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MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND
COMMERCIAL REVIEW
ID' BY
WI LLI AM
B . DANA
Price $5 per Annum,
PUBLISHED MONTHLY.
Vol. 57
JU L Y , 18G7.
Itfo.l
m YORK : W IL L IA M B. D A N A , PUBLISH ER A N D PRO PRIETOR.
William St., Chronicle Buildings.
http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Nos. 60
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
THE
MERCANTILE
Mutual lusurauee €@mpamy,
OFFICE,
N°.
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W A L L STREET,
Y O R K .
Assets, jan. i, 1867
O R G A N I Z E D ,
- 11,261,349.
A P R I L ,
1844.
During the.past year this Company lias paid to its Policy-holders
IN
C A S H ,
a rebatement on premiums in lieu o f scrip, equivalent in value to an average
scrip ividend o f
'<,■ .
T W E N T Y
PER
CENT.
Instead o f issuing a scrip dividend to dealers, based on the. principle nat all
classes •o f risks are equally profitable, this Com pany makes such cash
Abatement or discount from the current rates, when prem ium s are paid, as
the general experience o f underwriters w ill warrant, and the nett profits
•remaining at the close o f the year, w ill be divided to the stockholders.
This Com pany continues to m ake insurance on M arine and Inland Navigation
and Transportation Risks, on the m ost favorable terms, including Risks on
M erchandise o f all kinds, H ulls, and Freight.
P olicies issued m aking loss payable in G old or Currency, at the Office in New
Y ork, or in Sterling, at the Office o f Rathbone, Bros. & Co., in L iverpool.
t rus t ees .
James Freeland,
Samuel Willets,
R obert L. Taylor,
W illiam T. Frost,
W illiam W att,
Henry Eyre,
Cornelius Grinnell,
Joseph Slagg,
Jas. D . Fish,
Geo. W . Hennings,
Francis Hathaway,
Aaron L. Reid,
Ellwood W alter,
D. Colden Murray,
E. H aydock W hite,
N . L. McCready,
Daniel T. W illets,
L. Edgerton,
Henry R . Kunhardt,
John S. W illiams,
W illiam Nelson, Jr.,
Charles Dimon,
A . W illia m H ;ve,
Harold Dollner,
Paul N. Soofford.
E L L W O O D W A L T E R . President.
C H A S . N E W C O M B , Vice-President.
C . J . D E S P A R D , Secretary.
T H E
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND
COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
J U L Y ,
1867.
CENSUS OF RHODE ISLAND, 1865 *
By the settlement o f the boundary question with Massachusetts in 1862,
the profit and loss to R hode Island in territory and population was as fo l
lows :
la Pawtucket, Rhode Island gained..................................
In East Providence “
“
Total gain.....................................................................
In Fall River, Rhode Island lost...................................
0.939 miles and 4,200 inhabitants.
12.5“
“ 1,700
“
19 4
Net gain to Rhode Island.............................................
8.2
miles and 5,900 inhabitants.
11.12“
“ 8,377
“
miles and 2,523inhabitants.
It need scarcely be repeated that Rhode Island, the smallest State in the
Union, is only 50 miles long and 35 miles in width, and that a large por
tion o f this width is taken up by the waters o f Narragansett Bay, which,
extending inland for some 30 miles, divides the state into two unequal
parts, leaving a land territory o f only 1.054.6 square miles, with a shore
washed by tide-water o f 350 miles.
1.
PERSONAL CENSUS.
The State is divided into five counties, and these contain thirty-three
townships, five o f which are situated on islands.
The smallest town
* Report upon the census o f Rhode Island, 1865; with statistics of the population, agricul-f
ture, fisheries and manufactures o f the State prepared under the direction of the Secretary of
S tate, by Edwin M. Snow, M. D. Superintendent of the census. 1 voi, 800 p. 112,
-*
VOL. LVII— NO. I.
1
10
CENSUS 03T RHODE ISLAND,
1865.
[July,
(W arren) has only 4.7 square miles, the largest (South K ingstow n) has
77.9 square miles. Below we give a table showing the area and popula
tion o f the State by towns and counties:
Pop. to
Pop. to
Square Pop- square
Square Pop- square
miles. ulafn. miles.
miles, ula’n. miles.
9.3 1,028 110.5 Burrrillville,
Barrington,
53.2 4,861
91.4
Bristol,
Bristol C o«{10.3 4,649 451.3 Cranston.
33.7 9,177 272.3
Warren,
l 4.7 2,792 594.0 Cumberland,
33.6 8,216 244.5
East P rov ,
12.5 2,172 173.7
Coventry,
58.6 3,995
6S.2 Foster,
48.8 1,873
38.4
East Green
GJocester,
Provi
53.2 2,286
42.9
wich,
Kent Co. -{17.1 2,400 140.3 Johston,
dence Co.' 24.1 3,436 142.5
W. G’wich,
49.1 1,228
25.0 North Provi
Warwick,
144.2 7,695 174.1
dence,
15.0 14,553 968.8
Pawtucket,
6.9 5,000 724.6
Jamestown, 1
’ 9.5
349
53.3 3,528
36.7 Scituate,
67 4
Little Comp
Smithfield,
73.3 12,315 168.0
ton,
21.4 1,197
55.9 Charlestown )
>39.8 1,134
28.6
Middletown,
12.5 1,019
81.5 Exeter,
54.0 1,498
25.8
Newport,
f Newport
7.0 12,688 1812.G Hopkinton,
43.6 2,512
57.6
New Shore- County.
Nort’ Kings Washing
ham,
10.5 1,308 124.5
town.
ton Co. 42.6 3,166
74.3
Portsmouth,
23.4 2,153
92.0 Sout’ Kings
Tiverton,
31.8
town,
77.9 4,513
1,973
62.0
57.9
.
Richmond,
|38.9 1,830
47.0
Providence City,
6.7 54,595 8148.5 Westerly^
131.1 3,815 122 4
The area and population by counties is as follows :
Pop. to sq.
Counties.
miles.
Pop. miles.
Bristol...............................................................................................
24.3 8.489
348.5
Kent..................................................................................................
169.0 15.319
90.0
Newport...............................................................................................
116.1 20.687
178.2
Providence (including city).................................................................
413.3 122.0*2
295.2
Washington...................................................................
18.468331.9 55.6
Total of State......................................................................... 1.054.6
184.965
175.4
The density o f population in Rhode Island (175.4 to the square mile)
i s higher than in any other o f the United States. In 1865 the population
o f Massachusetts was 1,267,239, which gives 162.4 to the square mile.
In the same year New York had 8 1 .5 , and New Jersey 9 2 .9 , to
the square m ile ; but between these and Massachusetts, Connecticut bavabout 110 to the square mile, fmds its position. The density o f population
in France is about the same as in Rhode Island. Prussia, Bavaria, Austria,
Denmark, Scotland, Sweden and Norway are less densely populated.
The distribution o f the population o f course varies the density. Tiie
cities of Providence and Newport and the six towns, Bristol, Warren,
Cranston, Cumberland, North Providence and Pawtucket containing- only
117.9 square miles, but a population o f 111,670 persons— 11 per cent of
the area, and CO per cent, o f the population o f the State. If we deduct
these from the total area and population, we find in the remainder o f the
State 936,7 square miles, with 73,295 inhabitants, or only 78 persons to
each square mile.
The seats o f manufactures and commerce are denoted
by their superior density.
The progress o f the State in population is given in the following ta b le:
Census o f
Population.
Change.
297
1S00.......................... 69,122 +(10 years)
18 10....,.................... 77,031 +(
“
) 7,909
1820........................... 83,C59 + (
“
) 6,02S
1830............................ 97,210 + (
44 ) 14,151
1840............................ 108,830 +(
“
) 11,620
1850.............................147,545 + (
44 ) 38,715
I860............................ 174,620 + (
44 ) 27,075
63,825+(8 years) 16,478 1865........ . ................ 184,965 + ( 5 years) 10,345
Census of
Population.
Change.
1708............................ 7,181
1730............. ............ 17,935 +(22 years) 10,754
1748 .......................... 32,713 +(18 years) 14,838
1755............................ 40,414 + ( 7 years) 7,641
1774........................ 59,707 +(19 years) 19,293
1776........................... 55,011 - ( 2 years) 4,696
1782 ............................ 52,347 - ( 6 years) 2,664
1790.'...
.............
11
CENSUS OF RHODE ISLAND, 1 8 6 5 .
1867]
The movement by counties during the present century has been as follows :
Counties.
Bristol..................
Kent.....................
Newport .............
Providence
.......
Washington .......
1800.
3,801
8,4S7
14,845
25,854
16,135
1810.
5.072
0,834
16,294
30,SCO
14,862
1S20.
5,037
10,228
15,771
35,736
15,GS7
1S30.
5.446
12,788
16,5:35
47,020
15,42 L
1840.
6,476
13,CS3
16 874
58,'273
14,324
1850.
8,514
15,068
20,007
87,526
10,430
1800.
8,907
17,303
21,896
107.799
18,715
1865,
8,469
15,319
20,087
122,012
18,408
The progress o f the cities o f Providence and Newport and the six towns
before selected has been as follow s:
Cities. &c.
1800.
Providence........... 7.614
Newport............... 6,739
Bristol.................. 1,678
Warren................. 1,473
Cranston
......... 1.G44
Cumberland......... 2,056
North Providence. 1,067
Pawtucket*.....................
1810.
10,071
7.907
2,693
1,775
2,161
2,210
1,758
—
1820.
11,767
7,319
3,197
1,806
2,274
2,653
2,420
___
1830.
16.S36
8,010
3,034
1,890
2,652
3,675
3,503
—
1840.
23,172
8,333
3,490
2,437
2,901
5,225
4,207
___
1850.
41,513
9,563
4,616
3,103
4,311
6,661
7,660
—
1S60.
50,666
10,508
5,271
2,636
7.500
8,339
11,818
—
1S65.
54,595
12,688
4,649
2,792
9,177
S,216
14,553
5,000
T otal............. 22,271
23,575
31,426
39,510
49,765
77,447
956,738
111,670
The rate o f increase from census to census o f the whole State and the
two chief places, Providence and Newport, is shown in the following series
of reductions:
Whole
State.
0.4
1790-1800.........
11.4
1800-10.......... ....
1S10-20..........
17.0
1820-30............ . . . .
.------ Cities— —.
ProviNewdeuce.
port.
19 3
0.3
32.3
17.3
36.8 cf«c. 7.4
43.1
9.4
1830 40.................
1840-59.. ...........
1850-60.................
1S60-65 (5 years)..
Whole
State.
12 0
35.0
18.8
5.9
r------ Cities------ »
ProviNewdence.
port.
4.0
37.6
79.1
14.8
22.0
9.9
7.8
20.7
The increase in the cities from 1860 to 1865— in Providence 3,929,,
and in Newport 2,180, or together 6,109. The net increase in the towns
above designated (not including Paw tucket) was 3,823. The total in
crease o f the State was 10,345. Hence we find that nearly the whole in
crease lias taken place within a very limited area. The agricultural parts
of the State increase very slowly, and frequently retrograde. W ashing
ton County in 1790 had 18,075, and in 1865 18,468 inhabitants.
A m ong the facts deduced from the tabular statements accompanying
the report tiie following are interesting.
There w e;e 28,606 dwelling houses in the State 39,208 families, giv
ing 1.4 families and 6.45 persons to each dwelling, and 4.72 persons to
each family. In Providence there were 1.68 families and 8.06 persons to
each house. There were 926 empty dwelling houses, o f which 120 were
in Newport, the census having been taken June 1, before the arrival o f
Summer visitors. O f the 28,666 dwelling houses in the State, 27,959
were constructed o f wood, and only 432 o f brick and 275 o f stone. Even
in Providence only 3.64 per cent, were o f brick or stone.
More than one-half the colored population was found in Providence and
Newport. The total number in the State was 4,087, being 135 more than
in 1860, and forming 2.21 per cent, o f the total population.
In regard to sex, there were in the State 8,439 more females than
males. The proportion o f the sexes were as follow s:
White population...............
Colored
“
...............
White and colo re d ...............
47:80 males, and 52:20 females in each 100.
43:87
“
56:13
“
“
47:72
“
52:28
“
“
* Belonged to Massachusetts up to 1S62.
12
CENSUS OF RHODE ISLAND.
1865.
Generally in New England there is, for obvious reasons, a large excess
o f females in the population, while in the newer States the opposite is
true. In the whole country, in 1860, there, was an excess o f 730,000
males in a population o f 31,000,000.
W ith regard to the nativity o f the population the following facts are
deduced. O f the 184,965 inhabitants o f the State, 75,055 were born in
the towns in which they resided, and 37,152 had migrated from the towns
in which they were born to other towns in the State; the number o f in
habitants born in the State aDd still living in it having been 112,207.
Inhabitants born in other o f the United States numbered 33,055, and those
born in foreign countries 39,703. Every town in the State is represented
in Providence, and nearly so in Newport. Natives o f New port are living
in every other town except Glocester. There seems, however, to be no
special law governing migration within the State, except the tendency of
the population o f the smaller towns and farming districts to cities and
manufacturing towns.
Every State in the Union, except Oregon, was represented in the popu
lation o f 1865. The following compares the American born within Rhode
Island in 1860 and 1865 :
Natives of—
New Hampshire............
Vermont.........................
Massachusetts...............
Rhode Island.................
Total native born.
1860.
1,301
1,482
692
13,965
109,965
1865.
Natives of—
1,310
1,0S2
748 Natives of New England.
17,320
“
o f other States..
112,297
1800.
4,034
1865.
5,439
132,039
5,1S7
138,106
7,156
137,226
145 262
The large increase o f natives o f Massachusetts in 1865 was partly owing
to the annexation o f Pawtucket and East Providence in 1862.
The foreign population o f 1865 represented thirty different countries,
and numbered 39,703 persons, making 21.46 per cent, c f the total popu
lation. The proportion in 1850 was 15.66, and in 1860 21.41 per cent.
The following shows the number o f foreigners in the State in 1850, 1860
and 1 8 6 5 :
Natives of—
England.................
Scotland & Wales.
British America...
Total............
1850.
15,944
4^490
1,000
1,024
1S60.
25,285
6,856
1,536
2,830
1865.
Natives of—
27,030
6,478 France.................
1,403 Portugal.............
3,384 Other countries..
1850.
230
80
58
2*5
1860.
123
86
263
1865.
."97
140
75
290
23,111
37,394
39,703
In the city o f Providence the number o f foreigners has increased but
little for the last fifteen years, while the per centage has decreased. The
Providence enumerations show the following :
Total
For- p. cent. I
Total
For- p. cent.
Census.
populat’n. eign. Foreign.
Census.
populat'n. eign. Foreign.
1845 (city).................. 31,747 5,965 IS.79 j 1860 (United States) 50,666
12,570
24.80
1850 (United States) 41,513 10 275
24.75 ! 1S65 (State)....... 54,595
13,492
24.54
1855 (city)............... 47,7 5
13,232
27.69 1
------ ------------- .----------Increase in twenty years..................................................... 22,848
7,437
32.55
The Irish population comprised, in 1850, 6 8 .9 9 ; in 1860, 67.61, and
in .1865, 68.08 per cent, o f the foreign born population o f the city.
Taking the whole State together, we find that o f the 145,262 classed as
American born, 27,946 were the offspring o f foreign parents. There is
CENSUS OF RHODE ISLAND,
1865.
13
also included among the native bom 3,558 persons o f mixed parentage, o f
which 1,759 had foreign-born mothers and 1,799 foreign-born fathers.
In every 100 persons there are 10.20 under 5 years o f a g e ; 10.91 be
tween 5 and 10 years; 10.07 between 10 and 1 5 ; 10.06 between 15 and
2 0 ; 18.10 between 20 and 3 0 ; 14.36 between 30 and 40 ; 11,20 between
40 and 50 ; 7.67 between 50 and 60 ; 4.68 between 60 and 7 0 ; 2.09 be
tween 70 and 80; 0.60 between 80 and 90, and 0.06 90 and over. Only
two persons attained the century— Sylvia W hipple 102, and Hannah G ully
100, both living in Smithfield on June 1, 1865.
It will be observed that the number under 5 years o f age is remarkably
low. In 1860, the same class was 11.81, the decline being accounted for
from the decrease o f births on account of the war. But even this higher
number is far bek w the average o f the United States, which, in 1860, was
15.43. In Lower Canada the same class was, in 1852, 18.89 per cent, o f
the total population.
The report returns a good account o f the educational status of the little
State. The whole number o f children between 5 and 15 years o f age was
38,788, o f which 33,774 were at school, leaving only 5,014, or 12.9 per
cent, who had not attended school during the year. The highest rate of
non-attendauce was in the manufacturing towns, where the maturer por
tion o f those o f the school age were probably employed in the mills and
manufacturing establishments. In these towns, also the foreign population
chiefly reside, and among the lower classes o f these many children are al
lowed to grow up in ignorance.
In regard to adult ignorance there were in the State, in 1865, 10,181
persons who could not read or write. O f these 15.24 (10.65 white and
4.59 black) per cent, were native born, and 84.76 (Irish 71.83, British
3.84, German 0.43, and others 8.66) per cent, were foreign born. A
glance at these figures shows at once and unmistakably the source e f the
mass o f ignorance unveiled, and indicates the direction in which efforts
should be made for its removal.
O f 16,910 foreign male persons, only 1,260, or 13.4 per cent., have
been naturalized under the laws: and of the whole number o f the for
eign born in the State (39,703), only one in 31.5 is the owner o f real estate.
The number o f (184,965) inhabitants o f the State that enlisted in the
army or navy, during the late war, was 7,521, or one in every 24.6 inhab
itants. The number o f males between 20 and 50 was 37,474, and hence
the same enlistments gives one to every 4.9, or 20.1 per cent. This list
includes only the soldiers and sailors o f the Stam residing within its limits
in 1865. Those who enlistsd and did not return are not included.
The number o f different occupations given by the census o f 1865 was
348, and the number o f persons whose occupations was given was 65,059.
The occupations, in which more than 500 are returned, are as follow s:
blacksmiths 861, carpenters 2,457, clerks 1,927, dressmakers 692, farmers
10,754, (fishermen 497), grocers 631, jewelers 1,215, laborers 5,440, ma
chinists 2,193, merchants 1,150, mariners 1,070, masons 767, operatives
13,604, painters and glaziers 708, servants 3,503, shoemakers 513, tailors
and tailoresses 828, teachers 856, teamsters 092.
The productive force o f the State is summed up as follow s:
Products o f agriculture.........................................................
“
o f fisheries.................................
“
of manufactures....................................................
$7,590,079
422,412
103,106,395
14
[ / uly,
RAILROAD EARNINGS FOR MAT,
— making a total o f §111,1 18,883 per annum. This shows an annual
production o f $601 for each man, woman and child in the State. This
does not include the products o f the whale and other foreign fisheries or
other items, which are not found in the productions as reported in Ehode
Island.
The agriculture and manufacturers o f the State are also accounted for
in the volume, but considering the length o f the present article we are
obliged to postpone any further notice o f them to a future time.
Taking the work as a whole we have found it to he the best systematised
census that has yet appeared, and we pronounce it highly creditable to
its compiler, Dr. Snow, the erudite compiler o f the well-known censuses
o f Providence for 1845 and 1855.
RAILROAD EARNINGS FOR MAY.
The gross earnings for the under-specified railroads for the month o f
May, 1866 and 1861, and the difference (increase or decrease) between
the two periods are exhibited ia the subjoined statement:
Railroads.
Atlantic and Great Western.............
Chicago and Alton ...........................
Chicago and Great Eastern.............
Chicago and Northwestern..............
Chicago* Rock Island and Pacific ...
Cleveland and Toledo.......................
E r ie ...................................................
Illinois Central................................
Marietta and Cincinnati..................
Michigan Central.............................
Michigan Southern......................... .
Milwaukee and Prarie du Chien..
Milwaukee and St. Paul..................
Ohio and M ississippi......................
Pittsburg. Fort Wayne and Chicago
Toledo, Wabash and Western. . . . . .
Western U n ion .................................
1S66.
1801.
. $451,41"? $459,310
338,691
. 329,851
89,349
. 120,4(10
187,136
. 135,082
. 325,110
251.916
180,675
. 210,183
. 1,101,632 1,122,140
471.601
. 569,250
95,664
00,526
. 365,196
333.952
. 426,41)3
358.601
119,104
. 261,488
230,491
. 245,598
. 283,130
282.939
578,292
. 682.510
. 316,433
329.078
80,913
57,S52
Increase. Decr’sc,
$7,893
* ........
8,840
31,011
52,654
73,194
30,1OS
20,50S
91,643
5,13S
31,244
67,892
148,383
15,101
791
104,21S
12,645
29,061
Total in M ay..............................
Total in April............................
$6,613,010 $8,OSS,825
5.696,240 6,030,67S
9 ........
331,438
$524,745
The gross earnings per mile o f road operated for the same month o f the
years, respectively, are shown in the following table :
.—Length in m iles-,
Railroads.
1866. 1867.
Atlantic & Great Western.......................
507
280
Chicago and Alton...................................
224
224
<Chicago and Great Eastern...................... ..........
1,032 1,145
Chicago and Northwestern..................... ................
410
410
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific............. .................
13
173
Cleveland and T oled o............................ ...............
798
775
Erie........................................................... .................
708
108
Illinois Central........................................ .................
251
251
Marietta and Cincinnati.......................... ...............
2S5
Michigan Central.....................................
524
524
Michigan Southern.................................
234
234
Milwaukee & Prairie dn Chien............... .................
215
Milwaukee and St. Paul...........................
34i
340
Ohio and M ississippi................................ .................
468
Pittsburg. Ft. Wayne and Chicago............
521
521
Toledo. Wabash and Western................. .................
117
Western Union.......................................... ................
177
Total in May......................................
Total in April.....................................
7,297
7,297
/—Earnings-% ^-Dilfer’e—,
1866. 1867. Incr. Dec.
$890 $906
$16 $ -■
1.118 1,209
si
iss
538
400
112
24
OSS
193
178
615
174
1,21S 1,044
1.380 1.44S
G8
804
iso
674
381
21
369
1,281 1,172
109
814
684
130
1,142
033
509
893
845
48
833
832
1
1,458 1,235
223
607
631
24
..4
491
327
16.
$917
790
$834
826
86
$83
The above table shows that the gross earnings o f the railroads specified
1S67]
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
15
have fallen off in relation to the gross earnings in May, 1866, to the extent
of 883 per mile operated, which is equal to 9.05 per centum. This pres
entation o f a month’s business would be a serious matter not only to those
most intimately interested in the several lines, but also to the public gen
erally, were the results shown, either a measure o f the business transacted
or o f the net proceeds o f that business ; but that they are either the one
or the other eonnot be admitted, the decline in the amount being the nat
ural effect o f the same causes which have operated in reducing prices in
every department o f business, and do not therefore necessarily show a fall
ing off in net earnings.
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
(Continued from page 451, Vol. 56.)
One o f the great articles o f production o f Pennsylvania is w heat; the
annual value o f her wheat is more than the annual value o f all her iron
and its manufactures. In Pennsylvania, nature has indicated that wheat
and other grain would yield the largest result for the least labor, and that
grain should be the chief iwoduct, until such time as the general supply
had become so great as not to yield so large a return for the labor em
ployed as would come from working her vast deposit^ o f iron.
A t the time Pennsylvania was settled, England had already established
iron works, because Nature had indicated iron as one o f the natural p r o
ducts o f England, by placing there great beds o f coal and iron, and but a
comparatively small area o f arable land.
The farmer o f Pennslvvania wants iron, which exists in its crude form
under his own farm. England wants wheat. Let us suppose that, under
the circumstances as they are in Pennsylvania, the farmer o f Pennsylvania
can produce a ton o f wheat with twenty days’ labor and a ton o f iron
with thirty days’ labor, and let us suppose that, under the circumstances
as they are in England, the Englishmen can produce a ton o f iron with
twenty days’ labor but it takes him thirty days’ to raise a ton o f wheat.
Ttie Englishman wants wheat, and the Pennsylvanian wants ir o n ; ex
change is free and the barter is made. It is not necessary to express the
exchange in money. It is so many days’ labor against so many days’
labor. The desires o f both are satisfied by an aggregate o f forty days’
labor, resulting in a ton o f wheat and a ton o f iron— each where it is
wanted. The element o f transportation may be omitted, as the same
conditions apply to Canada and the United States, which are only divided
by an imaginary line.
But now comes in the Government o f the United States and claims a
portion o f the labor o f the Pennsylvanian— say six days, and each day’s
labor is measured in Pennsylvania by one dollar. The Government im
poses a duty o f six dollars on a ton o f iron. But as the ton o f iron
would cost the Pennsylvanian thirty days’ labor, or thirty dollars, he will
still give twenty days to wheat, six days to the Government, and import
his iron. The Englishman will still expend twenty days on iron and ex
change it for wheat.
The desire o f the Pennsylvania farmer for iron, o f the Englishman for
16
ON THE COLLECTION OP REVENUE.
[./u fy ,
wheat, and o f the United States Government for $6, will all be satisfied
by an aggregate o f forty-six days’ labor.
But the great iron resources o f Pennsylvania are not protected; they
must be developed, and the Government is induced to put a protective
duty o f $12 on a ton o f iron: but $12 represents twelve days’ labor for
the Pennsylvanian, who wants iron, and therefore it is better for him to
give thirty days to making a ton o f iron, rather than twenty to wheat,
and twelve to the tax. H e does so, and gets his iron. The Englishman,
having no market for his iron, and wanting wheat, must give thirty days
to raising a ton o f wheat. The desires o f the Englishman and o f the
American are both met by an aggregate o f sixty days’ labor. But the
United States has no revenue; it wants $6, but, having been deluded into
imposing a protective tariff, it did not get it, and must now impose a
direct tax on the Pennsylvanian equal to six days’ labor. The three
desires are therefore satisfied only by an aggregate o f sixty-six days’ labor.
T o sum u p :
The Revenue Tariff satisfied the three desires with..........................................46 daysThe Protective Tariff with....................................................................................... 66 “
Waste o f labor.......................................... .............................................. 20 days.
Disregarding all com ity with the Englishman, the Pennsylvanian’s desire
is satisfied.
And he pays $6 tax to the Government, under a Revenue Tariff, with.........26 daysUnder the Protective Tariff, with......................................................................... 36 “
Waste o f home labor................................................................................. 10 days'
A n y one who has read Prof. Perry’s admirable book will see that I owe
this demonstration to him.
I f we wish to understand how the great iron deposits o f Pennsylvania
would be developed in a natural manner, we have to take the case in a
little different form. Suppose twenty men working one day can make a
ton o f wheat and thirty men a ton o f ir o n ; with free trade, ten men have
leisure— ten men are unemployed on wheat. W ill they not be sure to be
trying experiments on the iron which they want? W ill they not slowly
but surely learn the trade ? But, if the whole thirty men are forced by
protection into making iron without ever serving an apprenticeship at it,
are they as likely to achieve success ?
Let me suppose another extreme case: I am a farmer in St. Lawrence
County, N . Y ., understanding my business; and with one day’s labor I
can produce a bushel o f w heat; in three days’ time I, not having learned
the trade well, can cobble together a pair o f shoes with great waste o f
leather.
On the other side o f the river is a poor, ignorant cobbler sent
out from England and placed upon a Canada fa rm ; he can make my
shoes in a day, but he requires three days to m ake a bushel o f wheat
wherewith to feed his family. Shall I not be protected against pauper
labor ? If I allow his shoes to cross the river, shall I not be reduced to
his level? Shall I ever learn shoe-making and become independent o f
these foreigners who flood us with their shoes, unless Government compels
me to employ three days o f hard work on shoes, instead o f two days o f
leisure in cutting up leather and trying to learn at m y ease.
867]
ON
THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
17
But suppose this cobbler moves one mile and comes into the United
States— in what respect has his labor changed in its relation to mine ?
As a consumer he now pays a small portion o f the United States taxes,
which he must add to the price o f the shoes he makes, in precisely the
same manner as a moderate revenue duty would have been added to the
price o f the shoes if he had continued to make them in Canada; do I
any longer demand such a tax upon the shoes made by him as shall force
me to make them myself? Far from it, I scout the idea o f a heavy tax on
shoes, and hasten to avail myself o f the benefit o f his cheap labor; yet in
England or in Canada he was a pauper, or so near it as to be called so.
To be consistent in the doctrine of protection to American labor, we
should impose the very highest rate o f duty in our schedule, upon the
laborer, and not upon his product; we ought not to permit this flood of
immigration ; the immigrants can make great many things which we can
make ourselves. Let this duty by all means be ad valorem and on a home
valuation, so that we may as far as possible exclude the most skillful and
intelligent w orkm en; we don’ t want the result o f their skill when it is
exerted abroad, and we shall never prosppr if they com e here and prevent
our attaining it ourselves.
There is danger in the abundance o f things. W e are flooded with
foreign commodities— flooded with comforts and luxuries. Protect us, in
order that we may la b o r : it is a privilege to la b o r; we want to work
harder, to get what we consume, than our natural condition requires.
Create an artificial scarcity, so that we may enjoy our full right to labor.
Is it the right to labor for which we should so strive ? Is labor the
end ? I 3 it not rather what labor will give us that we seek ? A nd if we
can get what we want with little labor, instead o f much, do we regret it ?
“ But,” says the protectionist, “ you will never establish manufactures
unless they are protected in their infancy.” I believe all baby-jumpers
and other devices to aid or protect children in their efforts to walk have
been discarded, as it has been found better that they should now and then
have a tumble, and possibly one occasionally break its neck, rather than
that all should grow up with weak legs, even though their legs should get
as strong as they ever would have been by the time the children have be
come old men. And I believe the same process is healthy for infant
manufactures as well as for infant children. The most firmly established
manufactures in the United States are those which have never been pro
tected to any extent— such as the various manufactures o f wood ; o f boots
and sh oes; o f heavy machinery, such as locom otives; and, above all, o f
agricultural implements and tools, o f clothing, o f sewing machines, and so
on, to the extent o f the larger part o f our home manufactures, some o f
which have grown up in spite o f heavy duties on the raw materials o f
which they are composed. It may here be well to consider the meaning
of the terms “ raw materials” and “ manufacturing.”
In the common use o f the words, raw materials are things which are
produced mainly by hand or manual labor, and are therefore true manufactures; but which are changed into finished commodities, not by the
hand, but really by machines. W e are led to much confusion o f ideas by
this inaccurate use o f words.
W e call cotton a raw material, yet to the planter it is a finished com
modity, produced by the hand labor o f the cultivator o f the field, and
finished upon the cotton gin.
18
O S THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
[J u ly ,
To the so called manufacturer, the cotton comes from the gin as a raw
material, and in the mill it becomes finished product, as cloth.
But, as cloth, it now goes to a real manu-facturer— the sempstress, to
whom the cloth is raw material, and who by hand cuts it and makes it
into garments; and the garment is now a finished com m odity.
But, as a garment, it goes to the farmer, to whom again it is a raw
material, by means o f which he is enabled to live in comfort, and without
which he could not cultivate his farm. It does not cease to be a raw ma
terial and become a ./w ish ed commodity until it is worn o u t; and even
then it becomes the raw material o f the paper-maker, and may not reach
its final end until it has printed upon it an essay “ upon the Collection o f
Revenue,” and is put away upon a library shelf.
In its course, whom shall we protect or give a bounty to ?
The manufacturer o f the raw cotton ?
T h e manufacturer o f the cloth ?
The manufacturer o f the garment ?
The consumer o f the garment?
The paper-maker? or, finally—
To the writer o f an essay “ upon the Collection o f R even ue” — who
may, at this present moment, really need personal protection m ore than
any other ?
Shall we not rather seek to collect our revenue as impartially as possi
ble, creating no artificial obstacles to commerce, and leaving each indi
vidual to w o r k out his own material salvation, even as he works ou t his
spiritual salvation ?
This claim for the protection o f infant manufactures never ceases.
Under its operation they never seem to grow to manhood, but the
larger they grow the more urgent the demand for artificial support. The
most urgent and imperative demand for protection now comes from the
iron-masters and the wool-growers.
American iron was born into the world more than a hundred years ago,
when Pennsylvania was a colony. Great Britain was the mid-wife who
presided at the birth, and endeavored to strangle the infant in its cra dle;
but he, being o f a tough and fibrous quality, lived and grew apace, until
b.e could stand alone, if he would only think so. But having been
propped up with baby-jumpers and crutches, shoulder-braces, etc., he fears
to stand lest he should fall, and demands now to be encompassed with a
high wall over which no rude shove shall reach him.
W here the demands o f Pennsylvania ever more imperative ? Y et what
are the facts.
In the fiscal year ending June 3 0 ,1S66, a year of very large importations,
the total import of iron and steel, and the manufactures thereof, was a
trifle over................................................ ...................................................... 19,000,000
The export of iron and steel, and the manufactures thereof, allowing twothirds the value of the agricultural implements and printing presses to
have been iron and steel, waa about............................................................. 3,000,000
Leaving a net import of............................ ......................................................... 14,000,000
D uring the same period, the internal revenue derived from iron and
steel o f home manufacture, in the forms which are specifically named by
law, amounted to $13,728,133.
1867]
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
19
The internal taxes alone upon this infant home manufacture were nearly
equal to the total value o f the importation.
It is somewhat difficult to capitalize this tax, as the taxes upon iron and
steel were duplicated, and even in some cases quadrupled, but the total
value on which this tax was assessed cannot have been less than $200,000,000, and was probably nearer $300,000,000. The object in demand
ing a heavy duty on iron and steel, or any other commodity, can only be
to maintain the price in an amount equal to the duty imposed. The de
mand o f Pennsylvania is that the duties shall be raised to a still higher
point than they now are, in order to shut out the flood o f $14,000,000
worth o f foreign iron, by granting a bounty on over $200,000,000 o f
home production. W e may well ask Pennsylvania how much longer she
will “ plead baby? ”
I shall perhaps be charged with ingratitude by some o f my friends in
Pennsylvania, and I might have felt obliged to take another illustration
rather than iron, had it not been for the most unreasonable demand of
Pennsylvania for a duty on bituminous coal. If not infants in iron manu
facture, the men who advocate this duty are infants in intelligence. Sup
pose New England being without coal, and being obliged to use costly
fuel, were to demand that a tax be imposed upon every steam engine
used out o f New England, and that her own should be exem pt; would
there not be an outcry which would overwhelm us with scorn anc! derision ?
Should we not be charged with the most selfish designs ? Y et such a
claim would be far more reasonable, than that o f Pennsylvania for a duty
on coal, which is only a tax on the steam engines o f New England, already
working at a disadvantage. The impudence o f this claim is only exceeded
by the ignorance of, all econom ic law exhibited by those who propose it,
which ignorance is their only justification.
It is alleged that because we have begun the manufacture o f Bessemer
steel rails in this country, the price has been reduced by the English mamifactures from $150 to $110 per ton, or about in that proportion; but
those who make this absurd allegation make no note o f the enormous ex
tension and improvement in this manufacture in England. If their allega
tion is true the trade in steel rails in England would be conducted in the
following manner. Suppose the parties to be the English manufacturer,
the Agent o f the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, and the A gen t o f the
Pacha o f Egypt.
Penn. A gent.— W h at is the price o f steel rails ?
Manufacturer.— For what railroad!
Penn. A gen t.— For the Pennsylvania Central.
Manufacturer.— The price is $110 per ton, delivered.
Agent o f the Pacha.— I want an equal quantity at the same price.
Manufacturer.— Our price for Egypt is $150.
Agent o f Pacha.— Have you two prices ?
Manufacturer.— Y es, s ir ; they are endeavoring to establish the manu
facture of steel rails in Pennsylvania, and all the English manufactures
have combined to break them dow n; we charge $110 to Yankees, and
$150 to all others.
Agent of Pacba.— But you make a profit at $110.
Manufacturer.— Oh, yes, certainly: we don’ t make a pratice o f selling
at less than cost.
20
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
[July,
Agent o f Pacha.— G ood morning, s ir ; I will get my rails in Prussia, or
wait until the Americans get started. I f you make a profit at $110, and
charge me $150, Pennsylvania will soon supply me at less than $150, even
if you supply her own railroads at $110.
I believe that any business man must see that the alleged effect o f the
few.small steel-rail establishments in this country is as nothing compared
to the effect o f the competition in England. W e cannot cripple our
whole railroad system, cause all our transportation to be more costly, and
retard the development o f our western country, by granting any higher
bounties to a few rail-makers, than we now pay. Y et I do not ask
Pennsylvania to cease at once to demand duties upon iron and steel, nor
would I willingly submit at once to a great reduction in the duties upon
cotton manufactures. A n y such abrupt changes would destroy capital
and reduce production.
Our problem is to maintain capital, and increase production, and this
can only be done by a judicious reduction or abatement o f internal taxes,
and then by a gradual reduction o f du ties; and I for one have always
advocated the entire abatement, first and before all others, o f the internal
taxes upon metals and the manufactures of metal. The metals are at the
foundation o f all other industry, and any tax upom them is an impedi
ment to the production o f almost every com m odity needed by men. It
is to be hoped, that, whatever Congress may fail to do in the matter of
amending our present onerous tax laws, they will not fail to abate all in
ternal taxes upon metals, and the manufactures o f metal, and to refuse all
requests for an advance in the duties.
The repeal o f the cotton tax should immediately follow, if it should not
precede. This tax was never justifiable, except as a temporary expedient;
the least onerous method would have been to have collected it o f the
manufactures for the home consumption, and o f the merchants at the port
o f export. To attempt to collect o f the producers checks the change
from the plantation to the small farm system, and checks production. It
may be added, that the time is not far off, but will com e probably within
two or three years, when there will be a surplus o f cotton in the world.
(See appendix C).
I think Boston to-day affords a good illustration o f the evils o f protec
tion. The conditions o f soil, climate and coast, indicated maritime pur
suits as the province o f New England m en ; and she engaged in them
chiefly until the South forced a protective tariff upon the country. As this
destroyed commerce, New England developed textile manufactures before
their time, and then, becom ing converted to the doctrine o f protection,
continued to foster them by the same process. The result is, that a largo
amount o f the capital, and a large amount of the business capacity of
Boston which should have been applied to railroads, steamships and com
merce has gone into manufactures; consequently, Boston commerce de
clines, and young men emigrate. Commerce would have employed the
young men at home, or in voyages ending at h om e; but textile manufac
tures em ploy only a few treasurers, agents or commission merchants, and
a very large force o f operatives or laborers. There are too many young
men for the number o f places equal to their capacity, and they must
migrate. I think the population of New England has not been improved
by this forced estalishment o f textile manufactures.
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
21
If, as I have attempted lo demonstrate, a tariff is but a tax under
another name, then it is a burden upon the labor o f the country, and is
subject to precisely the same law a» an internal tax.
I now com e to another point to which I have adverted, viz, that in the
collection o f a given amount o f revenue, more or less evil could be done,
according to the wisdom or unwisdom o f the law. Nations which are
older than ourselves in the matter of taxes, select certain articles to bear
the heavier portion o f the burden, rather than lay an even portion on all.
It is an axiom, that the consumers pay all taxes in the long ru n ; but this
should always be qualified by adding, that their consumption o f taxed
commodities is regulated by their production. The great body o f consu
mers and the great body o f producers are identical, and they procure the
taxed articles which they consume in exchange for the articles they pro
duce.
The articles thus seleeted for taxation are tea, colfee, sugar, spices,
spirits, tobacco and other commodities, the consumption o f which is volun
tary, and the deprivation o f which does not impede production. None
of the articles named are essential to production, in the sense that
meat, bread, iron and clothing are essential; and therefore the consumer
may use a little more or less, according to the price, and still cultivate as
many acres or operate as much machinery. England keeps her custom
house because tea, coffee, sugar and spirits are natural subjects o f taxa
tion ; but, if they were all produced in England, she would tax them by
an excise duty at the same rate, and abolish her custom-house.
But now let us see if we really limit the power o f the consumer to
purchase tea and coffee, by a high duty on them, and no duty on iron,
rather than by a moderate duty on each. Let us return to the Pennsyl
vanian and the Englishman, and remember the relative condition o f labor
on iron and wheat.
Let us suppose that each was employed the whole year, save thirty
days, in feeding and clothing his family, and has just thirty days to give
to accumulating a surplus of capital. The Englishman, for some reason,
desires to have, as the representative o f his surplus labor amounting to
thirty days, a ton o f wheat, which he can make in thirty d a y s; but he
can make a ton o f iron in twenty. The Pennsylvanian must have a ton
o f iron, which he can make in thirty days; but he can make a ton of
wheat in twenty. By free exchange, each can satisfy his desire with
twenty days’ labor, and each will thus have ten days to spare.
'Wanting tea, each will work upon some com m odity to exchange for
tea. "We will say that the Pennsylvanian wants five pounds o f tea, and
with five days’ work can get it free o f d u ty ; the Government puts a duty
on tea equal to five days more, but the Pennsylvanian still has five days
to spare and works it out. H e has his ton of wheat, his five pounds of
tea, and has paid five days work or five dollars to the Government. But,
under a system o f protection to iron, by which the Pennsylvania!] has
been cansed to give thirty days to iron, he has only the iron ; he has no
tea; the Government has no revenue, and must now take a part o f his ton
of iron.
Free exchange of the results o f labor, free trade, free commerce, gives
to each nation the advantage o f the different gifts o f soil and climate
which God has bestowed upon the several sections o f the earth. It in-
22
OK THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
[July,
creases the abundance o f the things which give com fort or enjoyment to
all people. It does not degrade the labor, or reduce the purchasing
power o f the wages in the most favored country, like our o w n ; but,
while it would yield to us m ore com fort and more luxury, it would elevate
the oppressed o f other nations and civilize the barbarian.
The individual laborer, who is skilful in farming, or well placed on good
land, and whose wages are high because his product is large, does not
give up his occupation and g o to making shoes because some poor shoe
maker near him is starving and willing to work ch ea p ; then why should
Uncle Sam, with his rich farm, and his domain, scarce touched by the
hand o f man, refuse to employ the pauper labor o f Europe, o f which we
hear so much, because the paupers work cheap ?
M uch o f this hue and cry about pauper labor is merely clap-trap, the
pauper labor o f England is mainly in the agricultural counties. O f the
same nature is the common talk about the flood o f foreign commodities
with which we are overwhelmed. Let any one analyze the imports for
the year 18G6, and out o f §368,000,000 on which duties were paid he
will find less than $68,000,000 consisted o f articles o f luxury, and over
§300,000,000 were articles o f com fort or of necessity.
It is alleged that
the total value o f all our products in the year 1866 was §6,000,000,000 ;
and it is tolerably well ascertained that the value o f all our products in
1860 was $4,000,000,000, on a gold basis. I f the estimate for 1866 is
correct, then our flood o f foreign luxuries was about equal to one per cent
on our production!
U pon the third premise, which seems to me fundamental, viz, that gold
and silver, either in ihe form o f bullion or money, are only useful up to a
certain amount, which will define itself, if let to natural laws, I shall spend
but a moment.
G old and silver, or specie money, has been adopted by the world as the
measure o f value o f all commodities, and, being an article o f universal
desire, it has value in relation to other commodities in the proportion
which the labor required to mine, smelt and refine the specie bears to the
labor required to produce the other commodities. N ow if the exchange
o f all other products o f labor be left free, except so far as the need of
revenue causes a tax to be imposed upon the so-called natural subjects of
taxation, then the exchange o f specie as one o f the products o f labor
must be left free also, and it will follow the natural law, remaining where
it is wanted most. The country which continues to use it as a measure
o f value will want it more than the country which has substitued paper
as measure, or wampum or cowrie shells, or any other substitute which
ignorance or necessity may devise, and the country which wants it will
get it because it will give more o f other products o f labor for it, unless
those products are prevented from entering the country which has the
gold. If importations are prohibited or retarded, then gold remains in
the country unnaturally, and causes an advance in prices the same as an
issue o f paper m oney. I f we could prohibit imports absolutely, and con
tinue to mine §100,000,000 o f specie a year, its value in this country, in
relation to other commodities, would, o f course, be far less. This was
done in Japan. Japan produces gold, but, by non-intercourse, it had so
accumulated it as to cause it to lose a part o f its purchasing power, or
relation to other products; and the first outside barbarians who opened
1867]
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
23
trade with JapaD, obtained much more gold for their commodities than
they could have got elsewhere.
W e can take the same position in the world as Japan, if we inflate our
currency and prohibit imports ; but our gold will then have no value ex
cept in the arts, as paper can be made with less labor than gold" can be
mined.
Taxation o f any kind is surely a burden, but it has its compensation.
The desire to live as comfortably, or, in other words, the desire to produce
as much for one’s own use, despite all taxes, stimulates invention; and
every invention, by increasing the productive force o f the laborer, in
creases the result. The invention o f improved agricultural machinery
kept our crops increasing all through the war, and I suppose we can now
produce as much m ore than we formerly could as would sufBce to pay all
the taxes without using any more effort or expending any more hours o f
labor in the aggregate; but the trouble is, the increase is not equitably
divided, and cannot be under our present system o f currency: therefore
the burden presses more and more upon the mass o f the people, and will
continue to do so until the proper correctives are applied.
N ow as to the correctives. The first essential thing to be observed is not
to make any rapid change. Because it would have been better to have
collected the revenue from what I have called the natural subjects of
taxation at the beginning and up to the present time, it by no means fol
lows that we should jum p to that system at one bound.
Our industry has been diverted from its natural channels by protection,
and we must slowly and cautiously guide it back, else we may all be
paralyzed. W e need the immediate establishment o f a permanent board
o f Commissioners o f Revenue, consisting o f at least five competent men,
secure in their tenure o f office, well paid, and selected because o f their
fitness and ability. Mr. W ells alone, with work piled upon him which
five men could not have accomplished in the very best manner in the
time given, has yet made a report o f inestimable value, and such as was
never presented to the country before.
A permanent board, known to have the matter of revenue in charge,
would take it mainly out o f party politics. The people could not afford
to have it trifled with. The Board o f Commissioners would prepare
changes and give fair warning, thus giving each branch o f industry time
to prepare, and preventing disaster.
Slowly, but surely and safely, can this country be brought to a system
by which it shall secure an ample revenue from almost as few articles or
interests as are now taxed in Great Britain. I f any one doubts this, let
him consider. W e have now, as I suppose, a larger population, and
though not as much accumulated capital, yet, what is m ore valuable, a
better educated people, and a country whose resources have hardly been
touched, and whose productive capacity may be indefinitely increased.
Can any one doubt that a given number o f hours o f American labor will
yield a larger result than a given number o f hours o f English labor ?
Aggregate all the American laborers into one, and qll the English laborers
into one. Put the Yankee education and the Yankee versatility, and the
innumerable labor-saving devices o f the Yankee, and also the varieties o f
our soil and climate, against the great works and mills, and greater ac
cumulated capital o f the Englishman, and which would get the greatest
24
ON THE COLLECTION OP REVENUE.
\July,
re su lt for his labor ?
I think every one here will honestly answer, The
Yankee.
Then he will consume more tea and coffee and sugar and spirits and
spices, and have a greater incom e, and require more stamps to represent
more transactions, than the Englishm an; and, consequently, the same
rates o f tax upon these various items will pay our larger rate o f interest,
but our less cost of army and navy and civil service, and pay our debt
besides as rapidly as it should be paid. W e are paying debt too fast now.
The faster we try to pay at the beginning, the longer we shall be in pay
ing the whole.
The Secretary o f the Treasury estimates the expenses o f the Govern
ment, for the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1868, as follows, in round num
bers :
Civil service.......................................................................................................... $50,000,000
Pensions and Indians.......................................................................................
25,000,000
War Department...............................................................1................................ 50,000,000
N a v y ......................................
30,000,000
Interest................................................................................................................ 135,000,000
Total............................................................................................................. 290,000,000
W e may soon reduce the expenses o f the W ar and Navy Departments
to an aggregate o f $50,000,000, and ought to increase the interest to
$150,000,000 by funding the legal tenders. The estimate would then
stan d:
Civil Service, Pensions and Indians...................................................................$75,000,000
War and Navy.................................................................................................... 50,000,000
Interest................................................................................................................ 150,000,000
Add for reduction of debt.................................................... ..........................
275,000,000
25,000,000
Total........................................................................................... ..........$300,000,000
Population increases by births and immigration more than three per
cent per annum on the average, but production increases in a much
greater ratio; and rates o f taxation so adjusted as to yield $300,000,000
now would doubtless yield $400,000,000 within ten years. The expenses
o f the Government would doubtless increase, but, in the absence o f war,
not more than the saving o f interest on the debt annually paid would
amount to.*
* If consumption should only increase at the rate o f three per cent per annum, the
rate would, in ten years, cause the avails o f taxes to be about thirty per cent more.
The rates of taxation, which would now give $300,000,000 would then give $390,-
000,000.
If consumption should increase five per cent per annum, that rate would yield in
the tenth year about $450,000,000.
I f we allow an increase o f consumption at the rate of five per cent per annum, the
following sums would be available in each year for the payment o f debt, and in this
estimate I allow a present need of $300,000,000, and that our expenses shall increase
1867]
25
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
Let us now see how near we have already come to securing the sum o f
§300,000,000, from the sources from which revenue can be derived with
the least injury.
In the fiscal year ending June 3 0 ,1 8 6 6 , the taxes imposed, either under
the Tariff or Internal Revenue Laws upon the following articles o f inter
ests : Incomes, Stamps, Licenses, Banks and Insurance Companies,
Legacies and Successions, Gross Receipts o f Railroads, Canals, Lotteries,
Telegraph Companies, etc., Tea Coffee, Sugar, Spices, Spirits and W ines,
Fermented Liquors, Tobacco, and Manufactures of Silk, amounted to
about $260,000,000, o f which over 880,000,000 was in gold from the
Customs.
The Incom e tax will be reduced by being made uniform, but the tax on
spirits will be increased by the enforcement o f the law, it having been
over 837,000,000 in the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 1866, against
829,000,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1866.
It may be alleged that this year yielded more than an average, and
there is some force in the ob jection ; but, if we remove the internal taxes
on iron, steel and on manufacturing generally, that is if we remove the
impediments to production, I believe the consumption o f tea, coffee, etc.,
as fast as our interest decreases, or that we shall only decrease debt by the amount'
we get over §300,000,000.
per cent
Year
Year
per cent
1st on 300,000,000, 5 ___ §15,000,000 12th o n 300,000,000, 6 0 ... . *180,000,000
((
10___
30,000,000 13th “
6 5 ... . 195,000,000
2d “
«
it
15___
7 0 . . . . 210,000,000
3d “
45,000,000 14th “
((
“
20___
60,000,000 15th “
7 5 . . . .
4lh “
225,000,000
(t
25___
75,000,000 16th *•
60 . . . 240,000,000
5th “
((
li
30___
90,000,000 17th “
8 5 . . . . 255,000,000
eth “
U
35___
9 0 . . . . 270,000,000
105,000,000 18th “
7th “
u
ti
40___
9 5 . . . . 285,000,000
120,000,000 19 th “
8th “
tt
ft
45 ___
135,000,000 20th “
9th “
1 0 0 ... . 300,000,000
U
50___
150,000,000
10th “
“
55___
165,000,000
$3,150,000,000
11th ■■
Or ia less than twenty years the whole debt will be paid, and we should have
§500,000,000 to spare to build two or three Pacific Railroads, a ship canal across theIsthmus of Darien, and a few more works of the like character.
If we alllow an increase of the results of taxation at the rate of the increase of
population, say only at three per cent, and allow $300,01)0,000 as the constant amountrequired for expenses and interest, we have the following result :
Per cent
Year
Per cent
$9,000,000 3 on 300,000,000,
3 on 300,000,000, 1st........
tt
tt
u
2d........
18,000,000
ii
•n
tt
“
27,000,000
3d........
t
<
“
4th___
36,000,000
u
tt
<t
tt
45,000,000
5th___
a
6 th .. . .
54,000,000
tt
It
(f
63,000,000
7th___
“
II
II
72,000,000
8th___
a
9th___
81,000,000
tt
u
It
90,000,000
10th----“
“
“
99,000,000
11th----“
“
12th___
108.000. 000 j
“
“
1 3 t h .... 117.000. 000 1
or more than the entire debt in twenty-four years.
VOL. LYII.----NO. I.
o
Year
14th.. . .
16th.. . .
16th. . .
17th. . .
18th. . .
19th.. . .
20th. . .
21st...
2 2 d .. . . .
23d.. . 24 th. . .
126,000,000
135,000,000
144,000,000
153,000,000
162,000,000
171,000,000
180,000,000
198,000,000
207,000,000
216,000,000
*2,702,000,000
26
ON THE COLLECTION OE REVENUE.
[July,
the use o f stamps and the aggregate o f incomes, would increase; at any
rate we could safely count on $250,000,000 from such sources. In con
firmation of which opinion see the letter o f H on. D. A . W ells hereto ap
pended.
I f we can get $250,000,000 from these sources, we should have but
$50,000,000 left to obtaih from all other foreign imports ; but to reduce
the duties thereon so as to yield but $50,000,000 would be too abrupt a
change— it would be better to raise $75,000,000.
The latter sum would
probably be yielded by a tariff at about the present average rate o f fortyeight per cent, less twelve to fifteen per cent reduction, as the equivalent
for the reduction in internal taxes— say by an average rate o f duties of
thirty-three and a third per cent. Such rate would really give as much
protection to home industry as the present tariff, if home industry is re
lieved from the present onerous internal taxes. There are few textile
manufacturers, or none, who would not say that a net duty o f thirty per
cent on foreign imports would be better for them, with the internal taxes
removed, than the present high rates o f duty are with the internal taxes
as now imposed.
To this practical agreement I believe New England manufacturers
would come. The protectionist would say, twenty-five to thirty per cent
net duty gives us all we w ant; and the free trader would say, W e advo
cate for the present twenty-five to thirty per cent net duty for the purpose
o f obtaining revenue. The result is the same, but it is o f the utmost im
portance that we start from the free trade rather than the protective point
of view. The free trader cannot be swerved from a uniform system, be
cause he looks upon the whole thing only as a necessary e v il; but the
protectionist is constantly in danger, because he thinks he can confer a
benefit and is therefore at the mercy o f each special interest.
Hence the futility o f the attempts to pass a tariff bill at the tw o last
sessions o f Congress. Each man put in his brick, until the whole
structure became absurd and ridiculous, and at last it all tumbled to the
ground together.
W hen the Committe o f W ays and Means shall frame a moderate tariff,
as a revenue measure, upon a fixed principle, firmly assuring the represen
tatives o f each special interest that they must adjust themselves to it as
best they may, it will be very certain that the common sense o f the
people will compel the enactment o f the law thus framed.
The question o f protection has been much complicated, during the late
sessions o f Congress, by the claim made by the Western and Middle
States for protection to agricultural products and upon materials in their
primary or secondary condition, such as copper ore and regulus, raw and
lined flax, hemp, jute, linseed, hides, goat-skins, salt, etc. It would seem
as if the W est had suddenly come to the conclusion that New England,
by means o f protection to manufactures, had been making money out of
them, and that it was time for them to get a return from New England.
I cannot deny that i f New England has derived benefit item the bounty
granted under the name o f protective duties, which I doubt, so far she
has prospered at the expense o f the rest o f the country. I do utterly
deny, however, that this special benefit has been intentionally secured by
the advocates of protection. They have, and do still earnestly believe,
that protection is a benefit to the whole community', and that their own
186V]
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
27
gain is but a proportional part o f the general gain. I think, however,
they will find it somewhat difficult to meet the claims o f the Western
men, if they adhere to the doctrine o f the expediency o f protection; and
that such is actually the case, is proved by the recent combination o f the
wool growers and the woolen manufacturers.
The wool growers’ claim has been admitted, and a protective duty has
been placed upon foreign wool. This claim might have been presented in
a much stronger manner than it has been. The wool growers might have
said to the manufacturers, “ Y ou advocate protection to American labor,
and insist that you are its representatives because you are manufacturers :
your claim is well grounded. American labor should be protected, and,
if this is to be secured by protection to manufactures, ice are the real manufacturers. Nature has given such conditions o f climate and soil to Ohio
that to make wool we must with our hands build fences and barns, and
cultivate the land, and also shear the sheep. Our wool is manufacture ;
and, in numbers, we, the agriculturists, are greater than those who operate
your machinery.
The manufacturers o f woolen fabrics must admit the claim, and they
have done so. The result is a higher bounty to each o f these interests.
The claim of the wool grower cannot be met by an advocate o f the
principle or expediency o f protection, but can be easily controverted by the
advocate o f free trade. W h at is the claim of the wool grower o f Ohio
but this, that he shall substitute human labor for the free sunshine which
nature has given to South Africa, to Syria, and to South Am erica ; and
that the community who use wool in the form o f woolen garments must
be made to pay for such useless labor.
The w ool o f South Africa and South America may be said to represent
four parts sunshine and soil, gratuitous and com m on to all, to one part of
human labor measured at the rate o f twenty-five cents per day. The
wool o f Ohio represents, on the contrary, two parts o f sunshine and soil,
tt> three parts o f human labor measured at the rate o f S i per day.
Protection to wool is only an artificial impediment by which we shall
be prevented from enjoying the large bounty o f nature with which God
has endowed South Africa in this one respect. W e refuse it, because it is
gratuitous and common, and, as a nation o f 36,000,000, we charge our
selves with a bounty for the possible benefit o f half a million interested in
woo! growing.
Bastiat’s satire, in the form o f a petition o f the candle-makers and tal
low-chandlers o f Paris to be protected against the light o f the sun, by
having all the windows closed, and the streets roofed over, is not more
absurd.
On the other hand, can the manufacturer o f woolen cloths and other
fabrics substantiate his claim to protection!
H e has no greater claim to
a bounty; and has, at this time, only a right to be spared the disaster
which a sudden change in the revenue policy would cause.*
To the advocate o f a revenue tariff, from the free-trade stand-point, the
* Such disaster as overwhelmed the manufacturers of worsted goods, when by the
sudden, and as I believe most unwise abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty, the coarse
Canda wool, which had been free, became subject to a heavy duty.
28
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE,
\July,
problem is perfectly simple.
His ground is this.
If we had no expen
ses, we should need no revenue, and our industry would assume that exact
measure o f diversity which our soil and climate indicated, and the intelli
gence o f our people rendered possible. Our true prosperity would eonsist
i n the abundance o f the commodities which we desire and use, and not in
the amount o f money by which we measure them. Our laboring people
would secure the most comfort and the most rapid progress, not by high
wages— the result o f an artificial scarcity— but with low wages and a
natural abundance o f commodities.
But we must have a revenue; how shall we obtain it I Free trade and
direct taxation we almost unanimously reject, and protection we equally
reject.
Should we not then first tax such articles as are not o f prime necessity—
such as tea, coffee, sugar, liquors, spices and silk g o o d s ; next, the interests
which are the farthest removed from labor— such as licenses, incomes,
stamps, banks and the like ?
W h en we have exhausted these sources o f revenue, should we not
rather levy a duty upon such commodities as represent the larger amount
of human labor, skill and invention, and the lesser amount o f the gratuity
o f Nature?
W ool, hemp, jute, cotton, copper, ore, salt, linseed,, hides, skins and the
like represent commodities which are the product mainly o f Nature, sup
plemented by a small degree o f the effort or labor o f man, and that labor
of the lowest grade.
I f we place an obstacle in the way o f the importa
tion o f the free gifts o f Nature, we place ourselves at a disadvantage as
compared with all other nations who accept them thankfully.
W e would select rather, as the sources from which we can derive the
remainder o f our revenue with the least disadvantage, such commodities
as are mainly the result o f human labor or skill, and these we find in
what are called manufactures; in these we find but a small portion o f the
gratuity o f nature, and a large portion o f the skill or invention and o f the
labor o f man. And as other countries have, in the production of certain
manufactures (using the word manufactures in its ordinary sense), greater
skill, and more abundant and cheaper labor than we have, we can impose
a tariff for revenue upon such manufactures, from which shall arise a
certain amount o f stimulus to home production ; but which, being imposed
at a rate representing a sum less than the difference in the measure o f the
labor required to produce it at home, will yield the revenue at a cost to
the community o f the revenue itself and no more.
1 cannot close this treatise in a better manner than by submitting the
following propositions:
Perfect protection is impracticable ; but, if practicable, would cause all
revenue from imports to cease, and render direct taxation imperative.
If perfect and equal protection were practicable, it would simply result
in a general rise in prices and wages, and since it would prevent exports
and consequently imports, it would decrease the aggregate o f com m odi
ties, or in other words, the aggregate result o f la b or; and since capital is
the surplus result o f labor, a decrease in the aggregate wrnuld be a decrease
in the surplus. The amount o f capital would therefore be less in propor
tion to the number o f laborers, and this condition o f things would be to
the disadvantage o f the laborer, since, as we have before quoted from
1867]
ON THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
29
Bastiat, “ In proportion to the increase o f capital, the absolute share o f the
total product falling to the capitalist is augmented, and his relative share
is dim inished; while on the contrary the laborer’s share is increased both
absolutely and relatively.”
Imperfect, or partial protection adds to the tax which accrues to the
Government a bounty to individuals or classes, in many oases m ore than
equal to the amount o f revenue secured by the Government.
A duty or tax upon articles which are mainly the result o f a small
amount o f unskilled labor, by which the gratitudes o f nature are pnt into
form for use, and which are known as raw materials, is an impediment to
the use o f the free gifts o f God, which should be common to all. The
nation imposing such a duty places itself at a disadvantage as compared
with all other nations.
A. duty or tax upon articles which are mainly the result o f human labor,
aided by the largest amount o f skill or invention, commonly known as
manufacturers, will yield a levenue at the cost to the community only o f
the revenue thus raised.
Protection decreases the abundance of commodities, and increases the
absolute share of a small number o f the people at the cost o f a portion o f
the relative share o f each.
Free Trade incr«ases the abundance of commodities, gives to each the
relative share which his education, skill or capital entitle him to, and leads
to the harmonious development o f the powers o f all.
W e shall reach specie payment, not by the prohibition o f imports but
by the increase o f the products o f labor, other than gold or silver, to such
a point that other nations will buy them on account o f their cheapness,
rather than our specie, and thus enable us to retain specie and export
cotton, oil, wheat, etc., in full for our imports.
The larger portion o f the revenue now required by the United States
can be obtained from commodities which are not absolutely necessary to
the productive power o f the people, and the remainder from a moderate
revenue tariff which shall cost the people only the amount o f revenue thus
obtained.
A reduction o f the aggregate o f taxation from $16.04 currency or
$11.46 gold per head to $8.60 per head will yield a revenue sufficient to
meet the probable expenses o f the Government, and pay the debt in less
than twenty years. (See appendix B ).
The amount o f $8.60 per head can now be obtained from very moderate
rates o f taxes and duties, as compared with what we have been paying;
and, as wealth, production and consumption, increase faster than popula
tion, a less and less rate o f tax or duty upon commodities or interests will
yield the requisite amount per head.
To secure these benefits, stability is absolutely essential; and no stabil
ity is possible until we mature and persistently follow a system in regard
to the currency which shall, as soon as possible, lead us to specie payment.
An inconvertible paper currency enables the few to tax the many in the
most onerous and unjust manner, and judicious but uniform and persistent
contraction of the currency is the first and most imperitive duty o f the
Government.
As some surprise has been expressed, that these views should emanate
from a manufacturer o f cotton goods, I will add that I believe a gradual
30
O S THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE.
[July,
and judicious reduction in the duties upon foreign commodities, in the
manner proposed— o f course preceded by an entire abolition o f the internal
taxes upon manufactures— will result in a more permanent and uniform
condition o f prosperity in the manufacture o f textile fabrics, as well as of
all other commodities, than we have ever yet enjoyed. If we can come
slowly but surely to what is called British Free Trade, we shall share in
the increase o f wealth which that system has brought to Great Britain—
only the benefit to us would be greater, as our natural advantages and
variety o f resources are greater. British Free Trade is the result o f the
longest experience and the greatest amount o f intelligence applied to the
collection o f revenue; I trust it may not be many years before the people
o f England will learn from us the true principles upon which the laws re
lating to the tenure o f land, the Church establishment and popular edu
cation should be based. Upon these points they are yet under the co n
trol o f protective or bounty laws o f the most vicious character, and
which render the increase o f wealth which they have derived from the
modifications o f their revenue system less beneficial because o f the par
tial and inequitable division o f such increase o f wealth which they cause
or permit.
The world demands to be supplied with the various commodities called
manufactures, such as textile fabrics, iron ware, agricultural implements,
etc., etc. The question is, who shall supply such commodities ? Thus
far, the practical answer has been, E n glan d; and we may well ask our'selves why this has been. Labor is not as cheap in England as in G er
many, neither is labor as cheap in England or Germany as in India or
China; yet the dear laborer o f England rather than the cheap laborer o f
Germany supplies the inhabitants o f China and o f India with textile fabrics.
W h y is this ? A complete answer could only be given by a Buckle or a
Lecky ; but we may glance at some o f the causes.
1. The possession o f large deposits o f coal and iron first enabled E n g
land to supplement manual labor by cheap machinery.
2. The intelligence o f England soonest relieved commerce from the
trammels and fallacies o f the “ mercantile system.”
3. The possession o f coal and iron in abundance having enabled E n g
land to thrive in spite o f the Protective System to which she long ad
hered, she has led all other nations in the adoption o f what is called
British Free Trade, and by that has been enabled to accumulate wealth
faster than other nations which have a better although not the best sys
tem o f land tenure, like France, or a far better system o f education, like
Germany.
4. Under the system o f British Free Trade she receives from all parts
o f the world such commodities as their conditions o f soil, climate and
population, enable them to produce cheaper, paying therefor in the com
modities which she can produce better or cheaper than they. She places
no artificial obstacle in the way o f any import because it is cheap, but
simply imposes duties, fo r revenue, on a few7 articles o f universal consump
tion and difficult to smuggle.
ITow shall we compete with England in supplying the demand o f the
world, for commodities, and thus secure to ourselves a greater abundance
o f the necessities, comforts or luxuries o f life, for such is the only incentive
to commerce or exchange ?
Neither nations nor individuals will ever es-
1807]
DEBT AND FINANCES OF CHICAGO.
31
tablish trade of exchange with each other unless each shall in the long
run get more than he. gives.
N o permanent trade is possible where the
satisfaction or gain is ail on one side. The mutuality o f services rendered,
is essential to the continuance o f mutual exchange or trade.
W e want more foreign luxuries and comforts than England, because the
great mass o f our people can afford them better, and we have more natural
resources than England, in the shape o f easily worked mines, a better cli
mate for the breeding o f sheep and the product o f wool, almost a m onop
oly in ordinary times in the production of cotton, and in all farming op
erations a superiority in natural advantages hardly to be measured, and
therefore we have far greater power to create wealth, and in the production
of wealth to combine the larger amount o f the gratuity o f nature with the
smaller amount o f labor.
I can only see one answer to the question, how we shall com pete with
England in supplying the world with manufactured articles, and that is by
adopting the same system o f British free trade as soon as our need o f rev
enue, and a cautious, slow and judicious method in making the change,
will allow us to do it.
Freedom o f trade, leads to the free movement o f the laborer, and he
will surely seek that country where he can secure the most com fort and
the best conditions o f life in return for his wages and it matters not whether
his wages be measured at a high or low rate.
Our natural advantages
would have induced a larger immigration, and would, I believe, have been
more firmly established to-day and upon a larger scale than we have ever
dreamed of, had we not impeded the importation o f foreign commodities
by protective duties, and thus confined ourselves mainly to the home mar
ket for our manufactures. W e shall again share with England in the com
merce of the world, and in the profit of that commerce, when we cease to
deprive ourselves o f the benefit o f our natural advantages over England,
by adherence to the principle, or rather the want o f principle, involved in
laws imposed for the purpose o f protection.
DEBT AND FINANCES OF CHICAGO.
The tenth annual statement o f the Comptroller o f Chicago, covering the
fiscal year ending April 1, 1867, supplies full information relating to the
financial affairs of the city and the transactions o f the year then closed.
The following is a statement o f the public debt outstanding at the end of
the fiscal year :
Muniipal Debt (old issues), viz :
7 p. c. bonds, due July, 1866............... $1,000
<»
kt
due Jan., 1867................
1,000
7
“
due Jan., 2874................ 60,000
10
u
due Jan., 1S68................
1,000
6
“
due July, 2873................ 50,000
6
“
due July, 1874................ 40,000
6
“
due July, 1875................ 100,000
6
44
due Ju'y, 1876.. ............ 100,000
Municipal Debt (new issues), v iz :
7'p. c. bonds, due Dec., 1872.................$30,000
7
u
due Apr., 1881................. 904;500
7
“
due Apr., 1885 ................. 24.00
7
“
due July, 1896................. 25,000
Municipal Debt (schools), v iz :
7 p. c. bonds, due July, 1S85............... $25,000
7
“
due Jan , 1886 ..............
25,000
7
“
due Jan., 1887 ..............
20,000
Sewerage Debt, v iz :
7 p. c. bOuds (1st loan)......................... $413,000
6
14
(let loan).........................
87,000
7
“
(2d & 3d loans, including
40 bonds charged S. Lind, Treasurer 859,000
Diver Improvement Debt, v iz :
7 p. c. bonds, due July, 1890................ $163,000
Water Debt, v iz :
Gp. c. bonds......................................... l,030,0r0
7
41
790,600
32
\July,
DEBT AND FINANCES OF CHICAGO.
RECAPITULATION.
Funded debt (old issues).....................................
“
(new issues)...................................
School construction debt.....................................
Sewerage debt..................................
Fiver Improvement debt.....................................
Water debt............................................................
1866.
$355,000
960,500
50,000
1,236,000
93,000
1.659,000
Total funded d e b t. . . . ................................. $4,853,500
1867.
[$353,000
992.500
70,000
1,359,0 0
163,000
1,820,000
$4,757,500
Decrease.. $2,000
Increase.. 32,030
Increase.. 29,000
Increase.. 123,000
Increase.. 70,000
Increase.. 161.000
Increase .. $404,000
The floating debt o f the city, consisting chiefly o f certificates given for
temporary loans, payments for schools and sanitary purposes, judgments,
water fund, etc.—
Amounted t o ............................................................................................................
Bills payable ($4,SCO), warrants on Treas. (236,114 04), and city orders ($174 34)
J39S,926 12
240,638 38
Making a total floating o f ..............................................................................
$639,564 50
The amount in the treasury at the close o f the fiscal year to the credit
o f the several funds was $778,990 66. The amount o f warrants and city
orders outstanding drawn upon the treasury was (as above) $236,283 38.
Net balance to credit, $542,702 28. It will be seen from the above
exhibit that the bonded debt is gradually increasing ; and, the Comptroller
continues, “ if we keep pace with our rapid increase of population, it must
continue to increase upon us for many years to come. The water-works
will require during the present year (1 8 6 7 -6 8 ) not less than $500,000 to
complete the buildings, engines, and improvements that' are imperatively
demanded. The erection o f school buildings, sewerage, river improve
ments (deepening o f the Illinois and Michigan canal), and tunnels, will add,
perhaps, $500,000 to $800,000, so that at the end o f the present fiscai
year the bonded debt o f the city will not fall much short o f $6,000 ,0 00 ;
and when all these improvements shall have been completed, for which
bonds are authorized to be issued, the bonded debt cannot vary much
from $10,000,000, o f which about $5,000,000 have been provided for, to
he paid by receipts from water, sewerage, sinking fund, and probable State
assumption o f river improvement bonds. The total city debt at the pres
ent time is $5,397,064 50. O f this sum $398,926 12 is for temporary
loans, v iz .: $222,159 81 for the water works (to be paid from the proceeds
o f bonds to he issued) and the balance for school purposes (purchase of
lots and erecting school buildings) sanitary expenses, judgments, &c.” The
rate and amount o f tax levied, and the purposes for which levied for the
service o f the year ending April 1, 1867, were as follow s:
Purpose.
Rate.
Amount.
Purpose.
Rate.
Amount.
General fund............. 4 ^ p. 1,000 $386,7S9 G3 Sewerasze fund............ 2 p. 1,000 $171,906 50
Gen' ral sinking fund. 1 “
85,95325Street & alley fund ... 2
“
171,906 50
128,929 8S
Interest fund............1
“
35.95325Street lamp lund........ I X “
Improvement fund ... 1 “
85,95325Temp’y lean fu n d ___ X “
42,976 62
Police fu n d ................. 3
“
257,s5975
T otal....................20 p. 1,0C0 $1,719,065 00
Reform school fund .. . X “
42,976 62
School tax fund........ 3
“
257,85975
The receipts from general taxes for the year, including $44,735 64 col
lected on the tax warrants o f 1863 and 1865, amounted to the sum o f
$1,559,502 84 ; the receipts from special assessment warrants, including
miscellaneous receipts from the Board o f Public W orks and other sources,
to $478,540 4 3 ; from licenses $153,858 8 4 ; from fines in the police
1867]
DEBT AND FINANCES OF CHICAGO.
33
courts $81,038 4 6 ; from Recorder’s court, rents, &c., $15,580 08, and
from a judgment $25,492 20. Including $901,863 17 balance from pre
vious year, bills payable $159,226 11, and bonds $6,400, the total means
of the city treasury amounted to $4,864,933 44.
The principal disbursements were on account o f : Public works $385,871 17, certificates $120,575 00 ; Bridewells and cemetery $55,227 0 7 ;
evening schools $6,957 0 8 ; Fire Department $254,409 4 1 ; fuel $31,217 2 3 ; health department $61,387 86 ; interest $100,612 7 9 ; ju d g
ments $22,151 1 1 ; lamp districts $120,922 2 1 ; permanent improvements
$15,391 1 3 ; printing and stationery $17,585 6 6 ; police $307,811 4 4 ;
Receiver’s court $28,591 9 2 , redemption $13,861 1 8 ; Reform school
$73,299 9 9 ; river improvements $129,162 3 7 ; salaries $47,247 5 0 ;
schools $412,367 5 5 ; sewerage $416,546 4 8 ; sewerage, sinking fund,
$20,842 5 0 ; special assessments $685,903 76 ; tunnel $19,265 85 ; water
$666,791 89, &c., &c.— total $4,085,942 78, leaving in Treasury $778,990 66.
The following statement gives a summary view o f the population, valu
ation and taxation at the stated periods for the past 30 years :
Year.
1837.
1840.
1813.
1S45.
1848..
1847..
1848.
1849.
1S50.
1853.
1855.
1856
1860.
1862.
1804.
1S65.
1S6G..
Total pop-,------ Asst 2Bsed Valuation------ , \ralua.
-------- T axa tic>n.ulation. R’l Est’te . Personalty. Total, r>. cap.
Ain’ t p.c TIB>.p. $100.
$236,842 $56 80
4,170 $236,842
$5,905 15 $1 41 $2 4.4
$ ........
4,479
94,437 21 15
94,437
4,721 85 1 05 5 00
962,221
479,093 1,441,314 190 14
8,647 89 1 11 0 60
. . . . 12.0S8 2,273,171
791.851 3,065,022 253 56
11,' 77 58 0 91 (t 36
...... 14,169 3,664,425
S57,231 4,521,656 319 12
15,825 80 1 11 0 32
4,995,446
18,159 01 1 08 0 31
853,704 5,849,170 346 96
4,99S,266 1,302,174 6,300.440 314 66
22,051 54 1 10 0 35
5.181,635 1,495,047 6,676,684 246 31
30,045 09 1 30 0 45
5,685,965 1,554,284 7,220.249 240 97
25,270 87 0 84 0 35
13,130,677 3,711,154 16,S41,S33 284 82
135,663 48 2 30 0 80
. . . . 80,000 21,637,500 5,355,593 26,992,893 337 41
206,209 03 2 58 0 77
. . . . 84,113 25,S92,308 5,843,776 31,736,084 377 30
396.652 39 4 72 1 25
31,198,155 5,855,377 37,653,512 349 13 .373,315 29 3 42 1 01
....138,186 31,f’80,545 5,552,300 37,139,845 268 79
564,038 06 4 08 1 50
....169,353 37,148,023 11,584,759 48,732,782 287 75
974,655 64 5 75 2 00
....178,492 44,064,499 20,644,678 64,709,177 362 55 1,294,183 54 7 25 2 00
66,495,116 19,458,134 85,953,250 428 87 1,719,064 00 8 57 2 07
....
....
That Chicago has been gradually growing wealthier, and year by year
more able to bear taxation, the above table fully illustrates. In 1850 the
valuation was $240 97, and the taxes 84 cents per capita, or 35 cents on
each 8100. By 1860 the valuation had increased to $349 13, and the
taxes 84 cents per capita, or $1 01 on each $100. The first years of
the late war materially affected the value o f property, but in 1864 a re
action was evidenced which continued upward through the next two years,
bringing the per capita valuation from $268 79, as it was in 1862 to
$287 75 iu 1864, $362 55 in 1865, and $428,87 in 1866. The rate o f
taxation in 1864, ’ 65 and ’ 66 was $2 on th e $ i0 0 , but owing to the m ove
ment in population and property, the tax averaged in 1864 $5 7 5 ; in
1865, $7 25 ; and in 1866, $8 57 per capita. The taxes here spoken of
are municipal or city taxes purely. The State taxes for 1866 amounted to
$1 28 per capita, and the county taxes (though we have no means at
hand to certify our estimate) may be stated at a like rate. These added
to the city taxes, will make a total o f taxation levied for domestic purposes
on the peojile o f Chicago o f $11.13 per capita. A nd as a matter o f course
the people bear their share o f Federal taxation and customs. In the 1st
district o f Illinois, which covers Cook County, in which Chicago is loca
34
[July,
COMMERCIAL LA W .
ted, there was collected on account o f internal revenue for the year 1865 -66,
the sum o f §6,672,286, from the following sources :
Mamifac’ es and productions............$3,302,168
Slaughtered animals.........................
09,243
847,523
dross receipts...................................
S a c s ..................................................
11,301
Articles in schedule A ......................
10,863
Licenses........ ............... —..............
Income...............................................
Legacies and successions.................
Passports, & c .................................
Penalties, & c.....................
$615,103
1,730,760
7,180
295
71,849
The population o f the county in that year may be estimated at 220,000
persons, and hence the federal taxes averaged about $33 to each inhabitant.
The customs collected in the United States in the same year amounted
to $179,000,000 in gold. The population o f the United States in that
year was not far from 35,000,000. This gives about $5 per capita. A ll
these taxes added, v iz .: domestic $11 13, United States internal $33, and
United States customs $5— make a total o f $49 13 per capita paid by the
people o f Chicago. Omitting customs, the internal taxes paid are about
$44 per capita.
C O M M E R C I A L
FIRE
INSURANCE
L A W .-N o .
34.
(CONTINUED).
(Continued from page 472, vol. 56.)
OF THE RISK INCURRED BY THE INSURERS.
A t the time o f the insurance, the property must be in existence, and
not on fire, and not at that moment exposed to a dangerous fire in the im
mediate neigh borh ood; because the insurance assumes that no unusual
risk exists at that time.
The risk taken is that o f fire. And therefore the insurers are not
chargeable if the property be destroyed or injured by the indirect effect of
excessive h e a t; or by any effect which stops short o f ignition or com bus
tion. But if there be actual ignition, the insurers are liable for the im m e
diate consequences; as the injury from water used to extinguish the fire.
Or injury to or loss o f goods caused by their removal from immediate
danger o f fire, even if it be reasonable, and not if the loss or injury might
have been avoided by even so much care as is usually given in times of
so much excitement and confusion.
In some instances the policies require that the insured should use all
possible diligence to preserve their g o o d s ; and such a clause would
strengthen the claim for injury caused by an endeavor to save them by
removal. So the insurers are liable for injury or loss sustained by the
blowing up o f buildings to arrest the progress o f a fire. But we should
say, that if goods were damaged by water thrown on to extinguish a sup
posed fire when there was none in fact, or by the wholly unnecessary and
useless destruction o f a house distant from the fire, the insurers should not
be held.
It must now be conceded to modern science, that lightning is not .fire ;
and if property be destroyed by lightning, the insurers are not liable, un
1867]
COMMERCIAL LA W .
35
less there was also ignition ; or unless the policy expressly insures against
lightning.
An explosion caused by gunpowder is a loss by fire; not so, it is said,
is an explosion caused by steam. Scientifically, it m ight be difficult to
draw a wide distinction between these cases; but the difference seems to
be sufficient for the law.
W hether when the negligence o f the insured or his servants is to be
considered as the sole or direct cause o f the fire or loss, the insurers can
be held, has been somewhat considered. And as this is the most com m on
and universal danger, and the very one which induces most persons to
insure, there has been some disposition to say that no measure or kind o f
mere negligence can operate as a defepce. A nd in effect this is almost
the law. But if the loss be caused by negligence o f the insured himself,
of so extreme and gross a character that it is hardly possible to avoid the
conclusion of fraud, the defence m ight be a good one, although there were
no direct proof o f fraud. That the fire was caused by the insanity o f the
insured should be no defence.
fn Beaumont’s work on Fire and Life Insurance in England, he gives
some instances drawn from the practice o f English insurance companies, a
part o f which, at least, rest upon sound principles, and illustrate what is
probably the law, although not yet determined by adjudication. Thus, if
implements or apparatus used for fire, as ranges, grates, or the like, are
destroyed by fire, this loss gives no claim on the insurers. But if the
chimney or other parts o f the house in w hich the apparatus is set are in
jured by the same fire^for this the insurers are liable. H e says, also, that
where the loss is caused only by an excess o f the heat or fire which was
designedly used, they are not liable. But we should have some doubt as
to this ru le; especially as applied to clothes hung up to dry, and catching
fire from the flame, and the like. N or are we satisfied that, if a haymow
takes fire by its own fermentation, it is not a loss within the policy. If
quicklime be so heated by water as to set on fire the barrels or other w ood
near it, it m ay be said that the lime itself is not burnt, and might not be
hurt by being burnt, and, if destroyed by water, is not a loss within the
p o licy ; but we do not think this would be reasonable. A nd if lime be
put in a building, and, by being partially wet and heated, set fire to it,
and for the purpose o f extinguishing this fire, water is so used as to slack
the lime and render it valueless, it would be a loss within the policy, un
less we say that no loss gives a claim if the thing destroyed contribute
to the loss, proximately or remotely. W e are aware o f no such rule.
Thus, if cotton, by fermentation, ignited and set fire to a mill, undoubted
ly the loss o f the mill would be within the policy, and so would be the
loss o f other and disconnected cotton. And perhaps we m ight say that
the loss o f the very cotton o f which the spontaneous combustion caused
the fire should be within the policy.
There are various exceptions in the policies used in this country ; hut
they have not given rise to much a ljudication, and do not generally need
explanation. It may be remarked, that the exception o f “ military or
usurped power,” or any similar phrase, would not be extended so as to
cover a common mob. But if the word “ riot” be used, insurers are not
liable for a fire caused by a tumultous assemblage, whatever may have
been the original purpose o f the meeting.
36
COMMERCIAL LA W .
[July,
If the insured be charged with burning the property insured himself, it
has been held in England, that this defence could be supported only by
evidence which would suffice to convict the plaintiff, if tried upon an in
dictment. But in this country it has been ruled otherwise.
o r VALUATION.
Valuation, precisely as it is understood in a marine policy, seldom
enters into a fire policy— never, perhaps, in a policy made by any o f those
mutual companies, who now do a very large part o f the insurance o f this
country. A nd quite seldom is a building valued when insured by a stock
company. I f a loss happens, whether it be total or partial, the insurers
are bound to pay only so much o f the sum insured as will indemnify the
assured. But as care is always taken— and sometimes required by law—
not to insure upon any house its whole value, it seldom happens, and if
the proper previous precautions are taken, should never happen, that any
question o f value arises in a case o f total destruction o f a building by fire.
But mutual companies are usually forbidden by their charter to insure
more than a certain proportion o f the value o f a building ; and this requires
a valuation in the policy, which is conclusive, for some purposes, against
both parties. O f course the insurers can never be held to pay more than
the sum insured. And if their charter or by-laws permit a company to
insure only a certain proportion o f the value, as three fourths— on the one
hand, if the company insure more than that proportion, as $3,500 on pro
perty valued at $4,000, they are held to pay only $3,000, and the assured
cannot show that the building was really worth more than $4,000 ; and,
on the other hand, the valuation, if not fraudulent, is conclusive against
the insurers if the building is destroyed, and they cannot show, in defence,
that the building was worth less.
W e know nothing to prevent the parties from making a valued policy,
if they see fit to do so, although this has been questioned. It is not un
common for companies who insure chattels, as plate, pictures, statuary,
books, or the like, to agree on what shall be the value in case o f loss.
Sometimes the policy reserves to the insurers the right to have the val
uation made anew by evidence, in case of loss. Then if a ju ry find a less
valuation, the insurers pay the same proportion o f the new value which
they had insured o f the new valuation.
The value which the insurers on goods must pay, is their value at the
time o f the loss, And it has been held, that a fair sale at auction, with
due precaution, will be taken to settle that value after the fire, provided
the insurers have reasonable notice or knowledge that the auction is to
take place.
The valuation determines the amount which the insurers must pay only
in case o f total destruction. If the building is only injured by fire, the
insurers may either repair it, or pay the cost o f repairing it.
OF ALIENATION.
Policies against fire are personal contracts between the insured and the
insurers, and do not pass to any other party without the express consent
o f the insurers.
1867]
COMMERCIAL LA W .
37
It is essential to the validity and efficacy o f this contract that the insured
have an interest in the property when he is insured, and also when the loss
takes p la ce; for otherwise it is not his loss, and he can have no claim for
indemnity. If, therefore, he alienates the whole o f his interest in the pro
perty before the loss, he has no claim ; and if he alienates a part, retaining
a partial interest, he has only a partial and proportionate claim.
After a loss has occurred, the right o f the insured to indemnity is vested
and fixed ; and this right may be assigned for value, so as to give an
equitable claim to the assignee, without the consent o f the insurers. But
we should not consider a mere assignment or conveyance o f the premises
as o f itself an assignment o f the right to recover on a policy o f insurance
for a previous loss, unless something in the contract, either of word or fact,
showed clearly that this was intended by the parties.
Policies against fire contain a provision, that an assignment o f the pro
perty, or o f the policy, shall avoid the policy. So, generally, it is hardly
worth while to inquire what right an assignee, without conseut, would
acquire at common law, or in equity, where there is no such provision.
W e think, however, that the weight of authority is strongly, though not
conclusively, against his acquiring any claim. There seems to be some
difference between fire policies and marine policies on this subject, the
necessity o f consent being held more strongly in the case o f fire p o licie s;
but it is not easy to see a very good reason tor this difference.
N othing is properly an alienation o f the property, which is less than an
absolute conveyance o f the title thereto. It has been held, that a sale by
one joint owner o f his interest in the property to the other, does not avoid
the policy. But the weight o f authority is, that generally such sale avoids
the policy. A n assignment by one partner o f his interest in the partner
ship property to the other, is held to prevent a recovery in case o f loss.
But a dissolution o f the partnership before loss, and a division o f the
goods, so that each partner owned distinct portions, was held to be in
violation of a condition against “ any transfer or change o f tide in the
property insured.”
W here an insured conveyed half the premises in fee, taking back a
lease o f the same for five years at a nominal rent, and agreeing to keep
and leave the premises in repair, it was held to be an alienation, although
the insured would have been bound, as lessee, to rebuild. W here the
insured mortgaged the premises and assigned the policy to the mortgagee,
with the consent ot the insurer, and afterwards conveyed the premises
away, it was held that the policy remained valid as to the mortgagee, and
for the amount o f the debt, on the ground that the insured could do noth
ing to affect the rights o f the assignee without his consent. In this case it
was also held, that payment o f an assessment after the property is burned
does not remove the effect o f an alienation.
A conveyance by one insured intended to secure a debt, will be treated
in a court of equity as a mortgage, and therefore it does not terminate
the interest o f the insured. A contract to convey is not an alienation.
Nor is a conditional sale, where the condition must precede the sale, and
is not yet performed. N or is a mortgage, not even after breach, and per
haps entry for a breach, and not until foreclosure. N or selling and im me
diately taking back. But bankruptcy is said to be an alienation ; and if
there were a voluntary assignment by one insured to his assignee in trust,
38
COMMERCIAL LAW .
[July,
it should operate so, as much as a direct transfer to creditors. There are
reasons, however, for drawing a distinction between such a case, and one
where the law takes possession o f property insured for creditors; at least,
we should say that, in such case, the insurance might remain valid until
the assignees or commissioners sold the property. If several estates are
insured in one policy, and one or more are aliened (or conveyed away),
the policy is void as to those only which are aliened. If many owners are
insured in one policy, a transfer by one or more to strangers, without the
act or concurrence o f the other owners, will avoid the policy for only so
much as is thus transferred.
Policies o f insurance are not negotiable— that is, not assignable in such
way as to give to the assignee a right o f action in his own name— in most
o f our States. But the moral or equitable interest o f the transferree will
sustain a promise by the insurers to him, and if such express promise be
made, on this he may bring his action. If he brings it in the name o f the
assignor, it must, generally at least, be subject to all the defences which
the insurers could make against ihe assignor. It is possible that there
should be some qualification o f this rule. Undoubtedly, no insured party
can make a transfer which shall operate injuriously on the insurers, and
yet preserve the rights so transferred. On the other hand, if he, by the
terms o f the policy, may transfer it with the consent o f the insurers, and
after such transfer and consent the originally insured fraudulently burns
the building, there would be strong reasons for holding the insurance still
valid, in favor o f the innocent transferree. Perhaps the question would
turn upon this : Did the transferree pay, or assume the obligation o f pay
ing, or guarantee the payment, o f any premiums? I f so, he should be
held insured, although the terms o f the policy and transfer might oblige
him to bring his action in the name o f the incendiary. W h ere possible,
such transfer, with such consent, would undoubtedly be regarded by the
courts as a new and independent contract with the transferree.
An alienation, or even actual surrender o f the policy, does not avoid
the premium note, or the obligation of the insured to pay his share o f the
previous losses. If, therefore, after an alienation, the insurers, with full
knowledge o f it, demand and receive from the insured payments on such
account, it is no waiver o f the forfeiture of the policy caused by the alien
ation. From some cases it would seem that, if the insurers called for and
received payments accruing subsequently, it would not revive their obliga
tion, on the ground that the policy is so completely annuled by the alien
ation, that it cannot be revived by any waiver. But we should have
much doubt o f this. If the insurers expressly waived the forfeiture, it
would make them responsible to the transferree.
In practice, care should be taken to have all such transfers regularly
made and notified, and the consent obtained fully authorized, and duly
indorsed or certified, and all the rules, or usuages o f the insurers in this
respect complied with.
W here one insured against fire recovered o f his insurers for a loss
caused by a railroad company for which the railroad company was liable
to the insured, it was held that this operated as an equitable assign
ment to the insurers o f the claims o f the insured against the railroad
com pany; and the insurers might enforce this by a suit in the name o f
the insured.
1867]
COMMERCIAL L A W .
39
OF NOTICE AND PROOF.
W here the policy requires a certificate o f the loss, the production of it
is a condition precident to any claim for payment. A nd it must be such
a certificate as is required; but a substantial compliance with its require
ments is sufficient. So, too, if the notice is to be given forthwith, there
must be no unreasonable or unnecessary delay. And all the circu m
stances o f the case are considered, in determining whether there was or
was not due diligence. A notice o f a loss, which was required by the
policy to be given “ forthwith,” and was in fact given thirty-eight davs
after a loss, has been held insufficient. But circumstances may justify a
longer delay. W h ere a certificate is required to be furnished “ as soon
as possible,” it is still sufficient if it be furnished within a reasonable
time. But where the fire took place in November, and the account o f
loss wa6 not furnished till the March following, it was held not to
be a compliance with the conditions. Generally, this is a question for
the jury.
In fire policies, as the premises may be supposed always open to the
inspection o f the agents o f the insurers, a general notice o f the fire will
probably be enough.
If the assured has assigned the policy with consent, the assignee may
give the n otice; and if he does, the neglect o f the original insured to give
notice does not prejudice the assignee.
The insurers may waive their right o f notice wholly or partially. A n d
they may do this expressly, or by any acts which fairly indicate to the
insured that they accept an imperfect notice given to them, or that they
do not need and do not require that any notice should be given, or that
they have taken the matter into their own hands, and have made inqui
ries, and obtained all the information possible. And a refusal “ to settle
the claim in any way,” has been held to supply a good excuse for not
offering notice.
The preliminary proofs, by which is meant affidavits, certificates, state
ments, etc., setting forth the loss and its circumstances, though required
by the policy, are hot admissible as evidence as to the damages or
amount o f claim. If it were provided in the policy that they might be
so used, this would make them evidence, but we are not aware that this
is ever said expressly, and it cannot be inferred from the mere require
ment o f them.
If the policy provide that the assured shall, if required, submit to an
examination under oath, the insurers are not bound by his statement un
der oath ; but if he be duly required, and therefore submit himself to an
examination under oath, he cannot afterwards be required to submit to
further examination under oath.
OF ADJUSTMENT AND LOSS.
Insurers against fire are not held to pay for loss o f profits, gains o f
business, or other indirect and remote consequences o f a loss by fire. W e
do not know, however, why profits may not be specifically inrured against
fire, where it is not forbidden by, or inconsistent with, the charter o f the
insurers.
40
COMMERCIAL LAW .
{July,
There is one wide difference between the principle of adjustment o f a
marine policy and o f a fire policy. In the former, if a proportion only of
the value is insured, the insured is considered as his own insurer for the
residue, and only an equal proportion o f the loss is paid. Thus if, on a
ship valued at $10,000, $5,000 be insured, and there is a loss o f one-half,
the insurers pay only one-half o f the sum they insure, just as if some other
insurer had insured the other $5,000. But in a fire policy, the insurers
pay in all cases the whole amount which is lost by fire, provided only that
it does not exceed the amount which they insure.
It is said that general average clauses or provisions are inserted in fire
policies in England ; but they are not known here. Still, in one case, the
principle o f general average was partially applied. Blankets were used
by the insured, with the consent o f the insurers, to protect a building
from a near fire; they did this effectually, but were themselves made
worthless, and an action o f the insured against the insurers for this loss
was sustained by the court.
But the owners o f other buildings in
the neighborhood, who might have been protected by the use of the
blankets, were thought to be too remotely interested to be liable to con
tribution.
A s a contract o f fire insurance is an entire one, if the policy ever at
taches, there should be no return o f premium, although the property be
destroyed the day after, and not by fire ; as by demolition by whirlwind,
or other similar accident. If, however, there were an insurance on goods
believed to be at a certain place, at a certain time, and none o f them were
there, there might be an entire return o f premium, because there was
never any insurance. But if a part were there, there should be no partial
return ; because the rule that, where a part only is insured, only a propor
tionate part is paid by the insurers in case o f loss, applies only to marine
policies, as stated above.
Most o f the fire policies used in this country give the insurers the right
o f rebuilding or repairing premises destroyed or injured by fire, instead of
paying the amount o f the loss. If, under this power, the insurers rebuild
the house insured, at a less cost than the amount they insure, this does
not exhaust their liability ; they are now insurers o f the new building for
the difference between its cost and the amount they have insured. A nd
if the new building burns down, or is injured while the policy continues,
the insurer may claim so much as, added to the cost already incurred, shall
equal the sum for which he was insured.
It may be important to add that, under our common mutual policies,
the insured will also be liable for assessments for losses after the destruc
tion o f the building by fire, during the whole term o f the policy.
There is no rule in fire insurance similar to that which makes a de
duction, in marine insurance, of one-third, new for old. Still the jury,
to whom the whole question o f damages is given, are to inquire into
the greater value o f a proposed new building, or o f a repaired build
ing, and assess only such damages as shall give the insured complete in
demnity.
W here insurers had reserved a right to replace articles destroyed, and
the insured refused to permit them to examine and inventory the goods
that they might ju dge what it was expedient for them to do, Chancellor
W alw orth refused to aid the insurers in a court o f eq u ity ; but such con
TOLEDO. .W ABASH AND WESTERN RAILROAD.
41
duct on the part o f the insured would be evidence to the ju ry o f great
weight to prove an overstatement o f loss.
If, after the adjustment and payment, there appears to have been fraud
in the original contract, or in the adjustment, or material mistake o f fact,
it would seem that money paid may be recovered back ; but not so if the
mistake be o f law.
If the policy contains a provision that any fraud in the claim, or any
false swearing or affirmation in support o f it, shall avoid the policy (as is
frequently the case in England),, it would seem that it would be left to the
jury to say whether there was any material and substantial fraud connected
with the matter, and if so, to find for the insurers.
From the present state o f the authorities, it may be stated, as a general
rule, that the law allows no claim upon the proceeds o f policies o f fire in
surance in favor o f any third parties, unless there be a bargain or contract,
or a trust, to that effect. Thus, a tenant cannot compel his landlord to
expend money received from an insurance office, on the demised premises
being burnt down, for rebuilding them, nor prevent the landlord from su
ing for the rent until the premises are rebuilt, if, by the terms o f the lease
rent is due although the building is burned.
(To be Continued.)
TOLEDO, WABASE AND WESTERN RAILROAD.
The Toledo, W abash and W estern Railway Company is a consolidation
of the Toledo and W abash, the Great Western o f 1859, the Quincy and
Toledo, and the Illinois and Southern Iow a Companies— these organiza
tions being merged into one by articles o f consolidation duly ratified and
confirmed July 1, 1865. In pursuance o f this consolidation the present
company is now operating a great, direct through line o f railway, com
mencing at Toledo, O hio, and terminating at Quincy, 111., and Keokuk,
Iowa, with a branch running to Naples, on the Illinois River, making the
entire length o f road (including 22 miles [leased] of the Chicago, Burling
ton and Quincy Railroad) about 520.6 miles. O f the main line 75.5 miles
are in Ohio, 166.9 miles in Indiana, and 211 miles in Illinois. The
Keokuk Branch has a length o f 41.2 miles, and the Naples Branch a
length o f 4.0 miles. Total length owned by the com pany 498.6 miles.
The share capital o f the company now amounts to $6,700,000, as follows :
General stock—57,000 sRares.................................................................................
Preferred stock—10,000 shares....................................................................... — .
Total share capital................................................................................... .....
$5,700,000
1,000,000
$6,700,000
Below we give a statement o f the funded debt o f the consolidated com
pany, showing a total o f $13,300,000 :
Bonds.
Interest.
7 p. c. 1st mort., (Tol. & 111. RR., 75.5 m .).......Feb. & Aug.
7
do
(L.E.,W.&St.L.RR., 166.9 m).
do
7
do
(Gt.W.RR., E. Div., 81.0 m .;.
, do
10
do
(
do
W. Dlv ,100.0m).Apr. & Oct.
7
do
(G t.W .R R .of ’59, 181.0m.) .Feb. & Aug.
7
do
(Q. & Tol. RR., 34.0 m .).........
do
7
do
(III. & So. IowaRR., 41.2 m.).
do
7 p. c. 2d mort., (Tol. & W. RR., 75.5 m .).......May & Nov.
7
do
(Wab. & W . RR., 166.9m.)...
do
7
do
(Gt. W. RR. o f ’59,181.0 m .)..
do
7 p. c. Equipm’ t, (Tol. & W . Rw’ y, 242.4 m .)..Apr. & Oct.
7p. c.Sk’g fund, (T „ Wa. & W . Rwy, 498.6 m.).
do
Due.
1S94..........................
1890 ............................
1865............................
1868............................
1883............................
1890 ............................
1882............................
1878..........................
1878 ............................
1S93............................
1833.........................
1871 ..........................
$900,000
2,500,000
45,000
1,000,000
1,455,000
500,010
300,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,500,000
600,000
1,000,000
Total funded debt on 498.6 miles of road............................................................. $13,300,000
VOL. LVII----NO. I.
3
42
TOLEDO, 'WABASH AND WESTERN RAILROAD.
[July,
W ith the exception o f $1,000,000, the bonds named in the above lisf
cover only sections o f the present r o a d ; and it being deem ed for the in
terest o f all parties that these various classes issued by and bearing the
titles o f the several corporations now represented by this company, shall
be consolidated into one and the same mortgage debt, the Board o f Direc
tors have decided to create and issue its coupon bonds, entitled “ Consoli
dated M ortgage Sinking Fund Convertible Bonds,” o f sufficient amount and
for the purpose o f retiringall o f these outstanding securities. To secure the
payment o f the principal and interest it is proposed that a m ortgage shall
be executed, covering the entire real and personal property o f the com
pany from Toledo to the Mississippi, to constitute the first mortgage lien
upon the consolidated property o f the Company. For the purpose of
giving these consolidated bonds a special advantage and value, the mortgage
securing them will not only embrace the entire amount o f property pledged
for the old bonds, but a large and valuable amount heretofore entirely
free and unincumbered, besides original liens upon important contracts,
accessions and franchises more recently acquired. The time and condi
tions for the exchange o f these bonds will soon be made known.
The gross earnings o f the road for the half fiscal year ending December
31, 1865, and for the full year 1866, together with the operating expenses
during the two periods, are presented in the annexed statement, v iz .:
«— July to Dec. 1865— > ,— Jan. to Dec. 1866— >
Passenger transportation................................’ $ ............ $896,962 08 $ ............$1,322,846 78
Freight
“
1,020,258 38
2,209,427 35
Mail
“
26,000 00
52,000 00
Express
“
49,042 10
98,345 17
Miscellaneous.....................................................................
40,846 59
............
34,766 92
Gross earnings................................. .................................. $2,033,109 15
............$3,717,3S6 22
Roadway—renewals..........................................$109,017 30
$241,051 79
“
—maintenance................................. 338,024 86
624,066 25
Cars, engines, &c.—maint’ce......................... 276,837 12
556,605 78
General expn’ s transp’ t’n &c........................... 763,558 98-1,487,438 261,389,462 68—2,811,186 50
Residuary incom e...........................................
$545,670 86
$906,199 72
The revenues of the company have been very seriously impaired in consequence o f the disasters to the wheat crop during the past two years
throughout the entire extent o f country traversed by the road. In evidence
o f the nature and extent o f this loss, it may be stated that the falling off
in the tonnage o f wheat and flour during the 18 months covering the com
pany’s report, as compared with the same period o f previous years, is
equal to 1,500,000 bushels, the earnings upon which would have been
§660,000. It is to this unlooked for misfortune the directors attribute
their inability to declare satisfactory dividends on capital. The increase
in each and all other branches o f traffic upon the road as compared with
previous years has been marked and encouraging. The coal and lumber
business especially indicate a remarkable growth and promise to become
the most permanent and productive sources o f revenue.
The company have eleven engines houses and 102 stations on the line
o f their road. The equipment now consists o f 102 locomotives, 47 passen
ger cars, 1,040 box freight cars, 27 mail and baggage cars, 275 stock cars,
200 platform cars, and 150 coal cars. The whole number o f passengers
carried in the six months of 1865 was 366,525, and in the year 1866,
1867]
624,378.
follow s:
TOLEDO, W ABASH AND WESTERN R AILR O A D .
48
The amount o f freight carried in the two periods was it'
,— -July-December, 1865.----,,— Jan.-December, 1S66.— ,
Eastw’d. Westw’ d. Total. Eastw’ d.Westw’d. Total.
Grain.....................................bushels 1,070,193 1E6,G93 1,326,886 3,910,e71 394,713 4,804,S84
ears
8,000
75
3,075
7,245’
139
7,384
Cattle....................................
Hogs.............................................. cars
969
148
1,112
2,972
398
3,370
3.96S* 16,535*
2 ',505
4,615 23,591
28,2.10
Lumber.................. .......... 1,000 feet
Sundries....................................... tons
47,657 79,214
117,871
120,284 141,075 261,359
Freight earnings...............................
$529,075 $491,121 $1,020,196 $1,299,124 $910,303 $2,209,427
The Incom e account, showing the residuary balances for the eighteen
months since consolidation and other receipts as per Treasurer’s books,
and the disbursements on account o f renewals, construction, equipment
&c., charged thereon, supplies the follow ing summary :
CREDITOR.
DEBTOB.
Locomotives,cars,tools,&c....................$237,54110Balance Dec. 31, 1865..................... $545,670 S9
Construction.......... ...................... 310,432 90
“
“
1866 ...................... 906,199 72
Interest account....................................1,328,18037Supplies from old comp’ies............ 102,548 64
Profit & Loss—Discount, &c................ 201,84128 Sinking Fund Bonds..................... 1,000.060 60
Tol. Wab. & Western R. C o................
17,01663
$2,554,419 5
111. & So. Iowa, R.R. Co..................... 129,80707
Surplus income ............... ............. 273,599 00
Total........................................... $2,280,820 25
Total........................................... $2,2S0,82O 25
The Treasurer’ s General Balance Sheet o f Decem ber 31, 1866, reads
as follow s:
DEBTOR.
CREDITOR.
Railway & equipment... - ....... $19,850,000 00 Capital Stock...... ....................... $6,700,000 00
Trustees......................................
1,195,000 00 Funded Debt.............................. 13,300,000 00
42,284 75
Materials & fuel on hand................
303,01407Coupons of 1865 & 1866 .............
U. S. Post office, &c.......................
30,80981Balance o f Income acc’t ............
273,599 00
71,790 53
Wabash Elevator Stock..............
10 000 00 Cash and Bank account.............
665,726 19
Sundries...........................................
24,77632Treasurer’ s Equalizationaccount
Equalization account................
700,300 27 Bills payable................................
15,560 00
Total........................................ $22,113,900 47
Total...................................... $22,113,900 47
The general account current (covering the whole period since the con
solidation) shows the amount o f money received from all sources, and what
disposition was made o f the same, as follows :
DISBURSEMENTS.
KECEIPT9.
co>J7 541 I f>
Ret earnings (6 mos.) 1865............. $545,670 89 i Equipment
do
(12 mos.) 1866............. 906,199 72 Construction................................... 316’,432 90
Sinking fund, bonds issued............ 1,000,000 00 Interest on bonds, &c......................... 1,285,89562
o reas. on equalizat’n ac’t ............. 665,726 19 111. & Southern Iowa R .R ............. 129,S07 27
Bills payable...................................
15,500 00 Discount on bonds, &c ............... 201,841 97
Equalizationaccount.......................... 700,30024
Bank ac’t (overdrafts)... $71,790 53
Advanced for wood and supplies 200,465 43
Less dues fromTJ. S.,
17,01663
&c............................... 55,5S6 13— 16,204 40 Toledo & Wabash R.R. Co__________
Wabash Elevator stock.......................
10.00000
Total.
, $3,149,301 20
T o ta l..................................... $3,149,301 20
It will be seen from this statement that the com pany, after promptly
paying the interest upon each and every class o f its funded obligations,
including the dividends upon its preferred stock, closes with the year in a
sound financial condition, and without any floating debt or outstanding
liability whatever.
The monthly range o f prices at which the stocks o f the consolidated com-
1
R A IL W AY EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
parties sold at New Y ork in the year 1866 are given in the following
statement:
February . . . .
March. .............
A p ril.................
M ay...................
June..................
General.
42 @42
31 @40
31%@33
Preferred.
... @ ___
63 ©63
... © . . . .
August...............
September..........
October...............
November.......... . . .
December.......... . . .
General.
35 @40
Preferred.
67>£@70
48&@46X 71 @7S%
73 @75
40 @54% 72 @75}£
40%@45% — . © . . . .
— range during the year— general 3 1 @ 5 5 , and preferred 6 1 @ 7 5 £ . On
the 1st o f June current the closing quotations were— general 41-J-, and
preferred 62.
RAILWAY EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
BY R. DUDLEY BAXTER, M.A.*
“I .— I n t r o d u c t io n .
If a Roman emperor, in the most prosperous age o f the empire, had
commanded a history to be written o f that wonderful system o f roads
which consolidated the Roman power, and carried her laws and customs
to the boundaries o f the accessible world, it would have afforded a just
subject for national pride. The invention and perfecting o f the art o f road
making, its sagacious adoption by the State, its engineering triumphs, its
splendid roads through Italy, through Gaul, through Spain, through Brit
ain, through Germany, through Macedonia, through Asia Minor,"through
the chief Islands o f the Mediterranean, and through Northern A frica ; all
these would have been recounted as proofs o f Rom an energy and mag
nificence, and as introducing a new instrument o f civilization, and creating
a new epoch in the history of mankind.
A similar triumph may fairly be claimed by Great Britain.
The Ro
mans were the great Road-makers o f the ancient world— the English are
the great Railroad-makers o f the modern world.
The tramway was an
English invention, the locomotive was the production o f English genius,
and the first railways were constructed and carried to success in England.
W e have covered with railroads the fairest districts o f the United K in g
dom , and developed railways in our colonies o f Canada and India. But
we have done much more than this, we have introduced them into almost
every civilized country.
Belgian railways were planned by George
Stephenson. The great French system received an important impulse
from Locke. In Holland, in Italy, in Spain, in Portugal, in Norway, in
Denmark, in Russia, in Egypt, in Turkey, in Asia Minor, in Algeria, in
the W est Indies, and in South Am erica Englishmen have led the way in
railway enterprise and construction. To this day, wherever an undertak
ing of more than ordinary difficulty presents itself, the aid is invoked of
English engineers, English contractors, English navvies, and English share
holders ; and a large portion o f the rails with which the line is laid, and
the engines and rolling stock with which it is worked are brought from
England.
* Read before the Statistical Society of London November, 1S66
1867]
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION" AND ITS RESULTS.
45
To Englishmen the annals o f railways must always be o f the highest
interest, and I trust that the brief inquiry upon which I am about to enter
will not be deemed a waste o f labor.
I propose to examine into the ex
tension o f railways at home and abroad ; to show the rate at which it is
proceeding; the expenditure which it has c o s t; and its vast commercial
results. The practical questions will follow whether the construction o f
of Railways in the United K ingdom has reached its proper lim it? Are
we over-railroaded, as some assert, so that railways ought to be discourag
ed? Or are we under-railroaded, so that fresh railways ought to be in
vited ? A re other nations passing us in the race o f railway development ?
And, lastly, can any improvement be introduced into our railway legisla
tion ?
II.— R a il w a y s
in
th e
U nited K in g d o m .
So far as roads are concerned, the dark ages may be said to have laste
from the evacuation o f Britain by the Rom ans in 448, to the beginning o f
the last century. During the whole o f that period nothing could be m ore
barbarous or impassable than English highways.
The Scotch rebellions
first drew attention to the necessity o f g ood roads. The first step was to
establish turnpikes, with their attendant waggons and stagecoaches; super
seding the long strings o f packhorses which, up to that time, had been the
principal means o f transport. The second step was to render navigable
the rivers w hich passed through the chief seats o f industry. The third,
which commenced later in the century, was to immitate the rivers by
canals, and to construct through the north and centre o f England a net:
work o f 2,600 miles o f water communication, at an outlay o f £50,000,000
sterling. But roads and canals combined were insufficient for the trade o f
Lancashire and Yorkshire, and bitter complaints were made o f expense and
delay in the transmission o f their goods.
The desired improvement came from the mining districts.
Since the
year 1700 it had been the custom to use wooden rails for the passage ef
the trucks. A bout the year 1800 Mr. Outram, in Derbyshire, laid down
iron rails upon stone sleepers, and the roads so constructed took from him
the name o f Outram’s W ays or Tramways. A bout the year 1814, the in
genuity o f mining engineers developed the stationary steam-engine into a
rude locomotive, capable o f drawing heavy loads at the rate o f four or five
miles an hour. It was proposed to construct a public railway on this prin
ciple between Stockton and Darlington.
After much delay the line was
opened by George Stephenson in 1825, and the experiment was successful
as a goods line— unsuccessful, from its slowness, as a passenger line. The
next experiment was the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, projected as
a goods line to accommodate the increasing trade o f those two places,
which was crippled by the high rates o f the canal and navigation. Before
the railway was completed, another great improvement had taken place in
the construction o f locomotives by the discovery o f the multitubular
boiler, which immensely increased the volume o f steam, and the speed
attainable.
The opening o f the Manchester and Liverpool Railway on 15th Sep
tember, 1830, was the formal commencement o f the railway era. On that
day- the public saw for the first time immense trains o f carriages loaded,
40
RAILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
[July,
with passengers, conveyed at a rate o f more than fifteen miles an hour, a
speed which was largely exceeded in subsequent trials. The desideratum
was at length obtained, viz., the conveyance of large masses o f passengers
and goods with ease and rapidity ; and it was seen that the discovery must
revolutionize the whole system o f inland communication.
The public feeling was strangely excited. Commercial men and men o f
enterprise were enthusiastic in favor o f the new railways and eager for their
introduction all over the country. But the vested interests o f roads and
canals, and landed proprietors who feared that their estates would be in
jured, together with the great body o f the public, were violently prejudiced
against them. Railways had to fight their way against the most strenu
ous opposition. I quote from the “ Life o f Robert Stephenson," the en gi
neer o f the London and Birmingham line:
“ In every parish through which Robert Stephenson passed, he was eyed with
suspicion by the inhabitants, and not seldem menaced by violence. The aristocracy
regarded the irruption as an interference with territorial rights.
The humbler
classes were not less exasperated, as they feared the railway movement would injure
those industrial interests by which they lived. In London, journalists and pamphle
teers distributed criticisms which were manifestly absurd, and prophecies which time
has signally falsified.”— Y ol. i, p. 169.
The city of Northampton was so vehement in its opposition, that the
line was diverted to a distance o f five miles, through the Kilsby Tunnel,
to the permanent injury both o f the city and railway. The bill was thrown
out in Parliament, and only passed in the following session by the most
lavish expenditure in buying off opposition.
Other lines were soon obtained in spite o f the same vehement hostility.
The Grand Junction Railway from Liverpool to Birmingham, was passed
in 1833. The Eastern Counties Railway was sanctioned in 1834. It was
launched as a 15 per cent. line. It is said that a wealthy banker in the
eastern counties made a will, leaving considerable property to trustees to
be expended in parliamentary opposition to railways. The Great W est
ern was thrown out in 1834, but passed in 1835. The London and South
ampton, now the London and South Western, was proposed in 1832, b it
was not sanctioned till 1834.
In .1836 came the first railway mania. U p to this time the difficulty
had been to pass any bill at all, now competing schemes began to be
brought before Parliament. Brighton was fought for by no less than five
companies, at the total expenditure o f £2 00,000. The South Eastern ob
tained its act after a severe contest with the Mid K ent and Central Kent.
Twenty-nine bills were passed by Parliament authorising the construction
o f 994 miles o f railway. In the autumn the mania raged with the great
est violence. “ There is scarcely,” said the Edinburgh Review, “ a prac
ticable line between two considerable places, however remote, that has not
been occupied by a com pa n y; frequently two, three or four rival lines
have started simultaneously.” The winter brought a crash, and the shares
o f the best companies became almost unsaleable.
In 1845 most o f the great lines had proved a success. The London
and Birmingham was paying 10 per cent., the Grand Junction 11 per
cent., the Stockton and Darlington 15 per cent., and railway shares were
on an average at 100 per cent, premium. The railway mania broke out
1867]
B A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
47
with redoubled violen ce; railways appeared an El Dorado. The number
of miles then open was 2,148. The number o f miles sanctioned by Par
liament in the three following sessions was :
1845 ......................................................................
1846 ......................................................................
2,700
4,538
1 8 4 7
1 ,3 5 4
.............................................................................................................................................
T o ta l...............................................................
8,592
Had all these lines been constructed, we should have had in 1852 more
than 10,700 miles o f railway, a number which was not actually reached
till 1861, or nine years later. But the collapse in 1846 was so severe
that an act was passed for the purpose o f facilitating the dissolution o f
companies, and a large number o f lines were abandoned, amounting, it is
said, to 2,800 miles.
Railway extension was now menaced with a new danger. The effect of
the panic was so great, and the losses on shares so severe, that the confi
dence o f the public was destroyed. Besides this, as the new lines were
opened, the dividends gradually decreased till the percentage o f profit on
capital had gone down from 5^ per cent, in 1845 to 3^- in 1849 and Siin 1850, leaving scarcely anything for ordinary shareholders. A s a con
sequence, shareholders’ lines were at an end. But since 1846 a new cus
tom had been gaining ground o f the amalgamation o f smaller into
larger companies. I may instance the N orth Eastern Company, which
consists o f twenty-five originally independent railways. In this manner
eleven powerful companies had been formed, which divided the greater
part o f England between them. The competition between these com
panies for the possession o f the country was very great, and by amalga
mations, leases, guarantees, and preference stocks, they financed a large
number o f lines which otherwise could not be made. In this manner the
construction o f railways between 1850 and 1858 progressed at the rate o f
nearly 400 miles a year.
But towards the end o f 1858 the great companies had exhausted their
funds and ardor, and proposed terms o f peace. The technical phrase was
“ that the companies required rest.” Again it seemed probable that rail
way extension would be checked. But a new state o f things arose. Twenty
years o f railway construction had brought forward many great contract
ors, who made a business o f financing and carrying through lines which
they thought profitable. The system had grown up gradually under the
wing o f the companies, and it now came to the front, aided b y a great improvent in the value o f railway property, on which the percentage o f
profits to capital expended had gradually risen from 3| per cent, in 1850
to 41 in 1860. The companies also found it their interest to make quiet
extensions when required by the traffic o f the country. Thus railway con
struction was continued in the accelerated ratio o f more than 500 miles a
year. The following table gives a summary o f the rate o f progress from
1845 to 1 8 6 5 :—
43
R AILW AY EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
[July,
UNITED KINGDOM— MILES CONSTRUCTED.
Year.
1834....................................................
.........about
1840 ..............................................................
Miles Opened.
200
“
Average Number
Opened per An.
133
1,200
240
1845...........................................................................
2,440
1850...........................................................................
6,500
1855............................................................................
8,335
1 8 6 0 ..........................................................................
10,434
1865...........................................................................
13,289
812
367
425
671
During the same year the percentage o f profits to capital expended were
as follow s:—
Per
...
...
...
1845
I860
1855
cent.
5.48 I 1860
3.31 1865,
3,90 |
Per cent.
.................... 4.39
.................... 4.46
The latter table, which is abridged from an annual statement in Herepath's Journal, scarcely gives an idea o f the gradual manner in which
the dividends sank from their highest point in 1845 to their lowest in
1850, and o f their equally gradual recovery from 1850 to 1860 and 1865.
Tne main results o f the two tables are, first, the close connection between
the profit o f one period and the average number o f miles constructed in
the next five years, and, second, the fact that the construction o f railways
in the United K ingdom has been steadily increasing since 1855, and is
now m ore than 500 miles per annum.
The number o f miles authorized by Parliament during the last six
years is stated in the Railway Times to be as follo w s:—
Miles.
Year.
1861......................... .
809
1862...................................................
1863..........................
Year.
1864.........................
1865.........................
1866..........................
Miles.
7,323
Average
Hence the miles authorized by Parliament for the last six years have been
double the number constructed; and there must be about 3,500 miles
not begun or not completed— a number sufficient to occupy us for fully
seven years, at our present rate o f construction.
Such is a brief summary o f the history o f railway extension in Great
Britain and Ireland. It may be thrown into five periods :—
1. The period o f experiment, from 1820 to 1830.
2. The period o f infancy, from 1830 to 1845.
3. The period of mania, from 1845 to 1848.
4. The period o f competition by great companies, from 1848 to 1859.
5. The period o f contractor’s lines and companies’ extensions, from
1859 to 1865.
1867]
III.— D
49
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
ist r ib u tio n
of
R a il w a y s
in the
U n ited K in g d o m .
The returns o f the Board o f Trade to the end o f 1865 give the followlowing distribution o f the 13,289 miles then op en :—
Double Lines.
England and Wales......................................... 6,081
Scotland........................
946
Ireland.................................................................
476
7,508
Single Lines.
8,170
1,254
1,862
5,786
Total
Miles Open.
9,251
2,200
1,888
18,289
Hence there is a considerable preponderance o f double lines over single
lines in England, and o f single lines over double in Scotland and Ireland.
The following table shows which country has the greatest lenth o f rail
ways in proportion to its area: —
Area in
Square Miles.
England and W ales............... 57,812
Scotland.................................
30,715
Ireland..................................... 32,512
Railway Mileage,
9,251
2,200
1,838
Square Miles
per Mile o f Railway.
6.25
14.
17.7
So that England and W ales have a mile o f railway for every six and a
half square miles o f country, being the highest proportion in the world,
while Scotland has less than half that accommodation, and Ireland little
more than one-third.
The following table shows which country has the greatest length o f rail
way in proportion to population:—
Population in 1860.
England and W ales............ 20,228,497
Scotland.................................
8,096,308
Ireland....................................
5,850,309
Railway Mileage.
9,251
2.200
1,838
Population per
Mile o f Railway
2,186
1,409
8,182
So that Scotland, a thinly inhabited country, has the greatest railway
mileage in proportion to her population, and we shall afterwards find that
she stands at the head o f all European countries in this respect.
The manner in which this railway mileage is distributed through Eng
land deserves some attention. A railway map will show that the general
direction o f English lines is towards the metropolis. London is a centre
to which nearly all the main lines converge. Every large town is, in its
degree, a centre o f railway convergence. For example, look at the lines
radiating from Leeds, from Hull, from Birmingham, or from Bristol. But
all those lesser stars revolve, so to speak, round the metropolis as a cen
tral sun.
A great deal may be learned o f the character and political state o f a
country from the convergence o f its railway lines. Centralising France
concentrates them all on Paris. Spain, another nation o f the Latin race,
directs her railways on Madrid. Italy shows her past deficiency o f unity,
and want o f a capital, by her straggling and centreless railroads. B el
gium is evidently a collection o f co-equal cities without any prepondera
ting focus. Germany betrays her territorial divisions by the multitude o f
her railway centres. Austria, on the contrary, shows her unity by the
50
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
\July,
convergence o f her lines on Vienna. The United States o f Am erica
prove their federal independence by the number o f their centres o f radia
tion.
The national character o f the English nation may be traced in the same
way. Though our railways point towards London, they have also another
point o f convergence— towards Manchester and the great port o f Liver
pool. The London and N orth W estern, the Great Northern (b y the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire line), the Great W estern and the
Midland run to Manchester and Liverpool from the south. The Man
chester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway, the London and North W est
ern Yorkshire and Carlisle lines, and the network o f the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Company converge on them from the east and north. The
London and North Western W elsh railways and the Mid W ales and
South W ales lines communicate with them from the west. Thus our rail
way system shows that Manchester and Liverpool are the manufacturing
and commercial capitals o f the country, as London is its monetary and.
political metropolis, and that the French centralization into a single great
city does not exist in England.
It remains to describe the great systems into which the English rail
ways have been amalgamated. There are in England twelve great co m
panies, with more than £ 1 4,00 0,00 0 each o f capital, which in the aggre
gate comprises nearly seven-eighths o f our total mileage and capital.
They divide the country into twelve railway kingdoms, generally well
defined, but sometimes intermingled in the most intricate manner. They
may be classified into the following seven districts :—
Miles Open. Capital Expended.
1. N o r th W estern D is t r ic t —London and North Western
Railway..................................................... 1,806
£53,210,000
2. M id la n d D is tr ic t —Midland Railway.............
677
26,103,000
3. N o r th E a ste rn D is tr ic t —Great Northern R ailw ay.. . 422
18,200,000
North Eastern Railway ............................................... 1,121
41,158,000
4. M ersey to N um ber D is tr ic t —Lancashire and York
shire Railway...........................................
403
21,114,000
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire R ailw ay.. . 246
14,113,000
709
23,574,000
5. E a ste rn D is tr ic t — Great Eastern Railway.....
6. S ou th E a stern D is tr ic t —South Eastern R ailw ay.. . .
319
18,626,000
London, Chatham and Dover Railw ay.........
175
14,768,000
London and Brighton Railway......................
294
14,561,000
7. S ou th W estern D is tr ic t —London and South Western
Railway.....................................................
500
16,364,000
Great Western Railway.................................. 1,292
47,630,000
Total......................................................................... 7,564
£309,421,000
In Scotland there are three great companies :—
Miles Open. Capital Expended.
1. S outh E a s t Coast — North British Railway...................
732
£17,802,000
2. C entral D is tr ic t — Caledonian Railw ay.......................... 561
14,797,000
3. S outh W est C oast — Glasgow and South W e s te r n ....
249
5,603,000
Total......................................................................... 1,542
£38,202,000
which include three-fourths o f the whole mileage and capital o f Scotch
railways.
1S67]
51
RAILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
In Ireland there are only two large companies :—
Miles Open. Capital Expended.
1. S o u th w e s te r n D is tr ic t —Great Southern and Western 420
£5,'712,000
2. M id la n d D is tr ic t — Midland Great Western.................
260
3,625,000
Total.........................................................................
680
£9,337,000
which embrace rather m ore than two-fifths o f the capital and mileage.
The above figures are taken from Herepath's Railway Journal, made
up very nearly to the present time.
The following table shows the average gross receipts and net profits, for
three years, for the United K ingdom , and also the dividends paid on ordi
nary stock in the above great companies, except the London, Chatham
and D o v e r :—
AVEBAGE EECEIPTS AND DIVIDENDS P E E CENT.
1857.
Gross receipts..................................................
Net profits.........................................................
1861.
8.27
4.30
1865.
8.57
4.46
4.45
4.90
5.00
4.65
5.70
3.56
D ivid en ds o f G r e a t C o m p a n ie s :
12 English..................................................
3 Scotch....................................................
2 Irish......................................................
—
Averge dividends.............................
IV .— C ost
of
R a il w a y s
in
—
—
4.78
th e
4 64
U n ited K in g d o m .
The total capital authorized and expended, up to the end o f 1865, is
given in the Board o f Trade Returns, as follows, including the companies
estimated for who have not made a return.
CAPITAL AUTHOEIZED.
Shares.................................................................................
Loans................................................................................................................
£434,457,000
143,968,000
Total.................................................................................................... £578,425,000
CAPITAL
EXPENDED.
D ebenture C a p it a l:
Stock.......................
Mortgages...............
Preference capital. .
Ordinary capital. . .
............................................ £13,312.000
............................................
98,059,000— 111,871,000
................................................................... 124,517,000
................................................................... 220,033,000
£456,421,000
Hence the following conclusions:—
1. The capital expended is more than half as large as the national
debt.
2. The debenture and preference capital, which are practically first and
second mortgages o f railway property, amounted in 1865 to more than
half the whole capital expended.
So that railway property is virtually mortgaged to the debenture and
prefence capitalist for about half its value.
52
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
[July,
The preference capital has for some years been steadily increasing,
while the ordinary capital has remained almost stationary. During 1865
the preference capital increased by £1 9,615,000, while the ordinary capital
only increased by £4,650,000. As the old companies almost always increase
their capital by preference stock, I anticipate that in seven or eight years
the debenture and preference capital w ill have risen to two-thirds o f the
capital expended.
3.
The unissued or unpaid capital was, in 1864, £ 9 5,00 0,00 0. This
increased largely in 1865, by the great number o f miles authorized in
that year, and in the return for that year is £122 ,0 00 ,0 00 .
The expenditure was, in 1864, divided between the three kingdoms in
the follow ing proportions, including non-returning companies :—
Capital Expended.
England and W ales..................................................£319,000,000
Scotland....................................................................
60,206,000
Ireland.......................................................................
26,394,000
Cost per
Mile of Railway.
£41,033
22,820
14,360
Thus Ireland has made her railways for one-third the cost, and S cot
land for little more than half the cost o f the English railways— a result
which m ight be partly expected from their larger proportions o f single
lines, the greater cheapness o f land, and in Ireland the lower wages of
labor.
But the English expenditure is the highest in the w orld, and has given
rise to severe remarks on the wastefulness of the English system. Let us
examine the causes o f expense.
1. The English expenditure includes, on a probable estimate, no less
than £40,000,000 sterling absorbed by metropolitan railways and termini.
This o f itself is £ 4 ,5 0 0 per mile on the 8,890 miles constructed.
It also includes very large sums for termini in Manchester, Liverpool,
Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham and other great towns, far beyond what is
paid in continental cities.
2. The English expenditure also includes considerable capital for docks,
as at Grimsby, where £1,000,000, was laid out by the Manchester, Shef
field and Lincolnshire C om pany; and at Hartlepool, where £1 ,250 ,0 00
was spent by a company now merged in the North Eastern.
It also includes in many instances capital expended on steamers and
capital for the purchase o f canals.
3. The counties whose trade and population is greatest, and which are
most thickly studded with railways, as Lancashire, Yorkshire and G la
morgan, are exceedingly hilly, and necessitate heavy embankments, cut
tings and tunnels, which enormously increase the cost o f construction.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway has cost £5 2,40 0 per mile for the
whole o f its 403 miles. H ad those counties been as flat as Belgium the
company might probably have saved something like £ 2 0 ,0 0 0 per mile,
or £8,000,000 sterling. The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire
Company, even after deducting £1 ,000,000 for the docks o f Grimsby,
have spent £ 5 3,00 0 per mile. A flat country might have saved them a
similar sum per mile, or £5,000,000 sterling.
4. England, as the inventor of railways, had to buy experience in
their construction. Other nations have profited by it. There is no doubt
1867]
r a il w a y
e x t e n s io n
and
it s
results.
53
that our present system o f lines could now be made at very much less
than their original cost. In addition we have paid for experiments, such
as the broad guage and atmospheric railway.
5. The great preponderance o f double lines over single (6,081 miles
against 3,170), has largely increased the expense as compared with the
single lines which predominate in other countries.
6. The price o f land in a thickly populated country like England must
necessarily be higher than in the more thinly inhabited continental coun
tries. But beyoud this, English landowners, in the first vehement opposi
tion to railways, acquired the habit o f being bought off at high prices
and o f exacting immense sums for imaginary damages. The first Eastern
Counties line was said to have paid £1 2,00 0 per mile for land through
an agricultural country, being about ten times its real value. This habit
o f exaction has been perpetuated to our own day. A s an every day in
stance, I may mention that, only a few months ago, a gentleman o f great
wealth was selling to a railway company which he had supported in Par
liament thirty acres o f grass land, o f which the admitted agricultural
value was £ 1 0 0 an acre, and three acres o f limestone, o f which the
proved value to a quarrymam was £ 3 0 0 an acre. There was no residen
tial damage, and the railway skirted the outside o f the estate. The price
o f the whole in an auction room would have been about £ 4 ,0 0 0 . The
proprietor’s agents, supported by a troop o f eminent valuers, demanded
£2 5,00 0 !
7. Parliamentary expenses are an item o f English expenditure not
occurring in countries where the concession o f railways is the province o f
a department o f the government. But in those countries there is almost
always a “ promoter’s fund ” and secret service fund, which often attain
very large dimensions. W h ich is the preferable alternative ? Besides,
those who object to parliamentary committees must be prepared to give
us a practicable substitute, which will suit the habits and feelings o f the
British nation. N ow , a free nation must have liberty to bring forward
schemes for the public accommodation, and to have them decided by some
public tribunal after full investigation and hearing all parties. There
must be witnesses, and, where millions o f money are at stake, there must
be the power o f being represented by the ablest advocates. Commissions
appointed by the Board o f Trade, or any other department, would be just
as expensive. The expense o f parliamentary committees is the price we
pay for free trade in railways, and for our present amount o f railway
development.
I believe that these causes will fully account for the higher cost o f
English railways, and, except as regards the cost o f land, I think that no
valid or practical objection can be taken to them. There is certainly the
consolation o f knowing that in return for our money we have a more
efficient system o f railways than any other country.
V .— T r a f f ic
and
B e n e f it
of
R a il w a y s
in
the
U nited K in g d o m .
Iti order to appreciate the wonderful increase o f traffic which has re
sulted from railways, it is necessary to know the traffic o f the kingdom
before their introduction.
54
[July,
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
Previous to the opening o f the great trunk lines in 1835, passengers
were conveyed by mail and stage coaches, a system which had reached a
high degree o f perfection. Mr. Porter, in his “ Progress o f the Nation,”
has calculated, from the stage coach license returns, the total number
o f miles travelled by passengers during 1834 as 358,290,000, which re
presented 30,000,000 persons travelling 12 miles each. The fares were
very high, being by the mails 6d. a mile inside and 4d. outside, exclusive
o f coachmen and guards, and rather less on the stage coaches. Including
coachmen and guards, the average fares paid may be taken at 5d. per
mile. Hence the 30,000,000 passengers paid a total of £6,250,000.
G oods were conveyed by water or by road.
W ater communication had been developed with great perseverance, and
was nearly as follows :—•
Miles.
Canals—England............................................................................................. 2,600
Scotland.............................................................................................
225
Ireland..............................................................................................
215— 3,100
Navigations................................................................................................................
900
Total............................................................................................................
4,000
Being one mile to every thirty square miles o f country.
Canal companies always regarded with great jealousy any attempt to
ascertain the amount o f their traffic, and the only calculation I can find is
in Smiles’ “ Life o f B rindley” (p. 46 4), where it is estimated at
20,000,000 tons annually. The rates charged by canal carriers were, for
the great bulk o f general goods, about 4d. per ton per mile. Thus, Lon
don to Birmingham was 40s. per ton, and London to Manchester '70s. to
80s., the direct distances being 113 and 200 miles. The rates for coal
were considerably less, but so high as to restrict its carriage to short dis
tances, and to render its amount inconsiderable.
The tonnage carried by road appears to have been about one-sixth o f
that conveyed by canal, and may be taken at 3,000,000 tons. The rates
by road were about 13d. per ton per mile, the stage wagons from London
to Birmingham charging no less than £ 0 per ton for the 113 miles,
and those from London to Leeds the enormous amount o f £ 1 3 per ton
for 190 miles. Assuming that each ton by road or water was carried 20
miles— a less average than at present— the total rates paid would have
been nearly £8,000,000. Hence the total traffic receipts about the year
1834 may be calculated as follow s:—
Passengers.................................................................................. 30,000,000 =
G oods.................................................................................. tons 23,000,000 =
£6,250,000
8,000,000
£14,250,000
The effect o f railways was very remarkable. It might reasonably be
supposed that the new means o f communication would have supplanted
and destroyed the old. Singular to relate, no diminution has taken place
either in the road or canal traffic. As fast as coaches were run off the
main roads they were put on the side roads, or reappeared in the shape
o f omnibuses. A t the present moment there is probably a larger mileage
o f road passenger traffic than in 1834. The railway traffic is new and
1867]
55
RAILW A Y BYTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
additional traffic. But raiways reduced the fares very materially. For
instance, the journey from Doncaster to London by mail used to cost £ 5
inside and £ 3 outside (exclusive o f food), for 156 miles, performed in
tn twenty hours. The railway fares are now 27s. 6d. first class, and 21s.
second class for the same distance, performed in four hours. The average
fares now paid by first, second and third class passengers are l i d . per mile,
against'an average o f 5d. in the coaching days, being little more than
one-fourth o f the former amounts.
On canals the effect o f railway competition was also to lower the rates
to one-fourth o f the former charges. In consequence the canal tonnage
actually increased, and is now considerably larger than it was before the
competition o f railways. Hence the railway goods traffic, like its passen
ger traffic, is entirely a new traffic. The saving in cost is also very g rea t;
goods are carried by rail at an average o f l£ d . per ton, or 40 per cent o f
the old canal rates.
N ow observe the growth o f this new railway traffic. The following
table from the Parliamentary returns (except for 1865), shows the receipts
from passenger and goods traffic on railways in the following years :—
INCEEASE
OF TRAFFIC,
Av. of whole
2 2 years.
Total Receipts.
1843.............
1848_______
1855.............
!•
’
’
£1,079,0001
I
1,653,000 |
l
1,252,000 |
1!■
1,619,000 J
Y
£1,423,000
1860.............
I 8 6 0 .............
Thus the average annual increase for the whole twenty-two years was
£1,423,000 per annum ; and the increase was largest in the latest years.
The traffic in 1 8 6 4 and 1865, was thus made u p :—
1864.
Passengers.................................... £15,6S4,000
18,831,000
Goods............................................
1865.
£16,572,000
19,318,000
Total receipts.................... £^,015,000
£35,890,000
And the things carried were, exclusive o f carriages and anim als:—
1864.
Passengers...................................... 229,272,000
Goods, tons...................................... 110,400,000
1865.
251,863,000
114,593,000
Being six times as many as before the introduction o f railways.
The increase was extraordinary:—
1864 over 1863.
Increase in passenger receipts.. . .£1,163,000
“
goods
“
. . . . 1,696,000
£2,859,000
1865 over 1864.
£ 8 8 8 ,0 0 0
986,000
£1,874,000
Z6
[July,
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION' AND ITS RESULTS.
So that the increase in 1864 was just double the average annual increase.
The increase in things carried w as:—
1864 over 1863.
Increase in number o f passengers 24,637,000
“
tons of good.............. 9,800,000
1865 over 1864.
22,590,000
4,233,000
A n increase in 1864 equal to five-sixths o f the whole number o f passen
gers in 1834, and to five-twelfths o f the total goods tonnage in 1 8 3 4 ; a
wonderful proof o f the capabilities and benefits o f the railway system.
N ow let us examine the saving to the country. H ad the railway traf
fic o f 1865 been conveyed by canal and road at the pre-railway rates, it
would have cost three times as much. Instead o f £36,000,000 it would
have cost £1 08,000,000. Hence there is a saving o f £7 2,00 0,00 0 a year,
or more than the whole taxation o f the United K ingdom .
But the real benefit is far beyond even this vast saving. If*the traffic
had been already in existence, it would have been cheapened to this e x
tent. But it was not previously in existence ; it was a new traffic, created
by railways, and impossible without railways. To create such a traffic, or
to furnish the machinery by which alone it could exist, is a far higher
merit than to cheapen an existing traffic, and has had far greater influence
on the prosperity o f the nation.
L ook at the effects on commerce. Before 1833, the exports and im
ports were almost stationary. Since that time they have increased as
follow s:—
INCREASE OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.
One Year.
1833.................
1842.................
Total Exports
and Imports.
Per cent.
Increase.
Per cent, per
annum Increase.
[
36
4-
6-
I
1850.................
\
)
47
i
52
1855............... .
44
9 '
1860..................
»
i
30
6-
1865.................
1
*
10-4
I am far from attributing the whole o f this increase to railways. Free
trade, steamboats, the improvements in machinery, and other causes con
tributed powerfully to accelerate its progress. But I wish to call atten
tion to two facts.
1. This increase could not have taken place without railways. It would
have been physically impossible to convey the quantity o f goods, still less
to do so with the necessary rapidity.
Mr. Francis, in his “ History o f Railways,” draws a striking picture
o f the obstacles to commerce in 1824, from the want o f means of con
veyance :
“ Although the wealth and importance o f Manchester and Liverpool had immensely
increased, there was no increase in the carriage power between the two places. The
canal companies enjoyed a virtual monopoly, Their agents were despotic in their
1867]
57
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
treatc-ent of the great houses which supported them. The charges, though high,
were submitted to, but the time lost was unbearable. Although the facilities ot
transit were manifestly deficient, although the barges got aground, although for ten
days during summer the canals were stopped by draught, and in severe winters fro
zen up for weeks, yet the agents established a rotation by which they sent as much
or as little as suited them, and shipped it how or when they pleased. They h Id
levees attended by crowds, who almost implored them to forward their goods. The
effects were disastrous ; mills stood still for want o f material; machines were stop
ped for lack of food, another feature was the extreme slowness of communication.
1'he average time o f one company between Liverpool and Manchester was four
days, and o f another thirty six hours ; and the goods, although conveyed across the
Atlantic in twenty-one days, were often kept six weeks in the docks and warehouses
of Liverpool before they could be conveyed to Manchester. ‘ I took so much for
you yesterday, and I can only take so much to-day,’ was the reply when an urgent
demand was made. The exchange of Liverpool resounded with merchants’ com
plaints, the counting-houses o f Manchester re echoed the murmurs of manufacturers.”
—Vol. i, pp. 77 and 78.
This intolerable tyranny produced the Manchester and Liverpool Rail
way, and gave the greatest impetus to railway development.
2. The increase o f imports and exports was in strict proportion to the
development o f railways. The follow ing table shows the miles o f railway
and navigation opened, and the total exports and imports. It must be
remembered that there are about 4,000 miles of navigation, and that the
exports and imports had been for some time stationary befoie 1833 :
PROPORTION OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS TO R A IL W A Y 3 AND NAVIGATION.
Tear.
1833............................... .........................
1840............................... .........................
1845...............................
1S50................................
1855................................ .........................
1S60............................... .........................
865...............................
Miles of
railway and
navigation.
4.000
5,200
12,334
14,433
Total exports
and
imports.
£85,500,000
119,00O,0CO
135,000,000
171,800,000
260.234.000
375.052.000
490,000,000
Exports
and imp’ts
per mile
£21,375
22,884
20,959
16,006
21,098
25,985
28,341
Here the increase in exports and imports keeps pace with railway de
velopment from 1 8 3 3 to 1 8 4 5 , falls below it during the enormous multi
plication o f railways and the railway distress from 1 8 4 5 to 1 8 5 0 , rises
again to the former level in 1 8 5 5 , and outstrips it after that year, aided
by the lowering o f fares and the greater facilities for through booking
and interchange o f traffic. I cannot think that this correspondence
within the two increases is accidental, especially as I shall show that it
exists also in France.
But, it may be said, h ow do exports and imports depend on the devel
opment o f the railway system ? I answer, because they depend on the
goods traffic; and the goods traffic increases visibly with the increase o f
railway mileage and the perfecting o f railway facilities. Goods traffic
means raw material and food brought from ports, or mines, or farms, to
the producing population, and manufactured articles carried back from
the producers to the inland or foreign consumers. The exports and im
ports bear a variable but appreciable proportion to the inland traffic.
Every mineral railway clearly increases th em ; every agricultural railway
VOL.
LVII.— NO. I.
4
58
R AILW AY EXTENSION' AND ITS RESULTS.
{■ J u ly ,
increases them less clearly but not less certainly. Hence I claim it as an
axiom, that the commerce o f a country increases in distinct proportion to
the improvement o f its railway system, and that railway development is
one o f the most powerful and evident causes o f the increase o f commerce.
How, let ns turn to the benefits which railways have conferred on the
working classes. For many years before 1830 great distress had pre
vailed through the country. Mr. Molesworth, in his “ History o f the
Reform Bill,” says that it existed in every class o f the community. “ A gri
cultural laborers were found starved to death. In vain did landlords
abate their rents and clergymen their tithes ; wages continued to fall, till
they did not suffice to support existence.” Innumerable petitions were
presented from every county in England, stating that the distress “ was
weighing down the landholder and the manfacturer, the shipowner and
the miner, the employer and the laborer;” Trade and commerce were
standing still, while population was rapidly increasing, at nearly the same
rate as during the most busy and prosperous period o f the French war.
The increase from 1801 to 1861 is given in the census :—
ENGLAND AND W ALES.
Year,
1801 ........
1811...........
1S21............
1831...........
Popu
lation.
8,892,536
10,164,256
12,000,236
13,898,191
Inc. per ct.
fat 10 years. Year,
11
1 8 4 1 ..........
14
18
16
1 8 5 1 ...........
1 8 6 1 ______
PopuInc. per c
lation. for 10 years
i5 ,914,148
20,066,224
14
13
12
The increase during the ten years from 1821 to 1831, which incl tided
so much distress, was no less than 16 per cent, distributed pretty uni
form ly between the agricultural and manufacturing counties, and in itself
almost a sufficient cause for the distress. But what has happened since ?
Increased facilities o f transit led to increased trade ; increased trade gave
greater employment and improved w ages; the diminution in the cost of
transit and the repeal o f fiscal duties cheapened provisions; and the
immense flood o f commerce which set in since 1850 has raised the in
com es and the prosperity o f the working classes to an unprecedented
height. Railways were the first cause o f this great change, and are en
titled to share largely with free trade the glory o f its subsequent increase
and o f the national benefit. But one portion of the result is entirely their
own. Free trade benefited the manufacturing populations, but had little
to do with the agriculturists. Y et the distress in the rural districts was
as great or greater than in the towns, and this under a system o f the most
rigid protection. H ow did the country population attain their present
prosperity ? Simply by the emigration to the towns or colonies o f the re
dundant laborers. This emigration was scarcely possible till the construc
tion o f railways. U p to that time the farm laborer was unable to m igrate;
from that time he became a migratory animal.
The increase o f popula
tion in agricultural counties stopped, or was changed into a decrease, and
the laborers ceased to be too numerous for the work.
To this cause is
principally owing the sufficiency o f employment and wages throughout
the agricultural portion o f the kingdom. I f I may venture on a compar
ison, England was, in 1830, like a wide-spreading plain flooded with stag
nant waters, which were the cause o f malaria and distress. Railways were
186V]
RAILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
59
a grand system o f drainage, carrying away to the running streams, or to
the ocean, the redundant moisture, and restoring the country to fertility
and prosperity.
VI.---- RAILWAYS IN FRANCE.
In turning from England to France, we enter a country completely dif
ferent in its railway organisation. In England everything is left to indi
vidual enterprise and independent companies. In France nothing can be
done without the aid o f the Government. They tried the English system,
and failed, just as they tried parliamentary government and failed. The
independent railway companies broke down, and it was found absolutely
necessary to change to a regime o f government guarantees and govern
ment surveillance, suited to the genius o f the French people, and under
which they regained confidence and prosperity.
Before the introduction o f railways, France possessed an extensive sys
tem o f water communication, which is now o f the following ex ten t:
Miles.
Navigable rivers......................................................................................................
Canals.......................................................................................................................
Total.....................................................
4,820
2,880
1 ,1 0 0
bv which goods were conveyed at very reasonable rates, varying from Id .
,o 2d. per ton per mile, or about half the English charges. But the de
lays were very g re a t; three or four months for a transit o f 150 miles was
'luite usual. And the canals paid scarcely 1 per cent, dividend, while their
English cotemporaries were paying 5 to 20 per cent.
Communication by road was also cheaper but slower than in England.
The passengers paid from l j d . to Sd. per mile, instead o f the 3d. to 6d.
paid in England. But they only travelled five to six miles an hour, instead
of the English eight to ten. Goods paid by road about 3d. per ton per
mile for ordinary conveyance, and 6d. for quick despatch, being less than
half the English charges.
The distance sin France were greater than in
England, the commerce was less, and .abor and food were cheaper; thus
fully accounting for the difference.
Tramways were introduced into France in 1823, by the construction o f
aline o f eleven miles from the coal mines o f St. Etienne, and this was fol
lowed by two much longer lines o f a similar character, which was opened
by sections between 1830 and 1834. They are dignified in French books
with the title o f railways, but they were really nothing but horse tramways,
and were sometimes even worked by oxen.
The success o f the Manchester and Liverpool Railway provoked some
real though short railways in France, especially those from Paris to St.
Germain and to Versailles. But in 183V only 85 miles had been opened,
against nearly 500 in England. In 183V and 1838 the French Chambers
threw out a scheme o f their Government for the construction by the State
of an extensive system o f railways, but granted concessions to private com
panies for lines to Rouen, Havre, Dieppe, Orleans, and Dunkerque. These
ines were abandoned for a time, in 1839, from want o f funds.
In this emergency, Mr. Locke, the great English engineer, restored the
ortunes o f French railways. Assisted by the London and South Western
Company and Mr. Brassey, and with subventions from the French G ov
00
R AILW AY EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
\ J ll h j ,
ernment, and subscriptions from English shareholders, and a powerful
corpse o f English navvies, he recommenced, carried through the line from
Paris to Rouen and from Rouen to Havre, and fairly gave the start to rail
way enterprise in France.
In 1842 a new law was passed, by which the State undertook the earth
works, masonry, and stations, and one-third o f the price of land ; the de
partments were bound to pay by instalments the remaining two-thirds o f
the land; and the companies had only to lay down rails, maintain the per
manent way, and find and work the rolling stock.
It was intended that
three-fifths o f the total cost should be borne by the state and departments
and two-fifths by the companies.
Under this system o f subventions a
number o f concessions were made, the shares rose to 50 per cent, premium,
and in 1848 a total o f 1,092 miles had been opened. The revolution o f
1848 was a terrible shock to their credit, and shares went down to half
their value. Many lines became bankrupt and were sequestrated, and for
three years fresh concessions were entirely stopped.
But the concessions
already made were slowly completed, and by the end o f 1851, France had
opened 2,124 miles, against 6,889 opened in the United Kingdom.
In 1852 the Emperor took French railways in hand, and by a system o f
great wisdom, singularly adapted to the French people, he put an end to
the previously feeble management, and launched into a bold course o f rail
way development. The French public shrank from shares without a guar
antee ; he gave a state guarantee o f 4 or 5 per cent, interest. The French
public preferred debentures to shares; he authorised an enormous issue o f
debentures. The companies complained o f the shortness o f their conces
sions ; he prolonged them to a uniform period o f ninety-nine years. A t the
same time he provided for the interest of the state by a rigid system o f g o v
ernment regulation and audit. And, lastly, coming to the conclusion that
small companies were weak and useless, he amalgamated them into six great
companies, each with a large and distinct territory ; and able, by their mag
nitude, to inspire confidence in the public, and aid the government in the
construction o f fresh railways. This vigorous policy was very soon succesful. Capital flowed in rapidly, construction proceeded with rapidity, and
between the end o f 1851 and 1857 the length o f the railways opened was
increased from 2,124 miles to 4,475, or more than doubled. England at
that time had opened 9,037 miles.
France was now exceedingly prosperous. Her exports and imports had
increased from £102,000,000 in 1850, to £213,000,000 in 1857, or more
than 100 per cent in seven years. The six great companies were paying
dividends which averaged 10 per c e n t.; and the government guarantee
had never been needed. Railways united all the great towns and ports,
and met the most pressing commercial wants. But the Emperor was not
satisfied. France, with double the territory o f England, had only half the
railway accommodation, and wide districts between all the trunk lines
were totally unprovided with railways. The government engineers of the
ponts et chaussees were prepared with plans and estimates for 5,000 miles
o f lines, which had been inquired into, and officially declared to b&d’utilite
publique, i. e., a public necessity. The country districts clamoured for
these lines. But how were they to be made ? The public were not pre
pared to subscribe for them, the Government could not undertake them,
and the great companies were too well satisfied with their 10 per cent,
dividend to wish to endanger it by unremunerative branches.
1867]
R A ILW A Y EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
61
The plan o f the Emperor was intricate but masterly. H e said to the
com panies: “ Y ou must make these lines. The 4,525 miles o f railway
already made shall be a separate system for the present, under the name
o f Ancien lieseau, the old lines. Y ou no longer require the guarantee
o f the State for these lines. But I will give you an extension of the
ninety-nine. years o f your concessions, by allowing them to commence at
later dates; beginning with 1852 for the Northern Company, and at various
dates for the rest, up to 1862, for the Southern Company. I also engage
that £9 ,000,000 sterling o f the net revenue o f these old lines shall forever
be divisable among the shareholders, without being liable for any deficit
o f the extension lines, an amount which will give you a clear and undefeasible dividend o f 6 to 8 per c e n t.; with a sirong probability— almost a
ceitainty— o f getting much more from surplus traffic.”
“ Next the new lines, 5,128 miles in length, shall be a separate system,
under the name o f Nouveau lieseau, or extension lines. Their estimated
cost is £124,000,000, and you, the companies, may raise this sum by de
bentures, on which the Government will guarantee 4 per cent, interest,
and .65 sinking fund for paying thefn o ff in fifty years. A n y extra cost
you must pay yourselves.”
These, in their briefest possible form, are the terms on which the E m
peror imposed an average o f .nearly l^COft Wile«-£ev bompany on the six
great companies of-Fnaace. -They were accepted with considerable reluc
tance. Their effetjtthVstbeen to lower the value o f the shares o f the great
companies, for the bargain .is- considered disadvantageous. The companies
cannot borrow at less than. 5y75, '.sb losing 1.10 per cent, per annum on
every debenture; and as the lines.cost .ftiore than the £124,000,000., the
overplus has been raised by the companies by debentures, for which they
alone are responsible. But on the other hand, they get an immense
amount o f fresh traffic over their old lines, which must ultimately more
than repay this loss. English Railways would be thankful if their exten
sions cost them so little.
In the following years other lines were added, with similar guarantees
and with considerable subventions from the State, and in 1863 an addi
tional series o f lines, 1,974 miles in length, were imposed on similar terms,
but with some modifications o f the conventions with two o f the weakest
companies.
Besides the Government lines, the Emperor encouraged to the utmost
the efforts o f the departments, and in July, 1865, a law was passed res
pecting chemins de fe r d'interet local, which authorised departments and
communes to undertake the construction o f local railways at their own
expense, or to aid concessionaires with subventions to the extent o f onefourth, one-third, or in some cases one-half the expense, not exceeding
£240,000.
Not content with passing this law, the minister o f public works, in the
very next month wrote to the prefets o f the 88 departments o f Prance, to
acquaint them fully with its provisions, and to invite them to communicate
with their councils general, and deliberate upon the subject. The result
was that sixteen councils requested their prefets to make surveys and in
quiries to ascertain what lines would be advisable. 32 departments
authorized their prefets to prepare special plans, and even to make provi
sional agreements with the companies to carry out lines, subject to confir-
62
1'July,
R AILW AY EXTENSION AND ITS RESULTS.
rnation by the councils. Two o f these made immediate votes, viz., the
department o f A in, £ 5 6,00 0, and Ilerault, £ 2 60 ,0 00 for lines which they
approved.
A third, the department o f Calvados, voted subventions
amounting to £1 ,000 per mile for one line, and £ 2 ,000 per mile for an
other line. Besides, these five departments put railroads into immediate
execution by contracts with independent companies. A m ong these were :
Subvention.
Saone et Loire.............. ............................................................................................ £14,000
“ (besides the land)...........................................................................................
40,000
Manche (with an English company, and including land).................................... 40,000
R h o n e ........................................................................
240,000
Tarn............................................................................................................................. 171,000
By these measures the Emperor has brought up the concessions to the
following to ta l:
Miles.
A n c ie n R esea u , or old lin e s ........ ............................................................................
N ou veau
“
or extension lines............................................................................
5,027
7,565
12,592
Being very nearly the length o f our constructed lines in 1864.
But of this mileage tbeye naj been cchsiructsd up to the present time o n ly .. . 3,134
Leaving still u n c o n s t r u c t e d ; . A
. . . . V . J. .L , . ............. 4,458
being one-third o f the vvhorehcoftcessiof'ns. ‘ O f "this, 1,800 miles are now
being constructed, and 1,600 miles are" expected to be opened by the end
o f 1867.
-fV ;
Hence the lines constructed irl°Fra>lce up to and including 1865, are
8,134 miles, or about the same length as the lines constructed in the
United Kingdom to the end o f 1855 ; so that France is ten years behind
England in actual length o f railways constructed, and at least fifteen years
behind England if her larger territory and population are taken into ac
cou n t; and I must add that France would have been very much farther
behind had it not been for the vigorous impulse and the wise measures of
the Emperor Napoleon.
The progress o f completion from 1837 to the present time is shown in
the following ta ble:
MILES CONSTRUCTED.
Average annual
Miles open. Increase.
Year.
1837......................................................................................
85 l
338 ]
f
508 j
1
1,807 j
1840......................................................................................
1845......................................................................................
1850......................................................................................
[
1855......................................................................................
1860 .....................................................................................
1865 .....................................................................................
.
84
34
259
301
3,315 \
[•
5,586 \
454
8,184 1
509
This table shows the insignificant rate o f progress up to 1845, and the
1867]
CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY.
63
larger but still slow progress up to 1855. From that time the effect o f
the Emperor’s policy becomes visible in the increased rate o f progression.
It is is expected that between 1852 and 1872 more than 9,500 miles will
have been opened, quadrupling the number constructed in the previous
twenty years, and contributing in the highest degree to the prosperity and
wealth o f the French nation.
Railway history in France may be briefly summed up in four periods:
1. The period o f independent companies from 1831 to 1841.
2. The period o f joint partnership o f the Siate and the companies from
1842 to 1851.
3. The period o f Imperial amalgamations and guarantees from 1852 to
1857.
4. The period o f guaranteed extension lines from 1858 to the present
time.
[To be Continued.]
CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY.
This road extends from Phillipsburg, on the Delaware, to Elizabethport
on the waters o f the harbor of New York, a distance o f 64 miles, with an
extension to Jersey City, opposite New Y ork (opened in 1864), a further
distance o f 10 miles. It is, throughout, a double track road, and a third
rail is laid between the junction o f the Delaware, Lackawanna and W e s t
ern Railroad, at Hampton, to Elizabethport, for the accommodation o f the
wide cars o f that line. A third track is about tobe laid between Elizabeth
City and Jersey City, the traffic on this portion o f the .line having increased
beyond the capacity o f the two existing tracks. During the past year a
stock yard and market, covering 40 acres, has been opened at Communipaw, and the new coal depot at Port Johnston has been brought into use.
The works o f the American D ock and Improvement Company are also
being carried on with energy and success. Though the stock yard and
dock properties belong to separate organizations, the Central company own
the largest interest therein, and exercise full control over both.
The
improvements made by the company during the past three years have
more than doubled its capital accou n t: but the increase o f business in
consequence o f their completion has been sufficient to ensure the continu
ance o f the usual 10 per cent, dividend. It is not intended to make fur
ther new expenses on account of construction, but simply to finish up the
work on hand.
The amount o f rolling stock owned by the company at the close o f each
o f the last five fiscal years is shown in the following statement;
’62. ’63.’64. ’65. ’66. j
’62. ’63.’64.’65.’ 66
Engines............. .................. 38 51 59 65 83 |Freight cars........................246 307 313 36S 434
Passenger cars.................... 20 2i 34 52 58 I Coal
“ ....................... 200 200 360 461 866
Mail, express, &c., ca rs.... 7 7 11 17 2 0 1Working“ ........................ 29 30 71 71 71
— the four and six wheel cars being reduced to their equivalent in eight
wheel cars.
4
[July,
CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY.
The receipts and expenses on account o f operating the road and ferries
o f the company for the same years were as follow s:
Passenger earnings...................................
Merchandize “
<?oal
“
. ..................................
Mails, express, rents, & c..........................
1862.
1863.
1864.
1865.
1866.
$230,305 $287,959 $488,224 [$688,774 $762,471
481,977
605,335
731,722
898,287 1,099,239
661,281 1,021,152 1,317,954 1,388,493 1,619,744
24,024
27,530
39,284
60,836
99,790
Total earnings.................................... $1,397,587 $1,941,976 $2,537,184 $3,036,390 $3,581,244
Operating expenses..................................
623,245
814,732 1,231,554 1,748,438 1,963,976
Nett earnings........................ .............
$774,342 $1,127,244 $1,305,630 $1,2S7,952 $1,617,268
From which were disbursed the follow ing:
Taxes—United States
“
State..............
“
Interest..........
Renewals, & c ............
Dividends, 10 per cent.
Surplus.......................
$8,263
24,523
142,512
175,723
363,000
60,321
$21,731
24,576
147,712
1S6,568
401,578
365,029
$49,602
26,417
155,134
........
569,573
504,904
A n extra dividend o f 10 per cent was paid from
surplus earnings as found at the end o f 1863.
$515,000, leaving in the fund named $63,255, to
$60,000 premium on new stock issued— making the
end o f 1863 $123,255, and with the surplus o f 1864
at which amount the renewal fund still remains.
The following statements exhibit the operations on
for the same five years :—
Miles run by engines hauling trains—
Passenger..........................................
Merchandize......................................
C oal...................................................
W ood and Gravel..............................
Total on Central Railroad.................
Total on New Jersey Railroad........
1862.
1863.
$90,042 $111,148
31,219
36,99S
170,859
215,784
134,156
106,854
861,676 1,146,484
..........................
the renewal fund or
This amounted to
which was added
true balance at the
a total o f $628,159,
the road and ferries
1864.
..201,833 214,483 290,641
187,159 177,688
383,451 415,742
. 29,872 26,947 63,949
1865.
431,334
230,361
393,693
132,590
1866.
448,545
292,110
496,160
140,210
812,041 948,218 1,187,978 1,375,025
59,164 (abandoned).
. 53,584
Aggregate miles run by trains........
Miles run by ferry boats.......................
.740,788 871,205 948,218 1,187,978 1,375,025
47,656 38,528 39,047
47,072
40,461
Passengers and tonnage carried—
Passengers..........................................
Merchandize (2,000 lbs)....................
Iron (2,240 lbs)....................................
Coal (2,240lbs..
........ ;
,419,803
.196,985
. 70,202
.502,375
.314,195
529,017
263,625
80,853
613,964
435,927
698.808
272,266
69,225
675,743
47&221
928,806 1,083,592
317,181
434,002
75,469
103,008
494,687
778,173
509,819
511,076
1862.
1863.
1864.
1865.
1866.
Mileage o f passengers and tonnage—
Passengers..................................................11,759,879 13,181,971 19,397,515 23,831,715 25,S66,37S
Merchandize.............................................. 11,168,060 13,540,017 14,610,805 17,338,5S5 24,045,007
Iron............................................................. 4,4S7,108 5,172,456 4,430,400 4,830,010 6,592,512
Coal......................... .................................... 43,447,732 56,795,557 62,372,269 55,683,624 69,421,516
The gross receipts per mile run by trains and the cost o f operating
are shown in the following table:—
1863.
$1 47
3 23
2 66
1864.
$1 54
4 12
3 16
1865.
$1 73
3 88
3 52
1866.
$1 70
3 76
3 28
Average o f all trains............................
Expenses per mile run....................... .
$2 47
1 11
$2 83
1 39
$2 87
1 66
$2 90
1 59
Profits per mile ran............................ ........................ $1 20
$1 36
$1 44
$1 21
$1 31
Passenger trains.................................
Merchandize trains............................ .......................
Coal trains...........................................
1862.
3 29
1867]
65
CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY.
The financial condition o f the company as shown on the general
balance sheet at the close o f each fiscal year reads as follow s:—
1862.
1863.
1-64.
1865.
1866.
Capital stock........................................... $3,630,000 1,620,000 $6,500,000 $10,685,940 $13,000,000
Funded debt............................................. 2, 000,000 '2,000,000 2,000,010 1,509,000 1,500,000
Dividend payable January 1 proximo ..
299,293
110,355
99,750
15^,118
201,711
Interest accrued......................................
33,250
47,833
47,833
47,833
33,250
Accounts payable....................................
250,400
429,399
320,434
292,277
543,665
628,159
Renewal fund (balance)..........................
233,176
638,255
628,159
628,159
Total.
$6,322,193 $7,708,880 $9,764,509 $13,661,735 $15,^11,192
— accounted for, as shown in the following exhibit:
Railroad............................................
Extension to Jersey City..................
Port Johnston coal wharves............
Stations, shops, & c....................... .
Lands and works at Elizabethport..
Eerry interest and boats....................
Engines..............................................
Passenger cars...................................
Freight ca r s......................................
Coal cars.............................................
Communipaw filling and bulkheads.
Lanas, docks, mach’y,&c....................
Iron and ties on hand.......................
Materials & fuel on hand....................
Cash &acc’ts receivable....................
T otal...........................................
.$4,480,897 $4,592,747 $4,882,675 |$6,106,957 $6,794,306
................
252,126
686,336
318,377
187,011
293,421
. 132,000
136,000
167,166
218,736
301,976
. 302,355
302,476
302,476
301,855
. 217,050
307,150
554,343
556,551
604,587
931,000
. 320,000
467,500
5S5,765
685,000
199,000
49,000
52,500
84,450
176,000
. 137,678
153,000
196,«00
280,950
211,250
99,861
211,523
553,650
100,000
211,523
255,273
585,119 )
. 375,511
820,967 1,405,655 3,845,525 j- 4,417,979
32.900
64,228
81,125
86,411
59,177
41,525
1S9,7S7
46,652
35,607
62,497
424,579
787,694
359,497
. 128,286
406,497
.$6,322,193 $7,708,880 $9,764,500 $13,601,735 $15,711,102
The following table shows the relation o f capital, earnings, <fcc.:
1862.
1863.
1864.
1S65.
1866.
$87,970 $103,437 $114,865 $164,796 $195,946
21,837
30,343
34,286
41,032
48,395
9,738
12,730
16,642
23,627
26,540
12,099
17,613
17,644
17,405
21,855
44.67
41.95
48.51
57.62
54.84
58.05
55.33
51.49
42.38
45.16
17.03
13.75
15.35
10.56
11.15
Capital per mile o f road............
Earnings
“
“
............
Expenses
“
“
............
Profits
“
“
............
Expenses to earnings, per cent.
Profits
“
“
“
Profits to capital and debt, p. c.
The market value o f the company’s stock, based on the monthly
range o f selling prices at New Y ork, is shown in the follow ing statement:
January ......................
February .................... .................
1862.
1863.
1864.
120@122
170@170
175@17o
175@175
April........................... ......................... @ .
May....... ................. .........................@ . . .
June............................
July............................
August.......................
September...........................................@ . .
October.......................
November....................
December....................
Year......................
...©
..
165@165
165®175
175©175
1865.
1S66.
114 @119
113 @114
104 @107^
106#@110
110 @117
115X@H7
116 @120
.
120@124
120 @128J£
122@125
127 @129
122@123)£ 127>£@130
120@123# 128 @132J£
118@122
121 @127
...@
118@125
104 @132>£
The sale-prices for the first six months o f 1867 have been as follow s:
January, 1 2 4 @ 1 2 5 ; February, 1 2 0 @ 1 2 3 ; March, 1 1 6 @ 1 1 8 ; April,
113^@ 115^; May, 1 1 5 @ 1 1 8 ^ ; June, l l 7 f @ 1 2 0 . H alf year, 1 1 3^ @ 12 5.
The last notice o f this railroad will be found in V o l. L IV . page 450.
THE PREVENTION OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.
[July,
THE PREVENTION OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.
Although w e now travel b y rail in this country m ore securely and
m ore swiftly than ever before, it is generally admitted, w e believe, by
our roost experienced railroad m en that m ore than h alf o f the mortality
and injury to passengers arising from railroad accidents m ight be pre
vented i f due precautions w ere used b y the companies in the construc
tion o f their cars, in the repairs o f their roads, and in the running o f their
trains.
H ow far this conviction is shared b y the pu blic is evident from
the am ple damages often awarded when any com pany is sued in the
courts b y passengers who have sustained injuries.
A n examination o f the details o f railroad accidents shows that among
the m ost important guarantees o f safety, there are tw o or three which
m a y v ery properly be made the subject o f legislation. The first is the
prevention o f collision. B y the free use o f the telegraph it seems to us
possible that no train should ever, b y night or day approach within a cer
tain distance o f another train on the same line o f rails. W ith suitable
bye-laws carried out and enforced b y a sufficient b o d y o f watchmen
stationed at suitable intervals along the line o f road, the collision o f trains
m ight p roba bly be rendered alm ost im possible, and one o f the most, fre
quent dangers o f the sacrifice o f life would thus b e averted from rail
road travellers. W e are aware that som e o f our great railroad com
panies are m aking great efforts in the direction indicated, but econom y
induces others to be m ore remiss, and som e uniform ity of precautionary
provisions m ight be secured b y a w isely framed statute applying to all
the roads. In the Convention at A lban y, ten days ago, som e such
measure, w e believe, was brought up in the Convention. But this matter
is clearly one to be acted on by the Legislature, and not b y a Conven
tion assembled to revise the organic law o f the State G overnm ent. W e
understand, however that the project finds favor in som e influental
quarters to appoint a R ailroad Board, armed with authority, and held
under obligations to take the supervision o f these and Other matters affect
ing the relations o f the railroads to the public.
B y whatever means it
be effected, however, the frequency o f collisions ought to be and m ay be
greatly diminished.
A second cause o f railroad accidents arises from the condition of the
road. The demand for rapid travelling has on the European railways
m ade it obligatory on the various companies to keep the rails, ties and
sleepers in perfect order, and to subject them to frequent inspection. In
the leading roads o f England w e believe every m ile of the rails from
one end o f the track to the other is examined at least once a day b y m e
chanics whose sole business it is to walk along the road fcr this purpose,
each man having a certain length o f track allotted him, for the safety of
which he is responsible and the condition o f which he has to report
from actual examination at certain intervals. W e r e som e such arrange
ment perfected here, rare w ould b e the accidents from rotten ties or
broken rails, and the econom y o f the plan w ould be prom oted i f steel
rails w ere generally adopted as is being done w e befieve to a limited
extent on the Erie, H udson, H arlem roads, and b y som e o f the more
enterprising companies in the W estern States. The accident a week
1867]
THE PREVENTION OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.
67
ago on the first mentioned road near E lm ira arose we are told from rot
ten ties which allowed a displaced rail to throw the engine o ff the
track. This catastrophe m ight probably have been avoided altogether
had the road bed been m ore thoroughly examined just as its m ortality
to the passengers was prevented b y other precautions, to w hich w e shall
presently advert. W e are aware o f the difficulties against which our rail
road com panies have to contend and appreciate the efforts m aking to
meet the demand for rapid and cheap transportation o f passengers and
merchandize. W e do not urge the adoption o f such legislation as
would fetter the railroad com panies or hinder any w ell devised efforts
they m ay contrive to fulfil their im portant duties to the com m unity, but
we w ould urge on them the necessity o f adopting voluntarily every
well-tested im provem ent tending to prevent loss o f life, knowing as we
do that i f om itted such expedients w ill before long be enforced b y
public opinion and b y law.
But the precautionary measures should not stop at the security c f
the road bed and the prevention o f collision between trains traversing it,
for after w e have put in operation the m ost approved preventives with
the greatest possible care accidents w ill som etim es occur, and our rail
road companies must see to the safety o f the passengers whose lives are
entrusted to their keeping b y adopting any im provem ents in the con
struction o f their cars which m ay conduce thereto. In this point o f
view there are tw o principal dangers which have to be guarded against
— the “ telescoping” o f cars into each other in case o f collision, and the
falling o f passengers in passing from car to car when the train is in
motion. A t the last session o f the Legislature o f this State a law was
introduced to guard against the latter o f these tw o evils, and it was finally
passed on the 2'2 d o f A p ril last. The provisions o f this statute are not
generally known. W e therefore g ive them from an official cop y o f the
law as follow s •
S
1. It shall be the duty of every railroad company or corporation in this
State, and every railroad company or corporation running, or that may hereafter run
its passenger cars in this State, to cause the platforms upon the ends of all passenger
cars to be so constructed that when said cars shall be coupled together, or made up
into trains and in motion, danger of injury to persons or loss of life between the
ends of said cars, by falling between the platforms of said cars while passing from
one car to another, shall, so far as practicable, be avoided.
S
. 3 . This act shall not operate or be construed to exempt railroad companies or
corporations from liability for damages to persons who may be injured or sustain
loss or damage by or through any neglect to comply with the provisions of this act.
S
. 4. Time shall be allowed to all railroad companies or corporations to comply
with the provisions o f this act as follows, to w it: One quarter of all the said cars of
each of said companies or corporations shall be made to conform to the requirements
of this act within three months from and after the passage of this act, one other quarter
thereof within six months, one other quarter thereof within nine months, and the re
maining one quarter thereof within one year from and after the passage o f this act.
e c t io n
e c
e c
Several plans have been adopted and brought into use for com plyin g
with this law. That which seems to be regarded with the m ost favor as
best meeting the conditions o f the problem is known as the M iller plat
form, which som e eighteen months ago was adopted b y the E rie rail
road, and is now being introduced, w e believe, b y the H udson R iver
road in this State, as w ell as on several W estern roads.
08
DEBT AND FINANCES OF SAN FRANCISCO.
[July,
This new coupling apparatus unites the ends o f the cars so that only a
few inches intervene between the tw o contiguous “ platform s” how
ever rapidly the cars are travelling. It is also adjusted to prevent the
dangerous sw aying m otion, and while it grasps the cars so firm ly together
that a force o f 7,000 pounds cannot tear them asunder, it is so elastic
that there is no m ore than the average loss from “ slippage,” and no
force that has y et been applied has ever caused them to telescope into
each other. T o the safety conferred b y this apparatus was ascribed
the fact that during the past eighteen months no passenger’ s life has been
lost on the E rie railroad, and in the recent accident to which w e have
referred above not a single passenger was hurt although the train was
going at full speed at the time.
DEBT AND FINANCES OF SAN FRANCISCO.
The public debt o f San Francisco, as stated in the report o f the City
Auditor, at the end o f the fiscal year 1 8 6 5 -6 6 , and as it stood on the 9th
April, 1867 (according to a special statement furnished us by the same
gentlemen), is shown in the following statem ent:
Description of
securities.
,-----Interest-----, Principal ,-A m ’t outstanding-.
City Bonds of—
Bate. Payable, payable. July 1, ’ 66. Apl. 9, ’67
1851.................................................................. 10May & Nov. May 1, ’71 $1,389,900 *1,257 900
1854*................................................................ 10 Jan. & July. Dec. 1 ,’66
174,600
' ....
1855*............................................................... 6
“
“
Jan. 1 ,’77
305,500 270,500
City & County Bonds o f—
1858 ................................................................. 6 Jan. & July. Jan. 1 ,’88
1,133,500 1,133,500
1860 (School)*.................................................. 10
“
“
July 1,’ 70
55,500
54,500
1861 ( “
)* .................................................10
“
“
July 1 ,’ 70
18,000
16,000
1851 & ’ 63 (S. P. & S. J. K B .)........................... 7 Various. Fcw.’77-’78
300,000 277,000
1863 (Judgment)........................................... 7 A p ’l& O ct. Oct. 1, ’83
917,386 852,000
1864 (
“
) ........................................... 7 June & Dc. June 1. ’84
28,008
28,000
1864 (Can. Pac. B B .).................................... 7 Jan & July July 1, ’94
400,000 400,000
1865 (West’n Pac. B E .)................................ 7 M a y * Nov May 1, ’95
250,000 250,000
1806 (School)................................................ 7 Ap’l & Oct. April 1, 81
75,000
60,000
1867 ( “ ) ................................................. 7 “
“
“
“
.........
200,000
The interest and principal o f the bonds marked thus ( * ) are payable in
gold by Messrs. Lees & W aller in N ew York. A ll others are payable in
San Francisco.
The coupons o f the bonds o f 1858, the judgm ent bonds o f 1863 and
1864, and the school bonds o f 1866, are receivable for taxes o f the cur
rent year.
The amount of debt July 1, 1866, as above..............................................................
Coupons then due and not presented.......................................................................
$4,947,294
68,420
Total amount of indebtedness.........................................................................
Sinking and other funds, per contra........................................................................
$5,015,714
1,183,916
Net amount of debt........................................................................................
$3,881,798
The receipts and expenditures for the fiscal year 1 8 6 5 -6 6 were as fol
lows :—
RECEIPTS.
Assessed taxes..........................................................
Poll tax—General fund..............................................
“
Schoool fund............................................
State and county licenses........................................
Municipal licenses....................................................
................$1,361,876 26
$13,170 24
2,214 75— 15,884 99
..............
89,253 25
...............
28,799 25
1867]
69
RAILROADS OF THE WORLD,
Harbor d u es............................................................................................................
20.136 58
Fines .. ..........................................................................................................................
41,970 66
Sales of property............................................................................................................
4,100 55
“
bonds (school)......................... . ...................................................... $61,050 00
Rents (school)............................................................................................... 1,225 50
Sundries (school)..............«...................................................... ..................
CIO 75— 62,886 25
Total on all accounts
$1,624,408 06
EXPENDITURES.
Current expenses..............
Paid by fees.......................
Returned bjr state.............
Permanent improvements.
Sales of property..........
Interest on debts...............
Sinking funds, & c...........
Reduction of d e b t.......... .
Old claims....................... .
.................. $1,085,941 96
$116,977 S6
52,029 6 5 - 169,007 51—$916,934
..................
98,145 90
.................
7,150 00— 90,955
..................
395,276 71
.................
139,078 33— 256.198
.......................................... 154,055
..........................................
19,097
45
90
88
00
47
Net payments....................................................................................................... $1,437,281 20
Paid with means obtained from other sources than per contra................................
315,235 84
$1,752,517 04
The rates of taxation (cents per $100) in the city and county, since the
consolidation o f 1856, for state as well as local purposes, are shown in
the following statement:—
tCO
For what purpose.
State.......................
General fund........
Street light fund........
Street department fd..
School fund
..........
Corporation debt fnd.
Int. (S.F. &S.J. RR)..
“ (bonds o f ’63-’64).
“ (Pa’fic RR. bds)..
Skg. fd. (bonds o f ’ 55).
“
(
" ’63-4).
“ (SF.&SJ.RRbs).
(Pacific RR bds).
Judgment fund..........
CO
p
CO
70 70 60
125 125 125
_
35
35
..
35
25
o
i—
i
o
CO
Tt<
62
75
15
77
70
O
5?
90 125
42* 61
n
n
85 35 35
95 100 100
35
85
J.
60
65
15
60
75
15
..
i
..
20
45
5
35
47
2*
in-
2i
115 113
70
m
15
it
10
85
43
2
10
s
3
H
35
38*
5
7*
'l
46
Total (cts. p $100).
O
lO
.230 230 245 316 285 2S7 274* 210
298
312
310
RAILROADS OF THE AVORLD.
The following statement, which we have compiled from the most authentic
sources accessible, shows the length o f railroad constructed and in operation at the
end of 1S66 in each country into which they have been introduced, and their relation
to the extent and population of the countries respectively. W e believe it to be as
nearly accurate as it is possible to make such a summary :
Miles of
Countries.
railroad.
,— Area, sq. m.— .
To mile
Absol’te. of R. R.
/——Population.-----,
To mile
Absol’ e.
of R. R
N o r t h A m e r ic a .:
Canada ...................................
New Brunswick
............. ............
Nova Scotia........................... ............
United States.........................
M exico...................................
W e st In d ie s :
Cuba. ....................................
•uamaica..... .................. ......
So” th A m e r i c a :
v enezuela..............................
New Granada......................... ............
British Guiana.......................
198.2
92.8
47.5
357,822
27,704
18,746
3,001,002
772,672
166
140
81
9,868
3,091,440
295,081
368,781
36,896,300
8,259,080
105.480
47,27S
6,250
119
453
1,419,264
441,264
3,659
198
426,700
521,900
96,300
13,334
10.9S7
1,603
1,565,000
2,797,473
155,026
4S,906
58,894
2,583
202
1,439
1,489
3,974
1,000
70
IRELAND FOR
1866.
[July,
Miles of
/— Area, sq. m.— .
i-----Population.— ,
To mile
To mile
Ahsol’e.
Countries.
railroad.
Ahsol’te. o fR K.
of E. R
Brazil.....................................
2,973,400 68,599
10,045,000
23,198
Paraguay.............................. . . . . . . . .
46.2
86,200
1,866
1,337,431
28,895
9,018
2,500,000
Peru........................................
498,700
45,200
249,900
742
1,714,319
Chili.......................................
5,091
1,459,355
Argentine Republic...............
4,876
6,319
1,126,300
E urope:
9
29,070,936
Gt. Britain & Ireland............
122,550
2,1S9
24
37,472,732
213,200
4,172
France .................................. ............ 8,982.5
Spain....................... ............
60
16,031,267
189,550
5,144
Portugal.................................
81
3,987,861
35,250
9,296
18
2,510,494
Switzerland...........................
15,270
3,167
34
24,269,62-*
Ita ly ......................................
7,553
109,780
Austria................................... 240,250
62
32,573,002
8,502
s. Germany (elsew’ e )............ ............ 2,540.1
3,355
44,520
17
8,523,460
23
23,577,939
4,068
Prussia................................... ............ 5,794.8
135,-40
23
5,670,394
5,198
N. Germ’ny (elsew’e)............ ............ 1,092.5
24,677
3,099
Belgium...............................
11,400
7
4,940,570
19
5,336
Holland................................. ............
3,735,682
700.7
13,600
50
5,451
Denmaik.............................. ............
295.1
14,720
1,608,095
4,114,141
4,021
Sweden.......................... ..... ............ 1,023.4
170,099
166
2,833
3,911
Norway................................... ............
43 5
1,701,478
123,228
564
23,734
Ru-sia.................................... ............ 2,775.2
65,S63,1S1
1,565,200
91,713
Turkey in Europe................. ............
1,189
15,700,000
170.6
2C3,3S0
A sia . :
Turkey in Asia......................
British In d ia ........................
Java........................................ ............
C eylon...................................
101.4
668,990
1,465,300
51,300
24,660
4,60S
43
508
616
16,000,000
180,500,000
13,917,000
2,342,098
111,966
53,418
13,724
63,470
84.5
659,000
85,500
104,930
14,400
2,345
303
159
7,200
7,465,000
3,000,000
267,100
156,200
26,650
108,300
4,140
78,100
145.5
73.5
41.2
86,940
323,437
383,328
618,000
106,259
262
2,230
5,215
15,998
6,440
574,331
378,935
140,416
59,712
175,357
1,732
2.613
1,900
1,449
10,62?
A f r ic a :
Egypt.....................................
Algeria.................. ............
Cape Colony........................... ............
Natal......................................
A u s t r a l a s ia :
Victoria.................................
New South Wales................. ............
South Australia..................... ............
Queensland............................ ............
New Zealand (Canterbury). . .
The following is a recapitulation of the above table, so far as length of railroad is
concerned ; but as relates to area and population, substituting the total of each grand
division for those of the countries named above :
Miles of
Divisions.
railroad.
North America.........................................^39,414.1
West Indies............................................
410.3
South Am erica....................................... 1,041 9
^-Area square mile-%
To mile
Absolute.
of RR.
7,600,000
192.8
100,000
243.7
7,100,000 6,814.4
t——
—Population------,
To mile
Absolute.
of RR.
52,000,000
1,309 3
8,529.8
3,500,000
22,500,000 21,595.1
Total America................................. 40,S6G.3
E urope.................................................... 50,117.5
A sia......................................................... 3,660.3
A frica......................................................
375.4
Australasia.............................................
607.7
362.1
14,800,000
3,600,000
71.8
17,400,000 4,753.7
11.700,000 31,166.7
3 290,000 5,265.7
78,000,000
1,908.6
5,686 6
285,000,000
780,000,000 213,097.3
200,000,000 532,765.1
1,600,090
2,632.8
Total o f world................................. 95,727.2
50,700,000
530.2
1,344,600,000
13,903.8
IRELAND FOR I860.
A Parliamentary return, giving information on the subject of agriculture for
the year 1866 has just been received, and I extract therefrom such features as
seem to have general interest in this country and abroad.
The area under the principal cereal crops in 1866, which amounted to
2,159,199 acres, decreased by -4=0,211 acres compared with 1865 ; and the dimi-
1867]
IRELAND FOR
1866.
71
nation in the average yield per acre w as: In wheat, 1.7 cw t.; oats, 0.3 cwt. ;
rye, 0,1 cwt. Barley and here gave an increase yield, the former of 0.8 cwt.
and the latter of 0.5 cwt. per aero. The cereal crops (wheat, oats, barley, bere
and rye) produced 8,776,262 quarters, being a net falling off in the yield of
474,618 quarters in 1866 compared with the previous year. This was owing
not only to a diminished acreage, but also to a decrease in the estimated average
acreable yield in 1866.
In green crops there was an increase in the produce of turnips, mangel wur
zel and cabbage, but a large decrease in the yield of potatoes. Taken together,
potatoes, turnips, mangel wurzel and cabbage in 1866 produced 7,487,741 tons,
showing a net deficiency in the total yield from these crops of 222,121 tons com
pared with the previous year. This was caused by a decrease in the acreage
under potatoes and also by a considerable diminution in the yield of that crop,
amounting to seven-tenths of a ton per acre,
Flax, notwithstanding a less acreable yield, shows a greater total produce of
1,430 tons. This is due to an increased area o f 12,074 acres in 1866. Hay
exhibits a decrease in acreage o f 77,070 acres. W e present a table giving the
total extent under each of the principal crops in 1865 and 1866, and the in
crease or decrease in the latter year .
Crops.
Wheat..................................
Oats.............................. . . .
Barley..................................
Bere and E y e ......................
Potatoes..............................
Turnips................................
Mangel Wurzel....................
C abb ag e...,.......................
F lax............................ .
Hay......................................
,-----Extent Cultivated in— >
I 860.
1866.
Acres.
Acres.
266,989
299,190
1,745,228
l,699,t;95
177,102
150,293
10,091
10,021
1,066,260
1,05',353
334,212
317,198
14,389
20,082
36,622
36.531
251,433
263,507
1,678,493
1,601,423
Total decrease
,----- Inc. or Dec in 1866.-----,
Increase.
Decrease.
Acres.
Acres.
32,201
....
45.533
. ...
26,809
___
70
....
15,907
....
17,014
5,693
....
2,909
12,074
....
77,070
129,526
The economical changes which have taken place in Ireland even since 1857
may be pereeived at a glance by comparing the estimated total produce of that
year with that of 1865 and 1866. The great decrease in the cultivation of
wheat and the great increase in that of flax seem to be the most noticeable fea
tures :
Crops.
Wheat...............
Oats..................
Barley...............
Bere..................
E y e .................
Potatoes..........
Turnips ..........
Mangel Wurzel
Cabbage............
Flax..................
H ay..................
1S57.
Quar.
1,602,957
8,895,347
849.783
28,553
49,252
T ons.
3,509,544
4,360,197
298,515
327,875
14,475
2,566,044
-Estimated Produce.
1865.
Quar.
S26,7S3
7,659,727
732,017
13,989
8,364
Tons.
3.865,990
8,301,6S3
191,937
350,252
39,561
3,068,707
1866. *
Quar.
805,710
7,284,S35
654,9S0
11,016
19,721
Tons.
3,068,594
3,786,462
250,322
382,363
40,991
2,878,622
Inc.orD e c .l 866.->
Inc.
Dec.
Quar.
Quar.
21,073
374,892
77,037
2,973
1,357
Tons.
Tons.
797,396
484,779
58,375
32,111
1,430
190,085
The interruption of the cotton supply in 1861-2 gave an impetus to the cul-
i
IRELAND FOR
1866.
[July,
ture of fa x in Ireland. This impetus is measured by the number of scutching
mil's in operation in 1866 as compared with the number in 1861 :
Provinces.
1861.
1— Ulster.......................................
1,013
2— Leinster.. ........... .......................
J3
3— Munster.........................................
7
4— Connaught......................................
4
1866.
1,393
Ireland............................................. 1,037
1,513
49
39
31
The number of emigrants who left the Irish ports in 1866 was 101,251, being
a decrease of 1,845 on the returns for 1865.
The number of males who emigrated in 1866 was 60,688, being an increase
of 4,482 over the previous year. Of females there were 40,563, being a de
crease of 6,327 compared with 1865. The suspension of the habeas corpus act
doubtless accelerated the emigration of the male part of the population. We
present a table showing the numbers contributed by each province to the ag
gregate emigration:
Emigrants from.
,------ Males .------ ,
Provinces.
1865.
1866.
Leinster............................. 11,059
9,915
Munster.............................. *0,490
21,359
Ulster................................. 12,744
17,802
Connaught......................... 0,139
0,7*5
rrom what province not
stated .............................. 4,782
3,7t.O
Persons belonging to other
countries.........................
192
1,127
Total*........................... 50,20(5
Increase or decrease in 1886
60,GbS
Increase.
4,482
,-----Fer uales.-----,
1805.
1806.
9,46 >
7,464
10,936
15,612
9,557
8,457
6,338
5,714
,---------Total
1805.
20,621
37,426
22,301
12,477
1866.
17,379
36,971
26,259
12,439
3,987
2,059
8,769
6,419
607
657
1,5*9
1,784
46,890
40,563
103,096
101,251
Decrease.
6,327
Decrease.
1,845
Of the 1,784 emigrants from Ireland not belonging to Ireland, 1,073 were
natives of South Britain, 604 o f North Britain, 49 of the Continent of Europe, 55 of the United States, Canada and the West Indies, and three of Africa,
Australia and the East Indies.
In respect to age, nearly 75 in every 100 o f the persons who left Ireland were
between 15 and 35 years of age. In 1865 the proportion per cent for these ages
was 64.7.
The same Parliamentary return gives information on the meteorological phe
nomena of Ireland, as registered at the Ordnance Survey Office in Phoenix
Park. Height above the sea, 158.8 feet. The barometer stood highest in 1866,
on the 24th of January, at 9:30 a . m — wind S.W .— when it was 30,673 inches;
it was lowest at 9:30 p . m . on the 23d March— wind S. E.— when it was 28,663
inches. The highest temperature in the air during the year was 80.7 degrees of
Fahrenheit, on the 13th of July, and the lowest 17.5 degrees, on the 1st of
March. Rain or snow fell on 216 days. The greatest quantity of rain which
fell in a day (tw«nty-four hours) was 9.75 inches, on the 18th o f June— the
wind being N. W . The point from which the wind chiefly prevailed was from
the westward; it blew from that direction 107 days, with an average pressure
2.83 lbs. per square foot. The strongest wind was from the S. W ., on the 6th
o f December, when the pressure was 25 lbs. per square foot.
1867]
Ll o y d ' s l is t o f w r e c k s a n d c a s u a l t i e s .
LLOYD’S LIST OP TFKECKS AND CASUALTIES.
The “ Committee for Managing the Affairs of Lloyd’s,” in London, appointed
a Statistical Committee in March, 1866, who have lately published their “ First
Annual Analysis of the Wrecks and Casualties reported in Lloyd's List for the
year 1866.” The object of the publication, which will hereafter appear annu
ally, is to present a comprehensive and careful summary of losses and casualties,
containing all available information relating to accidents; and the work cannot
fail to be of value to all parties interested in the mercantile marine of the world.
The date of this first report is 23d April, 1867, in the preface to which it is
stated “ that the results of casualties as at first stated are very frequently modi
fied by subsequent events, of which information is only obtained after greater
or less intervals, and that a period of three mouths is allowed to elapse for the
purpose of securing all possible accuracy.”
It appears from the monthly summary of “ Wrecks and Casualties” reported
in Lloyd’s List as having occurred in 1866, that they were as follows :
Wrecks—S h ip s...................... .. 9,558
1Casualties—Ships.............
bteamers.................... ........... . 1,029—10,SS7 |SteamerB...........................
The results of wrecks to the vessels were :
Ships. Strs.
Ships. Strs.
Total loss............................ ... 2,119
115 Minor damage.............................. 4,062
354
Constructive loss.................. .. . 563
7 Raised after sinking....................
44
8
Great damage................. .....
Not damaged,or results unknown 1,S74
446
The results to cargoes, so far as reported, were :
All lost...................................
All saved...............................
Forwarded.............................
Ships. Strs.
....
639
50
Ships. Strs.
Heated..............................
Otherwise damaged........
36
The number of salvage cases w ere: ships, 1,264 , and steamers, 116. So far
as reported, the lives lost were 2,644.
An elaborate tabular analysis of the wrecks is also given, divided into thirtyone geographical sections, with the remark that “ the arrangement followed is
that of voyages between the ports within the several sections and the United
Kingdom and Continent of Europe (between Bordeaux and Hamburg, both in
cluded), and does not necessarily indicate the locality of the casualty.” With
this explanation we subjoin two of the sections :
Totalloss............
Constructive loss
Great Damage...
Minor Damage..
Raised after sink
ing....................
Not damaged or
results unknown
Totals...............
^-United States, from Matamoras—,
(exclusive) to New Bruns,—British North America.— ,
wick (exclusive).
Cross
Cross V o jCoast- Vo vTo
From Coasters, ages to. To
From
ers. ages to.
Ships___ 32
45
16
41
35
34
65
41
Steamers. ..
2
4
1
4
2
Ships —
7
5
1
19
4
6
6
3
Steamers. ..
Ships___ 47
52
2
60
13
26
8
13
Steamers. 2
1
2
Ships---- 155
69
6
147
62
6i
8
17
Steamers, 23
7
2
1
2
3
1
..
Ships............
3
Steamers. ..
Ships___ 29
50
is
37
4
32
25
i6
3
Steamers. 14
9
5
2
1
3
Ships___2‘ 0
Steamers. 39
VOL. LVII.---- NO.
O. I.
178
19
32
11
5
307
4
129
5
159
5
112
10
90
2
74
[July,
Ll o y d ’ s l is t o f w r e c k s a n d c a s u a l t i e s .
But, besides the exceedingly valuable series of tables, o f which we have here
made a very imperfect summary, there is a statement given showing that the
whole number of “ Casualties ” posted in Lloyd's Loss Book during each of ten
years were:
Year.
1857 .
1858 .
1859 .
1:60 .
1861-.
Casualties. Year.
3,218
1862.
3,171
1863.
3,758
1864.
3,539
1865.
3,072
1866.
Total iu decade.......
Average iu each year
Casualties.
3,652
3,906
3,298
2,847
3,370
34,431
3,443.1
It will be observed that the casualties in each of the years 1859, 1860,1861,
1862 and 1863 were much more numerous than in 1866 ; while those in 1857,
18 5 8 ,1S64 and 1S65 were considerably less. The reports by months show the
following results :
Total for
January..
February
March., v.
April ..— .
May.
June.
Average
10 years. per month.
4,097
2,976
3,009
2,260
1,866
1,688
409.7
297.6
300.9
226.6
186.6
168.8
Total for
July..............
August..........
September..
October........
November...
December..
Average
10 years, per month.
..
..
..
..
.
..
1,638
1,890
2,307
3,831
4,622
4,241
163.8
1S9.0
230.7
383.1
462.2
424.1
This table shows that the greatest number of reported casualties occurred in
the months of November, December and January; the months next in order
being October, March and February; the smallest proportion in May, June,
July and August. The following analysis shows the ratios:
During November, December and January
“
October, March and February___________ .
,l
September and A p ril.......... .
■* May, June, July and August,
34,431
100
The document from Lloyd’s, to which we have in this summary way ealled
our readers’ attention, will, we expect, be improved in some of its features be
fore the time for another issue comes round ; and it will be looked forward to
with interest as years impart additional value and importance to it. It may not
be out o f place here to say that while the geographical arrangement, so far as
it goes, is a desirable one, an attempt might be made to tabulate the regions
where wrecks and casualties happen. For example, one region might be the
Gulf and Biver St. Lawrence, another the North Atlantic coast, a third the
West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, a fourth the channels and coasts of Great
Britain, &e., limiting the regions to perhaps less than one-half the number of
the geographical sections. The labor incident to this addition to the report
would indeed be considerable, but its enhanced value to underwriters, ship
owners and shippers would compensate for it all; while the mercantile classes
would reap the advantages accruing from the modidcation of rates of insurance
which such an arrangement might eventually lead to.
1867]
COMMERCIAL
CHRONICLE AND
REVIEW .
75
COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
Pablic Debt Statement—Conversion o f Seven-thirties—Crops and Business—Rates of Loans-Stock Exchange—Prices o f Governments—Amount o f Coin—Course of Gold, &c.
N o statement of the public debt has been published this month, and it is im.
possible to say precisely what progress the Secretary has made in his funding
operations. Enough is known, however, to lead to the conclusion that they are
going forward satisfactorily, and that the aggregate of compound notes and of
Seven-thirties has received a considerable diminution. As to the compound
notes, the amount maturing is so limited as to be easily manageable, especially
in view of the large balance in the Treasury, and of the heavy receipts this month
from income tax and internal revenue. Hence, the three per cent, certificates
will not need to be issued in exchange for compounds during July nor perhaps
in the month o f August. As to the Seven-thirties, we have repeatedly shown
that it is so much the interest of the holders to convert them into gold-bearing
bonds, that we shall not be surprised if, during the next six months, they should
disappear from the debt statement almost altogether.
Of these notes it will be
remembered there are three series. Several weeks ago a controversy arose rela
tive to the first series maturing in August next, of which 130 millions were out
standing at the beginning of May, and about 99 millions on the 1st of June.
These notes are dated 15th August, 18G4, and call for 7.30 per cent, interest iu
currency during three years from their date. The controversy originated from the
fact that at maturity all the Seven-thiities are convertible at par into Fivetwenty gold bearing bonds at the option o f the holder. This option gives the
notes a value beyond that of an ordinary short security, and causes them to sell
in the market at as high a premium ns the IoDg gold-bearing Five-twenti.es them ■
selves. The question raised had regard to the option which confers on these
notes their special value. By one party it was contended that the option did not
lapse at the dale of the mtturity of the note, but survived in such a way that at
any time after the fifteenth of August the holder could present his note at the
Treasury and demand either cash or a bond at his pleasure. One of the inconvenieacies o f this arrangement would have been that capitalists could combine
together to hold a large amount o f Seven-thirties, should some unforeseen trouble
invade the money market, and could demand payment in cash at any time here
after. Hence the Treasury would be compelled to keep on hand, at great, costo the country for interest, a large amount of currency for the specific purpose
of paying off these matured notes.
And the speculators who imposed this per
manent and mischievous necessity on the Treasury could do it without the sac
rifice o f the option to demand bonds in exchange for their notes if at any subse
quent date such a conversion might be to their interest.
Other objections were
urged to this view of the case, which were subjected to discussion iu W all street.
In view of ail the facts we ventured to refute the prevalent opinion, and urged
that the holders of August notes would do well to convert them before maturity
into bonds. W e called attention to the fact that as each Seven-thirty note bears
on it the express condition that it is convertible ‘ ‘ at maturity,” the privilige of
73
COMMERCIAL
CHRONICLE AND
REVIEW .
[July,
conversion must expire by its own limitation on the day the note matures, adding
that in a few weeks the Department would propably announce that all August
not's not converted at maturity would be treated as the other matured obliga
tions of the Government, would cease to bear interest, and would be paid off at
par. This argument has turned out to be correct. For a few days ago the
notice was semi-officially issued, and there is now no doubt that such August
Seven-thirties as are not presented at the Treasury on or before August 15th,
will lose their privilege o f conversion, will be paid off in cash, and will conse
quently fall to par in the market. O f course these regulations do not as yet
affect the June and July Seven-thirties which mature next year.
So great are the anomalies which have marked the course of business in all
classes of securities, except Government bonds, that during the past six months
the remark has been on almost every one’s lips that the thinkers have been
losers, while the men who have followed the instincts and impulses o f the mo
ment have almost invariably grown rich by their operations, or have, at least,
avoided serious loss. In the face of an inflated currency, low prices have ruled
steadily; and thouvh all descriptions of negotiable securities have confessedly
been offering in the market far below their intrinsic worth, still the sellers have
been more urgent than the buyers ; the speculative feeling seemed extinguished i
and all those forces which tend to put up quotations suffered from temporary
paralysis. In looking back, it is easy to select and point out some of the causes
to which this long reign o f depression is due. Business in all departments has
been dull and unremunerative ; we have had three successive bad harvests; a vast
aggregate of money has been lost by people in all parts of the country whose
ordinary prudence had unhappily been silenced by the desire to grow suddenly
rich, and who have ventured greater or smaller sums in speculative purchases of
petroleum, manufacturing, or mining stocks, which soon became either altogether
unsaleable; or could only find purchasers at a price scarcely covering the interest
on the original purchase money. In our hotels and railroad cars, in our mer
chant’s offices and our banks— wherever we make the inquiry in our chief cities
— we find it not difficult to meet with men who have directly or indirectly sufered from the collapse of some of the ten thousand companies with whose pros
pectuses all parts of the country were inundated two or three years ago. The
great reservoir of the public wealth has thus been depleted in two ways. First,
through the failure of the crops, by which our people generally have been more
or less impoverished ; and, secondly, by extravagant speculation, which has
reduced multitudes to indigence, and has made almost every one “ feel poor,”
which in its effects on business is as bad as being poor. When to these circum
stances we add the pressure of a galling burden o f ill-adjusted taxation which
our young giant nation has scarcely accustomed its shoulders to bear, and the
prodigal habits of domestic expenditure which have grown up and have conferred
on us at home and abroad the reputation of being the most extravagant and
profuse, as well as the most energetic and enterprising nation in modern Chris
tendom, we shall sho w some of the reasons, though only a small part of the
reasons for that langour that has seized us, and has diffused it cataleptic oppres
sive torpor over so large a part of our productive energies.
I f in the long depression which has prevailed in W all street, we see reflected
1867J
COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW .
77
the mercantile and financial gloom under which the whole nation has suffered,
shall we not see in the improvement that is now developing itself at the Stock
Exchange, a bright promise of good which is to overspread the whole country ?
It is not without significance that at the London Stock Exchange an improve
ment is apparent, quite as marked and as unexpected as that we note here. A
recent number of the London Ecunomis'. refers to it in the following terms:
The rise in prices during this week and last has puzzled some people, and especi
ally, perhaps, those who have given some attention to philosophical principles, but
have not thought the subject quite out. It is generally imagined that some physical
quantity— supply, and some other almost mechanical entity, demand, determine
price, and rightly understood, we believe, supply and demand do determine price,
but the sense in which they do so requires a very nice and delicate exposition, which
we cannot go into here. The material point for the present purpose is this : that the
circumstances which act on price are quite as much mental a3 material. A person
who thinks prices are going to rise, he goes and buys, and by his application to buy
he raises or tends to raise the price. Ju6t so a person who thinks prices are about to
fall is apt to sell, and by so selling he reduces or tends to reduce the price of the
article. It cannot be put too strongly that price is r.n affair o f the nerves as much as
it i9 an affair of anything.
It is certain, we believe, that the great rise in the shares of the London and West
minster Bank, though caused by a special fact which every one knew, did teDd to raise
the price of everything else. It made people feel more cheerful; it produced the
effect of a great splash in a dull p o o l ; it woke up peoples minds, and made them
think things would be different.
The great rise in Consols, which has ruined one or two small dealers, is not to be
wondered at. They rose more rapidly iu value both after 1847 and 1857, than after
1866. And it is more reasonable that in a depression of prices which arises from
distrust, those things which are least to be disturbed Bhould sink least at first, and
should rise soonest from the common fall.
It is far from our intention to encourage inordinate hopes, or to countenance
a speculative reckless spirit among our mercantile classes. The object we have
in view will be accomplished if we induce some of our desponding readers tu
look more hopefully for the turn of the tide, when legitimate risks and mercantile
ventures, which would have been rash in the extreme a few months ago may be
less perilous, or may be embraced within the limits of prudence and sound busi
ness policy.
June has been characterized by a general improvement in the tone of business.
The encouraging crop prospects have proved most opportune to the drooping
confidence of merchants. It is felt that there is now a solid basis for hopes of
improvement, and both in financial and trading circles there is a relaxation of
the extreme caution which for months past has paralized business. But, with re
viving hopes, there is no general disposition to run into excesses- The severe ex
perience of late months have left many with diminished means for carrying on
business, while it has sobered all and produced a geneial disposition to trade
prudently.
If we do not misinterpret indications, there is a liability on the part of manu
facturers to regard the crop prospects as demanding a large supply of goods. In
this city there are large stocks in the hands of commission agents, and reports
from New England and Pennsylvania state that heavy stocks are piled upon the
factories. Some of the manufacturers are using this glutted condition of the
market as an argument with their hands for a reduction in wages, but none ap .
78
COMMERCIAL
CHRONICLE AND
REVIEW#
pear to favor the policy of curtailing production. Applications are made at the
banks o f this city for advances upon manufacturers’ stocks to ao extent unusual
at this season of the year. These, with other facts, would seem to indicate a
strong probability that the supply of domestic goods for the Fall trade will be
unusually ample. Under these circumstances there would seem to be little reason
in the hope entertained among manufacturers that an active business in the Fall
will induce an advance in prices.
The course of the money market during the month has not realized the general
expectation. The large withdrawals of currency into the treasury, the payment
of income tax, and the preparation for the quarterly statements of the banks,
made up on the 1st o f July, were relied upon as almost certain to induce a de
cided stringency in the market toward the close of June. On the contrary, the
market has steadily increased in ease, and at the close o f the month demand loans
were 1 per cent, lower than at the opening.
The following are the rates of loans and discounts for the month of June :
BATES OF LOANS AND DISCOUNTS.
June 7.
Call lo a n s..................................................
Loans on Bonds and Mortgage...............
A 1, endorsed bills, 2 m o s .....................
Cood endorsed bills, 3 & 4 mos.............
“
“
single names.........
Lower g ra d e s ............................................ . .
10 <315
June 14. June 21.
June 2S.
4 @ 6
6 @ 7 @ 6 @ 7 6 @ 7
6 @ 7
6i@ 7
7 @ 8 7 @ 8
8 @ 9 8 @ 9
7 @ 8
9 @10
9 @10
9 @10
11 @15 i i @15 11 @15
The expectation of a close money market at the end of the month induced a
large “ short ” interest in the stock market; but the disappointment of the ex
pectation naturally induced a sharp upward movement, based upon the oversold
condition of the market. Large amounts o f shares changed hands toward the
close of the month, and the aggregate transactions for June, at the boards, were
run up to 1,822,730 shares, against 1,573,220 for the same period o f last year.
The total sales at both boards for the first six months of the year amount to
11,339,859 shares, against 12,014.197 for the corresponding period of 1866 .
The following table shows the volume of shares sold at the New York
Stock Exchange and Open Boards in each month and the half year, since
January 1 :
VOLUME OF SHARES SOLD A T THE STOCK BOARDS, JUNE, 1SGT.
January. February. March. April.
May.
June. Jan. 1.
Bank shares.........................
2,461
1,929
3,426
3,518
4,051
3,584 18,968
Railroad “ ......................... 2,200,510 1,382,251 1,597,017 1,8SS,2051,468,041 1,554,112 9,990,136
I'oal
“ .........................
24,286
10,369 33,145
8,368
1,515
9,523 93.205
Mining
“ .........................
65,375
29,980 28,502 36,050
18,930
36,208 215,045
Improv’n t " .........................
20,344
18,950 41,975 30,000
41,900
31,f35 184,704
Telegraph “ .........................
49,501
33,857
34,615 57,275
42,671
53,173 271,091
Sieamship“ .........................
56,504
91,618
80,561
78,037
61,180
76,656 444,556
Espr’ 6S&c“ .........................
4,703
6,409
6,562 12,128
34,411
57,941 122,154
At New York Stock E x........
765,359 634,121 672,926 820,157 643,614
611,5804.146,757
AtO peniS’d ......................... 1,058,325 811,242 1,152,876 1,293,424 1,036,0S5 1,211,150 7,193,102
Total 1867 ......................... 2,423,6S4 1.475.363 1.825,802 2.113,581 1,678,999 1,822.73011,339,S59
Total 1806 ......................... 2,459,817 1,743,431 1 ,95S,S39 1,754,439 2,514,451 1,573,22012,014,197
Government securities have continued in very active demand from the interior
while moderate shipments of Five-twenties have been made to the interior the
result having been a general advance in prices.
1867]
COMMERCIAL
CHRONICLE AND
79
REVIEW,
The amount of Government bonds and notes, State and city bonds and com
pany bonds, sold at the Stock Exchange Board in the two first quarters and the
month of June, and the total, since January 1, is given in the table which fol.
low s:
1st quarter.
United States bonds.....................................;$18,702,650
United Slates notes.....................................
4,792,480
State and city b o n d s.....................................
8,884,100
Company bonds.............................................
2,216,200
2d quarter.
June.
S'ceJan. 1.
$40,388,350 $14,042 750 $50,091,000
3,347,600
1,U«5;350
8,140,080
7,601,650
2.625,950
16,485,750
2,307,700
757,000
4,583,900
Total 1867................................................ $34,505,480 $53,705,300 $18,521,050
Total 1 8 6 6 ............................................. 32,600,540
36,414,350 12,078,750
$88,300,1
73o
69,014,S9o
The following are the closing quotations at the regular board on Friday
of each of the last seven weeks.
Cumberland Coal............
Quicksilver....................
canton Co.......................
Mariposa p re f.................
New York Central..........
E rie..................................
Hudson R iv er.................
Reading...........................
Michigan Southern........
Michigan Central............
Cleveland and Pittsburg.
Cleveland and Toledo___
Northwestern.................
“
preferred..
Rock Island............... _ ..
Fort W ayne....................
Illinois Central...............
May 17. May 2-1. May 81. June 7. June 14. June 21. Jane 2S
Si)
30#
33#
25
27
25
28
25
27#
81#
....
43
41#
47
20
17#
19#
20%
21#
97
100#
102#
97#
104#
98#
101#
62#
5S#
5S#
60%
60#
59#
66#
100#
100
102
169%
108#
108#
109#
103
102%
103#
105#
106%
107#
109#
67#
66#
68#
08#
68#
70#
78%
109#
111
113
x.dl07
no#
73#
75
76#
76#
84#
71#
77#
113
119
118
120
120#
84#
33#
34#
35#
31#
42#
34#
59,#
56#
57#
59#
59#
65#
58#
88#
b’i %
87#
88#
89#
90#
95#
96%
95
99
96#
97#
93
108%
114#
115
119#
120#
121#
115#
The daily closing prices o f the principal government securities are shown in
the following statement:
1867.
r—6*S, (5-20 yrs.)Coupon—, 5’B.10-46yrs. 7-30s
1802. 1861. 1865. new. Coup.
1367.
109# 105# 106,# 108#
99#
106#
PRICES OP GOVERNMENT SECURITIES AT NEW T O R E , JUNE,
Day o f month.
Saturday
1.................
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
3 .................
4................. ............
5 .................
6 .................
7 .................
8 .................
Monday
10................. ..............
Tuesday
11 .................
Wednesday 12 ............... .............
Thursday 13................. ..............
Friday
14................. ..............
Saturday 15.................
Sunday
10.................
Monday
17.................
Tuesday
i s .................
W ednesdaylO.................
Thursday 20................
Friday
21.................
Saturday 22................. ..............
Sunday
23.................
Monday
21................. ..............
Tuesday
25...
............
Wednesday 24.................
Thursday 27................
Friday
28........
Saturday */<)...,
Sunday
30..
First............... ..............
Lowest............................
H ighest............
R an ge....................
Latest............................
/—6’ s, 1881.—,
Coup. Keg.
112#
112#
112#
112#
112#
107#
107#
308
103
, . ..
103
109#
109#
1119#
109#
309%
109#
108#
107# 106# 1065a
310
106# 106%
110
106# 107
110
107
n o # 106# 107#
119# 106# 107#
108%
105# 1055a 108#
105# 106,# 108#
106% ios,v
106% 108#
105# 106% 108,#
106
1065a 108#
109
109#
109%
109#
109#
1095a
110#
107
107# 109,#
107# 107% 109%
107
107# 109%
106# 106# 109%
n o # 106# 107
109%
110% 107
109#
no#
110#
110#
112#
133
113#
iio #
no#
no#
no#
no#
no#
99%
99#
59#
99#
99#
99%
99#
100
100#
106>4
108#
106%
106%
106#
100
100
100
iio%
no#
1105a
no#
ii",#
no#
100%
100#
100#
100#
100%
109# 105# 106,#
107#
109% 105% 106#
107#
109
n o # 107#' 107#
i # *»
1#
1#
i
n o # 107,# 107#
108#
168#
108%
110#
2#
no#
100#
1
107#
107#
107#
’07#
106%
106#
100,# » 106#
107%
107%
107%
107#
10:»8 107,#
107% 107%
109#
103#
108#
106
105#
99%
99#
10J#
106%
106%
106#
105%
1065a
#
106#
I
60
COMMERCIAL
CHRONICLE AND
REV IE W .
[ J w ly,
The quotations for three-years compound interest notes on each Thursday of
the mouth have been as shown in the following statement:
P R IC E S O P COM POUN D IN T E R E S T N O TE S A T N E W Y O R K ,
Issue o f
June, 1884.....................................
July, 1864.....................................
August, 1884................................
October, 1S64................................
December, 1884......... ...................
May, 1865......................................
August, 1865.................................
September, 1865...........................
October, 1S65................................
June 6.
119)4©119%
118%@119%
11S%@118%
117%©118
116%@117
116 @11614
115 @11514
114%@U5%
11434@114%
June 13.
119%@U9%
110 ©119J4
118%©118%
117%@118
117 @11734
11614@U614
115%@116%
114%@I1534
1I4%@114%
JU N E, 1867.
June SO.
June 27.
....... @ ...................... @ .......
119 @119%
119 @11934
118%@119
119%@119
117%@118
117%@11S
117 @11714
117 @11714
116%©11S%
116%®U6%
115%@115%
115%@116%
115 @ 116*
115 @11514
114%@U5
114%@114%
The first series of figures represents the buying and the last the Belling price,
at first-class brokers’ offices.
A t London the price of United States bonds has ranged between 72f and 73J
the quotations not having appreciably yielded under an advance o f two points
in the premium on gold. The reduction in the Bank of England rate of discount
has facilitated the carrying of bonds by the London dealers, which doubtless has
been one cause of the firmness o f prices.
The closing prices of Consols and certain American Securities at London, on
each day of the month of June are shown in the following statement:
COURSE OP CONSOLS AND AMERICAN SECURITIES AT L O N D O N -JU N E ,
Date.
Cons American securities.
for U. S. 111.0. Erie A. &
mon. 5-20s sh’ s. shs. u .w
Sat’day. 1..
Sunday. 2..
Monday 3..
T u es... 4..
Wedne. 5..
Thurs.. 6 ..
Friday . 7 . .
Sat’day. 8..
Sunday. 9..
MondaylO..
Tues. ..11..
Wedne. 12..
Thurs..13..
Friday..14..
Sat’ day.15..
Sunday.16..
Mondayl7..
T u es.. .18..
96
7334 73.34 4034
943*
94J£
9434
94*
94
73
73
73
73
73
73
94%
94%
9434
9434
94%
7834
78%
78K
79
78%
78%
(noli
73
73
73
day.)
73%
78%
79%
7334 7934
7334 7934
94% 7334 79
9434 7334 79
Date.
Wedne. 19............
Thurs. .20............
Friday..21............
Sat’day.22.......... .
4034
4034
40
3954
39%
40
9434 73% 79
9434 73 79
96
94
2
40
40
26
26
Lo. s’ e J .l ............
Hi. s’ e J . l ............
79
79
39%
39
38%
39
25%
26
2334
25%
73
73
73
73
73
73%
79
79%
79V
79%
79%
79%
39
39%
40)4
41%
41%
43
25^
2534
2534
2>
25
24%
—
73V
73
V
67%
75%
79%
78%
1>5J
72%
82%
—
43
38%
4M
35%
46%
26
24%
IX
24%
26
94% 73
94% 73
Monday24............ 94
Tues. .25............ 94%
Wedne. 26............ 9434
Thurs..2 7 .......... 94%
Friday. .28............ 94%
Sat’day.29............ 94%
Sunday. 30............
4014
40%
4034
Highest...............
4034
40% 2534 Lowest...............
1867.
Cons Amercau securities.
for U.S. m .c. Erie A. &
mon. 5-203 sh’s. sh’ s. G.VV
90
96
—
The lowest and highest quotations for United States 6’s (5 20 years) of 1862>
at Paris and Frankfort, in the weeks ending Thursday, have been as follows ;
Franklort....................................................
June 6.
77%@77%
June 13.
77%@77%
June 20.
77%@78
June 27
77%@77*
The course of the gold premium has been upward. The advance has followed
the reopeniDg of the breach between the President and Congress on the question
of reconstruction, and the assembling in Congress in special session. A t the
6ame time, the expectation of a short supply upon the market before the next
large payment of coupons, in November, has tended to strengthen the premium.
The price has ranged during the month between 136f and 138f.
The import and export of coin and bullion at the port of New Y ork for June
and the two first quarters of the current year, and since Jan. 1, have been as
shown in the following statement:
1 8 6 ?]
COMMERCIAL
CHRONICLE AND
81
REVIEW,
IMPORT AND EXPORT OF COIN AND BULLION.
Receipts from California..............................
Imports from foreign ports............................
First
Quarter.
$6,109,861
409,077
Second
quarter.
$6,899,555
1,145,912
Month o f
Since
June.
Jan. 1.
$2,568,773 $13,009,416
497,477
1,554,989
Total receipts.........................................
Exports to foreign ports................................
$6,518,938 $8,045,467
6,566,958 17,652,966
$3,066,250 $14,564,405
6,348,529 24,219,924
Excess o f exports...........................................
$48,020
$9,607,499 $3,282,279
$9,655,519
The following statement shows the amount of receipts and exports in June
and since January 1, for the last seven years:
California Receipts^ Foreign Imports—> .—Foreign Exports—.
June. SinceJan. I. June. Since Jan.1. Jane. Since Jan. 1.
1SB7................................... *2,538,773 $13,009,416 $497,477 $1,554,989 $6,348,529 $24,219,924
1868 ................................... 1,842,271
16,420,347
94,549 1,1G0,1S6 15,890,956 45,782.430
1865 ...................................
750,469
8,942.312
2.36,032 1.052,023
6.199,472 17,906,759
1884 ...................................
723,951
6,822,571
146,731 1,427,014
6,533,109 29,152,121
1863...................................
S00,176
7,296,913
109,997
853,768
1,367,774 20,631,963
1862 ................................... 1,911,099
11,982,067
61,023
512,465
9,SG7,614 27,976 357
1861 ................................. . 2,012,062 19,120,057 5,387,153 25,909,668
244,242
3,249,433
The general movement of coin and bullion at this port during the month of
June resulted iu a deficiency o f §3,327,247 which has been made up from unre
ported sources. The amount of the deficiency in the reported supply for the
first half o f the current year is shown at §35,904,479, the larger part of which
came from Government sales. The following formula shows the details for the
first two quarters, the month of June and since January 1 to June 30 :
GENERAL MOVEMENT O f
In banks at commencement...................................
Receipts from California........................................
Imports from foreign countries................
Coin interest paid by U. Stales..............................
COIN AND BULLION.
1st quarter. 2d quarter. Jane. Since Jan.l.
$13,1S5,222 $8,522,609$14,617,060 $13,185,222
6,109,861
6,899,555 2,568,773 13.009,416
409,077 1,145,912
497,477 1,554,989
10,838,303 17,793,025 1,237,082 28,631,328
Total reported suppiy..................................... $30,542,463 $34,861,101 $18,920,392 $56,380,955
Export io foreign countries......................................
$6,566,958$'.7,652,966 $6,318,529 $24,219,924
Customs duties..........................................................
38,170,628 27,185,886 8,040,114 60,336,514
Total withdrawn...............................................
Excess of reported supply ...................................
Excess of withdrawals.. . ..................................
Specie in banks at close .........................................
Derived from unreported sources.....................
$39,737,586 $44,83S,852 $14,388,643 $34,576,438
$ ............
9,195,123
8,522,609
$ ........ $4,531,749 $ ............
10,477.751
28.195,483
7,768,996 7,76S,996 7,768 996
$17,717,732 $18,246,747 *3,237,247 $35,964,479
Higli’ st
Lowest
Openi’g
Closing.
Iligh’ st.
Date.
1867.
!
Date.
to
*3
o
G.
O
Lowest.
C O U R S E O F GOLD A T N E W Y O R K , J U N E ,
Closing 1
The statement which follows shows the daily range of American gold coin as
quoted at the Gold Room :
Saturday........ 1.............. 136% 136% 136% 136% Friday......................21 137% 137% 137% 137%
Saturday...... 22............ 138% 137% 138% 137%
136% 136% 137% 137
137 136% 137% 136% Monday....... 24___. ... 138% 138% 133% 138%
136% 136% 136% 136% Tuesday.. .25............ 138% 138% 138% 188%
136% 136% 136% 136% Wednesday..26............ 138% 138' 138% 138%
136% 136% 136% 136% Thursday__ 27............ 138% 137% 138% 138
136% 136% 137 136% Friday........ 28............ 138 137% 138% 188
138% 137% 138% 138%
Monday........ 10............ 136% 136% 137% 137%
Tuesday........ 11............ 137% 137% 137% 137%
Wednesday.. .1 2 .......... 137% 137% 137% 137% June ..1867.................. 136% 136% 138% 138#
Thursday...... 13............ 137% 137 137% 137%
“
1866.............
140% 137% 167% 153#
F rid ay......... 1 4 ........... 137 137 137% 137%
“
1865.................. 138 1.35% 147% 141
Saturday........15............ 137 137 137% 137%
“
1S64................ 194 193 250 147#
“
3863 ................ 146% 140% 143% 147#
Monday.........17............ 137# 137% 137% 137%
“
1862.................. 103% 103% 109% 109
Tuesday........ IS............ 137# 137% 133 137%
"
1861.................. 100 100 100 100
Wednesday.. .19............ 137% 137% 13S# 138%
Thursday...... 20............ |137% 137% 137% 137% S’ce Jan. 1,1867............ 132% 132% 141% 188%
Monday..........3..............
Tuesday......... 4 ___
Wednesday... 5 ............
Thursday.......6 ..............
Friday............7..............
Saturday........ 8..............
82
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
\July,
The course of foreign exchange during the month hag ben v ery regular
Quotations have ruled at a slight per centage above the specie shipping point,
until near the close of the month, when with an improved supply of bills, chiefly
from shipments of bonds, rates fell to a point admitting of the export of bullion*
but not of specie.
The following shows the course for the month;
C O U RSE
X
Days.
1 . .
..
2 ..
..
3 ..
4 ..
fj___
..
..
fi....
7 . . ..
8 . ..
y....
1 0 ....
1 1 ....
12 ..
1 3 ..
1 4 ..
1 5 ..
1 0 ..
1 7 ..
1 5 ..
..
..
..
..
..
..
1 9 ..
..
2 0 .. ..
2 1 ....
2 2 ...,
2 3 ..
2 4 ..
25 ...
2 0 ..
..
..
..
2 7 ..
..
2 5 ..
2 9 ..
3 0 ..
..
..
..
OF F O R E IG N
EXCHANGE
(60
D A T S )— J U N E ,
1S67.
London.
cents for
54 pence.
110 @110X
Paris. Amsterdam. Bremen. Hamburg,
Berlin,
centimes
cents for
cents for cents for
cents for
for dollar,
florin.
rix daler. 311. banco.
thaler.
515 ©Sills' 41X@41.Af 79X@7«X 86>;@36X 72X@72X
110 ©no*.'
no @ uox
no @ nox
110 @110X
110 @11044
109X@110X
515 ©51SX
515 © 5i 244
515 @51244
515 @51244
515 @51244
518X@51244
41X@41J4 W W J 9 K S6X@3644 72X@72X
41X@1144 7944@79X 36X®3644 7->X@72X
41X@41X TO«@TOX 80X@8»X 7244@72X
4tX@4l44 79>4@79X 36X@36>4 72X@72X
4U4@41>; 7944@79X »>X@8«X 72X@72X
41X@4144 7944@79X 36X@3644 72«@72X
110
@11044 515 @51244
110
©110>4 515 @51244
109X@110‘4 518X@512X
no
©11044 512X®511X
110
@11044 512X@511Jf
109X@11044 515 @511 If
41X@41X 7944@79X 36X@36>4 7244@72X
41X©4144 7944@79X S644@3644 7244@72J4
41X@41X 79X@7944 36X@3644 72X©7244
41X&4144 7944@7944 36X@8644 7244@7244
41X@4144 7944@79X 36X@3644 7244@72X
40X@41X 7SX@79X 3044@3644 72 @7344
109X@11044
109X@110X
109X©11044
109X@110X
109X@110X
109X@110‘g
515 @ 5U X
515 @511 >X
515 @51IX
51744@51244
517>j @ 512X
51744@51244
4«X©41X
40X@41X
4UX@41«
40?4@41X
40X@41X
40X@414a
7SX@79X
78X@79X
7SX@79X
7844@79.14
78X@79X
78>4@79
109X@109X
109X@109X
109X@*09)a'
109X@110X
109X@110«
109X©110
517X@5i244
51744@ol244
51744@51344
517X@512X
51744@51244
517X@512X
40X@41X
40X@U44
4 U X @ «X
40X@41X
4 0 X @ «X
40X@41X
78X@79
3044©-36X 72 @72X'
7SX©79
36X@30X 72 @72;,
78X@79
3644@3644 72 @72X
78X@79
36 @36X 72 @72X
7SX@78X 36 ©SOX' 72 ©72X
78V@78X 36 @3644 72 ©72X
dune.......................... 109X@11044
Mav............................109%@110>a'
A p r ......................... 108;.(@10?X
War.......................... 108 ©1U9X
Feb.......................... 10SX@109
Jan.......................... 10SX@109X
518X@51134 40X@4144 78Jf@79X
520 @510
40X@41X 7S^@80
522X@512X 40X @ «44 7SX@7954
525 @515
40X@41X 78 @79X
522X0515
40X@41J4 7844@7UX
520 @513X 41)a'@41X 7S44©7944
Since Jan 1............. 108 @11044 525 @510
4 0 X @ «X
78 ©SO
38X@S644
3644@3644
36X@36X
86X@3«X
3644@3644
36X©S6X
36 ©36X
SO @36X
S5X@S6X
35X@30X
36 @36>4
3u)4@3UX
72
72
72
72
72
72
@7244
@72)4
@7244
@7244
@7244
©72X
72 @72X
71X@72X
71X@7244
7144@7244
71>4@72X
72 @72X
35X@36X 71>4@72X
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
Condition of Banks—Quarterly Statement—Certified Cheques and Comp trailer Hurlhurd—Bank
Returns of Hew York, Philadelphia and Boston.
The banks o f the great central cities appear to be abundantly supplied with
available capital. A long period of caution and conservative management has
made them strong. F or the first time in a year or more the quarterly bank re
turns to Washington have been made up without any disturbance o f the money
market, and we have no doubt from the investigations we have been able to
make both here and in other financial centres, that the reports when published a
few weeks hence will prove that these institutions generally are more healthy and
sound and therefore more useful to the country than in any previous period since
186*7]
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
83
the National Currency A ct was first passed by Congress. It would have been
Utopian to have expected that sixteen or seventeen hundred banks, many of
them entirely new, could in three or four years be brought into activity without
the intrusion of a few unworthy institutions, whose weakness and instability
would unfit them for union with the other members of the sisterhood of banks.
But it was to be expected, and it is in fact realized, that the exposure of the
rotten parts of the financial edifice should be speedy, and that the excision of
the unsound banks should be effected without compromising the safety or dis
turbing the integrity of the vast national organization as a whole. Among the
numerous appliances which have been brought into play for the purposes re
ferred to, it is impossible to overestimate the influence o f the press. Publicity
of the condition of the banks must ever be regarded as one indispensable con
dition for annihilating or keeping in check those forces which lead to unsound
and dangerous business. The visits of the Government examiners, and the re
ports given monthly and quarterly to the department at Washington, derive
their chief value from this; that they expose the interior o f the banks to pub
licity, and thus afford means of verifying their accounts and testing their sound
ness, in the interest and for the information of their stockholders, of their deal
ers, and of the public generally, whose fortunes and business efficiency are so in
timately associated with every movement of these institutions. We need not
urge the obvious fact that the rendering of their official quarterly reports ought
not to impose on the banks the necessity of modifying their usual business. We
regard it, therefore, as a good sign, and a proof of the soundness of the banks,
that the perturbations and irregularities w,uich have been complained of in the
money market as attendant on previous quarterly reports have in the present
case been avoided, while the reports themselves show unusually satisfactory re
sults. Were our banks, like those o f England eighteen months ago, unduly ex
panded, or were they now filled, as in 1864, with securities of doubtful value,
we should not dare to conclude so hopefully as to the future. But in the pres
ence of so many undoubted facts indicative of strength, while the bank vaults
are filled with Government bonds and other securities of undoubted soundness
and appreciating value, we have little hesitation in putting on record the opinion
that, notwithstanding the failure of a few banks in New Orleans and elsewhere,
the National Banks generally are in such a condition that in the absence of any
unforeseen influences arising out o f Congressional interference, a considerable
period of exemption from the ordinary causes of monetary stringency may
probably be enjoyed, which, if Providence should grant us an abundant harvest,
may be productive of the happiest results ou the trade, commerce, wealth and
general prospects of the country.
There has been some discussion the past month in this city with regard to
certified cheques, and the probable action of Comptroller Hulburd with regard
to them. The publication by the daily press of his letter, however, shows that
no power is claimed by that officer to dictate to the banks, to interfere with their
long established principles o f management, or to disturb any o f those safeguards
and econimical expedients which are sanctioned by experience and useful in busi
ness. Yet, while he does not claim under the law any right to forbid the certi
fication o f cheques he does claim the right to correspond in a s emi-official way
84
JOURNAL OF RANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
[J t ffy ,
on the reports of the examiners, which are periodically made to him relative to
every bank in the country. W e hope, indeed, to hear more from these reports,
and as the Comptroller has now got his office and his methods well organized,
the public expect to see evidence that the examiners visit every one of the banks
however remote at frequent intervals, and that wherever he finds anything which
rightly or wrongly seems irregular, he avails himself of the undoubted right to
ask for explanations. What has been complained of, and what the public gen
erally are not satisfied with, is rather the secrecy with which most o f the inves
tigations of the Currency Bureau with the banks are enveloped.
Here in New
York, the heart and brain of the whole banking organism, we ought to know
promptly from official publication many facts of which the Bureau is cognizant
relative to broken and other banks all over ,the country, which now reach us,
and through us the whole nation, in a very slow, round-about, and unsatisfactory
manner. The information the Bank Department obtains is reported there by
law not for the private information of the officers o f that Bureau, but for the
public, and the public ought to be put in possession of the information without
delay.
The letter of the Comptroller on certified cheques referred to above was ad
dressed to Mr. naight, the President of the Bank of the Commonwealth, in this
city, and has elicited a reply which exhibits the reasons why the banks of New
Y ork have adopted the practice of certifying the cheques of their dealers, and
claims that in this city the practice is safe, necessary and superior to any plan
that has ever been substituted or suggested instead of it. On the usefulness of
the custom Mr. Haight says that “ certifying checks in excess of actual balances
at the moment the certification is made, is a practice that has grown to be a
necessity in the transaction o f business here. The practice is much older than
the national banking system and than the New Y ork State system, on which
that was modeled. It is the outgrowth and result of the tendency o f the busi
ness mind to overcome the hindrances that a rigid adherence to the original cast
iron system of banking presented to the increasing growth and extent of businese
in this city. And although the large transactions of bankers and brokers occa
sions the practice to be spoken of as employed for them alone, such is not the
fact; for there is no merchant of credit and responsibility, whose matured notes
or cheques for such reasonable sums as he might give them, being presented and
refused payment at one o’clock, because his deposits were not usually made till
two, would not evoke a displeasure that would be speedily manifested in a closing
of the account.” To do away with the necessity for the certifying of cheques
two expedients have been suggested; first, the establishment of a Stock Ex
change Clearing House, and secondly, the use of cheques without the security
and guarantee given by certification. The latter of these suggestions Mr. Haight
discusses as follow s:
I beg to ask (so long as cheques are, and o f necessity m ust be, used in the transfer
of balances), how safer than the present system it would be for banks to receive in
deposit cheques on each other n ot certified, against which they become liable to pay
their own customers’ cheques, than to discriminate in certifying for them, and to re
quire in turn, as is done, that their deposits shall consist of certified cheques on other
banks ? In the one case the bank trusts its own customer, of whose character, capital
1867]
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
85
and business capacity it may be presumed to be reasonably able to inform itself; in
the other, it of necessity trusts scores of customers of oth er banks, of whom it can
hardly be presumed to know much. Or in one case it may have certified its cus
tomers’ cheques to the extent o f $10,000,000, and have received from them ou de
posit, certified cheques to theamountof $11,000,000 with perfect safety on both sides,
and in the other it m a y n ot have certified a d olla r , and having on deposit $ 1 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
of cheques on other banks, n ot certified, rendered itself linble to pay that amount to
any number of brokers holding its customers’ cheques, who may require the banks
to pay them rather than hold their cheques till after the day’s clearings.
Such re
quirement on the part of broker, banker or merchant would hardly be deemed “ im
p u d e n t" — a refusal o f the bank to pay m igh t be deemed so. But would paying under
such circumstances be absolutely safe ? Would it not have been safer to have certi
fied at first and secured certified cheques from them *
But you say that we would probably reject without hesitation a proposition to
certify in th is way for our depositors without discrimination. To which 1 reply not
only p rob a b ly , but most certa in ly. It is just this ability to discriminate, this exercise
of judgment discretion, tact and experience that is presumed to give value to the ser
vices o f a bank’s officers. And if in the exercise o f these qualities a discriminating
policy is adopted that results in a mutual advantage to bank and depositor alike,
who can have just cause for complaint 2 For it by no means follows that the banker,
broker, or merchant is alone benefitted by these transactions. The resulting balance
inures most substantially to the benefit o f the bank, enabling it to loan money far in
excess of its capital for the substantial profit o f its stockholders. As, then, the de
positor trusts the bank, why should not the bank trust its depositors ? In these trans
actions the depositor is trusted for but for an hour or two— the bank is trusted for
days. It ought, therefore to be assumed that both act with discrimination, and that
in the exercise of this discrimination the safety of bots may be reasonably assured
Brokers alone do n o t claim this indulgence— it is extended alike to bankers and mer
chants, in different degrees, with such reasonable discrimination as bank officers are
presumed to exercise— and, in this city at least, it is not an indulgence that is by any
means extraordinary. Tou speak of it as an “ abuse of practice.” Like all other
practices, not wrong in themselves, it may be abused ; but I am not by any means
prepared to admit that it is generally abused, or that its abuses have not been rare
and exceptional.
As to the plan of a Stock Exchange Clearing House, the letter before us
offers no observations. The Comptroller, we believe, is of opinion that the cer
tification of cheques might be dispensed with, by the establishment o f a clearing
institution to fulfil to the dealers in stocks similar functions to those for which
the gold dealers depend on the new Gold Exchange Bank. W e believe that the
general opinion in W all street is not favorable to the scheme, the merits o f which
have never, in any country, been submitted to the test o f experience.
Below we give the returns ef the Banks of the three cities since Jan. 1 :
NETT Y O R K C I T Y B A N K R E T U R N S .
™ Date.
Loans.
January 5. ...$257,852,460
Januar* 12....... 258,935,488
January 19....... 255,032,223
January 26 . . . . 251,674,80 >
February 2 ... . ‘ 51,264,355
February 9 ....... 250,268,825
Febru’ ryie....... 253,131,328
Fcbru'ry23....... 257,S23,994
Marc i
2....... 26',166,436
March 9 ... 262,141.458
March '6 ....... 263.072,972
March 23... . 259,400,315
March 30 ... v55,-*82,364
April
6 ....... 251,470,027
April
13....... 250.102,178
April
20....... -47,561,731
April
27....... 247,737,381
May
4 ....... 250,S7i.,553
Circulation.
Specie.
32,762,779
12,794,892
32,625,103
14,613,477
32,854,928
15,365,207
32,957,198
16,014,007
32,995,347
16,332,984
32,777,' 00
16,157,257
82,956,309
14,792,626
33,006,141
13,513,456
33,294,433
11,579,381
33,409,811
10,868,182
9,968,722
83,41*0.685
33,519,401
9,143,913
8.522,6 9
33,669,195
8,13S,813
33,774,573
8,856,229
33,702,047
33,648,571
7,622,535
7,404,304
33,601.285
33,571,747
9,902,177
Deposits. Legal Tend’s. Ag. clear’gs
202,533,564
65,026,121
486,987,787
202,517,608
63,246,370
605,132,006
201,600,315
63,235,386
520,040,02$
197,952 076
63,420,559
568,822,8* 4
200,511,596
65,944,611
512,407,25$
198,241,835
67,628,992
508,825,532
196,072,292
64,642,940
455,833,829
198,420,347
63,158,895
443,574,08#
198,018,914
63,01*195
465,534,5-9
200,2?3,527
64,523,440
544,173,256
197,958,804
62,813,039
496,558,-19
19-',375,615
60,904,958
472, 02,31 S
188,489,250
62,459,811
459,850,602
183,861,269
59,021,775
531,835,184
182,861,286
60,202,515
525,933,462
184,090,256
64,096,916
447,814,375
187,674,341
67,920,351
446,484,422
195,721,072
70,567,407
559,860,118
86
Date.
11 ...,.
May
IS .... .
May
25....,.
May
1 .... .
J une
8 .... .
June
1 5 .... .
June
2 2 .... .
June
2 9 .... .
June
[July,
JOURNAL OP BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
Loans.
253,682,829
257,961,874
256,('91,805
252,791,514
250,477,298
240,228,465
213,640,477
242,547,954
Scccie.
Circulation.
14,954,590
33,595,869
15,567,252
33,63',301
14,083,667
83,097,252
14,017,010
33,747,039
15,699,038
33.719,083
12,656,889
33,707,199
9,399,585
33,633,171
7,768,996
38,542,569
Deposits. Legal Tend’s. Aj^clear’g*
200,342,832
07,996,639
769
201.436,854
63,828,501
503,075^793
193,073,345
60,5h2,44«l
431,732,62-2
190,386,143
58,459,827
442,675,585
184,730.335
461,734,216
55.923,1 7
ISO,317,763
57,924,294
460,968.602
179.477,170
62.816.192
442,440,804
186,213,257
70,174,755
493,944,356
P H I L A D E L P H IA B A N K R E T U R N S .
Date.
January 5 —
January 12 —
January 19 —
January 2 6 ....
February 2 —
February 9 ....
Febra’rylO—
Febru*ry23----March 'i. . . .
March
9 .......
Larch 1 6 ---March 23... .
March 30 .
April
6 .......
April
13.......
April
20... .
April
27.......
May
4
May
11 . •
May
IS.......
May
25 —
June
1.......
June
8 .. .
' June
15.......
June
22.......
J une
29........
Legal Tenders.
. . . . $20,209 064
....... 20.006,255
......... 19,448,099
------- 19,363,374
....... 19,209,128
,.
. 19,659,250
____ 18.892,747
....... 17,837.593
. . 18,150,657
___ 17,524,705
....... 16,955,6 3
....... 16,071,780
. . 13,856,943
....... 15,882,745
....... 16,188,407
....... 16,582,296
....... 16,737,901
. . . . 17,196,558
....... 17,278,919
....... 16,770,491
....... 16.019,180
....... 16,881,109
....... 16,880,720
....... 1H,300,010
....... 15,964,424
....... 16,105, 61
Loans.
52,3x2,817
52,528.491
53,45-' 307
52,.168,473
55,55 ,130
52,884.329
52,573,130
52.394,721
51,'979,173
51,851.463
50,5 8,294
5!.',572/90
54.880,306
50,998,231
51,283,776
51,611.44»
51,890,959
53, or 4,267
53,474,388
53,826,320
53,536,170
52,747,308
53,158.124
53,192.049
52,968,441
52,538,963
Specie. Cir u.’ at’ oB.
903,663
D.:.-8,820
I0.3?t'.577
903.820
877,548
10.381,595
8.10,582
liVNUiS:!
871,564
11U.7-.S-8
873.611
10.r9.9S2
867.110
19,522,972
841,233
1.5.0,431
816,843
10.5 1.600
S-.VO55
h -,572,068
858,022
10.580,911
807,4 3
10,611,087
602,148
10,(31,532
*64,719
10,651,615
10,645.367
640.625
485,535
10,647,234
382,817
10,6.8,021
336,053
10,639,693
* 8,762
10,627,953
10,630,831
369.1 '3
10.635.520
334,303
10,037482
346,615
3(»,642,920
3 -.8,261
10,040,208
373.3(8
10,642,224
365,187
lu,641,311
Deposits.
41,308.327
41,023,421
30.048,645
89,001.7.9
39,592,712
£9,815,595
40,050,717
38,646,013
39,307.388
37,314,672
8 ,826,00 L
31,5“1,545
34.150,285
33,796,595
34,827,683
35,S20.580
36,234,870
37,371,064
38,172,169
38,230,833
37,778,783
37,382,144
37,252,614
37,174,269
37,333,*79
30,616,847
BOSTON D A N K R E T U R N S .
(Capital Jan. 1, I860, $41,900,000.)
Loans.
January 7...............(97,M s ®
January 14...............
January 31 ............. •j J : ®
January 28............... , « ’Sio ™
February 4 ............... U f - 'i ’i r-i
Febru’rjMl...............
Febru rylS...............
- ' i i ’nin
Febrn’rySo...............
’Jar h
4 ............. t-5,05»,«7
March
11.............
March
18............. M.la6,4-b
March
5 ............. Vi,iVSl,0W
April
1 ............ 41, iw ,347
April 3 ............... 91,h79,o49
April 1 5 ............... 91,712,414
April 23............... 92.472,815
April 29............... »
May
0 ............... 92, b. 1,149
May
13............... MA28.114
Hay
so...............
May
27............... 92,223,6-7
June
8 ............... 02,094,925
June
10...............
June
17............... ;'8,‘ 25,423
June 24 .............. 92,9ol,16-3
Specie.
l,183,45i
1,334.300
1,078,160
1,058,329
956,569
873,396
929,940
779,4i-2
P5S,S87
695,4-47
568/94
516.184
435.113
456,751
376,343
343.712
829,851
5-9.S73
517,597
507,806
441,072
571,526
436.767
511,095
470.544
Legal
Tenders.
17,033,387
16,829. 15
16,59*.-99
16,816.481
1(1,894.604
1 ,103.479
15,898,333
15,741,046
1 ,9*8,103
15,719,479
16.270.979
16,557,905
17, 12,428
16,860,418
16,815,355
16.549,598
10.926,564
161571.786
16,552,421
16,499,319
36.8S8.SUl
17,173.901
16.767,854
15.719.795
15,758,396
Deposits.
40,824.618
40,246.216
38,679.604
39,219,211
39,703,('53
39,474,359
38,900,5' 0
37,SOS,963
38,316.573
36,712,052
30.751,733
86,751,72)
37,056,388
37,258,775
37,218,525
38.207.548
37,837.092
38,721,769
38,504.701
37,874.$.’ 2
37,132,051
37,0.i 6,894
36,033,716
36,039,933
36,521,129
- Circulate
1876]
87
COMMERCE OF SAN FRANCISCO.
COMMERCE OF SAlf FRANCISCO.
The returns for the quarter ending March 31, are summed np in the annexed
statements:
The tonnage arrivals (whalers not included) amounted to—
From—
Domestic Atlnnticports..............................................
Domestic Pacific ports......................... .......................
Foreign ports.......................................
1S64.
Tons.
19,861
64,279
1865.
Tons.
28.004
5S.988
73,;-82
1806.
Tons.
25,381
66,657
84,S39
1S67.
Tons.
34,461
77,819
69,984
Of the arrivals from foreign ports, a large portion is composed of steam tonnage,
employed by regular lines plying up and down the Pacific coast, and is as follows :
From Panama...............................................
From San Juan del Sur............................................
From Northern Mexico...............................................
From British Columbia...............................................
Totals..................................................................
1864.
Tons.
25,234
4,114
2,443
10,031
1665.
Tons.
25,688
2,122
8,991
1S66.
Tons.
26,418
4,393
5,985
2.259
1S67
Tons.
23,415
6,073
4.10*
2,040
31,708
41,575
39,055
35,033
The receipts of merchandise via the Isthmus of Panama were as follows:
T o n s ....................................................................................................
1S65.
6,738
I860.
7,0S0
1867.
8,126
The amount of freights paid on merchandise imports has been as follows :
1865.
From— v
Domestic Atlantic ports.......................................... .
Panama, per steamers.............................................
Principal foreign ports.............................................
Other foreign ports............. ..................................
Total freights on cargoes................................
499,451
1866.
$808,014
4-5,378
808,972
158,161
1867.
$802,445
511,486
311,553
03,292
$2 035,052
$1,718,523
$1,888,776
er those of last year.
The figures
are as fo llo w s :
To
New York, & c ......................
Great Britain..................»___
M exico........................................
South America......................
Hawaiian Islands.................
China..........................................
Australia and New Zealand.
British Columbia...................
Other countries....................
18G5.
$983,011
23,m
576,238
104,758
329,341
217,765
11,009
354,113
140,018
1866.
$918,954
261,235
435.584
59.809
267,891
392,438
1.416,483
320.950
71,779
1867.
$1,315.1 7
1,873,760
682,237
58,571
128,659
312,932
18,159
216,228
179,149
$2,691,442
$4,143,123
$4,781,842
The amount o f shipments to domestic Atlantic ports, as indicated in tiro above
table, represents their value both by sailing vessels and steamers, via Panama,
and Nev/ York. The amount of shipments forwarded by the steamers o f tho Pacific
Mail Steamship Company, for transit across the Isthmus, w ere:
Merchandise by Panama transit.....................................
1865.
$294,349
ISC-6.
$269,119
1867.
$615,887
The amount of treasure exported during the first quarter of the past three years
has been as iullows;
895,
$11,528,324 11866,
. $9,525,515 \1867
88
COMMERCE OF SAN FRANCISCO.
\Jllly,
The combined exports of treasure and merchandise are represented by the fol
lowing :
1SC5....................... $:4,129,176 11860.................. .
$13,608,638 |1807....................... $14,610,14
Exclusive o f transfers by Government, the total exports this year are $941,599 in
excess of a like period in 1866, and $480,971 more than they were in the first quar
ter o f 1865.
The receipts of treasure from the interior and coastwise, through regular public
channels, during the quarter just ended, including coin and bullion, have been as
follow s:
From California .......................................................
Coastwise...............................................................................................................
Nevada..................
British Columbia, Mexico, e t c .............................................................................
$5,796,279
642,286
4,199,946
607,286
Total..............................................................................................................$11,245,797
The comparative aggregates for three years are as follows:
1865........................$13.913,S72 11866.......................... $11,005,692 11867......................... $11,245,792
The product o f the mines on this coast received through the express companies
for the above named period was :
1S65....................... $12,160,93011866...........................
$9,238,834 11867......................
$9,279,18
The figures show a slight increase this year as against last, but in view o f the
extraordinary severity o f the past winter, the comparison is a very favorable one
for the present season.
C O N T E X T S
SO.
F O R
PAGE.
1.
2.
8.
4.
5.
Census o f Rhode Island, 1865.. „.........
.Railroad Earnings for May..................
On the Collection o f Revenue............
Debt and Finances o f Chicago............
Commercial Law, No. 33—Fire Insur
ance .......................................................
6. Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad
7. Railway Extension and its Resu ts....
8. Central Railroad o f New Jersey..........
J U L Y .
NO.
PAGE
9 9. The Prevention of Railroad Accidents
14 10. Debt and Finances of San Francisco..
15 11. Railroads of the W orld ........................
81 12. Ireland for 1866.....................................
13. Lloyd’ s List o f Wrecks and Casualties
34 14. Commercial Chronicle and Review___
41 15. Journal of Banking, Currency, and
Finance..............................................
44
03 16. Commerce o f San Francisco...............
66
68
69
70
73
74
82
87
The following advertisements appear in ' >ur advertising pages this mouth:
MERCANTILE.
Lillie’ s Fire & Burglar-Proof Safes—198 B’way
Fowler & Wells—389 Broadway.
L. Praug & Co.—Boston and New York—Hol
iday Publications, etc.
Howard & Co. — 619 Broadway— Diamonds,
Watches, Holiday Gifts, etc.
Mercantile Library—Clinton Hall, A6tor Place
and Eighth St.
Ferdinand Korn— 191 Fulton St. — Eau de
Cologne.
Lewis Audendried & Co.—110 Broadway—An
thracite and Bituminous Coal.
Kellogg’ s V. S. Mercantile Register for 1867-8.
A. B. Sands & Co.—139-141 William St.—Drugs
J. W . Bradley—97 Chambers St.—Hoop Skirts.
Chickering & Sons—632 Broadway—Pianos.
BAN KERS & BROKERS.
Tenth National Bank—336 Broadw-ay.
Barstow, Eddy & Co.—26 Broad St.
Lockw’ood & Co.—94 Broadway.
Vermilye & Co.—44 Wall St.
Eugene Kelly & Co.—36 Wall St.
Dewitt, Kittle & Co.—S8 Wall St.
Simon De Visser—52 Exchange Place.
Duncan, Sherman & Co.—Cor. Pine & Nassau.
L. P. Morton & Co.—30 Broad Street.
Robinson & Ogden—4 Broad St.
Howe & Macy—30 Wall St.
Gilmore, Dunlap & Co.—Cincinnati.
Lewis Johuson & Co., Washington.
Ninth National Bank—363 Broadw-ay.
1N S U 8A N C E .
New York Mutual Insurance Co—61 William st
Fidelity insurance Co.—17 Broadway.
Marine—Atlantic Mntial Ins. Co.—51 Wall St.
Mercantile Mut. Ins. Co.—£5 Wail St.
Orient Mutual Ins. Co.
Sun Mutual Ins. Co.—49 Wall St.
Great Western Insurance Co.
Fire—Hope Fire Ins. Co.—92 Broadw-ay.
Germania Fire Ins. Co.—175 Broadway.
H2tna Insurance Co.—Hartford.
U. S. Life Insurance Co.—40 Wall St.
OFFICE
OF
THE
filantic fpiifttal Jraranxt Cmnjiaitg,
51 W ALL STREET, cor. of William, NEW-YORK,
N ew
Y ork,
January 25th, 1867.
The Trustees, in Conformity to the Charter of the Company, submit the following State
ment of its affairs on the 81st December, 1866:
Premiums received on Marine Risks, from Jst Jan., 1866, to 31st Dec., 1866.
Premiums on Policies not marked off 1st January, 1866..................................
$8,282,021 26
2,188,325 15
Total amount of Marine Premiums...............................................................
$10,470 346 31
So Policies have been issued upon Life Risks ; nor upon Fire Risks discon
nected with Marine Risks.
Premiums marked off from 1st Jan., 1866, to 31st Dec., 1 8 6 6 ......................
Losses paid during the same p e rio d ............... ......................
$5,683,895 05 ■
Returns of Premiums and Expenses................. .....................
1,194,173 23
The Company has the following Assets, viz :
United States and State o f New York Stock, City, Bank and other Stocks.
Loans secured by Stocks, and otherwise...............................................................
Real Estate and Bonds and M ortgages................ ............................... ................
Interest and sundry notes and claims due the Company, estimated at...........
Premium Notes and Bills Receivable....................................................................
Cash in Bank, .......................................................................... .................................
Total amount o f Assets
$7,632,236 70
$6,771,885
1,129,350
221,260
141,866
3,837,735
434,207
00
00
00
24
41
81
$12,536,304 46
Six per cent interest on the outstanding certificates o f profits will be paid to the holders
thereof, or their legal representatives, on and after Tuesday the Fifth of February next.
The outstanding certificates o f the issue of 1864, will be redeemed and paid to the holders
ther. of, or their legal representatives, on and after Tuesday the Fifth of February next, from
which date ail interest thereon will cease. The certificates to be produced at the time of
payment, and cancelled.
A dividend of Twenty per cent is declared on the net earned premiums of the Company,
for the year ending 31st December, 1SG6, for which certificates will be issued on and after
By order of the Board,
Tuesday the 2d of April next.
J. H. CHAPMAN, Secretary.
t r u s t e e s .
JOHN D. JONES,
CHARLES DENNIS,
W. H, II. MOORE,
HENRY COIT,
WM. C. PICKERSGI-LjL,
LEWIS CURTIS,
CHARLES II RUSSELL,
LOWELL nOLBROOK,
R. WARREN WESTON,
ROYAL PHELPS,
CALEB BAR8TOW,
A. P. PILLOT,
WILLIAM E. DODGE,
GEO. G. HOBSON,
DAVID LANE,
JAMES BRYCE.
LEROY M. WILEY,
DANIEL S. MILLER,
WM. STURGIS,
HENRY K. BOGERT,
JOSHUA J. HENRY,
DENNIS PERKINS,
JOSEPH GAILLARD, J b.
J HENRY BURGY.
SIIEPiiARD GANDY.
CORNELIUS GRINNELL,
C. A. HAND,
B. J. HOWLAND,
BENJ. BABCOCK,
FLETCHER WESTRAY
ROB. B. MINTURN, J r.
GORDON W. BURNHAX,
FREDERICK CHAUNCBT,
JAMES LOW,
GEORGE S. STEPHENSON,
WILLIAM H. WEBB.
PAUL SPOFFORD.
JO H N D . JONES, President.
C H A R L E S D EN N IS, Vice.-President.
W . H. H . M OORE, 2d Vice-President.
J- D. H E W L E T T , 3d Vice-President.
L O S S E S
P A I D
IL T
4 7
T E A R S ,
$19,127,410 06
^ J V ^ n A 'W K 'V v
Assets, July, iS6‘6,
iS6T;,
■:Liabilities, -- -- --
6 ,8 3 0 .5 5
- - - - $ 4 ,0 7 5
-- --- --- -22 22 11 ,2
,2 33 00 .3
.3 55
Net, - - - - - - -
$3,854 594.20
Agencies in ail the Principal Cities and Towns throughout the United States.
Policies issued without delay.
io s s
&?/ P o r t l a n d F i r e , J u l y
4 th , I 8 6 0 .
The amouut covered by .Etna Policies on property destroyed or damaged 'yas $ 2 0 0 ,S54.
Our total loss will not vary much from $ 1 0 5 ,0 0 0 , and was promptly adjusted arid paid. This sum
iB 4 per cent., tiron tho Company’s assets, nn amount less than our Government and State taxes paid
la9t year, or n jjiofoi tion equal to a $ 4 ,0 0 0 loss for a Company o f $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 assets.
The necessity Itr i jsurance and the value of wealthy, strong corporations, is forcibly illustrated
by this fire. Serrr&l weak Insurance Companies are destroyed. Portland has a population of
35,000;—was hard>t>iaely built, mostly fine brick or stone structures—protected a*, i screened by up
wards o f 3,000 shad trees—bounded on three sides by water—indeed, litert'My, almost rising, from
tho ocean—and with a. good steam fire departm ent-vet it has $ 1 0 .0 0 0 ,OOL o f property- consumed
in a few hours- Jipr a a holiday when ita people are least occupied—from the very i> ' nificant cause
o f a contemptible lire cracker.
*
1
llemember the trifling origin of fires that sweep away in a few hours the eat lings o f years. Con
sider your best Interest,, ana give the JEtna Agent a call if you need proper. In «uram security. Pay
a fair rate of premium tor a good and genuino article, and with these lights u. •.
. c nees before
you, procure your Insurance with shrewd judgment.
-F ire
In la nd Navigatio •;* Policies Is s u e d .a a s j a . «. <tWe -r«<es
«H(i rules as are consistant ivith reliable in d ,. u nity.
Branch Office, 171 Vine St. Cin. J. B, B E N N E T T , Gen. Act.
@FedFRASER