hot water to the
consistency of thick mucilage—adding a tablespoonful of alcohol to each half
pound of gum.
FRANKLINITE— IM PROVER OF IRON.
Franklinite ore belongs to the same group as magnetic ore, but differs from it,
inasmuch as Franklinite contains oxide of zinc and manganese, the oxide of zinc
replacing the oxide of iron in magnetic. The ore is free from sulphur and
phosphorus, or any impurity which impairs the iron manufactured from it. A
series of experiments have been made, and the results obtained have been in every
way satisfactory ; the addition of from fifteen to twenty per cent of Franklinite
changing the character of red and cold short iron to a material which will bear
comparison with the most highly-prized irons in the market. \
COTTON, WOOLEN, AND W ORSTED MANUFACTURES IN ENGLAND.
The following statement, founded on late British Parliamentary returns, shows
the extent of the above branches ol manufacture in England, Scotland, and
Ireland, as shown by the receipts of the factory inspectors, for the half year
ending the 31st of October last, and the increase within the last ten years :—
The number of factories from which schedules were received in 1856, amounted
to 5,117 against 4,600 in 1850. and 4,217 in 1838. Of these 2,210 were cotton
factories, 1,505 woolen, 325 worsted, 417 flax, and 160 silk. The cotton fac
tories have increased 14.2 per cent, and the silk, 66 per cent. The woolen trade
is becoming concentrated in Yorkshire, and the worsted manufacture is almost
exclusively confined to the same county. The flax trade is most vigorous in
Ireland. The number of spindles and looms, in 1856, was respectively 33,509,580
of the former, and 369,205 of the latter, and the actual horse-power given in the
returns is 161,435. Power looms have increased from 115,801, in 1836, to the
number already indicated, viz., 369,205. The average value of the cotton goods
and yarns exported in the three years 1853-54-55, was, in round numbers,
£31,000,0000 ; of woolen and worsted goods, and yarns, the average exports
for three years amounted to £10,000,000. The number of children employed
has decreased considerably in flax and woolen factories, while' it has increased
in worsted. The total number of children under thirteen years of age employed
in all kinds of factories last year amounted to 46.071 ; the number of males
126
Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.
between thirteen and eighteen to 72,220 ; the number of females above thirteen
to 387,826 ; and the number of malts eighteen years, to 176.400—making a
grand aggregate array, so to speak, of 682,497. There were during the half
year 1,919 accidents from machinery, and 53 not due to machinery. The number
of informations was 380, and the number of convictions 245. The return of
accidents abounds in the same horrible details as usual.
LEAD : ITS PRICE AND SUPPLY.
The following is a statement showing the wholesale prices of dry white lead
and white lead ground in oil, and of red lead for potters, and litharge, from the
year 1832 to 1858, inclusive; likewise the price of pig lead, and also the quan
tity of lead in pigs received at New Orleans from the mines in Missouri and on
Fever Biver:—
Y enrs.
1832.
1833.
1834.
i6 8 5 .
1836.
1837.
1888.
1839.
1840.
1841.
1842.
1843.
1844.
1 8 4 ;> .
1S46.
1847.
1848.
1849.
1830.
1S51.
1852.
1853.
1854.
1855.
1S56.
1857.
1S58.
A m ount o f
p ig lead
f------- M a r k e t p r ic e s .------------------x fron i A m e r ic a n A m o u n t o f
p ig , b a r,
m in e s reW h ile lea d .
L i :h (ir o n n d
R ed
Pig c e .v e d a t S t. u n d rh eet
len d . L o u is an d N .
le a d iinle a d .
arg e .
D ry.
in o il.
p o r le u ,
p e r 100 p e r 160 p e r 100 p e r 100 p e r lo t1 O rle a n s,
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs11IS.
8 ,5 4 0 ,(1 0 0
5 , £ 8 8 ,5 8 8
* 9 5 0 $ 1 0 GG $ r 1 2 $ 8 5 0 $ 5 9 4
2 ,2 8 2 ,( 0 8
5 91
1 2 ,6 0 0 .(0 0
10 06
8 75
8 35
9 50
r 1 4 .1 4 0 ,0( 0
4 ,9 9 7 ,2 9 3
8 37
8 50
9 35
1 0 JG
6 50
1 6 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,0 0 6 , 4 7 2
10 84
8 50
8 50
9
8 50
6 3 7 ]; 1 8 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
9 1 9 ,0 8 7
8 50
10 00
11 5 0
2 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
8 3 5 ,7 7 2
5 96
12 0 0
8 75
8 75
11 1 2
1 6 5 ,8 4 4
2 0 ,8 6 0 ,0 0 0
11 5 0
8 00
8 00
5 29
10 75
s 121
86
10 25
9 75
9 00
8 00
7 75
7 25
7
7
G
G
7
7
G
G
8
8
50
00
90
18
81
00
75
31
75
50
8 fO
8 37
8 25
8 50
11 ( 0
10 2 5
9
8
8
8
25
25
25
25
8
8
7
G
7
00
00
20
83
45
7
7
7
9
9
9
9
22
28
0G
50
25
02
09
9 00
8 77
8 00
7 25
7 25
8 00
7 00
7 25
G 50
G 00
6 25
6
6
G
6
5
6
5
5
6
6
G
G
8
87
12
00
62
12
25
00
00
00
8
8
8
8
7
25
00
37
00
25
75
00
50
25
G 12
5 25
5 62
6 25
6
6
6
8
25
50
25
00
8 25
8 00
8 50
5
4
4
3
13
89
50
81
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
58
90
03
73
37
26
78
4 80
4 85
4 80
G 45
6 57
6 87
8 25
6 59
G 18
7 25
5 94
2 4 ,0 0 0 3 0 0
2 7 ,0 0 0 ,0 ( 1 0
8 0 ,0( 0 ,0 0 0
8 3 .1 1 0 ,0 0 0
3 1 ,9 7 0 ,(0 0
4 4 ,7 3 0 ,0 0 0
5 1 ,2 4 0 ,0 0 0
5 4 ,9 .' 0 ,0 0 0
4 6 .1 8 0 ,0 0 0
5 2 8 ,9 2 2
5 1 9 ,8 4 3
0 2 ,2 4 6
4 ,6 0 9
210
I n v o ic e A v e ’ g e /i v e ’ ge
v a lu e o f in v o ic e r a le o f
y e a r ly
valu e, d u ty .
im p o r ta - ]per 1U0 p e r ICO
tiuii.
lbs.
lbs.
$ 1 2 4 ,3 1 1 $ 2 3 3 $ 3 0 0
6 0 ,6 6 0
2 66
3 00
1 6 8 ,8 1 1
3 38
2 77
35 663
8 5 ,2 8 3
1 3 ,8 7 1
3
3
4
3
6 ,5 7 3
1 8 ,6 8 1
1 8 ,1 1 1
2 ,6 0 5
155
54
84
13
96
2 57
2 34
3 52
3 52
3 32
2 31
2 08
2 07
3 30
3
1 03
3 00
3 00
3 00
4 7 9 ,7 3 8
9 3 ,1 6 6
3 00
3 00
56
04
2 3 1 ,1 7 1
2 1 5 ,4 3 4
data not at Land.
1 9 ,0 (9
’
214
2 2 4 ,9 0 5
2 ,6 8 4 , 7 0 0
4 2 ,4 2 0 ,0 0 0
8 5 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0
4 0 , 3 1 3 , 9 1 0 :" 0 , 9 9 7 , 7 5 1
3 4 , 9 3 4 , 4 8 0 ■4 3 ,4 7 0 ,2 1 0
2 8 , 5 9 3 , ISO 3 7 , 5 4 4 ,5 8 8
3 1 , 4 9 7 , 9 5 0 <i . 1 7 4 ,4 4 7
2 1 , 4 7 2 , 9 9 0 -1 7 ,7 i 4 , 1 4 0
2 1 ,4 4 1 ,1 4 0 5 6 ,7 4 5 ,2 4 7
1 5 .3 4 7 ,8 8 0 5 5 , 2 9 4 , 2 5 6
458
G
6 ,2 8 8
8 5 ,3 b 7
2 34
2 80
2 80
3 18
2 77
2 55
A m o u n t o f I n v o ic e
w h ite an d v a lu e o f
red lead
y e a r ly
im p orted , im p o rta lbs
lion .
5 5 7 ,7 8 1 $ 3 0 , 7 9 1
6 -5 ,0 6 9
8 6 ,0 4 9
5 7 ,5 7 2
1 ,(2 4 .6 6 3
5 0 ,2 2 5
8 3 2 .2 1 5
9 0 8 ,1 0 5
599 980
5 2 2 ,6 8 1
7 2 ,4 0 8
(5 4 3 ,4 18
5 3 2 ,1 2 2
6 2 ,2 3 7
4 7 ,3 1 6
3 8 ,(5 8 3
5 0 ,9 0 5
4 1 ,0 4 3
3 1 ,(5 1 7
2 8 ,7 4 7
5 ,6 0 0
not at; Land.
2 9 8 ,3 8 7
3 1 8 ,7 t l
1 4 .7 4 4
1 5 ,6 8 5
1 5 ,2 2 8
1 9 ,7 0 3
data not at Land.
1 ,1 8 2 .5 9 7
1 ,5 1 7 .6 0 3
3 19*
3 49
1 ,2 8 3 ,3 3 1
1 ,( 5 1 8 ,0 5 8
!2 ,0 9 5 ,0 3 9
3
3
4
4
2 ,5 5 6 ,5 2 3
2 ,5 2 8 ,0 1 4
1 4 ,0 2 8 ,1 4 0 4 7 , 9 4 7 , 6 9 8 '2 ,3 0 5 ,7 6 8
2 1 , 2 1 0 , 4 2 0 4 1 , 2 3 0 , 0 1 9 1 ,9 7 2 ,2 4 3
42
74
39
50
4 57*
4 88*
4 7S*
04
4 3 ,7 5 6
8 5 3 ,4 6 3
7 0 1 ,1 0 5 .8 5 2
5 2 ,6 3 1
8 -2 .5 2 1
70
4 3 ,3 6 5
6 9 ,0 5 8
7 0 1 .2 2 4 ,0 6 8
9 0 1 , 8 6 5 , 8 9 3 K ) 2 ,S I 2
9 0 2 , 3 1 9 , 0 9 9 1 3 4 ,8 5 5
91 3 , 5 4 - 4 0 9 1 7 4 .1 2 5
7 2 1 ,7 9 3 ,3 7 7 1 1 3 ,0 7 5
7 2 l , 7 e 5 , S o l 1 0 9 ,4 2 6
SALT AND SALT SPRINGS IN NEBRASKA.
Mr. A . J. Davis, formerly of Illinois, but now of Nebraska, has produced a
specimen o f salt manufactured there, that is destined to work a revolution in
the salt trade. The water from which the salt is made is obtained from two
large springs, and we are informed that sufficient quantities can be obtained to
supply the whole country with this indispensable article. Three pounds of salt
can be made from two gallons of water, and, in addition to this fact, the quality
of salt is pronounced by competent judges to be 20 per cent better than that of
Syracuse or Kanawha. These springs are located on a stream called Salt Creek,
thirty-five miles from Plattsmouth, Missouri. Two companies, with a capital of
§100,000 each, have been organized, and we may expect in a year or two to re
ceive our supplies of salt from the West instead of the East. Such is the desire
to obtain shares in these companies that in some instances they have been sold
at an advance of four hundred per cent.
Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.
127
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c.
BREADSTUFFS IN EUROPE,
The gradual demand of Europe for more bread, founded on the constant
change going on in the direction of industry, is producing its effects on the ex
ports of breadstuffs from the United States. The change of industry in Europe
is in a continual diversion from agriculture to the arts. Each year increases the
number of inventions, and consequently the number of those employed in the
arts. The natural result follows—relatively less crops. The great countries of
Europe, which used formerly to produce a surplus of agricultural products, now
scarcely produce enough for their own consumption, in ordinary seasons, and
never in bad years. The most conspicuous of these nations is Great Britain,
which imports every year; but sixty years ago, exported grain. France is about
balanced ; in good seasons exporting, and in bad ones importing. On the whole,
Southern Europe about maintains its own, while Bussia and Poland are export
ing countries.
The following is a statement of the exports of the United States for twentyone years:—
/--------- Exports.---------- >
,---------- Exp orts.---------- >
Bushels.
Value.
*3,617,024
2,247,096
1838.........
4,712,086
7,069,361
1839 .......
11,198,365
11,779,098
1840 .......
8,447,670
8,582,5.27
1841___ _
8,292,308
7,237,968
1842 . . . . .
4,519,055
4,027,182
1843 ........
7,232,898
7,751,587
1844 .......
6,735,372
6,365,866
1845 .......
13,350,644
1846 .......
13,001,175
32,183,161
26,312,431
1847 .......
15,863,284
12,764,669
1848 .......
Dividing t iventy years into periods of
Bushels.
1854-58 ___
1849-53 ___
1849 .......
1850 .......
1851.......
1852 ........
1853 ........
1854 ........
1855 ........
1856 .......
1857 .......
1858 .......
Bushels.
Value.
12,309,972
8,658,982
13,948,499
18,680,686
22,379,126
28,148,595
6,820,584
25,708,007
33,730,696
26,487,041
*13,287,629
8,817,015
13,303,332
14,424,352
22,687,200
40,421,616
12,226,154
44,390,809
48,123,318
28,390,388
five years each, we have this result
Value.
Bushels.
120,894,823 *173,252.285 1844-48 ___
75,977,264 72,519,538 1839-43 ___
Value.
66,255,728 $74,565,359
36,115,144 42,750,476
This table proves two very important facts, viz. :—
1st. That the quantity of breadstuffs imported from this country is constantly
increasing.
2d. That the price on the whole is advancing. The ratios of this increase
and advance stand thus :—
1839-43............................................................
1844-48............................................................
1849-54..............
1854-58............................................................
Total, 1839-58 .........................................
Bushels.
Price.
increase......................
$1 16
85 p ercen t.....................
112
15
“
96
60
“
145
230
. . . . . . . . . 25 per cent.
In this period of twenty years, there have been great fluctuations ; but the
result shows unerringly the tendency of things. Europe will continue to demand
more bread, and the United States will furnish more. There seems to be no
reason to the contrary. A t §1 per bushel of wheat, farmers can afford to raise
128
Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.
it for exportation, and will do so. But, we see, that for three-fourths of twenty
years, wheat has been above SI in the general markets. The United States at
this time cannot average a surplus for foreign markets of more than thirty mil
lions of bushels of wheat; but, the surplus of Indian corn is almost indednite,
for the amount of land in Indian corn may be greatly increased.
The principal foreign countries to which breadstuffs were exported in 1858,
were as follows :—
G re at B r it a in —Flour
. .bbls.
Wheat-bush.
Indian corn.
B razil—Flour................ bbls.
Corn.................bush.
1,041,136
6,788,200
2,815,198
525.120
53,159
B r it ’ h A m eric a —Flour..bbls.
'Wheat-bus.
Corn........
S p a in —Flour................bbls.
"Wheat.............. bush.
1,013,717
2,249,361
922,324
229,770
228,381
Three-fourths of all the exports are to these countries, and we see that the
amount is very great. In a single year, Great Britain, Spain, and Brazil have
taken twenty-six millions of bushels of grain from this country, and this brought
thirty millions of dollars. A very few years will double it.
AGRICULTURE UV THE IVORTIIWEST,
The Cincinnati Gazette remarked recently, in relation to the productions of
that section, as follows :—
The productiveness depends on climate, moisture, and soil. The Northwest
lies in the midst of the Temperate Zone ; its southern point being latitude 38°,
and its northern, 49°. In 1his belt, whether in Europe, Asia, or America, lie,
by far, the mcst productive regions of the world—Spain, France, Italy, Hungary,
Turkey in Europe— Northern Africa and China. The plants of the Temperate
Zone are both most numerous and most productive. They are neither wilted by
heat, nor frozen by cold. Independent of this, however, the moisture of the land
is always maintained, and the irrigation is perfect. The innumerable streams,
and brooks, and springs which flow into the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the lakes,
moisten and renew the soil from year to year. The immense productiveness of
Indian corn is a test of that fact. In no part of the world does corn flourish as
in the Ohio Yalley, and throughout the Northwest it is the predominant plant.
Taking it as a sort of vegetable test of soil, we present the following results of
corn crops, given under the census of 1850, and the average of the iast year :—
1S50.
1858.
Ohio................................................................. bush.
Indiana....................................................................
Illinois......................................................................
Michigan..................................................................
Wisconsin.................................................................
Iow a ........................................................................
Kansas....................................................................
Nebraska................................................................
Minnesota.........................
59,078,695
52,964,363
57,646,984
5,641,420
2,000,000
8,656,799
80,000,000
60,000,000
70,000,000
10,000,000
5,000,000
20,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
2,000,000
Aggregate......................................................
185,988,261
250,000,000
These States and Territories, which contain about one-fourth the population
of the Union, raise more than one-third the whole corn crop, and nearly one-half
the wheat crop. As grain-producing States, they are nowhere surpassed. The
average production of wheat to an acre in England is twenty-one bushels. In
Ohio it is generally about sixteen ; but it is well known that England is in the
highest possible culture, and that a constant system of costly fertilizing is kept
up on the English grain land. In 1852, the counties of Stark, Summit, and
Wayne, in Ohio, averaged, respectively, twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty
Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.
129
bushels per acre. In 1857, the counties of Hamilton ami Montgomery averaged
twenty. These facts are enough to show that the fertility of soil in the North
west is quite equal to the best parts of the world ; and before the census of
1870, the grain crop of this section will probably equal the whole crop of the
United States in 1850. In any aspect of the case, it can feed the growing popu
lation, till it exceeds that of any European empire.
RESOURCES OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
^A correspondent of the Pendleton Messenger writes :—
W e can grow as good corn, as good wheat, barley, oats, tobacco, rice, hemp,
indigo, potatoes, and every variety of vegetable, and last, though not least, that
great lever of the world, cotton, whose name is king. Salt, we are deficient in,
but we don’t obtain that article from the North ; and as for coffee, we will filibus
ter about until we have that article annexed. The culture of the grape is be
ginning to .arrest the attention of many. We were told by Dr. Togno, o f
Abbeville, who is now engaged successfully in making wine, that this country is
well adapted to it. All that is necessary is to understand it properly. Some
predict that it is the province of the grape to civilize the world, to supersede
the use of mountain dew. In France, we are told, it is a rare thing to see
drunkenness, yet they all drink wine, more or less. All we want, then, to be a
great agricultural people, is to reduce our farming more to a science. To cul
tivate less land, and cultivate it better, manure more and clear less. It is said,
that the article of guano will make a great revolution in affairs. Fifty per cent
yield is what they estimate it at in the lower and middle districts, where they are
using quantities of it.
THE COTTON POW ER.
A t a recent meeting of the Cotton Planters’ Association, held in Macon,
Georgia, an interesting report was read upon this subject, prepared by a com
mittee consisting of John H. Rogers, Messrs. Davis, Hillman, Rumph, and Belvin. The committee well represent the commercial value of the staple. To
estimate the influence of cotton upon the commerce of the world, we mu3t re
member that imports are always equal to exports. The estimate of Mr. Marcy,
while Secretary of State, in his report in obedience to a resolution of the House
of Representatives, was, that three-fourths of the cotton of the world was pro
duced in the United States. From the same report it is seen that the value of
the cotton of the United States is, in round numbers, §100,000,000. Add to
this §33,000,000 as the amount produced in the other cotton-growing countries
in the world, and we have §133,000,000 worth as the average production of the
world. Now suppose that §33,000,000 worth be retained, for the purpose o f
home manufacture—this is about the amount, from the best data before us—this
will leave §100,000,000 to be exported. But imports are always equal to ex
ports, so that the country shipping the §100,000,000 worth of cotton must re_
ceive in return §100,000,000 worth of other articles. Here, then, is §200,000,000
given to commerce. But the manufacturing countries receive this cotton, turn
it into cloth, thereby increasing its value, say six times, (which, however, is below
the true increase.) All of this cloth is not needed for home consumption. By
again referring to statistical accounts we find that about one-sixth of the cotton
imported into the manufacturing countries, is re-exported in the shape of the
manufactured article. This, then, gives $100,000,000 more of exports. This
must have in return the same amount o f imports. Here, then, is §200,000,000
V O L . X L I .-----N O . I .
9
130
Statistics oj Agriculture, etc.
more, which added to the other $200,000,000— the amount of the first exporta
tion and importation combined—gives in round numbers $400,000,000 to com
merce yearly. We might trace this operation almost to infinity, but this is far
enough for the object in view. Let it not be forgotten that this is the amount
given yearly to commerce by cotton.
But the $400,000,000 worth of commerce cannot be carried on without the
means of transportation. Who, then, can calculate the vast amount that must
be expended in making facilities for the transportation of $400,000,000 worth of
produce—produce which finds its way to the remotest parts of the civilized world ?
The mind is almost overwhelmed in the vain attempt. This, then, may be called
another muscle in the giant arm of the “ Cotton Power.”
W IN E -M A K IN G IN MISSOURI AND OHIO.
Notwithstanding the many difficulties our vine-dressers have had to contend
with, and notwithstanding some of their vinyards are not—to say the least—
in very favorable localities in the State, their success has been very flattering.
The vinyards of Boonville have yielded, the present season, about 6,000 gal
lons, worth $12,000. Five acres gave a clear profit of $2,000, or $400 per
acre. Mr. Haas made 1,550 gallons from three acres.
The vintage of Hermann was about 100,000 gallons from less than 200 acres.
A t $1 per gallon, which is much less than the value, it will give a profit of at
least $400 per acre, or of $80,000 on the 200 acres in cultivation.
One small vinyard at Hamburg—Mr. Joseph Stoby’s—yielded over 1,000
gallons per acre.
The entire cost of vinyards, preparing the soil, setting and training the vines
dill they come into bearing, varies from $200 to $300 per acre. Annual cost of
•cultivation after, $50 to $60 per acre ; 10 per cent on first cost, $20 to $30 per
acre; total expense for each year, $70 to $90 per acre.
TOBACCO AT THE SOUTH.
A Committee of the Kentucky State Agricultural Society recommends a con
vention of the producers and buyers of tobacco, to be held in Louisville, Ken
tucky, on the 2oth of May next, which is the day fixed for awarding premiums
to the growers of the best tobacco, under the auspices of the State Agricultural
Society. The design is to bring the producers and purchasers together, in order
to an interchange of opinions. The agriculturists may learn what grades are
best suited to the market, and will meet the most ready sale. The Louisville
Journal, speaking of the great commercial importance of the staple, says that
the value of raw tobacco, exported from the United States to Great Britain, was
over $3,500,000, in 1855, and during the first half of the present century, that
•country collected import duties on it to the enormous aggregate of over
$570*000,000. The total value of our exports of tobacco in 1857 was $20,662,772,
and in 1858 amounted to $19,409,882. During the first nine months of 1857, the
import revenue, derived by France from it, was over $25,000,000 ; four-fifths of
which were exported from the United States. The Cyclopedia of Commerce says,
that tobacco, next to salt, is probably the article most consumed by men. In one
form or another, but most generally in the form of fume or smoke, there is no
climate in which it is not consumed, and no nationality that has not adopted
Statistics o f Population , etc.
181
To put down its use has equally baffled legislators and moralists, and, in the
words of Pope, on a higher subject, it may be said to be partaken of “ by saint,
by savage, and by sage.” The average consumption, per bead, of male popula
tion over eighteen years of age, in some countries, seems almost fabulous. In the
German States, included in the operations of the Zollverein and Steuerverein, it
reaches from nine-and-three-fourtbs to twelve-and a-half pounds; in Holland,
and Belgium, and Denmark, to eight or nine pounds. The advance cost of
tobacco is shown from the fact, that in 1842 we exported 150,710 hogsheads, at
an average cost of $60 11, and in 1857 only 156,848, at an average value per
hogshead of $132 40.
STATISTICS OF POPULATION, &c.
POPULATION OF GERMANY.
The state of the war in Europe makes the population of Germany a matter
of interest, and we have compiled from official sources the population of each
State, with their debts and revenues, in 1834 and 1856
P O P U L A T IO N , D E B T S , A N D R E V E N U E S O F T H E G E R M A N S T A T E S A N D F R A N C E .
,-------------- 1834,-------------- * ,--------------- 1856.----------------,
A u stria ......................
P ru ssia......................
Bavaria......................
Saxony ......................
H anover....................
W urtem burg.............
B a d en ......... ...........
Hesse Cassel.............
Hesse Darmstadt. . . .
Hesse H om berg.......
Saxe W eim a r...........
Saxe M einingen.......
Saxe A lten b u rg........
Saxe Coburg...............
B run sw ick............. y
Mecklenburg..............
Mecklenburg Strelitz.
Oldenburg.................
Nassau........................
A n h a lt.......................
F rankfort..................
L u b e ck ......................
B rem en......................
H am burg...................
Population.
Debt.
Revenue. Population.
Debt.
Revenue
35,047,000 500,000,000* 152,000,000 39,411,309 2,417.000,000 263,786,885
14,193,752
175,398,827+ 52,681,000 17,202,83!
211,926,617 118,864,011
4,187,397
130,460,547* 28,185,139
4,541,556
134,045,964 89,597,411
1,580,370
15,704,096+ 5,434,210 2,039,075
53.991,184
9,040,920
1,688.305
15,691,283+ 6,093,978
1,819,453
43,540,921
9,597,049
1,588,048
24,663,014* 9,321,813
1,783,967
54,877,472 38.155,113
1,231,319
26,399,422* 8,256,607
1,357,208
34,767,695 10,323,313
701 253
1,540,850+ 8,314,610
736,393
10,900,000
4,155,414
760,373
11,564,377* 6,576,106
854,314
15,286,997
7,650,480
23,600
500,000*
150,000
24,921
1,076,908
349,519
241,046
4,500,000+
749,845
263,755
5,632,180
1,550,500
124,004
5,303,556*
1,250,669
165,530
3,200,000
1,632,052
121,266
796,935+
250,428
132,990
2,092,725
742,740
133,675
850,000+
257,272
150,878
1,090,101
369,143
248.000
981,000+
1,103,020
271,208
3,025,208
1,406,000
455,082
9,500,000*
2,300;000
541,091
16,700,000
3,292,748
82,257
.............
500,000
99,628
.............
970,000
251,785
.............
1,500,000
239,100
.............
2,100,000
370,374
5,000,000*
1,810,000
431,549
8,200,000
4,000,000
136,954
5,100,000*
1,500,000
168,325
5,868,695
2,282,573
63,200
8,000,000*
760,000
74,748
12,428,000
1,186,300
46,503
5,775,000$
390,000
54,156
4,000,000
1,091,000
52,000
5,000,000+
536,077
38,856
6,000,000
1,662,841
150.000 20,250,000$
2,250,000
220.000
65,286,451
9,120,800
T o t a l...................
France........................
63,577,963 $536,599,474
35,091,101 872,928,100
123,023,792 72,623,041 3,037,451,720 306,225,761
195,448,656 36,128,101 1,417,132,654 286,682,721
The Austrian population embraces 8,051,905 Italians, which do not belong to
the German Confederation.
The aggregates are expressed in dollars, the thalers, florins, marcs, and francs
being reduced to the United States currency. These figures embrace nearly all
the German States, with the exception of a few of the smaller members of the
Zollverein. The increase of the population has been very considerable, being
9,000,000 souls in twenty years, but the increase of debts has been very marked.
These figures represent mostly the funded debts. In addition, there is a large
amount of circulating paper— Austria has $200,000,000 so outstanding; Prussia,
$25,000,000 ; Baden, $6,000,000 ; Hesse, $3,000,000 ; Saxony, $5,000,000 ;
* Florins.
+ Thalers.
$ Mares.
Statistics o f Population , etc.
132
Coburg, $200,000 ; Altenburg, §150,000 ; and some others, making more than
$300,000,000; and in addition to these are the issues of the numerous banks
that have been started since 1852. The greatest increase in debt has been in
Austria, and mostly to meet the deficits in annual revenue and the expenses of
the revolution of 1848. For the latter purpose the increase has been $700,000,000,
or double the national debt after the immense repudiations in 1816. In the ag
gregate the German debts have increased $2,500,000,000 in twenty years, and
in the same time the French debt has increased nearly $600,000,000, of which
one-half was for the Crimean war. In addition to these public debts, have been
the railroad credits, the banks and numerous corporations, all which represent a
vast sum of debt, but also great increase in national and individual means.
POPULATION OF ECUADOR.
The Journal of the American Geographical and Statistical Society jg a very
valuable monthly work, devoted, as its name implies, to geographical subjects
chiefly. We have been indebted to it for many population tables. It is pub
lished by J o h n N. S c h u l t z & Co., New York. The following is an extract
therefrom
P O P U L A T IO N
OF
I.
ECUADOR
BY
Cantons.
i
4
4
Provinces.
1 Pichincha .....................
2 Imbambura...................
3 L eon .............................
5 Esmeraldas...................
6 Oriente.........................
P R O V IN C E S .
D IS T R IC T O F QUITO.
1
.........................
n. D IS T R IC T OF
3
Population.
154,081
130,494
221,820
197,105
9,183
19,385
GUAYAS.
4
12
92,696
39,851
2
43
26
171,300
72,159
35
277
1.108,042
7 Guayaquil......................
8 Manavi......................... ..........................
III.
Parishes.
39
32
36
44
5
7
33
D IS T R IC T O F A Z U A Y .
9 Cuenca .........................
10 Loja...............................
Total, 1858.............. ..........................
C L A S S IF IC A T IO N .
Europeans and Creoles.......
Civilized Indians................
Meztizos and Sambos........
601,219
462,400
36,592
Negroes, pure.......
Males......................
Females................
7,831
575,496
592,586
F O R M E R CEN SUS R E T U R N S .
1826___ 555,700)1836___ 706,320 | 1846___ 869,892 | 1856.. . . 1,086,981
Add to each census 200,000 for uncivilized Indians.
C A P IT A L S O F P R O V IN C E S .
1 Quito................................
2 Ibarra.............................
8 Tacunga .........................
4 Riobamba.........................
5 Esmeraldas......................
80,000
13,000
16,000
16,000
6 Santa Rosa.......
7 Guayaquil........
8 Porto Viejo___
9 Cuenca ............
10 Loja, or L oxa..
150
22,000
1,000
25,000
12,000
POPULATION OF TEXAS.
The population of Texas, as given by the late census, shows a total of 458,620,
of whom 138,265 are slaves, 290 free negroes, and the balance whites. In 1850
its total population was 212,492. The whole number of acres under cultivation
is 1,948,215.
133
Statistics o f Population, etc.
SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION.
The births and ages of the immortal 56. who signed the Declaration of Amer
ican Independence, is not only a matter of interest itself, but it has value as
showing the longevity of the class of men whose intellectual vigor caused them
to be the foremost men in all the colonies, and it may be doubted whether fiftysix men of the present Senate would average such ages :—
John Hancock.................
Richard Henry L ee........
George Taylor...............
John Hart..................... .
Lewis Morris...................
Thomas Stone.................
.
Samuel Chase.................
William Ellery...............
Samuel Adams...............
Arthur Middleton...........
Abraham Clark............... , . . New Jersey.........................
Francis Lewis.................
John Penn..................... .
James W ilson................
Carter Braxton...............
John Morton...................
Stephen Hopkins...........
Thomas McKean.............
Elbridge Gerry...............
Caesar Rodney............... .
Benjamin Harrison........ .. . . .Virginia...............................
William Paca.................
John Adams................ ,
Benjamin Franklin........
George W ythe...............
Francis Hopkinson . . . .
Robert Treat Paine . . . . . . . . Massachusetts.....................
Thomas Jefferson.......... . . . . Virginia...............................
William Hooper............ . . . .North Carolina.....................
James Smith.................. ....Y o r k , Pennsylvania, (Irelaud)
Charles Carroll..............
Thomas Nelson, Jr , . . . ,
Joseph H ew es................ . . .North Carolina, (Connecticut)
Edward Rutledge..........
Lyman H a ll..................
Oliver Walcott..............
Richard Stockton...........
Button Gwinnett...........
Joeiah Bartlett..............
Philip Livingston..........
Roger Sherman.............. . . . .Connecticut, (Massachusetts).
Thomas Heyward, J r. ..
George Read..................
William Williams..........
Samuel Huntington . . . . ,
William F loyd..............
.
.
Thomas Lynch, J r ........
Matthew Thornton........
William Whipple..........
John Witherspoon........
Robert Morris.................
Born.
1787
1732
1716
1730
1726
1743
1734
1741
1727
1722
1743
1726
1713
1741
1745
1736
1724
1707
1734
1744
1730
1740
1740
1730
1735
1706
1726
1737
1731
1743
1742
1718
1737
1738
1730
1749
1731
1726
1730
1732
1729
1716
1721
1746
1734
1731
1732
1734
1740
1739
1745
1749
1714
1730
1722
1733
Died.
1793
1794
1781
1780
1795
1787
1780
1811
1820
1803
1797
1794
1803
1788
1788
1797
1777
1785
1817
1814
1783
1804
1799
1778
1826
1790
1806
1791
1814
1826
1790
1806
1832
1789
1779
1800
1790
1797
1781
1777
1795
1778
1793
1809
1798
1811
1796
1S21
1804
1813
1813
1779
1803
1785
1794
1806
Age.
56
63
65
50
72
44
46
70
93
81
44
68
90
47
58
61
53
78
83
70
53
64
59
4 9
91
84
80
52
83
83
48
87
95
51
49
51
59
72
51
45
65
62
72
63
64
80
64
87
64
73
67
30
89
54
72
72
Statistics o f Population , etc.
184
Fifty-six signers— average age 65 years and 42-56ths—say 65£ years ; 4 lived
to the age of 90 and upwards; 10 to 80 and upwards; 9 to TO and upwards ;
12 to 60 and upwards; 12 to 50 and upwards; 8 to 40 and upwards ; and one
died at the age of 30.
CONDITION OF TENEMENT HOUSES IN NEW YORK.
A t a meeting of the New York Sanitary Association, Mr. llaliday, from the
committee to examine and report upon tenement houses, was allowed to read a
few remarks upon the subject. He produced the following startling statement
o f facts:—
Three years since the number of buildings of all descriptions in this city was
some 53,000. The city is divided into twenty-two wards. In 1856, nineteen of
these wards contained a population of 536,027 inhabitants, divided into 112,833
families, averaging a little less than five souls in each family. For the accom
modation of these 112,833 families residing in nineteen wards there were 36,088
dwellings, averaging about three-and-one half families occupying an entire house.
There are but 12,717 of these families occupying an entire bouse ; 7,148 of these
dwellings contain two families: 4,600 contain each three families. Thus, while
24,465 of these dwellings shelter but 36,213 families, the remaining 13,623 houses
have to cover 76,620 families, averaging nearly six families to each house, show
ing that about three-fourths of the whole population of New York live averag
ing but a fraction less than six families in a house, while only about one-family
in ten occupy a whole house. The following table will show how the families
are apportioned to these dwellings :—Houses containing 1 family . . . .
u
2 families.. . .
“
3 ((
(i
tt
4
«
tt
6
6
it
tt
tt
7
it
tt
8
tt
tt
9
U
tt
10
11
12
tt
tt
«
It
it
u
IS
it
a
14
15
16
17
18
19
It
«
a
tt
“
«
<«
tt
tt
tt
tt
20
21
22
23
24
It
tt
tt
It
tt
U
tt
if
tt
tt
• ••••
9
12,717 Houses containing 25 families.. . .
a
26
“
___
7,147
tt
4,600
27
“
....
tt
___
3,256
28
“
tt
2,055
29
“
___
tt
___
1,960
30
“
tt
1,487
32
“
___
u
1,444
34
“
___
u
355
35
“
___
u
656
36
“
___
u
175
37
“
___
tt
277
38
“
___
a
300
40
“
____
tt
168
42
“
___
tt
90
43
“
tt
289
46
“
___
tt
58
48
“
....
u
___
63
50
“
tt
15
54
“
___
n
166
56
“
___
tt
9
57
“
___
u
28
87
“
___
u
5
94
“
___
58
9
26
1
1
1
4
2
1
2
5
.
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
There are many single blocks of dwellings containing twice the number of
families residing on the whole of Fifth Avenue; or than a continuous row of
dwellings similar to those on the Fifth Avenue three or four mile3 in length.
There is a multitude of these squares, any of which contains a larger population
than the whole city of Hartford, which covers an area of seven miles. In 1850,
the entire population of this city was 515,394 ; number of families, 93,608 ;
whole number of dwellings, 37,677.
Philadelphia, in 1850, contained a population of 408,762, divided into 72,392
families. To accommodate these families there were 61,278 dwellings. With a
Mercantile Miscellanies.
135
population 107,000 smaller than New York, Philadelphia had 23,601 more
dwellings than New York.
Baltimore, in 1850, with a population of 201,6-16, in 34,925 families, had
30,065 dwellings.
Boston, in 1850, had a population of 146,881, and Chelsea, a suburb of Bos
ton, had a population of 7,236. Boston and Chelsea included had 25,415 fami
lies, and 16,567 dwellings.
Mr. Haliday also remarked :—
Our tenements for the masses are so constructed as to shut out the light, and
to make ventilation an impossibility, while the surroundings without are made
to combine the very elements of death. The windows, one from each room, and
they have but two windows for light and air, and only one to each room ; these
look out against a solid brick wall, eight feet from them, and upon this alley-way
the odors arising from the horrid vault beneath mingle with every inhalation
these poor creatures make. Let this state of things exist in New Orleans or in
London, and the population would be decimated. In the year of the first cholera
in New York, in a population of 220,000 there were 10,000 deaths. In 1832,
there was only here and there a place which seemed so particularly to invite the
disease. Now, these plague-inviting neighborhoods are everywhere. Then, the
mass of the people of New York could leave for more healthy localities; now,
if cholera or yellow fever gain a foothold, they must stay and die.
MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
A U S T R IA ! ITS COMMERCIAL RESOURCES.
Geld und Gut in Neu Oesterreich, (Money and Property in New Austria,) is
the title of a work published not very long ago at Vienna, and written by M.
Ernest Schwarzer. New Austria signifies simply the Austrian Monarchy. The
work of M. Schwarzer gives a very complete analysis of the resources of the
country, of its industry, property, finances, etc. We give here a summary of
the data it contains:—
Austria possesses 265 miles of sea coast, seven grand basins of rivers, and
that of the Danube in particular, which covers 80,000 square leagues. The
people are composed of four of the principal stocks of the European popula
tion—Latins,- Germans, Finns, and Sdaves. Most productions flourish on the
varied soil of the country ; the forests are rich in game, and the mountains in
minerals. Austria, on an extent of 12,120 square leagues, counts 10,000,000 of
inhabitants—equal to 3,308 per square league. But the extreme thinness of the
population in Lower Hungary. Voivodia, and the Bukovina leaves yet a vast
field for future cultivation. The people of these parts are still backward in
everything that relates to agricultural and industrial pursuits. Railways, how
ever, are destined to create great changes in Hungary, which has been hitherto
retarded in its progress by the want of roads and other means of communication.
The different races in Austria vary in their physical peculiarities, but the
generality of the people are strong and healthy. The Magyar is tall and supple,
the Italian firmly knit, the Tyrolese muscular, the Sclave and Pole stubby and
sturdy, the Slowak well made, the Croat tough and hardy, the Serb and Dalma
tian are well looking, but in the Alps and in Carinthia cretinism abounds. M.
Schwarzer remarks that the inhabitants of the southeast of Austria abandon
themselves voluntarily Jo repose ; that is to say, to listlessness. His observations,
short and to the point, are very valuable in all that concerns the moral organizar
tion of the different races of the empire. With regard to the Jews, “ whose
happy spirit of speculation has contributed so largely to the national fortune,”
he says :—“ Without the Jews, many calamities of later days would have been
136
Mercantile Miscellanies.
spared to the country ; but also many enterprises of great advantage would never
have seen the light. Let us confess,” he adds, “ we have a great deal to learn
from the Jews.”
Three-fourths of the Austrian population are agricultural. The whole area of
the country contains about sixty-five million hectares of land capable of tillage,
®f which only one-half is in cultivation ; the remainder consisting of forests
and heaths. Austria does not, as yet, produce sufficient grain for her own con
sumption. The deficit was covered in 1853—a bad year— by imports of grain,
amounting to £1,200,000. In ordinary years Austria does not import grain to
the value of more than £400,000.
In spite of her fertility, Austria imports from abroad 65,000 quintals of fruit
and cattle, to the value of 17,000,000 of florins. Tobacco furnishes a monopoly
and revenue of 29,570,000 florins. The wine, though improving in quality, does
not increase in quantity. The forests furnish timber for exportation to the
amount of seven millions of florins. But the forests laws are not well adminis
tered. Manufactories of potash, resin, pitch, and charcoal, absorb too much of
the raw material.
Austria is yet a land of large properties, and is subject to all the evils of
the concentration of landed property in few hands. The people have also no
proper ideas as to the advantages of the subdivision of labor, and the peasants
of that primitive and patriarchal country are all their own butchers, carpenters,
and blacksmiths. The total value of the agricultural productions of Austria,
including the produce of the silkworm, is 1,748,243,000 florins. In the precious
metals Austria is, alter Russia, the richest State in Europe. She extracts
annually gold to the amount of 17,270,000 florins, and silver to the amount of
five million six hundred thousand florins. Future historians will have to point
out, as a remarkable fact, that in the middle of the nineteenth century the coun
try, the richest in Europe in gold and silver, was the poorest in point of coined
money.
During the last thirty-six years, the production of iron has quadrupled in Aus
tria, but it is still insufficient. She imports largely sheet and cast-iron and steel.
She possesses an abundance of coal, but consumes very little ; estimated in tons,
her consumption of coal is twenty times less than her consumption of tobacco.
The total value of her mineral wealth, including salt and coal, amounts to one
hundred and thirty-five millions of florins.
The principal branches of Austrian manufacturing industry are the glass and
flax manufactures, and the silk manufactures of Lombardy. The construction
of machinery and metal-work are commencing on a fair scale at Prague and
Vienna. The total value of her manufactures is 570,000,000 florins. To this
amount M. Sclnvarzer adds 428,000,000 florins for the value of the labor, which
gives 998.000,000 florins as the true value of the industrial development of
Austria.
In railways she has had, since their commencement, about 9,000 kilometres in
project, of which 5,000 are still to be completed.
The total value of her commerce, including exports and imports, transit and
navigation, is 748,000,000 florins. Austria possesses only nine hundred sea
going vessels. The Austrian Lloyd Company possessed in 1854 sixty steamers,
but the profits of the establishment have been insignificant. The Danubian
Navigation Company, which enjoys a monopoly for twenty years, and possesses
more than one hundred steamers, besides an innumerable quantity of small iron
vessels, appears to be more favorably situated. Its revenue in 1855 amounted
to 2,267,465 florins.
M. Schwarzer estimates the total value of Austrian productions—-agricultural,
metallic, and commercial—at 4,100,000,000 florins.
ONE TOO MANY.
What a melancholy feeling is that when the applicant for employment in our
crowded cities meets frequently with a repulse, and begins to think that he is
one too many. He seems in the busy hive of industry an intruder, and the cold
137
Mercantile Miscellanies.
words “ we have no use for your services,” sink into his heart. One too many in
the huge mart, one too many seeking to earn his daily bread, one too many in the
race for the honors of life! Jostled aside, he stands dismayed and appalled, and
knows not whither to turn.
But anon he arouses from the stupor of despair, and remembers that he had
been taught in his childhood that in this world there is room enough for all, and
that no living thing is created in vain. He casts aside despair, and bravely
essays once more. If the pursuit to which he has been raised has too many
followers, he wisely seeks another ; if the city is over filled with workers, he
wanders from its precincts. Action quickly disperses the gloom that bore the
idea of being one too many to his mind, and ere the sun goes down, his energy
has gained him what he sought—employment.
Oh, who would cherish the sad thought that he was one too many ? There is
not a human being whose talents and whose industry are not of admirable service
when worthily employed. There is not one who cannot make the world better
by his career. The old-fangled doctrine that we are miserable and helpless
creatures, is a libel on our Creator. We can all help ourselves with gallant heart
and sublime faith out of the troubles that surround us ; and we can do more—
we #an help the cause of progress and humanity. Then, young men of to-day,
be men of action and men of purpose, and banish the thought of one too many
from the earth.
ACCEPTANCE OF ORIGINAL AND DUPLICATE BILLS.
P ittsburg, April 9tli, 1859.
To the Editor of the Merchants’ Magazine :—
S i r : —In reply to the query, in the May number of your valuable Magazine,
of your correspondent, ••A. iM.,” of St. Louis, viz., “ Can the acceptor of a bill
of exchange, if drawn in first and second, if he accepts both, under any cir
cumstances be held to pay both ?” It may be stated that it is clearly not the
intention of the drawer that the acceptor shall either accept or pay more than
one bill of the set, and therefore, for obvious reasons, until the bill is accepted,
no person, acquainted with the usages of business, will give value for it, without
getting possession of the whole set. But the acceptance of any one of the set
rendered all the others void, and this one alone is afterwards negotiable, and,
therefore, the man who would give more than one acceptance may under some
circumstances have to pay both. If, as your correspondent states, such a cus
tom prevails in that part of the country, it is time the commercial schoolmaster
was abroad to teach them better.
j. d .
MACKLIN’ S ADVICE TO IIIS SON,
“ I have often told you that every man must be the maker or marrer of his
own fortune. I repeat the doctrine, he who depends upon his incessant industry
and integrity, depends upon patrons of the noblest and most exalted kind ; these
are the creators of fortune and fame, the founders of families, and can never dis
appoint or desert you. They control ail human dealings, and turn even vicissitudes
of an unfortunate tendency to the contrary nature. You have a genius, you
have learning, you have industry, at times, but you want perseverance—without
it you can do nothing. I bid you bear this motto in your mind constantly—
P
e r s e v e r e .”
138
Mercantile Miscellanies.
BE
SHORT,
We remember seeing, a dozen years since, in prominent letters over the study
door of a most useful pastor— who served the same church a quarter of a century,
and who has now gone to his reward—the words—“ Be Short." How much, it
occurred to us, is comprehended in those monosyllables, and how much meaning
in placing them there. Long calls, inquisitive and tedions conversation, had
frittered away too many valuable moments of a life that was not to be long, its
possessor having died before he reached the age of fifty years. Tet there is
scarcely a lesson which men in general are so slow to learn as this one, Be Short.
In prayer, and preaching, and singing, in authorship and business, in meetings,
in speeches, in the thousand and one details of every-day life, there is a marvelous
absence of dispatch. The railroad and telegraph are doing somewhat toeducate
the people, and yet the tedium that “ drags its slow length along ” is still the
impediment, we had almost said, the vice of multitudes. The number is not
relatively large who know how to accomplish well, and at the same time be brief.
Who passes through an anniversary season— often through a Sabbath, too—with
out wishing at some point, not for ear trumpets so much as condensers? The re
sult is tedium, and loss of effect—a result that is often more far-reaching than is
dreamed of. “ Be Short.” We have thought, says a contemporary, that 1,1no
two words mean so much as these. They give the greatest satisfaction in argu
ment, in conversation, in writing, in visiting, in almost everything. They accom
plish things, which too many words and too much dalliance wrould imperil with
failure. They redeem time, that all-comprehending and all-meaning something
we call our own, on the right and saving use of which depends the wonders of
good we may do, and the treasures we may lay up for the long needs of eternity.
A ll our losses and perils here spring from the misuse or abuse of time. Our
minutes here, relative to duration and importance, are more to be considered than
ages of eternity.”
MORAL INFLUENCE OF A LITE RA R Y
T A ST E .
To a young man away from home, friendless and forlorn in a great city, the
hours of peril are those between sun-set and bed-time; for the moon and the
stars see more evil in a single hour than the sun in his whole day’s circuit. The
poet’s visions of evening are all composed of tender and soothing images. It
brings the wanderer to his home, the child to his mother’s arms, the ox to his
stall, and the weary laborer to his rest. But to the gentle hearted youth who is
thrown upon the rocks of a pitiless city, and “ stands homeless amid a thousand
homes,” the approach of evening brings with it an aching sense of loneliness and
desolation, which comes down upon the spirit like darkness upon the earth. In
this mood his best impulses become a snare to him, and he is led astray because
he is social, affectionate, sympathetic, and warm-hearted. If there be a young
man thus circumstanced within the sound of my voice, let me say to him that
books are the friends of the friendless, and that a library is a home to the home
less. A taste for reading will always carry you to converse with men who will
instruct you by their wisdom and charm you by their wit, who will soothe you
when fretted, refresh you when weary, counsel you when perplexed, and sympa
thize with you at all times. Evil spirits in the middle ages, were exorcised and
driven away by bell, book, and candle ; and you want but two of these agents,
the book and the candle.
Mercantile Miscellanies.
139
A USEFUL LIFE.
The Baltimore Price Current remarks :—Scarcely anything serves for a better
distinction amongst men than the usefulness of their lives. All that can be said
or written, in relation to any man, or to any of the departments of life, amounts,
after all, to a question of utility. By this we do not mean to exclude all that
does not seem immediately practical. On the contrary, amusement, relaxation,
literature, science, art, the beautiful, the esthetic, the mental, the moral, are all
essential in the utilization of life. But they may be carried to excess, when they
cease to be useful and tend to destroy. Every man can determine for himself
whether his pursuits, practices, propensities, and associations are useful or other
wise; and honestly determining this question, he may with unerring certainty
calculate the result
Nominally, all the legitimate activities of life are useful. Productive labor
for good ends is of course useful. Trade and commerce in facilitating the diffu
sion of necessary articles are useful. Professional skill, the gifts of genius, the
capacity to instruct, amuse, and entertain, are all useful. Yet it will be conceded
that, in numberless instances, a very slight departure from principle changes
even active industry from the useful to the pernicious. And when this change
takes place, the man’s life, ceasing to be useful, his course i3 downward, however
profitable his practice may be.
Of those who seem most to require the test of usefulness for their own' good,
we think youths born to a fair inheritance stand promiuent. With a “ plentiful
lack” of experience, a delirious love of pleasure, considerable resources, and a
thorough zest of “ life,” they are prone to enter upon a career in which no useful
thing can possibly grace or dignify them. Yet they will go on from day to day,
testing the luxury of enjoyment in all the variety which the Circean hand can
impart to it, until they are sensible of the worthlessness ol life, and the hopeless
ness of their own condition. Euin has pursued them so hotly and relentlessly,
that before they have attained middle age, the future frowns them down. They
are useless, as their lives have been.
But not youth alone— men of mature years frequently abandon or neglect the
useful pursuits to which they have devoted a goodly portion of life, and seek
variety, excitement, and fortune from that which is of no practical good. And
they do this without pausing to question the usefulness of the thing, which as a
test should be sufficient to deter them at once from an “ enterprise” dissociated
with so important an adjunct to the enjoyment of success. I f this question
of usefulness did not really constitute a vital element of enjoyment, in fact, the
very zest of life, there is no reason why the man who has made “ a fortune,” so
called, by keeping a faro bank, should not be quite as happy as he who has ac
quired one by honorable commerce. The respect of society, however, determines
the question here, and we feel at once the difference between the useful and the
pernicious.
To young men no counsel can be more important in reference to their choice
of a pursuit, than to make it a useful one. Whatever taste or inclination may
suggest, and these from early associations may often be wrong, there is an infal
lible guide for the mind and judgment in the serviceable character of one’s em
ployment. There are, to our observation, various degrees of usefulness in the
occupations of life, and the occupation itself may vary in the extent of its useful
ness in different hands. Consequently, something more than choice of occupation
depends upon the individual. It remains with him so to direct his knowledge,
experience, and command of his vocation to the best and most serviceable, as
well as the most profitable ends; the rule by which he is governed almost inva
riably accompanying the utilitarian effort with the proportionate reward.
Let us in closing these remarks take the occasion to say, that in its general
aspect, and habitual pursuit, there is nothing can be taken up, as a profession,
more useless or discreditable than politics. The thing is degrading to the per
sonal character, impairs the self-respect, and disqualifies a man for almost any
good purpose in life. The theory of our government, if properly carried out,
would make good politicians of good men. Abused as it is, it makes the worst
politicians of bad men—exceptions to the rule taken for granted.
140
Mercantile Miscellanies.
SKETCH OF THE NEW YORK BOARD OF BROKERS.
The Eev. Mr. Cuyler, in a letter to the Christian Intelligencer, gives the fol
lowing notice of a visit he paid to the Brokers’ Board with a friend :—
“ The Board of Brokers is worth every pastor’s visiting ; he would find several
of his congregation there, and would be surprised to find how differently a man
looks while he is listening to ‘ sixthly ’ and ‘ seventhly,’ from what he does while
roaring out, 11 bid one hundred for the lot, seller sixty days.’ The minister
might get a few lessons in earnestness of manner, too; for of all animated speak
ers I know of none who can surpass the Board of Brokers, when ‘ New York
Central’ is under discussion. There is still another reason for a clerical visit to
the penetralia of this stock market. That Board room is the house of worship
to many a man for six days of the week—a worship so intense, that he finds it
exceedingly difficult to withdraw his heart from it. when he enters God's house
on the Sabbath. In that room is his altar. Before Mammon’s shrine he bows
down. And whatever he may be in God’s temple, he is pretty certain to render
a sincere homage when his heart is paying its devotions to the almighty dollar.
Not that we believe that there is any more worldliness in a Brokers’ Board, than
there is in a Merchants’ Exchange, or an Agricultural Convention; but it is a
lamentable fact that human hearts worship gold with a more undivided affection,
and a more intense devotion, than they commonly worship their God. Idolatry
intrudes everywhere; we need not go far to find pulpits in which the very minis
ter has his idol in the sacred desk; every word he utters is, secretly, a self-hom
age.
“ But to the Brokers’ Board. They meet in an out-of-the-way hall back of
Exchange place, in a place as difficult to get into, or out of, as Aladdin’s cave.
In the lobby are newsboys, and apple women, and a busy lad who is sending
telegrams up through a tube tor transmission to Boston, Philadelphia, and Bal
timore. The moment a sale takes place within, the young Mercury hints the
fact by lightning to stockjobbers three hundred miles off. ' As we enter the
Board-room we are saluted by a Babel uproar of voices. We find about one
hundred and twenty gentlemen assembled (with their hats on like the English
Parliament) in a sort of legislative hall. Each man has his desk, at which he
sits until some call of a new stock starts him up, and then he runs out toward
the centre of the room, shaking his finger violently and vociferating. ‘ I ’ll take
you up,’ ‘ seventy-five for the lot,’ ‘ that’s my bid.’ ‘ Seller thirty days.’
“ Imagine a score of excited men, all shouting together such short ejaculations
as the above. To us it is confusion worse confounded. But the clerk manages
to catch all the bids and sales, and alter the tempest subsides, he quietly calls
off the list. Then the President—a well-salaried officer—announces a new stock.
Sometimes he will call a dozen stocks with no bids, but the moment he strikes
some ‘ speculative stock,’ like ‘ Pacific Mail,’ or ‘ New York Central Railroad,’
there is an explosion of excitement. Men leap to their feet, fingers are shaken
and pointed back and forth, and the roar of voices is deafening. The ursa major
of the Stock Board is a celebrated broker whom we need not name. His finan
cial fame is world wide. While the bids are made, the workings of his counte
nance remind us of Brougham in the House of Lords. He steps out from his
desk and snaps his finger toward another broker, calling out, ‘ I ’ll take your lot
at thirty days.’ ‘ Then.’ whispers my friend, ‘ by that simple operation fifty
thousand dollars changed hands!’ The thought flashes into our mind— what a
noble church that would build ! In fact, we should not ask more than the avails
of a single moment’s transaction, to build therewith a church for the people that
would gather and gladden two thousand souls on God’s Sabbaths.
*•The most noticeable things to us in the;Broker’s Board were the intensity of
excitement at certain times, when contested stocks were called, and the lightninglike rapidity with which decisions were made, and great, transactions carried out.
Men’s minds play there like piston rods in a steam engine. The strokes cannot
be counted. To an inexperienced eye there is only whirl; but the accomplished
eye sees perfect system working results with vast rapidity. I do not envy the
man who lives in such a Babel of conflicting sounds, and draws his ‘ daily bread’
Mercantile Miscellanies.
141
from such a hot oven of excitement. It requires strong and resolute religious
principle to hold fast to one’s moral moorings when such sudden gales of selfish
temptation are constantly striking the canvas. A man ought to be a firm
Christian before he becomes a broker.
*•The converse is true. A broker may be a firm and healthy Christian.”
LIVING AND MEANS.
The world is full of people who can’t imagine why they don’t prosper like their
neighbors, when the real obstacle is not in banks or tariffs, in bad public policy
or hard times, but in their own extravagance and heedless ostentation. The
young clerk marries and takes a house, which he proceeds to furnish twice as
expensively as he can afford, and then his wife, instead of taking hold to help
him earn a livelihood by doing her own work, must have a hired servant to help
spend his limited earnings. Ten years afterwards you will find him struggling
on under a double load of debts and children, wondering why the luck was al
ways against him, while his friends regret his unhappy destitution and financial
ability. Had they from the first been frank and honest, he need not have been
so unlucky. Through every grade of society this vice of inordinate expenditure
insinuates itself. The single man “ hired out” in the country at ten to fifteen
dollars per month, who contrives to dissolve his year’s earnings in frolics and
fine clothes; the clerk who has three to five hundred a year, and melts down
twenty to fifty of it into liquor and cigars, are paralleled by the young merchant
who fills a spacious house with costly furniture, gives dinners and drives a fast
horse on the strength of the profits he expects to realize when his goods are all
sold and his notes all paid. Let a man have a genius for spending, and whether
his income be a dollar a day or a dollar a minute, it is equally certain to prove
inadequate. If dining, wining, and party-giving wont help him through with it,
building, gaming, and speculation are sure to. The bottomless pocket will never
fill, no matter how bounteous the stream pouring into it. The man who (being
single) does not save money on six dollars a week, will not be apt to on sixty;
and he who does not lay up something in his first year of independent exertion,
will be pretty apt to wear a poor man’s hair into his grave.
WHALERS AT FALKLAND ISLES.
Snow, in his Yoyage to the South Seas, pays a just tribute to American
whalers in the following statement:—
Whaling is followed up principally by the Americans, who occasionally make
their call at Stanley, but form their headquarters at New Island, in the Western
Falklands. Several very fine vessels have been known to cruise about these seas;
and, from the many whales I have in my different trips come across, I imagine
they do not find it a losing speculation. They are rough and hardy seamen, but
much more intellectual and attentive to the science of the sea than would be sup
posed. A proof of this is seen in the varied information they send to the hydrographic department of their home government; and, indeed, in this respect, I
cannot help sayiDg that I think the whole of the American mercantile marine
get ahead of us most considerably. As a class, they are a highly intelligent and
competent body of men ; their ships are a model to the eye, and a pride to a sea
man’s heart; and, speaking of my own experience, I have ever found much
courtesy and ready aid extended to me whenever needed by them. That they
have a stern and often unpleasaift bearing when called upon to acknowledge
aught wherein British rights are claimed is too evident to be denied.
142
The Booh Trade.
THE BOOK TRADE.
1. — Sloan’s Constructive Architecture; A Guide to the Practical Builder and
Mechanic, in which is contained a Series of Designs for Domes, Roofs, and
Spires, with choice examples of the five orders of Architecture, selected from
the most celebrated Specimens of Antiquity, with the figured dimensions of
their Height, Projection, and Defile, and their division into Parts, to which is
added a number of useful Geometrical Problems, Examples of Groins, Cen
tering for Arches, Diagrams of Stair-lines, with Architraves, Door Mould
ings, etc., the whole being illustrated by sixty-six carefully prepared plates.
By S a m u e l S l o a n , Architect. Imperial quarto, pp. 147. Philadelphia :
J. B. Lippincott & Co.
The idea of the author in publishing this noble work on constructive archi
tecture, as stated in his preface, was first suggested while engaged in the prepara
tion of the material for a large volume of architectural designs. It might well
be supposed that while works on every other branch of science were teeming
from the press, a volume specially designed to meet the wants of the practical
builder or mechanic would prove no less seasonable than useful. Pew works of
this kind have hitherto been published in this country, and still fewer are pos
sessed of any considerable degree of merit. In the classification of his subjects
he has aimed at preserving some degree of systematic arrangement.
Com
mencing with domes, he has presented in succession numerous examples of forms,
generally esteemed the most useful in constructive carpentry. These are original
and eminently practical, in fact everything presented has been selected and illus
trated solely on account of its practicability and intrinsic usefulness. The ex
amples in joinery, which succeed, contain, and are suggestive of, many new ideas.
To the illustration of those beautiful and unique creations of the ancients— the
Fire Orders— on which all that pertains to the builder’s art is founded, much
more space has been devoted than is usually given in works of a similar character
and pretension, by presenting examples from the most celebrated and beautiful
specimens of antiquity, in a style of art commensurate with the interest they
possess. Following, is the consideration of the more important parts of geome
trical construction, such as the plates of groins and centering, and carefully pre
pared diagrams of stair-lines, concluding with some choice examples of architraves,
moulded panelings for doors, etc., especially designed and adapted to the joiner’s
use. Taken as a whole, this is by far the most elaborate work of the kind we
have seen, and is an evidence of the rapid progress the country is making in
this important and beautiful department of the fine arts.
2. — Thoughts on Educational Topics and Institutions. By G e o r g e S.
12mo., pp. 365. Boston : Phillips, Sampson & Co.
B
outw ell.
In this volume will be found a series of profound and well written addresses,
delivered at various intervals before the Massachusetts Board of Education, and
other educational bodies, elucidating the system of common school education,
which first found its germ in Massachusetts ; who was the first to promulgate
that general intelligence is necessary to popular virtue and liberty, and who, by
her fidelity to the cause, has rendered her name synonymous with self-culture and
improvement. These addresses will be found most thorough, rather setting forth
what common schools should be than what they are, and having to do only with
the living elements, such as the intrinsic nature and value of learning and its
influence upon labor, reformation of children, the care and reformation of the
neglected classes of children, elementary training in the public schools, the rela
tive merits of public high schools and endowed academies, the high school sys
tem, normal school training, and the influence duties, and rewards of teachers,
etc., etc.
The Book Trade.
143
3. — From Wall-slreet in Cashmere: a Journal of Five Tears’ Travels in Asia,
Africa, and Europe ; comprising visits to the Danemora Iron Mines, the Seven
Churches, Plains of Troy, Palmyra, Jerusalem, Petra, Seringapatam, and
Surat, with the scenes of the recent mutinies, Beuares, Agra, Cawnpore,
Lucknow, Delhi, etc., etc. By J o h n B. I r e l a n d . 8 v o ., pp. 631. New
York : S. A. Rollo & Co.
This handsome volume, which has been gotten up by the enterprising pub
lishers, Messrs. S. A. Rollo & Co., in the very best style, and ou which Mr. J.
W . Orr has expended much of his beautiful and useful art in the one hundred
illustrations and sketches given, comprises a series of letters written to the
author’s mother during his wanderings in Curope, Asia Minor, and Africa. As
they are in the letter form, aud not originally intended for publication, there is
good cause that they lack that research and acumen as to the manners, customs,
and governments of the different people visited, which is of the first importance
in the deductions of a traveler, and which have given such an interest to the
gyrations of Bayard Taylor and some others. They will be found chiefly valuable
from the fact that all the views of different places, edifices, etc., were taken on
the spot by the author’s own pencil, and may be relied on as to their accuracy.
4. — The Exploits and Triumphs in Europe of Raul Morphy, the Chess Champion.
By his late Secretary. 12mo., pp. 203. New York : D. Appleton & Co.
To the lovers of chess, and those who favor the progress and supremacy of
American institutions, for chess with us is fast becoming such, with Paul Morphy
as its champion, this little volume will prove very attractive. That Paul
Morphy is indeed a prodigy in his way, we have but to read the numerous tourna
ments had with the champions of the game in the Old World, which his secretary
has here written out in his own vigorous style, and although in his laudations
of the young Philidor, he may at times be thought to lay it on rather thick, yet
we doubt not that anything related of him will be readily swalowed with willing
faith by our enthusiastic countrymen.
5. — To Cuba and Back. A Yacation Yoyage. By R ic h a r d H e n r y D a n a ,
Jr., author of ‘ Two Years’ Before the Mast,” etc., etc. 12mo., pp. 288.
Boston : Ticknor & Fields.
This will be found a spirightly little book, the substance of which was gleaned
during a short vacation trip in one of our swift-sailing steamers to Havana and
back. It is neither very elaborate, or profound, and yet we should say Mr.
Dana had made good use of his time to have brought back in his carpet-bag, in
the short space of time allotted to him, so many facts connected with that beau
tiful island. He has a little to say on almost everything, from a breakfast party,
and the process of manufacturing sugar on a Cuban plantation, to that prince
of all amusements among the Creoles, a bull fight. Of the political features of
the country, as well as its political condition, he also treats at some length, and
had we space we would gladly give some conclusions arrived at by him during
his short stay, which appear to us very common sense, if not decidedly astute.
6. — Laws and Practice of Whist.
& Co.
By
C allebs.
New York : D. Appleton
This is a republication of a handsome little manual, from the Portland Club,
London. “ The chief task of the author has been to express the precept of the
game in the most precise terms, and to adapt each rule to its logical position.”
It is a modernized Hoyle—whist perfected on Hoyle’s theory of the game, con
cisely and lucidly stated. “ i^iong the original matter, the development of the
signal denominated The Blue Peter is the most important feature.” It is an
unusually perfect epitome, giving the jest of the whole subject in a manner easily
understood to all learners, and clear laws of reference for all players.
144
The Boole Trade.
7. — The Tin Trumpet; or, Heads and Tails for the Wise and Waggish. A
new American Edition, with Alterations and Additions. 8vo., pp. 2C2. New
York : D. Appleton & Co.
Will be found a most excellent volume for reading on a steamboat or railcar, where the attention can be fixed but for a moment, and its contents is well
calculated to afford food for thought. The subjects, embracing a wide field, are
alphabetically arranged after the manner of a cyclopedia, and the definitions
taken from both ancient and modern writers, embody both quaint wisdom and
laughter and provoking wTit. The work it seems was first published in England
more than twenty years ago, but the American edition has supplied the place of
matter having merely a local or temporary interest with much that is fresh and
appropriate to the present time. It is elegantly got up, on tinted paper, and is
a novelty in its way.
8. — Boys Book of Modern Travel and Adventure.
12mo., pp. 333. New York : D. Appleton & Co.
By
M
e r id e t h
J
o h xe s-
Books of travel are now-a days multiplied to a wonderful extent. It would
seem as though all the world were going abroad, so numerous and diverse in
their wonderings are our modern travelers. North, South, East, West, no quarter
of the earth has been left unvisited. Discomforts and dangers daunt them not;
nay, we are not sure whether people are not most attracted to those spots where
they are likely to find the largest amouut of difficulty. In this volume we have
a compilation of numerous hair-breadth escapes and adventures, taken from Lord
Dufierim, Hammond’s Wild Scenes in North America, Newland’s Forest Life in
Norway and Sweden, Bayard Taylor’s Travels in El Dorado, etc,, etc., well cal< culated to rivet the attention of the credulous boy in his search after the won
derful.
9. — Memoirs of the Empress Catherine II., of Russia. Written by herself, and
translated from the French. 12mo., pp. 309. New York : D. Appleton &
Co.
Catherine II., of Russia, the assassinator of her husband, Peter III., was the
author of several boobs in French, among which this biography of herself pur
ports to be a literal translation, by A. Herzen. Upon her death the MS. com
prising these memoirs which she had left behind her, bearing the inscription of
■her own hand to her son, the Grand Duke Paul, was kept for long a great
secret, and it was not till the Crimean war, after the death of Nicholas, when the
archives w'ere transferred to Moscow, that the present emperor had the manu
script brought to him to read. Since that period a few copies have been cir
culated at Moscow and St. Petersburg, and it is from one of these this edition
has been translated. Although a woman possessed of great talent, the history
of her life, as told by herself, exhibits but little else than the licentious gossip of
the court at that time, with the astounding and humiliating fact, and what must
be of serious consequence to Russia, if her own confessions are to be believed,
that the present reigning house does not belong to the family of Romanoff,
nor to that of Holstein, for her avowal on that point is very explicit—the
father of the Emperor Paul was Sergius Soltikoff. the fruit of an amorous in
trigue with that handsome and accomplished man at court.
10. — Hints Towards Physical Perfection; Showingjrow to Acquire and Retain
Bodily Symmetry, Health, and Vigor, and avoid the Iml'ormities and Deform
ities of Age. 12mo., pp. 239. New York : Fowler & Wells.
This is a work which, if physical training has ^ything to do with the laws of
human configuration, and who will say that it has not, should be well read, as
showing that, according to the direction given to the vital forces, we have, in
a large measure, the power of shaping and governing our physical development.
@FedFRASER