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TH E
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE,
E s t a b l i s h e d Jul y* 1839,
BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
VOLUME X X .
J U N E , 1849.
CONTENTS
NUMBER VI.
O F N O . V I., V O L . X X .
ARTICLES.
A.RT«
I.
II.
III.
IV .
V.
V I.
V II.
PAGE
BA N KIN G IN IN D IA . By G. M. B e ll , E sq ., Banker, o f England, and author o f “ The
Philosophy o f Joint Stock Banking,” etc............................................................................................ 579
R E CIPR O C AL TR A D E BE TW E EN THE UNITED STATES AN D TH E BRITISH P R O V
INCES. B y G eorge W . P o t t e r , E sq ., author o f “ The Institutions o f N ew Y ork ,” etc.,
o f N ew Y ork .............................................................................................................................................. 584
TH E COAST S U R V E Y OF THE UNITED STATES. By J am es F erguson , late First As
sistant in the Survey o f the Coast........................................................................................................ 592
L A W OF D EBTOR A N D CRED ITO R IN M A R Y L A N D —N o. II. B y J am es R . P ar
t r id g e , E sq., o f the Baltimore (Md.) Bar......................................j ................................................. 605
TH E S U B -T R E A S U R Y A N D TH E T A R IF F . By R ich ard S u lley , E sq., o f N ew Y ork .. 611
CO M M ERCIAL SKETCHES W ITH PEN A N D PENCIL. TH OM AS PRENTICE K ETT E L L , (with a Portrait.).......................................................................................................................... 618
COM M ERCIAL CODE O F SPAIN.—No. V III.— M ARITIM E INSURANCE. Translated
from the “ Codigo de Com ercio ” o f Spain. By A . N ash , E sq ., o f the N ew Y o rk B ar___ 628
M E R C A N T I L E L A W CASES.
D enio’ s Supreme Court Reports—A g e n c y ......................................................................................................
Assessment Sales o f Real Estate........................................................................................................................
Liability for Freight o f Endorsers o f Bills o f Lading..................................................................................
Constitutionality o f the Passenger Law o f N ew Y o r k ................................................................................
Extent o f the Liability o f a Factor w ho disobeys the Order o f his Principal......................................
A u ction Sales—Defaulting Purchasers..............................................................................................................
632
633
634
635
635
637
C O MM E R C I A L C HRONIC L E AND R E V I E W :
EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL R E V IE W OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC., ILLUSTRA
TED W ITH TABLES, ETC., AS FOLLOWS *.
Am elioration in the M oney Market since our last—Rates o f Exchange in N ew Y o rk —Shipment
o f G old from San Francisco— Emigration to California—Exports o f Domestic Produce from the
United States for last six years—Importation o f Breadstuffs into Great Britain and Ireland—
Average Prices o f Grain in Great Britain—Exports o f Flour, etc., from Ports o f United States
to Great Britain and Ireland from September, 1848, etc.— Merchants’ Exchange Bank—Increase
o f Stock Companies, e t c —Prices o f United States and other Stocks—United States Treasury
Notes Outstanding—Revenue and expenditures o f the United States— Government Funds in the
Treasury—Payment o f the M exican Debt, etc., e tc .......................................................................... 638-643
vol
.
xx. —
no
.
vi.
37
578
CONTENTS OF NO. V I., VOL. XX.
PAG E
'
COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.
Lake Com m erce o f Cleveland, O h io .............................................. ................................................................. 644
Im ports o f Iron and Steel into the United States in 1847, w ith Duties under the Tariff o f 1842 and
1846.................. ............................................................................................................................. ....................... 645
Tobacco Trade o f Rotterdam and Am sterdam .............................................................................................. 647
Im ports and Exports o f Flour and W heat o f the United States from 1831 to 1848, inclusive.......... 647
Com m erce o f each State and Territory in 1848 .............................................................................................. 648
Navigation o f each State and Territory in 1848............................................................................................. 649
R AI L R O A D , CANAL, AND S T E A M B O A T STATI STI CS.
Railroads from Albany to Buffalo.......................................................................................... ........................... 651
Num ber o f Passengers carried on the Railroads between Albany and Buffalo......................................652
Receipts from Passengers carried on the Railroads from Albany to Buffalo.......................................... 652
Tolls received on all the N ew Y o rk Canals in 1847-8................................................................................... 653
Comparative Cost o f Am erican and European Railroads............................................................................654
Law relating to the Statistics o f N ew Y o rk Railroad Corporations.......................................................... 655
Law o f N ew Y o rk requiring Steamboats to carry Life-Boats, e tc.................................. .......................... 656
J O U R N A L OF B A N K I N G , C U R R E N C Y , A N D F I N A N C E .
Bank o f France since the Revolution o f February, 1848............................................................................ 657
Comparative Condition o f the Bank o f France on the 6th o f A pril and 27th o f October, 1848........ 659
A ct o f N ew Y ork State relating to the Responsibilities o f Stockholders in certain Banking Corpo
rations .........................................................................................................................................
661
U sury: or Free Trade in M oney...................................................................... ..................................................666
The Pennsylvania L a w o f Promissory N otes.................................................................................................. 667
Com pou nd Interest Table. By W . C u t t e r , E sq ..........................................................................................668
Condition o f the Banks o f N ew Orleans for the Month o f A pril, 1849.................................................... 669
The Pawnbrokers and the Savings Banks.................................... . . ............... ............................................... 669
The Stock Exchange Brokers o f W all-street.................................................................................................. 670
COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
The Canadian Tariff o f 1849................................................................................................................................ 671
. . . . ____............ ......................................................... ................................673
M exican Tariff......... .
NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
Light Dues in Spanish Ports................................................................................................................................
Life Saving Benevolent Association..................................................................................................................
Pilots and Pilot Boats.............................................................................................................................................
Bills o f Lading for St. John’ s, e tc......................................................................................................................
674
674
675
675
J O U R N A L OF M I N I N G A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S .
The G old Mines, or Deposits o f Siberia............................................................................................................ 675
A dirondac Steel W ork s......................................................................................................................................... 678
Native Copper in Am erica.................................................................................................................................... 679
G old in the Interior o f Africa.—The Pottsdam Sandstone.......................................................................... 680
Mineral W ealth o f Russia....................................................................................................................................... 681
MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
The New Y o rk Chamber o f Commerce and the Merchants’ Magazine....................................................
Integrity o f Business Men.............................................................
A Fashionable Shop at L iverp ool......................................................................................................................
Merchants and C lerks.....................
The Honorable D ebtor and Enterprising M erchant......................................................................................
N ew W haling G round D iscovered.................. . . . . ............................................................................................
Interesting Insurance Case..................................... ..................................................................................... ...
681
682
683
686
687
688
688
T H E BOOK TR A D E.
Comprehensive N otices o f New W orks or N ew E d itio n s.................................................................. 689-696
Our First D ecade Com pleted..........................................................................................................
696
HUNT’S
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND
COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
JU N E,
1849.
Art. I.— B A N K I N G I N I N D I A *
A mong tlie numerous colonies o f Great Britain, there are none at this
moment more important, or contemplated with more interest by men o f all
classes and opinions, than her possessions in India. That vast territory which
has been the theater o f so many brilliant exploits in war, and the harvest
field of the most princely fortunes, is still the region upon which the atten
tion o f merchants, philosophers, political economists, and statesmen, is turn
ed with the most hopeful anxiety. Under her native princes, celebrated for
their immense wealth, and under the dynasty o f her Tartar lords, the terri
tory o f India was covered with splendid cities, her provinces intersected by
large canals, her plains enriched by agriculture. Temples and monuments
o f great architectural beauty were erected as the trophies, and still remain as
the memorials o f art. Although at the period o f British ascendancy India
labored under many disadvantages from the merciless and profligate charac
ter o f her native princes, and the invasions o f hostile tribes, it is beyond al
question that under these very native princes she had attained to great wealth,
power, and distinction. From that period, however, her political position and
commercial character have undergone important changes. The gradual ex
tension and firm establishment o f the British power has completely altered
* The following original paper, contributed to our Magazine b y the writer, G. M. B e l l , Esq., Banker,
o f England, w ill b e read w ith interest. Mr. Bell is regarded in England as one o f her best writers on
practical banking, and for several years w rote the banking articles in the Atlas newspaper. He is also
the author o f several volum es on banking, am ong w hich m ay be named the “ Philosophy o f Joint
Stock Banking,” published in Lon don b y Longm an, Orme, Brown, & Co. in 1840 ; “ The Currency
Q uestion; an Examination o f the Evidence on Banks o f Issue, given before the Select Committee o f
the House o f Com m ons in 1840,” & c., published in 1841; w The Country Banks and the Currency; an
Examination o f the Evidence on Banks o f Issue,” & c., published in 1842, & c. Mr. Bell has for some
tim e past been engaged on a Banking Dictionary, on the plan o f M cCulloch’ s Commercial Dictionary,
w hich will o f course em brace Banking in all its aspects and bearings throughout the w hole com m er
cial world. W e shall probably take occasion, in a future num ber o f our Journal, to refer to the writ
ings o f Mr. Bell m ore fully, reviewing his new w ork at some length on its appearance.— Ed. M er. M ag.
•*
580
.
Banking in India.
i
the political relations o f the East, and opened out new sources o f wealth to
the commercial industry o f her enterprising sons.
A valuable trade with India was long exclusively enjoyed by the East In
dia Company. Since the abolition o f their monopoly, however, the field of
commerce has been gradually and beneficially enlarged. Those eastern pos
sessions afford to Great Britain the prospect o f a daily extending, permanent,
and valuable market for supplies o f the greatest variety. Sugar is a rapidly
increasing product o f India, and the great quantity o f wool imported thence
by England affords a strong inducement for encouraging the growth o f that
article. The exportation o f skins, hides, and castor oil, has also greatly in
creased. W ith the linseed imported from India, the cattle upon the wolds of
Yorkshire and many other parts o f England are now fed. Indian tallow is
considered equal in quality to the best imported from Russia. The impor
tation o f hemp and tobacco from India has also increased, as well as o f pep
per and spices, which are in an especial manner the production o f the East.
Rice is exported in abundance. W heat is one o f the productions o f India
that has only been recently imported into Britain; but it has been supposed
that by properly encouraging the trade, England might obtain supplies o f
this essential article o f subsistence sufficient to render her independent o f
foreign countries. Cotton and silk are also among the productions and man
ufactures o f India. This brief enumeration is sufficient to indicate the im
mense importance o f India to Great Britain, leaving political considerations
entirely out o f the question.
In 1832 the extent o f territory in India under the British government
was 553,000 square miles, the population o f which was 83,000,000.
A t the same period the extent o f territory in India under the British gov
ernment, andincluding the allies and tributaries to Great Britain, was 1,280,000
square miles, the population o f which was 134,000,000.
A t the same period India, beyond the Ganges, extended to "77,000 square
miles, the population o f which was 301,000.
The total imports from India to Great Britain, eastward o f the Cape, and
excluding China, in 1832, were £6,337,008.
The total exports from Great Britain to India at the same date were
£3,750,286.
Both the population and the trade o f India have increased very consider
ably since that time, and to her territorial possessions in the East, Great Brit
ain has since added the extensive region o f Scinde, a country larger than
Ireland, being 400 miles in length and 300 in breadth.
Taking into account its situation, and the variety and value o f its produc
tions and manufactures, there is perhaps no part of the world better adapted
for extensive and valuable trade than British India. It comprises 250,000
square miles o f the richest and most fertile portions o f the globe, with at
least an equal extent o f productive soil in the tropical and temperate zones.
The sea-coast extends 1,500 miles, and possesses various excellent harbors,
while the country is intersected with the magnificent rivers Ganges, Burrampooter, and Indus. This vast empire is surrounded by the extensive and fer
tile countries of China, Birmali, Siam, Persia, Arabia, and the Eastern Archi
pelago.
The amount o f maritime trade connected with British India was a few
years ago estimated at £30,000,000. The whole amount o f British manu
factures exported from the United Kingdom to all parts o f the world is about
£50,000,000 sterling annually. If the population o f the British territories
Banking in India.
581
in the East were enabled to consume only one-tenth o f the quantity con
sumed by the negro subjects o f Great Britain in the W est Indies, it has been
presumed that there might be an annual export trade o f £*72,000,000 added
to the present total exports o f £50,000,000.
W ithout entering into more minute particulars, it is obvious from these
statements that British India presents an extensive, valuable, and encourag
ing field for commercial enterprise, and for the legitimate investment o f Brit
ish capital. Y et with all her vast capabilities, and the immense wealth that
Britain might derive from her extensive possessions in the East, India is re
presented as a poor country,— not poor in natural resources, but poor in the
means and appliances necessary for turning those natural resources, and her
great elementary wealth, to profitable account. The evidences o f this pov
erty are alleged to have been sufficiently exhibited “ in the destructive
famines that have decimated the population ; in the trifling amount o f reve
nue, (three shillings per head per annum,) derived with' the greatest difficulty
by the State ; and the small quantity o f maritime trade carried on by the
people themselves, or by the ruling power, (the consumption o f British man
ufactures being less than sixpence per head yearly,) and in the poverty o f the
great mass o f the cultivators and occupiers o f the soil, who live from hand
to mouth, borrowing at the rate o f 50 per cent interest to purchase seed com ,
from which sustenance is expected for the coming year.”
W h en Britain first obtained possession o f India, every nabob, whatever his
rank, had his own mint, issued his own coins, and regulated the affairs o f his
treasury with reference alone to his own necessities, and without regard to
any variations in the value o f the currency. That system is now abolished.
Mints are established only at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. The rupee is
o f the same value over the whole o f India. It is composed o f eleven-twelfths
silver, and one-twelfth alloy, and weighs 180 grains troy. The British In
dian government made silver the standard o f value. The silver rupee, now
the legal tender o f India, is o f the value o f two shillings sterling. Gold is
at an agio, and left to find its own value. The general circulating medium
o f the country is the rupee, a small copper coin, and a species o f cyprcea,
called the couree, o f which 6,400 constitute a rupee. The ancient gold and
silver coin of India has almost entirely disappeared.
Owing to the heavy remittances made from India to England by the East
India Company in silver, at different periods, there has often been a very
great scarcity o f the circulating medium in that dependency; so great indeed,
that when famine had decimated the population, and sufficient rice might be
bought for one rupee to sustain a human being for a month, there was no
money to be had, and vast quantities o f grain were shipped to England, to
the Mauritius, to Australia, and to other parts o f the world.
Although the monetary resources o f any country ought to be among the
first considerations in reference to its social and mercantile improvement, in
regard to British India, there is reason to believe that its monetary condition
never at any time engaged the serious attention o f the authorities either in
India or in Britain. During their supremacy the East India Company mo
nopolized not only the commerce, but in a great measure also, if not en
tirely, the exchange and monetary transactions o f India. So long as they
were both merchants and sovereigns they were perhaps justified in endeavoring
to retain, as much as possible, the whole o f the exchange business in their
own hands; but since they have ceased to exist as a mercantile corporation,
their functions as exchange agents must be presumed to have ceased also.
582
Banking in India.
The transmission o f money from one part o f India to another is generally
performed by a class o f natives termed shroffs, sonears, or exchange agents,
who give drafts, called hoondees, on their correspondents, at an excessive rate
o f exchange; and make advances to the native cultivators and traders at
two, three, and five per cent per month. The transmission o f money from
India to England, and from England to India, is done almost entirely by the
East India Company, and a few private merchants whose establishments are
termed “ agency houses,” and who carry on trade in commodities as well as
in money. The large and rapid return o f profit arising from exchange and
money transactions induced many o f the most respectable mercantile houses
engaged in commerce between England and India to make trade a secondary
consideration. The capital that should have been invested in the production
o f sugar, cotton, indigo, coffee, and other commodities, was employed almost
entirely in exchange operations; and in 1830 six o f the houses established in
Calcutta failed to the extent o f £14,330,000, inflicting great loss and misery
upon the Indian community, as well as serious injury on trade and com
merce.
The East India Company have an agency in India, who make advances on
goods o f various descriptions. These goods are shipped to England as a
covering for bills received by the East India Company, and when the bills
are paid the company’s lien on the goods ceases. The Company make large
profits upon these transactions. They alter or depress the exchange at pleas
ure, and with such a powerful competitor no trader can calculate for six
months what the exchange will be.
The introduction o f a sound and extended system o f banking has been re
peatedly advocated as the only proper and safe remedy for this state o f af
fairs. A n d under all the circumstances that have been stated, it may be im
agined that there is no part o f the British dominions which presents a better
field for prosecuting with success the trade o f banking than India. There is
indeed no country where capital may be employed with the prospect of
greater profit and advantage. The recent permission to introduce railways
must also tend to facilitate the development o f her internal resources. Yet
however apparent these facts may be, it is quite notorious that the banking
and monetary facilities o f British India are still o f the most meager descrip
tion. A glance at the number and history o f the existing banks will show
this. The first o f these is
T he B ank of B engal . This establishment was first suggested to the
'Marquis o f W ellesley in 11 9 8 -9 by Mr. St. George Tucker, now a member
b f the Court o f Directors o f the East India Company. Although the Mar' quis W ellesley was duly impressed with the necessity and desirableness of
such an institution, and afforded Mr. Tucker every assistance in his power, it
was not until 1806 that the latter gentleman was enabled to carry his useful
project into effect; and it was not until 1809 that a charter was obtained
from the local government o f Bengal, limiting the responsibility o f the share
holders, in conformity with instructions sent out from England. A n error is
alleged to have been committed by the government in becoming joint pro
prietors with the public in this bank, instead o f founding a proper system o f
banking, either entirely under the control o f the government, or entirely open
to the public. The shares o f this bank have long been at a premium o f
sixty per cent. The annual dividend has averaged ten per cent, and the
bank has distributed still further profits in bonuses.
From 1809 to 1829 there was no further attempt to form another
Banking in India.
583
public bank in India. Several o f the Calcutta merchants, who were also
bankers, issued notes on their own private credit; and shortly previous to
their failure was founded the U nion B ank of C alcutta, This Bank had a
career o f considerable prosperity, but through the gross mismanagement of
its directors it failed in 1848, entailing ruin and beggary upon many o f its
unfortunate shareholders.
The great losses experienced by the civil and military servants o f the East
India Company in the Upper Provinces, through the failure o f the Calcutta
agency houses, led them to form a small joint stock bank at Agra, where
their savings could be safely lodged, and their money employed in advances
to the land owners in the district. This is the
A gra and U nited S ervice B ank . It was established in 1833, and has
agencies at London, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, and Mirzapore. Its shares
are at a high premium. The dividend paid is twelve per cent. It has no local
charter, was altogether unassisted by government, and is represented to be a
thriving establishment.
T he B ank of B ombay was commenced at Bombay in 1837. Several
hundred thousand pounds were subscribed and paid up by the shareholders,
when they encountered the most extraordinary and determined opposition
first in England, and afterwards from the supreme government at Bengal.
A t length, in 1840, a charter was obtained limiting the liability o f the share
holders, the government being also copartners in the bank.
The next bank to be noticed is the B ank of M adras . This is a small
government bank, founded by Lord W illiam Bentinck in 1806 for the con
venience of the local authorities, and now enlarged.
Besides these there is the N orth W estern B ank of I ndia , established at
Meerut, with branches in London, Calcutta, Mussoorie, and Lahore. There
is also a small bank at D elhi, called the D elhi B ank .
The hanks at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, whose notes are taken in
payment of duties by government, are prohibited from entering into exchange
or remittance operations beyond the limits of India. Their business is re
stricted chiefly to the limited population o f the presidencies in which they
are placed, and they are of course o f comparatively little advantage to the
inhabitants o f India generally. The mass o f the farmers and traders are still
dependent upon the shroffs, or money lenders, for pecuniary advances, which
they obtain at the rate o f twenty-four per cent per annum ; or they are fa
vored with small loans from the government, to enable them to carry on their
agricultural operations from seed-time to harvest.
A t the Presidencies o f Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, the interest upon
first-rate European securities varies from eight to ten per cent on bills at short
dates. Mr. Trevelyan, in his evidence before a Select Committee of the
House o f Commons on East India produce, stated that the lowest rate o f in
terest is twenty-four per cent. The ordinary rate is an ana a month per ru
pee, about seventy-five per cent per annum. The Right Hon. H olt Macken
zie stated, in his evidence before both Houses o f Parliament, that the lowest
rate o f interest paid by cultivators in the Bengal part o f India was two per
cent per month. Mr. Gordon stated that the native bankers on small deal
ings charge as high as five per cent per month, which is at the rate o f sixty
per cent per annum.
From these statements it must be clear that the legitimate trader is very
much at the mercy o f those who possess capital, while the retiring civil and
military servants, returning to England with the accumulated savings o f years
584
\
R eciprocal Trade between the
o f toil, sickness, and anxiety, have in many instances been entirely ruined by
the failures o f those native houses to whom they had entrusted their property.
It is obvious, therefore, to all persons interested in the affairs o f India, that
the natural and most effectual remedy for this state o f things is the introduc
tion and extension o f a sound and perfect system o f banking;— a system
which, while it will enable the merchants and traders to transact their busi
ness with safety and economy, will also extend to the cultivators and produ
cers that assistance, encouragement, and protection, without which they can
never hope to realize any advantage by their industry; and without which
the vast resources and immense natural wealth o f the Indian possessions o f
Great Britain must ever remain dormant and concealed.
Some more enlarged idea o f the valuable and astonishing results calculated
to arise from the timely and judicious introduction and establishment o f a
sound and' well organized system of banking into India, might perhaps be
formed by contemplating the beneficial advantages which have sprung from
its introduction into Scotland, England, Ireland, the W est Indies, Aus
tralia, and other colonies o f Great Britain. In Scotland alone, the working
o f a sound and unfettered system o f joint stock banking has been attended
with the most astonishing results. Though a poor country, with a sterile
soil, a cold and inclement climate, and a limited population, she has, owing
to her well managed banking system, exhibited a steady and rapid improve
ment in commerce and the arts. Similar results have been experienced in
many o f the British colonies, but upon the system o f colonial banking it is
not our purpose at present to enter. It is imagined that enough has been
stated to prove that British India is miserably deficient in banking institutions,
and in those facilities which are required for the development o f her im
mense resources.
g. m . b.
Art. II,— R E C I P R O C A L T R A D E B E T W E E N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S
AND TH E B R I T I S H PROV INCE S.
O ne o f the marked and highly interesting features o f the present age, is
a growing desire among Christian nations for a more intimate communica
tion with each other. This is the mighty stimulant that begets lines o f
packets, navigated as well by sails as steam, to travel the sea; and lines o f
railroad and electric telegraphs to travel the land, and hold communication
with distant points. To meet the exigencies o f the middle o f the nineteenth
century, time and distance must submit to comparative annihilation, and the
business o f a year must be compressed into a single day. B y this progress
o f gradual, although rapid improvement, mankind are now engaged in the
task o f teaching themselves to do more in a season than our forefathers were
wont to accomplish in a generation.
Let us, therefore, who profess to be Christians, learn to put the right in
terpretation on this novel spirit o f our own times. A ll knowledge is o f G o d ;
and although we may feel within ourselves the desire for this onward progress
without being able to interpret for ourselves its end and consequences, yet,
as we are taught to believe that all knowledge comes from him and is de
signed by him for good, let us not mar the handywork of the Almighty
through any lack o f energy of our own. Asking wisdom from on high, let
United States and the B ritish Provinces.
585
us seek the Divine aid in our pursuits, conscious that our temporal as well
as our spiritual concerns are the especial objects o f h i s care.
The subject o f these remarks is a brief and rapid sketch of that portion o f
North America which now comprises the last hold o f British rule on this
continent. Let us, who speak the language o f England, and whose minds
have been enlarged and enlightened by her great men, in whose veins flow
the same current that beat at the hearts o f Hampden and K ing John, whose
model government is an epitome o f that time-honored constitution that has
stood the battles and the breezes o f eight centuries, remember that language,
religion, and law makes brothers o f Englishmen and Americans still, and
although our forefathers met in deadly strife, let the animosities o f the past
molder in the graves o f the victim s; for us who live now, Anglo-Saxons o f
both hemispheres, a nobler duty is in prospect; to Englishmen America is
the E l D orado o f human rights, the plantation o f the liberty o f the human
race; to Americans, England is the classic ground o f dead generations o f our
forefathers. The sculptured names o f Westminster A bbey are now borne by
many a living statesman within the halls o f our Federal councils; whilst the
eloquence that echoed from the sires in the halls o f St. Stephen, is repeated
by the sons from pulpit, bench, and bar, over the wide expanse o f AngloAmerica. Spirits o f our dead fathers! by the lightning’s speed we hope to
greet you yet across the sea! !
The names o f the British provinces are Canada, (till within the last few
years called Upper and Lower Canada ; now under the government o f a sin
gle province, and known as Canada W est and Canada East,) New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, (to the government o f which is attached the Island o f Cape
Breton,) and Newfoundland. I propose to give a few extracts from various
authorities by way of tracing the early history of these separate colonies,
who, although they constitute together what is commonly called “ British
America,” have no confederate government, but are entirely independent o f
each other in their legislative and civil relations, and amenable only to the
control o f the Imperial Parliament and British crown.
Rogers, in his “ Concise account o f North America,” published in London,
1765, thus describes the settlement o f Canada:—
“ This country was first settled by the French, who kept possession till Sep
tember 13, 1759, when Quebec was surrendered to the Generals Monckton and
Townsend, commanding the British troops; and September 8, 1760, all Canada
was given up to the English in the capitulation at Montreal, agreed upon and
signed by Gen. Amherst and M. de Vaudreuil, the French governor, since con
firmed by the treaty o f Fontainbleau. The French comprehended, under the
name o f Canada, great part o f New England, and the provinces o f New York and
Nova Scotia northerly to Hudson’s Bay, westerly to the Pacific Ocean, and south
erly to the Gulf o f M exico; and had erected a chain o f forts, from the mouth o f
the St. Lawrence to their settlements at Louisiana, to support their claims.”
“ They began the settlement o f this province in 1605 at Quebec.” (Seven
years before Hendrick Hudson’s expedition landed in the Bay o f New York, which
was in 1612, and fifteen years before the landing o f the Puritans at Plymouth,
which was in 1620.) “ Quebec is situated on the north shore o f the River St.
Lawrence, about three hundred miles from its mouth. About the same time set
tlements were begun upon the island o f Orleans, a little below Quebec, and on
each side o f the river to its mouth, and upon several small rivers that fall into it.
Up the river, from Quebec about twenty miles, they soon began a settlement
called Jecorty, and erected a fort at Chambly, on the River Sorrel, near where it
falls out o f Lake Champlain. Soon after this the foundations o f Montreal were
586
Reciprocal Trade between the
laid on the Island o f Montreal, situated in the River St. Lawrence, about 200
miles from Quebec.
“ Another considerable settlement was made at Trois Rivieres, so called from a
river disembouging itself by three mouths or channels into the River St. Law
rence ; and is situated about half-way between Quebec and Montreal, in a very
delightful place.”
According to Major Roberts, Quebec in 1165, which was but six years
after its capture from the French, contained about 1,500 dwelling-houses, be
sides several public buildings, several hospitals, a nunnery, and a mansion
house for the Roman Catholic bishop and the Jesuits. The population o f
Canada at that time he computes at 100,000.
The original settlement o f the North American continent, between the
G ulf o f St. Lawrence and the Mississippi River, was as follow s:— O f the
twelve colonies originally planted, eight were English, two were French, one
was Dutch, and one was Swedish.
The English colonies were North and South Carolina, originally one colony,
settled in 1 5 8 5 ; Nova Scotia in 1604, Newfoundland in 1610, New Eng
land in 1620, New Jersey in 1626, Maryland in 1633, Pennsylvania in 1681,
Georgia in 1733.
The French colonies were Canada and Louisiana, settled in 16 05 ; the
Dutch was New York, in 1612 ; the Swedish was New Jersey, in 1626.
According to these dates, Nova Scotia was the second, Canada the third,
and Newfoundland the fifth European settlement in the order o f succession
o f that country which now constitutes the United States to the eastward o f
the Mississippi River and the British provinces.
Newton Bosworth, in a book published at Montreal in 1839, entitled
“ Hochelaga D epicta: The early history and present state o f the City and
Island o f Montreal,” speaks o f the visit o f Jacques Cartier (in 1535) to the
then town o f Montreal, o f which the Indian name is a part of the title o f
his book, “ Hochelaga,” in the following manner :■—
“ Having seen all that he deemed worthy o f notice in the city, Cartier proceed
ed to examine the mountain in its vicinity. It was even then, according to his ac
count, tilled all round, and remarkable for its fertility. He was particularly en
chanted with the magnificent and beautiful view presented to him from the sum
mit o f its eastern promontory; and so splendid a panorama o f thirty leagues ra
dius, must have given him a lofty and gratifying idea o f the country he had been
exploring. In honor o f the king, his master, he gave to the elevation the name
o f Mount R oyal, which, with a singular change in the termination, has since been
extended to the city itself, and to the whole o f the island and district in which it
is situated.”
It was called, however, Mount Royal as late as 1690 by Major W ally in
his official journal, to be met with in Smith’s History o f Canada.
In a book edited by Robert Cooney, and published at Halifax, N. S., in
1832, entitled “ A Compendious History o f the Northern part o f the Pro
vince o f New Brunswick, and the District o f Gaspe, in Lower Canada,” we
find the following account o f the two provinces o f New Brunswick and Nova
S cotia:—
“ The Province o f New Brunswick formerly constituted a part o f Nova Scotia,”
(the separation took place in 1784.) “ Nova Scotia teas the first European settle
ment on the continent o f North America. The early history o f the province in
volves an alternation o f proprietorships between the French and the English;
the former claiming it by priority o f possession, the latter by discovery. The
first grant o f land was given by King James I., in 1621, to his secretary, Sir W il-
United States and the B ritish Provinces.
581
liam Alexander, who called it Nova Scotia, or New Scotland. It was then con
sidered by the English as a part o f Cabot’s discovery o f Terra N ova; hut the
first settlers were French emigrants, who arrived there in 1604 with Monsieur Des
Monts, who called the country Acadia, or New France.”
After a series o f changes from the dominion o f France to that o f England,
and so vice versa, Acadia or Nova Scotia reverted to the British crown in
1712, and has ever since continued to he a British colony. But the peacea
ble possession o f the country was long disturbed by hostile incursions on the
part o f the French until after the taking o f Quebec and final ceding o f the
whole o f Canada to Great Britain in 1760, since which time no further in
terruption has been given to British rule in Nova Scotia by any other power.
The Island o f Cape Breton, which was, till within about twenty-five years,
a province by itself, but is now attached to the government o f Nova Scotia,
is thus described in a work published in London in 1766, entitled “ The im
portance and advantage o f Cape Breton truly stated, and impartially consid
ered.”
“ Cape Breton is situated between 454 and 471 degrees o f north latitude, and is
separated from Acadia by the narrows o f the Gut o f Canso, on the south-west;
and the other strait or passage o f Cape Ray separates it from Newfoundland on
the north-east. It is indented on every side by large bays, which cuts almost
through it in some places, and forms several commodious harbors. The island is
about 120 miles in length and 50 miles in breadth.”
There are several smaller islands in the Gut o f Canso and the Gulf o f St.
Lawrence that belong respectively to the provinces o f Nova Scotia and Can
ada East.
The waters that border Nova Scotia and the Gulf o f St. Lawrenoe abound
with fish, and furnish to the inhabitants o f these coasts employment for many
vessels and almost their entire population. The country itself, except parts
o f Cape Breton, is barren and unproductive, and the climate is cold and un
certain for almost every other crop hut potatoes ; hence the ground is only
tilled for a secondary object, while the depths o f the sea are expected to
compensate man for his chief toil.
The fishermen o f Maine and Massachusetts have largely participated in the
mackerel and herring fisheries o f Canso, Gaspe, and the Bay o f Fundy for
many years. B y the treaty o f Ghent, England gave permission to the United
States to fish in these waters within one league o f the coast. W ith that
characteristic liberality by no means singular, and which renders the proverb o f
the “ inch and the ell ” equally as true in fact as it is in rhetoric, the Long
Tom Coffins o f Cape Ann and Marblehead soon forgot to measure distances,
and quietly made their fish on the Nova Scotia shores until the British cruis
ers awakened them to a sense o f their situation. Might, which, according
to venerable usage, becomes right, has often sent John Bull’s cruisers to sea
in bad weather, and left the Swains, Harpers, and Howlands to enjoy their
gurry and ill-gotten spoils together. Finally, the amiable lady across the
sea, with characteristic good nature, has for a few past years allowed the
Swains o f Cape Sable and the Swains o f Cape Ann to fish and fight in peace,
no one caring to make them afraid.
New Brunswick is situated between the 45th and 49th degrees o f north
latitude, and between the 64th and 68th degrees o f west longitude. It is
about 250 miles in length and 200 miles in breadth, and contains 50,000
square miles. The first settlement o f New Brunswick began in 1785, by
the loyalists from New York and other parts o f the United States that re-
588
Reciprocal Trade between the
moved from this country after the final triumph o f republican principles.
Its population has been increased from time to time by emigration from the
mother country and a very few adventurers from the adjacent State o f
Maine. Its principal city is St. John, situated at the confluence o f the river
o f the same name with the Bay o f Fundy, at about 180 miles from the A t
lantic Ocean. The city o f St. John has been remarkable, as a colonial city,
for its enterprise in navigation. The tonnage, according to population, was
at one time supposed to be greater than that o f any other city in the world.
In Benson’s Memoir, published in the collections of the New York Histori
cal Society, second series, vol. ii., part 1, page 8 4 , 1 find the following:—
“ The Sieur Des Monts led a colony from France in 1604. He entered the Bay
o f Fundy, thence thereafter at times known as French Bay, visited a harbor which he
called Port Royal, now Annapolis, and afterwards making the circuit o f the Bay,
and returning along the western shore, came to a river the 24th o f June, and it
being the festival o f the Baptist, gave it the name o f St. John. Sailing further
westward, he entered the Bay o f Passamaquoddy, and landed on an island in a
river emptying into the bay, to which he gave the name o f St. Croix.”
It appears from this extract that the Bay o f Fundy, still called French
Bay on some o f the old maps to be found in the library o f this society, was
visited by Europeans sixteen years before the landing o f the Plymouth colony
in Massachusetts.
The following account o f Newfoundland is taken from Rogers’ book, al
ready referred t o :—
“ Newfoundland, so named by the first discoverer, is the most considerable isl
and in North America for extent, being situated east o f the Gulf o f St. Lawrence,
between 46° 40' and 42° 07' north latitude, and 41° 52' and 57° 40' west longi
tude. It is bounded easterly and southerly by the Atlantic Ocean, northerly by
the Straits o f Bellisle, and on the west by the Gulf of St. Lawrence.”
“ This island was discovered by the Cabots in 1497, who took possession o f it
in the name o f King Henry V II.; but no colony was planted here till some con
siderable time after.” * * * “ In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Sir William Gil
bert was sent out with a commission to prohibit all persons not being her sub
jects to fish upon the coasts o f this island. No lands in the island were granted
till 1610, when King James gave a grant to the Earl o f Southampton, and others,
o f all that part o f Newfoundland, lying between Cape Bona Vista and Cape St.
Mary.” * * * “ During the protectorship o f Cromwell, Sir David Kirk, without
commission, took possession o f the island.”
After this time the English settlements declined, and the French took ad
vantage o f the circumstance and erected a fort at Placentia, and claimed the
sole right to the island and fishery. After the revolution and the restora
tion o f Charles H., the English re-established their claim, and attempted to
destroy Fort Placentia, but did not succeed. The following season Sir John
Norris, with a squadron, and 1,500 land forces, established a fort at St. John’s,
which the French attacked in the year 1705 and destroyed the town, but
could not reduce the fort. In 1762 the French took the island and reduced
the fort to their subjection, but it was retaken from them during the same
season, and they were excluded from all parts o f the island except the “ Banks”
and a few small islands between Cape Ray and Cape St. Vincent. Major
Rogers adds in 1765 :—
“ There are in this island many fine rivers, lakes, and rivulets, which abound
with beaver, otters, and the like, and in which is great plenty o f salmon, and many
other kinds o f fish. There is also great plenty o f wild-fowl, and the forests are
stored with deer, moose, bears and wolves in great plenty. But the great staple
United States and the B ritish Provinces.
589
commodity o f this island is codfish, which are here larger and in greater abun
dance than in any part o f the world yet discovered, and great part o f the
world is at present supplied with this article o f food chiefly from hence.” * * *
“ The winters are severe, attended with almost continual storms o f snow, sleet,
&c., the sky being generally overcast.” * * * “ The inhabitants make use o f dogs
for drawing wood and other conveyances, which they manage with great dexterity,
fixing them in leather collars, to any number they please.”
The population o f all the British provinces in North America may be rea
sonably calculated at about two millions o f inhabitants at the present time,
o f which one-third are French descendants, and the remainder are either de
scendants o f the “ Refugees,” who left the old colonies after their indepen
dence, or English, Irish, and Scotch emigrants from the mother country, who
have come out to seek their fortune in the New W orld, and prefer the gov
ernment o f England to that o f the United States.
The descendants o f the “ Refugees,” as they were called in the land they
left, or “ Loyalists,” as they called themselves in the land o f their adoption,
were settled chiefly in Nova Scotia, and on the River St. John, in the newly
formed province of New Brunswick. There are several fine rivers in the Brit
ish provinces, o f which the noble St. Lawrence is an example, unequaled for
size on the North American continent. But the St. John, which is about
three hundred miles in length, is remarkable for its fertility and rural beauty.
A rich margin o f intervale land lines its banks for the greater part o f its
course, and the high lands gradually swell into inclining planes on either
side as you advance, with here and there a picturesque island, studded with
elms, and its bold bluffs and wooded points rising to the view.
A large number o f the original settlers on the lower portion o f the St.
John River, and its tributary lakes and streams, were originally from W est
chester county, and other counties o f this State bordering on the Hudson
River. The similarity o f manners, looks, habits, speech and customs between
the people o f the Hudson and the St. John is most apparent, and could not
fail to strike the visiter from either section at the moment.
For many years the British government have extended towards these
provinces a scale o f protective duties, by which the products o f the colo
nies, chiefly timber, were shipped to England under an impost less than
one-fifth o f that charged upon the same articles from foreign countries.
From causes that is not pleasant, neither is it indispensable, to explain, the
growth o f these colonies has been slow compared with the United States ;
and at the present moment, when England has withdrawn her protection,
these colonies are forced to look abroad to protect themselves. Happy
would it have been for them if this protection (?) had been withdrawn years
ago!
Under the protection o f the mother country, the trade o f these provinces
has been constantly subject to revulsions. Having no other markets but
those o f England to depend upon, every depression in the trade o f that king
dom has been immediately and oftentimes fatally extended to her North
American colonies. B u t it remained fo r the fin a l withdrawal o f England's
protection to strike a death-blow at the fu tu re prosperity o f this country.
N ever was commerce and industrial pu rsu its more prostrate than now in
B ritish A m erica, especially the lower provinces.
To meet this contingency, whose paralyzing effect is sending thousands
o f their people into the United States to look for bread, a plan o f reciprocal
trade is proposed between the provinces and the United States, by which the
590
Reciprocal Trade between the
products o f both countries may be exchanged free o f duty, being nothing
more in reality than what takes place between the several States themselves.
The British government it is hoped will accede to the measure, and hence
forth, for the time to come, this fine country and fine people will be placed
on a basis o f permanent prosperity and solid advantage.
In the session o f Congress for 1848, a measure was proposed in the House
o f Representatives by which the Canadas were to be permitted to exchange
the productions o f their country with those of the United States free o f duty.
Unfortunately for the interests o f Canada, the business o f the session was
brought so near a close before the measure was proposed, that time was not
left to bring the subject up in the Senate. During the recess o f last season,
the merchants o f New Brunswick sent authorized agents to Washington to
treat with the late Secretary o f the Treasury on the subject. The result o f
this negotiation was, that Mr. Walker, in his annual report, recommended
that as well Mexico as the British provinces should be invited to come into a
general co-operation with the United States on the subject o f reciprocity, and
that all productions o f the one country might be admitted into the other in
dependent o f duties in exchange for the productions o f that country alone.
The practical operation o f such a system would not work against the in
terests o f England in supplying her colonies with her own manufactures, as
we have not been able as yet in the United States to manufacture as low as
England does, and never expect to as long as labor costs seven times in the
United States what it does in England.
I have myself bestowed a great deal o f labor on the subject o f convincing
the people in the British provinces o f the peculiar and natural advantages of
sending their products to the United States instead o f Great Britain; and
with that object in view, and because that the importance of the trade is as
great to the United States as it is to the British provinces, I propose to show
in this place some o f the good results that American commerce, and especially
the commerce o f this city, will derive therefrom. I shall treat this subject
with brevity.
A glance on the map will show that Montreal, Quebec, St. John, N. B.,
Halifax, and S t John’s, Newfoundland, are nearer to Boston, New York, Phil
adelphia, and Baltimore, than Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New
Orleans, and all the other large towns west and south that send their pro
ductions to the sea-board and receive the manufactures o f the East in ex
change. The expenses o f transportation is far less from our principal com
mercial sea-ports to the above-named towns in the provinces, than it is to our
chief towns in the W est and South. The productions o f the provinces are
pine, spruce, and birch lumber in all the varieties o f boards and scantling;
dried, smoked, and pickled fish ; lime and coa l; to which might be easily
added all kinds o f esculents, such as potatoes, turnips, &c., and dairy pro
ducts superior to anything o f the kind usually seen in our markets; whilst
the quality o f New Brunswick and Nova Scotia fed beef, pork and mutton,
is superior to western. In respect to pine and spruce lumber alone, the
forests o f New Brunswick produce larger sizes and better qualities for build
ers than is known in our Atlantic cities. In the course o f twelve years’ large
and intimate acquaintance with the timber trade, I have seen many sticks o f
pine shipped to England that would square upwards o f thirty inches, and
run over twenty-five feet clear o f knots. Such wood, although immensely
valuable to the builders o f New York if it could be obtained, is never seen
by them ; and from all that, in the course o f my inquiries as well o f dealers
United States and the B ritish Provinces.
591
as builders, I have come in contact with, I have received strong wishes to he
supplied with such an article.
That the price which lumber o f this description would bring in New York
would pay the shipper better than what it usually sells for in Liverpool, may
be demonstrated by the following calculation:—
The general average price, when the trade to England was considered
favorable, was about 22 pence sterling per cubic foot for timber of
this description. In 1,000 superficial feet there are 83£ cubic feet,
which comes to.........................................................................................
£7
12
02
Eight per cent for loss in measurement............................... £0 12 02
Freight, 35s. per load of 50 cubic fe e t.............................. 2 18 01
Commissions on sale and guarantee, 4 per cent............... 0 06 01
Insurance on cargo and freight, say 50s. sterling a 2 p. ct. 0 01 00
Dock rates, town dues, and incidentals, say......................
0 02 00
---------------
3
19
04
Total.....................................................................................................
A dd one-fifth for difference in exchange and premium..................
£3
0
12
14
10
07
£4
07 05
$17 49
CHARGES.
In colonial currency.................................................................
A t $4 to the colonial £ is......................................................
I f the same article was cut into seasoned lumber suited to the New
York market, 1,000 superficial feet would be worth, delivered at a
pier in the city of New York.................................................................
Deduct freight, commissions, <fec................................................................
Difference in favor of selling in New York in preference to Liverpool
$25 00
5 75
$19 25
176
The credit in Liverpool is four to six months. In New York the freight
part of the cargo is cash, remainder three months. The time taken to per
form a voyage to Liverpool is short to reckon on an average as 35 days.
The time to perform a voyage from any port in the Bay o f Fundy to New York
is long enough to reckon on an average as ten days. A vessel o f the capa
city of 600,000 superficial feet, carrying bulk, could as easily make five voy
ages to New York in a year as she could make three to Liverpool.
N o one who has not had the means o f examining into the subject can
form any idea o f the vast consumption o f all kinds o f lumber in the city of
New York. In the course o f fifteen years last past, the number o f houses,
stores, and public buildings alone that has been built in this city would make
a larger city than New York itself thirty years before, or as large as Boston
in the year 1830. This is without taking Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, Jersey
City, or Hoboken into the account at a ll; the former o f which cities is three
times the size now that it was in the latter year, and the next is seven times.
Besides the consumption o f lumber in the city o f New York and neighbor
hood for building purposes, the consumption o f that material in our external
commerce is immense. It is impossible to calculate the extent o f pine lum
ber used for packing-cases and yearly sent out o f New York city, with the
goods they contain; but I am acquainted with one box-maker alone whose
yearly consumption is over two millions o f feet superficial, and this is but one
out o f more than one hundred o f the same profession, several o f which ap
proach to nearly the same extent. All kinds o f salted and dried fish are
consumed over this entire continent; and the continent o f South America
and the islands o f the Atlantic Ocean within the tropics are supplied in
the main by New York, New England, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
592
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
So much for the import trade from the provinces to the United States,
which at present is paralyzed by the restrictive duty. I turn now to the
trade from the United States to the provinces. All manufactures of leather,
agricultural implements, (many o f which are peculiar to the United States,
and not to be met with elsewhere,) many articles o f hardware o f superior
make, and a better adaptation to colonial wants than English make, can be
had by the provinces better and as cheap in the United States as they can
import them from the mother country, and want but the withdrawal o f the
colonial imposts to find an extensive and rapid consumption among two mil
lions o f people on our eastern arm that now do not know them, or but know
them sparingly.
The same causes that makes New York the place o f resort o f the western
and southern merchant now, will make her the resort o f the eastern mer
chant in the British provinces then, when the trade between these provinces
and the United States is as free as it is between the States themselves at the
present mom ent; namely, that because New York is the emporium o f all
the manufactures o f the United States, as well as the emporium o f foreign
commodities besides; merchants at a distance come here to buy because they
can buy cheaper, and find assortments better suited to their wants. Thus
each alternation in the turn o f trade enlarges the sphere o f operations o f her
who is the commercial as well as the Empire City o f these United States,—
a city whose metropolitan character resembles the sun in his zenith, whose
golden rays are always the first to shine upon each new object that comes
within the reach o f his beams.
Citizens of the United States, Merchants and Statesmen, ye in whose hands
are the destinies o f the future, think o f these things!
g. w . p .
Art. III.— T H E C O A S T S U R V E Y OF T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S .
To
F r e e m a n H u nt , Esq., Editor o f the Merchants' Magazine, etc.
D ear Si r :— I intended, in support o f the article on the Survey o f the
Coast o f the United States, which appeared in the February number o f your
Magazine, to have made before now a brief statement of such information
concerning it as should be elicited by the debates on the subject in Congress.
The documents produced during the discussion have, however, been but re
cently published, and contain but imperfect information on the points of
most importance. In the meantime a reply to the February article, from
Lieut. C. H. Davis, has appeared in the Magazine for April, and though
much o f the body o f this latter paper consists in plain denial without proof,
and is therefore not entitled to any notice, I shall glance at such parts of
it as deserve most attention; not forgetting, in the meantime, the analysis of
documents, which it was m y original purpose to make, and which present
the only additional facts worth attention.
A t page 403 of Lieut. Davis’ answer, he says, speaking o f the author o f
the article in the February number, “ I f one-half o f what he asserts is true,
why did he not bring the subject, with the authority o f his name and p osi
tion, under the notice o f some member o f the executive governm ent, or under
that o f Congress'' The writer must be little learned in the intrigues o f
Washington, not to know that an organized body, like the Survey o f the
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
593
Coast, with an annual patronage o f at least a quarter o f a million, and offi
cers and em ployes of*all kinds, amounting to near a hundred, may be guilty
o f abuses, which, though apparent to all, can for a long time he practised
with impunity before they attract the attention o f the public press or o f the
opposition in Congress, the only two censors to which they can ever be
made amenable. The influence o f such an establishment is always power
fully felt in the Legislature, wdiile its patronage enables it, to a very con
siderable extent, to control the press. There needs no other proof o f this
than reference to wrhat occurred immediately on the appearance o f the arti
cle on the Coast Survey, published in the February number. Anonymous
communications were circulated in every direction, attacking grossly the char
acter o f the supposed author o f that paper, and their admission into respect
able public journals was strongly urged. The course usual in similar cases was
adopted here— when you cannot disprove the testimony, you must impeach the
witness. The publications thus circulated consisted mostly o f flat denials with
out proofs, expressed in language such as became the subject. Language of this
kind even found admission into the speeches o f honorable Senators; and
though we perceive that they have been either expunged or much modified in
the reprints o f these speeches, there can be no doubt but that they were
really uttered in the course o f debate. It should be a source o f gratification
to the country that some one has been found to prefer charges against the
administration o f the Coast Survey. The Superintendent has now a fair op
portunity of vindicating his conduct and character, but it must be done by
document and proof, and not by mere assertion and denial.
Lieut. Davis (pages 403 and 404) exclaims against the wrjter o f the first
article “ because he has preferred to preserve his incognito.” The editor o f
the M erchants' M agazine was desired not to communicate the name o f the
author to any one not being personally interested in the publication, or who
could not satisfy him that any o f its statements were unfounded. He had
always authority to communicate the name to persons claiming to know it
for such reasons, and there was no other legitimate grounds upon which it
could be asked. A t the time o f its publication there existed reasons for a tem
porary concealment which exist no longer, and the name is at the service o f the
public. It has been injured, for the first time, by the influence and efforts
o f the Superintendent o f the Survey o f the C oast; but it is to be hoped
that time, which always brings truth to light, will ere long do justice here.
Lieut. Davis (in the succeeding page) attacks the assertion that “ a geodetique operation, such as was commenced under the authority o f the law o f
1807, was not contemplated or understood by the government.” This as
sertion we deem fully proven by the wording o f the law o f 1807 ;— by the
debates in Congress concerning the Coast Survey, extending from that time
till 18 4 2 ;— by Mr. Gallatin’s letter, which limits the execution o f the Sur
vey to “ as much correctness as can be obtained within a reasonable tim e;”
— by Mr. Hassler’s reply, in which, though the geodetique project is men
tioned as the more accurate, still a chronometric survey is intimated as pos
sibly becoming necessary. But, most o f all, we deem this proven by Mr.
Crawford’s letter to Mr. Hassler o f April 6, 1818, which complains o f the
“ little progress hitherto made in the w'ork.”
Strictly speaking, there has not been any mere geodetique operation instituted by any country for
more than half a century. Such an operation would be (as the name im
plies) undertaken for purposes merely scientific, for the determination o f the
length o f a degree o f the meridian, or o f the value o f the ellipticity o f the
VOL. xx.— no. vi.
38
594
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
terrestrial spheroid. O f this kind were the first scientific expeditions o f La
Condamine, Bouguer, Maupertius, Cassini, La Caille, and others.
But, in
these later days, the most perfect operations have been instituted with views
altogether more practical and utilitarian. The surveys in Europe have been
carried on, in the maritime States, for purposes either geographic, commer
cial, or defensive; and in the inland States for the cadastre, or apportion
ment of taxes. The survey o f England was a continuation o f the triangu
lation commenced in 1783 for determining the difference o f longitude be
tween the meridians o f Greenwich and Paris. It was continued by the
Board of Ordnance in 1791, along the southern coast o f the kingdom, as af
fording the basis for a system o f defense, and only gradually assumed its
later organization and name. The survey o f Scotland originated in like
manner after the rebellion of 1745, and was at first described as “ a magni
ficent military sketch
while the survey o f Ireland, said to be the most per
fect operation o f its kind ever performed, was executed for the plain purpose
o f affording “ data for a mode o f apportioning more equally the local bur
dens collected in Ireland.” In this survey the compensation base apparatus
was first used by Col. Colby. This apparatus was constructed by Troughton
and Simms, and these distinguished artists received much and deserved
praise for their invention and labor. It is on the same principle as the base
apparatus constructed for the Survey o f the Coast o f the United States,
though altogether less perfect in its arrangements; but in the reports o f
the Superintendent, we look in vain for any allowance o f credit to the artists
in this country by whom the improvements were devised and executed—
their desert and honor is lost in the insatiable and all-appropriating fame of
the Superintendent.
But to return to Lieut. Davis. W h en we asserted that the government
did not contemplate a geodetique survey, we had no notion of intimating
that such might not have been the aim and meaning both o f Mr. Jefferson,
Mr. Gallatin, and Mr. Hassler— at least if such a project should be found
practicable, in the then state o f public opinion and information on such sub
jects. W e have, it is true, a theory o f our own on the subject, nor is it im
probable or unsupported; namely, that the Survey o f the Coast was first
thought o f as necessary to the proper maneuvering of Mr. Jefferson’s gun
boats, which then constituted nearly all the navy o f the United States, Be
this as it may, there can be much variance between the views o f two or three
distinguished men, connected with a government, and those o f the mass,
who are their constituents. To illustrate this, I will refer to a case o f no very
distant occurrence, which may perhaps have fallen under Lieut. Davis’ own
observation. W h en the resolution was passed in Congress directing the
magnetic observations made at Girard College to be published at the ex
pense o f the government, (an editorial function belonging as appropriately to
Congress as if they had directed the publication o f any other class o f papers
belonging to that institution, or o f any other with which they had no con
cern,) there cannot be the slightest doubt but that the Superintendent o f the
Coast Survey, the member who made the motion, and perhaps one or two
others, knew what they were about; but that the rest o f the Congress, who
gave this authority, were at all aware o f the true state of the case, was evident
from their astonishment when they found they had been sanctioning the pub
lication, at an enormous expense, of two thousand pages o f the most difficult
kind o f matter.
The next assault which Lieut. Davis attempts to make on the February
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
595
article is upon what he calls a theory o f ours in regard to the wish, on the
part o f the army and navy, to appropriate to themselves, or to one o f them,
the direction o f the Survey.
The expression o f general views to this effect, by distinguished officers of
the army and navy from 1817 till Mr. Hassler’s death, will be so wel 1 re
membered by all persons conversant with the affairs o f that time as to need
no corroboration. As expletive, however, of the feeling on that subject, we
may refer to Colonel Roberdeau’s paper, read before the Columbian Institute
in 1826. Speaking o f the British surveys, he says:— “ To that nation, and
to the skill and science o f its naval and military officers, to whom the direc
tion o f these explorations and surveys are exclusively entrusted, are the
United States and the nations o f Europe indebted for a greater part o f the
charts now in use, as well as for geographical knowledge o f the most valua
ble kind. The employment o f officers on this service does not, however, pre
clude the association o f others skilled in sciences connected with i t ; on the
contrary, they are generally employed ; but the command and management
is confided to the officers, and they only are responsible, at the same time
that due merit is allowed (Heaven bless the mark !) to each individual con
cerned in it for their respective investigations and services.” This quotation
expresses, fully and fairly, the Hews o f the greater part o f the army at that
tim e; and it is well known that the passage o f the law o f 1818 was mainly
owing to the intrigues o f an officer o f the navy, whose name it is not worth
while to mention. It is admitted that the distinguished officers named by
Lieut. Davis were all intimate and valued friends o f Mr. Hassler; but to as
sume that either they, or the officers o f the navy who served under him,
were fair representatives o f the general feeling o f either arm of the service,
in regard to the Survey o f the Coast, would be as just as to presume that
Lieut. Davis is at present the am our pa rfa it and true exponent o f the feeling
o f the navy either on that or on any other subject.
Lieut. Davis next lets fall his indignation upon us for speaking irreverently
o f Professor Henry and the Superintendent o f the Coast Survey. The first
o f these gentlemen is only mentioned in a note as the author o f an article
or pamphlet, bearing his name and designation, which was certainly repub
lished at Washington and circulated extensively for the avowed purpose o f
bringing the support o f his name and talent to the new administration o f the
Coast Survey. In like manner the Superintendent o f the Survey is spoken
o f only in reference to his works and writings. N o one doubts that he pos
sesses extraordinary abilities, and o f a very peculiar and valuable order, to wit,
o f the administrative and absorbent cast. Any, the most superficial observer
at Washington, must have noticed the extensive and all-pervading ramifica
tion o f influence and espionage which has for the last three or four years
supported the personal interests concerned in the Survey o f the Coast. This
power, under the administration just closed, has not only been felt among
the legislative and executive functionaries o f the government, but has entered
the domain o f private life, negotiating family alliances, cementing or dis
solving private friendships, and characterized always by the secrecy o f its mo
tions, and the certainty o f its ends. N o clique or faction of equal power, or
more perfect organization, has been felt in Washington since the last days
o f the last Bank of the United States. W h en the credit o f the bank began
to fail, and its management to be questioned, it was sustained for a long
time by the personal standing of Mr. Biddle and those connected with him.
But when it becomes necessary to bring private and personal influences to the
596
The Coast S u rvey o f the United States.
rescue o f public institutions, there is always evidence o f serious mismanage
ment somewhere; and in the ease o f the bank, it and its president fell very
nearly together. The case is about the same with the Coast Survey now as
with the bank then. It has been held and managed during the whole o f the
last superintendence for purposes o f family influence and personal aggran
dizement. W e hope it may not be destined to the fate o f its predecessor, but
that we may “ change the bailiff' instead o f ruining the farm.” In regard
to Dr. Bache personally, if we allowed him too little credit in our first notice,
we trust we have amply supplied the defect in the present. A s for his inti
macy with Airy, Hamilton, Smythe, Arago, and Humboldt, which Lieut.
Davis quotes as evidence o f his distinguished abilities, we hope it may be
presumed, in the present standing o f American science abroad, that the bare
position o f Superintendent o f the Coast Survey would give him an official
claim to the consideration o f such men even were he twenty times more
distinguished.
O f Borden’s Triangulation, the subject next treated o f in the communica
tion o f Lieut. Darns, it is admitted that five out o f sixteen stations occupied
by Dr. Bache are identical with those previously occupied by Borden. This
is certainly a pretty fair proportion. But we regret that, in order to prove
the necessity o f occupying these stations at all, (a point which was questioned
in the February article,) it has been found necessary to disparage the Massa
chusetts Triangulation, and to deny that any comparison was ever made
between the perfect operations o f the Survey o f the Coast and the more
modest and humble work o f its predecessor. It is said, “ Mr. Bache did not
compare his results with those o f Mr. B orden ; the means and instruments of
the latter were so far inferior to those o f the Coast Survey that such compar
ison was not desirable.”
Now, that Dr. Bache had, through one o f his assistants, or by some other
medium, obtained possession o f all the results o f the Borden Triangulation,
and that they were compared, and that satisfactorily, with the results o f the
Coast Survey, is a fact which, if an investigation o f these subjects should
ever be authorized, can be proven either by documentary evidence, or if not
so, then by other testimony equally as conclusive. The fact o f the compar
ison is o f too little consequence to merit discussion, and was mentioned b y
us in our former paper merely to show that, in commencing the Survey, the
present Superintendent had chosen the easiest and most healthful region for
his own operations, and one in which a pioneer had gone before him, whose
work, however unworthy to compare with that o f the Superintendent, had
at least opened for him his points and saved him the trouble o f a recon
naissance. This was mentioned, also, to show that all comparison o f the
extent o f surface covered by the primary triangulation, either in that region
or in the States o f New Hampshire and Maine, with surfaces o f the same
triangulation further southward, would produce conclusions entirely erroneous.
The points in the two latter States require little or no reconnaissance, and
lie, for the most part, op en ; while southward the preliminary operations
require often, nay, almost always, more time than those which are final.
The first year after the recommencement o f the Survey (1833) Mr. Hassler
occupied seven stations, a number which equals the greatest number ever
occupied by his successor in any one year. In the succeeding years his
progress, which was southward, besides being interrupted by the technical
difficulties constantly thrown in his way, was obstructed by the low, imper
vious nature o f the country, and by the time necessarily spent in reconnoiter-
The Coast S u rvey o f the United States.
597
ing and cutting open the lines o f the triangulation. This view o f the subject
is entirely avoided by Lieut. Davis, for reasons sufficiently apparent, and
altogether consistent with the present management o f the Coast Survey.
The assertion that, in taking the northern section o f the Survey, the Super
intendent merely assumed his proper position at its head, is rather whimsical,
unless the head o f a survey, like the top o f a map, should always be north
ward. W e deem that the proper position for the head of any establishment
is always where its operations are the most intricate, and require the closest
supervision; and if, at the commencement o f his operations, the Superin
tendent had located himself among the keys and reels of Florida instead of
on the more salubrious shores o f Rhode Island and Massachusetts, we appre
hend that his self-denial and patriotism would have been held in much
higher estimation than at present.
W e have now noticed the more general o f Lieut. Davis’ assertions, and
shall proceed to those which are more pointed and direct, not forgetting our
principal object, the analysis o f such documents as the late congressional
discussion has furnished.
Lieut. Davis pronounces our statement, “ that, at the stations o f the
main triangulation under the present superintendence, there are usually
thirty tents with the corresponding equipage, to be striking but erroneous.”
It would have been a better contradiction, and have borne some likelihood,
had the real number been stated. A series o f flat denials o f facts follow the
remarks in regard to the tents, and constitute the staple o f the paper. To
preserve the connection and avoid referring either to the February or April
numbers o f the Magazine, we will extract both the original statement and
its contradiction:—
“ If the five years’ work o f the present Superintendent, with a personnel
at least twice as large as the largest ever employed under the previous Su
perintendent— an appropriation more than eight times greater than that
with which the work began, and nearly twice as large as that with which the
former superintendence closed— and with vessels and equipages furnished by
the Revenue Bureau o f the Treasuiy Department to the amount o f $240,000
be compared with the eleven years’ work done by his predecessor, it will be
seen, even using the Superintendent’s arithmetical process, that there is but
little difference in the proportional quantities o f work done. I exclude from
this all comparison o f the area o f the primary triangulation. The reoccu
pation o f Borden’s Triangulation put the Superintendent at once in the pos
session o f triangles with sides o f from eighteen to seventy miles in length,
and superficial miles by the thousand were covered with more ease than
hundreds in any other portion o f the Survey.”— F ebruary Num ber.
O f this Lieut. Davis says, 1st. “ The first two fines are erroneous. A
reference to the table hereinafter given will prove this. In every case, except
the topography, which has been judiciously curtailed by diminishing the
distance inland to which the work is carried, and increasing the accuracy of
the portions surveyed, more work has been done in five years than in the
preceding twelve. The number o f assistants has not been doubled. The
appropriation has not been for the five years nearly double that with which
the previous superintendence closed. N o equipages have been transferred
from the Revenue Bureau, and no vessel o f that department was used until
1847. The writer excludes from his calculation the most important part of
Mr. Bache’s work— the most important in extent and valuable in results.
In this part o f the work it is strictly accurate to say, that the astronomical
The Coast S urvey o f the United States.
598
observations alone (which are but a single branch o f the primary field work)
greatly exceed in number and intrinsic value all the observations o f the same
kind made by Mr. Hassler during the whole eleven years that he had charge
o f the work in active operation. In this connection it should be mentioned
that the present Superintendent has in five years occupied as many prim ary
stations, and measured twice as many bases as the former Superintendent in
twelve years. The 1outer and more dangerous coast,’ which the writer else
where says ‘ has not been touched,’ has been surveyed to the extent o f twentyeight miles south o f Cape H enlopen. Great credit is due to Mr. Bache for
commencing the work o f North Carolina, with this very object o f including
the coast north o f Hatteras. This is one o f the conspicuous merits o f his
new system o f operations, that such work can be begun separately, the final
union with the other sections being deferred for the present. The survey is
rapidly advancing to Cape Hatteras.”— A p ril Num ber.
In regard to several o f these points, there are now printed documents not
existing at the time our first article was written, and o f which we will avail
ourselves. The comparison then instituted between the two superintendencies as to work and expense was between four years and twelve. In the
matter o f expense we have now the means o f making it between six years
and twelve, which will give a more certain proportion.
1st. As to the quantity o f work, our comparative estimate, which was as
six to five in favor o f Mr. Hassler, is attempted to be refuted on the author
ity o f a tabular statement which accompanies a report from the Treasury
Department to the Senate, dated February 8, 1849, and relates to the
“ expenditures and results o f the United States Coast Survey.” W e repeat,
that in regard to the real quantity o f work, or its value for purposes either
commercial or defensive, no correct estimate can be made, by comparing
either surfaces o f land or surfaces o f paper. The bases assumed for it in the
February number, namely, the number o f miles o f outer sea-coast, or the
comparison o f the areas o f the secondary triangulation, or o f topography,
are the only ones which will exhibit the truth even approximately; and all
these data, except the topography, which is admitted to be in favor o f Mr.
Hassler, are excluded from the table referred to. The area o f the triangula
tion is made to include both primary and secondary ; and the coast line in
each survey is estimated by some method, to which the paper contains no
clue. W e cannot find the four hundred and five miles o f sea-coast which
is credited to Mr. Bache, unless it follows the sinuosities o f Buzzard’s Bay,
and all the shores o f Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. If such be the
grounds o f the estimate, the quantity allowed to Mr. Hassler should include
both shores o f the Delaware, and the whole circuit o f Long Island, and
would be nearer 900 miles than 310, the length which is set down for it.
W e have examined the report already referred to, in hopes that it contained
in detail the data from which its results have been derived, but these are
looked for in vain; and we cannot better characterize this paper, than by
referring it to that class o f arithmetical computations for which we have
already given the Superintendent due credit. A n d while on this part o f the
subject, and to render any further notice unnecessary, we will refer to another
arithmetical operation, performed, it is to be presumed, by Lieut. Davis him
self. In the table referred to, the coast line already finished is set down at
710 miles; in the speech o f Senator Davis,* o f Mississippi, the whole coast
Speech o f Mr. Davis, o f Mississippi, on the subject o f the Coas Survey.—Page 7.
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
599
is admitted to be more than 28,000 miles in length. A t page 413 of Lieut.
Davis’s reply, he says, “ the statement that but one-eighth o f the coast o f the
United States has been surveyed, and that parties are engaged in, and have
been sent to either Mexico or California, is not altogether consistent with the
real facts; at least twice that extent having been surveyed, and the dispatch
o f any party whatsoever to Mexico or California never having been either
made or contemplated.” Now taking Lieut. Davis’ data, quoted above, we
should like to know by what process 710 is made two-eighths o f more than
28,000. Equally admirable and satisfactory is the arithmetical part o f the
speech o f the honorable Senator referred to, in which he arrives, by an in
direct process, at this conclusion, that because 710 miles of the coast have
been finished in seventeen years, therefore the small residuum, 27,910
miles, will be finished in fifteen years. The mystification about this process
is, that the northern triangulation, which will not have its topography finish
ed in at least eight years, is taken as part of the finished Survey. W e are
happy to learn that no parties have been sent either to Mexico or California,
but the official information, as to the destination o f Coast Survey parties
already sent to the Pacific, is not entirely satisfactory. Mr. Davis’ statement,
“ that the astronomical observations alone (which are but a single branch of
the primary field work) exceed in number and intrinsic value all the obser
vations o f the same kind made by Mr. Hassler during the whole eleven years
that he had charge o f the work in active operation,” is certainly very modest,
and may perhaps be true. Mr. Hassler, though admitted by Mr. Davis to be
a man of skill and science, was nevertheless something o f a utilitarian ; and
if he had not been such, the coercion o f public opinion would probably have
made him so. H e knew that astronomical observations could be made at
any time (better, probably, in the next century than in this) at the principal
points of the Coast Survey; and that what the country looked for and de
manded, was results practical and useful to the commercial interests. Suffi
cient astronomical observations were made to determine nearly the difference
o f longitude between some points on our coast and the principal meridians
o f the old w orld; and to do more than this, Mr. Hassler had neither means
nor instruments. In the matter o f sounding, which is not only stated in
numbers, but also in fathom s o f line, (this is another application o f the
transcendental arithmetic already mentioned,) and in which the work done
by Dr. Bache greatly exceeds that o f Mr. Hassler,* it is to be presumed that,
under any superintendence, seventeen vessels would do more sounding than
four. So much for the quantity o f work.
Lieut. Davis’ next point is a flat denial. “ The number o f assistants has
not been doubled.” On this subject there is at present a document, namely,
(Executive Doc. 29,) a report from the Secretary o f the Treasury, communi
cating one from the Superintendent o f the Coast Survey, “ in relation to the
number and cost of vessels in the Survey o f the Coast of the United States,
the number o f persons annually employed, and the sale of maps by the
disbursing agent o f the Coast Survey.” This report, though called for by a
resolution o f the 28th o f December, and evidently requiring but little labor
or research in its compilation, was not sent to the Senate till the 9 th of Feb
ruary, and had not been printed at the adjournment o f Congress. According
to this paper, the following was the number o f persons annually employed
under the different superintendencies :—
* The square feet o f paper and fathoms o f sounding line contained in the Superintendent’s tabular
statement, are specimens o f his uncontrolable propensity to such quaint computations.
600
)
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
1841
1848 .
1 84 1
Mr. Hassler. Mr. Bache.
Superintendent and assistants....................
Draughtsmen..............
Computers..................
Disbursing agent........
Clerk............................
17
,.
..
1
21
9
3
1
1
Engravers.................
Printers.....................
Instrument makers.
Artificers...................
1848 .
Mr. Hassler. Mr. Bache.
4
8
TotaL.................
2
2
1
2
3
1
—
—
27
49
Even as here stated, the number under the last superintendence is nearly
double that under the first; but when coupled with the following explana
tion, contained in the body o f the report, it will be seen that the proportion
may be much greater. The explanation is as follows :— “ There are, besides
these, persons temporarily employed by the Superintendent and assistants as
hands, and in the capacities recognized by the regulations in the field parties
and office, the number in each part varying with the requirements o f the
service in which the parties are engaged, but paid at specific rates, under
the law by the regulations o f the Treasury Department for the Coast Survey.”
It will be evident that the resolution has produced only information o f the
number of persons employed by the year, and that a portion o f the personnel
has escaped the census altogether. W e are satisfied that the number o f civil
assistants mentioned in the February number (sixty-one) is rather under
than over the truth. But it was not to the civil assistants alone that we
referred when speaking o f doubling “ the official patronage of the Superin
tendent,” but of the whole personnel o f the Survey. The following compar
ison, even admitting the imperfect information communicated in the report,
shows the relative personnel o f the two Superintendents:—
Mr. Hassler.
Mr. Bache.
Civil assistants........................................................
Naval officers...........................................................
27
18
49
49
T ota l.............................................................
45
98
This statement o f the February article is therefore not contradicted by any
documentary evidence.
The next point made by Lieut. Davis is also a flat denial. H e says, “ the
appropriation has not been, for the five years, nearly double that with which
the previous superintendence closed.” Upon this point we have now also
documentary information, contained in the report above quoted, and in one
from the Register o f the Treasury,* which will enable us to compare the
respective expense for six years o f Dr. Bache, with twelve years o f Mr. Hass
ler, and thus arrive at a more perfect determination. The following is the
official statement o f the legitimate appropriations:—
ME. HASSLER.
1807, February
1812,
1816, April
1816, “
1832, July
1833, March
1834, June
1835, February
1836, May
1837, March
1838, July
10..........
26..........
16..........
27..........
10..........
0.
27..........
13..........
9..........
3..........
7..........
150,000 00 1839,
49,284 25 1840,
1841,
1842,
20,000 00 1843,
30,000
30,000
80,000
60,000
90,000
March 3.......................
May 8.......................
March 3.......................
May 18......................
March 3.......................
$90,000
100,000
100,000
100,000
100,000
00
00
00
00
00
00
Total............................ $1,003,725 39
00 Deduct amount carried to
00
surplus fund.....................
96,407 37
00
00
$907,318 02
* Executive Docum ents 4 and 29.
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
601
MR. BACHE.
1844,
1845,
1846,
1847,
1848,
June
17..............
March
3..............
August 1 0 ...............
March
3..............
August 12................
$80,000
100,000
111,000
146,000
165,000
00 1849, March 3 ...............
4 ...................
00 1849, “
00
T ota l..........................
00
00
$30,000 00
186,000 00
$818,000 00
In the estimate o f expense, contained in the February article, we had sup
posed that the Washington and Gallatin had been transferred from the
revenue service to that o f the Coast Survey without any consideration paid
from the appropriations. In this it appears we were mistaken, those vessels
having been purchased by the Coast Survey from the government. Indeed,
so strict seems to have been Mr. W oodbury’s construction o f the laws both
o f 1807 and 1832, that previous to selling the Washington to the Survey,
she had been chartered or hired by it in the usual manner. Mr. W oodbury
does not seem to have been o f the opinion o f the late Secretary o f the
Treasury,11' that the laws o f 1832 revived that part o f the law o f 1807, which
authorizes the transfer o f public vessels to the Coast Survey, else he would
have never received payment for the use o f the W ashington while she
belonged to the revenue service.
Both the Secretaries have high legal reputations, and would not o f course
be allowed to overlook any point in the construction o f statutes so plainly
worded. The documents referred to also afford data in estimating the value
o f vessels transferred to the Coast Survey.f The cost o f one o f the steamers
is set down at $1 20 ,0 00 ; and from it and the description o f the others, we
may arrive at some conclusion as to the value o f the vessels thus transferred.
In these documents, also, it is estimated that no extra expense is incurred
by the government in employing officers o f the army and navy hi the ser
vice, there being no increase o f pay to the army ; and to the navy, only the
difference between the pay on leave and the pay when on sea service. This
opinion, so far as the navy is concerned, is sanctioned by a communication
from the late Secretary Upshur. It presents a new view o f the case, and
would seem to be as reasonable as the supposition that if one purchases stocks
above par with money, he only pays the premium. In making the compar
ative estimate o f the expense the whole pay is included, as it is done in both
cases. There can be no wrong to either party.
The following is a statement o f the vessels now in the service o f the Survey
o f the Coast, with an estimated value o f those transferred from the Treasury,
W ar, and Navy Departments.
Name.
Bibb*...........
LegareJ.. . .
Walker:):___
1 small steam
vessel and 2
schooners. .
Washington.
Gallatin___
Nautilus.......
Petrel...........
J. Y. Mason.
Value.
Name.
From Treas. Dept.; ;$120,000
U
100,000
it
120,000
From War Dept.
Purchased...........
Value.
U
it
it
Phoenix___ From Navy Dept.
U
60,000 G. W. Bache
U
u
$6,000
4.000
5.000
N ym ph... . .
From Navy D ept.
Built.....................
5,000
Total value.......................... $420,000
* See letter o f the Secretary o f the Treasury to the Chairman o f the Committee o f Com m erce, E x.
D oc. 26.
f E xecu tive D ocum ent 26, pages 5 and 6.
t Steamers.
§ D ocum ent 26, page 4 ; 29, page 2.
The Coast Survey o f the United States.
62
The comparative estimate, according to these more recent authorities, will
stand th u s:—
Mr. Hassler, 12 years.
Legitimate appropriations................
Constructive appropriations, vessels.
Pay
Total...........................................
Average annual expense............
Mr. Bache, 6 years.
260,000 00
$818,000 00
420.000 00
324.000 00
$1,167,317 88
97,276 49
$1,662,000 00
260,333 33
$907,817 88
If the pay be omitted in each estimate, still the average annual expense o f
the last superintendence is more than double the first. It cannot be said
that because the steamers could not be sold, that therefore they are worth
nothing; or because they can, at the pleasure o f the Departments, be trans
ferred back again to their original service, that therefore they do not now
pertain to the Coast Survey. The object o f this communication is to show
what are now and have been the resources o f the Superintendent o f the
Coast Survey, and to compare its results with the establishment which pre
ceded it.
Lieut. Davis is perfectly right in saying that no revenue vessels were used
until 1847. Previous to that time the Departments hired and sold, subse
quently they transferred. That no equipages were transferred is not strictly
correct. The equipage o f a vessel consists, we suppose, o f boats, anchors,
cables, <fcc., and it is to be presumed that all these were furnished in this
case.
The statements concerning the abandonment o f steam vessels in the reve
nue service, and the reasons for transferring three o f them to the Coast Sur
vey, which is given in the documents referred to, exhibits some facts and
reasonings which are curious at least, if not inconsistent with each other. It
seems that when the late Secretary o f the Treasury came into office he
found contracts existing, made with his predecessor, for the construction o f
steam vessels for the use o f the revenue service. Being o f opinion that such
vessels were not adapted to that service, he at first suspended the contracts,
but afterwards revoked the suspension in conformity with an opinion o f the
Attorney General, that the faith o f the government had been pledged to
their execution, and could not be broken. Two o f the steamers, the Bibb
and Legare, were furnished with propellers, and the W alker with sidewheels. The two first vessels turned out failures, not answering the purpose
for which they had been constructed; but the other one, the Walker, was
found to be a vessel o f the first class, answering every expectation. It ap
pearing, by retaining these vessels in the revenue sendee, that an expense
must be incurred o f several hundred thousand dollars, it was decided to dis
pose o f them, and for this purpose one o f the imperfect vessels was offered
for sale. A s she did not command any price at all comparable with her
cost, the steamers were turned to other ends, and three o f them, including
the Walker, were transferred to the Survey o f the Coast. The annual saving
to the revenue service by dispensing with them is estimated at $39,000.
N ow it would appear that, in the Coast Survey, the use o f these vessels, ex
tending through at least seven months o f the year, must be more expensive
than if they had been left in their original destination ; and as both services
are equally supported by the government, it seems curious, if not inconsist
ent, that what occasioned a loss o f several hundred thousand dollars in one
service, should be found an economical arrangement in the other.
Lieut. Davis says that “ great credit is due to Mr. Bache for commencing
The Coast S urvey o f the United States.
003
the work in North Carolina, with this very object o f including the coast
north o f Hatteras. The Survey is rapidly advancing to Hatteras.” The sur
vey o f North Carolina was commenced, under instructions given to the writer
o f this paper, dated April 29, 1843, eight months before Mr. Bache became
Superintendent. His great credit on this point is therefore solely due to his
absorbent qualities. It does not appear that the Survey is one inch nearer
Cape Hatteras now than it was then.
In regard to the errors in the original construction o f the Chart o f Long
Island and the Delaware, which we stated as having “ more than doubled the
expense o f the charts, and delayed for about two years their publication,”
we reiterate the assertion that such is the fact. A n investigation will prove
it to be true.
The next point o f the communication o f Lieut. Davis is personal in the wrong
sense, inasmuch as it insinuates charges o f a serious nature against some per
son, without designating either the person or the crime. It were needless to
say, that they are not both understood. But the public will probably soon
be put in possession, from another quarter, o f the facts o f the case in a more
authentic shape than can be given at present.
In the remaining parts o f Lieut. Davis’ paper, there does not seem much
o f importance to be considered. In regard to the monthly reports, he admits
that they do not contain a single item o f the information mentioned in the
February number as having been directed by the regulations o f 1843. H e
admits, also, that the name o f the present Superintendent appears upon all
the sheets o f the work, which is all that was asserted.
The author o f the article in the February number apologizes for having
overlooked Silliman’s Journal. H e was under the impression that it was
devoted almost exclusively to chemical subjects; and even if it had not been,
it could scarce have been expected to publish a paper which would have oc
cupied at least three o f its numbers.
In regard to the Superintendent’s compensation, we are firm in our opin
ion that it has been at least equal to the amount stated in the February
number. Nothing can determine this but an examination o f the accounts.
W e now take leave o f Lieut. Davis, who seems to wonder if there be any
mismanagement or corruption in the Coast Survey, that such defects should
not have been first exposed by its friends and em ployes. In other words, he
seems to hold opinion with some o f the aborigines, “ that a man should first
show his manhood by beating his mother.” O f the spirit in which his paper
is written we say nothing, though in this respect he has expended some acu
men upon us, and filipped us with a few quotations. W e agree with him in
his estimation both of Milton and Shakspeare, though we cannot but think
that the comparison between the Coast Survey and the Lady in Comus is
somewhat unfortunate. H e will remember that though the lady had really
“ the strong siding champion ” and two brothers in attendance, she neverthe
less lost her way, and was only rescued by supernatural interference. Per
haps Lieut. Davis anticipates some such danger in the present case, and in
tends playing the part o f the attendant spirit himself. If so, we commend
him to his function, which is certainly one both honorable and becoming.
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Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
Art. IV.— I A W
OF D E B T O R A N D C R E D I T O R I N M A R Y L A N D .
N U M B E R IL
M E R C A N T IL E CO N TRA CTS.
I n a former article on this subject, which appeared in the April number*
o f the M erchants’ M agazine, were pointed out some peculiarities o f Mary
land Law, affecting the commercial relations ; in this it is proposed to con
sider some points in the Law o f Mercantile Contracts, noting any legislation
concerning them, and illustrating them by decisions in the Maryland Courts.
The law governing mercantile contracts is comparatively o f modern growth,
founded in principles o f equity and fair dealing, and is therefore nearly the
■same in all civilized countries ; the difference therein having reference gener
ally to the remedies given for the breach o f them. The interpretation of
contracts, and the rights and duties of the parties, are governed by the law
o f the State in which they are made, or in which they are to be executed.
I f valid there they are valid everywhere, and the execution o f them may be
enforced in any other, unless they be against the public policy or morals, or
the law o f the country where the action is brought. This latter also deter
mines the form o f the remedy, and the time and mode o f suit. The most
usual o f these contracts are those o f Sale, Bills and Notes, Guaranty, Debt,
Charter-Parties, Insurance, Bottomry, and Contracts with Carriers, Seamen, &c.
The form and requisites o f the c o n t r a c t o f s a l e are governed by the
Statute o f Frauds, (16 61 ,) which enacts (sec. 4) that no action shall be main
tained on any agreement for the sale o f goods, wares, &c., that is not to be
performed within one year, unless the agreement be in writing, signed by the
party to be charged or by his lawful agen t; and, (sec. 17,) that no contract
for the sale o f goods, &c., o f the value o f £ 1 0 and upwards, shall be valid,
unless the buyer shall accept part o f the goods, and actually receive the same,
or give something in earnest to bind the bargain, or in part paym ent; or
unless some memorandum in writing o f the bargain be made and signed by
the parties to be charged, or by their lawful agents. The decisions in Mary
land in regard to what constitutes a sufficient delivery, part payment, memo
randum and signing, are generally consonant with those made in the other
States, and in England.
A bill o f parcels is evidence o f a contract, if accepted by the purchaser
from an agent o f the seller; the acceptance makes the agent o f the seller
the agent o f the purchaser also for signing the purchaser’s name. B y an
act o f 1729, a bill o f sale o f personal property, executed in good faith, ac
knowledged and recorded within twenty days, dispenses with the necessity of
actual or symbolical delivery, and vests th e, property in the purchaser, al
though the seller was indebted at the time, and continues in possession after
* In that num ber there are one or tw o om issions and mistakes o f the printer, w hich are corrected
in this note. A t the end o f section 3, p. 392, should have been inserted as fo llo w s :— “ A n d the oath
o r affirmation o f any clerk, store-keeper, or disinterested credible witness, taken before any ju d ge, or
justice, or court o f this State, to the delivery o f goods or m oney b y any merchant, & c., to any person
w ithin this State, shall be g o o d and sufficient evidence to charge the person to w hom paid or deliv
ered, provided such oath be made within twelve months fro m the date o f the articles delivered, and that
the person claim ing shall also, before the time at w hich defendant ought to plead, m ake oath that he
has not been paid, & c., as above.” U nder this law the correctness o f a merchant’ s b ook s m ay be
proved, as w ell as the delivery and price o f the articles sold, once every year, b y the oath o f his clerk,
& c., and it has been a custom with som e here so to do. On the same page, in section 5, it should be
u 21 in females as w ell as m a l e s a n d in the 37th line on page 394, it should read “ f o r violation o f
any duty,” & c.
Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
605
wards. The delivery o f a sample or specimen, unless it is to be taken as p a rt
o f the commodity, is no part delivery. The order o f the seller in favor o f
the purchaser, on the party in whose possession the goods are, is sufficient to
take the case out o f the statute.
W here a party, having a judgment against another, aids such person in
purchasing goods on credit, with the fraudulent intention o f levying his exe
cution thereon, when they come into the purchaser’s possession, the sale is
void, and the seller may retain such goods.
So where a piarty purchases goods, knowing himself to be insolvent, and
prevents the seller’s acquiring knowledge o f that fact by ordinary prudence,
and has no intention or expectation o f paying for the goods when he obtains
them, the sale is fraudulent and void, and no title passes. The mere fact o f
knowledge, by the seller o f goods, o f the illegal purposes o f a purchaser,
without aid or interest therein on his part, will not prevent a recovery o f their
price.
W A R R A N T IE S
On the sales o f personal property are either im plied or expressed. The for
mer arise by operation o f law, and without any intention on the part o f the
seller to create them : as a warranty that the goods sold are the property .of
the seller; or that provisions for domestic use are wholesome; or that an ar
ticle to be manufactured for a particular purpose shall answer that purpose.
W here the seller, knowing goods to be unsound sells them as sound, he is
liable for the fraud.
Every affirmation at the time o f sale o f personal prop erty is a warranty,
provided it appear to have been so intended— not stated as mere matter o f de
scription, belief, or opinion, but as an averment, o f a material fact, o f which
the seller has taken to himself the knowledge, and the existence o f which he
warrants. It should seem that the statement in a bill o f parcels, or any simi
lar instrument, o f the quality or condition o f the thing sold, is a warranty
thereof. Thus, where the bill rendered was for “ — gallons o f winter-pressed ”
oil, it was held a warranty that the oil should be o f that quality. W ithout
an express warranty or fra u d on the part o f the seller, he is not in general
answerable for any defect in the quality or condition o f the article sold. The
exception to this rule, that there is an implied warranty in cases where there
is no opportunity for inspection or examination, applies to those cases only
where such examination is, at the time o f sale, morally speaking, im practica
ble ; as, for example, where goods are sold to arrive. “ Inconvenience” o f ex
amination is not equivalent to impracticability. A ., a commission merchant,
receiving manufactured tobacco for sale, sold a quantity to B . without making
any warranty, and not having examined it, and delivered the following bill o f
parcels : “ 24 kegs tobacco branded {P a rk in ), weighing, &c., &c.” The price
agreed on was a full price for the best quality o f such tobacco— the brand a
favorite one, always considered remarkably fine, and the seller knew it was
purchased to be sold again: held in Maryland that this contract was fulfilled
b y the delivery o f 24 kegs o f tobacco, branded P arkin , although it was af
terwards discovered that the tobacco was rotten at the time o f sale, and an
offer made to return it, and the seller was permitted to recover the full price
agreed to be paid, being the full price o f the best quality o f such tobacco.
Under the principles o f law, as declared in some o f the other States, the
purchaser is never entitled, by mere breach o f warranty, in the absence o f
fraud, to rescind the contract or return the goods ; but in M aryland a differ
606
Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
ent rule prevails. Tlius, if the seller affirm his wares to be o f a particular
quality or soundness, and they are purchased upon the faith o f such affirma
tion, which turns out untrue, the purchaser may either return the goods, or
notify the seller o f their place of deposit, and recover back the purchase
money. But he cannot sell the goods as his own, and afterwards sue the sel
ler for breach o f warranty. W here a merchant in Baltimore bought goods,
warranted o f a certain kind and quality, and without examining, shipped them
to a foreign port, where on being opened they were discovered not to be o f
the quality warranted, he would be allowed to store them there, give notice
to the seller, and recover back the money paid for them. But he cannot be
allowed to sell the goods, receive the money, and afterwards sue the seller for
breach o f warranty. Nor in such case could he be allowed to set up the
breach, in an action against himself, for the price; for by his sale he has put it
out o f his power to place the seller in the same situation as before their contract.
Sometimes it is impossible to return the goods which had not turned out
as warranted ; as, for example, when they had been worked up into a build
ing, or manufactured article, before the defect was discovered. In such case,
the seller could not recover more than the real value o f the article, or the
amount o f actual benefit to the purchaser, who, if he had paid the full price,
would have his remedy on the breach o f warranty.
Since, in by far the larger number o f sales, the day o f payment is to be
subsequent to that o f delivery; in other words, since the goods are sold on
credit, from the contract o f sale naturally arises that of
D EBT .
This exists in all cases where a determinate sum o f money is due from, and
unpaid by, one (the debtor) to another (the creditor.) The duty o f the
former is to tender payment at the proper time and place, in the proper
mode, and to the proper amount. Payment may be made in cash, or in
goods, (if so agreed,) or by mutual settlement o f accounts, or by accepting a
draft, or taking a note in satisfaction. A tender before the time that a debt
is due, or to a larger amount, is leg a l; but it is not so in the latter case, if
change is required. A n offer to pay part will not suffice, a creditor being
under no obligation to receive less than the full amount due him. On the
other hand, a debtor is not obliged to pay in instalments, or by accepting
various orders o f his creditor, making up in amount his whole indebtedness,
unless such has been their course o f business, as bankers, brokers, &c. A
devise o f land, or a legacy to the creditor, o f less than the amount due, is
not considered in law a satisfaction o f the debt. It was established long ago
that one o f a larger sum was to be so considered; but courts will, upon
slight circumstances, refuse so to regard it, and hold that it was the inten
tion o f the testator to give the sum from his bounty, in addition to the pay
ment o f the sum already justly due from him.
The taking o f a bill, or note, is no extinguishment o f the debt for which
it was given, (unless so expressly agreed,) but merely operates as an exten
sion o f the time o f payment, suspending the right o f action in the mean
time. It has not even this effect, in cases where the debt secured thereby
is o f higher degree than simple contract; as if it be secured by bond, or due
on account o f rent, &c. Nor, in this latter case, does it take away the right
o f distress before its maturity, unless by special agreement to that effect.
A debtor is sometimes such on various accounts, or in different capacities;
and when money is paid by him, it is often important to know to which
Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
607
debt such payment should be credited. The general rule is, that the debtor
may, at the time o f making such payment, apply it to the extinguishment
or reduction of whichever he pleases ; but in case he make no specific ap
propriation, either expressly, or by inference from particular circumstances,
the creditor may apply it to whichever he thinks proper. A n d it makes no
difference that one debt is due on open account, another on bond, another
secured by guaranty: in either case the creditor may, though he received
the money by the hands o f the party who had guaranteed one o f the debts,
apply the unappropriated payment first to the open account; and this,
although the open account existed before the bond or guaranteed debt, and
the surety in the bond or guaranty had no notice o f it at the time o f as
suming the liability.
A nd a creditor, on the omission o f the debtor to do so, may apply the
payment to the satisfaction o f a debt, or that part o f it barred by the Stat
ute o f Limitations; but such payment on account, and the application o f it
in this latter case, will not relieve the balance o f such debt from the opera
tion o f the statute.
The amount o f indebtedness is frequently increased, in consequence o f the
neglect o f the debtor to pay at the proper time, by the addition o f interest,
which is in the nature o f damages for the detention o f money. This is re
coverable as of right upon contracts in writing to pay money at a day cer
tain ; as upon bills, notes, &c., or on contracts for the payment o f interest, or
where the money claimed has actually been used by the party detaining,
and upon bonds, &c. But in other cases, (as on items o f account for work
and labor, &c.,) whether interest shall be allowed, is a question left for the
jury to determine, under all the circumstances o f the particular transaction.
Compound interest is allowed where a trustee is directed to invest, has failed
so to do, and has actually used the funds for his own benefit; for it is upon
this ground that the allowance is made. If, on account o f a debt bearing
interest, a sum o f money is paid, in amount exceeding the interest due, (or
if the sum paid is equal to the principal,) it is to be applied, in the first
place, to the payment o f the interest, and the residue to the reduction o f the
principal: the balance then becomes a new principal, bearing interest.
B y an act o f 1826, calculations and deductions o f interest made according
to “ Rowlett’s Tables” are legalized; and by a late act, (1845,) usurious
contracts, which before were w holly void, are so now only for the excess o f
interest taken beyond the legal rate o f six p er centum. A n d a mortgagor
in addition to the other covenants usually contained in a mortgage, (to pay the
interest, &c.,) may also bind himself to pay, in addition to such interest, all
taxes, &e., levied on the mortgage debt, or principal loaned and secured thereby
GUARANTY
Is an agreement to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage o f another
person, who is, in the first instance, liable for the payment, or performance
o f the duty wherein default is made. B y the Statute o f Frauds, such agree
ments, or some note or memorandum o f them, must be in writing, and signed
by the party to be charged, or his lawful agent. The contract may be col
lected from several distinct papers, provided they can be sufficiently connected
without oral testimony. Thus, where A ., having consigned goods to B. for
sale, wrote to B. “ to state upon what terms he would guarantee the pay
ment therefor, so that he might draw upon him and close a c c o u n t s B . ’s
answer, making no mention o f guaranty, but authorizing him to draw for the
608
Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
amount due, deducting interest and nine per cent exchange on a part there
of, was held to constitute a guaranty. The statute, requiring them to be in
writing, applies only to collateral promises, which are strictly to answer for the
debt, &c., o f another, liable in the first instance, founded on that liability, and
without any new consideration to the promisor. Original undertakings, aris
ing where, in addition to the indebtedness o f another, there is a new or superadded consideration to the p arty promising, and where, although the
goods are sold to the party undertaken for, the credit is given exclusively to
the party promising, are not within the statute, and are good without writ
ing. This latter class, however, is not strictly o f promises to answer for the
debt, &c., o f another ; and in fact, whether a contract be within the statute or
not, depends upon the question “ to whom was the credit given so as to make him, in the first instance, liable ?” For A . may deliver goods to B. on C.’s
credit, or he may sell goods to be on the faith o f C.’s promise ultimately to
pay in case B. does not. In the former case C. is the real debtor, while in
the latter he is not originally liable; his is a collateral promise to answer for
the debt o f B.
By the English construction o f the statute, the consideration, being an in
dispensable part o f every agreement, must appear on the face o f the writing.
In some o f the States, as in Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee, and North
and South Carolina, this has not been strictly follow ed; but in M aryland
the English rule prevails, and, except bills and notes taken before maturity,
all unsealed contracts to answer for the debt, &c., o f another, require a con
sideration which must appear on the face of the instrument, either by express
statement, or from just and natural inference. The words “ for value received,”
sufficiently impart a consideration. Therefore, where upon B.’s note, payable
to C., A., not a party thereto, endorsed “ I hereby guarantee the ultimate pay
ment o f the within,” and signed, it was held void for want o f consideration.
W h ere the writing was, “ I hereby guarantee the payment o f any goods you
may deliver to A .,” the subsequent delivery to A . is the consideration neces
sarily inferred.
In general, a guarantor has a right to notice o f acceptance o f his guaranty,
and o f any action thereon, and o f the extent o f credit allowed under i t ; es
pecially if it be a continuing guaranty. W here, from the form or terms o f
the proposal, it is evident that no notice o f acceptance was expected by the
proposer, and that no further inquiry need be made o f him, it is not to be
considered a mere overture, but a contract, if in fact accepted, though no no
tice thereof be given.
A guaranty once made, continues until revoked; the rule being that if it
were the intention o f a party to confine his liability to a single transaction,
he should be careful so to state it. B., recommending C. and D., wrote to
A ., “ I will guarantee their engagements, should you think necessary, for any
transaction they may have with your house.” This was held to be a con
tinuing guaranty, and that B. was liable for all goods subsequently sold by
A . to C. and D., while the letter continued unrevoked.
The liability o f a guarantor o f the debt or undertaking o f another, (unless
by the terms o f his contract it be otherwise stipulated,) does not, like that o f
an endorser, depend upon the contingency o f his being informed o f the
non-payment by, or default o f his principal.* O f this he is bound to take
* The endorser o f negotiable paper is entitled to strict notice, but the guarantor o f a prom issory
note is only entitled to notice when his rights m ay actually be prejudiced b y the want o f it. The rule
has been stated to be, that the guarantor o f a note was entitled to notice o f non-paym ent by the drawer,
unless the drawer was insolvent at the time o f the m aturity o f the note.
Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
609
notice at Ms peril, and he is not discharged unless the debt be forgiven; or
the conditions o f the contract be not fulfilled ; or some other be substituted
in its place; or there be fraud; or time be given to the debtor, so that the
guarantor’s rights against him are thereby prejudiced.
Parties are sometimes charged, not as guarantors, (for in that case the
statute requires written evidence o f the guaranty,) but in an action for de
ceit, as having w ilfully mad &fa lse representations to others o f the solvency,
honesty, or capacity o f third parties; thereby enabling such parties to obtain
goods or credit, or to effect purchases on more favorable terms. Such false
representations, made with intent to deceive, are sufficient grounds for the ac
tion, without proof o f benefit to the party making them, or o f collusion by
him with the party benefited. These have sometimes been called “ represen
tations in the nature o f guaranties,” and are not considered promises to an
swer for the debt, &c., o f another, but cheats and frauds upon the creditor
to whom they are made, and for which he is to be indemnified.
In England written evidence o f such representations, signed by the party
making them, is now required in order to enable the party injured thereby
to recover. In this State there is no such provision.
BIL LS OF E X C H A N G E A N D P R O M ISS O R Y N OTES.
Bills o f Exchange were always held negotiable under the custom o f mer
chants, but promissory notes owe this quality to the statute 3 and 4 Anne,
(passed in 1704, and enforced in almost all o f the States,) which placed them
upon the same footing as foreign bills, except that no protest is required.
A ll bills and notes drawn or made in M aryland (since 1844) to secure
the payment o f more than $100, are mere nullities as rights o f action, or
evidences o f debts against any parties thereto, unless stamped as therein di
rected ; that is to say, on every bill, note, bond, mortgage, &c., to secure the
payment o f more than—
$100 and not exceeding $200, a stamp of................................
10 cents.
200
“
“
300,
“
15 “
300
“
“
500,
“
25 “
500
“
1,000,
“
.............................
50 “
1.000
“
“
1,500,
“ ..........................
75 “
1,500
“
“
2,000,
“
............................. $1 00
2.000
“
“
3,000,
“
............................. 1 50
O f course, bills drawn out o f the State on parties residing here are not charge
able. In some o f the States (as in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, &c.)
sealed notes and instruments are by statute made negotiable; but in M ary
land, bills and notes under seal, though payable to order, are not negotiable
in the proper sense o f the term (by endorsement.) They may, however, be
assigned in writing, (as on the back, for example,) and the assignee may re
cover in his own name against the maker. Thus, where the payee o f a seal
ed note endorsed his name thereon in blank, the holder was allowed to write
over it words, such as “ I hereby assign and transfer the witlrin,” &c., and
recover thereon. So where the promissory notes o f a corporation, though
payable to order, were attested by its seal, and endorsed in blank by tho
payee, (who, in consideration o f his indebtedness to the company, endorsed
their notes to secure the same,) the holder was allowed, by writing over such
endorsement words amounting to a guaranty, to recover against such payee
and endorser as guarantor.
In general, however, where a note is payable to order and negotiable in its
V O L . X X .-----N O . V I .
39
610
Law o f D ebtor and Creditor in M aryland.
form, no other use can be made o f it, by filling up a blank endorsement, than
to point out the payee; and the endorser in blank can be made liable only as
such, upon the contingencies o f non-payment at maturity by the maker, and
legal notice to himself o f that fact. If either be neglected be is discharged,
unless he has waived such privilege; and if with knowledge o f want o f de
mand upon the maker, and o f legal notice to himself, he subsequently prom
ise to pay, (without any new consideration,) he is still liable.
Taking from a purchaser or debtor his, or any third person’s note or ac
ceptance, is no extinguishment o f the original debt, unless the creditor so
taking it has expressly agreed to receive it in paym ent; or has negotiated
the instrument so as not to render himself personally liable thereon; or by
his negligence has prejudiced his debtor’s rights against the maker o f the
note given. A nd where a receipt in full was marked on a hill o f goods, and
it appeared that payment was by the purchaser’s note, the seller was allowed,
after maturity and non-payment o f the note, to sue on the original cause of
action. In cases where goods are obtained for a note under fraudulent re
presentations, the creditor is not hound to wait till maturity, but may sue at
once for the value o f them.
Notes, &c., are frequently signed by the maker, as agent, president, or
treasurer o f some corporation. If the note in these cases is such as the
company is not authorized, by its charter, to m ake; or if the contract is, in
any manner, not binding upon the principal, the party so signing is individ
ually liable. A nd the same rule holds where the notes are regular in their
creation, and are in the usual form, as “ I promise,” &c., and signed as agent,
&c. The addition to the name in these cases is considered merely as a de
scription o f the person, and not as confining his liability to his capacity as
such agent, &c. But where it plainly appears, in the body o f the instrument,
that the party signing did so as an officer o f the corporation, or was acting
as the agent o f another, the stipulations bind the principal only, unless it
plainly appears that the intention was to superadd the agent’s personal lia
bility. More especially when the credit was understood to be given to the
principal or corporation.
On all bills o f exchange drawn in this State on any person or corporation,
in any other o f the United States, and protested there according to the laws
thereof, the person is entitled to recover, 1. the sum necessary to purchase,
at the time o f verdict, a good bill o f like am ount; 2. the costs o f protest;
3. legal interest on the whole sum allowed by the a c t; and, 4. damages at the
rate o f eight per centum. In case o f a bill drawn in this State on any per
son, &c., in any foreign country, the like amount o f costs and interest are al
lowed to the holder, together with damages at the rate o f 15 per cent. The
endorser who pays the party entitled the aforesaid value, interest and dam
ages, may recover the sum so paid with interest from the drawer. Protest,
duly made by a notary public, stating the fact o f giving notice, &c., for nonacceptance or non-payment, is prim a fa cie evidence o f those facts. Innocent
holders for valuable consideration o f paper, which was usurious in its origin,
may recover the full amount thereof; and by a late law, any holder o f paper
or lender o f money, though at usurious rates, may recover the sum actually
paid or lent, and interest thereon, at the rate o f six per centum.
CO N TRA CTS W IT H C A R R IE R S .
A common carrier is one who undertakes for reward to transport the goods
o f those who may choose to employ him from place to place. Stage own
The Sub-T reasury and the T ariff.
611
ers, and steamboat and railroad companies, are common carriers o f parcels,
and o f the baggage o f passengers, but not o f their persons ; and for injuries
to the latter, they are liable only when there is want o f care and prudence,
or deficiency o f means o f conveyance. W here there is no special agree
ment between him and bis employer, modifying his responsibility, (the re
servations in bills o f lading will be considered hereafter,) the carrier is liable
for every loss or damage happening to the article while in his custody; un
less it were occasioned by the act o f God, (extraordinary violence o f nature,)
by the public enemies, or by the fault o f the party complaining. H e is con
sidered in some sense an insurer against all accidents which can occur by the
intervention o f human means, however irresistible or inevitable they may b e ;
and he is therefore responsible for losses from fire, robbery, &c. A n d he can
not restrain or limit this liability by advertising in the public prints, or by
notices posted up in his place o f storage or deposit, that the baggage or
goods carried are to be “ at the risk o f the owners.” Thus it was held in a
case in Maryland, that, even if he coidd do so, (which, for the purposes o f
that case, it was not necessary to decide,) he must bring the notice to the
party in plain and unambiguous terms. A n d it has been elsewhere decided
that a common carrier cannot limit his responsibility by a general notice
brought home to his employer, as being against the policy o f the la w ; and it
is apprehended that such may be regarded as the settled principle o f law for
this State. It has sometimes been a question whether a common carrier is
liable for the loss o f money in a trunk; and it would seem, that though a
traveler may put there a reasonable sum for his traveling expenses, yet if he
have a large package there, or an unusual amount, it would not be included
as baggage, and the carrier would not be responsible for the money if lost.
A nd it is not the duty o f the owner to disclose the value and nature o f the
contents o f his parcel or trunk; but the carrier is liable therefor, whatever
they may be, except in cases o f misrepresentation by the employer, when
questioned by the carrier as to the contents, so that he may know the extent
o f his liability and make a corresponding charge.
Art. V.— T H E S U B - T R E A S U R Y A N D T H E T A R I F F .
To
F r e e m a n H u n t , Esq., Editor o f the Merchants' Magazine, etc.
M y d e a r S ir :— In looking over the pages o f your useful and extensively
circulated Magazine for March, I observed a letter written b y Col. Alexander
Hamilton, o f New York, embracing a variety o f subjects, and trusting to
your well known liberality, I have ventured to discuss some o f the more im
portant points contained in it. I pass over the mere political part o f the
speculation, as being o f little or no importance to the merchant or political
economist, and proceed to discuss the views o f the writer upon the SubTreasury and the Tariff. W ith regard to the Sub-Treasury, the Colonel has
the following remarks :— “ To what end, and for what purpose, should we
get rid o f the Sub-Treasury. It has thus far, with all its faults and trials,
done its duty faithfully
and then goes on to show, that by its restraining
and conservative influence upon the currency, it has conferred immense
benefits upon the country. After such admissions, I must confess I was not
quite prepared for the following paragraph :— “ I f the head o f the Treasury
612
The S ub-T reasury and the T ariff.
should be authorized to check freely on deposits, to discharge the indebted
ness o f the government, or to transfer credits to suit the convenience o f the
department, the Sub-Treasury system would be relieved o f an important em
barrassment. A nd if to this should be added the issue o f certificates of de
posit to the public creditors, the admission o f transferable credits on the
books o f the Sub-Treasuries, every facility would then be afforded, in accom
modation o f the legitimate business o f commerce. In these simple modifica
tions, there would be no material increase in the volume o f circulation, while
the specie, in deposit with government, would be more advantageously and
conveniently represented; and being so relieved, the substantial objections
to the system would be essentially removed.” A nd in a paragraph almost
immediately following, the Colonel most truthfully shows how the SubTreasury system operates to restrain the currency within the limit o f a
healthy state. Now, sir, if every-day experience did not remind us o f the
circumstance, that well informed men upon the statistical details and opera
tions o f almost all subjects are constantly making erroneous and illogical de
ductions from such facts, we might have been surprised that a gentleman o f
Col. Hamilton’s information should have suffered himself to do so. W h ile
he shows that the Sub-Treasury system has done that which no other govermental regulation has been able to effect, a safe and healthy currency, he
wishes that this regulation should be relaxed. This is certainly, to say the
least, illogical. But then he says, “ In these simple modifications there
would be no material increase in the volume o f circulation.” Now, if this
were the case, there would, o f course, be no material relief; however, what
ever amount o f relief it afforded, would certainly be only of a temporary
character. But what does the Colonel say has prevented “ a wild scene o f
ruinous extravagance,” under the importation o f twenty millions o f dollars in
specie ?— the very system which he wishes to be relaxed. H e says, “ I f the
head o f the Treasury should be authorized to check fr ee ly on the deposits, to
discharge the indebtedness o f the government, or to transfer credits to suit
the convenience o f the department, the Sub-Treasury system would be relieved
o f an important embarrassment.” I apprehend the Colonel meant the con
venience o f merchants engag<?d in importation. W h at is this but destroying
the beneficial power o f the system? Your correspondent acknowledges that
the withdrawal o f the specie from the banks is the conservative power which
renders accommodation more difficult, and consequently checks importation;
and yet he recommends that this conservative power should, as far as possi
ble, be neutralized, by immediately setting at liberty as much o f this specie
as might be owing to public creditors on the one hand, (whether due accord
ing to contract, or the usual routine o f business or not,) and on the other, by
a transfer o f credits, lessening the amount required to be withdrawn from
the banks. I f we should submit to this, I am afraid it would place us much
in the same position as the man who had a kettle to mend— while we en
deavored to stop one hole we should be apt to make two. In another part
o f the letter your correspondent admits that a vacillating policy “ leads to
inevitable mischief;” and I think it is a pity he is not willing to make this
maxim practical in the case o f the Sub-Treasury. But let me ask, W h y is
this maxim o f such universal acknowledgment as he says it is ? Simply, be
cause experience has proved that an indifferent, or even a bad regulation, is
better than continual change. If a law or regulation he not absolutely wrong
in principle, circumstances soon accommodate themselves to it— it being cer
tain and permanent, energy and enterprise will soon overcome all difficulties.
The S ub-T reasury and the T ariff.
613
N o doubt merchants will complain when they see so much specie locked up
in the coffers o f the government, when they cannot obtain sufficient to re
mit to their creditors; but then such a time must always come to the im
provident whether under the Sub-Treasury system or not. I f further evidence
were necessary why the Sub-Treasury system should not be altered or relaxed,
the Colonel has himself furnished it gratuitously. H e says, “ This depend
ence upon the current o f exchanges has ever proved fallacious.” (That is,
with regai-d to the state o f the bullion market.) “ W h en they are supposed
to be favorable, they immediately lead to bank expansions,” &c. Now,
without subscribing to the doctrine contained in the former part o f this quo
tation, I submit that that contained in the latter is the best reason in the
world why there should be no relaxation of the Sub-Treasury system.
W h en the state o f the exchanges is such that bullion is flowing into a
countiy, (and I believe there is no exception to this rule,) instead o f allowing
it to take its natural course o f being partly absorbed in the currency, and
partly returned to those countries from whence it came until an equilibrium
is again produced, the bankers, ever ready to seize an opportunity o f making
profit, push out their paper until the extreme plentifulness o f money excites
a disposition to speculate, and prices rise. Then comes the influx o f foreign
merchandise, until the exchanges are over balanced; and when this is the
case, it is too late to remedy the evil. The Bank o f England, with all the
gigantic power o f its monopoly, has never yet been able to control, effectively,
the currency o f Great Britain. Monetary panics are continually occurring;
and it has often been found, when the bank has been doing all it could to
withdraw its own paper, that the provincial and joint stock banks were in
creasing their issues. In the year 1839 an extraordinary drain o f bullion
took place in England, through the deficiency o f the crops; and under the in
fluence o f the grain monopoly, a draft o f seven millions sterling was made
upon the coffers o f the bank in three months, and she was obliged to borrow
two and a half millions from the Bank o f France to save her credit. Dur
ing this time, joint stock and country banks were either not curtailing their
issues at all, or were actually increasing them. Since then alterations have
been made in the bank charter, and other restrictions applied, but, as it ap
pears, without success; for, in the Parliamentary sessions o f 1848, great
complaints were made o f the operation of the new law, and I believe a com
mittee was chosen to examine into its operation. Many schemes and propo
sitions are at present afloat in England for the emendation o f the currency.
A m ong the newest, propounded by the Currency Reform Association, is one
for the hypothecation o f consols as the basis o f the currency; and it is pro
posed that the notes o f this currency (from one pound sterling to a thou
sand) shall be the only legal tender in the kingdom. W h a t other wild and
visionary schemes may yet be proposed for the emendation o f the currency*
o f Great Britain, it is hard to sa y ; one thing is, however, certain— great dis
* The hypothecation o f State stocks, or even land, can never b e m ade effectual for the substratum
o f a currency. The value o f the one is entirely arbitrary, and fluctuating; and the value o f the other
depends upon contingent circumstances. A currency o f this kind may also b e increased ad infinitum.
They neither o f them contain the element o f labor— the only criterion o f value. The precious metals
appear to be the only articles pointed out by Nature as a circulating m edium . They must o f neces
sity approach nearer than any other articles to an equal value in all countries, and at’ all times, on ac
count o f their portability and compactness. M uch speculation has lately been entered into, to show
that the precious metals do not depreciate with increased production. There does not appear to have
been m uch cause for this, for it is perfectly plain that their value, in relation to other com m odities,
cannot vary greatly; they are, therefore, the fittest articles to measure other values. W h o w ould g o
to California, or anywhere else, to get gold, i f he cou ld get m ore fo o d and raiment b y w orking at any
other calling, for the same period o f tim e V
614
The S ub-T reasury and the T ariff.
satisfaction prevails at present upon the subject. A new joint stock bank
is also proposed to be chartered in London, upon the Scotch system, and is to
be much more liberal in its accommodation to the public than any bank
heretofore established. It is to take the savings o f the public in deposit in
any sums not less than five pounds sterling, and allow interest thereon from
day to d a y ; but, if it should at any time lose one-fourth o f its paid-up cap
ital, it must wind up its affairs, as its charter will be vitiated. W h en will
the world cease to be gulled by this system o f attempting to get something
out o f nothing ? In the present state o f commerce, it is obviously impossi
ble to keep a larger relative amount o f money (or convertible paper) in cir
culation in one country than another, and if paper be issued which is not
convertible it must depreciate. In either case, if it be issued in excess, the
honest part o f the community will be robbed for the benefit o f speculators,
gamblers, and bankers. Colonel Hamilton, however, like most other curren
cy doctors, is consistent in one thing— he advocates the protective system o f
commerce. F ree trade, and a mere local circulating medium, are certainly
incongruous and incompatible. In the present state o f the world, what every
country wants is a currency o f universal value and estimation— one that can
neither be increased nor diminished at pleasure, or for the interest o f any
pa rty; and one, also, which will not only stand the wreck o f individuals, but
of^overnments. Until this is the case trade can never be perfectly free, nor
comparatively steady, which is the great desideratum. It is high time that
mankind ceased to make laws to thwart the principles o f Nature and the
decrees o f Providence. But to return to m y subject. There is now no rea
son why the Sub-Treasury act should be altered, any more than there is that
the British national debt should be paid off. The specie having been ab
sorbed, and the currency settled, it can injure no one to allow it to remain, and
benefit very few to resume it. The community would rather be injured than
otherwise by resumption, for in the end it must be exported without any
return. W e had, therefore, better allow the Sub-Treasury act to remain, in
its integrity, a part o f the Statutes of, the United Statas. The former expe
rience o f our own country, as well as the confusion in which the currencies
o f others are at present involved, ought to teach us to be content, without
attempting to amend that which has already operated better than its propos
ers and supporters had dared to expect. The present is a most favorable
opportunity for all governments, who wish well to the communities over which
they govern, to prepare for the final withdrawal o f all bank paper from circu
lation under the amount o f one hundred dollars, and to supply its place
with the precious metals.
Let us now turn to the subject o f the Tariff. In treating upon this sub
ject, Colonel Hamilton appears to repose as much confidence in the protec
tive system as though he had been writing more than fifty years ago ; be
fore Smith, McCulloch, and others, had so thoroughly exposed its fallacy.
After acknowledging that the revenue and the commerce o f the United
States have been increased under the Tariff o f 1846, and stating that “ the
foreign exchanges evince a balance o f trade in our favor,” and also, “ that al
most every shipment made to the United States is extremely profitable,” &c.,
he goes on to say, “ In order to be entitled to a wish, on our part, for the
continuance o f this peculiar state o f our foreign commerce, we ought to be
satisfied that there exists a perfect reciprocity. It is not enough, that those
who are immediately engaged in the business o f importation, are making
successful speculations.” W ell, sir, is not this sufficient ? I f our merchants
The Sub-T reasury and the T ariff.
615
get a profit, I should like to know how they obtain it without equally bene
fiting the community. W e have again the old fallacy put forth, that the
rights o f the community and the rights o f the individual are separate, and in
dependent o f each other. This is the true doctrine o f protection ; but let us
see how far it woidd carry us ! If one individual has a right to protection,
separate from the common interest, all individuals have. This reminds us o f
some o f the mechanical trade regulations in some parts o f Europe, where an
individual must be apprenticed a certain number o f years, then he must trav
el for experience so many more, and finally he may set up in business, by
and with the consent o f the majority of masters, in the town where he wishes
to reside. If the manufacturing interests have a right to protection, the
farming interests have also a right. I f the manufacturing interests require a
duty upon foreign manufactured goods sufficient to protect them from com
petition, ought not the farmer, in justice, to be allowed a bounty upon the
exportation o f his produce sufficient to enable him to sell it in a foreign mar
ket ? And what would this amount to ? Just no protection at a ll; but a
burden, and an intolerable nuisance, which all civilized governments are has
tening to throw off. But I apprehend the Colonel has no intention o f car
rying individual rights so far, though he cannot deny that this is the legiti
mate result o f the principle laid down— he would only protect the manufac
turers at the expense o f the rest o f the community. The Colonel complains
much o f the prostration o f American manufactures in all branches. This
probably cannot be denied, but the Colonel attributes it to anything but the
right cause; and, what is more singular still, he says the agriculturists,
farm ers, and planters, are suffering in a corresponding manner. This is, in
deed, paradoxical. It cannot be from the withdrawing o f protection from
the agricultural interests, or from the increasing exportation o f breadstuffs ;
we are therefore at a loss to know to what to attribute it, except to the im
portation o f the $20,000,000 which the Colonel mentions in the former part
o f his letter. The Colonel refers us also to “ the state o f commerce previous
to the passing o f the act o f 1842,” and says, “ we shall discover our for
eign trade to have been precisely the counterpart o f that which is now offi
cially esteemed an extraordinary state o f prosperity.” Now, if we examine
this subject closely, it is probable we may find sufficient cause for the depres
sion o f manufactures, without attributing it altogether to the alteration o f the
Tariff. To assert that American manufacturers are incapable o f competing
with foreigners, under the present Tariff, is something like a confession that
the consumer is taxed somewhere about twenty-seven per cent upon the av
erage on all the manufactures consumed— a pretty fair protection to a small
part o f the community at the expense o f the rest. The experience o f the
world has proved that thirty per cent is as high a duty as almost any kind
o f manufactured goods will bear— prohibitory duties have always proved in
operative and ineffectual in cases o f active demand, simply because the duty
was too tempting a profit for the smuggler to resist. But to our point. In
looking over a list o f British exports for the ten years ending 1846, we
perceive that previous to ’42 the amount is extremely fluctuating, but since
that period they have been steadily and constantly increasing, as also have
those o f the United States. This can, however, be easily accounted for.
Great Britain is the largest commercial and manufacturing nation in the
world, and consequently consumes largo quantities o f foreig n raw material,
as well as o f the commoner kinds o f agricultural produce. It is obvious,
therefore, that her minutest commercial and financial arrangements will be
616
The S ub-T reasury and the T ariff.
felt throughout the world ; especially in a country so intimately connected,
and carrying on such an extensive commerce as the United States. Taking
these circumstances into consideration, and looking carefully into the whole
subject, there can be no doubt that the British protective system has not only
been a great evil to herself, but also to the world in general. For four years
following 1832, she scarcely imported any grain— probably not more than a
few thousand quarters— the price o f grain being lower in Great Britain in
the year 1834 than it had been for fifty years previous ; but in ’ 37 and ’38
a greater demand sprang up. But in 1839, circumstances occurred which
caused an immediate and extensive demand for foreign grain, so that the
Bank of England was drained o f her specie in three months, and the greatest
financial derangement occurred. W e may, therefore, clearly set down these
fluctuations to the unequal operation o f the British Tariff. In 1842, Sir
Robert Peel began his innovations upon the protective system. H e made
extensive reforms, but nevertheless left untouched the laws which regulated
the importation o f grain. But what Sir Robert Peel left undone with regard
to this matter, a succession o f failing harvests accomplished for him. The ne
cessity o f importing grain continued to increase until the year 1846, when the
duties were reduced one-half, and a law passed that they should finally cease
in the present year. England has therefore continued to augment her im
ports o f grain, raw material, and other agricultural products, up to this tim e;
and according to the principles o f political economy, as she has enlarged her
imports, she must o f necessity have enlarged her exports. Let us now in
quire into the operation o f our own Tariff. W e find that both imports and
exports have steadily increased, even under the Tariff o f ’42, and up to this
time. H ow then can it be said, that the Tariff o f ’46 has caused this in
crease o f importation ? If it be said that a much larger increase o f impor
tation has taken place under the present Tariff, then I answer, that a much
larger exportation has also taken place. But to prove that our present Ta
riff is still too high, instead o f too low, and is therefore not to be blamed on
that account for the large importations o f manufactured goods, and the gen
eral prostration o f trade, we have only to refer again to your correspondent’s
letter. H e says we have imported $20,000,000 in specie. N ow I think
that this could hardly have occurred, if the Tariff had been merely a revenue
Tariff-— at any rate, things could not have been worse, and probably might
have been better. But let us inquire what has been the consequence o f this
importation o f specie? Let us refer to your number for April, (page 421.)
W e find there, that in the face o f an increased importation from Great Brit
ain o f 82,000,000 o f yards o f cotton goods in the years 18 4 7 -8 , that the
American manufacturers also increased their consumption o f cotton 135,000
bales for the same period, and “ the prices o f both raw material and fabrics
are now rising under a still greater production o f cloths.” Under these cir
cumstances, it appears difficult to suppose that the Tariff’ o f 1846 has had
anything to do with producing the general prostration o f trade, o f which
Colonel Hamilton complains. It would be more logical to suppose, that the
importation o f twenty millions o f specie had inflated the currency, at least to
that extent, and had tended to produce an increased amount o f manufactures,
without producing a corresponding amount o f consumption. That-the pre
sent Tariff is too high, instead o f too low, for the general interests o f the
community, we have unmistakeable evidence. According to B u m 's Com
mercial Glance, quoted in your Magazine, there was a decrease o f the exports
o f plain calicoes to the United States, in the year 1848, o f 24,000,000 of
The S ub-T reasury and the T ariff.
617
yards ; but it is accompanied with this remark, that the “ Americans now
ship from this country direct for China.” This is a short, but very pithy re
mark. As straws indicate the course o f the current, so do small circumstan
ces indicate the course o f those which are to follow. A n indirect, or round
about trade has already commenced, and is one o f the legitimate results o f
the protective system. I f American manufactures cannot live without a pro
tection o f thirty per cent, it will soon be found that they cannot prosper with
it. England, in addition to cotton, will continue to consume large quantities
o f our breadstuffs, as well as other kinds o f agricultural produce ; and o f
course this must be paid for. I f the Tariff were increased, or even tLi pres
ent rate o f duties continued, we must expect a cessation o f our export trade
in manufactures, as well also as we may expect to import a fe w now and then.
Whenever the state o f the exchanges is favorable for the operation, our mer
chants will export goods direct from Great Britain, to pay for whatever for
eign produce may be necessary for consumption in the United States. W e
shall also, as I have intimated, be frequently inundated with foreign manu
factures in our own markets, whenever the failing harvests o f Europe shall
make it necessary to import a larger quantity o f breadstuffs, and consequently
derange the distribution o f the precious metals. W e ought therefore to pre
pare for a thorough fr e e trade, rather than an increase of duties. If we are
to have manufactures, they ought to be allowed to grow up without protec
tion, that they may be strong and healthy, and able to bear competition ;
and not like the sickly, pampered child, drag on a precarious and miserable
existence to no purpose.
The abolition o f the British Corn Laws may be looked upon as a new era
in commerce— all other protective systems must give way ; or can we sup
pose that Great Britain can continue to import five or six millions o f quarters
o f grain without making any impression upon the commerce o f other coun
tries. The German manufacturers were, many years ago, perfectly aware o f
the importance to their interests o f the continuance o f the British Corn
Laws. A writer in the Augsburgh Gazette acknowledged that their continu
ance was the greatest possible boon to the German manufacturing interest,
because, as no limit could be placed to the consumption o f foreign raw ma
terial and agricultural produce by Great Britain, no limit could be placed to
her competition with the manufacturers o f other nations. Those who advo
cate the protective system should be prepared to show, by the experience o f
other nations, how it can be profitably, or possibly carried out. Are they
willing, like France, to organize the most complete and comprehensive reve
nue service, (male and female,) and require passports, and search the person
o f every individual who may land upon our shores, and to keep a sufficient
number o f revenue officers to attend the manufactories, to place an indelible
mark on every piece o f goods manufactured in the country, and oblige the
dry goods merchant to keep that end o f the article until he has sold the
whole piece, to show to any person who may require it that it has not been
sm uggled? But what o f all this? Has it succeeded in making France
prosperous and happy ? N o ! considering her soil, climate, and state o f
civilization, she is one o f the poorest clothed and fed nations o f Europe.
D id it prevent smuggling ? Certainly not. It was easy to imitate the rev
enue mark, and smuggling went on as usual. Napoleon decreed that no
British goods should be imported upon the continent o f Europe; but with
all his power, he failed to accomplish his design o f destroying English trade.
Some o f his own officers were detected in a participation o f the profits of
618
Commercial Sketches with P en and P encil.
smuggling, and English goods still bearded him in the shop windows o f
Paris, until, finally, he was obliged to rescind his resolution. There appears
to be only one way in which the protective system can be made anything
like effective. I f you export you must im part; therefore, to be consistent,
all exportation ought to be prohibited, or prevented as much as possible by
high export duties. Austria, to encourage her manufacturing system, taxes
her exports o f raw produce, and yet she imports large quantities o f British
manufactures, and smuggling is constantly going on. Her manufactures do
not flourish, and they have at times shown evident symptoms o f decline ; and
there can be but little doubt, now that a constant market is opened for her
agricultural produce, that an extension o f cultivation will take place in spite
o f export duties. There are several other points in your correspondent’s
letter which I should like to notice, but I fear this letter is already too long
for your convenience, and, it may be, for the patience o f your readers. I
will therefore close with one other remark. The Colonel hints that fr e e
trade is an abstraction, and talks something about encouraging foreign cap
ital and labor. I should have thought that these things had been settled,
at least in the minds o f all intelligent people. A ll commerce is founded
upon the simple principle o f the superior profit and increased production
derived from the division o f labor; and fr ee trade is nothing more than the
universal application o f the principle. As to employing foreign capital and
labor in preference to our own, I should like to see it explained how we are
to import the productions o f foreign capital and labor without paying for
them in the productions o f our own.
I remain, dear sir, yours respectfully,
RICHARD STJLLEY.
Art. VI.— C O M M E R C I A L S K E T C H E S W I T H P E N AND P E N C I L .
THOMAS PRENTICE KETTELL.
[ w it h a p o r t r a it .]
P e r h a p s no single individual has contributed more to the financial litera
ture o f the country, or exerted a more extended influence through the prac
tical application o f sound principles of political economy to passing events,
than the gentleman who is the subject o f this sketch. Possessed o f prompt
and vigorous reasoning powers, o f clear perception and rare sagacity, he
grasps the essence o f any subject that presents itself with singular facility ;
and through his rapid, bold, and vigorous style, flings his powerful concep
tions before his readers with a clearness and force that always carry con
viction. His writings for the last ten years have formed an invaluable run
ning commentary upon the stirring events that have transpired in the re
markable decade, which, commencing with the general suspension o f 1837,
was marked, through the terrible nature o f the revulsions that followed, by an
entire change in public opinion in the United States, in respect to commercial
and financial principles, and have identified the writer with the soundest politi
cal economists o f the country. As o f late there seems to have developed itself
a taste for genealogical sketching, always o f value in illustration o f the progress
o f events in our rapidly advancing country, we have collected from many cu
rious genealogical books, lately published in New England, a few facts in re
lation to the New England ancestors of Mr. Kettell.
Thomas P ren tice K ettell.
619
History affords us but meager memorials o f many o f tlie worthy founders
o f New England— a few dim outline sketches, which the imagination must
fill up. But few become so distinguished as to have their names transmit
ted with honor to posterity ; yet, in one sense, the founders o f New England
were a distinguished race, so that no ordinary interest is attached to slight
details illustrating then- character, standing, and fortunes. They were the
flower o f that strong-minded and intelligent race o f men, whose determined
patriotism wrought out the first revolution in England, and commenced that
series o f governmental reforms, which has permitted Great Britain to pass,
by gentle transition, from the state o f feudal tyranny to representative gov
ernment, while other nations of Europe underwent no such preparation until
the sudden shock o f inevitable reform was nearly fatal to civilization. The
institutions those men founded in N ew England, stand before the world as
models o f human wisdom. They are the same that they sought to establish
in England, and which, but for opposing priestcraft and aristocratic interests,
would have placed the people o f England at the present day in as enviable
a condition as are those o f Massachusetts.* Tire working o f the democratic re
presentative system in the New W orld was untrammeled by any conflicting
and long existing aristocratic privileges. It was put in motion by the bold,
sturdy, and simple-minded men, with whom independence was a paramount
object. As they grew in numbers, preserving their industrious and simple
habits, the system o f government they adopted developed itself in a manner
to leave scarcely anything to wish for, and some details o f their habits and
condition are o f general interest.
Foremost among those bold adventurers, who sought in the wilds o f the
New W orld a refuge from hierarchical and aristocratic oppression, were the
ancestors o f Mr. Kettell, and it appears also that this impatience o f oppres
sion was no new-born feeling with the race, which was o f the oldest in Eng
land. According to the old chronicles, U lf Ketel, who succeeded to the Sax
on earldom o f Norfolk in 994, was greatly distinguished for his valor in en
counters with the Danish invaders. A branch o f his descendants were pos
sessors o f the ancient barony o f Kendal, and various localities in England
take their names from the descendants o f this Saxon earl. Thus, near Glanford, in Lincolnshire, is Kettleby, the seat o f the family o f Tirwhitts. This
place is said by Camden to have been founded by one K ettell; the word lye,
in Saxon, signifying a habitation. There is also a Kettleby-upon-Eye, Leices
ter ; Kettle’s Hulme, Chester; Kettleston, N orfolk; Kettlethorpe, Lincoln;
Kettle, Fifeshire, <fcc. The frequent occurrence o f this name indicates the ex
tended influence o f the family not only in England, but in Scotland and Ire
land. A coat o f arms, recorded in the Herald’s office, London, quartered with
the armorial bearings of Lord Hill, was granted, 15 7 0, to John Kettell o f Kings,
Langley county, o f Hartford. It would seem, from the various glimpses that
history gives o f the name from time to time, that it was always found among
those who were in resistance to oppression, or to undue assumption o f au
thority; and this sturdy disposition, manifest in the Saxon Ulf, developed it
self fully at the time o f the English revolution. Camden’s Annals o f Ireland
records, as far back as 1325, that the lady Alice Ketyll was cited to ap
pear before Richard Lederede, Bishop of Ossory, upon the charge o f hold
ing “ heretical and perverse opinions,” and all o f the race were included
among those democratic Puritans, who, never misled by names, were as little
satisfied with the despotism of the Protector as o f the legitimate ruler. A c
cordingly, in 1634, Richard Kettell, then twenty-five years o f age, with his wife,
620
Commercial Sketches with P en and Pencil.
arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts. In the following year his name ap
pears on the records o f the first church in that town as a m em ber; and for
two hundred years afterwards the name, as borne by his descendants, appear
ed on the same records in succession. His name is also found among the
selectmen o f the town. From his will, recorded in the Middlesex Probate
Court, October, 1680, he appears to have been possessed o f an estate o f
£3 00 , a fortune which, in those days, was accounted considerable, and which
is above the average returns o f wills in the ancient records of Middlesex,
forming a very good index to the comparative wealth o f the early colonists.
H e was clearly one o f the most substantial o f those fearless, resolute, perse
vering and thrifty planters o f New England, who, amidst privation and dan
ger, laid deeply the foundation o f the present and prospective glories o f the
republic. His oldest son, John, with his wife and two sons, were taken pris
oners from a garrisoned house at Lancaster, in K ing Philip’s war. The sec
ond son o f Richard was Joseph, born 1641, and who was married July, 1665,
to Hannah Frodingham, (Frothingham,) by whom he had fourteen children;
o f these W illiam was born 1680. H e remained a citizen o f Charlestown,
where he was married and had six children; o f these, William, who was born
1115, married Miss Ruth Stimpson in 1737. From this union resulted
twelve children ; and it may be noted as a singular instance o f longevity in a
family, that the whole o f the twelve children followed their father to the
grave in 1767. The family was then broken up. The members, scattered
over the whole Union, many o f them engaged in the war o f independence,
but were re-assembled, and the whole twelve followed their mother to the
grave in 1807, forty years after the burial o f their father, and one o f the twelve
still lives. Joseph, the third son of W illiam, was born November, 1740, and
in 1770 married Rebecca, daughter o f the Rev. Thomas Prentice.
This gentleman was bom in Cambridge, Mass., in 1702, and having grad
uated at Harvard College in 1726, was ordained at the church o f Arundel,
District o f Maine. Ten years after, the settlement being dispersed by the
Indian hostilities, Mr. Prentice returned to Charlestown, and was settled as
pastor o f the first church at that place, where he continued to preach until
the edifice was destroyed at the battle o f Bunker’s Hill. W h en the tide
o f battle rolled away, a log hut, erected on the ashes o f the church, served
to continue the worship; but Mr. Prentice was too advanced in years to
struggle against surrounding difficulties. In 1746 he had married Miss Re
becca Austin, o f Charlestown, by whom he had a daughter, Rebecca, who, as
mentioned, married Joseph Kettellin 1770, and died in 1825, having survived
her husband ten years. From this marriage resulted five chidren. O f these,
Thomas Prentice, named after his maternal grandfather, born October, 1774,
and died in 1843, was the eldest; the others were Rebecca, married to the
Hon. Amasa Stetson, a gentleman distinguished for his patriotic services,
while United States Commissary, in the late war with Great Britain, and in
the Massachusetts Senate, o f Dorchester, M ass.; John, a merchant o f Boston ;
Maria, widow o f Enoch Brown, Esq., an eminent lawyer, o f Bangor, M e.;
and Charlotte, married to Nathaniel Freeman, Esq., o f Boston.
Thomas Prentice Kettell was married, in 1808, to Miss Hannah Dawes,
daughter of Joseph Peirce, Esq., o f Boston. A m ong the earliest settlers
o f Boston was Mr. Peirce’s grandfather, and himself was born in 1745,
being one o f eight children. Three o f the brothers o f Mr. Peirce entered
the army when the smothered indignation o f the people burst into active
resistance to the encroachments o f the British crown, and all signalized
Thomas P ren tice K ettell.
62 1
themselves in the service o f their country, fertilizing the fields with their
blood. Major Isaac Peirce was aid-de-camp to Gen. Gates, and was present
in that capacity at the surrender o f Burgoyne. Capt. John Peirce, a mem
ber o f the Society o f the Cincinnati, died at Fort Adams, W alnut Hills,
Georgia; and Lieut. Hardy Peirce was killed in action at Fort Lee, November 5,
1776. Mr. Joseph Peirce, although a merchant o f Boston, had, prior to the
outbreak o f the Revolution, organized a company o f grenadiers, which he
continued to command with Henry Knox, afterward Gen. Knox, as lieutenant,
down to the day on which the tea was cast into Boston harbor. The gren
adier corps was one o f the finest in the colonies, and being drawn up in State,
then King-street, to receive the new Governor Gage, on his arrival from
England, elicited from that officer the remark that “ he did not know his
Majesty had any troops in America ” — a compliment to the soldierly appear
ance o f the corps long cherished by its officers even when patriotism had
led them to oppose the king’s troops. Capt. Peirce was in charge o f the
tea ships as guard on the night previous to the appearance o f those world-re
nowned “ Indians,” o f whom his brother John was one. That event brought
about the dissolution o f the corps ; but the friendship then formed between Gen.
Knox and Mr. Peirce existed uninterruptedly to the death o f the former, in 1806.
W hen Lieut. Knox, impelled by his glowing patriotism, sought to join the army
o f Washington, then at Cambridge, preparatory to the fight at Bunker’s Hill,
he had some difficulty in escaping from Boston, but he was enabled to do so
through a permit obtained by Mr. Peirce for a chaise to pass the lines on
Boston Neck. As he took leave o f the future general, the latter remarked,
“ My sword-blade is thrust through the cushions on which we sit, and Lucy
(his wife) has the hilt in her pocket.” The subsequent career o f Gen. Knox
is part o f the history o f the country. In 1771 Mr. Peirce had married Miss
Anne Dawes, a daughter o f Col. Thomas Dawes, who was one o f the most
distinguished gentlemen o f his time, not merely for considerable wealth, but
for many valuable qualities that his public spirit devoted to the public service.
Being descended from Puritan ancestors, he retained their principles, and, in
some degree, the outward severity o f their manners. His taste having led
him to the study o f architecture, he became eminently successful, and many
o f the existing public buildings o f Boston, including the State House, afford
memorials o f his talents. H e represented Boston in the Massachusetts Sen
ate for twenty-four successive year's, and, as president o f that body, exercised
executive authority on the death o f Governor Increase Sumner, there being
then no lieutenant governor, after which he retired from public office in the
full exercise o f his faculties.
Through the union with Miss Dawes, Mr. Peirce had five children. Joseph,
the eldest, was born in 1773, and his eldest daughter, Frances, was married
to a son o f the late W illiam Grey, o f world-wide mercantile reputation. Han
nah, the second daughter o f the union with Miss Dawes, was married to Mr.
Thomas Prentice Kettell, the immediate father o f the gentleman who is the
subject o f our notice. Mr. Kettell the elder was long known as a merchant
o f Boston, and highly esteemed by all who held intercourse with him. By
his marriage with Miss Peirce he had four children, o f whom the eldest, Jo
seph, born 1809, was of a highly intelligent mind and great natural abili
ties ; but, owing to extreme delicacy o f health, was unable to engage in any
regular profession or business, yet, by his amiable qualities, endeared him
self to all. H e died at St. Augustine, Florida, whither he had gone in pur
suit o f his health. The second, Thomas Prentice, o f whom we treat, was
622
Com m ercial'Sketches with P en and P en cil.
bom 1811, and is now in his 39th y e a r; George Frederick, at present pastor
o f the Vesey-street church, New Y o rk ; and Anne, married to W . S. Brown,
o f Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Thomas Prentice Ivettell, educated in Boston, early evinced a taste
for commercial pursuits, and when quite young accompanied his father on
several trading voyages, which enlarged his views and improved his under
standing o f the operations o f general commerce. On leaving school he
entered a wholesale hardware store in Boston, where he continued for many
years, until his desire for more extended operations induced him to visit Europe.
After engaging in many extensive operations, and visiting most o f the capitals
o f Europe in the investigation o f the course and general operation o f interna
tional commerce, with the view to reconcile the practical workings o f trade
with the general principles o f the economists, he returned to this country, and
took up his abode in New York at a most interesting period. It was at a
time when his natural qualities, enlarged and matured by extensive observa
tion and untiring research, enabled him to appreciate with great accuracy
the position o f financial affairs throughout the world, and particularly the
unhealthy state o f things which existed in this country.
The colonial origin o f the United States subjected them to many inconve
niences, that could not be cast off as easily as the political connection with
the mother country was severed. The policy o f the mother country, by forbid
ding manufactures, restraining trade, and imposing restrictions, had prevented
the growth o f capital in the colonies, and created a commercial and financial
dependence far more difficult to shake off than the political allegiance. The
appointment o f governors, who were to carry on a government amid a dissatis
fied people, in some degree compelled the issue o f paper money in the shape
afterwards prohibited to the States as “ bills o f credit.” Notwithstanding
the immense evils that flowed from the use o f such a circulating medium,
the paper credits became so interwoven with the business o f the people, and
the dependence on England for capital so complete, that the confederate
States were held in complete bondage to the money power o f England for
half a century after her statesmen had lost all political control over the colo
nies. The Constitution o f the new States prohibited “ bills o f credit,” because
experience had taught statesmen the immense evils that flow from their u se;
but the issue o f paper continued under various changes, always with the
same result. W h en the United States ceased to issue bills of credit, it dele
gated the power to a National Bank, and the individual States delegated to
corporations o f their own creation a right o f which they had themselves
been deprived. A s the paper schemes changed their aspects they acquired
a short lived favor, and not a few honestly believed that the prosperity o f
the country was owing to these paper credits, which had so long preyed upon
national and individual wealth. The time was approaching, however, when
the United States were to be relieved from financial vassalage, as they had
sixty years before been emancipated politically.
The leading events throughout the commercial world in the seven years
ending with 1837, conspired to expand commercial credits into an unusually
fragile and dangerous bubble, which, amid the greatest apparent prosperity,
tended gradually, but inevitably, to an explosion. England, being the money
center o f the commercial world, or the point where balances resulting from
the transactions o f nations are ultimately settled, always exerts a powerful
influence upon the general state o f financial affairs. W hen her crops are
good, and her industry prolific in materials o f commerce, she is liberal in
Thomas P rentice K ettell.
623
credits to dependent borrowers, and does not enforce that prompt settlement
o f balances which becomes necessary when a short harvest diminishes her
resources, or a limited yield o f raw materials deprives her o f the usual profits
that her great capital, matured skill, and central position enable her to com
mand for manufactures. For many years subsequent to the great explosion
o f 1825 her capital was becoming more abundant, and her liberality to the
borrowing traders o f other nations apparently increasing as their demands
became greater, and the world became heavily indebted to England. Cap
ital left her shores for employment in all parts o f the w orld; and the impulse
given to bank credits in 1832, by the law re-chartering the Bank o f England
and encouraging the creation o f joint stock banks, followed by the large pay
ments in 1834 for W est India slaves, so accumulated credits at home and
promoted the already large efflux o f capital, as to act very perceptibly upon
those infallible indices, the bullion in the bank and the state o f the exchanges,
both o f which gave warning o f an approaching storm even during the last
series o f abundant harvests which the soil of England has produced. In
1836, the necessity for curtailing foreign credits forced itself upon the notice
o f the money power. Simultaneously with this process in England, the fee
ble fabric o f credits in the United States was tottering to a fell. In 1828,
on the accession o f Gen. Jackson to the Presidency o f the Republic, the first
• intimation was given that the democratic party would in no event suffer the
renewal o f the charter o f the National Bank, which was to expire in 1836.
As colonial experience had taught the first Congress the evils o f bills o f
credit, so had fifty years o f independence convinced the public o f the per
nicious effects o f bank credits. From that time the institution, as its returns
indicate, sought to extend its influence, in opposition to the government, by
the rapid expansion o f its loans, an operation greatly facilitated by the situ
ation o f affairs in London. In New York, also, the safety fund banking
scheme, projected by Mr. Van Buren as a part o f the machinery by which
political power in the State o f New York was controlled, was put into
operation, and the bestowal o f charters for political services caused bank
capital, in the ten years ending with 1836, to increase from $16,132,140 to
$37,182,000 in the State o f New York alone. The liberality o f foreign
credits, the operation o f the National Bank, and the rivalry o f the safety
fund banks in New York, gave such an impulse to bank speculation as raised
the aggregate bank capital o f the Union from 145 to 350 millions. More
than $200,000,000 o f capital rolled from east to west, mostly spreading in
the fertile valleys o f the Mississippi and its tributaries. A ll business was
consequently on an unsafe footing. Speculations were rife, valuations extrav
agantly high, and the most improvident system o f credits by persons with
inadequate capitals everywhere prevailed. In this unsound state o f the pub
lic mind Mr. Kettell clearly discerned the true condition o f affairs, with the
inevitable consequences. U p to that time the public press had never sys
tematically followed commercial events, or exerted itself in the advocacy o f
economical principles distinct from party politics; Mr. Kettell therefore de
termined, in a series of practical articles, gradually to expose pernicious
causes, and to indicate judicious remedies. To find a channel o f communi
cation was no easy matter, as none o f the journals o f the day felt themselves
at liberty to attack existing abuses without distinction. It happened, how
ever, that the N ew Y ork H erald had been in existence for some two years,
and enjoyed a certain reputation for independence, although, from the objec
tionable matter admitted editorially, it commanded little influence. Mr.
624
'Com m ercial Sketches w ith P en and P encil.
Kettell, however, commenced in that paper, under a distinct head, an exposi
tion o f the monetary affairs o f the country. These displayed an ability that
soon attracted general attention not only throughout the United States, but
in all commercial cities of the w orld ; and during six years, down to the close
o f 1843, they acquired an almost oracular authority.
A s an indication how speedily a strong and original thinker will impress
his identity upon the public mind, we ■null here insert a few extracts from a
huge collection o f papers and Congressional speeches, at that time. It will
be observed that Mr. Kettell’s name was never before the public; but, on the
other hand, the paper in which his writings appeared frequently took occa
sion to claim for its proprietor the paternity o f the articles; yet it will be
seen from the extracts how unerring is public judgment. The annexed ex
tract is a part o f the remarks on the Money Market in the N ew Y ork Herald :
“ W e know not who is the writer o f the series o f remarks on that subject, which
appear in the Herald, nor do we pretend to be deeply instructed in the myste
ries o f finance, currency, banking, and political economy; but a friend, who we
believe to be familiar with these topics, has suggested the propriety o f republish
ing the extract which follows. W e also know that some o f the most intelligent
merchants o f this city have spoken o f this series o f essays in the Herald as the
productions o f one who has an extensive knowledge o f the mercantile and monetary
affairs o f the country, and a mind o f uncommon shrewdness in observation.”— Bos
ton Courier, 1840.
* * * “ Bearing these principles in mind, he would ask the attention o f the
House to some statistics. He presented the following table, which he said was
taken from the Money Articles o f the New York Herald, which were written
with an ability which the whole country acknowledged.”— Speech o f M r. Bayly,
o f Virginia, March, 1842.
“ Upon this particular point I will say nothing more than to read an extract from
one o f the Money Articles o f the New York Herald. But I cannot do this with
out remarking, in justice to the author o f those articles, that for a year or two
past they have, in the general, displayed a very uncommon industry and ability,
and greatly aided in displacing error and exposing the frauds and corruption with
which the country has been so long afflicted through its corporations, its curren
cy, its stockjobbers, and paper mongers.”— Mr. Allen, o f Ohio, 1842.
“ The writer o f the Money Article o f the New York Herald, the country should
know, is not the editor o f that print. He is a man o f principle, o f judgment, o f
information. His views o f the new Exchequer scheme are characterized by hon
esty and patriotism, and by the judicious and practical considerations which have
given so much deserved weight to his notices o f the monetary concerns o f the
country.”— Washington Globe, 1841.
“ But, sir, I will read an authority on this subject I call the attention o f the
House to the following article from a New York paper, under the head o f 1Money
Market.’ ”— Speech o f Mr. Snowden, o f Pennsylvania.
“ W e have made an extract from one o f the Money Articles o f the New York
Herald, the writer o f which is confessedly one o f the most judicious and discrim
inating observers in the whole country.”— Macon Messenger, ( Clay paper.)
“ W e had intended, in anticipation o f that event, to have gone into an elaborate
and full examination o f that measure; but are most fortunately saved the labor
o f doing so, by the able and well-timed article which we give in another column,
from the New York Herald. W e thank the editor o f that paper, and particularly
the writer o f this article, and we trust our readers will thank him too, for his sur
passingly clear illustration o f the effect which that very specious but more mis
chievous measure will have on the interests and business of this county. He lias
said just what we wished to say, and better and in fewer words than we could
have said it. W e hope not one o f our readers will fail to give his article an at
tentive perusal.”— Portsmouth (Va.) Chronicle, 1842.
• “ A perusal o f the statistics and other facts gleaned by the accurate and able
Thomas P ren tice K ettell.
625
writer of the Money Articles o f the Herald, will render it manifest that Mr. W e b
has not only misrepresented the state of our trade generally, in pretending
that it had suffered from the want of care on the part o f our government, and
its failure to put our merchants and shippers on an equality with those o f the na
tions with which we deal.”— Globe, Washington, 1842.
“ But the New York Herald has been one of the most powerful instruments in
the United States in exposing the frauds, bubbles, and stock-gambling machinery
which our fund-mongers had organized in America for robbing the land and labor
o f that country, as they have robbed this, since the days o f Walpole. For cor
rectness of detail, research, industry, sound political economy, and decided talent,
the New York Herald might challenge a comparison with any daily paper in Eu
rope. Its Money Articles have not yet been equalled on this side o f the water;
but it is the bold, and able, and honest exposure o f the corrupt paper system which
those Money Articles contain, and not the wit, levity, and colloquial humor o f the
Herald, which has excited the indignant reprobation o f our corrupt money-changers,
and their creatures, the Times, Chronicle,” &c.— London paper.
“ W e recommend the following striking and just remarks, from the Money Ar
ticle o f the Herald— which department o f that paper would alone redeem it from
all the trash that appears in its columns. These Money Articles are decidedly
the best which are to be found in any o f the American papers. They are lumin
ous, able, and, what has especial value in these times, in the midst o f a large com
mercial city, bold and independent."— Richmond Enquirer, 1841.
“ Let us hear what that shrewd financier, who writes Bennett’s Money Articles,
says on the subject.”— Louisville Advertiser.
“ While our hand is in, we will give two other tables from that masterly author
o f statistics, who prepares the Money Articles for the New York Herald, v i z —
Ohio Statesman, 1842.
“ W e copy, for the benefit o f our readers, the following extract from the Money
Article o f the New York Herald. These articles are among the best, if not the
very best, that are written for the American press on the monetary affairs, public
or private, o f the country. The writer is not the editor o f that paper, nor is
he a blind partisan, but a clear-headed, honest, and most able collector and dis
seminator o f facts.”— Hartford Times.
ster
Nearly every member o f the United States Senate publicly acknowledged
the influence which Mr. Kettell had acquired, through the bold and timely
exercise o f his genius, at a time when the most experienced merchants were
appalled at the extent o f the spreading bankruptcies. Am id the turmoil and
dismay which seized upon most men in those trying times, he steadily as
serted the truth, and clearly designated the goal that must be reached be
fore reaction could be calculated upon.
In that period o f time the greatest changes were wrought in public opin
ion. It is true that the inherent rottenness o f the financial system which
prevailed would inevitably have developed itself* and involved in ruin its
abettors; but, had not the clear and pungent expositions o f Mr. Kettell kept,
public attention fixed upon the general causes that were operating to produce
a desolation but too evident to all, the lesson taught in those disastrous
years might measurably have been lost upon the public mind. The public
had by long custom, supported by the specious reasdning o f able writers,
come to the conclusion that the theory o f Alexander Hamilton, in relation
to the necessity o f a National Bank, as a means o f managing the public
finances and regulating exchanges, was indisputably established. Much fal
lacious reasoning, based upon erroneous premises, prevailed in relation to
the theory o f the exchanges. The National Bank was regarded as the great
regulator, without which, it was firmly believed by many statesmen and eminent merchants, there could be no uniformity or cheapness o f exchanges;
VOL.
xx.— N O . vi.
40
626
Com mercial Sketches w ith P en and P encil.
and this opinion was supported by the confusion which prevailed in the local
currencies simultaneously with the failure o f the National Bank. The gen
eral suspension o f the banks o f the Union in 1837 was accompanied by a
depreciation o f local bank paper, and this was confounded with the rate of
exchange. The inability o f the National Bank to “ regulate,” under such
circumstances, was manifest to the most obtuse. The high rate o f exchange
on all points manifested the amount o f indebtedness to New York, and the
abundance o f local promises as compared with actual means o f payment.
The great majority o f persons in all parts o f the Union had purchased quan
tities o f goods and property on credit, in anticipation o f a profitable rise in
values that would enable them to pay. Numbers o f persons had consumed
the property o f others and could not pay. The extent to which this was
carried became subsequently manifest in the results o f the Bankrupt law
passed by Congress. From that it appeared that there were 33,739 appli
cants for relief under the law, who were indebted in the sum of $440,934,615
to 1,049,603 creditors. This was by no means the whole number o f the
insolvents that were made so by the collapse o f the credit system. They
were only that small portion who were unable to effect a private settlement.
A ll these persons were in debt, in these incredible sums, to banks and mer
chants, and the country was heavily in debt to Europe. This latter debt was
to be paid in produce or specie. The former had become, under the influ
ence o f speculative paper issues, too high to export, and the specie being
exhausted, there was no resource but failure. The competition for specie to
export raised its price, and American gold was 16 per cent premium in New
York, sovereigns were worth $5 47^ each, and sterling bills 22 per cent
premium. Neither good exchange nor specie was to be had as a means o f
payment, and the amount to be paid was very large. A t that time the dif
ference between New York and the southern cities was not great, because,
as compared with specie, the irredeemable paper o f all the States was at
about the same degree o f depreciation. It was contended that as most of
the debts due were contracted in a currency so inflated, that cotton was called
21 cents per lb. and wheat $2 per bushel, it was ruinous to compel persons
to pay when prices were collapsed to the specie standard; and when the
New York Legislature compelled the banks o f that State to resume in May,
1838, Mr. Biddle, in a strong letter to John Quincy Adams, contended that
the high price o f exchange was not an indication o f inability to pay, but of
a scarcity o f money, (a rather paradoxical position;) and that the remedy
was a continued suspension, in order that people might realize their property
at the inflated prices in which they contracted debts. H e overlooked the
feet that that property was to be guaged by the specie currency o f Europe,
where the most o f our merchants’ debts were due. Cotton at 21 cents and
wheat at $2 would not answer to pay debts with in England, and pay day
had arrived. I f a creditor in New York took cotton for a southern debt at
21 cents, and was obliged to sell it in England at 10 cents to pay his own
debts, he must necessarily be ruined. As the importing interest was govern
ed by the currency o f England, so necessarily was the consuming interest
governed by the same g u a g e; and the ineffectual struggle made by the
United States Bank to sustain proper prices, only resulted in the final extin
guishment o f some $200,000,000 o f bank capital. It became necessary for
New York to resume payment, and, as she did so, the rate o f discount on
* southern exchange continued to rise. In August, 1837, exchange on Phila
delphia and Baltimore was par a J- per cent discount; in April, 1838, it was
Thomas P ren tice K ettell.
627
6 a 6 per cent discount; on Natchez and Mobile, 25 per cent discount.
The debts o f New York merchants were collected in the local currencies, and
they had to submit to this enormous loss, the ruinous magnitude o f which
induced many to call a meeting at the City Hotel to intimidate the New
York banks into suspension, in order that this depreciated paper, taken for
debt, might be made available in the discharge o f obligations. The lapse of
time, however, developed the fact, that even the little obtained from debtors
was but the debris o f the bank capital, and all those institutions speedily
passed away.
Throughout the progress o f these great events, the writings o f Mr. Kettell
enchained public attention, and the greatest eagerness was manifest in Lon
don and Europe, among those connected with the American interests, to ob
tain his papers, in which, by the clearness o f his style, the perfect mastery
o f his subject, the fulfillment o f his prognostics, the fullness and accuracy o f
his information, and the clearness o f his judgment, he established an enduring
reputation.
It may be said that during the commercial and financial revolution which
took place, his financial treatises held the same position that did “ Common
Sense” and the “ Rights o f Man” in the political revolutions at the close o f the
last century. The portrait which accompanies this number is an admirable
likeness, engraved by that celebrated artist, Doney, from one o f Plumbe’s Da
guerreotypes. Under the management o f Mr. Butler, the establishment
known as Plumbe’s has reached a high state o f perfection in that wonder
ful art.
Mr. Kettell abandoned all connection with the Herald in November, 1843,
and o f late years has been in charge o f the Democratic Review, o f which he
is proprietor, to which he has given a new character by his monthly financial
articles. H e is known to the readers o f the M erchant's M agazine as the
writer o f a valuable series o f articles upon “ The Debts and Finances o f the
several States,” now in course o f publication, and as the writer o f articles in
former volumes o f this Magazine on the “ Commercial Treaties o f the Uni
ted States,” &c., over his own signature. H e has also, for several years,
been the commercial correspondent o f the W ashington Union, over the
signature o f “ Prentice.” H e is doubtless one o f the most forcible writers
on political economy in the country, and has done more to impart a respecta
ble character to the tone o f the press on that subject than any other. H e
enjoys vigorous health, is a hearty practical philosopher, very little given to
fanciful speculations, and belongs properly to the political economists, rather
than to the literary class. H e is entitled to a high rank among the econom
ical reformers o f the d a y ; a class o f men whose labors effect a world o f good,
while the laborers are scarcely known even by name to those who profit most
by their exertions.
Commercial Code o f Spain.
628
Art. TII.— C O M M E R C I A L CODE OF S P A I N .
N U M B ER V III.
MARITIME INSURANCE.
W e continue our translations from the Codigo de Comerd o o f Spain.
Our present number is the conclusion o f the article, the first part o f which
was published in the number o f this Magazine for December, 1848, and
treats o f Maritime Insurance, (M aritimo Seguro.)
C O N C E R N IN G THE T H IN G S B Y W H IC H TH E C O N TRA CT O F M AR ITIM E IN S U R A N C E
IS AN N U LLE D , RE SC IN D ED , O R M O D IFIED .
m
A r t i c l e 885. The insurance shall be null which is contracted upon the
freight o f the cargo not existing on board, and also upon the gains calculated
and not to be realized on the same cargo. These consist of—
F irst. The wages o f the crew.
Second. The amounts taken a la gross, or on bottomry loans.
Third. The premiums o f loans made a la gross, or for bottomry.
Fourth. On the lives o f passengers or individuals o f the crew.
F ifth . On all goods o f illegal commerce.
886. Should the underwriters be declared bankrupt, pending the risk of
the things underwritten, the insured may exact from them security, and it
not being given by the bankrupt himself, or by the administrator o f his es
tate, within the term o f three days following the requisition made upon him
to give it, the contract shall be rescinded.
The underwriter has the same rights upon or against the insured, when
the premium of insurance has not been received.
887. Always when, by an examination o f the things underwritten, it shall
be found that the insured has committed any falsehood knowingly, in regard
to any o f the clauses o f the policy, the insurance shall be held null.
Observing, in respect to the incorrectness o f the valuation o f the merchan
dises, what is provided in Article 836 o f this Code.
888. The insurance is also null when it is proved that the owner o f the
things underwritten belongs to a hostile nation, or when the insurance is
made upon a vessel habitually occupied in a contraband trade or employ
ment, or when a damage happening is the effect o f having committed a con
traband offense by the insured.
889. The insurance is null when the vessel fails to make the voyage de
signated in the policy, or when she fails to depart on the voyage, or when
she sails from a different point than that agreed upon, if any o f these cases
happen by the fault or arbitrary conduct o f the insured.
890. The insurance is also null which is made upon a vessel that, after the
policy is signed, remains one year or more without the voyage having been
begun.
In case o f this disposition o f the voyage, and o f those o f the three anterior
articles, the underwriter shall have a right to the allowance o f one-half per
cent o f his premiums upon the amount insured.
891. The different contracts o f insurance upon a cargo shall be made with
out fraud. The first contract only shall remain valid, if it covers the whole
o f the value of the cargo, and then the underwriters o f subsequent contracts
Commercial Code o f Spain.
629
o f insurance shall remain quit o f their obligations, and shall receive one-half
per cent o f the amount o f the premiums o f the insurance respectively.
The whole value o f the cargo not being covered by the first contract, the
responsibility o f the excess shall fall upon the underwriters who contracted
afterwards, following the order o f the dates o f each contract.
892. The insured shall not be exonerated from paying the premiums o f
the different contracts o f insurance which may have been made, if he shall
not intimate to the subsequent underwriters the invalidity o f their contracts
before the vessel and cargo have arrived at their port o f destination.
893. Every insurance shall be null which is made on a date posterior to
the arrival o f the things insured at their port o f consignment, as well as pos
terior to the day on which the things may have been lost, always when it
may have been legally presumed that the party interested in the event may
have had notice o f the loss before making the contract.
894. Presumptions take place without prejudice to other proofs, when
there have transpired, from the time when the arrival or loss happened up to
the date o f the contract, as many hours as there are leagues, o f legal Span
ish measurement, by the shortest route from the place at which the arrival
or the loss took place, to the place where the insurance was made or con
tracted for.
895. A policy o f insurance, containing the clause that the same is made
upon good or bad information, the presumption o f which the anterior article
speaks, shall not be admitted, and the insurance shall subsist if it is not fully
proved that the insured knew o f the loss o f the vessel, or the underwriter of
her arrival, before signing the contract.
896. A n underwriter, who makes an insurance with a knowledge o f the
safety o f the things insured, shall lose the right to the premiums o f insur
ance, and shall be condemned or mulcted in the fifth part o f the amount
which he has insured.
The fraud being on the part o f the insured, the insurance shall not avail
him, and besides he shall pay to the underwriter the premiums agreed upon
in the contract, and shall be condemned in the fifth part o f what he insured.
The one party as well as the other shall also be subject to the penalties
which may arise, according to the dispositions o f the criminal law's concern
ing frauds.
897. There being many underwriters in one insurance which may have
been made with fraud, and there being among them some who contracted it
in good faith, they shall receive their premiums entire from the fraudulent
underwriters, without the insured having to satisfy them in anything.
898. A n agent, who may make an insurance on account o f another, with
the knowledge that the things insured were lost, shall have the same re
sponsibility as if the insurance had been made on his own account.
899. If the agent should be innocent o f the fraud o f the owner, the penal
ties shall fall upon the latter, he always remaining chargeable with paying
to the underwriters the premium agreed upon.
C O N C E R N IN G TH E A B A N D O N M E N T O P TH IN G S
IN SU R ED .
900. The insured can, in the cases expressly pointed out in the law, make an
abandonment o f the things insured, leaving them for the account o f the under
writers, and exacting from them the amounts which they insured upon them.
901. A n abandonment may be made in cases—
F irst. O f capture.
630
Commercial Code o f Spain.
Second. Shipwreck.
Third. Breaking up, or the stranding o f the vessel, which may disable
her from navigating.
Fourth. Embargo, or detention by order o f her own or a foreign govern
ment.
F ifth . In case o f a total loss o f the things insured.
S ixth. A deterioration o f the' same, which may diminish their value ii)
three-fourths at least o f their total value.
A ll other damages are accounted as averages, and shall be sustained by
him to whom it corresponds, according to the terms in which the insurance
may have been contracted.
902. The actual abandonment cannot take place, except for losses occur
ring after the voyage has commenced.
903. The abandonment cannot be partial nor conditional, but must com
prehend in it all the effects insured.
904. The abandonment shall not be admissable, unless it is made known
to the underwriters within six months after the date on which notice o f a loss
happening in the ports or on the coasts o f Europe is received, and in the
same term for those o f Asia or Africa, which are in the Mediterranean Sea.
This term shall be one year for the losses which may happen in the Azores,
Madeira Islands, and on the western coasts o f Africa, and the eastern coasts
o f A m erica; and the term shall be two years for the loss happening in any
other part o f the world more distant.
905. W ith respect to cases o f capture, the terms fixed in the preceding
article shall be extended to the time news is received o f the vessel having
been taken to any o f the ports situated on any o f the coasts mentioned
therein.
906. The notice shall be taken to have been received for the terms which
have been fixed from the time that it may be notorious among the merchants
at the place o f residence o f the insured, or from the time it can be proved,
by any legal mode, that the captain, consignee, or any other correspondent,
gave him notice o f the event.
907. It shall be at the will o f the insured to renounce the limit o f these
terms o f time last above mentioned, and to make an abandonment, or exact
the amounts insured as soon as the loss o f the effects insured can be made
to appear.
908. After a year has passed without news being received from the vessel
in ordinary voyages, or two years in long voyages, the insured can make an
abandonment, and demand o f the underwriters the payment for the effects
comprehended in the insurance without the necessity o f proving their loss.
This right must be exercised in the same space o f time as fixed in Article 904,
909. A ll those are reputed as long voyages, for the application o f the
preceding Article, which are not for any o f the ports o f Europe, or those of
Asia and Africa, in the Mediterranean Sea; or those o f America, situated this
side o f the Rivers La Plata and the St. Lawrence, and the intermediate
islands between the coasts o f Spain and the countries pointed out in this
designation.
910. Nothing shall be an obstacle, when the insurance was made for a
time limited, in order that the abandonment may take place when, in the
terms o f time fixed in Article 908, news concerning the vessel should not
have been received, saving to the underwriters the proof which they may
make that the loss occurred after their responsibility had expired.
Com mercial Code o f Spain.
63 1
911. A t the time the insured makes the abandonment, he ought to declare
all the insurances contracted upon the effects abandoned, as well as the loans
taken on bottomry upon said effects; pnd until he has made this declaration,
the time shall not begin to run in which he ought to be paid for the value
o f the effects abandoned.
912. If the insured shall commit fraud in the declaration which the pre
ceding Article prescribes, he shall lose all the rights which belong to him for
the insurance without ceasing to be responsible to pay the loans which he
may have taken upon the effects insured, notwithstanding their loss.
913. The abandonment being admitted, or declared valid in law, the do
minion o f the things insured shall be transferred to the underwriter, corre
sponding to the damages or improvements which may happen to them from
the monlent at which the abandonment was made.
914. The return o f the vessel, after the abandonment being admitted,
shall not exonorate the underwriter from the payment o f the effects aban
doned.
915. There is comprehended in the abandonment o f the vessel the freight
o f the merchandises which may be saved, even when it may have been paid
in anticipation, and it shall be considered as belonging to the insurers, under
the reserve o f the right which belongs to the lenders on bottomry, and also
to the crew for their wages, and also to the creditor who may have made ad
vances to fit out the vessel, or for any expenses caused on the last voyage.
916. A n abandonment o f the things insured cannot be made, except by
the owner himself, or by the agent who effected the insurance, or by other
persons specially authorized by the owner.
917. In case o f capture o f the vessel, the insured, or the captain, in his
absence, can ransom o f themselves the things comprehended in the insurance
without the concurrence o f the underwriters, or without waiting his instruc
tions when there is not time to demand them, it being their obligation to
make known to the underwriters the contract made for the ransom as soon
as it can be verified.
918. The underwriters may accept or renounce the agreement made by
the captain or insured for the ransom, intimating to the latter their resolu
tion in twenty-four hours after notification o f the agreement; but, accepting
o f the agreement, they shall deliver in the act the amount agreed upon for
the ransom, and the subsequent risks o f the voyage shall continue on their
account, according to the stipulations o f the policy o f insurance; but, disap
proving o f the agreement, they shall make payment of the amount insured,
and shall not retain or reserve any right over the things ransomed. If the
underwriters shall not make known their resolution in the time fixed, it shall
be understood that they have renounced the agreement.
919. W hen, on account o f the vessel being recaptured, the insured shall
be restored to the ownership o f his effects, all the damages and expenses
caused by their loss shall be held for average, and the underwriter shall be
accountable, to satisfy them the damages and expenses.
920. If, in consequence o f the recapture, the possession o f the effects in
sured shall pass- to the hands o f a third person, the insured can use the right
o f abandonment.
921. In cases o f shipwreck or capture, the insured is bound to use every
diligence which circumstances may permit to save or recover the effects lost,
without prejudice to the abandonment, which he may make at its proper
time. The legitimate expenses caused in the recovery shall be chargeable
632
M ercantile Law Cases.
upon the underwriters to the amount o f the value o f the effects which may
be saved, which shall be made effective by legal proceedings in default of
payment.
922. A n abandonment shall not be allowed on account o f unseaworthi
ness o f the vessel always when the damage incurred may be such that she
may be refitted for the voyage.
923. The refitting being verified, the underwriters shall only be answerable for the'vessels stranding on shore, or for any other damage which the
vessel may have received therefrom.
924. The vessel being absolutely incapacitated from navigating, those in
terested in the cargo who may be present, or, in their absence, the captain,
shall use every diligence possible to conduct the cargo to the port of its des
tination.
925. It shall be for the account o f the underwriters to run or incur the
risks o f transhipment, and those o f the new voyage, until the goods or effects
are delivered in the place designated in the policy o f insurance.
926. The underwriters are also responsible for averages, expenses o f dis
charge, of stowage, o f re-embarkations, o f excess o f freight, and all the other
expenses caused for the transhipping o f the cargo.
927. I f a vessel should not be found to transport the effects insured to
their destination, the owner may make an abandonment.
928. The underwriters are bound to complete the transhipment and the
conduction o f the effects within the term o f six months, if the incapacity
o f the vessel occurred in the seas which surround Europe, from the Straits
o f Gibraltar to the Bosphorus. A nd within a year if it is verified in a place
more distant, counting the term from the day in which the event may have
been communicated from the insured.
929. In case o f the voyage of the vessel being interrupted by an embargo
or a forced detention, the insured shall make it known to the underwriters as
soon as he has notice o f it, and he cannot make an abandonment until the
same period prescribed in the foregoing article has transpired. The insured
are bound to afford the underwriters the aid which may be in their power to
effect the raising o f the embargo, and of themselves to make exertions to that
end, in case that the underwriters, being in a remote country, cannot immedi
ately act in conjunction with them.
a . n.
MERCANTILE LAW CASES.
DENIO’ S SUPREME COURT REPORTS.
W e published, in the last number of the Merchants' Magazine, several important
Mercantile Cases, compiled from the volumes which form Denio’s series of Reports of
the Decisions of the Supreme Court of the State o f New York, as it existed prior to
the organization of the Judiciary in the State of New York under the new Constitu
tion. W e add a few more, of equal interest and importance to commercial men.
A gency.
W e will next refer our readers to the case o f Stohe and others vs.
Hayes, found at page 575 o f the third volume. This action was brought upon a
claim for money had and received, in the Superior Court in the city o f New York,
where judgment was rendered for the defendants, which was reversed in the Su
preme Court, whereupon the defendants brought a writ o f error to the Court o f
Errors, and here the judgment o f the Supreme Court was affirmed by a vote o f
18 to 3.
M ercantile Law Cases.
633
The case was this. A mercantile firm in the city o f New York, in 1835, held
a quantity o f goods on consignment which belonged to one Hayes, who resided
in the north o f Ireland. These goods were destroyed by the great fire in 1835,
and the firm recovered from the underwriters, on the goods of Hayes, about $3000
beyond the amount o f their expenses and commissions. Hayes being advised of
this recovery, directed the mercantile firm to remit this amount to him in a bill of
exchange. They purchased a bill on a house in Liverpool and remitted it to
Hayes, in Europe; but before the bill matured the drawee, who was solvent at
the time o f the making o f the bill, failed. It appeared that the firm had bought
the bill in market, or o f the drawer, upon their own credit, and not with the cash
funds o f Hayes, which they held in their hands. The bill was remitted to Hayes
according to his order, and the agents and debtors appear to have conducted the
transaction according to mercantile usage in all respects except the purchase of
the bill on credit. When Hayes found out that the bill was purchased without
the application o f his funds, he repudiated the transaction altogether, and gave
the firm notice that he should hold them responsible for the loss. The defend
ants refused to make good the loss, and on the trial contended—
1st. That the bill o f exchange, when remitted, was a valid payment o f the debt
which the defendant owed the plaintiff.
2d. That the loss was occasioned by the failure o f the drawee, which they
could not have anticipated.
The Court, in giving judgment in this cause against the defendants, held—
1st. That an agent could not act so as to bind his principal when he has an
adverse interest to him.
2d. That when an agent has a sum o f money in his hands belonging to his
principal, and is authorized to remit the money by purchasing a bill o f exchange,
he should purchase the bill with such money, and not by using his own credit in
whole or in part.
3d. That when the agent does purchase the bill according to instructions, but
uses his credit instead o f the fund o f the principal, the agent will be liable to re
spond to the principal in an action for money had and received, and the judgment
therefore in this ease in the court below ought to have been rendered against the
defendants.
A ssessm en t sa l e s of r e a l e s t a t e .
W e will now call the attention o f the
reader to the case of Doughty vs. Hope, found at page 595 of the third volume
o f these reports. This case was one of a class o f cases which have excited justly
a great interest in the public mind, being a street case, or rather a case wherein
a purchaser upon a sale o f real estate in the city o f New York for non-payment
o f taxes and assessments, sought, by an action o f ejectment, to obtain possession
from the original owner o f the land purchased at the sale.
It appeared that the Common Council o f the city of New York, by ordinance,
had directed a street to be regulated by setting curb and gutter stones under a
statute o f this State, and had appointed three commissioners or assessors to make
an estimate o f the expense o f the proceeding, and to assess the expenses among
the owners and occupants o f the houses and lots intended to be benefited by the
improvements. This having been done, the owners refused to pay the assess
ments, and the real estate was set up at auction and sold to the highest bidder by
the corporation to raise money to pay the expenses o f the improvements. Tw o
o f the assessors only signed the assessment, and the third did not join in the re
port o f the estimate and assessment. The Court o f Appeals, to winch this cause
had traveled, held—
1st. That an estimate and assessment made by two o f three assessors, appoint
ed for this purpose, is not a valid proceeding.
2d. That when property is taken under a statute without the consent o f the
owner on a sale for non-payment o f taxes and assessments, or for making a high
way, or for any public or private purpose, the power given by the statute must be
in all things strictly pursued; and if any material omission is made in any o f the
proceedings, the whole will be void.
3d. That any one o f the assessors is a competent witness to prove that another
assessor did not act in the proceeding.
634
M ercantile Law Cases.
4th. That a lease being executed to a purchaser is nothing more than a muni
ment o f title, as against the public authority that makes the sale, and does not
affect the original owner; and that a purchaser is hound to show on his part that
all the proceedings have been regular from the beginning to the end, and within
the jurisdiction o f the tribunal which acts in the premises, before he will he en
titled to recover in his action o f ejectment.
5th. That a ratification by the public authority who directs the assessment does
not render valid an assessment which has not conformed to the directions o f the
statute.
L i a b il it y f o e f r e ig h t of e n d o r s e r s of b il l s of l a d in g .
W e will next call
the attention o f our readers to the case o f Funck and others vs. Meriam and oth
ers, found at page 110 o f the fourth volume. This was an action brought against
the defendants for the freight o f nineteen packages o f goods, shipped at Havre
for New York in 1839-40, and consigned to the defendants or to their order on
paying freight and 10 per cent primage. The hills o f lading came to the hands
o f the defendants, who were merchants in the city o f New York, and were en
dorsed by the defendants, with a direction to deliver the goods to another firm by
the name o f Mainon and Bonnay. The endorsees o f the bill o f lading received
the goods, but did not pay the freight at the time o f the delivery, and in the course
o f four months afterwards failed, without having paid the freight due for the car
riage o f the goods, having, at the time o f the failure, executed a general assign
ment for the benefit o f their creditors, to the defendants, to whom they owed a
considerable amount. The goods for which this freight was claimed, or a consid
erable part of them, passed under the assignment. It appeared, however, on the
trial, that the defendants originally had no interest in the goods consigned, but
that they were forwarded through the defendants’ house to Mainon and Bonnay,
in order that the latter house might settle for the purchase piece o f the goods
with the defendants, according to a practice or arrangement in respect to importa
tions; that the defendants were agents o f the shippers of the goods, and the
goods were to be transferred to Mainon and Bonnay, and the bill o f lading was
sent to the defendants along with the goods, to be transferred on their receiving
payment o f the purchase piece o f the goods; but it did not appear that the car
riers o f the goods, who were the plaintiffs in this cause, had ever known o f this
arrangement.
Verdict was rendered for the plaintiffs in the court below, and judgment being
given thereon, and a bill o f exceptions having been signed, the defendants brought
error to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Justice Jewett gave the opinion o f the Supreme Court, reversing the judg
ment o f the court below. He came to the following conclusions:—
1st. That when goods, by the terms o f a bill o f lading, are to be delivered to
a consignee or his order on payment o f freight, the party receiving the goods,
whether the consignee or endorsee, to whom the bill o f lading has been trans
ferred, makes himself responsible for the payment o f the freight.
2d. That the person who actually accepts the bill o f lading, and receives the
property, thereby makes himself a party to the contract, and he alone is liable to
pay the freight,
3d. That the consignees not having received the goods, but only the bill o f
lading, and then endorsed the bill o f lading, and the endorsees, under the bill of
lading, having actually received the goods in this case from the carrier, the de
fendants, the consignees in the bill o f lading, were not bound to pay freight.
4th. That the master o f the vessel was not bound to part with the goods until
the freight was paid; but, by delivering the goods before payment o f the freight,
he waived or discharged his legal right to demand payment o f the consignees un
less they actually received the goods.
5th. That the party who actually receives the goods under the bill o f lading,
whether the consignee named therein or an endorser thereof, becomes a party to
the contract respecting the payment o f freight, and he alone is liable to an action
for the freight.
6th. It appears from this case that a consignee named in the bill o f lading, un
M ercantile Law Cases.
635
less he has ordered the shipment o f the goods or is the owner o f them, is not
hound in any case to receive the goods when they arrive, but may refuse to ac
knowledge the transaction and refuse payment o f the freight.
The view here taken of the rights and liabilities o f the parties to bills o f lading
in some respects differs from that o f the Superior Court in the city o f New York,
in which the cause was originally tried, and which, as a commercial tribunal, cer
tainly ranks among the ablest in the land. Its decision must be considered as re
versed in this instance, as the Supreme Court was, until the past year, the Appel
ate Court, in which the decisions o f the Superior Court were reviewed. W e
will observe that when the learned Doctors o f the Law disagree, how shall we,
the people, find out what is the disease or the remedy.
C o n s t i t u t i o n a l i t y o f t h e p a s s e n g e r l a w o f n e w Y o r k . W e will next refer
our readers to a case in the fourth volume o f these reports, found at page 471—
that o f The People vs. Brooks.
This case was originally tried by jury before Judge W illiam Kent, o f the New
York Circuit, and verdict was rendered for plaintiff in the court below.
A bill o f exceptions being signed by the circuit judge, the cause came on for
argument in May term, 1847, before the Supreme Court, and the verdict was here
set aside, and a new trial granted. The case involved the question whether the
master and seamen of vessels engaged in the foreign and coasting trade are bound,
by the laws of the State of New York, to contribute and pay a sum o f money
for hospital purposes to the State of New York, pursuant to the requirements o f
the New York statute.
Mr. Justice Beardsley delivered the opinion o f the Court, and held—
1st. That the statutes of the State o f New York, requiring the payment o f a
sum o f money for hospital purposes from masters o f vessels engaged in the for
eign and coasting trade for each o f the officers and crew of such vessel, are in
conflict with the provision o f the Constitution o f the United States investing
Congress with the power to regulate commerce, and o f the laws o f the United
States passed in the exercise o f that power, and are therefore void.
2d. That the statutes o f the State o f N ew York requiring payments from ship
masters on the account o f passengers are constitutional and valid.
W e believe that this second head o f the decision has lately been overruled by
the decision o f the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case o f Turner
vs. The State o f New York, and also by the case o f Price vs. The State o f Mas
sachusetts. The taxing o f passengers, seamen, masters, and officers o f ships and
vessels engaged in the coasting trade and on foreign voyages, has always appeared
to us to be a regulation o f commerce among the States and with foreign coun
tries, and to come directly in conflict with the provisions o f the Constitution o f
the United States on this subject.
There are many more commercial cases o f great public interest to be found in
the four volumes o f reports before us, but we are admonished that our article has
been extended to an unusual length; and we close with asking the indulgence o f
our readers, and their favorable estimation o f the difficulties under which we labor
even to give a condensed view o f these important cases.
THE
EXTENT
OF THE
LIA BILITY OF A FACTOR W H O
DISOBEYS
THE
ORDERS OF
HIS PRINCIPAL.*
Supreme Court o f Missouri. October Term, 1847. Switzer et al. vs. Connett.
Appeal from St. Louis Common Pleas. In May, 1844, Connett put into the hands
o f the Switzer’s, commission merchants o f St. Louis, a quantity o f bale rope and
packing yarn, to be sold at the limit, 64 cents per pound. It was sold for less,
* W e are indebted to C h a rle s C. W h it t l e s e y , Esq., o f the St. L ou is (Missouri) Bar, fo r the fol
low ing case. Mr. W ., in a note to the editor o f this Magazine, expresses the opinion, that the reasons
given for this decision are better than those in the case m entioned in the March num ber o f this Maga
zine ; “ for undoubtedly,” he says, “ a man should have the control o f his ow n principal.” — Ed. M er
chants1 Magazine.
636
M ercantile Law Cases.
but at the best market price at the time, and at as high a price as could have been
obtained at any time between the day o f sale and the time o f trial. This suit was
brought to recover the difference between the limited and sale prices. The court
below gave judgment for the plaintiff.
Appellant’s counsel cited 14 Peters, 479, 496. Story on Agency, p. 258, secs.
217, 218; p. 263, secs. 220, 221, 222; Kinne’s S. C. Ap. 1847, p. 104; 7 Ala. R.
335; 1 Broch. R. 103. Appellee’s counsel, 4 Mason, 296; Smart vs. Sand, de
cided July, 1846. Com. Pleas in England, reported Law Journal, vol. i., No. 3,
new series; 1 Swift’s Dig. 332.
M c B r i d e , Justice, delivered the opinion o f the court.
Switzer, as the agent or
factor o f Connett, was bound to execute the orders o f his principal, whenever, for
a valuable consideration, he undertook to perform them; unless he was prevented
by some unavoidable calamity, or overwhelming force or accident, without any
default on his part, and unless the instructions required him to do some illegal or
immoral act, in which case he might violate them with impunity. This duty may
arise in various ways, either by express agreement, or by clear implication. The
latter arises generally from the common usage o f the particular agency, or from
the general mode o f dealing between the parties, or from the mutual implications
arising from the nature and objects o f a single transaction.
Whenever an agent violates his duties or obligations to his principal, whether
it be by exceeding his authority, or by positive misconduct, or by mere negligence
or omission in the proper functions o f his agency, or in any other manner, and
any loss or damage thereby falls on his principal, he is responsible therefor, and
bound to make a full indemnity. And it will constitute no defense for him, that
he intended the act to be a benefit to the principal. The question is not whether
he has acted from good motives and without fraud; but whether he has done his
duty, and acted according to the confidence reposed in him.
The defendant, in support o f the position assumed by him, refers to Story on
Agency, sec. 221, where it is laid down, that “ if the goods o f the principal are neg
ligently lost, or tortiously disposed o f by the agent, he is made liable for the actual
value o f the goods at the time o f the loss or conversion.” To support the prin
ciple, reference is made to 3 Wheat. 560; 1 Mason R. 117; 11 Ohio R. 363.
After examining the cases, the Judge says: It will be seen, by reference to the
cases cited, that they do not sustain the rule laid down by the author, at least to
the unqualified extent stated by him.
Suppose I lend my horse to A., and before he departs he says to me, I f I can
sell your horse shall I do so ? I reply, Yes, you may sell, provided you can obtain
$75 for him. He sells the horse for $60, and offers to pay the amount; may I not'
decline receiving, and hold him responsible for $75, the price I placed upon the
hosse, notwithstanding the $60 obtained may be the full value ? If it be my right
or privilege to place a value upon my own property, I certainly can do so, even
should the price exceed the market value.
There is no pretense that advances had been made on the goods deposited
with the defendant, and that he sold them after having given the plaintiff notice to
repay the advances, and a failure to do so, or a sale without such notice, for the
purpose o f meeting acceptances then due, for advances on the consignment; but
it is a naked case o f disobedience o f orders, whereby the factor, not only without
the consent, but against the express instructions o f his principal, divests him of
his property.
I f the principal has the right to affix a value to his property, and that he has
cannot be questioned, and the factor is properly advised thereof, all discretion as
to price is withheld from the factor; and if he disposes of the property for a less
sum than that limited, he should be regarded and treated as a purchaser himself
at the fixed price.
Can tfie rule be a just one, which makes no distinction between the liability of
an agent who acts according to the instructions o f his principal, and one who acts in
utter violation o f instructions? Yet such is the fact, if the rule laid down in Story
on Agency, sec. 221, be correct; because in either case the principal could only
recover the market value o f the goods sold. In the one case, the parties have
M ercantile Law Cases.
637
contracted expressly, that the goods shall be sold at a certain price; in the other,
the parties not having contracted as to price expressly, the law makes a contract
by implication, and fixes the price at that which the goods would bring in the
market at the date of the sale. The principal and agent having a legal right to
contract as to price, and having contracted, the law has no office to perform except
to enforce the contract as made between the parties. Any 6ther doctrine would
render all instructions by the principal nugatory and futile; and so soon as his
goods reached the hands of an agent, his authority to control the disposition of
them would be at an end; and the agent might sell at any price, being liable only
for the market price. •
Judgment affirmed.
AUCTION SALES---- DEFAULTING PURCHASERS.
In the Supreme Court o f Louisiana. J. A. Guillott, C. Brown subrogated, vs.
Jas. R. Jennings. Appeal from the Fifth District Court o f New Orleans.
To recover the damages from a defaulting purchaser at a sale at auction, under
the 2589th art. C. C., the terms o f the second sale, made at the risk o f the first
purchaser, or the folle enchere, must conform with the terms first offered, or there
can be no standard erected for damages, and no action will lie.
This action against the defendant was brought to recover damages resulting
from a sale at his risk (folle enchere) o f certain property previously sold to him at
auction in 1843.
S lidell, Justice.— The remedy through the medium o f the folle enchere has
been properly characterized as “ summary and service,” and from this considera
tion the conclusion is fairly derived that it ought to be confined to cases clearly
coming within the provisions o f the law, and in which its requisitions have been
observed. See Second Municipality vs. Hennen, 14 La. R. 586.
The art. 2589, C. C., seems to us to contemplate that the terms o f the folle en
chere should be the same as those o f the first adjudication. In the present case
they were not the same. At the first sale to the defendant, the terms were that
the purchaser should assume the payment o f a note o f $640, due in June, 1844,
and the balance cash. At the folle enchere the terms were cash.
The law gives the remedies against the defaulting purchaser; the action for
specific performance, the ordinary action for damages, and the action based upon
the folle enchere, which itself liquidates the damages if properly conducted. I f the
seller chooses tbe latter remedy he must take it as it is given or not at all. When
both sales are made upon the same terms, the difference is not an inequitable
standard o f the injury sustained by the defendant’s failure to fulfill the contract.
But when the terms are changed a new element is introduced to affect the result
For daily experience teaches us that in consequence o f the deficiency o f capital,
and the reliance o f the majority o f buyers in some degree upon the efforts o f their
future industry, sales of real estate are made more advantageously in point o f
price upon credit than for cash. Here the property was sold upon a partial credit
in May, 1843, for $1,375, and for cash in August, 1844, for $660.
W e cannot say that this discrepancy was not in some degree owing to the dif
ference o f the terms of sale; and the inflexible standard o f the folle enchere, by
which we are called upon to measure the defendant’s liability, is consequently in
this case unsafe and untrue. Had the remedy been pursued according to the re
quisitions o f the law, judicial discretion would have been exclusive legal presump
tion. As it was not, the legal standard has not been created, and there is no ba
sis for the present suit. Judgment reversed and rendered as in nonsuit, the
plaintiff paying costs.
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
638
COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
A M E L I O R A T I O N IN T H E M O N E Y M A R K E T SIN C E O U R
M EN T OF GOLD FROM
LAST— RATES
SA N F R A N C IS C O — E M I G R A T I O N T O
OF E X C H A N G E IN N E W Y O R K — SH IP *
C A L IF O R N IA — E X P O R T S O F D O M E S T I C P R O
D U C E FROM T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S FO R L A S T S IX Y E A R S — IM P O R T A T IO N OF B R E A D S T U F F S IN TO G R E A T
B R IT A IN AND IR E L A N D — A V E R A G E
P R I C E S OF G R A IN IN G R E A T B R IT A I N — E X P O R T S O F F L O U R , E T C .,
F R O M P O R T S OF U N IT E D S T A T E S T O
G R E A T B R I T A I N A N D IR E L A N D
M E R C H A N T S ’ E X C H A N G E B A N K — IN C R E A S E
AND
OTHER
S T O C K S — U N IT E D
T U R E S OF TH E
STATES
FROM
S E P T E M B E R , 1 8 4 8 , E T C .—
OF S T O C K C O M P A N IE S , E T C .— P R I C E S O F U N I T E D S T A T E S
TREASURY
U N IT E D S T A T E S — G O V E R N M E N T
NOTES
O U T S T A N D IN G — R E V E N U E
A N D E X P E N D I
FU N D S IN T H E T R E A S U R Y — P A Y M E N T O F T n E M E X I
C A N D E B T , E T C ., E T C .
S i n c e the date o f our last, the causes which we then indicated as in operation
to produce an amelioration o f the tightness o f the money market, have produced
that effect. The low rate o f exchanges which had then prevailed here, were op
erating to produce an importation o f specie, and this has now reached $2,500,000
in amount, acting very perceptibly upon the exchanges, as indicated in the follow
ing table:—
KATES OP EXCHANGE IN NEW TOEK.
Sterling.
December 1
15
January 1
“
15
February 1
<«
15
March
1
“
15
April
1
M
15
May
1
“
14
8} a 8}
8} a 9
8} a 9
8fa9
8} a 8}
8 a8|
7 a8
6} a 7
5 a 6}
4 } a 6}
7} a 8
8 a 8}
Paris, 60 days.
5.2 7} a 5.25
5.30 a 5.25
5 .2 7 }a ___
5.30 a 5.25
5.3 2} a 5.25
5 .3 1 }a 5 .2 7 }
5 .3 2 } a 5.30
5.3 7} a 5.32
5.3 7} a 5.32
5.371 a 5.35
5.30 a 5.32
5.26 a 5.25
Amsterdam.
Hamburg.
Bremen.
40f a 40f
401 a 40}
401 a 401
40f a 401
40f a 40f
401 a 40f
40 a 401
391 a 39|
381 a 391
39 a 391
391 a 391
40 a 401
35f a 351
351 a 351
35f a 351
351 a 35f
351 a 35f
35 a 351
341a 35
34f a 341
341 a 341
341 a 341
341a 341
35 a 351
781 a 781
781 a ..
78f a 781
78f a 78}
. . a 78}
78} a 78}
77} a 78}
77} a 78
7 6 } a 77}
76} a 77
77f a 78
78} a 79
The amount o f gold which has reached the United States from California is,
up to this moment, unimportant; and the great expectations suggested by the ex
cited imaginations o f sanguine adventurers, have not yet been fulfilled. Yet are
the gold products o f that region o f the most surprising nature. A collation o f the
amounts reported as arrived at various points, mostly London, show the aggregate
shipments from San Francisco to have been about $3,000,000, and this sum would
doubtless be swollen to $4,000,000, up to the close o f the 12 months within
which the discovery was made. When we reflect that this important amount,
equal to more than the whole rice crop o f the Atlantic States, and one-half the
whole tobacco exports o f the Union, was the product o f a few inexperienced and
poorly provided persons, without means o f shelter or necessaries o f life, in the
gold region, we become struck with the richness o f mines that yield such results,
and are disposed to place a high figure as the sum o f the productions o f the num
bers who have gone thither provided with every possible facility for successful
operations. The passengers and crews o f vessels cleared from the United States
for that destination, by enumeration, number over 20,000. O f these, perhaps
one-half are in a condition to operate with the best effect. While they are pur
suing their enterprise, the means o f communication between the Sacramento and
the Atlantic States are becoming better defined, safer, and more reliable, and the
connections between the miners and the older States more closely drawn. Hence
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
639
a much larger proportion o f the rich product will reach the Atlantic cities than
last year, when the first effect o f the export o f gold from San Francisco, producing
a sudden demand for supplies, was to empty the stores along the whole coast, to
the extreme o f the southern continent, and the ownership o f those goods naturally
indicated London as the point o f destination for the gold received in payment.
Under these circumstances, the supply o f the precious metals is likely at least to
reach in amount the demand; more particularly, that a considerable portion o f
the coin which last year sought Europe in exchange for the cheap goods o f France
or other countries, is now returning, as well for farm produce as larger quantities
o f cotton at better prices. The exports o f both these articles exceed in amount
the quantities exported last year. It is to be regretted, that the publication o f the
official returns of the United States commerce is annually so long delayed as to
be o f little service in estimating current business. The returns for the year end
ing June 30,1848, have but now come to hand, yet we have had the British returns
for the year ending December 31; that is, six months later, notwithstanding that
the number o f shipments and quantities o f articles are there greater and more
complicated. It would certainly seem that a little more energy in relation to bu
siness details, and less indulgence to the convenience o f printers, would place
valuable information before the public in season to secure their interests. As it
is, we bring down a table o f quantities exported for the fiscal year 1848, as fol
lows :—
EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC PRODUCE FROM THE UNITED STATES IN SIX TEARS.
1842 .
1841 .
1844 .
1846 .
1847 .
1848 .
174,220
256,083
271,610
277,401
258,870
206,549
476,688
287,761
451,317
772,019
795,792
206,431
3.909,728
2,479,916
4,104,504
2,652,874
3,189,562
1,607,038
918,289
898,773
4,149,607
1,697,892
2,031,137
1.054,379
986,010
965,073
606,454
1,083,839
795,150
598,452
1,981,602
1,998,357
3,086,566
3,718,714
3,094,985
3,468,593
19,765
31,843
23,246
28,800
21,206
22,463
52,455
37,454
62,477
65,805
47,274
60,340
277,787
188,952
862,668
351,914
312,059
324,738
8,012
5,436
18,271
9,800
7,235
4,465
48,581
37,812
106,474
149,223
111,172
103,719
7,038,092
7,489,582
9,915,366 10,435,696 11,172,975
T a llo w ..............
8,004,235
180,032
80,310
161,629
190,422
206,190
P ork....................
248,269
2,518,841
2,422,067
3,886,976
3,006,630 17,921,471 33,551,034
Hams..................
20.102,397 24,534,217 25,746,355 21,643,164 37,611,161 49,625,539
L ard....................
2,055,133
3,251,952
3,408,247
3,439,660
4,214,433
Butter..................
2,751,086
2,456,607
3,440,144
7,343,145
8,675,390 15,637,600 12,913,305
Cheese................
12,980
19,557
13,609
9,254
10,533
6,231
Sheep ................ ................ No.
817,598
311,685
558,917
1,913,795
4,399,951
2,034,704
1,283,602
841,474
1,438,575
1,613,795
4,399,951
2,119,393
825,282
600,308
672,608
1,726,068 16,326,050
5,817,634
247,882
209,199
174,354
298,790
948,060
582,339
Corn m eal.......... .............. bbls.
83,594
96,572
117,781
114,792
160,985
167,790
144,991
183,232
125,150
194,946
164,360
133,170
15,412
22,324
30,903
14,239
45,000
.............. bbls.
38,719
126,007
106,766
134,745
114,617
144,427
100,403
................ lbs. 584,717,017 792,297,106 663,633,455 547,558,055 527,219,958 807,274,431
94,454
163,042
147,998
158,710
135,762
130,665
1,182,565
664,633
287,754
399,188
1,227,453
257,016
H o p s..................
963,061
542,250
331,856
475,727
627,013
529,691
W a x ..................
215,719
257,496
89,546
193,860
202,507
242,579
S p ir its ..............
850,462
491,947
881,325
998,409
859,732
805,701
3,186,652
4,732,751
3,161,910
3.854,836
3,802,783
3,644,931
6,854,856
3,404,252
6,066,878
3^434,214
7,884,592
6,698,507
Tobacco, manufactured..........
3,326,028
14,552,357 15,366,918 18,420,407 16,823,766
1,994,704
L e a d ................ .
2,945,634
2,629,201
2,439,336
3,197,135
2,156,223
3,157,219
N a ils ..................
598,884
1,671,107
4,128,512
1,539,415
4,480,346
3,378,773
Sugar, refined...
1,227,654
786,000
1,539,284
436,589
1,436,205
1,164,738
G unpowder____
157,529
202,244
40,678
117,627
110.400
219,145
S a lt....................
388,057
109,295
135,006
9,309
C o a l..................
W o o l ...........................................................................................................................................................
781,102
Fish, dried........
Oil, sperm..........
“ w hale..........
W h alebon e----Candles, sperm.
w
tallow .
Staves................
Tar and p itch .. .............. bbls.
Turpentine and rosin..............
A s h e s ................
Commercial Chronicle and Review .
640
I t is t o b e o b s e r v e d , th a t fr o m t h e y e a r 1841 t o 1 8 4 4 , w h ic h w a s a y e a r o f g o o d
c r o p s a b ro a d , th e e x p o r t o f p r o v is io n s w a s r a p id ly o n th e in cre a se , u n d e r m o d ifie d
re strictio n u p o n th e im p o rta tio n s in fo r e ig n co u n tr ie s .
E a c h o f t h e s e a rticle s in
cre a s e d in 1 8 4 6 , a n d th e fa ilin g c r o p o f that y e a r s w e lle d th e a g g r e g a te s b e y o n d
a ll p r e c e d e n t in 18 4 7 .
I n 1 8 4 8 , a r e a c tio n fr o m th e la r g e b u s in e s s o f 18 4 7 is ap
p a ren t. T h is , h o w e v e r , is a g a in o n th e in cre a se , a n d th e q u a n tity o f p ro v is io n s an d
b r e a d stu ffs s e n t fo r w a r d th is y e a r is, fr o m officia l s o u rc e s , k n o w n t o b e m u c h
la r g e r than in a n y y e a r p re v io u s t o 1 8 4 7 .
The fact that England requires now annual supplies as large as formerly, re
sulting only from very deficient harvests, is established, and the ability o f the Uni
ted States to furnish them in competition with the countries o f Europe, is also
evident from the results o f the present year’s business. The revolutions in Eu
rope have produced an unusual desire to sell produce, and as a consequence, the
quantities that have sought the English market are much larger than would have
been the case in a regular and undisturbed state o f commerce This circumstance,
in connection with good English harvests, has swollen the British imports to a
high figure, and caused a low level o f prices to rule. Parliamentary tables give the
following as the quantities o f breadstuffs that have been imported into Great Brit
ain for a series o f years:—
IMPORTATION OF BREADSTUFFS INTO GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
W heat...........................
Barley...........................
Oats...............................
B y e ........................................
Peas...............................
Beans............................
M aize or Indian corn. .
Buckwheat...................
1841.
1844.
1845.
1846.
1847.
1848.
Qrs.
Qrs.
Qrs.
Q rs.
Q rs.
Qrs.
940,120 1,099,077
179,280 1,019,345
84,323 299,601
4,872
26,532
48,303 108,001
47,984 154,424
37,064
517
2
3,907
871,443 1,437,944 2,656,454 2,594,013
371,130 373,046 772,683 1,063,912
592,620 796,632 1,705,708 977,761
435
1,775
68,817
62,891
84,830 214,662 157,618 217,763
185,034 255,896 443,675 490,353
55,378 711,861 3,608,312 1,586,771
1,773
22,850
22,917
205
491
906
1
1
Total..................... 1,305,506 2,747,951 2,162,644 3,814,666 9,436,675 6,994,576
Wheat flour..................
Oatmeal & barley meal
Indian meal..................
Rye buckwheat meal
Total.....................
Cwt.
Cwt.
436,878
5,584
1
980,645
3,951
105
950,195 3,198,876 6,329,058 1,765,475
3,063
25,671 ' 69,673
6,771
131,910 1,448,837 234,114
355 786,123
36,336
Cwt.
442,463
984,701
953,258 3,356,812 8,633,991 2,042,696
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
It will be seen that the quantities are vastly in excess o f any year, with the ex
ception o f that o f famine. As a consequence, prices have ruled very low, as indi
cated in the following official figures:—
IM PERIAL AVERAGE PRICES OF GRAIN.
W eekly averages.
March
“
1 7 ....................
2 4 ..........................
3 1 ..........................
7 ..........................
1 4 ..........................
“
2 1 ..........................
“
“
April
Aggregate of 6 weeks
W heat.
s.
d.
45
4
44
9
44
1
44
5
44
3
44
5
44
6
Barley.
s.
d.
29
2
2 8 10
2 8 11
28
9
28
6
28
8
Oats.
. d.
17
0
i
17
4
16
16
9
0
17
8
16
R ye.
s.
d.
23
9
26
4
24
6
26
5
23
1
22
4
Beans.
s. d.
3 0 11
28
9
28
1
28
1
28
5
2 8 11
Peas.
s.
d.
30
8
31
6
32
2
29
0
3 0 11
28
0
28
16 10
24
28 10
30
9
5
5
7
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
641
This low range o f rates, being nearly 90s. per quarter for wheat lower than in
the same period o f 1847, has doubtless greatly promoted the consumption o f food.
In the face o f these circumstances the United States exports have considerably
increased thus far in 1848, as indicated in the following table, which shows the
quantities sent from the United States to Great Britain and Ireland for eight months
o f the fiscal year 1849:—
EXPORT OF BREADSTUFFS TO GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND FROM SEPTEMBER
From New Y ork___
New Orleans..
.Philadelphia. .
Baltimore........
Boston.............
Other ports. . .
Total..........
“ 1848.
“ 1847.
To
May 8 . . .
“ 4 ...
“ 1 ...
“
2...
“
8 ...
“
1...
Flour.
Com meal.
Wheat.
1, 1848.
Com.
Bbls.
Bbls.
Bush.
Bush.
524,109
138,375
68,335
90,028
11,922
8,195
30,357
3,553
22,310
7,366
2,146
5,103
545,558
111,453
210,810
164,622
12,887
31,606
3,866,704
2,272,912
921,984
780,085
377,430
624,677
840,964
155,666
1,685,734
70,835
89,157
455,666
1,076,906
215,139
1,570,614
8,853,792
2,452,921
11,245,775
T he increase in quantities is very considerable; and notwithstanding the large
supplies apparent in the imports into England, the blockade o f the Baltic ports,
by stopping further receipts from that quarter, imparted a further stimulus to the
disposition to ship, supported by the rise in exchanges, expressed in the above ta
ble, and which was equal to 3J cents per bushel on wheat in favor o f the shipper.
T he importation o f goods continued large down to the close o f the spring busi
ness. This was probably, to some extent, promoted by the impression that the
demand for goods w ould be considerable for the California market. T he effect
o f that influence has, however, been rather to depress business than to promote
its general activity, and prices have tended to a depreciation. It is the case, that
as goods have fallen in value, there has been more disposition to sell on easier
terms o f credit than if the reverse had been the case, and values were maintained.
The country does not pay up so well as it was hoped would be the case, but the
supplies o f produce received per canals since their opening on the 1st instant are
large, and will facilitate the settlement o f accounts. T he approach o f summer,
with a decrease in the quantities o f the great staples held, lessens the demand for
m on ey; and while the banks discount all the good paper offering, they are par
ticular in relation to its character. T he paper that in point o f time comes not within
their limits, is done out o f doors at an average o f nine per cent per annum. T he
profits o f the banks, as we indicated in our last number, have been good, and the
disposition to invest in bank capital is evidently gaining ground.
A s an instance,
we referred to the fact, in our last number, that the charter o f the Merchants’ E x
change Bank, o f the city o f New York, with a capital o f $750,000, expired June
1st, and that the institution is organizing under the new law. It proposed a capi
tal o f $1,000,000. It appears now that the whole o f the old stock, within a few
hundred dollars, has been subscribed to the new, and as much additional as makes
the new capital $1,220,350. This is a remarkable instance o f confidence, both in
the operation o f the free law and the management o f this bank, as well as in the
general value o f bank stock as an investment. Indeed, in all parts o f the country,
the disposition to invest capital in companies is very great; as an instance, at the
late session o f the Massachusetts Legislature there were passed acts to incorpovol .
xx.—
no .
v i.
41
Commercial Chrmiicle and Review .
642
rate ten new banks, and to increase the capitals o f thirteen old ones— concerning
thirty-nine Vailroads, to incorporate thirty-nine manufacturing and other companies,
and ten insurance companies— making 109 companies that require more capital.
In Pennsylvania the work o f incorporation is equally rapid, and these operations
probably absorb capital somewhat faster than it accumulates; and, united with the
capital sent to California, naturally raises the rate o f interest, and absorbs the means
even o f small accumulators.
The demand for capital for the organization o f com
panies is always a source o f pressure proportioned to the amount required, and
this demand has probably influenced in a considerable degree the values o f old
stocks upon the New York market. The follow ing table indicates the value o f
the leading stocks in the New Y ork market at different periods:—
PRICES OF STOCKS.
Jan., 1847. Jan., 1848.
U n ited S tates 5’s, 1853 .................
it
6 ’s, 1862 .................
it
T rea su ry N otes . .
6’s, 1 8 6 0 ...................
N ew Y ork
O hio
6’s, 1 8 6 0 ...................
K e n tu ck y
6’s, 1 8 7 1 ...................
T ennessee
6 ’s, 1 8 7 0 ...................
P en n sylva n ia 5’s, 1 8 6 9 ...................
Ind ian a
5’s ...............................
91*
100|
99*
103
91f
101
98
69*
33
A pril, 1849.
91
98*
99*
100*
95*
99
98
71
50
98
107*
108*
1084
104
1014
101
80
64
a 98*
a107f
a 108*
a 10 84
a 104*
a 102
a 102
a 80*
a 65
May 16, 1849.
99* a
109 a
11 0 a
108 a
106* a
103 a
102 a
82* a
64*a
100
109*
110*
108*
106f
103*
1 0 2*
83
65
This is an average rise o f 10 per cent in all these stocks since January, 1847,
and the market is now in a state o f depression. The result shows the progres
sive value o f stock securities, and this returning confidence is participated in in
E urope; and the stock o f the United States, as well as o f some o f the State
governments, is in active demand in London. The amount issued at Washington
from April 21 to May 11, on foreign account, was $319,800. Probably a consid
erable portion o f this was for funded Treasury notes. It will be remembered
that the law o f January, 1847, permitted the funding o f all outstanding Treasury
notes in a twenty year stock ; and, as a consequence, when that stock, which may
be transferable by signature, or bearing coupons, by delivery rose under the
English demand, this privilege was availed o f rapidly, as indicated in the official
returns o f notes outstanding:—
UNITED STATES TREASURY NOTES OUTSTANDING.
Issues prior to act o f
July, 1846.
A ct o f
July, 1846.
A ct o f
January, 1847.
Total
outstanding.
O ctob er 1, 1 8 4 8 ..............
M ay
1, 1 8 4 9 ..............
$ 1 6 1,9 89 31
. 150,339 31
$2 90 ,8 5 0
13 5 ,8 5 0
$ 1 1 ,3 2 6 ,5 5 0
5,6 73,5 50
$1 1,77 9,38 0 31
5,959,739 31
D ecrea se fu n d e d ............
$1 1,65 0 0 0
$1 55 ,0 0 0
$5,653 ,000
$5,819,641 00
T h e permission to fund the notes which are issued, payable in a year, was given
at a time when the continuance o f the war and the wants o f the government
were alike uncertain. A s it has turned out, the bargain was a bad one for the
government. Its means are now accumulating, and it has no power to pay off,
but can only operate upon its debt b y buying at the market rates.
The funding
o f the $11,000,000 o f notes that were outstanding last fall, will involve eighteen
years’ interest at 6 per cent, amounting to some $10,000,000, while an excess o f
revenue is accumulating idly in the Treasury vaults.
It would be far better for
the government to appropriate all surplus means promptly to the purchase at the
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
643
market rates, if at rates as high as 20 per cent. T he revenues and expenditures
o f the government have been quarterly as follow s for the year ending March 31,
1849:—
UNITED STATES REVENUES.
Quarter ending—
June
September
December
March
Customs.
3 0 ,1 8 4 8 ...
30, 1 8 4 8 ...
3 1 ,1 8 4 8 ...
3 1 ,1 8 4 9 ...
Lands.
$5,883,568
9,010,000
5,181,870
8,374,628
Miscellaneous.
$781,196
470,000
494,498
389,566
$35,375
101,000
934,369
2,181,350
Loans.
Total.
$4,643,300 $11,349,039
7,674,650 17,255,650
7,599,950 14,211,348
3,734,500 14,680,044
Total..................... $28,450,066 $2,135,860 $3,252,094 $23,652,400 $57,496,081
UNITED STATES EXPENDITURES.
Civil.
W ar.
N avy.
Interest.
Loans.
Total.
June 3 0 ...
Sept.3 0 ...
Dec. 3 1 ...
Mar. 3 1 ...
$1,446,978 $6,698,470 $2,395,066 $1,021,527 $1,564,000 $13,126,041
8,371,928
8,564,852
2,979,022
161,150
806,300 15,383,842
3,864,669
3,803,990
2,680,269 1,510,659 2,403,950 14,272,538
2,873,030
2,498,259
2,091,291
167,308 3,510,208 11,130,097
T o ta l...
$11,556,605 $21,565,571 $10,154,648 $2,861,244 $8,284,458 $53,912,518
Paid Mexico under treaty, September quarter, $3,000,000; December quarter,
$2,147,175; March quarter, $1,030,059;— Total, $6,177,234.
T he December
quarter always shows the smallest revenue for the year, yet we find that the
regular income, exclusive o f loans, for the six months ending with March, has
been $17,556,942, which exceeds the ordinary expenditure for the period by a
little more than $1,000,000, showing a surplus on the least prolific quarter o f
$2,000,000 per annum. Under these circumstances money accumulates in the
Federal Treasury, as seen in the follow ing official figures:—
GOVERNMENT FUNDS IN TREASURY.
On deposit.
September, 1 8 4 8 ........................
May,
1849............................
Increase
$5,688,809 89
6,974,007 27
Outstanding drafts.
$2,242,014 25
1,365,712 00
$1,285,197 38
Subject to draft.
$3,448,813 75
5,610,263 20
$2,161,449 45
The amount on hand was diminished b y the $1,030,000 paid Mexico in March,
in advance o f the instalment due in July. The prospect is now, as the duties for
April and May, thus far, are more prolific than last year, that the accumulation
for the next six months will be still greater, and the inconvenience o f funding the
Treasury notes, instead o f paying them off, will be seriously felt.
It may become
advisable to pay o ff Mexico in advance, and, ultimately, to modify the rate o f ini'
ports, in order to check the swelling revenue, more particularly that the large and
increasing exports o f domestic produce involve the return o f increasing values o f
merchandise paying duties.
A new banking association, formed under the act o f the New Y ork Legislature
passed April 18, 1838, is about commencing operations under the name o f the
“ Broadway Bank.” It is to be located in Broadway, and the capital stock o f
$500,000 divided into 20,000 shares o f $ 2 5 each.
Its location will be convenient
for a large class o f retail dealers on that great thoroughfare; and, as the gentle
men who have thus far associated for the purpose are generally men o f character
and intelligence, its affairs will doubtless be managed in such a manner as to meet
the reasonable wishes o f stockholders and customers.
Commercial Statistics.
644
COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.
LAKE COMMERCE OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.
G. B. T i b b i t s , Deputy Collector of the port of Cleveland, Ohio, furnishes, from the
books of the custom-house, under date o f January, 1849, the following tabular state
ments of the trade of that port during the year 1848:—
IMPORTS COASTWISE AT THE PORT OF CLEVELAND DURING THE SEASON OF NAVIGATION OF THE
YE AR 1848.
Salt.......... . . . .bbis.
Lumber.. .
Shingles. . ...........M.
Shingle wood, .cords
Plaster &, water lime
Merchandise.. . .tons
105,608 $118,810 Merchandise. . . pkgs.
46,469 Staves.................... M.
6,647
4,304 Pig iron...............tons
2,152
269
1,126 Articles unenu’ated..
22,212
5,553
768
512
Total value...........
19,936 1,993,675
68,443 1,711,075
300
12,000
236
6,080
207,120
EXPORTS COASTWISE FROM THE PORT OF CLEVELAND DURING THE SEASON OF NAVIGATION OF
1848.
Ir’n, nails, (feglass.tons
Iron...............
Pig iron.........
Glass............
Merchandise. . .pkgs.
Salt.............. ...b bis.
Staves.................... M.
B e e f ............
Cheese...........
Articles unenu’ated..
THE YE AR
F l o u r . ..............bbis.466,429 $2,332,145
W heat.............. bush. 1,232,620 1,232,620
C o m .........................
662,162
331,081
Oats..................
254,107
63,676
P o r k ...................bbis.
25,553 246,415
Butter................pkgs.
19,273 186,055
Lard...........................
7,135
59,052
“ .................. tons
118$
14,220
Ashes..................bbis.
440
8,800
Whisk’y Jihigh wines
28,450 227,600
Nails....................kegs
8,283
33,140
C oal.....................tons
8,813
22,032
3,899 $389,900
16,284
19,170
80,830
2,187
5,485
6,851
2,431
39,015
2,900
3,262
773
30,920
6,731
67,410
11,511
23,022
587,899
Total value........... ...........$6,000,000
ADA INTO THE DISTRICT OF CUYAHOGA DURING
IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN PRODUCTS FROM
1848.
Salt............. ..bbis.
Dry goods. . ..pkgs.
Brandy........ . .galls.
Wine............
Potatoes.. . .
Peas............ .
Oatm eal__ . .bbis.
Lambs........ ...N o .
Horse..........
Sheep skins
W ool.............. ..lbs.
THE SEASON OF NAVIGATION OF THE YEAR
Lumber.. . . ...fe e t 2,995,113 $1[2,841
2,257$ 2,411
Shingles.. .,........M.
1,070
3,303
Shingle wood..cords
205
250
Pine spars . . . ..No.
Cedar posts.
727
147
.
.
..lbs.
54
1
Beeswax....
25
Woolen cloth..yards
13$
92$
285
Plaster. __
146
1,183
Fish oil........
300
905
Mackerel. . .
Pig iron .. . .
594 1,095
36
12
Porter........
Building stone.toise.
32$
68
05
13
30
24
89
99
82
18
92
48
51
78
65
bbis.
___
___
___
___
___
___
6,571
1,885
787
109
280
50
81
$29,642
15,985
1,967
1,090
356
400
891
11,982
31,667
363
106
94
129
11
10
27
1
25
20
9
87
59
09
21
41
44
63
58
62
50
35
Total value..................... $23,939 23
NAVIGATION OF THE YEAR
EXPORTS TO CANADA DURING THE SEASON O
PORT OF CLE1 :l a n d , o h i o .
Flour .........
Pork............
Corn m ea l..
L a r d ...........
S a lt.............
Whiskey....
Clover seed.
C o m ...........
W heat.........
402
3
79
66$
43
25
5
2
1
100
114
C o a l.....................
Beef......................
T a llow ................
Fruit trees...........
Hemp...................
Groceries and sundries..
Total value..
1848,
FROM THE
2,648
150
1,420
65
55
$6,622
1,950
26,728
211
450
12,431
$142,372
Commercial Statistics.
• 645
NUMBER OF VESSELS, AND THEIR TONNAGE, EMPLOYED IN FOREIGN COMMERCE DURING THE
YEAR
1848,
DISTRICT OF CUYAHOGA.
Entered.
Cleared.
N o.
Tons.
N o.
Tons.
British vessels..............................................
American vessels.........................................
*76
106
8,454
9,972
72
74
8,264
6,107
Total....................................................
182
18,426
146
14,371
IMPORTS OF IRON AND STEEL INTO THE UNITED STATES.
The Hon. C h a r l e s H u d s o n , a member o f the Committee of Ways and Means, to
whom was referred the subject of duties on imports, made an elaborate report on the
28th of February, 1849. (The 30th Congress, 2d Session, Report No. 129.) In the
Appendix to this Report we find a tabular statement of the imports of iron, and man
ufactures of iron, and iron and steel during the year ending June 30, 1848 ; showing,
also, the rate and amount of duties under the tariff of 1842 and of 1846. From that
statement we extract the following table, which shows the imports of iron, and manu
factures of iron, and iron and steel in the year 1848. The rate of duty on the tariff
o f 1846, on all the articles specified below, is 30 per cent. The tariff of 1842 varies,
being a 30 per cent duty on twenty-seven of the articles specified, and on the re
mainder, more than one-half, a specific duty on the pound weight. From this state
ment it will be perceived that the duties on the imports of iron, <fcc., below, in 1848,
under the tariff of 1846, amounted to $3,736,233; while, under the tariff of 1842, the
duty on the same quantity and value of imports would have amounted to $5,630,289,
showing, according to Mr. Hudson, an excess, in favor o f the high tariff of 1842, of
$1,894,056.
IMPORTS OF IRON, AND MANUFACTURES OF IRON, AND IRON AND STEEL, FROM DECEMBER 1 ,
1846,
to
Ju n e 3 0 , 1 8 4 7 ,
s h o w in g
the
a m o u n t o f d u t ie s u n d e r t h e t a r i f f o f
1846,
W IT H THE AMOUNT OF DUTIES UNDER THE TARIFF OF 1 8 4 2 , ON THE SAME IMPORTS.
Species o f manufacture, & c.
Muskets and rifles................................ .No.
Iron, and manufactures o f iron
Duties
and steel.
under tariff
Quantity.
Value.
o f 1840.
1,216
Fire-arms, not specified..................
Side-arms.........................................
Drawing and cutting-knives...........
Hatchets, axes, and adzes..............
Socket chisels.................................
Steelyards and scale beams...........
Vices.................................................
Sickles or reaping-hooks................
Scythes ............................................
Spades and shovels.........................
Squares.............................................
Needles, sewing, darning, and other
Cast iron butts or hinges...............
Cutlery, not specified.....................
A ll other manufactures of iron, A rc.
Wire, bonnet............................................... lbs.
41,255
“ not above No. 14............................
126,327
“ above No. 14.........................
5,345
Nails, cut or wrought.....................
745,913
Spikes, cut or wrought...................
7,101
Chain cables and parts thereof.. . 5,541,161
Mill-saws, cross-cut, & pit-saws..No.
189
Anchors, and parts thereof.. . . .lbs.
336,697
Anvils...............................................
1,025,882
Hammers and sledges, for black
smiths ...........................................
22,290
$2,395
101,153
927
5,394
1,315
3,082
5,377
20,135
2,142
14,964
2,898
1,020
103,167
5,019
371,338
1,760,118
3,794
7,773
1,052
52,803
265
207,802
490
18,665
64,871
1,356
$718
30,345
278
1,618
394
924
1,613
6,040
642
4,489
869
306
20,633
1,505
111,401
528,033
1,138
2,331
315
15,840
79
62,340
147
5,599
19,461
50
90
10
20
50
60
10
50
60
20
40
00
40
70
40
90
20
90
60
90
50
60
00
50
30
406 80
Duties
under tariff
o f 1842.
$718
30,345
278
1,618
394
924
1,613
6,040
642
4,489
869
306
20,633
1,505
111,401
528,033
4,125
6,316
507
29,836
213
138,528
189
8,417
25,647
50
90
10
20
50
60
10
50
60
20
-10
00
40
70
40
90
50
35
77
52
03
52
00
42
05
557 25
\
i
Commercial Statistics.
C46
$625
Sad irons, tailors’ & hatters’ irons.
22,613
$187
121,744
4,638
Castings, vessels o f.........................
1,391
9,218
443,345
“
all oth er................... ..
2,765
Braziers’ rods, round or square from
3-16 to 10-16 inch in diameter..
642,821
16,349
4,904
Wail or spike rods...........................
347,186
2,398
7,994
Casement rods, band, scroll, <tc....
365,831
3,736
1,120
Sheet iron......................................... 10,711,682
368,181 110,454
Hoop iron ........................................ 1,251,384
9,258
30,861
Pig iron......................................cwt.
467,549
472,088 141,626
Old and scrap.................................
32,868
34,868
10,460
Bar iron, manufactured bv rolling.
641,708
1,695,173 508,551
“
“
otherwise.
99,961
266,386
79,915
Total....................................
$5,669,427 1,690,511
50
40
40
$565 32
1,826 16
4,433 45
70
16,058
20
8,179
80
9,145
30 267,792
30
31,284
40 210,397
40
16,434
90 802,135
80
84,966
40 2,377,371
02
65
77
05
60
05
00
00
85
33
IMPORTS OF IRON, AND MANUFACTURES OF IRON, AND IRON AND STEEL, DURING THE YEAR
ENDING JUNE
30, 1848,
SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF DUTIES UNDER THE TARIFF OF
W IT H THE AMOUNT OF DUTIES UNDER THE TARIFF OF
Species o f manufacture, & c.
Musket and rifles....................... No.
Fire-arms, not specified..................
Side-arms.........................................
Drawing knives................................
Hatchets, axes, and adzes..............
Socket chisels...................................
Steelyards and scale beams..........
Vices.................................................
Sickles or reaping hooks................
Scythes.............................................
Sad irons, tailors’ & hatters’ irons.
Spades and shovels.........................
Squares.............................................
Needles, sewing, darning, <t other.
Cast iron butts or hinges...............
Cutlery, not specified.....................
Other manufactures, not specified.
Bonnet wire................................lbs.
Wire not above No. 14...................
“ above No. 14.........................
Tacks, brads, and sprigs, not above
16 oz. per...................... thousand
Nails, cut or wrought............... lbs.
Spikes, cut or wrought...................
Ctain cables.....................................
Mill-saws, cross-cut, & pit-saws.No.
Anchors, and parts thereof.. . . .lbs.
Anvils, and parts thereof...............
Hammers and sledges, for black
smiths...........................................
Castings, vessels o f.........................
“
all other............................
Braziers’ rods, from 3-16 to 10-16
inch diameter..............................
Nail or spike rods............................
-Casement rods, band, or scroll iron
Hoop iro n ........................................
Sheet iron ........................................
Pig iron.............................................
Old and scrap iron...........................
Bar iron, manufactured by rolling.
“
“
otherwise.
Total
1842,
Iron, and manufactures o f iron
Duties.
and steel.
under tariff
Quantity.
Value.
o f 1846.
11
509,979
758,954
76,721
Duties,
under tariff
o f 1842.
$75
$22 50
$22 50
302,269
90,680 70
90,680 70
5,645
1,693 50
1,693 50
6,402 90
6,402 90
21,343
1,212 90
1,212 90
4,043
3,648 90
3,648 90
12,163
13,602
4,080 60
4,080 60
11,224 50
11,224 50
37,415
2,481
744 30
741 30
8,946 90
8,946 90
29,823
428 70
428 70
1,429
6,629
1,988 70
1,988 70
1,314 30
1,314 30
4,381
218,330
43,666 00
43,666 00
6,300 00
21,000
17,500 00
1,146,843 344,052 90 344,052 90
8,590,928 1,077,278 40 1,077,278 40
7,514 10
50,997 90
25,047
11,401 30
75,895 40
38,006
7,288 49
6,079
1,223 70
574
1,347,793
9,451
9,381,452
7,077
948,493
1,911,991
124
88,390
444
369,574
8,016
42,441
117,606
96,778
467,575
454,222
5,288
15,665
16,798
541,697
564,795
603,548
4,081,637
17,718,530
1,032,641
132,600
1,631,786
403,127
1846,
ON THE SAME IMPORTS.
37
26,517
133
110,872
2,404
12,734
35,281
20
00
20
20
80
70
80
1,586 40
4,699 50
5,039 40
28
53,911
283
233,286
7,077
23,712
47,799
70
72
53
30
00
32
77
2,419 45
7,013 62
4,542 22
3,988 80
13,296
13,539 92
1,420 20
4,734
14,119 87
5,016 00
15,088 70
16,720
104,643
31,392 90 102,044 92
625,312 187,593 60 442,963 25
815,415 244,624 50 464,688 45
140,037
66,300 00
42,011 10
3,679,598 1,103,879 40 2,039,732 50
975,214 292,564 20 342,675 95
$12,626,854 3,736,283 20 6,630,289 68
Commercial Statistics.
647
TOBACCO TRADE OF ROTTERDAM AND AMSTERDAM.
We give below, from an authentic source, a comparative statement of imports, sales,
and stocks in Rotterdam and Amsterdam for the last ten years:—
/—•“ V IR G I N I A A N D K E N T U C K Y . ---- v
Im p orts .
1 8 3 9 ........................
1 8 4 0 ........................
1 8 4 1 ........................ .
1 8 4 2 ........................
1 8 4 3 ..........................
1 8 4 4 ........................
1 8 4 5 ........................
1 8 4 6 ........................
1 8 4 7 ........................
1 8 4 8 ........................ .
S tock .
D eliveries.
1,516
4,628
4,489
14,820
14,281
9,860
5,375
1,919
1,319
1,398
IMPORTS
in
Rotterdam...........
Amsterdam..........
Total........
-M A R Y L A N D .—
Im p orts .
D eliveries.
10,050
23,914
17,447
21,828
14,651
20,625
29,621
16,123
20,746
10,486
10,443
21,121
18,435
20,648
18,505
19,477
23,575
20,495
14,246
16,257
M aryland .
V irg in ia .
K e n tu ck y .
S te m s.
6,946
3,540
659
106
634
1,022
98
10,486
765
68 4
1,120
8,849
7,408
1,903
1,903
305
249
73
225
16,257
2,299
55 4
298
842
582
2,185
5,929
11,772
12,772
11,214
8,677
6,317
4,8 3 4
1,230
4,897
2,859
11,119
8,432
8,860
6,665
4,8 10
3,744
2,853
S to ck .
5,443
8,217
7,229
8,3 99
4,545
5,693
11,477
7,148
13,450
7,806
1848.
DELIVERIES.
Rotterdam............
Amsterdam..........
Total........
STOCKS, DECEMBER
81.
Rotterdam.............
Amsterdam..........
1,966
5,840
2,029
1 ,0 0 1
731
1,073
214
150
Total........
7,806
3,030
1,804
26 4
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR INTO THE UNITED STATES.
TABLE OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF W HEAT AND FLOUR, IN BUSHELS,
TOGETHER W IT H THE VALUE OF THE SAME, FROM 1 8 3 1 TO 1 8 4 8 , INCLUSIVE.
EXPORTS.
IM PO RTS.
EXCESS.
Bushels.
Value.
1831...............
1832...............
1833...............
1834...............
1835...............
1836...............
1837...............
1838...............
1839...............
1840...............
1841...............
1842...............
1843...............
1844...............
1845...............
1846...............
1847...............
1848...............
9,441,090
4,407,899
4,811,061
4,213,708
3,914,742
2,529,062
1,610,898
2,247,096
4,712,080
11,198,365
8,447,670
7,237,968
4,519,055
7,751,587
6,365,866
13,061,175
26,312,431
12,631,669
$10,461,715
4,974,123
5,642,602
4,560,379
4,446,182
3,5747&61
3,014,415
3,617,724
7,069,361
11,779,098
8,582,527
8,292,308
4,027,182
7,232,989
5,735,372
13,350,644
32,183,161
15,863,284
633
1,191
1,697
1,307
311,805
650,629
4,000,000
927,180
41,725
1,436
652
4,153
12,121
1,611
351
822
20,364
369,929
$699
1,180
1,716
1,295
268,623
565,500
4,276,976
940,838
57,747
1,069
900
3,796
8,542
1,664
287
633
22,878
357,639
9,440,457
4,406,708
4,809,364
4,212,401
3,632,937
1,878,433
*2,389,102
1,319,916
4,670,355
11,196,929
8,447,018
7,233,815
4,506,934
7,749,501
6,365,515
13,060,353
26,292,067
12,561,740
Average. . .
7,523,410
$8,647,762
352,639
$361,791
6,910,852
Years.
Bushels.
Im p orts .
Value.
Bushels.
OF
EACH
STATE
AND
TERRITORY
OF
T H E
UNITED
648
C O M M E R C E
STATES.
STATEMENT OF THE COMMERCE OF EACH STATE AND TERRITO RY FROM JULY 1, 1 8 4 1 , TO THE BOTH DAY OF JUNE, 1 8 4 8 .
------------------------------ \
------------------------ V A L U E O F E X P O R T S .----------------------
Dom estic produce.
In American
In Foreign
vessels.
vessels. ,
Mississippi.
Tennessee..
Missouri . . .
O h io...........
K entucky..
M ichigan...
Illinois........
T e x a s ........
$ 1 ,8 4 4 ,2 5 9
$ 9 2 ,1 4 1
6 ,2 2 9
1 ,5 1 8
2 9 9 ,2 6 9
1 ,9 8 0 ,0 0 2
1 ,3 2 8 ,3 3 5
2 1 4 ,4 0 8
1 ,4 5 2
5 0 1 ,0 6 4
2 8 ,1 0 6 ,8 6 2 1 0 ,0 6 4 ,3 4 1
62
1 ,0 0 2 ,3 2 4
4 ,4 2 5 ,9 8 5
8 3 ,0 3 9
1 ,5 9 3 ,8 1 1
5 ,4 2 2 ,2 1 1
8 3 ,6 6 6
2 ,8 4 2 ,6 3 6
8 3 1 ,2 2 2
2 9 6 ,6 5 2
4 3 ,3 1 6
4 ,5 8 3 ,0 2 2
3 ,4 9 8 ,8 9 5
1 ,6 1 9 ,8 1 6
2 ,0 5 0 ,5 9 9
1 ,2 4 1 ,1 8 9
6 4 9 ,4 9 4
1 ,6 3 1 ,9 0 3
4 ,2 8 2 ,1 9 0
2 1 ,6 4 1 ,5 6 9 1 1 ,1 0 8 ,5 1 9
'
$ 1 ,9 3 1 ,0 0 6
$ 1 1 ,1 6 0
$ 2 0 ,3 8 9
$ 2 ,6 2 9
1 ,8 0 1
436
436
2 9 9 ,2 6 9
2 3 4 ,8 3 3
2 3 4 ,8 3 3
9 ,3 0 8 ,3 3 1
1 ,4 8 4 ,5 5 9 2 ,6 2 6 ,8 0 3
4 ,1 1 1 ,3 6 2
5 ,1 1 1
2 1 5 ,8 6 0
5 ,1 1 1
5 0 1 ,0 6 4
3 8 ,1 1 1 ,2 0 9 1 0 ,3 6 5 ,1 2 3 4 ,2 1 4 ,2 2 5 1 4 ,5 1 9 ,9 4 8
62
5 ,4 2 8 ,3 0 9
2 2 ,0 1 8
8 0 4 ,0 2 4
2 8 2 ,0 0 6
8 3 ,0 3 9
19
19
1 1 3 ,1 4 8
1 ,0 1 6 ,0 3 8
8 6 ,5 4 8
2 1 ,2 0 0
8 3 ,6 6 6
3 ,6 1 9 ,8 5 8
1 ,4 1 8
136
1 ,5 5 4
3 4 0 ,0 2 8
8 ,0 8 1 ,9 1 1
3 ,6 1 0 ,4 1 5
1 ,8 9 6 ,6 8 3
1 1 ,9 2 0 ,6 9 3
4 ,2 6 4
1 ,0 5 6
2 ,1 9 2
3 9 ,3 5 0 ,1 4 8
1 ,5 0 4 ,8 4 0
1 1 6 ,3 1 3
1 ,6 2 1 ,2 1 3
8 ,8 1 0
1 3 8 ,1 2 9
1 4 1 ,5 9 9
5 1 ,4 1 1
4 1 ,8 8 5
254
5 3 ,1 2 3
1 1 1 ,1 9 4
4 1 ,8 3 5
1 2 ,0 8 9
9 5 ,5 1 4 ,2 1 1
Total o f Am erican
and Foreign
Total.
produce.
1 1 ,8 3 5
3 1 ,3 5 9 ,9 0 4 1 3 2 ,9 0 4 ,1 2 1
»
t
$ 1 ,9 5 1 ,3 9 5
8 ,2 4 3
5 3 4 ,1 0 2
1 3 ,4 1 9 ,6 9 9
2 2 1 ,6 3 1
5 0 1 ,0 6 4
5 3 ,3 5 1 ,1 5 1
62
5 ,1 3 2 ,3 3 3
8 3 ,0 5 8
1 ,1 2 9 ,1 8 2
8 3 ,6 6 6
3 ,6 8 1 ,4 1 2
3 4 0 ,0 2 8
8 ,0 8 1 ,9 1 1
3 ,6 1 0 ,4 1 5
1 ,8 9 6 ,6 8 3
1 1 ,9 2 1 ,1 4 9
4 0 ,9 1 1 ,3 6 1
1 4 1 ,5 9 9
441
1 3 1 ,3 0 9
441
212
1 4 ,1 1 8 ,0 1 9 7 ,0 1 4 ,2 9 6
A.
1 3 1 ,5 2 1
1 1 1 ,6 3 5
4 1 ,8 3 5
1 4 3 ,6 1 0
2 1 ,1 3 2 ,3 1 5 1 5 4 ,0 3 6 ,4 3 6
In Am erican
vessels.
In Foreign
vessels.
$ 6 1 4 ,6 0 6
$ 1 2 0 ,9 5 9
5 6 ,0 8 0
5 ,2 2 3
3 0 6 ,0 0 5
2 1 ,1 3 9 ,4 3 4
6 ,9 0 8 ,2 1 3
3 8 8 ,1 4 5
1 3 ,4 4 5
2 1 9 ,4 2 0
9 ,8 9 0
1 9 ,5 4 1 ,1 6 1 1 4 ,9 1 1 ,9 1 4
498
1,3 3 1
1 1 ,1 0 5 ,4 6 2
1 ,0 4 2 ,1 2 2
102
388
4 ,1 3 9 ,6 8 4
6 0 3 ,9 5 9
2 5 ,9 3 8
1 1 ,1 3 8
1 9 1 ,3 4 3
1 8 6 ,5 3 8
9 ,2 1 5
3 6 9 ,5 6 1
1 ,1 1 5 ,1 3 8
8 3 ,6 9 8
1 3 3 ,4 1 6
1 8 ,2 3 3
4 6 ,0 3 4
2 2 4 ,2 6 2
1 9 5 ,1 3 4
1 ,8 4 5 ,4 2 2
1 ,5 3 5 ,0 1 1
Total.
$ 1 9 5 ,5 6 5
6 1 ,3 0 3
3 0 6 ,0 0 5
2 8 ,6 4 1 ,1 0 1
3 5 1 ,5 9 0
2 2 9 ,3 1 0
9 4 ,5 2 5 ,1 4 1
1 ,8 3 5
1 2 ,1 4 1 ,5 8 4
490
5 ,3 4 3 ,6 4 3
2 5 ,9 3 8
2 1 5 ,0 8 1
1 9 5 ,8 1 4
1 ,4 8 5 ,2 9 9
2 1 1 ,1 1 4
6 4 ,2 6 1
4 1 9 ,3 9 6
9 ,3 8 0 ,4 3 9
3 ,0 8 0
9 1 ,4 6 3
1 0 ,0 0 1
1 4 8 ,5 6 0
1 8 6 ,1 2 6
2 5 ,9 1 1
1 1 5 ,1 6 0
4 ,3 6 5
9 4 ,0 2 4
1 2 8 ,6 4 1 ,2 3 2 2 6 ,3 5 1 ,6 9 6
1 5 4 ,9 9 8 ,9 2 8
1 0 ,0 0 1
1 4 8 ,5 6 0
1 8 1 ,3 3 2
2 6 ,9 1 1
1 1 5 ;i6 0
1 ,2 8 5
2 ,5 6 1
5 ,3 9 4
Commercial Statistics.
Maine.........................
Hew Hampshire
V ermont.....................
Massachusetts...........
Rhode Island.............
Connecticut................
Hew York...................
Hew Jersey...............
Pennsylvania.............
Delaware....................
Maryland....................
District o f Columbia.
V irginia.....................
Horth Carolina...........
Total.
Foreign produce.
In Am erican In Foreign
vessels.
vessels.
NAVIGATION
OF
EACH
STATE
AND
TERRITORY
OF
T H E
UNITED
STATES.
STATEMENT OF THE NAVIGATION OF EACH STATE AND TERRITO RY FROM JULY 1 , 1 8 4 7 , TO THE 3 0 T H DAY OF JUNE, 1 8 4 8 .
TO N N A G E C L E A R E D F R O M T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .
Am erican.
------------------- F o re ig n .------------------------v
Crews.
Crews.
STATES.
No.
IBS
12
285
1,295
103
111
4,430
....
342
14
406
9
234
248
211
54
93
146
667
Tons.
152,026
3,229
74,416
296,883
19,316
23,500
1,004,316
Men.
5,886
102
3,775
13,864
909
1,520
39,680
77,870
2,466
84,709
1,552
48,820
37,383
53,854
17,871
18,206
67,574
287,887
3,305
116
3,695
73
2,102
1,733
2,117
660
811
2,098
9.851
.....
Boys.
150
8
No.
666
45
Tons.
39,448
2,639
500
43
89
1,856
2,311
28
37
3,238
2
134
6
137
192,787
8,148
4,313
705,373
220
20,218
3,612
36,221
73
27
142
54
49
82
362
....
16,972
4,322
42,552
31,321
7,518
49,359
148,612
149
10
5
7
4
1
139
....
_. .
7,065
395
Michigan................................. ___
190
3
180,800
807
730
5,080
35
61
1,770
___
2,461,280
97,868
4,731
I l l i n o i s .........................................
T e x a s ............................................
Total.............................. ___
9,695
60
5,853
273
87,614
738
193
1,634
891
479
1,616
5,735
....
Boys.
54
20
149
1,814
22
....
....
3
189
139
21
107
....
363
8
2,057
4/734
....
92
7,634
1,404,159
72,847
No.
1,299
57
285
3,606
131
148
7,668
2
476
20
543
9
807
275
359
118
142
228
1,029
138
463
Tons.
191,474
6,868
74,416
489,670
22,565
27,813
1,709,689
220
98,088
6,078
120,930
1,552
65,792
41,705
96,406
49,102
25,724
116,933
436,499
....
....
Boys.
204
28
649
43
89
3,670
171
13
5
196
143
22
246
....
...........
12,918
......
...........
758
9,814
35
153
1/770
....
170,715
7,256
7
23
268,414
807
2,787
2,525
17,329
8,865,439
3
Men.
8,352
271
3,775
26,143
1,081
1,741
77,960
20
4,359
240
5,282
73
2,840
1,926
3,751
1,551
1,290
3,714
15,586
7
649
78
Men.
3,466
169
....
12,279
172
221
38,280
20
1,054
124
1,587
Commercial Statistics.
Maine...................................... ___
New Hampshire................... ___
Vermont................................. ___
Massachusetts....................... ___
Rhode Island......................... ___
Connecticut............................ ___
New Y o r k ............................. ___
New Jersey............................ . . . .
Pennsylvania.......................... ___
Delaware................................ ___
Maryland................................ ___
District of Columbia............ ___
Virginia,.................................. ___
North Carolina....................... ___
South Carolina....................... ___
Georgia.................................... ___
Florida.................................... ___
Alabama................................. ___
Louisiana................................ ___
Mississippi..............................
Tennessee................................
Missouri..................................
Ohio.........................................
r --------Total Am erican and F o r e ig n .----------»
Crews.
OF
EACH
STATE
AND
TERRITORY
OF
T H E
UNITED
STATES—
650
NAVIGATION
CONTINUED.
STATEMENT OF THE NAVIGATION OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY FROM JULY 1 , 184*7, TO THE 3 0 T H DAY OF JUNE, 1 8 4 8 .
T O N N A G E E N T E R E D IN T O T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S .
------------Am er ican.--------N o.
Tons.
N o.
------------- F o re ig n .----------Crews.
Tons.
Men.
Boys.
562
47
3 8 ,4 4 1
2 ,7 8 4
2 ,6 2 3
179
2 ,3 1 5
34
41
3 ,2 6 9
5
134
8
118
1 9 2 ,2 2 6
3 ,7 8 7
4 ,2 3 5
7 1 6 ,4 5 1
550
2 0 ,0 1 5
4 ,4 7 2
2 8 ,3 4 2
1 2 ,8 7 8
213
236
3 7 ,7 4 6
39
1 ,0 8 0
156
1 ,2 8 2
50
27
117
51
51
76
370
8 ,8 6 1
4 ,1 9 6
3 5 ,0 7 3
3 0 ,2 1 8
8 ,0 1 3
4 5 ,4 9 1
1 6 5 ,6 7 8
426
194
1 ,3 6 9
875
535
1 ,5 2 5
6 ,3 4 2
” 66
5 ,8 5 7
8 7 ,7 7 5
399
i
'2*79
2
9
4 ,5 1 5
7 ,6 3 1
323
14
291
1 ,5 1 3
119
109
4,9*79
1
390
1
361
4
103
163
1 38
39
90
55
625
*74,6*73
4 ,4 0 8
*79,423
356,*750
2 1 ,5 7 9
2 7 ,6 9 1
1 ,1 4 9 ,0 0 5
185
9 9 ,7 7 2
134
7 4 ,1 8 8
713
1 8 ,2 7 8
2 2 ,8 7 7
2 7 ,4 3 4
7 ,0 2 4
1 1 ,0 8 0
1 6 ,1 3 5
2 0 3 ,9 1 6
2 ,7 3 0
139
3 ,9 6 2
1 5 ,5 6 6
1 ,0 6 1
1 ,5 9 7
4 5 ,5 9 2
8
4 ,0 4 6
5
8 ,2 6 9
35
864
1 ,0 9 5
1 ,1 8 4
317
568
555
7 ,6 1 1
22
13
...
589
43
13
1 ,8 1 8
io 9
1 1 ,2 2 2
611
190
12
14
1 8 0 ,8 0 0
4 ,2 0 5
1 ,9 9 0
5 ,0 8 0
143
85
1 ,7 7 0
9 ,6 4 3
2 ,3 9 3 ,4 8 2
9 6 ,1 2 3
„. . d.
1 91
„. . .
....
....
8
5
5
....
5
32
N o.
885
61
291
3 ,8 2 8
153
150
8 ,2 4 8
6
524
9
479
4
153
190
255
90
1 41
1 31
995
1 1 3 ,1 1 4
7 ,1 9 2
7 9 ,4 2 3
5 4 8 ,9 7 6
2 5 ,3 6 6
3 1 ,9 2 6
1 ,8 6 5 ,4 5 6
735
1 1 9 ,7 8 7
4 ,6 0 6
1 0 2 ,5 3 0
713
2 7 ,1 3 9
2 7 ,0 7 3
6 2 ,5 0 7
3 7 ,2 4 2
1 9 ,0 9 3
6 1 ,6 2 6
3 6 9 ,5 9 4
5 ,3 5 3
318
3 ,9 6 2
2 8 ,4 4 4
1 ,2 7 4
1 ,8 3 3
8 3 ,3 3 8
47
5 ,1 2 6
161
4 ,5 5 1
35
1 ,2 9 0
1 ,2 8 9
2 ,5 5 3
1 ,1 9 2
1 ,1 0 3
2 ,0 8 0
1 3 ,9 5 3
371
i*7 5
1 7 ,0 7 9
982
8
"4 6 9
14
23
2 6 8 ,5 7 5
4 ,6 0 4
4 ,3 1 7
9,8 7 i
177
189
1 ,7 7 0
2 ,3 2 7
47m
34
104
1 ,4 0 5 ,1 9 1
7 2 ,9 9 8
2 ,4 8 1
1 7 ,2 7 4
3 ,7 9 8 ,6 7 3
1 6 9 ,1 2 1
6 ,9 9 6
y
....
44
22
....
25
....
....
1 ,8 2 8
Total Am erican and Foreigm --------- n
Crews.
Tons.
Men.
Boys.
50
....
....
....
3
....
194
178
36
93
66
35
:;:;
614
43
13
3 ,6 4 6
2 41
11
5
199
178
41
125
9
Commercial Statistics.
Maine................. ..
Hew Hampshire . . . .
Vermont.....................
Massachusetts...........
Rhode Island.............
Connecticut...............
Hew Y ork.................
Hew Jersey...............
Pennsylvania.............
Delaware...................
Maryland...................
District of Columbia.
Virginia.....................
Horth Carolina.........
South Carolina.........
G eorgia.....................
Florida.......................
Alabam a...................
Louisiana...................
Mississippi.................
Tennessee...................
Missouri.....................
Ohio............................
Kentucky...................
Michigan...................
Illinois.........................
Texas..........................
Crews.
M en.
Boys.
R ailroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
651
RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
THE RAILROADS FROM ALBANY TO BUFFALO.
T he several railroads forming the line between Albany and Buffalo are owned by
seven distinct corporations, namely, the Albany and Schenectady, Utica and Schenec
tady, Utica and Syracuse, Auburn and Syracuse, Auburn and Rochester, Tonawanda,
and the Attica and Buffalo.
The A lb an y and Schenectady, or Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, was chartered April
17, 1826, without any restrictions as regards the rate of fare for passengers, and still
remains uncontrolled.
The Utica and Schenectady R a ilro a d Company was chartered April 29, 1833, and
the fare for passengers limited to four cents per mile per passenger, and so remains at
present.
The Syracuse and Utica R a ilro a d Company was chartered May 11, 1836. The au
thorized fare for passengers, four cents per mile, as it still remains.
The A u bu rn and Syracuse R a ilroa d Company was chartered May 1,1834. Its fare
for passengers restricted to four cents per mile per passenger. This road suffered under
some embarrassments, and, by act of April 26,1839, was allowed to charge five cents
per mile per passenger for three years.
The A u bu rn and, Rochester R a ilro a d Company was chartered May 13, 1836. Au
thorized fare for passengers, three cents per mile. It was found difficult to procure
the stock to be taken with this restriction at that time, and, by act of January 26,
1837, it was authorized to charge four cents per mile, when the stock was taken, and
the road built.
The Tonawanda R a ilro a d Company was chartered April 24,1832, without any re
striction as to rate of fare for passengers. By act of February 7, 1844, it was re
stricted to four cents per mile for passengers, and the law so remains.
The A ttic a and Buffalo R a ilro a d Company was chartered May 3, 1836, and its fare
for passengers restricted to three cents per mile per passenger, and so remains at
present.
In all these charters there is a provision that the State may appropriate the road
after ten, and within fifteen years upon the payment of the cost of construction, with
10 per cent interest thereon; and provision is made in all the charters for an annual
report o f the business to the Secretary of State.
These railroads have uniformly insisted that, although there was a provision in each
of the charters, that the Legislature might alter or repeal it, yet as to fare, they could
only change it by taking the road under the above provision.
Propositions for the reduction of the fare of railroads have been brought forward in
the Legislature o f New York from year to year, and perhaps every year for the last
five years. In 1845, a bill for this purpose was reported in the Assembly, which was
recommitted to the railroad committee. A remonstrance of the railroad companies
against such legislation was presented and printed. In this remonstrance the rights
o f the companies are forcibly reasoned. This was followed by a report of the com
mittee on railroads against interfering with railroad fares.
A t subsequent sessions, proposition to reduce railroad fares received no favor from
the Legislature until 1848.
In 1848, a bill for the reduction of railroad fares was introduced into the Assembly
by the committee on railroads, and passed that body, but was lost in the Senate. This
bill did not give a rate per mile, but prescribed the charge for carrying a passenger
over the entire road of each of the corporations. The bill proposed a reduction of 26
per cent in the fare between Albany and Buffalo, but did not distribute it equally over
all the roads on the line.
A t the same session the general railroad act became a law, and indicated the policy
of the State as to railroad fares. By § 19, sub. 9, corporations formed under that act
were restricted to three cents per male per passenger. By § 30, the Legislature re
serve the right specifically to reduce the fare, but not to reduce it so as to produce less
than 10 per cent per annum on the cost, nor unless, upon examination of the returns, to
be made by the State Engineer and Controller, it shall appear that the net income
shall have exceeded 10 per cent upon the capitaL By § 28, these returns are required
to be made. By § 46, these provisions are made applicable to existing corporations.
R ailroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
652
From all this it appears that, even if the Legislature deem that they have the entire
power to reduce the fares, they cannot, at least they have pledged themselves not to
reduce, unless the report of the State Engineer and Controller shows that the roads
have made more than 10 per cent on their capital.
The following table shows the old rate of fare, the length of each road, the re
duced rate which took effect 1st November, 1848, and the rate per mile of such re
duced fare:—
Length o f road
in miles.
Albany and Schenectady..
Utica and Schenectady.__
“
Syracuse............
Auburn and Syracuse........
“
Rochester___
Tonawanda.......................
Attica and Buffalo.............
ii
18
53
26
18
431
31
Total.......................
3261
New rate
o f fare now in
force.
Old rate o f
fare.
$0
3
2
1
3
1
0
50
00
00
00
00
56
94
50
25
50
80
50
30
90
2 .9 4
2.8 8
2.8 3
3.01
3 .2 0 1
2.9 8
2 .9 0
$ 9 15
2 .9 8 J
$0
2
1
0
2
1
0
$12 00
Rate
per mile o f new
fare.
The companies have run at the rates specified in the second column for several
years. They have commenced a reduction, and it is not probable that they will find
it for their interest to go back, as all experience shows that a minimum low rate of
fare is the most productive. The point at which the interests of the public meet, is
that where the companies can carry the greatest number of passengers, and secure to
themselves a remunerating income.
The following table, compiled from legislative documents, shows the number of pas
sengers carried over each of the seven roads during the years 1844 to 1848, inclusive:
PASSENGERS CARRIED ON THE RAILROADS.
1844.
Albany and Schenectady.. .
Utica and Schenectady.........
Syracuse and U tica..............
Auburn and Syracuse...........
“
Rochester.........
Tonawanda.............................
Attica and Buffalo.................
.
.
.
.
.
1845.
132,685
161,8491
121,146190,254
121,369
19,5321
63,9491
184ft.
158,541
161,650
123,534
81,2441
119,160
13,130
11,8411
114,653
221,8181
155,2191
105,8091
142,255
92,3811
18,633
1848.
1847.
229,401
266,534
198,512
140,6051
189,845
134,068
130,199
236,889
210,413
216,801
154,216
209,259
148,4431
146,235
The total embraces both through and way passengers, and the receipts would better
show the amount of business done, which we give in a tabular form as follows:—
RECEIPTS FROM PASSENGERS.
1844.
D ollars.
1845.
1846.
1847.
1848.
D ollars.
D ollars.
D ollars.
D ollars.
Albany and Schenectady.
66,293 81 19,644
Utica and Schenectady..
306,218 15358,810
Syracuse and Utica.......... 181,641 34 182,484
Auburn and Syracuse . . .
80,533 11 19,500
“
Rochester...
215,246 95214,143
Tonawanda......................... 92,639 06 89,896
Attica and Buffalo............ 64,339 91 58,915
85
11
18
29
29
98
93
92,194
341,535
229,108
98,051
253,013
111,583
12,405
61
51
56
11
21
09
55
110,051
509,182
285,941
123,848
334,110
155,993
104,010
61 113,141 88
26 566,884 81
61 296,831 98
04 132,661 55
81 358,501 30
48 169,963 21
22 119,446 41
During the period embraced by these tables, the cost of construction or capital has
been greatly increased— in some cases doubled by the construction of the roads. And
the yearly expenses have also been greatly increased, so that much larger receipts in
1849 are required to pay interest on the cost than in 1844.
Other tables might be made showing what were the receipts and cost of each road
per mile, all of which would tend to show that the eastern roads could bear a greater
reduction than the western roads, because they do a larger business. A ll these calcu
lations should be entered into before any reduction is made, as the reduction should
be governed by the rate per cent of profit and not by the rate of fare per mile, which
is arbitrary.
R ailroad, Canal, and Steam boat Statistics.
653
TOLLS RECEIVED ON THE N EW YORK STATE CANALS.
The following tables, showing the aggregate amount of tolls received at each Col
lector’s office, on each canal, during the season of navigation in 1847 and 1848, also
the increase or diminution at each office during the same period, have been carefully
compiled from the returns made to the Canal Department of the State of New York :
E R IE C A N A L.
Offices.
N e w Y o r k ...................
A lb a n y ..........................
W e s t T r o y ....................
S ch en ecta d y ................
F u lton v ille ...................
L ittle F a lls ..................
U t ic a ..............................
R o m e ..............................
S y ra cu s e .......................
M on tezu m a ..................
L y o n s ............................
P a lm y r a ........................
R och ester......................
B r o c k p o r t ....................
A lb io n ............................
L o c k p o r t .......................
B la ck R o c k ..................
B u ffa lo ...........................
W a t e r fo r d ...................
Salina.............................
O s w e g o ........................
G e n e v a ..........................
H a v a n a ........................
H orse H e a d .................
C o rn in g .........................
D re s d e n ........................
P en n Y a n ....................
O x fo r d ...........................
B in g h a m to n ................
S e o tt s v ille ....................
H i g g in s .........................
D a n sville.......................
Total
28
32
33
07
08
57
86
30
55
30
99
86
75
86
65
84
50
96
74
21
21
80
46
03
05
40
91
89
21
09
29
$ 1 3 1 ,4 4 2
3 6 9 ,1 1 0
3 4 4 ,3 0 2
9 ,8 5 7
1 2 ,7 0 3
1 2 ,1 9 5
5 5 ,0 2 3
8 7 ,5 8 2
1 0 5 ,9 3 8
9 3 ,1 8 5
2 1 ,6 8 6
5 0 ,0 2 6
2 0 2 ,8 0 8
3 8 ,7 6 0
2 6 ,1 2 5
1 3 7 ,6 8 2
2 6 0 ,0 2 2
6 7 2 ,6 1 8
3 ,4 9 8
1 9 ,0 8 3
1 7 6 ,0 7 8
5 1 ,6 8 0
8 ,2 1 2
2 6 ,5 8 0
2 5 ,0 4 8
6 ,6 8 0
1 6 ,2 2 8
2 ,6 0 9
3 ,2 4 4
2 0 ,5 9 0
124
1 7 ,1 4 7
Increase.
90
17
84
28
28
76
93
72
14
87
75
65
61
43
56
94
01
09
34
40
96
22
27
92
82
63
35
86
01
24
68
13
$ 2 ,4 7 1
7 ,2 7 0
3 1 ,6 9 0
1 ,4 5 2
62
85
51
21
1 ,0 8 5 0 7
7 ,2 0 4 5 9
1 ,7 5 1 7 6
2 5 ,1 5 7 5 7
5 3 ,6 5 9 1 0
1 2 6 ,5 1 9 51
1 ,4 5 8 5 1
25 23
124 68
Decrease.
....................
....................
....................
....................
$ 1 ,4 1 5 8 0
6 7 3 81
....................
5 ,2 7 3 5 8
...................
3 ,2 6 2 4 3
...................
1 ,3 2 8 21
2 1 ,0 5 4 14
....................
4 0 ,1 6 8 09
...................
....................
5 4 4 ,0 8 2 8 7
418 40
1 ,5 4 0 81
6 ,9 8 8 25
3 ,0 1 5 5 8
....................
6 ,3 6 7 11
1 ,9 2 4 2 3
....................
1 ,4 3 4 5 6
3 ,2 2 9 0 3
1 ,8 5 7 20
1 ,0 7 9 8 5
.............. .
2 2 3 16
$3,333,347 36 $2,947,881 76 $259,871 51 $646,337 11
Total...........................
$473
6,293
37,753
4,048
14,647
56,881
17
51
80
99
16
17
$120,097 80
$39
6,297
40,208
7,466
13,027
60,460
90
04
86
82
59
45
$117,500 66
CO
CO
CHAMPLAIN CANAL.
New Y ork...........................
Albany..................................
West Troy...........................
Waterford & Seneca Lake.
Schuylerville.......................
W hitehall...........................
■e©
V
1848.
1847.
27
$3 53
2,455 06
3,417 83
1,619 57
6,420 72
$5,876 42
$8,473 56
C A Y U G A A N D S E N E C A C AN AL.
Montezuma.........................
Geneva..................................
H avana................................
Horse Head..........................
Corning................................
Dresden.................
Penn Yan.............................
Total...........................
$10,077
7,642
862
4,320
3,304
726
1,991
87
08
56
80
31
87
44
$28,925 93
$10,860
7,492
990
3.773
2,994
739
1,963
52
39
21
47
28
45
88
$782 65
$28,814 20
$922 88
$149 69
127 65
647 33
310 03
12 58
.......
27 56
$1,034 61
R ailroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
654
O SW E G O CANAL,
Salina.........................
O sw ego..................... ........
50,229 08
Total.................
§30,597 89
49jl86 04
§2,893 63
§79,783 93
§2,893 63
§1,043 04
§1,043 04
CH EM UN G CANAL.
Havana...................... .
Horse Head............... ........
Corning...................... .........
5*905 84
7^382 75
Total...................
§3,655 31
5/767 09
6^768 85
§266 20
§16,191 25
§266 20
§ 1 3 8
75
613 90
§752 65
CR O O K E D LA K E CANAL.
____
§730 11
Penn Y an....................
Total...................
§515 06
1,806 64
§90 25
§1,821 70
§90 25
§215 05
§215 05
CHENANGO CANAL.
Utica............
Hamilton.....
O xford.........
Binghamton.
§11,360
4,158
6,455
6,596
T o ta l..
16
47
21
49
§28,570 33
§17,181
4,232
5,754
5,090
15
04
03
73
§5,820 99
73 57
§32,257 95
§5,894 56
§701 18
1,505 76
§2,206 94
GENESEE VALLEY CANAL.
Rochester..
Scottsville..
Dansville...
Total.
§6,952 32
11,439 87
8,315 06
§7,910 72
10,590 32
8,221 08
§26,707 25
§26,722 12
§958 40
§849 55
93 98
§958 40 .
§943 53
ONEIDA LAKE CANAL.
§624 74
Higgins .
§688 97
§64 23
SENECA R IV E R TOW ING-PATH.
Salina....................... ............
§372 96
§469 74
§96 78
ONEIDA R IV E R IMPROVEMENT.
Salina...................................
§176 07
§235 08
§50 01
The following table shows the gross amount of tolls, <fec., collected on each canal
during the years 1847 and 1848 :—
Canals.
1847.
1848.
Increase.
Erie....................................... §3,333,347 36 §2,947,881 76
120,097 80
Champlain..........................
117,500 66
O sw ego................................
77,933 34
79,783 93
Cayuga and Seneca............
28,925 95
28,814 20
Chemung..............................
16,677 70
16,191 25
Crooked Lake.....................
1,946 50
1,831 70
Chenango.............................
28,570 33
32,257 95
Genesee Yalley...................
26,707 25
26,722 12
Oneida Lake........................
624 74
688 97
“
River Improvement
176 07
235 08
Seneca River towing-path.
372 96
469 74
Total
§3,635,380 00 §3,252,367 34
Decrease.
............... §385,465 60
2,597 14
...............
§1,850 59
I l l 75
486 45
124 80
8,687 62
......... ..
14 76
...............
64 23
...............
59 01
...............
96 78
...............
§5,773 08 §388,785 74
COMPARATIVE COST OF RAILROADS,
The Am erican R a ilro a d Jo u rn a l gives the following interesting statement of the
length, cost per mile, and total cost o f the railroads in the United States, Canada,
Cuba, and Europe. According to this account it will be seen that the cost of the
R ailroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
655
railroads in the United States is less per mile than in any other country in the ■world,
with the exception of Holland and the Island of Cuba.
Countries.
U n ite d S ta te s ......................................... .................
C a n a d a ......................................................
C u b a ......................................................... ................
Miles.
6,4 2 1
250
A y . cost per mile.
1 3 0 ,0 0 0
3 0 ,0 0 0
2 8 ,8 8 8
T ota l in A m e rica ..........................
U n ite d K in g d o m ...................................
F r a n c e .......................................................
G erm a n y....................................................
B e lg iu m ....................................................
H o lla n d ....................................................
D en m ark and H olstein ...........................
S w itzerlan d ..................................................
I t a l y .................................................................
R ussia ..............................................................
P o la n d .............................................................
H u n g a r y ..................................................
Total.
$ 1 9 2 ,6 3 0 ,0 0 0 *
1 ,6 2 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
$ 2 0 0 ,2 5 0 ,0 0 0
................
................
4 ,4 2 0
1 ,2 5 0
................
................
................
................
................
................
4951
1621
282
78
1621
113
................
1871
1 4 5 ,0 0 0
1 1 0 ,0 0 0
5 0 ,0 0 0
8 0 ,0 0 0
2 5 ,0 0 0
4 0 ,0 0 0
5 0 ,0 0 0
9 0 ,0 0 0
6 0 ,0 0 0
5 0 ,0 0 0
5 0 ,0 0 0
6 4 0 ,9 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 3 7 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 6 8 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0
3 9 ,6 4 0 ,0 0 0
4 ,0 6 2 ,5 0 0
1 1 ,2 8 0 ,0 0 0
3 ,6 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 4 ,6 2 5 ,0 0 0
6 ,7 8 0 ,0 0 0
9 ,3 7 5 ,0 0 0
7 ,8 5 0 ,0 0 0
T o ta l in E u rop e .......................... ................
“
A m e rica ....................... ................
1 0 ,6 7 8
6 ,7 2 5
$ 1 ,0 4 4 ,4 0 2 ,5 0 0
2 0 0 ,2 5 0 ,0 0 0
G ran d t o t a l ........................ ................
1 7 ,4 0 3
$ 1 ,2 4 4 ,6 5 2 ,5 0 0
The above embraces all the railways in operation, except a short line of 15 miles
recently opened in Spain, from Barcelona to Mataro, from which no returns are obtained.
These vast sums, above stated, have all been expended for railways within the last
twenty years. It may be safely asserted that the roads now in progress, including all
those which will be completed within the next Jive years, will represent an additional
amount o f capital equal to the sums expended upon those already finished. The
speculative feelings of 1845, in England, pushed forward many schemes that have
since been discarded; and the stringent law, which required a deposit of 20 per cent
o f the capital before the taking effect of the grant of authority to build, had the effect
to reduce the number of speculative schemes at once. In no other country in Europe
has the railway spirit exceeded the limits of legitimate speculation.
STATISTICS OF RAILROAD CORPORATIONS.
The following act of the New York Legislature, entitled “ An act to amend an act
entitled ‘ An act to authorize the formation of Railroad Corporations,’ passed March
27, 1848. Passed April 11, 1849.” It relates to the statistical returns to be made to
the State Engineer annually, and we publish it for the information of all whom it may
concern.
.
The People o f the State o f New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, da enact as
follow s :
S e c t i o n 1. The twenty-eighth section of the act entitled “ An act to authorize the
formation of Railroad Corporations,” passed March 27, 1848, is hereby amended so as
to read as follows:—
S ec. 28. Every Railroad Corporation shall make an annual report to the State En
gineer and Surveyor, of the operations of the year, ending on the first day of January;
which report shall be verified by the oaths of the Treasurer and acting Superintend
ent of operations, and filed in his office by the twentieth day of January, in each year,
and shall state—
1. The length of the road in operation; the length of single track; the length of
double track; the time when laid, and the weight of the rail per yard.
2. The capital stock, and the amount called and paid in.
3. The whole cost of the road, showing the amount expended for the purchase of
lands, for grading, for expenses of engineering, for bridging, for masonry, for iron for
superstructure, for buildings, for engines, for passenger and other cars respectively.
4. The amount and nature of its indebtedness, and the amount due to the corporation.
R ailroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
656
5. The number of through and way passengers.
6. The rate of fere for passengers, charged for the respective classes.
7. The amount received for the transportation of passengers, of property, of the
mails, for interest, and from all other sources respectively.
8. The amount of freight, specifying the quantity in tons, of the products of the
forest, of animals, of vegetable food, other agricultural products, manufactures, mer
chandise, and other articles.
9. The amount paid out for construction, for repairs of roadway, of buildings, of en
gines, of cars, respectively; and for fuel, for taxes, for engines and firemen, for oil, for
train conductors, baggage and brakemen, for State tolls, for interest, for salaries, and
to what officers or agents, and the amount paid out for all other purposes incidental to
the business o f transportation, so as to give a complete statement of the whole annual
expenses of the corporation.
10. The number of engine-houses and shops; of engines and cars, and their character.
11. The number of miles run by passenger, freight, and other trains respectively,
and the average rate of speed of passage and freight trains, respectively.
12. The number of men employed, and their respective occupations.
13. The amount charged for depreciation of road, engines, cars, <fec.; the number
and amount of dividends, and when made.
14. The number of persons injured in life or limb, and the cause of the injury, and
whether passengers or persons employed.
15. Whether any such accidents have arisen from carelessness or negligence of any
person in the employment of the corporation, and whether such person is retained in
the service of the corporation.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the State Engineer and Surveyor to arrange the in
formation contained in such reports in a tabular form, and prepare the same, to
gether with the said reports, in a single document, for printing for the use of the Leg
islature.
S ec. 3. The provisions of this act shall apply to all existing railroad corporations;
and the report of said existing railroad corporations, made in pursuance of the provis
ions o f this act, shall be deemed to be a full compliance with any existing law or reso
lution requiring annual reports to be made by such corporation.
S ec. 4. The provisions of any act inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STEAMBOATS REQUIRED TO CARRY LIFE-BOATS, ETC.
The following act, requiring steamboats or vessels propelled or driven by steam to
carry small boats for the protection of life in case of accident, passed at the last ses
sion of the New York Legislature, takes effect from the first day of June, 1849 :—
S e c t i o n 1. .Every ferry-boat driven or propelled by fire or steam, navigating any of
the waters of this State, shall be provided with at least one small row or life-boat, at
least fifteen feet in length, attached to the ferry-boat in such a manner that it can be
launched into the water for immediate use in case of need, or in case of accident.
S ec. 2. Every steam vessel, or steamboat, or vessel or boat propelled Or driven by
steam or fire, navigating any of the waters of this State, of five hundred tons meas
urement, and carrying passengers, shall be provided with at least one first class fifeboat, and one row-boat, twenty-five feet long by seven wide, capable of carrying or
supporting fifty persons each, and at least one row-boat of the usual size and construc
tion in addition thereto; and every steamboat or vessel driven or propelled by steam
and fire, and navigating any of the waters of this State, of the measurement of two
hundred and fifty tons burden, and not exceeding five hundred tons burden, and car
rying passengers, shall carry at least two ordinary row-boats, so attached as to be ca
pable of being launched into the water in case of need or accident.
S ec. 3. Every violation of the provisions of this act shall be punishable by fine, not
less than two hundred and fifty dollars, which may be sued for and recovered in any
court of record in this State; in action against the captain of the boat or vessel, or the
owner or owners, or either of them, to be sued for in the name of the treasurer of the
county in which either the captain, or the owner or owners, may or shall reside.
Sec. 4. It shall be, and is hereby made the duty of the district attorney of the
county in which such captain, owner or owners may or shall reside, to prosecute such
suit or complaint, substantiated by the affidavit of the person so complaining, and the
Journal o f B anking , Currency, and Finance.
657
penalties so recovered shall be paid to the county treasurer for the support of the poor
of said coimty.
Sec. 5. None of the provisions of this act shall be construed as in any manner re
pealing the act entitled “ An act requiring compensation for causing death by wrong
ful act, neglect or default,” passed December 13, 1847, or any part of said act.
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
THE BASK OF FRA ACE SINCE THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY, 1848.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF HORACE SAY, EXPRESSLY FOR THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND COMMERCIAL REV IE W .
T he Report of the operations of the Bank of France in the year 1847, presented
results of a satisfactory character. A financial crisis, however, had for a long time
been apprehended; business had been overdone; capital had been taken up and in
vested in real estate to too great an extent; government had been allowing the deficit
in its supplies to grow greater every day. Under any circumstances the evil would
have been a difficult one to master— the Revolution of February was calculated to
cause its whole weight to be felt at once.
A t Paris, commercial credit rested and depended upon the relations existing between
the heavy dealers and bankers and the Bank of .France. Unhappily for the whole
country, this institution found itself in such a position as to feel at once the recoil of
every embarrassment which the Minister of Finance met with in the conduct of pub
lic affairs. After succeeding, by means of a sale to the emperor of Russia, in realizing
the amount of its resources, the Bank committed the mistake of again investing its
capital in public loans. The specie in the vaults represented, for the most part, the
balances due depositors on account current, and the real security of its bills was the
negotiable paper discounted and entered on the books of the bank.
Its discounted paper was, without doubt, a sufficiently solid basis; only, however,
in case credit was maintained, for prompt payments became impossible when business
has been extended and expanded during a long period of tranquillity and prosperity.
Now, it was precisely this necessity for prompt settlement that the revolution called
forth. Business transactions were suddenly arrested; time had to be given to debtors;
those who for a long time had found it difficult to meet their engagements, took ad
vantage of the tunes to relieve themselves of their obligations; more conscientious
debtors soon found themselves forced into the same course; and from that time the
resources of the bank, paralysed in its hands, ceased to furnish sufficient returns.
Every facility o f discount continued to be furnished, but the needful aliment of busi
ness was wanting.
Meanwhile, their daily necessities compelled business men, little by little, to draw
their deposits. On the other hand, apprehension of the public consequence of politi
cal events led strangers and many wealthy persons to fly from Paris. They turned
their property into money, and carried away or concealed their gold and silver. It
was not, therefore, without lively apprehensions that the council of the bank saw its
specie every day diminishing.
The symptoms soon became more alarming; the confidence which had been pre
viously felt in the bills of the bank grew w eaker; the holders of bills began to be
siege the bank for specie; and the moment was rapidly approaching when all the
specie would be absorbed. Under circumstances so perilous, the bank would soon be
reduced to the necessity either of suspending all operations, with a view to the liqui
dation of its affairs, or of applying to the government to interfere, and permit a sus
pension of specie payments until better times.
The first course would have been the signal for general bankruptcy, which could
not be thought of without alarm. On the other hand, the Bank of France, through
the excellence of its organization, the confidence which the manner in which its affairs
were carried on, and the publication of its accounts inspired, was itself in a condition
still to render great service to the public finances, as well as to commerce and industry.
It was necessary, therefore, at all hazards to save this institution; and if this was to
be done, it would not do to wait until its remaining resources were exhausted.
In accordance, therefore, with a detailed report of the governor on the condition of
VOL. XX.---- NO. VI.
42
Journal o f B anking, Currency, and Finance.
658
the bank, the Provisional Government, on the 16th March, 1848, issued a decree to the
following effect:—Art. 1. The bills of the bank shall be received as money.
Art. 2. The bank is relieved from the necessity of specie payments.
The issue o f bills was limited, by Art. 3, to 350,000,000 francs in all.
The next article was to the effect that small bills o f not less than 100 francs might
be issued.
The same provisions were extended to all the branches o f the bank.
Finally, a sixth article obliged the bank to make a public statement of its position,
in the M oniteur, every eight days.
Thus, the bills of the Bank of France became a paper money, with which every
debtor could discharge himself from claims against him. The first effect of this meas
ure was naturally a depreciation of the bills, the precious metals became dear, and
the loss on bills reached 25 francs on the thousand for silver, and 150 francs on the
thousand for gold. The scarcity of specie caused a pressure, which was all the greater
because the bills in circulation were of the denomination of 1,000 francs and 500
francs, and the means of making change were wanting, The small bills of 100 francs,
promised in the decree, were importunately demanded, and many a malediction was
visited upon the delays in their issue.
It became necessary to establish a commission with power, by a suspension of the
law, to pay out specie for bills to those who had workmen to pay. In this way the
specie in reserve continued to decrease for some time, even after the suspension o f the
regular specie payments. The decrease was the greater because the Minister of Fi
nance ana the Mayor of Paris did not fail to avail themselves of the opportunity to
fill their own coffers with specie.
Bank bills thus became a national currency, but had not as yet, however, circulated
elsewhere than in Paris and in the fourteen towns in which the Bank of France had
branches. In some other towns in the departments local banks had been established,
each o f which issued bills, which rarely passed beyond the boundary of the district.
These banks, of course, experienced the same embarrassments which weighed upon
the great central institution at Paris. The aid which had been given to this by means
o f a decree of suspension could hardly be refused to the others. The bills of the
local banks, therefore, obtained a forced circulation throughout the whole of the de
partments in which they were respectively situated.
For a while the national unity of France, as far as monetary exchanges were con
cerned, was broken down. He who had heen legally paid a debt at Marseilles, was
unable to pay his own debt at Montpelier, with the paper money he had received.
This state of things could not last, and a law, printed in the M oniteur of April 29,
put an end to it by decreeing the consolidation of the banks of the departments of
Rouen, Marseilles, Toulon, Lyons, Orleans, and Havre with the Bank o f France. The
capital and specie o f these banks were added to the capital and specie of the central
institution, and the stockholders became stockholders of the Bank of France, the ex
change being made at the rate of 1,000 francs per share. The number of shares was
thus increased by the addition of 11,200, to 85,100 at 1,000 francs a share. The
amount o f issue allowed to the Bank o f France was increased by the amount which
had been before allowed to the local banks. Temporarily, all the bills were allowed
to circulate throughout the country, in order to give the Bank of France time to pre
pare new bills, with which, within six months, to replace the old. Finally, the old
branches and the local banks were obliged to designate themselves as— B a n k o f France
— Bran ch Office o f----- —.
The banks o f Bordeaux and of Nantes were disposed to resist this measure strenu
ously. Negotiations ensued, and their incorporation took place a little later.
The old capital o f the bank was............................... francs
Additional capital of the branches......................................
6*7,900,000
23,350,000
Total new capital...........................................................
91,250,000
Thus the great question, discussed for so many years, whenever the renewal of the
charter of a local bank was applied for, was all at once decided, by the mere force of
circumstances, in favor of a single institution, with branches at various points of the
country. This system has great advantages, as well as serious inconveniences. The
greatest danger of a single chartered National Bank is, that its interest becomes too
closely allied to those of the government finances. What embarrasses the one, em
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
659
barrasses the other, and they react upon each other. The bank soon becomes the agent
for loans, and the abuse of paper money becomes then, as it were, a constant menace
suspended over the nation.
The bank, which had already invested in the public funds, first had to make a loan
to government of 50,000,000, secured by a deposit of treasury notes. Afterwards,
30,000,000 more were demanded. Then came a contract, ratified by the National As
sembly, by which the bank bound itself to furnish 150,000,000 upon certain special se
curities; that is to say, for 75,000,000, on the security of the income of mortgages,
in accordance with the ordinance of 15th June, 1834; in other words, for four-fifm3
of their value. The other 75,000,000 by a transfer, with power of resale, of a part
of the public forests, designated in a table annexed, and containing a superficies of
84,729 hectares, 10 acres.
A t the same time the Bank of France was induced to lend the city of Paris the sum
of 10,000,000, as an advance upon a new city loan of 25,000,000. And afterwards it
consented to a new loan of 6,000,000 to the department of the Seine, to insure the
distribution of relief during the winter.
Thus the great establishment of credit, on which depend all commercial transactions
in France, became consolidated with the political institutions o f the country, and would
find its existence threatened by any event which might attack the resources of the
State.
In the midst of such dangers its affairs were conducted with such prudence that the
credit o f this noble institution was sustained; the issues were moderate; the specie
in reserve was rapidly restored; and specie payments could have been resumed within
six months without inconvenience. Any delay in this respect could only be attributed
to the uncertainty of the future.
The last quotation for a share of the bank in February w a s ..
On the 7th March, at the reopening of the Board.......... ..........
10th April, (the lowest point)........................................................
Quotations rallied 27th December to...................................
3,180
2,400
950
1,760
What most contributed to restore confidence was the weekly publication of the con
dition of the bank.
These statements give the following results with respect to the resources and liabil
ities of the bank at intervals of six months:—
Francs.
April 20, the specie in the vaults was at the lowest poin t.............
In the branches........................................................................................
Cen.
51,285,750 58
39,473,385 00
Total................................................................................................
88,659,135 58
November 30, the amount of specie at Paris was.............................
In the under banks.................................................................................
135,546,100 73
107,131,535 00
Total................................................................................................
Increase from April 20 to November 30....................................
242,677,635 73
154,018,530 15
COMPARATIVE CONDITION OF THE BANK OF FRANCE ON THE 6 T H AP RIL AND 2 7 T H OCT., 1 8 4 8 ,
AT NIGHT.
R KSO U RCES.
April 6.
Francs.
October 26,
Cen.
Francs.
Cen.
Difference.
Francs.
Cen.
Coin and bullion.................................. 53,432,367 50 128,979,222 05 75,546,874 55
Cash in the branches........................... 43,402,580 00 102,083,495 00 58,680,915 00
Notes to be collected.........................
19,805,489 77
963,922 45 18,831,567 32
Discounts at Paris............................... 218,554,999 45 65,852,219 81 152,702,779 64
“
in the branches................. 57,141,538 46 109,056,388 44 51.914,859 98
Advances on coin and bullion...........
2,490,900 00 14,170,800 00 11,679,900 00
“
on public secur. of France 12,254,082 90 33,721,746 65 )
Ditto at the branches.........................
25,827,067 75
Due from branches for their bills in
4,359,404 00 )
'
circulation........................................ 15,126,750 00
10,000,000 00 10,000,000 00
Income reserved.................................
“
for disposable funds.............. 11,660,197 89 83,902,413 02 22,241,915 73
4,000,000 00
Office and furniture...........................
4,000,000 0 0
Real estate of the branches...............
2,594,450 00
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
660
RESO U R C E S.
A pril 6.
Francs.
Interest at the office in Algiers........
“
“
national office...........
Paper to be taken u p .........................
“
“
“
by sub-banks.
Proceeds o f the sale to Russia.........
Expenses of the bank.......................
“
sub-banks........................
Miscellaneous.......................................
Advances to government on treasury
drafts of the Republic...................
Advances to the government on the
150,000,000 loan..............................
Investment by the sub-banks in pub
lic securities....................................
Loan of 10,000,000 to the city of Paris
Interest due the old department banks
at the national offices....................
Treasury drafts....................................
Cen.
1,000,000 00
200,000 00
1,143,579 50
October 26.
Francs.
Cen.
200,000 00
14,272,130 82 )
...
„„
8*316,494 00 | 15’445’042 32
831,191 06
419,572 30
370,721 33
292,757 00
919,235 11
46,560 08
50,000,000 00
Difference.
Francs Cen.
50.000.
000 00
25.000.
000 00
12,806,741 39
3,500,000 00
230,000 00
7,061,332 50
T o t a l ......................................... 507,509,808 91 632,583,174 17
L IA B IL IT IE S.
A pril 6.
Francs. Cen.
October 27.
Francs. Cen.
Capital.................................................. 67,900,000 00 67,900,000 00
Reserve................................................
10,000,000 00 10,000,000 00
Real estate...........................................
4,000,000 00
4,000,000 00
Bills in circulation............................. 285,595,400 00 353,004,425 00
“
“
in the branches... 15,126,750 00 43,314,475 00
“
“
to order ...............
1,930,-545 60
486,543 20
Account current with treasury credit 49,331,669 77
9,970,232 45
Various accounts current................... 65,454,515 82 75,810,674 26
Paper payable at sight......................
1,776,000 00
2,102,300 00
Rediscounted for the last six months
728,692 37
422,932 27
Dividend payable...............................
297,436 25
82,853 25
Discounts on discount.........................
3,021,757 11
1,943,533 28
Branch of Algiers, 6 months’ deposit
1,086,203 69
539,699 01
Drafts of the branches to be paid.. .
1,065,035 03
5,287,297 10
Miscellaneous.......................................
195,803 27
191,993 18
Capital of the new sub-banks...........
23,350,000 00
Accounts current at the sub-banks. .
24,132,304 00
Reserve of the new sub-banks.........
2,980,750 14
Paper payable at the sub-banks. . . .
1,675,501 00
Drafts of the sub-banks on the bank.
2,015,632 00
Drafts o f the bank on the sub-banks.
2,103,096 00
Discounts on discount at sub-banks..
641,233 00
Difference
Francs. *Ocn.
67,409,025
28,187,725
1,444,002
39,361,437
10,356,158
426,300
00
00
40
32
44
00
Total............................................ 507,509,808 91 632,583,174 17
The specie securities had become three times greater, while the issues, instead of
increasing in the same proportion, had actually diminished. A t the first period the
circulation was as follows :■—In Paris bills...........................................................francs
298,008,300
In bills of the branches..................................................
15,222,500
Total.........................
And on the 30th November—
In Paris bills.....................
In bills of the sub-banks.
Total.........................................................................
313,230,800
289,906,300
19,811,300
309,717,600
The amount of assets gradually diminished, and bankers and merchants proceeded
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
661
to liquidate their affairs. It would have been desirable to see a revival o f business
manifested by the mercantile operations of the bank. It is evident, on the contrary,
that the specie in reserve had increased on account of this very liquidation of affairs
and general winding up. There being no business transacted on time, less negotiable
paper than ordinary-went into circulation, and there were fewer applications for dis
counts.
Thus, the books of the bank exhibited a diminution of resources. In average times
it should exhibit commercial liabilities to the amount of 350,000,000. The amount on
the 6th April was—
A t Paris.....................................................................................francs
In the branches...................................................................................
218,554,999 45
51,141,588 46
Total...........................................................................................
On the 30th November the amount on the books fell to .............
In the sub-banks it was.....................................................................
275,696,537 91
64,871,522 69
108,950,602 67
Total............................................................................................
173,822,125 36
The sub-banks, more numerous than the old branches, naturally present a higher
figure, but the books at Paris exhibit a falling off of three-fourths. The Bank of
France thus became provisionally, during the crisis, simply a loan and credit agent of
the Minister of Finances, lending him paper money, which the government backed by
its decrees. Thus far, it must be confessed, the management has kept within prudent
bounds. No serious injury has been done to the solidity of the institution. Let con
fidence be restored, let business revive, and it will yet be able to render eminent ser
vice. Hereafter, when prosperous days shall have returned, it will be time to discuss
all the questions touching the freedom of banks.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF BANK STOCKHOLDERS, ETC.
W e publish below a law of “ the People of the State o f New York, represented in
Senate and Assembly,” passed April the 5th, 1849 :—
AN ACT TO ENFOBCE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STOCKHOLDERS IN CERTAIN BANKING CORPORA
TIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, AS PRESCRIBED BY THE CONSTITUTION, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE
PROMPT PAYMENT OF DEMANDS AGAINST SUCH CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS.
S ection 1. Whenever default shall be made in the payment of any debt or liability,
contracted after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, by
any corporation or joint stock association for banking purposes, issuing bank notes or
any kind of paper credits to circulate as money, after the first day of January, one
thousand eight hundred and fifty, the stockholders of such corporation or association
shall be individually responsible, equally and rateably, such responsibility to be en
forced as hereafter provided, and in no other manner, for the amount of such debt or
liability, with interest to the extent of their respective shares o f stock in any such
corporation or association, as hereinafter provided.
S ec. 2. The term “ stockholder,” as used in this act, shall apply not only to such
persons as appear by the books of the corporation or association to be such, but also
to every equitable owner of stock, although the same may appear on such books in
the name of another person; and also to every person who shall have advanced the
instalments or purchase money of any stock in the name of any person under twen
ty-one years of age, and while such person remains a minor, to the extent of such
advance; and also to every guardian or other trustee who shall voluntarily invest any
trust funds in such stock; and no trust funds in the hands of such guardian or trustee
shall be in any way liable under the provisions of this act, by reason of any such in
vestment, nor shall the person for whose benefit any such investment may be made,
be responsible in respect to such stock, until thirty days after the time when such
persons, respectively, become competent and able to control and dispose of the same ;
but the guardian, or other trustee making such investment as aforesaid, shall continue
responsible as a stockholder until such responsibility devolves upon the person bene
ficially interested therein; and in respect to stock held by a guardian or other trustee,
under a transfer of the same by a third person, or under positive directions by a third
person for such investment, the person making Buch transfer, or giving such directions,
662
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
and his executors and administrators, shall, for the purposes of this act, be deemed a
stockholder, and the estate of such person, if he be deceased, shall be responsible for
the debts and liabilities chargeable on such stock according to the provisions of this
act.
S ec. 3. The persons who shall be stockholders of any corporation or association de
scribed in the first section of this act, at the time of contracting any debt or liability
by such corporation or association, shall be responsible therefor, as declared in the said
first section, but shall be exonerated from such responsibility in respect to any stock
which shall have been transferred previous to any default in the payment of such
debt or liability, on the books of such corporation or association, to any resident of this
State, o f full age, in good faith and without any intent to evade such responsibility;
and every assignee of any stock so transferred previous to such default, shall be re
sponsible for debts and liabilities to the extent of such stock, in the same manner as
if he had been the owner at the time o f contracting such debt or liability, with the
same exception in his favor, in respect to any stock transferred by him as herein pro
vided ; and the same rule of responsibility shall apply to each subsequent assignee.
Sec. 4. A book shall be provided and kept by every corporation or association
described in the first section of this act, in which shall be entered the names and resi
dences of the stockholders in such corporation or association on the first day of Janu
ary, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and the names and residences of die original
stockholders o f every corporation or association organized after the day last mentioned,
so far as the same are known to the officers of the bank; the number of shares held
by each stockholder; every registered transfer o f stock upon the books of the bank
after the said last mentioned da y; the names of the assignor and assignee, with their
residences and the number of shares transferred. The said book shall be, at all times
during the usual hours of transacting business, open to public inspection. A neglect
to provide and keep such book, ready for examination as herein provided, shall sub
ject the corporation or association, whose duty it is to provide and keep the same, to
a penalty of one hundred dollars for every day’s neglect. And a refusal bv any offi
cer of such corporation or association to exhibit such book to any person demanding
the inspection thereof as herein provided, shall subject such officer to a penalty of
fifty dollars. The said penalties may be sued for and recovered with costs by any
person who will prosecute for the same; the one moiety thereof to be paid to such
person, and the other moiety to be paid into the treasury of this State. In all pro
ceedings under the provisions of this act, the said book shall be presumptive evidence
o f the truth of the contents thereof; but such presumption may be repelled by evi
dence by any party or person interested in repelling the same.
S ec. 5. After the expiration of twenty days from the service of any summons and
complaint, or declaration, or proceeding for the recovery of any demand against any
corporation or association described in the first section of tliis act, upon any debt or
liability exceeding one hundred dollars contracted after the first day of January next,
in which the precise sum demanded shall be stated, the plaintiff shall be entitled to
enter an order or rule for judgment, upon filing such complaint, or other proceeding,
with due proof o f personal service thereof upon any officer of such corporation or
association, and judgment shall be rendered thereon for such demand, with interest
and costs, whether an answer to such complaint or other proceeding has been served
or not, unless an order shall have been filed in the office of the clerk where such judg
ment might be entered, granted by a justice of the Supreme Court or county judge,
that the entry of such judgment be stayed until the issue joined, or to be joined by
the parties, be disposed of. But no such order shall be granted without proof by affi
davit to the satisfaction of such judge that the defendant in such suit has a good
defense on the merits to such demand or some part thereof arising upon facts set forth
in such affidavits.
S ec. 6. Upon the return of an execution against the property of any corporation or
association described in the first section of this act, unsatisfied in whole or in part, or
upon proof satisfactory to any justice of the Supreme Court, that any such execution,
although not returned, cannot be satisfied out of any property of the defendant, he
shall at once make an order declaring the insolvency o f such corporation or association.
Sec. 1. Any creditor of any such corporation or association having a demand exceed
ing one hunched dollars, arising upon a debt or liability contracted after the first day
of January next, the payment of which shall have been refused by such corporation
or association, may, at any time after ten days from the time of such refusal, apply to
a justice of the Supreme Court for an order declaring such corporation or association
Journal o f Banking , Currency , and Finance.
663
insolvent, and for an injunction as hereinafter provided. If, in the opinion o f such
judge, upon the facts presented, it be expedient in order to prevent fraud or injustice,
he may grant an order for a temporary injunction, restraining such corporation or
association, and its officers, from paying out, or in any way transferring or delivering
to any person, any money or assets of such corporation or association, or incurring any
debt or obligation, until such order be vacated or modified.
Sec. 8. Upon a hearing <5f the parties on such short notice as the judge shall appoint,
he shall determine whether such corporation or association be clearly solvent or other
wise, and may require the officers thereof to exhibit any and all of its books, papers,
accounts, assets, and effects, and to be examined on oath touching the same, before
him, or a referee to be appointed by him. If he determine that such corporation or
association is clearly solvent, he shall notwithstanding continue the order for a tempo
rary injunction, if one has been granted, until the demand of the applicant be fully
paid with his costs on such application, unless it shall have appeared by affidavit or
otherwise that such corporation or association have a good defense on the merits to
such demand.
Sec. 9. I f the judge determine that such corporation or association is not clearly sol
vent, he shall make an order declaring the same insolvent, and shall also by order re
strain such corporation or association and its officers from exercising any of its corpo
rate rights, or any rights or privileges granted to it by law, and from collecting or re
ceiving any debts or demands, and for paying out or in any way transferring or deliv
ering to any person any of its property, money or effects, until such order be vacated;
and he shall immediately appoint a receiver of the property of such corporation or as
sociation.
S ec. 10. Any one or more stockholders of any such corporation or association owning
stock to the amoimt of one-tenth part of the capital thereof paid in, may at any time
in like manner apply to any justice of the Supreme Court for an order declaring such
corporation or association insolvent, or in imminent danger of insolvency. And if, on
the facts verified by affidavit presented, such justice shall deem it necessary or expe
dient, in order to prevent fraud, undue preference or injustice to creditors, he may
grant an order in the nature of a temporary injunction, as specified in the seventh sec
tion of this act; upon a hearing of the parties as soon as may be practicable, he may
require the exhibition to him, or to a referee to be appointed by him, of all the books,
papers, accounts, assets, and effects of such corporation or association; and an exami
nation of the officers, servants, and agents thereof, under oath; and if he determine
that such corporation or association is not clearly solvent, or that it is in imminent
danger of insolvency, he shall make an order declaring such determination, and shall
by order restrain the said corporation or association and its officers, in the same man
ner as provided in the ninth section o f this act, and shall also appoint a receiver of the
property of such corporation or association.
S ec. 11. Every receiver appointed according to this act, after giving security, shall
take into his possession all the property, effects, books, papers, accounts, and demands
o f such corporation or association, including the securities, if any, which may have
been deposited with the Controller, belonging to such corporation or association. He
shall immediately give notice, by publication in such newspapers as the Controller or
any justice of the Supreme Court shall direct, requiring the creditors of such corpora
tion or association to exhibit and establish their demands before him within thirty days
from the time of his appointment. Such receiver shall possess all the powers of re
ceivers o f corporations under the third article of title four of chapter eight, and part
third of the Revised Statutes, in respect to the settlement of all demands exhibited to
them, and in all other respects except as herein otherwise provided ; and all such pow
ers now conferred by law on trustees of insolvent debtors as may be applicable, and
shall be subject to all the duties and obligations by law imposed on receivers of cor
porations except as herein modified.
S ec. 12. Under the direction of the Controller, all securities deposited with him be
longing to such corporation or association, shall be converted into cash by the receiver,
with the least possible delay, and the receiver shall also convert into cash the effects
and demands of such corporation or association, and for that purpose may sell at auc
tion any o f the said demands which any justice of the Supreme Court shall authorize
to be sold ; and within ninety days from the time of his appointment, unless such time
be enlarged by a justice of the Supreme Court, which may be done for a period not
exceeding ninety days, such receiver shall declare a dividend of the cash in his hands
among the creditors of such corporation or association.
664
Journal o f B anking, Currency, and Finance .
S ec. 13. Before making such dividend, the receiver shall deduct and retain the sums
necessary to defray the expenses of the proceedings, and all sums which he may have
paid in order to exonerate any property of such corporation or association from any
pledge for specific lien or levy, under execution or attachment. He shall then apply
the money in his hands to the payment of the bills or notes held by bill holders of
such corporation or association, who shall have presented the same, in just and equal
proportions. I f any surplus remain, he shall divide and pay the same to and among
the creditors of such corporation or association having demands founded on any debt or
liability contracted after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty,
whose demands shall have been ascertained, in proportion to their respective demands;
and if any further surplus remain, he shall divide and pay the same to and among all
other creditors o f the said corporation or association whose demands shall have been
ascertained, in proportion to their demands respectively. Such payments to creditors
shall be made in the order prescribed by law, in respect to the duties of receivers of
corporations.
S ec . 14. I f there shall remain unsatisfied any debts or liabilities of such corporation
or association, contracted after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred
and fifty, the receiver shall, within thirty days after the declaration of the said first
dividend, and without waiting for the actual payment of the sums divided, render to a
justice o f the Supreme Court residing in the district where the business of such corpo
ration or association was conducted, a particular account of the said debts and liabili
ties so remaining unsatisfied, and a preliminary account of all his proceedings, under
oath, in which shall be set forth the amount of cash realized by him, the expenses and
allowances claimed by him, all payments that he may have made, the amount on hand
to be divided, and the dividends declared by him.
S ec. 15. The said receiver shall at the same time report and submit to such justice
a true and accurate list and statement o f the persons who, since the first day of Janu
ary, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, were stockholders of such corporation or
association, the nominal amount of stock held by each, and the residence of each stock
holder, so far as the same can be ascertained. The said list and statement shall be
made up from the stock books, ledger and list of stockholders kept by such corporation
or association, and shall show when each stockholder acquired and transferred the
stock standing in liis name.
S ec . 16. The said justice shall thereupon refer the said report and list of stockhold
ers to a referee, to be appointed by him, with directions, after giving notice to all per
sons concerned, to apportion the debts and liabilities of such corporation or association
contracted after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and
remaining unsatisfied, among the said stockholders, rateably in proportion to their
stock according to the principles in this act declared, and to report his proceedings to
such justice, or some other justice of the Supreme Court in the same district.
S ec . 17. The said referee shall cause notice of his appointment, and the time and
place of hearing on the matters so referred to him, to be given to each stockholder
whose name appears on the said list, at least ten days before such time, which notice
shall be served on such of the said stockholders as may then reside in the county
where the principal office or place for conducting the business of such corporation or
association was situated, either personally or by leaving a copy thereof at the residence
o f such stockholder, with some person of suitable age, and such notice may be served
upon all other stockholders, by publishing the same in one advertisement, containing
the names of all such last mentioned stockholders, for at least three weeks, in such
newspapers as any justice of the Supreme Court may direct, and the same shall al
ways be published in the paper designated by law for the publication of legal notices,
and in a paper, if there be one, printed in the county where the chief office for con
ducting the business of such corporation or association was located.
S ec. 18. On such hearing, the said referee shall hear the allegations and proofs of
all parties and persons interested in the matter referred, and particularly shall ascer
tain the persons who are chargeable as stockholders for the debts and liabilities con
tracted as aforesaid, and the amount chargeable to each, according to the rules and
principles declared in this act. A t the first special term of the Supreme Court held
m the county in which such receiver resides, or in an adjoining county, after the expi
ration of six weeks from the time of his appointment, such referee shall report to the
justice holding such term, the apportionment of the deeds and liabilities among the
stockholders, made by him in detail, with the proofs taken by him on such hearing.
If, in the opinion of such justice, further time is requisite to enable the said referee to
Journal o f Banking , Currency , and Finance.
665
complete the apportionment directed, or to take further proof in reference to the same,
he may grant such further time, not exceeding ninety days.
S ec . 19. On the final completion of such apportionment, the same shall be reported
at a special term o f the Supreme Court, as hereinbefore directed, and on the coming in
of any such report, the justice holding such term shall proceed to examine the same,
and hear the allegations of the parties and persons interested, and may modify or
amend the same, or may refer the same back to the same or another referee for fur
ther proof or examination, or may confirm the same. If there be a further reference,
notice of hearing thereon may be given by a general notice published in the same
newspapers in which the first notice appeared for two weeks, and a report shall be
made thereon within the time, to be specified in the order of reference.
S e c . 20. When the report of a referee, made according to the preceding sections of
this act, shall have been confirmed by a justice of the Supreme Court at any special
term thereof, after being modified or amended by him, the same, together with the
order of confirmation, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of such county as shall be
directed by such justice; and unless an appeal be allowed and entered therefrom as
hereinafter provided, the said order of confirmation shall be final as a judgment against
each stockholder for the amount charged against him ; and one or more executions
thereupon -may be issued against any one or more of the stockholders named in such
report or order for the sum or sums chargeable against him or them, in the same man
ner and with the like effect as upon a judgment in the Supreme Court, at the instance
of the receiver of such corporation or association, and the money collected on such exe
cutions shall be paid to and received by such receiver.
S ec . 21. The money so collected, after deducting all expenses of proceedings, shall
be without delay divided, distributed, and paid over to the creditors of such corpora
tion or association, in the same manner as hereinbefore provided, in relation to the first
dividend, by the said receiver.
S ec . 22. The justice to whom any report by a receiver or by a referee shall be made,
as herein provided, shall ascertain and allow the necessary expenses attending the ex
ecution of their duties, including the hire o f such and so many derks and such pro
fessional assistance as may appear to have been useful to expedite the business com
mitted to them, and shall allow to them such reasonable compensation for their ser
vices, not exceeding the rate of five dollars actually employed, as he shall deem proper,
which allowances and expenses shall be deducted and defrayed out of the cash in the
hands of the receiver before making dividends thereof.
S ec. 23. Neither the dividends herein directed to be made, nor the apportionment
of the debts of such corporation or association among the stockholders thereof, shall
be delayed or suspended by reason of the pendency of any litigation or controversy
for the recovery of any demand by or against such corporation or association, unless
the same shall be expressly directed by a justice of the Supreme Court, residing in
the district where the business of such corporation or association was conducted, and
such delay shall in no case exceed one year; and if, at the time of declaring any divi
dend, there shall be any prosecution pending in which any demand against such cor
poration or association may be established, the receiver may retain in his hands the
proportion which would belong to such demand and the necessary costs and expenses
of the suit or proceeding, to be applied according to the event of such prosecution, or
to be distributed in some future dividend to creditors, or among the stockholders.'
S ec. 24. If, after paying and discharging the debts and liabilities of such corpora
tion or association, as herein provided, and defraying all the expenses of the proceed
ings, there shall remain or come to the hands of the receiver any other assets or effects
of such corporation or association, the same shall be converted into cash, as hereinbe
fore directed, and shall be paid to the stockholders upon whom any such debts or lia
bilities were apportioned in just and equal proportion to the sums contributed and paid
by them.
S ec . 25. No appeal from any determination or order of a justice of the Supreme
Court, made pursuant to the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth sections of this act,
shall suspend or delay the execution of such order or the effect of such determination,
unless there be filed, with the notice of the appeal to the clerk of the court, a certifi
cate of a justice o f the Supreme Court to the effect that there is probable error in such
order or determination, nor unless security be given satisfactory to such justice for the
payment of the demand upon which the proceedings in those sections may be founded,
whenever judgment shall be rendered therefor, with interest at the rate of ten per cent
and costs.
666
Journal o f B anking , Currency , and Finance.
Sec. 26. Ho appeal from any order or determination, made pursuant to the tenth
section of this act, shall suspend or delay the execution of such order or the effect of
such determination, unless there be filed, together with the notice of appeal to the
clerk o f the court, a certificate in all respects corresponding with that required in the
last preceding section, nor unless security be given satisfactory to the justice granting
such certificate to indemnify the stockholders upon whose application such order or
determination was made, against all damages, costs, expenses, and losses by reason of
any debt or liability of such corporation or association created after the first day of
January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty.
S ec. 27. No appeal can be made from any order of any justice of the Supreme
Court under this act referring any matter to a referee.
Sec. 28. An appeal from the determination of a justice of the Supreme Court con
firming the apportionment of the debts and liabilities of a corporation or association
among the stockholders thereof, as provided by this act, may be taken by the receiver
of such corporation or association, or by any one or more of the stockholders affected
by such apportionment, in the same manner and with the like security as provided by
law in the case of appeals from the special term of the Supreme Court to a general
term, or from the judgment of such general term to the Court of Appeals, in the same
manner and with the like security and effect as appeals to the same court from any
other like judgment, except that it shall not be necessary for a receiver so applying to
give any security for costs or otherwise.
Sec. 29. I f any such determination or judgment shall be reversed or modified, so
that a new apportionment of such debts and liabilities shall become necessary, the
court in which such reversal or modification shall be made shall direct a new appor
tionment, and the matter shall be remitted to the proper justice of the Supreme Court
for that purpose; and the same proceedings shall be had thereon to complete such new
apportionment as are herein provided in relation to the original apportionment.
S ec. 30. Every security taken under the provisions of this act shall be filed with
such clerk of the Supreme Court as the justice taking the same shall direct, and the
same may be enforced by suit in the name and for the benefit of any person for whose
benefit or indemnity the same was taken.
Sec. 31. Any creditor of any such corporation or association who shall have neg
lected to present his demand to the receiver before the first or subsequent dividend,
and who shall present the same before the second or any other subsequent dividend,
shall receive the sum he would have been entitled to on any former dividend, before
any distribution be made to other creditors.
Sec. 32. Every issue of fact or of law joined in any suit against any corporation or
association, described in the first section of this act, upon any debt or liability con
tracted after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, or against
any receiver o f such corporation or association, or by any such receiver under the pro
visions o f this act, shall have preference at the court at which it shall be noticed for
trial or argument to all other causes; and every case made, special verdict rendered,
bill of exceptions and demurrer to evidence taken on such trial, and every issue of
law joined on the pleadings in any such suit, and every appeal from any order or de
termination, judgment or decree made or rendered under the provisions of this act,
and every special motion relating to any proceedings had under this act, shall have a
preference in the hearing and argument thereof in any court where the same may be
pending.
State o f New Y ork, Secretary's office.
I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office, and do
certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of the said
original.
CH RISTOPH ER M O R G A N , Sec'y o f State.
U S U R Y : OR, FREE TRADE 1ST MONEY.
[F R O M
TH E
BOSTON
C H R O N O T Y P E .]
W e thank God that there are some indications that the Massachusetts Legislature
may have the wisdom to strike out of the statute book that relic of the dark ages, the
usury law. W e think the day is coming when a rich man will be ashamed to take
more than one per cent for his money. But it cannot be hastened by usury laws.
There is no reason why people should be denied the right of trading as they please
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
667
with their money, rather than with their horses or cattle. Nothing is gained for the
poor by usury laws, but mucli lost. Like all unnatural restrictions on trade, they cre
ate a rank crop of dishonesty.
Usury in money is only one of the many modes by which the rich overreach the
poor. The whole of trade, as at present managed, is of a piece. Restricting its free
dom only increases its iniquity. The remedy is not in the power qf law. It is only
in the power of moral and spiritual training. When the great mass of the community
can come to that degree of intelligence and magnanimity which will provide that all
laborers shall have such a wherewith and a whereon to work as not to be at the
mercy of capitalists, and when, to do this, property shall be equitably taxed, that is,
at a higher and higher per centage, according to its degree of accumulation, then jus
tice will have so taken root in the community that neither money nor bread and butter
will be reckoned the chief end of life. Then a rich man in investing his money will
not think of the profits as the chief thing or any great thing, but the question will be,
What investment will produce most happiness, most gratitude, most permanent good
to the greatest number ? There will then be no need of a law forbidding a ruinous
rate of interest, for capitalists will feel that their end is lost if their money do not
benefit the borrowers as well as themselves. Does this suppose the abolition of self
ishness ? Not at all. Men will still love themselves, and for this very reason will
lend their money at an equitable rate. The reason why capitalists now so much sac
rifice every other consideration to the per centage of profit, is that the possession of
money gives social elevation and influence beyond any other possession. An enlight
ened public sentiment will change that. In fact it is rapidly giving way— the prestige
of mere wealth. Look at Prince Esterhazy, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Ashley, Lord Mor
peth, Gerrit Smith, and many other rich men whom we could name, who are finding
profitable investments for their wealth at low interests or none at all. The great con
sideration of mere money rests upon the ignorance of the masses. The moment when
the philosophy of finance— of how fortunes are made, is thoroughly understood by the
people, it will cost too much to make them. Apply this on a small scale and see if it
be not true. Shut up a score of well read political economists on an island and see if
any one of them will dare to overreach the rest by trade. The cure for usury is like
that o f rumselling— moral suasion, light, mental elevation. A ll that law can do, in
either case, is to settle the damages out of the accumulations arising from these not
wholly unlike trades.
THE PENNSYLVANIA LAW OF PROMISSORY NOTES, ETC.
The following five sections constitute part of a law passed by the Legislature of
Pennsylvania on the 5th of April, 1848, “ in reference to Promissory Notes, Counter
feit Endorsements,” <Stc. W e have the assurance of A. L. Russel, the Secretary of State
of Pennsylvania, tliat each section has been correctly copied from the original bill, as
now in force.
S ection 7. That from and after the passage of this act, in all cases where suit is
brought in any of the Courts of this Commonwealth, upon or for the recovery of the
amount due on any Promissory Note, Post Note, Note of Hand, Due Bill, BiU of Ex
change, Draft, Order, Check, or other instrument of writing in the nature thereof, no
plea shall be held to be available, and no defense shall he made or taken by the de
fendant or defendants for want of proper and timely demand of payment or accept
ance, or proper and timely protest for, and notice of non-acceptance or non-payment of
the same, unless the respective places where such demand is to be made, and where
such notice is to be served or given, or the names and residences, or places of business
o f the respective parties thereto, shall be legibly and distinctly set forth thereon.
S ec. 8. That when such places o f demand and notice, or such names, residences, or
places of business are omitted to be set forth as aforesaid, demand of acceptance, as
well as protest for, and notice of non-acceptance, may be made and given at any time
before maturity of such instrument or instruments as require acceptance, and demand
of payment, as well as protest for, and notice of non-payment o f the same, at any
time after maturity thereof, and before suit is brought thereon.
S ec. 9. That in all such cases of omission as aforesaid, Promissoiy Notes, Post Notes,
Notes of Hand, Due Bills, and such like instruments, shall be held to be payable and
protestable at the place where they are dated, and if they contain no place of date,
then at the place where they are deposited or held for collection; and Bills of Ex-
/
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
668
change, Drafts, Orders, Checks, or other instruments or securities in the nature thereof,
shall be held to be acceptable, payable, and protestable at the place where the same
shall, or may be addressed to the (drawer or drawees.
S ec . 10. That whenever any value or amount shall be received as a consideration
in the sale, assignment, transfer, or negotiation, or in payment of any Bill of Exchange,
Drafts, Orders, Checks, Promissory Note, or other instrument negotiable within this
Commonwealth by the holder thereof from the endorsee or endorsees, or prayer or
prayers of the same, and the signature or signatures of any person or persons repre
sented to be parties thereto, whether as drawer, acceptor, or endorser, shall have been
forged thereon, and such value or amount, by reason thereof, erroneously given or paid,
such endorsee or endorsees, as well as such prayer or prayers respectively, shall be le
gally entitled to recover back from the person or persons previously holding or nego
tiating the same, the value or amount so as aforesaid given or paid by such endorsee or
endorsees, or prayer or prayers respectively to such person or persons, together with
lawful interest thereon, from the time that demand shall have been made for repay
ment of the same.
f
S ec . 11. That all Bills of Exchange, Drafts, Orders, Checks, Promissory Notes, or
other instruments in the form, nature, or similitude thereof, that shall or may hereaf
ter be made, or be drawn or endorsed to order within this Commonwealth, upon any
person or persons, body politic or corporate, co-partnership, firm or institution of or in,
or that shall be made payable in any other State, territory, county, or place whatso
ever, for any sum or sums of money, with the current rate of exchange in Philadelphia,
or such (fther place within this Commonwealth where the same may bear date, or in
current funds, or such like qualification superadded, shall be held to be negotiable by
endorsement, and recoverable by the endorsee or endorsees in his, her, or their own
name or names, in the same manner, to all intents and purposes, as bills of exchange
and promissory notes formally drawn and ordinarily in use and negotiable within this
Commonwealth, are now by law recoverable therein.
COMPOUND IN TEREST TABLE,
F r k e m a n H u n t , E s q ., E ditor M erchants' M agazine.
D e a r S ir :— Having had occasion, in writing up long and complicated accounts, to
compound interest upon each item, and finding the usual process tedious, and liable to
many little mistakes, I set about contriving a method of lessening the labor, and there
by diminishing the chances of error. The result I have w'orked out into a table, by
means of which compound interest may be calculated, for any number of years not
exceeding ten, by a single operatioa The table is arranged for every rate per cent
from three to eight. Perhaps the same thing has been done already; but, if so, I have
never seen it.
The rate being at the top of the column, and the time at the left side, m ultiply the
p rin c ip a l by the figures under the rate and opposite the time, and the product will be
the whole amount of compounded interest for that time.
For a period over ten years, ascertain the amount for ten years, add it to the prin
cipal, and the sum becomes a new principal, on which to proceed as before ■for the
number of years over ten. The fractional parts of a year must be done by the usual
method.
Yours, respectfully,
W . CUTTER.
TABLE OF COMPOUNDED INTEREST ON
$100,
FROM TWO TO TEN YEARS, AND FROM THREE TO
EIGHT PER CENT.
Tim e.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
y e a r s ..................
a
«
«
u
a
u
9
u
10
M
3 per cent.
6 .0 9
9 .2 7
1 2 .5 5
1 5 .9 3
1 9 .4 1
2 2 .9 9
2 6 .6 8
3 4 .3 9
4 per cent. 5 per cent.
8 .1 6
1 0 .2 5
1 5 .7 6
1 2 .4 9
1 6 .9 9
2 1 .5 5
2 7 .6 3
2 1 .6 7
8 4 .0 1
2 6 .5 3
3 1 .5 9
4 0 .7 1
4 7 .7 5
3 6 .8 6
5 5 .1 3
4 2 .3 3
6 2 .8 9
4 8 .0 3
6 per cent.
1 2 .3 6
1 9 .1 0
2 6 .2 5
3 3 .8 2
4 1 .8 5
5 0 .3 6
5 9 .3 8
6 8 .9 5
7 9 .0 8
7 per cent.
1 4 .4 9
2 2 .5 0
3 1 .0 8
4 0 .2 5
5 0 .0 7
6 0 .5 7
7 1 .8 2
8 3 .8 5
9 6 .7 1
8 per cent.
1 6 .6 4
2 5 .9 7
3 6 .0 5
4 6 .9 3
5 8 .6 9
7 1 .3 8
8 5 .0 9
9 9 .9 0
1 1 5 .8 9
Journal o f B anking, Currency, and Finance.
669
BANKS OF NEW ORLEANS.
STATEMENT OF THE CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF NEW ORLEANS FOE THE MONTH OF APRIL.
The Board of Currency publish the following report of the movement of the banks
of New Orleans, which exhibits the banking institutions in that city in a strong posi
tion. For the month past collectively, an increase of specie of $227,222, and increase
o f deposits of $655,599, an increase of distant exchange, or exchange operations, of
$537,453; a decrease in circulation of $53,616, a decrease in distant balahces of
$205,343, and a decrease in local discounts of $371,656. The City Bank appears to
be generally reducing its business, preparatory to a final dissolution of its charter.
CASH, OR IMMEDIATE LIABILITIES.
*
Circulation.
Deposits.
Due distant
banks.
Other cash
liabilities.
Bank o f Louisiana.......................
Canal and Banking Com pany.. .
City Bank.....................................
Louisiana State Bank..................
Mechanics and Traders’ Bank—
$1,592,327
1,614,835
509,040
611,190
884,165
$2,636,002
1,874,974
974,769
1,478,970
2,179,005
$494,556
100,157
492,252
220,015
$7,775
731
15,310
3,957
11,033
Total..................... ................
$5,211,557
$9,143,720
$1,306,980
$38,806
CASH, OR IMMEDIATE ASSETS.
Specie.
Bills receivable.
Due Foreign
' banks.
Other cash
assets.
$2,002,313
1,690,986
1,589.510
2,944,084
1,446,623
$2,242,679
1,757,596
46,833
$50,578
332,400
Mechanics and Traders’ Bank....
$2,144,780
1,571,583
926,776
965,096
1,472,450
1,313,880
1,094
Total......................................
$7,080,685
$8,773,516
$5,360,488
$384,072
Bank o f Louisiana.......................
Canal and Banking Com pany.. .
City Bank......................................
THE PAWNBROKERS AND THE SAVINGS BANKS.
The following paragraph, which we copy from the New York Evening M irro r, con
tains a good suggestion, which we hope wiU soon be adopted:—
There are now in this city some twenty or thirty pawnbroker establishments, which
pay, we believe, a sum for a license, and which secures fortunes to some very respect
able members of the Jewish persuasion. W e do not-find fault with these last for their
prosperity, but we find fault with that apathy, on the part of the public, which allows
money to be made from that portion of the commonwealth which can least afford to
pay extravagant interest for the use of money. Who are those who may be seen
every night stealing with conscious misery timidly into those stores on Chatham-street,
over which the three gold baHs hang mysteriously, yet full of meaning f The poorest
of the poor, the wife of the mechanic out of work with his unused tools; the child of
the widow bringing a faded shawl, the decent covering exchanged for the necessary
food; perhaps the wife of the inebriate parting with the ring that connected her for
life with misery, in order to stifle the cravings of an appetite that becomes, ungrati
fied, madness. None but these deal with the pawnbrokers, (except, indeed, the thief,)
the neediest o f the needy, the wretchedest of the wretched. How much does the
State allow these poor creatures to be fleeced of in interest ? Twenty-five per cent,
and a forfeiture after one year. That law which prohibits the capitalist from loaning
his money at more than 7 per cent, permits this enormous usury when the poorer
classes are concerned. Now there are many men in this city who are sincere philan
thropists, who give their time to, and expend their money for, those of their feUow
beings less fortunate than themselves. Why not increase the power of the poor to
help themselves ? Of all charities those are the best that help by teaching— that re
lieve the distress and point out the means of preventing its occurrence. The savings
bank and the pawnbroker’s establishment could be conjoined. Thus, the poor man
who saves from daily labor a few dollars, will have the satisfaction not merely of lay
ing up the basis of a property for himself, but also of contributing to aUeviate the suf
ferings of a fellow laborer. The savings of honest industry would thus be twice blest.
Such a savings would be very popular; the difference between interest upon the loans
at seven per cent and the deposits at five per cent will pay the expenses of such an
institution, which would prove a double blessing.
670
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
THE STOCK EXCHANGE BROKERS.
The D a y Book gives the following fively sketch of the mode of doing business at
the Stock Exchange, in Wall-street, New York, and as it contains some information
that will be new to many of the readers of the M erchants’ Magazine, we have con
cluded to transfer it to our pages:—
The character of the operations in WaU-street are little known by the generahty
of people, and it may be interesting to many readers of the Day Book to learn how
bargains are made among stock-brokers. The question is often asked by those who
do not understand the signs and language of WaU-street, what b3, b30, s60, snwk, and
opg, means.
Every trade has its own peculiarities and its own dialect. Stage drivers and host
lers have a language of then' own. Hod-carriers and masons always speak understandingly to each other, if not to strangers. Thieves and gamblers have their own
phrases, and house-breakers their signs; all of which are as unintelligible to the unin
itiated as so much Greek. Dry goods dealers and grocers have a language of their
own. In speaking of the standing of a countryman, they often say he is good ; they
have sold him, or are going to sell h im ; which means, not that they have sold the
man for a price, but that they have trusted him with a certain amount of dry goods.
They are never heard to say they have bought him. So at auction sales they have
their signs. If they want to bid two dollars a dozen for a box of gloves, or two dol
lars a piece for a box of ribbons, they hold up two fingers. (And if a dry goods
merchant is in an omnibus and wants the driver to take pay for one, when he hands
up a quarter he wiU hold up one finger to him ; while a lawyer or mechanic will bawl
out one— -take out one, o n e , ONE.) Grocers talk about things being heavy, hard,
quick, slow and easy. Thus feathers may be heavy, cotton down, pork slow, beef
quick, <&c.
Brokers have, like all others, a language of their own. “ b 3 ” means that the buyer
lias the privUege of taking the stock any time within three days; “ b30 ” within thirty
days. If, for instance, A. buys a hundred shares of Canton o f B., bso.’ he can call upon
B. to-morrow, or next day,sor next week, or whenever he chooses, for the stock, and B.
must deliver it. “ S30” means that the seller has the privilege of delivering it any
time he chooses within the thirty days. The seller is always entitled to interest on
stocks sold on time. “ Thwk” means this week; “ nwk” next week; “ opg” opening
o f the transfer books, which are closed for the time to make dividends.
The manner o f doing business at the board is as singular and unique as can be im
agined. The stock is not put up by an auctioneer and bid upon, as many suppose.
Every man is his own auctioneer and own bidder. From fifty to one hundred brokers
assemble in a large room, around two or three rows of semi-circular tables; the Pre
sident of the Board, with a secretary or scribe, takes his seat in a chair upon a plat
form, or what is called, in a court-room, the judge’s bench, and commences calling off
the different kind of stocks. When he comes to a stock that any one wants to buy or
sell, they make their offers, and the following is a pretty- fair specimen of the jargon
that is heard after the bill is opened.
President— “ Harlem Railroad.”
1st broker— “ I’ll give fifty-six for a hundred,
buyer 30;” 2d broker— “ Fifty-six, buyer 20;” 3d broker— “ 55£, seller 10;” 4th bro
ker— “ I’ll sell ’em, 56, seUer 10, 5 u p;” (which means that 5 per cent must be depos
ited on the contract if the offer is accepted.) By this time they are all at it, and the
room is a perfect Babel. “ I’ll give 56 cash, for a hundred,” cries one; “ sold,” rings
out above the noise of aU. “ A hundred more,” cries the buyer; “ sold.” “ A hundred
m ore;” “ sold.” “ I’ll take a hundred— sell ’em, seller ten—withdraw.” Those ten
words mean that he wiU buy a hundred shares of Harlem Railroad stock at 56 per
cent, for cash, or that he will sell a hundred shares with the privHege of delivering
them within ten days, and that a minute after, as no one has taken either of his offers,
he withdraws them both. If some one had said “ sold” to his first offer, or “ take ’em ”
to his second, the contract would have been completed; and if he had lost a hundred
or a thousand dollars, he would no more think of backing out or flying from his offer,
than if there had been a contract written out and sealed and signed by both parties.
The reader has but to imagine a hundred men in a room together, all haUoing “ I
will sell a hundred, buyer 10;” “ I will sell 50, seller 30;” “ I will give 57, buyer 30;”
“ I will give 57, buyer 10;” “ I ’ll give it cash.” “ I’ll give it, seller 3 ;” “ I seU’em,
seUer 30;” “ Sold;” “ take ’em
to know what a Babel the stock exchange is. It is
Commercial R egulations.
671
not an uncommon thing for a broker to buy a hundred shares o f stock at 58, cash, and
sell them at 58, seller 3, and have both offers on the floor at once. A keener set of
men does not exist than the stock-brokers. One must have his eyes, ears and mouth
open, if he does business at the Board, and a right-down sharp fellow will hear every
offer, and ketch ’em, too.
A s a body, the brokers are honorable men. When they make a bargain they will
“ stand to it.” You need have no fears of their backing out because they can do better.
I f you should meet a broker to-day, and he should carelessly, even, say “ I will sell a
hundred shares of Canton at 37, buyer 10 days,” and you should say, “ I’ll take ’em,”
and pass on, and not see him again until the ten days were up, and then call on him
for the stock, he would give it to you if he had to buy it, and give a thousand dollars
more than he sold it for. I f he come into your office, or meets you in the street and
offers you “ 25 for 500 shares of Long Island,” and you say sold, and a minute after
some one offers him 500 shares for 24, he would not notice him, but stick to his first
bargain. And he expects the same thing from those he deals with. He despises one
who will back out because he is likely to lose, and will never trust him after it.
Much has been said and written against brokers, but they are about the only class
of men that will not back out of a bad bargain. If they make an offer, they consider
it binding until they say “ withdraw.” If it is accepted before that, they are stuck,
and make the best of it. There is nothing very commendable in this, for it is only
doing what is right and honorable; but it is so unlike other trades that it is worth
noticing. Up-town builders, mechanics, lawyers and merchants, who take so much
pleasure in cursing and traducing brokers, would do well to take lessons o f these very
brokers in honor and honesty.
7
COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
THE CANADIAN TARIFF OF 1849.
Tnn following is the Tariff, as agreed to in Committee of the Whole on the 17th of
April, 1849, and concurred in by the House on the 18tli of April. For this document
we are indebted to the editor of the M ontreal Herald, who informs us that, although
it contains sprite verbal errors or omissions, yet, for all practical purposes, this copy
will be found to be correct:—
Sugar, refined or candy, the cwt.......................................
£0 14 0
“ and further for every £100 value.........................
12 10 0
other kinds, the cw t................................................
0
9 0
12 10 0
“ and further for every £100 value.........................
0
Molasses, the cw t.................................................................
3 0
12 10 0
“
and further for every £100 value....................
0
0 1
Tea, the lb .................................................... ........................
12 10 0
“ and further for every £100 value.............................
0
4 8
Coffee, raw or green, the cw t............................................
12 10 0
“
and further for every £100 value.........................
0 14 0
“
other kinds, the cw t................................................
12 10 0
“
and further for every £100 value.........................
0
0 1
Tobacco, manufactured, the lb...........................................
12 10 0
“
and further for every £100 value.................. ..
0
“
unmanufactured, the lb.......................................
0 04
12 10 0
*
and further for every £100 value....................
0
1 G
“
cigars, the lb ........................................................
“
and further for every £100 value....................
12 10 0
“
snuff, the lb..........................................................
0
0 4
“
and further for every £100 value....................
12 10 0
Wine, in wood, value £15 the pipe or under, the gallon
0
0 6
“
and further for every £100 value...........................
25
0 0
“ in wood, value over £15 the pipe, the gallon.......
0
1 6
25
0 0
“
and further for every £100 value...........................
0
4 0
“
in bottles, the gallon...............- .............................
“
and further for every £100 value...........................
25
0 0
i
672
Commercial Regulations.
Spirits and strong waters, of all sorts, for every gallon of any strength not exceeding
the strength of proof by Syke’s Hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater
strength of proof, and for any greater or less quantity than a gallon:—
Whiskey, the gallon..................................................................................... £0
0 3
“
and further for every £100 value................................................. 12 10 0
Rum, the gallon.................. ............ , ................................................................
0
1 3
“
and further for every £100 value......................................................... 25
0 0
Animals of all kinds, hams, meats of all kinds, except mess pork, butter
cheese, flour, barley, buckwheat, here and bigg, oats, rye, peas, beans,
ipeal, and wheat, not bolted, bran, shorts, and hops, for £100 value...
20 0 0
Geneva, brandy, and other spirits or strong waters, except rum and
whiskey, the gallon..................................................................................
0
2 0
And further for every £100 value............................................................ 25
0 0
Spirits, cordials, and liquors, sweetened or mixed with any article so that
the strength cannot be ascertained by Syke’s Hydrometer, thegallon.
0
3 0
And further for every £100 value...................................
25
0 0
0
0 1
Salt, the bushel.....................................................................
“ and further for every £100 value.. . . , ............................................ 12
10 0
Spices and fruits, nuts, macaroni, and vermicelli, sweetmeats or fruit pre
served in sugar, candy, or molasses, for every £100 value.............. 30
0 0
A ll goods, wares, and merchandise, not otherwise charged with duty, and
not hereinafter declared to be exempt from duty, for every £100 value 12 10 0
The following are exempt from duty, that is to say:—
Anatomical preparations, ashes, pot and pearl, and soda, philosophical instruments and
apparatus, printed books, (not foreign reprints of British copyright works,) maps,
busts and casts of marble, bronze, alabaster, or plaster of Paris, paintings, drawings,
engravings, etchings, and lithographs, cabinets of coins, medals, or gems, and other
collections of antiquities, specimens o f natural history, mineralogy, or botany, trees,
shrubs, bulbs and roots, wheat and Indian corn, and animals imported to improve
stock.
Models o f machinery and other inventions, and improvements in the arts.
Coin and bullion.
Anchors, ashes, bark, berries, nuts, vegetables, woods and drugs used solely in dyeing,
and indigo, bristles, burr-stones, unwrouglit, chain cables, coal and coke, cotton-wool,
grease and scraps, hemp, jimk or oakum, lard, lead, pig and sheet, marble in blocks
unpolished, oil, cocoanut and palm only, ores of all kinds o f metals, railroad bars,'
bars and rod iron, nails, sheet and hoop iron for manufacturing cut nails, spikes, rods,
pig, scrap, old iron, rosin, saw-logs, ships’ water casks in use, teazles, tarred rope,
tallow, tar and pitch, type-metal in blocks or pigs, wheat and Indian corn, wool, for
£100 value...................................................................................................... £2 10
0
Manures of all kinds.
Arms, clothing, provisions and stores o f every description, which any commissary or
commissaries, contractor or contractors shall import or bring into the province for
the use of Her Majesty’s army or navy, or for the use of the Indian nations in this
province, provided the duty otherwise payable thereon would be defrayed or borne
by the Treasury of the United Kingdom or of this province.
Horses and carriages of travelers, and horses, cattle, and carriages and other vehicles,
when employed in carrying merchandise, together with the necessary harness and
tackle, so long as the same shall be bona fide in use for that purpose, except the
horses, cattle, carriages, vehicles and harness of persons hawking goods, wares, and
merchandise through the province for the purpose of retailing the same, and the
horses, cattle, carriages, and harness of any circus or equestrian troop for exhibition;
the horses, cattle, carriages, and harness of any menagerie to be free.
Donations of clothing specially imported for the use of, or to be distributed gratuitously
by, any charitable society in this province.
Seeds of all kinds, farming utensils and implements of husbandry.
The following articles in the occupation or employment o f persons coming into the
province for the purpose of actually settling therein, v iz :—
Wearing apparel in actual use, and other personal effects not merchandise; horses and
cattle; implements and tools of trade of handycraftsmen.
The personal household effects, not merchandise, of inhabitants of this province, being
subjects of Her Majesty, and dying abroad.
Commercial Regulations.
673
And the following articles when imported directly from the United Kingdom, or
from any of the British North American provinces, and being the growth, produce, or
manufacture of the said United Kingdom or of the said provinces, v iz:—
Animals, beef, pork, biscuit, bread, butter, cocoa paste, corn or grain of all kinds, flour,
fish, fresh or salted, dried or pickled, fish oil, furs or skins, the produce of fish or
creatures living in the seas, gypsum, horns, meat, poultry, plants, shrubs and trees,
potatoes and vegetables of all kinds, seeds of all kinds, skins, pelts, furs or tails un
dressed, wood, namely, boards, planks, staves, timber, and firewood.
The following articles are prohibited to be imported into this province, that is to say:
Books and drawings of an immoral or indecent character.
Coin, base or counterfeit.
It is also determined, for the protection of the fair trader and of the revenue, to
provide against the fraudulent undervaluation of goods subject to ad valorem duty, by
the appointment o f competent appraisers, by giving to such appraisers, and to the col
lectors, the power to examine witnesses upon oath, by requiring the production of duly
attested invoices, by the forfeiture of goods with regard to which such fraud may be
committed, by the proper examination of the goods, and by adopting such other pre
cautions as may be requisite to prevent or punish such fraud; and to make such other
amendments to the Customs’ A ct as experience hath shown to be requisite for better
attaining the objects thereof.
The Governor in Council is to have the power, in certain contingencies, to increase
the rates of duty by 10 per cent.*
MEXICAN TARIFF.
The N ational Intelligencer has received from the Mexican Minister residing at
Washington the following decree, which it translates for the benefit of our provision
producers:—
“ D e p a r t m e n t of t h e T r e a s u r y .
“ His Excellency, the President, has been pleased to direct to me the following de
cree :—
“ The President of the United Mexican States to the inhabitants of the Republic : ,
Know ye that the General Congress has decreed as hereinafter:—
“ Art. 1. Is permitted for the term of three years the introduction into the port of
Matamoros and the custom-houses o f the frontier of the State of Tamaulipas of the
following articles, namely, flour, rice, sugar of every description, coffee, small grains ”
(semillas. which applies to such, except wheat and barley,) “ of every sort known by
the name o f menestros, butter, pork, salted or pickled. A ll these will, for their entire
import duty, pay the rates subjoined:—
Common wheat flour, the b b l.................................................................
$1 00
Superfine .
“
“
.................................................................
1 50
Rice, per 100 lbs.......................................................................................
0 75
Sugar,
“
1 00
Coffee,
«
1 10
Salt pork, “
1 20
Butter,
“
1 20
Small grain, by measurement, 20 per cent.
“ A r t 2. Is likewise permitted the introduction at the custom-house of Paso del
Norte, in the State of Chihuahua, of wood and lumber for buildings, subject, however,
to the registration provided by the tariff for other articles generally.
“ Art. 3. The government, in order truly to accomplish the object of this decree,
will previously ascertain whether there exists on the frontiers the scarcity of those
provisions which it is intended hereby to introduce; and it will put an end to that
introduction so soon as the population now favored shall have been supplied by the
national commerce with the needful articles.
“ Art. 4. Are comprehended within the benefits of this law 1,125 barrels of flour
and 150 quintals (cwt.) of rice, introduced through Matamoros in the month of Janu
ary last
“ A R R A N G O IZ .”
“ M exico , JJpril 4, 1849.”
* This contingency w ill arise in case the Provincial Treasury is subjected to any loss under the res
olutions to encourage railways. The increase, if any, w ill be on the d u tie s; thus, 10 per cent w ill be
raised to 11 per cent, not to 20 per cen t
V O L . X X .-----N O . V I.
43
674
N au tical Intelligence.
NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
LIGHT DUES IN SPANISH PORTS.
T he M a d rid Gazette o f the 15th April has published the following royal decree,
dated 11th o f the same month, regulating the future payment of Light Dues in the
Spanish ports:—
Article 1. In place of the variable charges at present recovered in the ports o f the
Peninsula and the adjacent islands, under the denomination of Light-house and Harbor
Light Dues, for the future one general Light Duty will be demanded at all ports hav
ing a Custom-house, payable at the same time as the other Navigation charges; agree
ably to the regulations contained in the following articles:—
Article 2. Spanish merchant vessels proceeding from national possessions beyond
sea, or from foreign ports, to pay 1 rial per ton.
Article 3. Foreign merchant vessels proceeding from the same, will pay 2 rials per
ton ; her Majesty’s government reserving the power o f altering this rate according to
the amount o f dues paid by Spanish ships in foreign ports.
Article A. To be exempted from this duty:—
1st. Spanish ships returning from the same countries in ballast.
2d. Those o f all flags which enter Spanish ports and sail therefrom in ballast.
3d. Those which enter the same through stress of weather, whenever these do not
discharge or take in cargo at the' said ports. Should the latter be done, then the in
tegral duty must be paid; the vessels so paying thereby becoming exempt from a re
newal o f the same charges in the other ports to which they may be ultimately bound
with part o f their cargo. This rule will be equally observed with respect to the ships,
which, without being forced by stress of weather, should enter two or more ports to
discharge the goods contained in their manifests.
Article 5. National vessels engaged in the coasting trade will pay for each voyage,
going or coming, half a rial per ton. To be exempted:—
1st. Vessels not measuring more than 20 tons.
2d. Those of larger measurement which do not make a voyage o f more than 20
maritime leagues.
3d. The latter are exempted from the said charges, when touching at intermediate
ports, before arriving at their destination, whatever may be the distance of the latter
from the place where their manifests were originally issued.
4th. Those returning in ballast from the ports to which they may have been bound.
Article 6th and last. The Light Duty to be considered as a temporary measure, and
will be reduced to an amount sufficient to provide for the expenses of conservation and
service, after covering the cost of establishment.
LIFE SAVING BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.
This Company was chartered by the Legislature of New York at its late session, on
the application of a number of individuals, for the humane purpose of saving the lives
of shipwrecked mariners and passengers from vessels stranded on the coast of Long
Island; and by donations in money, medals, or diplomas, to reward meritorious conduct
and acts of courage in the preservation o f human life.
The Company contemplate the erection of boat-houses upon the most dangerous
parts of the shores and beaches of Long Island, and to place in them life-boats, carronades, and rockets, life-preservers, India rubber dresses, and other materials suitable to
afford facilities in saving life from shipwrecked or distressed vessels.
The Company held its first meeting in May, and the following officers were chosen:—
Walter R. Jones, P resid en t; Bache McEvers, Vice-President; Robert C. Goodhue,
Treasurer ; John D. Jones, Secretary.
The Managers of the Association are Walter R. Jones, Bache McEvers, Josiah L.
Hale, George Griswold, Daniel Lord, Anthony B. Neilson, Charles H. Marshall, Moses
H. Grinnell, William S. Wetmore, Thomas Tileston, Henry Coit. Augustin Averill, Jo
seph Walker, Lambert Suydam, Henry Chauncey, John C. Green, Robert Kermit,
John L. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, A. A. Low, Solomon T. Nicoll, Walter R. Jones,
Jr., Robert C. Goodhue, Edward K. Collins, Oliver Slate, Jr., John D. Jones, Mortimer
Livingston, Frederick A. Delano, Theodore Dehon, the Collector of the Port of New
York, ex officio, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, ex officio.
Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.
675
PILOTS A M ) PILOT BOATS.
T rinity H ouse, London, February 6th, 1849.
Notice is hereby given, that on and after the night of the 1st March next, all Pilot
boats in the service of the Pilots licensed b y this Corporation, will be distinguished in
the manner hereinafter described, v iz:—
Pilot boats in the service of the said Pilots, at the several ports in the English Chan
nel, on the East Coast of England, and in the river Thames, by a Green Light at the
mast head, and in addition thereto, by a Flare-up Light, shown at intervals o f 16
minutes.
Pilot boats in the service of the said Pilots, at the several ports in the Bristol and
S t George’s Channels, by a White Light at the mast head, and a Flare-up Light at
intervals of 15 minutes.
By order,
J. H ERBERT, Secretary.
BILLS OF LADING FOR ST. JOHN’S, ETC.
Masters of vessels trading at St. John’s and Newfoundland, will save much trouble
and expense by being particular to have Bills of Lading properly signed and worded,
“ all cargo or freight to be delivered from the vessel’s tackles, and not accountable for
weight.” I f attention is not paid to the signing, they will be subjected to the expense
o f sending the goods to the consignee’s door, or to transfer the vessel from one wharf
to another, which was the case with myself.
JOSH UA F. O RAM .
M aster o f B r ig Ospray, o f Baltimore.
JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.
THE GOLD MINES, OR DEPOSITS OF SIBERIA.
T he following paper respecting the gold mines of Siberia, their discovery and ad
ministration, from the pen of J ohn L. H ayes, Esq., of the Katahdin Iron Works,
Maine, communicated by the writer to the Washington Globe, will be read with inter
est at the present tim e:—
A t a time when the recent wonderful discoveries in California are attracting univer
sal attention, a notice of the gold deposits o f Siberia, which, from their recent discovery, great richness, and distance from the seats of civilization, offer obvious points of
comparison with our own El Dorado, would seem to possess unusual interest.
The materials for the notice of the auriferous alluvions of Siberia, which I propose
now to give, have been principally compiled from the invaluable repertory of metal
lurgical knowledge, the A nnales des M ines, and particularly from an article extracted
from the Gazette du Commerce, of St. Petersburg, inserted in the volume of the
A nnales for 1843.
For some years previous to 1828, the attention of the Russian Government and
private adventurers was devoted to working the auriferous alluvions of the western
flanks of the Oural Mountains. The works of this district made rapid progress, and
establishments for washing the gold were successively organized among the mountains
lying further towards the north. But it was generally considered that there was no
hope of finding gold in Siberia, or the vast country on the other side of the Oural
Mountains; and the directors of the principal mines of that country gave the sanction
of their authority to these views. Notwithstanding this, two enterprising merchants,
named Popoff and Rezanoff, determined to explore the slopes of the contreforts of the
Oural chain, which extend their ramifications into Tobolsk. In 1829 they discovered
some indications of auriferous deposits, at the foot of the Altai Mountains, in the gov
ernment of Tomsk; but the product of the washings was so small as to confirm the
idea of the unproductiveness of the sands o f Siberia.
In 1830, a distinguished engineer of mines having been made governor of Tomsk,
the auriferous sands of this part of the empire were methodically explored by officers
who had obtained experience in the Ourals, and a deposit quite rich in gold was dis
covered. This discovery entirely changed the ideas which had been entertained
respecting the wealth of the soil of Siberia, and encouraged many private adventur-
676
Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.
era to commence explorations for gold. In 1831, Popoff found in the Talleys of the
affluents of the Kiy many beds o f auriferous sands, but only of moderate richness.
In 1831, Rezanoff discovered upon the borders of the Kondoust.ouyoule a very rich
deposit, which is yet celebrated for its productiveness. Under this point the labors
of the adventurer were concentrated for several years. In 1836, researches were ex
tended towards the east, in the southern part of Yenisseisk. There, in a country
bristling with rocks, and almost inaccessible, a series of exceedingly rich deposits were
discovered upon the shores of the Birouzka.
But the treasures of this rich basin were not sufficient for the activity of the explor
ers, whose numbers constantly increased. In 1839, Rezanoff, with many others, pene
trated the northern country, to the vast regions watered by the rivers Upper, Lower,
and Rocky Toungouska. In 1841, between the last two rivers, they found a great
number of beds of auriferous sands, remarkable both for their extent and richness,
and which, in the immensity of treasures which they contained, surpassed all others
before discovered.
W e have no detailed account of researches since 1842; but at that period explorers
were pushing still further north and east, and the reports which we have of the enor
mous increase of the products of the auriferous sands of Russia in 1846, show that
the explorations were crowned with success.
It is a matter of scientific interest, and it may be a matter o f practical importance,
as indicating the proper districts for research in California, to notice the nature of the
mountains among which the principal auriferous deposits in Siberia have been found.
The middle of Siberia is furrowed by an almost uninterrupted series of imposing
chains of mountains, dependent upon those of Central Asia, and designated succes
sively, from east to west, under the name of the Altai, Sayane, Duourie, <tc. The
important beds of auriferous sands have never been found upon the declivities of the
principal chains. Even in the high mountains, which have been explored with the
most care, as in the district of the mines of Koly van. which abound in copper and
silver, no auriferous beds have been found excepting some which were too poor to be
washed with profit. A ll the beds of auriferous sands important for their extent or
richness, as yet discovered in Siberia, have been found upon the declivities of the contreforts of the principal ranges, or the lesser hills, which descend in numerous ramifi
cations from the principal ranges. The deposits containing the gold are found scattered
between the summits o f the different systems o f lesser mountains, and in the valleys
which are sometimes parallel to the direction of the chain, or transversal to them.
They are more often found upon the borders or in the beds of streams of water, or in
marshes. Auriferous deposits are never found upon the crests of the lesser hights;
and if they are discovered on the declivities, it is always at the foot.
The beds of auriferous sands repose in part upon the underlaying rock, sometimes
separated from it by a bed of earth composed of gravel and rounded stones, or a fat
clay. In the gravel are found fragments o f rock of the nature of the formations
which compose the surrounding heights— a proof that the sands have not been formed
far from the localities where they are now found.
The mountains are composed principally of phillade, (a foliated or slaty rock,) chloritic and talcose slates, alternating with a calcareous rock without petrifications. These
rocks are pierced by veins of quartz and protruded masses of diorite. The presence
o f the latter, an igneous rock, appears to indicate the points near which the gold may
be found. It would occupy too much time to give a detailed enumeration of the dif
ferent auriferous beds which are worked in Siberia. One of the most celebrated
deposits is one called Yosskrenessky, in the basin of the Kiy, owned by the merchants
Paladine and Rezanoff—the latter one of the first adventurers. The bed, for several
years, produced 5 zolotniks for 100 poods, or one part of gold of seventy-eight thou
sandths of sand. A deposit which contains 1J zolotniks to 100 poods, is worked with
great profit. This immense bed, whose thickness is at no point less than five English
feet, and in many places twenty-seven feet, lies at a depth of over thirty feet under
sedimentary beds, in such a manner that the working cannot be carried on under the
open sky, and the bed is consequently worked by subterranean galleries. This deposit,
in 1842, had produced 330 poods, equal to 14,520 pounds Troy, of gold. The bed
called Spusky, upon the borders of the Great Pekin, which throws into the Oudeira,
cfie of the latest discovered, is yet more remarkable. The yield of this bed for one
year has been 9 zolotniks for 100 poods, or one part of gold in 43,000 of sand ; and it
has yielded in that time 4,400 pounds Troy of gold. Although there are doubtless
beds which, having a large extent, contain, upon the whole, greater riches, this deposit,
Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.
677
by its relative richness, the quantity of metal -which it contains, and the facility with
which it is worked, is the most productive in Siberia. It belongs to a single individ
ual, a merchant named Miasniboff, who has, by his good fortune and enterprise, in a
short time become one of the wealthiest men in Russia.
It is interesting to see how insignificant the first attempts at working the sands of
Siberia were, and how rapid the progress of the works has been. The following, in'
round numbers, are the products of several years after the first explorations; one pood
being equal to 43 J lbs. T roy:—
In 1830 5 poods.
1831 10
“
1832 21
1833 36
“
In 1834 65 poods.
1835 93
“
1836 105
“
In 1837 132 poods.
1838 193
“
1839 183
“
In 1840 255 poods.
1841 358
“
1842 631
“
In the year 1842 the auriferous deposits of the Oural Mountains produced 310 poods.
The whole product in Russia, in Siberia, and the Ourals, for that year, was 40,557 lbs.
Troy. The production, since that period, increased in nearly the same ratio. Leplay,
Professor of Metallurgy at the School of Mines in Paris, estimates, from reliable
sources, that the value of gold produced in Russia, from the auriferous sands, in 1846,
would be equal to ninety millions of francs, which would make the weight of the
metal equal to 78,000 pounds Troy, (thirty-nine tons.) He states that at that time
many of the alluvions, worked with profit, contained only one part of gold in two
millions of earthy materials worked. Residues, worked at a former period, have been
reworked, which contained only one part in four millions. Some idea may be formed
of the labor required to produce this immense mass of treasure, when it is understood
that the workings of that single year would cause the extraction, manipulation, and
transportation of over fifty million tons of materials, which is more than the total
weight of all the materials extracted and elaborated by the collieries and iron estab
lishments in Great Britain. The increase of the gold workings in Siberia has demand
ed so much iron for tools, steam engines, die., as to have had an important effect upon
the exportation of Russian iron. More extraordinary single masses of gold have been
found in the Oural Mountains than in Siberia. The largest mass (pepite) of gold in
the world was discovered at Minsk in 1842. It was found in a bed of auriferous
sands, at a depth of about twelve feet from the surface of the soil, under the founda
tions o f the establishment for washing. Its weight was 36,020 kilograms— over ninetysix lbs. Troy. Near this, forty-two masses were found, weighing from one to seven
lbs. according to Humboldt. The largest pepite of gold before known was found in
Anson county, North Carolina; the weight was about fifty-eight pounds.
Before concluding this notice I must glance at the administrative dispositions which
are made for watching and regulating the labors of the adventurers in the gold dis
tricts of Siberia.
An individual who wishes to explore the mountains of Siberia must have a license
to that effect from the ministry of finances. After he has found a deposit— and it may
be remarked that many starch in vain and lose all the expenses of their explorations—
a tract of land called a parcel is conceded to him by the government. It is provided
that a parcel shall not exceed certain limits, and that the same individual shall not
possess two contiguous parcels. The duty claimed by the government is from 15 to
25 per cent, according to the richness of the deposit, and the explorers are bound to
pay four rubles for one pound of gold extracted, for the expense of a surveillance
o f the mines. Officers are appointed to lay out the parcels, and to see that all the
gold obtained is registered in books provided for that purpose. The gold is first sent
to the administration of the mines of A ltai After having been first assayed there, it
is sent under charge of officers to the mint of St. Petersburg. There, a definite
assay is made, which fixes the first value of the gold, and the duty which the govern
ment shall retain. This, with the expense of coinage, is deducted, and the remainder
sent to the proprietor in pieces of five gold rubles.
The washing of the gold is effected upon inclined planes of different constructions,
which are set in movement by horses, hydraulic wheels, or steam power. The ma
chines and processes have been carried to a high degree of perfection, as may be seen
by the small per centage of gold in sands which are now worked with profit. The
laborers belong principally to the class of convicts; but as the country is traversed by
detachments of Cossacks, and all the laborers are under the surveillance of officers
of the government, perfect order and system prevail in the establishments.
The importance of this enterprise to Rit^sia is incalculable. Developing national
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Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.
industry in a desolate country which would otherwise have been almost unknown and
wholly unimproved, and creating an immense capital, which, taking another direction,
is enjoyed and improved throughout the whole empire, perpetually supplying a cur
rency, and filling the treasury of the empire without impoverishing its subjects, it has
been to Russia one of the greatest sources of its national prosperity, and has tendered
materially to the permanence of the most powerful empire on the continent of Eu
rope, while so many other governments have tottered and fallen around it.
The view of this great enterprise which we have now taken is peculiarly interesting
to us, when a similar and almost parallel enterprise is presented to us on the shores of
the Pacific. It shows us, if Siberia can be any example, that the sands of California
are not to be exhausted in a few months, but that a field for systematic and well or
ganized labor is there opened whose products may be doubled for years to come. It
has been said that he who finds a mine finds a workshop; the history of the Siberian
mines shows that the richest deposits of gold are no exception to this rule, which
should not be forgotten by the California adventurer. It is singular that such won
derful natural resources should, about the same time, be opened to two people of dif
ferent races, and occupying the extremes of geographical position and political relations.
The influence o f our race and institutions will be seen in the improvement which we
shall make of these resources.
ADIRONDAC STEEL WORKS,
J ames T. H odge, Esq., one of the edifbrs of the Am erican R a ilro a d Jo u rn a l, fur
nishes the following account of the Adirondac Steel Works, which we consider of suf
ficient interest to transfer to the pages of the M erchants’ M agazine:—
Through the kindness of our friend, David Henderson, Esq., agent for the above
works in Jersey City, we have been favored with an opportunity of examining them
the present w eek ; and as they are the only works in the United States which have
successfully persevered in the manufacture of cast steel, and will consequently have
the honor of establishing this highly important branch of manufacture in this country,
a short account of the works, we think, will be received with no little interest by many
of our readers.
For several years, the Adirondac Iron Company have been contending with extra
ordinary perseverance in attempts to reduce with economy the very refractory ores
found in enormous quantities on their lands in the northern part of Essex county, in
the State of New York. These ores will be particularly described in the papers on
the Iron Manufacture of the United States. A t present the company have a furnace
in operation fifty miles back from Lake Champlain, which makes with great difficulty
from l-£ to 3 tons of pig iron a day. This is puddled and made into bar iron on the
spot, then transported to Jersey City to be converted into steel. The ores are mag
netic iron ores, and charged with titanium, and prove to be well adapted for the man
ufacture of a superior quality of steel.
The first experiments made with reference to this object were by Joseph Dixon, Esq.,
of Jersey City, well known for his original genius in the mechanic arts, as well as for
his familiarity with the sciences. His blow-pots, or black lead crucibles, manufactured
in Jersey City, we believe are unsurpassed for their refractory qualities by any other
whatever. W e have had occasion to prove them in severe tests in anthracite furnaces.
In one of these pots he once melted over 20 lbs. of the bar iron made from the Adi
rondac ores. Experimenting upon the ores and the iron, he succeeded in making some
cast steel of good quality and great hardness. From his success, he was engaged by
the Adirondac Company to build furnaces on a considerable scale in Jersey City, to
submit the matter to a thorough trial. This he undertook on a plan of his own, in
tending to use anthracite, never before applied to this manufacture; and this in the
face o f all the failures previously made in this country, as well as the prevalent im
pressions derived from the English manufactures, that the experience of successive
generations of workmen is requisite for success in this difficult art. Without expe
rience of his own, and without workmen who had ever seen the process of making
cast steel, Mr. Dixon commenced the works last summer. They went into operation
early the present year, and for some months have been going on with complete success.
They consist of a cementing furnace, built of small size, as experimental merely,
into which eleven tons of bar iron are charged every two weeks, and taken out con
verted into blistered steel. This furnace has been at work nearly a year, and a con
Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.
679
siderable quantity of blistered steel is already on hand. This steel is broken up into
small pieces, and put into blow-pots which hold 40 lbs., or into larger ones holding 60
lbs. These, to the number o f sixteen, are placed in as many little furnaces, whose
tops are on a level with the ground, and around which circulates the air before being
blown in at the tweres. In two hours the contents are melted, and the steel is poured
or “ teemed ” into the ingot molds, which are three, and some four inches square. The
ingots are then re-heated in small reverberatory and hollow fires, and drawn out under
hammers weighing from 125 to 600 lbs., and running at the rate of from 150 to 350
strokes a minute. In this way they are finished into bars of all shapes and sizes. The
present production is about 2,500 lbs. a day. In this process, the iron bars gain in the
converting furnace of carbon absorbed, about 4 per cent in weight. In melting, the
loss is about half a pound to a pot of 40 lbs.; and in the re-heating and hammering,
the loss is from 6 to 8 per cent
The quality of the steel has been thoroughly tested for many purposes, and no in
stance of failure is known. It is in demand by those who have been induced to try
its qualities, and is now purchased by them in preference to the best English cast
steel. The highest testimonials are given by the proprietors of the Novelty Works,
o f New York city, by Messrs. E. P. Richards and Richardson, of Utica, also by many
others.
A small bar was lately sold to Mr. Quillett, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. He
returned with a coil of spring for clocks and watches which he had manufactured from
it, which weighed nine pounds. It had been rolled out quite thin to a width of 2-Jinches, and was in one piece of several hundred feet in length, making a coil of about
9 inches diameter. On the edges it was perfectly free from all irregularities, as smooth
almost as a finished spring. Mr. Quillett said he could easily have rolled a piece out
to the length of 1,400 feet.
It is not at all surprising that this steel should be pronounced superior to the best
English steel we get, but it is surprising that, with the great variety of magnetic ores
w e possess, we should not have made such steel for ourselves long ago. In the Trans
actions of the Institution of Civil Engineers of London, it was shown in the year 1842,
that of the 25,000 tons of steel made annually in Great Britain, not more than 2,500
were made from the best quality of Swedish iron; the rest was made from inferior
charcoal iron from Russia and Germany, and from English iron, which was not well
calculated for converting. With ores such as are found in many of our States, no
doubt equal to the best Swedish for tliis purpose, and with a sufficiency of them at
the lowest prices, to insure against inferior mixtures, it is to be hoped this successful
experiment of Mr. Dixon and the Adirondac Steel Company will so encourage this
new branch of manufacture, that we shall soon be independent of foreign supplies of
this important article.
NATIVE COPPER IN AMERICA.
“ A t a recent meeting of the Academy of Science, M. Cordier exhibited a mass of
native copper, from the banks of Lake Superior, in the United States of America,
and communicated on this subject the following particulars:— Some time since, beds
o f native copper, of considerable extent, were discovered on the eastern banks of Lake
Superior. More than 120 companies are at present occupied in working these valua
ble beds, which are extremely remarkable in many respects. The copper is always
found in its native state, and is disseminated in pieces of various sizes and irregular
form, through a vast extent of pyroxenic porphyry, passing to the state of brown
wacke, often amygdaloid, and which completely resembles the pyrogenous rocks in the
neighborhood o f Oberstein, in the Palatinate. The metallic particles are found some
times as forming part of the rock, and at other times they occupy irregular veins,
formed of white and spathose carbonate of lime.
“ A specimen exhibited to the academy by M. Cordier weighed upwards of 112 lbs.,
and contained very little gangue. This specimen, as well as another more than ten
times its weight, formed part of a cargo of several tons which recently arrived at Ha
vre ; it is intended to be placed in the Museum of Natural History. The copper is of
extraordinary tenacity and purity, containing scarcely ten parts in a thousand of sulphur
and silver. A t one of the extremities of the copper district, where this metal is some
what less abundant, it is replaced by native silver, disseminated in some parts through
out the rock, and also in the copper, in particles extremely fine, generally not readily
to be perceived, and rarely attaining the size of a centimetre (0.393 inch.) The asso
ciation of these two metals in a native state, is a circumstance entirely new. From the
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Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.
information communicated to M. Cordier, a copper is obtained by smelting, often con
taining 20 per cent of silyer. M. Cordier has seen an ingot sent for assay, which was
found to contain more than 30 per cent of silver. If, as it would appear probable,
these discoveries should lead to extinguish workings, the United States of America,
which already possess rich mines of iron and anthracite in the old territory of the
Union, and who will derive advantage from the working of the lead mines of the Up
per Mississippi, and of the almost incredible ‘ diggings ’ in California, will be placed
at the head of those nations which Nature has most favored in the distribution of sub
terranean wealth.”
The Am erican M in in g Jo u rn a l and R a ilro a d Gazette copies the above paragraphs
from the London M in in g Jo u rn a l of March 3d, 1849, and appends the following re
marks :—
“ The copper referred to was part of a shipment made by the Copper Falls Mining
Company last fall to a house in Havre for sale. Specimens of the shipment were for
warded by this house to the School of Mines at Paris for analysis, that its value might
be determined upon. There are some inaccuracies in the statement of M. Cordier as
above reported. There are but few companies now actively employed in the Lake
Superior Gountry mining for copper; not exceeding ten or twelve in number. A great
many paper companies were originally formed, and locations made by them, but be
yond speculating in their stock, most of them have never done anything. It is a mis
take that the copper is found only in detached fragments or irregular veins. It always
occurs in regular veins, and the separate fragments or masses that are sometimes met
with, are only boulders that have been washed from these veins. The silver which is
referred to was not found in separate veins from the copper, but in the same. The
whole shipment made both of copper and argentiferous rock, was from the same vein.
This argentiferous rock was mostly found near the junction of trap and sandstone. W e
learn that the Copper Falls Mining Company have received letters from their agent at
Havre, giving similar statements as to the value of the mineral shipped, upon the
analysis had with those above.
GOLD IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA.
W e learn from St. Petersburg that about the time o f the discovery of the gold
treasures of California, other traces of that precious metal have been found in the in
terior of Africa. Colonel Kavelowsk, of St. Petersburg, who has for a long time su
perintended the operations of the vast mines of Siberia, and who is now engaged ill
making a mineralogical survey in the interior of Africa, has met with several large
hills of auriferous sand on the right banks of the Somat River, about a day’s journey
from Cassen. He has, by the assistance of the natives, washed these sands, which
operation has led him to the conclusion that more gold is therein contained than in
those of Siberia.
The Colonel, in consequence of this valuable discovery, has pursued his operations
further, and on a careful examination of the banks of the Ramla, the Dys, Goncka,
Benisch, Augol, and the Gamanil, has found it to exist in much more considerable
quantities.
He has sent to Russia for a number o f miners and gold washers, with the object o f
examining the country in these parts more minutely, and carrying on his operations of
gold washing on a more extensive scale.
THE POTTSDAM SANDSTONE.
J. Finch, in describing the Geology and Mineralogy of St. Lawrence counties, in the
nineteenth volume of Silliman’s Journal, says that the road between the villages of
Heuvel and De Peyster passes over this formation— the Pottsdam Sandstone— but
such is its extreme hardness, that the wheels of the carriages have not made the slight
est impression. I f portions of this rock sufficiently large could be transported to a dis
tance, and deposited in places where railroads were required, it would completely an
swer the purpose, with the advantage that the carriages need not be confined to any
particular track. This rock is abundant at Whitehall, at the head of Lake Champlain,
and elsewhere on the shores of the Lake. It can be procured in large slabs, which
might answer an exceUent purpose for the paving of crowded thoroughfares.
M ercantile M iscellanies.
681
MINERAL WEALTH OF RUSSIA,
W e learn from Wilmer & Smith’s Liverpool Tim es, that the metallic produce of the
Russian empire in 1848 was, according to official documents, as follows :— viz., 1,826
poods of gold, i pood of platinum, 1,192 poods of silver, 254,569 poods of copper, and
8,513,613 poods of wrought iron. The pood is equivalent to a little more than 36 lbs.
avoirdupois. The gold from Russia therefore represents a value o f £3,944,832, (or
f. 98,120,800,) making due allowances for the English alloy. The silver, at 5s. 6d. the
ounce, represents a value of $188,000.
MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
T he annual meeting of this Association, one of the oldest in the country, being in
stituted, as we learn from the historical sketch of Charles King, Esq., in 1168, took
place on the 1st of May, 1849. After the admission of several members, proposed at
the preceding monthly meeting, the President, the Hon. J ames G. K ing, announced the
next business in order— the election of officers.
Before proceeding to this, Mr. King desired, in repeating his deep-felt obligations to
the Chamber for the honor they had done him in electing him heretofore to the Presi
dency, to renew the notice given by him at the last meeting, that he declined to be
again a candidate. He could not, however, take leave of the station he held through
the kindness of his associates of the Chamber, without expressing the high estimation
which he placed upon that election, and his earnest hope that it would always be occu
pied by gentlemen who could appreciate its dignity and usefulness.
Over and above the honor of presiding over the Chamber of Commerce, a body
comprising so much of the intelligence, enterprise, respectability, and wealth of the
mercantile profession, there was an ex officio trust committed to the President, which
imposed important duties— that of Trustee of the Sailor’s Snug Harbor, one of the
most munificent and truly benevolent charities ever devised. By the wiU of the lib
eral founder, Captain Randall, the President of the Chamber was to be one of the
Trustees of the Fund, and Mr. K. was glad of the opportunity of saying that, hereto
fore, the President, whoever he might be, of the Chamber, had faithfully and diligently
attended to their trusts. It was altogether fitting that an asylum for the relief and
support of aged seamen, no longer capable of earning their own living, should be su
pervised in part by the gentlemen whom the associated merchants of New York pro
moted to be the chief of their Association or Chamber, and the good example given
in that respect by all past Presidents would, he hoped, be emulated by those to come.
Mr. K. added that the revenue of the asylum now exceeded 835,000, and that since
then two hundred seafaring men were cared for in it, with wise liberality— their moral,
inteUectual, and spiritual wants, not less their physical wants, being duly provided for.
It was, indeed, a noble charity.
After some further remarks upon the comparative apathy which seemed to exist
among the merchants o f the city in their attendance upon the meetings of the Cham
ber, and a suggestion o f the importance of punctuality, especiaUy on the part of the
officers, at aU such meetings, Mr. K. announced that the choice of President would now
be made.
On counting the ballots it was found that Moses H. GrinneU (Vice-President) was
unanimously elected President, J. D. P. Ogden, in like manner, was elected first VicePresident, (William H. Macy, who was second Vice-President, positively declining to
permit his name to be used,) and Prosper M. Wetmore was chosen second Vice-President.
Mr. Maury was chosen Secretary vice P. M. Wetmore, who declined, and J. J. Palmer
was re-elected Treasurer; Messrs. Stewart Brown and James Reyburn were named a
committee to audit the Treasurer’s accounts; Messrs. R. L. Taylor and C. H. MarshaU
were reappointed Commissioners of Pilots; Messrs. B. R. Winthrbp, P, M. Wetmore,
and J. G. King, Trustees on behalf of the Chamber in the Merchants’ Clerks’ Savings
Institution, and the usual committee to visit the Mercantile Library.
Mr. C. H. Marshall then rose, and said he could not permit the meeting to adjourn
without asking, in behalf of the retiring President, an expression of thanks for the
M ercantile M iscellanies.
682
punctuality, zeal, and intelligence with which he had discharged the duties of the of
fice. They all had witnessed his course at this Board, and could bear their own testi
mony to i t ; but he desired to add, that called as he was to witness his constant and
vigilant attention in the affairs of the “ Sailor’s Snug Harbor,” he wished to put upon
record his sense of the admirable course in which the President had discharged all the
duties of his office. Mr. Marshall offered a resolution in conformity, which, being at
once seconded, was put by the Secretary and unanimously adopted.
Mr. J. D. P. Ogden begged leave to ask some similar expression of consideration in
behalf of another officer, whose services they were about to lose— services of which
they had all felt the value and efficiency. He proposed the resolution:—
Resolved, That the thanks of the Chamber are due to Mr. P. M. W etmore, Secretary
of the Chamber, for his attention, fidelity, and efficiency in discharging the duties of
that office;
The motion being seconded by Mr. Charles King, it was put by the President, who
said he had great satisfaction in proposing, for no one knew better than he did, as he
had more frequent occasion to profit by the services and diligence of the Secretary.
The resolution was adopted.
A resolution was adopted expressive of the opinion entertained by the Chamber of
the Merchants' Magazine, &c., and a copy of the resolution, certified by the officers of
the Chamber, and under its seal, was directed to be transmitted to the editor and pro
prietor. We subjoin the letter of Mr. Wetmore, and an official copy of the minutes,
as transmitted:—
C ha m be r of Com m erce , JYew York, M ay 2,1849.
D ear S i r :— It affords me pleasure to be the medium of transmitting to you the
accompanying resolutions, which were adopted by the Chamber yesterday, without a
dissenting voice. Yours, very respectfully,
PR O SPE R M. W E T M O R E , See'y.
T o F reem an H unt , Esq.
Ch a m be r of C om m erce , JYew York , M ay 1, 1849.
A t the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, held this day, the following
resolutions were unanimously adopted:—
Resolved, That this Chamber, organized for the promotion of the interests of trade
and commerce, should at all times express a just appreciation of individual efforts
made for the dissemination of knowledge relating to subjects of commercial utility.
Resolved, That the “ M erchants’ Magazine,” edited by Freeman H unt, Esq., is a
journal peculiarly adapted to the wants of the mercantile community; that while the
Chamber takes great pleasure in recommending the work named to the notice of those
connected with the mercantile profession, it cannot but express its high estimation of
the valuable services of Mr. Hunt in bringing his journal to its present state of use
fulness.
Extract from th e minutes.
Attest:
JA M E S G. K IN G , Pres't.
Pro sper
M. W
etm ore
,
Secretary .
IN TEGRITY OF BUSINESS MEN,
A religion that fails to form honest, upright men— men whose word is as good as
their bond—may, in the popular phraseology of the times, be very orthodox, but cer
tainly not very Christian, in the genuine acceptation o f that honored name. W e too
often fall in with men whose reverence for the formalities of the Church and its theo
logical dogmas is so large in its development as to leave little or no space for a scru
pulous conscientiousness in their business transactions. Impressed, doubtless, with
similar views, a correspondent of the “ Independent" a religious paper recently com
menced in New York, thus discourses of the integrity of business men:—
Not unfrequently we notice in the public prints articles like the following:— “ An
other case of Conscience ”— “ Strapge Disclosures ”— “ Great Defaulter ”— and the like,
which startle the community usually in proportion to the number of dollars concerned;
or, if known, the rank o f the individual implicated. A long sigh is heaved by some
moral philosophers; the examination, strange!
Such facts, which the history of the business world from time to time discloses, speak
M ercantile M iscellanies.
683
too loudly to remain unheeded of an under-current of deception, selfishness, and dis
honesty, which the caving in of circufnstances causes to flow out to the light of search
ing justice; and which, like the rushing lava, carries terror and desolation in its tide.
None who have mingled in society and grown familiar with the dealings of men
need be told of the few governed by the principles of strict integrity. Evidence like
the above is sufficient to reveal the truth. It is impossible to have aught to do with
business transactions without encountering those who, by an air of candor and justice,
succeed in duping those of their fellows not yet initiated in the mysteries of deceiving.
Rarely is the man found who preserves unsullied a pure and holy integrity amidst the
game constantly played around him; and to say, there is a very honest man, is to say
there is a very strange man. What wonder man is afraid to trust his fellow, unless
lie has proved himself pure and incorruptible, like gold that is tried. As it is, a
Christian is sometimes afraid of a Judas in his brother.
In the temptations and distractions of business life, those only are safe who act from
Christian motives— who seek not their own glory— trust not to their own keeping—
but whose constant prayer is, “ Let integrity and uprightness preserve me.” With all
this vigilance and watchfulness there will oft-times wage in their hearts sore conflicts
between present worldly interests and the uncompromising principles of right and
justice. Could the history of those be revealed who have fallen in the instances al
luded to, in some particulars there would be a striking similarity. Many, when lads
or young men, were sent forth from homes in some quiet, moral part of our country,
all untutored in the plays of life’s great stage, with habits unformed, principles not
established; or, at the best, weak and wavering. In this plastic state their minds
were easily beguiled by adepts in the science of selfish dishonesty. They were care
fully, cautiously led in the new dark w a y ; soon, with unaided, hasty strides, they
reached the extreme of treachery and disgrace. Now and then a prodigal is restored;
but they are scattered exceptions in the general history. Shall we learn nothing from
these things ? Can nothing be done to stay these evils ? It seems almost hopeless to
attempt a reformation with those grown gray in deceit: for multitudes of the young
let our untiring efforts be made. And let parents who now can gather all their house
hold band around the hearth, ere one departs into the wide world to pave his fortune,
be sure that his children are imbibing those principles, and forming those habits, which
will abide the fiery hour of temptation. No truly conscientious, Christian parent wiU
allow one of his children to leave him until he feels he will be safe “ in the world’s
broad field of battle.” Then might we hope our business men would be all honest
men of the strictest sort. Let parents, teachers— all who are interested in the welfare
and prosperity of mankind— encourage the lad— the young man— to expect that hon
esty o f action will meet its reward. Point him to examples of probity; teach him to
discard selfish self—all the glare of cheatery— all the love of deceit.
u So shall he stand in his integrity, just and firm o f purpose,
A iding m any, fearing none, a spectacle to angels and to m en.”
A FASHIONABLE SHOP AT LIVERPOOL
The Liverpool correspondent of the New Y o rk Courier and E n q u ire r, furnishes a
graphic description of Hausburg’s celebrated establishment at Liverpool, which will,
we presume, be perused with interest by the mercantile reader.
The American citizen who visits Liverpool will find nothing more worthy of his
attention in that busy seat of commerce and wealth than the magnificent and exten
sive establishment of Mr. Hausburg, in Church-street. The public have heard much
o f polytechnic exhibitions, and this immense depository of all that is rare, exceUent,
ana beautiful in art and handicraft could not have a better designation. It is an exhi
bition, or rather a series of exhibitions in itself, in which the lover of the beautiful
will find ample materials for entertainment. With its proprietor, whose admirable
taste and judgment, and systematic management, are conspicuous throughout the en
tire establishment, it is justly a subject of pride, and hence he has extreme pleasure
in permitting all persons who are interested in the progress o f the world’s art to visit
it and inspect the abundant curiosities which it contains. Among the numbers who
are attracted to it for the purpose of making purchases, not a few linger awhile in its
beautiful salons or wander through its lengthy avenues admiring the multiplicious
variety o f rich, rare, and costly things everywhere arranged around them. It must
not for a moment be confounded with those receptacles of low-priced and slop-manu-
684
M ercantile M iscellanies.
factored articles, commonly called bazaars, where there is much glitter and show,
much tinsel and gay color, but little solid and substantial value. Presenting infinitely
more variety than the best or more extensive of the marts just alluded to, it ranks
above them in a degree that will not admit of the slightest comparison in the richness,
rarity, beauty, and we may, with propriety, say splendor, of the articles offered for
inspection. Indeed, I should not have written the word bazaar in connection with it
but for the purpose of preventing any mistake or comparison of ideas in the mind of
my readers. It bears about the same relation to a bazaar that a costly jewel, taste
fully mounted in fine gold, does to a glittering gewgaw of paste set in Dutch metal.
It wants an appropriate designation, for it is so completely unique that no ordinary
term will serve to convey to the mind any notion of its extent, appearance, or purposes.
I cannot call it a shop or a store without conveying an inappropriate image or false
impression. I have seen the magnificent shops of London and Paris, and there are
some fine shops, too, in Liverpool, but this establishment is so entirely different from
them that the designation would be utterly inappropriate. As to ordinary shops, it is
as infinitely superior to them as a palace is to a cottage.
Its chief attraction, however, is the interesting nature of the materials displayed for
sale; and it is to these that I would principally direct attention. Of the works of the
sculptor,— in bronze, marble, iron, zinc, and alabaster, of the artisan, the lapidary, the
goldsmith, in clocks, watches, jewelry, and ornaments of the most exquisite fashion
and workmanship, glass, gorgeous in pattern and resplendent in color, cabinet work
and curiosities of every description,— the riches of the world seem to have been here
deposited, and tastes may be gratified at all prices, from a few cents up to hundreds
of dollars. This extensive range of price is, to the attentive observer, not the least
curious feature of the establishment, and certainly it is one of the most advantageous
to the public, as it enables the least wealthy, as well as those who are blessed with
abundant means, to gratify their taste and purchase the best description of articles
that can be obtained for any given extent of outlay. I need not say that cheap and
low-priced are not synonymous terms. An article is cheap only in relation to its real
value. Here everything is cheap, though some articles are exceedingly costly, while
others may be obtained for a very trifling outlay. One thing, however, may be taken
for granted, everything is good of its kind, genuine, and void of every taint of decep
tion. Let us take the work-boxes and dressing-cases as an example. To this class of
goods a very large extent of this spacious establishment is appropriated, and the
articles themselves are as numberless as they are various in style, pattern, beauty of
fitting, and value. A very elegant article may be procured for a dollar, while those
gentlemen and ladies who are blessed with writing cheques ad libitum on their bank
ers, or who have unlimited letters of credit, may obtain a sumptuous piece of work
manship, superb with inland ornaments of pearl, ebony, and rosewood, rich in velvet
and gold garniture and mountings, strong, compact, massive, beautiful, furnished with
every appliance of luxury and convenience for the toilet or work table, at prices rang
ing from five hundred to a thousand dollars. There are intermediate articles, equally
good, equally durable, and of equal comparative beauty, but of materials less rich, at
all prices between the extreme limits, so as to suit the varying means of purchasers.
Having glanced at the description of articles chiefly to be found in this extensive
Art Union, I may observe, en passant, that in watches, cabinet goods, chandeliers, and
jewelry, Mr. Hausburg is an extensive manufacturer. A ll the best articles of these
classes, which he offers for sale, are manufactured on his own premises, and under his
own immediate supervision. The clocks, of which I shall have more to say hereafter,
are made chiefly at his manufactory in Paris, and he is, I understand, most particular
and guarded not to permit any article to bear the sanction of his name, which does
not also bear evidences of excellence. Many of the most beautiful patterns in this
and in other departments are his own property, and cannot be obtained at any other
establishment. His watches are highly esteemed, and, as the greatest care and atten
tion are bestowed on their manufacture, their character is continually advancing. The
same may be said of the cabinet work and chandeliers, which are, in their progress,
subjected to the most anxious inspection, and many of the patterns of which are
equally novel and striking.
I ought to mention that Hausburg’s has an European fame, and you may, perhaps,
be aware that it is well known to many of our countrymen. It is principally famous
for articles of taste suitable for personal and household decoration, particularly bronze,
alabaster, and other statuary, chandeliers, Bohemian glass, china, ornamental clocks,
plate, and jewelry. These are selected with great care and taste by the proprietor
M ercantile M iscellanies.
685
and his agents, the latter being principally his own kindred in France, Italy, and Ger
many. AH that is novel, rare, and beautiful in these departments are continually trans
mitted to him, and are at once submitted to public inspection; so that our countrymen
may here see, and purchase if they please, the newest creations of the celebrated
Parisian artists in bronze, the latest works of the Italians in marble or alabaster, the
most novel designs in China and colored glass, and the last inventions o f the lapidary
in displaying to advantage the dazzling splendors of diamonds, rubies, amethysts, em
eralds, and opals. Those individuals who wish to surround themselves, in their houses,
with objects of elegance, taste, and beauty, the influences of which cannot be too
much insisted upon, never fail to resort to this establishment, no matter what part of
the world they come from, for here, and here alone can they find the treasures of art
from the whole European continent brought as it were into a focus. With such an
immense variety of beautiful objects under review, aU contributed by the greatest
artists of the world, the man of refined taste is enabled to select such objects as will
be suitable to the several sites which he has at his disposal, in keeping with the gene
ral arrangements of his apartments, and in consistent harmony with each other.
Should he have a taste for bronzes, for instance, as of course he has if he be a man o f
taste at all, what a choice of tempting groups is displayed before him. It is not too
much to say that in no establishment in the world can there be found such an assem
blage of works of this description. Beauty is there in aH its forms. The voluptuous
creations of the Parisian artist, in which the symmetry and grace of the human form
are exhibited to perfection, axe contrasted by the more spirited and expressive produc
tions of Germany. Allegorical groups, and finely disposed figures commemorative of
brave deeds and distinguished persons, are contrasted by the grotesque and laughterprovoking creations of Fratin and other whimsical geniuses, and by finely molded,
life-like images of animals. But these elegant productions of the boudoir, the drawing
room, and the saloon can be enriched to any extent that may be deemed desirable,
while larger and equally admirable statues, in marble and various metals, offer the
most graceful adornments for positions of which the eye takes more commanding ob
servation. Of the exquisitely beautiful minature statuary in alabaster, the range of
choice seems absolutely unlimited. It is not possible to exaggerate either the quanti
ty or beauty of these pure and graceful ornaments, which are as various in size as in
subject, resembling each other in nothing save excellence o f execution. Models of all
the greatest works of the famous masters, with numerous original designs of surpass
ing elegance, chaUenge admiration in every direction.
From these beautiful objects attention will perhaps at first be but reluctantly turned
to the chandeliers. These, however, wiU be found to possess their own peculiar ele
ments of beauty, proper to themselves and to the purpose of utility for which they are
intended. Those who happen to require them will not fail to discern wherein they are
most worthy of admiration, and to choose those which would most largely contribute
to the adornment of their apartments. They are of very elegant designs, some being
of massive bronze, others of light materials and more graceful form : some are plain,
but in strikingly just taste, and others sparkle with lustres and glittering ornaments.
It is delightful to see in objects of common utility beauty assuming so many varieties
of aspect.
The chandeliers hang in a spacious saloon, which is so fiUed with the productions of
art and genius that you cannot take a step without pausing for admiring contempla
tion. In the center is a large cabinet filled with the most choice specimens of Bohe
mian glass, the resplendent colors of which cause it to blaze like a gigantic casket of
jewels. Ornaments of all descriptions, of the most charming shapes, shine here in
tempting variety. AU around are numerous objects rare and beautiful, some mere tri
fles, of which my countrymen may, if they please, become possessed at trifling outlay,
others rich and costly, but stiU exerting a most alluring influence on the cash which
the visitor may have in his pocket, Some of the specimens of cabinet work in this sa
loon are at once curious and elegant. They are inlaid with various colored woods, so
as to represent picturesque landscapes and views of Swiss scenery. The pictures are
beautiful in themselves, and are most admirably and perfectly executed. The effect is
superb.
An examination o f the clocks, which, as before observed, are manufactured by Mr.
Hausburg himself, at his extensive establishment in Paris, will be attended with pleas
ure. Here, again, the number and variety are so great as to be inconceivable by
those who have only visited ordinary establishments. Some are mounted in china,
some in metals, some in alabaster, some in ebony and gold, while some are transparent
686
M ercantile M iscellanies.
skeletons, in which the whole o f the highly finished works can be seen in motion.
Some are simple and cheap, some splendid and costly. In all there are some element
of beauty, though in those of the least elevated pretensions utility is the chief charac
teristic, while in the more costly articles that essential quality is united with the high
est degrees o f richness and ornament which taste and genius could bring into combina
tion. Some of these clocks simply indicate the hours and minutes, of the day, but oth
ers are more curiously contrived, and keep various records of greater complexity, ad
justing themselves to the varying circumstances of time with the most punctual regu
larity.
There are numerous other objects equally worthy of attention, which such of my
countrymen as may visit the establishment will not fail to notice and admire. I will
conclude by a cursory allusion to the richest department in this magnificent mart of
elegancies. I allude to the department appropriated to jewelry, of which the display
is most gorgeous and tasteful. Here, again, you may have the merest trifle of bijoute
rie, or an ornament which dazzles you with the lustre of its sparkling gem s; you may
part with a few cents, or as many thousands of dollars. There are some articles of
jewelry here possessing the most striking beauty, and in the most exquisite taste, the
price of which is extremely low. On the other hand, theer are rich ornaments, in the
design and construction of which the most cunning artisans have strained all their inge
nuity and skill; ornaments of diamonds, for instance, which looked like fixed sparks
cut from solidified sunbeams, the price of which, one would think, to any one less than
a millionaire would be absolutely startling. And yet the designs are so beautiful, the
patterns so unique, the effects so magnificent, the various gems are made so beautifully
to harmonize, and the adaption of each pattern to the peculiar purpose of the ornament
is so complete, that to forego the pleasure of purchasing, even though it were to be
effected by a stretch a little beyond prudence, seems to have all the virtue appertain
ing to a successfully resisted temptation, and the party who effects such a measure of
self-denial will no doubt secretly applaud himself for his wonderful resolution.
MERCHANTS AND CLERKS.
The advice contained in the following paragraphs, which we take from the Boston
Even in g Gazette, one of the oldest and most respectable journals published in the “ Lit
erary Emporium,” should attract the attention of merchants and merchants’ clerks in
all our large commercial cities, where temptations to wrong are ever present, and too
often triumph over the virtue of the tempted. It so well accords with the teachings
of the Merchants' Magazine, that any apology for its republication in this place is con
sidered altogether unnecessary:—
The importance o f honesty to a man engaged in mercantile pursuits, and the value
o f having a good reputation, cannot be overrated; and though the subjects are daily
brought up, there is little danger of saying too much if we but look around and see
the number o f persons who yearly swerve from the path of rectitude, and gradually
fall into discredit That a merchant is daily tempted, who will deny * That the temp
tations are strong, we admit, and so much the more need has he to take proper caution, and
be ever vigilant lest the love o f gain tempt him to commit that which in his hours of civil
deliberation, he would condemn in himself. W e say, the merchant has need of this
circumspection; but there is another duty which he owes to society and to himself, and
that is, the care and guidance of the young men in his employ. That example is bet
ter than advice, is acknowledged; but this is not all. He is bound not only to watch
his young men for his own interest, but for their welfare; and though his duty towards
them in a measure ceases when they leave the store, yet we think many merchants
would be gainers if they were a little more interested in the means, and how thenclerks passed their evenings.
During the past two years, several cases have been brought to light where young
men, led on little by little in a train of extravagance, have at last been obliged to de
fraud their employers, in order to sustain their style of living. A public exposition
has, in one or two instances, been made not only in Boston, but in Hew York, and they
who have been found guilty have always invariably been the sons o f persons resident
in the country, who, left to themselves in a large city, have been dazzled by the gayety, and ruined by the profligacy of others who have little by little led them on. It is
not a little curious how an employer, who is aware that his clerk is of poor family, and
M ercantile M iscellanies .
687
that the salary he receives is barely sufficient to support him, will retain a young man
in his employ when he must be aware, or can readily be informed, that the cost of his
mere pleasures exceeds more than he earns. By omitting to take notice of this, he is
encouraging the young man to continue his course, and who buffers in the end is well
known. Is it not a duty he owes, to check him at once ?
It requires but little experience in the world to know that young men who indulge
in extravagances, who live as if each day was to be their last, and daily incur debts,
will in the end turn out poorly. W e have now in our mind’s eye several who have
been obliged to leave Boston, owing to their extravagance, several young fellows with
as good hearts and kind feelings as one would require in a friend, but they paid no at
tention to the admonition “ live within your means," and have now gone to other parts,
to establish, we trust, characters for rectitude and industry which will efface their
youthful follies. There are others in this city who follow in their footsteps, and not a
week passes but some new name is added to the list of those who ruin themselves by
their own folly. The California fever has carried off many who have left behind
them in the persons of tailors, stable-keepers, and apothecaries, sincere mournejs.
Advice from us might not, owing to a lack of white hairs, and a score of years more,
be received with much attention, but no one will regard the following extract, which
we take from letters to a young man, contained in Mr. Henry Colman’s European Life
and Manners, but with the greatest reverence:—
“ The character of an upright and intelligent merchant is about th$ most honorable
in our community. Suffer nothing to divert you from this counsel, and remember that
nothing is to be put in comparison with a good character. No money can represent its
value, and no man can take it from you without your consent; the highest blessing and
the best power which a good mind can covet, is that of making others happy. You
have that power in your hands, to be used at your pleasure, for how happy can you
make your friends by continuing to be, what they desire you should be, and by main
taining always a character above reproach.”
Such advice as this should be pondered over, and treasured up. It marks the only
path which will lead to an honorable old age, and who is there that does not recoil
with horror at the sight of a man, whose years have been prolonged beyond the respect
of his friends, and whose hoary head is not only without honor, but a mark of shame ?
“ Remember,” continues the writer, “ that the highest characteristics of a good mer
chant, are honor, honesty, and punctuality F and though wealth has its value, and the
object of mercantile life is the acquisition o f wealth, that it is infinitely more important
to be honest, than to be rich, and to maintain the integrity and satisfaction of your own
heart and conscience, than to have the riches of the Indies.”
THE HONORABLE DEBTOR AND ENTERPRISING MERCHANT.
The following anecdote of commerce, which we copy from the Providence Jo u rn a l,
reliable authority, is worthy of a more enduring record than the columns of a daily
journal; and, as it is no doubt substantially true, we transfer it to the pages of the
Merchants' M agazine:—
Literally one of the coolest operations that we ever knew in the annals of trade, re
cently came to our notice from a source worthy of entire credit. New England is said
to have but two native products, granite and ice. W e have an ice story to tell that is
worth hearing. A gentleman long identified with the ice trade, having entered into it
as early as 1805, after some twenty-five years of successful enterprise, thought to en
large his sphere of knowledge and action by entering into other mercantile business.
He soon became entangled by his relation to some unfortunate mercantile houses, and
found himself a debtor to the amount of $210,000. This must have given him more
of a chill than his ice-houses ever did. But he knew that faint heart never won either
fair lady or noble prize. He told his creditors that if they would give him time and
not hamper him at all, he would pay the whole, principal and interest. For thirteen
years he labored for it, and last year made the closing payment on $210,000 principal,
and about $70,000 interest. He did it in his old business, as the ice-king of the globe.
He sold his cargoes in the great southern ports of the two hemispheres at low prices,
kept rigid faith, bought largely the needed storehouses in the various centers of the
trade, secured the lands around his ponds, made friends everywhere, and now comes
out with an independent fortune, and free of debt. Such was his generous policy that
the English residents of Calcutta presented him with a fire-proof stone store-house, as
688
M ercantile M iscellanies.
a token of respect, and to retain him in that market. He takes a very cheerful view
o f his past misfortunes, and thinks himself, on the whole, better off for embarking in
the disastrous business which caused his embarrassments, and yet enlarged his faculties
for his old traffic more than enough to make up the loss. Honor to the man who la
bors to pay his debts, instead of creeping out of his responsibilities through any small
hold in the crevices of the law, and allowing his creditors to suffer while he pampers
himself over his ill-gotten gains. The above incidents show the power of a cheerful
purpose, and the worth of veracity on the one hand, and confidence on the other. But
we will not spoil a good story by a long moral.
NEW WHALING GROUND DISCOVERED,
The whaling bark Superior, Captain Royce, of Sagharbor, arrived at Honolulu on
the 4th of September last, with 1800 barrels of whale oil, which he took in the Arctic
seas. In an account of his successful voyage, furnished the Frien d , Captain Royce
s a y s “ I entered the Arctic ocean about the middle of July, and cruised from conti
nent to continent, going as high as latitude 70°, and saw whales wherever I went, cut
ting in my last whale on the 22d of August, and returning through Behring’s Straits
on the 28th of the same month. On account of powerful currents, thick fogs, the near
vicinity of land and ice, combined with the imperfection of charts, and want o f infor
mation respecting this region, I found it both difficult and dangerous to get oil, although
there are plenty of whales. Hereafter, doubtless, many ships will go there, and I
think some provision ought to be made to save the lives of those who go there, should
they be cast away.”
During the entire period of the cruise no ice was seen; the weather was ordinarily
pleasant, so that the men could work in light clothing. In most parts of the ocean
there was good anchorage, from 14 to 35 fathoms, and a part of the time the vessel
lay at anchor. The first whale was taken at 12 o’clock at night! It was not difficult
“ to whale ” the whole 24 hours ; so light was it that at midnight it was easy to read
in the cabin. The whales were quite tame, but quite different from any Captain
Royce had ever before taken. He took three different species, one of the largest
yielding 200 barrels of oiL The first species much resembled the Greenland whale,
yielding 160 or 1*70 barrels; the second was a species called Polar whale, a few o f
which have been taken on the North West Coast; and the third was a small whale
peculiar to that ocean. The last three whales which were taken yielded over six hun
dred barrels.
INTERESTING INSURANCE CASE.
A correspondent, residing in Portland, (Me.,) has sent us a brief history o f the facts
in a decision recently made by Judges Ware and Whitman, in relation to an insurance
on property destroyed in the fire on Long Wharf, Portland, in January, 1849:—
It appears, by the statement furnished, that a quantity of flour, stored upon the
wharf, was insured at the Ocean Office by the month. During the existence of the
policy, the owner sold 100 barrels of flour of the same brand, gave a bill, and received
pay for i t ; but no delivery of any part of the flour was made other than by delivery
of the bill and receipt of payment, and the purchaser did not know where the flour
was stored, it being understood between the parties that the purchaser could have the
flour when he called for it. The owner also stated to the purchaser that the flour was
insured, and he would have it when he wanted it.
Some days after the sale, and before the delivery of any part of the flour, the fire
took place, which destroyed the whole quantity stored, embracing several hundred
barrels. The owner having presented his claim for insurance, the underwriters declined
paying for 100 barrels, alleged to have been sold, on the ground of change of interest.
In the meantime the purchaser demanded his 100 barrels, pursuant to the terms of
sale, which was procured and delivered.
The question now arose as to the liability of the insurers, and was submitted to
Judges Whitman and Ware, who, after hearing the parties and their testimony, de
cided that the transaction between the owner and purchaser did not constitute a deliv
ery o f any specific quantity of flour, but only a delivery of a certain quantity of the
same brand, which might have been taken from any other place. There having, there
fore, been no actual delivery of the specific article insured, the interest therein had not
been transferred, and the office was liable for the loss.
/
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689
THE BOOK TRADE.
1. — Holidays A b ro a d ; or, Europe frm n the West. By Mrs. K irkland, author of “ A
N ew Home,” “ Forest Life,” etc. 2 vols., 12mo., pp. 303 and 332. New York: Ba
ker <fcScribner.
Mrs. Kirkland is well known to most of our readers as the author of two or three
works descriptive of western life, habits, and manners, and as a contributor to the pop
ular periodical literature of the country. The two volumes before us are the result of
some six months’ travel in England and on the continent of Europe; and although
she has traveled over a beaten route, and describes scenes and places in Europe fa
miliar to almost every preceding traveler, she has contrived to give an interest and
importance to her book that renders it quite attractive. Good sense, sound judgment,
and discriminating taste, which are a part and parcel of her character, is apparent in
every page and paragraph, and we rarely meet with so little, where so much is said,
that does not commend itself to our approval. Although she tells the reader that she
was obliged to make a compromise with modesty, by secretly vowing to resist all
temptation to put anything down in her book which could be suspected of an intent
to convey information, properly so called, w e believe it contains more really instructive
matter than works of higher pretensions, and we think it will be read by those who
contemplate a similar route with more avidity and profit than “ Murry’s Guide-Book,”
which she naively says gives more information than one can use. The publishers de
serve great credit for the uniformly handsome style which this, and, indeed, all their
publications are produced.
2. — The A d iro n d a ck ; or, L if e in the Woods. By J. T. H eadley, author of “ Wash
ington and his Generals,” etc. 12mo., pp. 288. New York : Baker & Scribner.
The style of the author of these sketches of life in the woods has been pretty se
verely criticized, and although a man of an ardent, nervous temperament, he endures
it with philosophic fortitude. His success with the reading million may account for
his power of endurance in this respect; and that success, on the other hand, may have
something to do with the criticisms of his works. An author whose books sell by
thousands, and are read with avidity by the people, can well afford to smile at the
freedom of the whole tribe of critics. Mr. Headley writes as all authors do— to secure
a reading; and, while many fail in this particular, he is successful. His style is full
o f life and vigor, and if not as chastened as that of an Everett, or as smooth as that
o f an Irving, it is more picturesque, and embodies as many “ thoughts that breath and
words that bum,” and meets as effectually the want of the popular mind of the Amer
ican people. His descriptions of scenery are graphic, and his sketches of life in the
“ Adirondack region ” are lifelike and fresh, and will interest the sportsman and the
lover of nature far more than the staid “ commonplaces,” or the dull and “ polished
monotonies ” of the imitators of Addison and Blair, who measure alike their words
and their thoughts (if they ever have any that are original) by rule.
3. — Border W arfare. B y W illiam W. Campbell. New Y ork : Baker & Scribner.
The several tribes o f Indians inhabiting the State of New York at the time of its
settlement by the whites, “ were distinguished for their prowess in war, as well as for
their sagacity and eloquence in council. War was their delight. Believing it to be
the most honorable employment of men, they infused into their children, in early life,
high ideas of military glory.” During the Revolutionary war our State was the scene
of some of the most sanguinary conflicts known in Indian warfare, and the deeds of
the warriors “ are inscribed with the scalping knife and tomahawk in characters of
blood.” This work gives an interesting history of the border warfare during the Rev
olution, is replete with thrilling narrative and exciting incidents, and has rescued val
uable historical matter from oblivion, essential to a complete history of our State. It
is written in a style that at once commends itself to the attention of the reader, and
b y one who stands high in public estimation as an agreeable and vigorous writer.
4. — M emoirs o f my Youth. By A. de L amartine.
The Harpers have just issued a cheap and handsomely printed edition of this popu
lar work.
V O L . X X .— N O . V I.
44
690
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5. — Chemical Technology ; or, Chemistry applied to the A r ts and Manufactures. By
Dr. F. K napp, Professor at the University of Gressen. Translated and edited, with
numerous notes and additions, by Dr. E dmund R onalds, Lecturer on Chemistry at
Middlesex Hospital, and Dr. T homas R ichardson, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. First
American edition, with notes and additions, by Professor W alter R. J ohnson, of
Washington, D. C. Yol. II. Illustrated with two hundred and forty-six engravings
on wood. 8vo., pp. 432. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.
The first volume of this work was published several months since, and noticed in
the pages o f this Magazine in terms of high commendation. A glance at the present
volume only serves to convince us that we were not mistaken in our estimate of its
value. “ The very rich and copious fund of information,” says Dr. Johnson, “ contained
in the original volume, of which this is a republication, especially in those parts which
relate to the two principal topics, glass and porcelain, renders the work useful to the
American reader.” In the second division of the work, that which treats of the man
ufacture of alum, green vitriol, and fuming oil of vitriol, will be found a great number
of data useful to the American chemist, by an attentive study of which, the manufac
turers of our country may cease to rely on foreign supplies for those important arti
cles. In the third group, that embracing clay-wares, pottery, and porcelain, the infor
mation will be found no less opportune than that respecting glass. In the branch of
manufactures embracing stoneware, bricks, and similar productions of the so-called ce
ramic arts, many full and interesting details are given, more or less new to American
artisans. On the whole, it will, we are persuaded, be considered an indispensable
manual for all who are engaged in the manufacture of any of the articles included in
this treatise.
6. — Outlines o f E n g lish Literature. By T homas B. S haw, B. A., Professor o f Eng
lish Literature in the Imperial Alexander Lyceum of St. Petersburg. 12mo. pp.
435. Philadelphia : Lea & Blanchard.
The author of this work, in the discharge of his duties as Professor in the Lyceum
of St. Petersburg, felt the want of a manual, concise but comprehensive, on the sub
ject of his lectures, which he has, in our judgment, supplied in the production of the
present volume, which appears to be all that it purports to, an outline of English
Literature both to the English and the foreign student. It describes the causes and
instruments of those great revolutions in taste which are termed “ Schools of Writing.”
The method adopted by the author unites the advantages of conciseness and complete
ness, and will be found quite valuable as an aid to the reader in forming clear ideas
of the main boundaries and divisions of English literature, while the frequent change
of topics will render it less tiresome and monotonous than a regular systematic treatise.
It is one of the most agreeable and readable treatises on the subject that we have
seen; and, in connection with Chambers’ admirable Cyclopedia of English Literature,
the general reader may obtain a pretty comprehensive view of that literature without
reading through the ponderous pages of the English poets and prose -writers, from Chau
cer down to those of the present century.
7. — JDahcotah; or, L if e and Legends o f the Sio u x around F o rt Snelling. By Mrs.
Mary E astman. With a Preface, by Mrs. C. M. K irkland. Illustrated from draw
ings by Capt. Eastman. 12mo., pp. 268. New Y ork: John Wiley.
W e have the testimony of Mrs. Kirkland, and we want no more reliable authority,
that Mrs. Eastman, wife of Captain Eastman, and daughter of Dr. Henderson, both of
the United States army, is thoroughly acquainted with the customs, superstitions, and
leading ideas of the Dahcotahs, whose vicinity to Fort Snelling, and frequent inter
course with its inmates, have brought them much under the notice of the officers and
ladies of the garrison. Circumstances, therefore, placed Mrs. Eastman in a position to
portray the Indian life and character, which she has done with a degree of fidelity
seldom equalled; and she has succeeded in preserving “ from destruction such traits
of Indian character as came to her knowledge during long familiarity with the Dah
cotahs, and nothing can be fresher or more authentic than her records, taken down
from the very lips of the red people as they sat around her fire and opened their
hearts to her kindness.” “ Sympathy— feminine and religious,” adds Mrs. Kirkland,
“ breathes through the pages, and the unaffected desire of the writer to awaken a kindly
interest in the poor souls who have so twined themselves about her own best feelings,
may be said to consecrate the work.” The work is all that it purports to b e ; and a
more valuable contribution to what may be termed the aboriginal literature of Amer
ica, has not, that we are aware of, been made in a long time.
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691
8. — The W orks o f J . Fenirnore Cooper. The Spy. Complete in one volume. New
York : George P. Putnam.
W e congratulate the American public on the prospect of being supplied with “ a
new and revised edition of the early and popular works of Cooper, in a form more
permanent and acceptable than that of former editions,” and we trust the enterprising
publishers will not only be encouraged to furnish us with what he is pleased to term
“ the early and popular works ” of the distinguished author, but those of a later date,
which have appeared in a style rather too democratic (if bad printing and worse paper
is democratic) for our taste. Indeed, the chief complaint we have to make against
Mr. Cooper is, that of allowing his recent productions to appear in a miserable whiteybrown dress, a sufficient excuse for any one passing them Dy unread. The following
passage from the publisher’s announcement of this edition is just, because true, and,
therefore, worth repeating in this place, although we cannot appreciate the apologetical part of i t :—
T o refer to the censures and counter-censures w hich have been connected with som e o f Mr. Cooper’ s
later writings, is a thankless and perhaps, in this place, an impertinent task. But, how ever fair o r un
ju st may have been som e o f the pictures o f his countrym en’s foibles, and how ever proper or absurd
has been their restive indignation in regard to those pictures, few Am ericans w ill call in question
either the genius or true patriotism o f Fenirnore Cooper—the author o f the first imaginative w ork
connected with Am erican history, and to this day the most graphic and vigorous delineator o f abo
riginal characteristics and o f life on the ocean. His earlier volum es must live freshly in the m em ories
o f thousands o f the present generation, w ho will gladly recall their first pleasant acquaintances w ith
Harvey Birch, and Leather Stocking, and L on g T om Coffin. If any one deserves well o f his country
for giving her literature a name and a place on the continent o f Europe, that man is Fenirnore Cooper.
Every country in Europe possesses his w orks in its ow n language— m France, Spain, Italy, and Ger
many, there are several different translations, and there are versions also in Danish, Swedish, Russian,
and m odern Greek. Such w orks, one w ould suppose, must possess a vitality which will secure a per
manent place for them ih Am erican literature.
The first volume is in the same beautiful (uniform) style of Washington Irving’s
works, now in course of publication by Mr. Putnam ; and, if not as widely appreciated
and patronized by the American people, they deserve the censure of all Europe.
9. — A rt-U n io n Jo u rn a l. London: George Virtue. New York: George Virtue.
This work passed into the hands of Mr. Virtue, as publisher, on the first day o f the
present year. It has been enlarged and improved; if, indeed, improvement could be
made on the high standard of excellence which characterized the previous volumes.
The two numbers (March and April) now on our table contain six engravings on steel,
in the highest style of the art, as follows:— The Chapeau de Brigand, from the picture
in the Vernon Gallery; the Brook of the Way, from another picture in the same gal
lery; Lavina, from the statue in marble by B. E. Spence; the Fall of Clarendon, from
the picture in the collection of the Right Honorable Lord Northwick; the Scheldt,
Texel Island, from a picture in the Vernon Gallery; and part of the West Frieze of
the Parthenon, as restored by Mr. John Henning. The illustrations of passages from
the poets, are the most highly finished engravings on wood that we have ever seen.
Indeed, every number of this work is copiously illustrated with engravings, each of
which may be considered a model of its kind. The literary department of the work
is in perfect keeping with the excellence that pervades the pictorial. W e are pleased
to learn that this work is receiving in this country a degree of encouragement corre
sponding, in some measure, with its unquestionable merit; and when our people be
come better acquainted with its character, we are persuaded that its circulation here
will equal that bestowed upon it by the more matured taste of our transatlantic brethren.
Since writing the above notice we have received the May number, in its illustrations
a perfect gem. The frontispiece, “ The Valley Farm,” from a picture in the Vernon
Gallery, is one of the most highly finished specimens of line engraving we have ever
seen. The engraving from the statue, in marble, of Queen Victoria, and the “ Pawn
Fishers,” in the same number, are executed in the highest style of the art. The lite
rary contributions to the present number are in keeping with the pictorial illustrations.
10. — Adventures in the Lib y a n Desert and the Oasis o f Ju p iter Ammon. By B a y l e
S t . J o h n . 12mo., pp. 244. New Y ork: George P. Putnam.
Mr. St. John started for the scenes he describes in this volume in 1847, in company
with three colleagues, all residents in Egypt, and acquainted with the Arabic language.
They penetrated far into the Libyan Desert, and the results of their exploration, or
adventures, are given in the present work with a tolerable degree of minuteness, with
out its too frequent appendage— tediousness. The descriptions of scenery appear to
be graphic, and the accounts of the habits, manners, customs, Ac., of the Arabs, are as
interesting as they are instructive.
692
The B ook Trade.
11. — T h e Incarnation, or P ictures o f the V irg in and her Son. By Chaki.es B eecher,
of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 1 vol. 12mo. New Y ork: Harper & Brothers.
The design of “ The Incarnation ” is to invest the narratives of the history of our
Lord with a new freshness, and something of the interest which, to many, they have
lost from a long-continued familiarity with their language. To effect this, the author
presents us a series of pictures which are among the most striking and beautiful pro
ductions in literary art; and it will surprise and gratify the student who is familiar
with Biblical criticism to see how completely it embodies all that is known from the
Evangelists, and that may be justly deduced from historical, ethnological, and geo
graphical learning. We commend the book to all our readers as quite equal, in dra
matic and picturesque interest, to any composition that, for a long time, has come from
the American press.
12. — Benjam in F r a n k lin : h is Autobiography, and a N arrative o f his P u b lic L i f e
and Services. Embellished with numerous designs, by Chapman. 1 voL 8vo. New
Y ork: Harper & Brothers.
W e have heretofore spoken of this work, from the press o f the Harpers; and now
that we have the last number before us, we repeat the expression of our conviction,
that it is a triumph of art well worthy its distinguished subject. W e commend it to
our friends as peculiarly deserving of their patronage; for it is as cheap as it is elegant,
and therefore accessible to all. The excellent moral teaching that pervades the writ
ings of the great philosopher must ever commend them to the domestic circle as a
treasury o f good instruction as well as interest.
13. — B a st Leaves o f Am erican H istory ; comprising H istories o f the Am erican W a r
and California. By E mma W illard, pp. 230. New York: George P. Putnam.
Mrs. Willard has brought together, in a connected form, the most prominent events
connected with the history o f America, commencing with 1840 and closing with the
commencement of 1849. It includes, o f course, the administration of Tyler and Polk,
and the stirring events that have transpired during the two administrations. It is
written in a clear and scholarly style, and the facts are presented in a condensed, but
singularly comprehensive form.
— H istory o f K in g Charles I I o f England. By J a c o b A b b o t t . 12mo. p p . 2 0 3 .
New Y ork: Harper <fc Brothers.
This, the sixth volume of Mr. Abbott’s highly interesting and useful series o f his
tories, possesses the same attractions as the preceding ones. The subject, like his for
mer subjects, is well chosen, and the book is written in the author’s customary simple
and beautifully transparent style. We look upon the production o f this series as one
of the most useful enterprises of the day— one which will be of incalculable benefit,
not only to the young, for whom they are, perhaps, more especially designed, but also
to those o f riper years. W e recommend the perusal of the present volume to all who
take an interest in what may, in many respects, be considered the most important
reign in English history. The book is tastefully bound, and ornamented with various
engravings, and a gorgeously illuminated title-page.
14.
15. — M y Uncle the Curate. By the author of “ The Bachelor o f the Albany.” New
Y o rk : Harper & Brothers.
The author of the renowned “ Bachelor ” is as humorous and witty as ever, and we
think that, in many respects, his present production is, perhaps, an improvement on
its predecessors. It forms the 128th No. of Harper’s Library o f Select Novels— a se
ries comprising some of the most able and interesting works o f fiction in the English
language.
16. — Agnes M o rris ; an Am erican Tale. 12mo. Harper & Brothers.
This is a delightful story of the domestic circle, evidently written by a lady.
perusal cannot foil to entertain, instruct, and please.
Its
17. — The Happy Home. Affectionately inscribed to W orking People. By the Bev.
J ames H amilton, D. D. New Y o rk : Robert Carter & Brothers.
Those who have read the author’s “ Life in Earnest,” “ Harp on the Willows,” and
admired them, will not fail to read, and be equally gratified with this collection o f
domestic stories, designed to interest and improve the social circle of “ working peo
ple.” It is a very handsomely printed volume, beautifully illustrated with engraving s
that reflect credit on the skill of the artist.
The B ook Trade.
693
18. — Chemical and Pharmaceutic M an ip ulatio n s: a M anual o f the Mechanical and
Chemico-Mechanical operations o f the Laboratory, containing a complete description
o f the most approved A pparatus, with instructions as to their application and man
agement both in M anufacturing Processes, and in the more exact details o f A n a ly sis
and accurate Research. F o r the use o f Chemists, D ruggists, Teachers, and Students.
By Campbell Morfit, Practical and Analytic Chemist, author of “ Applied Chem
istry,” etc. Assisted by A lexander Muckle, Chemical Assistant in Prof. Booth’ s
Laboratory. With Four Hundred and Twenty-three Illustrations. 8yo. pp. 482.
Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston.
The contents and character of this work are sufficiently indicated in the copious title,
as quoted above. It is designed to render chemistry “ a system illustrated and proved
by experiment, furnishing the rules for those mechanical operations by means of which
chemical changes are produced, observed, and estimated.” Although the student can
not become an adept in the art solely by the aid of written directions, this volume
certainly communicates much that is calculated to lighten labor, and facilitate him in
the attainment of skill and accuracy. It is so arranged as to lead the unitiated step
by step into the mysteries of manipulations; presenting at the same time, plainly and
clearly, the information best calculated to give familiarity with the construction, ar
rangement, and uses of apparatus. The author gives, in a familiar but clear style,
the details of all the manipulations of the laboratory, including the improvements o f
the present day, and illustrates his descriptions with numerous beautifully-executed
and expressive wood-cuts, or drawings. No expense, we are informed, has been spared
in endeavoring to make this book the substitute for all others on the same subject.
The work is highly commended by Professor J. C. Booth, a distinguished practical and
analytic chemist of Philadelphia.
19. — Chemical A n a lysis, Qualitative and Quantitative. By H enry M. W oad, Lecturer
on Chemistry at St. George's Hospital; author of “ Lectures on Electricity,” “ Lec
tures on Chemistry,” etc., etc. With numerous additions, by Campbell M orfit,
Practical and Analytical Chemist; author of “ Chemical and Pharmaceutic Manipu
lations,” and co-editor of the “ Encyclopedia of Chemistry.” With illustrations.
8vo., pp. 572. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston.
The present work was originally prepared by Mr. Woad as one of a series o f chem
ical treatises for the “ London Library of Useful Knowledge.” The care and fidelity
with which that distinguished chemist performed his laborious task, seems to have left
little more to be done by Mr. Morfit, the American editor, than to make such additions
istry in all their details. The works o f Mr. Morfit are highly esteemed by both prac
tical and scientific chemists. The present volume is copiously illustrated with appro
priate engravings.
20. — The La w s o f the common Carrying T ra d e ; also o f M arine, F ir e , and L if e In
surance. Rendered p la in and fa m ilia r f o r po p ula r use. By J. V. L oomis, Counselor
at Law. New York: M. Starbuck
Co.
This is a work of real merit, which will not fail to be appreciated by all men of
business, and highly prized. As a digest it is brief, accurate, and clear; but a critical
perusal shows that it is much more. The learned author has taken up these subjects
o f law, and with signal ability discussed them as a science. The reader is not solely
informed as to a series of arbitrary rules, but is educated in the elements and princi
ples of the law, and made to see and comprehend its reasons and necessity. The
writer places before the mind the legal institution, and states and demonstrates the
various rules as inevitable results.
21. — Th e Cold M ines o f G ila. A Sequel to Old Hides, the Guide. By Charles W .
W ebber. 12mo., pp. 264. New York: Dewitt & Davenport.
Mr. Webber says, in the preface to this volume, that he wishes it to be distinctly
understood that he is in earnest in this book ; and furthermore, that, to the best of his
knowledge, every syllable of it, bearing either directly or indirectly (of which last
there is a great deal) upon the general subject, is true, literally. The scenes and in
cidents recorded were for the most part derived from the author’s personal observation
and experience, and he has availed himself of all accessible antiquarian, legendary,
and official information. It is, on the whole, an interesting, readable book, and we
presume the more important parts of it are reliable.
694
The Boole Trade.
22. — The Hand-Book o f Hydropathy, f o r Professional and Domestic Use. W ith an
A ppen dix, on the best mode o f fo rm in g Hydropathic Establishments. Being the re
sult o f twelve years’ experience at 6-raefenberg and Freywaldan. By J. W eiss, for
merly Director of the Establishment at Freywaldan, lately of Stanstead-Bury House,
Hertfordshire. From the second London edition. 12mo. pp. 402. Philadelphia:
J. W. Moore.
A number o f works have appeared in Germany, England, and in the United States
during the last ten years on the subject o f hydropathy. Germany, in particular, has
been overrun with books explanatory of the beneficial effects of cold water, written
with the express object of gaining popularity to this new system, or designed to instruct
the public in the modes of applying cold water in diseases, and in its use and action
as a prophylactic remedy. But few, if any, are more deserving of confidence than the
present work of Dr. Weiss, whose advantages of acquiring a knowledge of the prac
tice are scarcely less than those of Vincent Pressnitz, the founder of the system, and
the first successful practitioner. The author practised allopathically prior to 1829, re
ceiving the year previous the prize for a dissertation on the use of narcotic medicines
in certain diseases from the University of Leipzic; but, becoming acquainted with the
water cure, he abandoned the use of all drugs, and for more than twelve years past
has never resorted to a single pharmaceutical preparation. In conjunction with Press
nitz, he marked the progress of this mode of treatment from its earliest infancy to its
present stage o f development, and its present state of expansion. A t his establish
ment at Freywalden, the most frequented in Germany after that at Graefenberg, he
enjoyed rare opportunities of enlarging the sphere of his observation on the action of
water in disease, and drew his own conclusions on the whole system of treatment. The
present volume, the result of Dr. W.’s experience, is purely practical, and embraces'
only that which is already known of hydropathy, according to his own absolute expe
rience, and the treatment which he found most advantageous in practice in certain dis
eases. To those who desire to learn something of hydropathy, we can recommend this
work as one of the most reliable that has yet been published, and we have seen and
read almost every one on the subject in our language.
23. — M ysteries o f C ity L ife , or S tra y Leaves fro m the W orld’s Book ; being a series
o f Tales, Sketches, Incidents, and Scenes, founded upon the Notes o f a Home M is
sionary. By J ames R ees, author of the “ Philadelphia Locksmith,” the “ Nighthawk
Papers,” etc. 12mo., pp. 408. Philadelphia: J. W. Moore.
This volume contains some forty tales and sketches, for the most part founded on
the daily occurring incidents of city life. The writer seems to have made himself fa
miliar with society in its ever-varying aspects of light and shade, and has portrayed,
with vividness and with apparent fidelity, the miseries of poverty and vice as found
in all our large commercial cities and towns. Some of his sketches have a painful in
terest, and most of them are affecting; but from what we have seen, and heard from
those whose opportunities have led them to investigate the subjects embraced in these
sketches, we believe the work contains but little that may not be taken as a faithful
delineation of events daily transpiring in our midst. W e commend the work as well
calculated to enlist the sympathies of the philanthropist, and stimulate him to nobler
efforts in behalf o f his suffering, poor, and misguided fellow men.
24. — The H ill Difficulty, and some Experience o f L ife in the P la in s o f Ease. W ith
other M iscellanies. By Geobge B. Cheeveb, D. D. 12mo., pp. 383. Hew Y ork:
John Wiley.
This volume is divided into three parts: the first consists of allegorical and imagin
ative papers; the second, descriptive and meditative; and the third, critical and spec
ulative. Besides the “ Hill Difficulty,” which comes under the first division, we notice
the allegory of “ Deacon Giles’ Distillery,” which cost the author a libel suit and im
prisonment in the Salem jail. If not a remarkably bold and free thinker, Mr. Cheever
is certainly a clear and vigorous writer, and is far more effective in his ingenious de
nunciations of rum-making and rum-selling than in his illogical attempts to sustain that
relic o f barbarism— the gallows. His allegories are very effective, and his descriptive
powers interest us far more than his logical, which latter would do very well were it
not chained to the car of some untenable theological dogma. W e fully agree with
Mr. Cheever when he says, as in the preface of the present volume, that it is a Christian
duty to use every opportunity and occasion of circulating Christian thoughts; all such
thoughts in our world occupying a space that might otherwise be forestalled and filled
with evil.
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The B ook Trade.
695
25. — I . T h e Old M an’s Home. With engravings from original designs, by W eie. I I .
T h e Shadow o f the Cross: an Allegory. With engravings from original designs, by
C hapm an . I I I . The D istant H i l l s : an Allegory. With engravings from original
designs, by C h apm an . I V . The K in g ’s Messengers : an A llegorical Tale. By the
Rev. W il l ia m A dams , M. A., Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, author o f the “ Old
Man's Home,” “ Shadow of the Cross,” “ Distant Hills,” etc. The Combatants: an
Allegory. By E d w a r d M onro , Perpetual Curate of Harrow-weald, etc. From the
London edition, with engravings executed by B. F. C h ild s , from original designs by
D a r l e y . 5 vols. New York: General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union,
Daniel Dana, Agent. Pudney <fe Russel, Printers.
The “ fine and useful arts * have combined to produce five as beautiful volumes, in
all that relates to the material of bookunaking, as we have ever seen; that is, the de
signers of the illustrations, Darley, Weir, and Chapman, and the printers, Pudney &
Russel, and the paper-maker, have each and all, in their own departments, furnished
specimens of genius or skill that do them great credit. But that is not a ll; their labor
has been well bestowed, inasmuch as the productions, in a literary, moral, and reli
gious point of view, are worthy of the beautiful form that introduces to the visual eye,
and by that avenue, presents through the medium of the artistic allegory, their spirit
ual and moral lessons, to the unseen souL The Christian graces and virtues, as under
stood by a scholarly divine of the English Episcopal Church, are illustrated in the
form of. pleasing, fascinating allegories, and although these volumes are designed by the
Episcopal Sunday School Union for the children of that communion, we are strongly
inclined to the opinion that they may be read with pleasure, not unmixed with profit,
by all good children, and by some more advanced in life, who belong to other sects,
or to the great Church of Humanity. This last remark will apply with peculiar force
to the “ King’s Messengers,” one of the series of aUegorical tales which brings forward,
prominently and distinctly, the single Christian duty of beneficence, which, in our
judgment, joined with charity, as explained by St. Paul, embraces all the social, and
moral, and Christian virtues and graces.
26. — M anual o f A n cient Geography and H istory. By W illiam P utz, Principal Tutor
at the Gymnasium of Dusen. Translated from the German. Edited by the Rev.
T homas K erchever A rnold, M. A., Rector of Lyndon, and late Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge. Revised and corrected from the London edition. 12mo., pp.
396. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
The present volume contains a clear and definite outline o f the history of the prin
cipal nations of antiquity. To render it still more clear, the American editor has added
a concise geography of each country, and without entering into minute details, all the
important features of its physical aspect appear to have been carefuUy marked. The
Appletons deserve great credit for their efforts to promote the educational movement
o f the times, by the publication of the most improved and valuable works in every
department of school and college learning. Not only are their publications prepared
with great skill and care, but they are printed and published in the most substantial
and beautiful style.
27. — The A r t o f Rhetoric ; or, the Elements o f Oratory, adapted to the Practice o f the
Students o f Great B rita in and Ireland. Methodically arranged fro m the A ncient
and Modern Rhetorical W riters, &c. By J ohn H olmes, late Master of the Public
Grammar School in Holt, Norfolk, (England.) To which is added, Quintilian’s Course
of Ancient Roman Education, from the pupil’s first elements to his entrance into the
School o f Botany. A new and carefully corrected edition, in two books. Entirely
remodeled, for the use of Schools, Colleges, <fec., by J ohn A. G etty, A. M. Phil
adelphia : Cary & Hart.
W e have never seen in so small a compass so complete a system o f rhetoric and ed
ucation, and we are not surprised that it has already been favorably received by those
every way competent to pass upon its merits. It will, when its merits are fully un
derstood, take a very high, if not the highest, rank among the many works on educa
tion heretofore published.
28. — F ra n k Fa irle ig h ; or, Scenes fro m the L if e o f a P riv a te P u p il. Illustrated by
G eo rg e C ru iksh an k . London: Arthur HaU & Co. New Y ork : George Virtue.
W e have here, in part one, thirty-two pages of letter-press, extremely beautiful, the
commencement of a story rich in graceful humor, with two capital illustrations from
that inimitable artist, Cruikshank,
Our F irst D ecade Completed.
696
29.— A P ra ctica l Treatise on the La w o f Replevin in the United States, with an ap
pendix. By P. P emberton M orris. Philadelphia: James Kay, Jr.,. Ac Brother.
This work originated from the difficulty which the author experienced on an occasion
in which he was called upon to use the action of replevin. Replevin, which, in early
times, was solely a remedy given to controvert the legality o f a distress, has come now
to be a remedy for the unlawful detention o f personal property, and by means of
which the title to may be tried, though entirely disconnected with distress. There was
no American work on this subject. The author has been a diligent seeker at the foun
tains of his subject in the English Law, and following the streams which have run
from them, he has traced the courses of some o f them through the different States, but
more particularly that stream which flows through his own State of Pennsylvania.
W e believe, however, that this contribution to the law learning of our country will be
found valuable in most of the States, and will prove an important addition to the library
o f the American lawyer.
OUR FIR ST DECADE COMPLETED.
T he
present number (June) completes the
t w e n t ie t h
semi-annu:
and the tenth year o f the existence o f the M erchants' M ag a zin e and C
R eview . The occasion suggests remarks which w e should be glad to i
if w e could do so without egotism, or without trespassing upon the {
our readers. W e think the work, as our knowledge has increased, and
o f information have extended, evinces improvement and progress. C
will not he relaxed; and w e only need a continuance, and such an i
patronage as w e may merit, to go on enlarging and extending the sphere o f its
influence and usefulness. W e give nearly a third more matter than when w e
first started; and w e intend, with the forthcoming volume, still further to increase
the quantity, and at least maintain the standard o f its excellence. Although we
have been more handsomely treated by those whom it was our hope to please
than was anticipated in the beginning, yet the promotion o f the work depends, in
a great measure, upon the patronage w e may receive; and although our journal
is designed for merchants in the largest acceptation o f the term, w e are gratified
to know that it has been found almost equally useful to, and as highly appreciated
by, statesmen and lawyers.
No effort will hereafter be wanting on our part to
render the work equally acceptable to all classes o f intelligent men in any way
connected with trade and commerce, in all their bearings upon the legislation o f
States and Nations, and upon the development o f the great industrial interests o f
man and society, at home and abroad. W ith new sources o f information, and an
extending domestic as w ell as foreign correspondence, and other facilities, which
ten years’ untiring devotion to a single object have enabled us to make available,
w e are persuaded that our journal will continue to maintain, in even a greater de
gree, its character as a perfect vade mecum to the Merchant, the Manufacturer,
and the Banker, as well as to the Statesman, Commercial Lawyer, and the Politi
cal Economist, and, in short, to all w ho desire information on all subjects falling
within the wide scope embraced in our plan, as in a measure developed in the
twenty volumes now in the possession o f the public.
The demand for complete
sets o f our Magazine is, w e think, pretty conclusive evidence o f its standard value;
and we have no hesitation in saying, that in no single periodical or other publica
tion is so large an amount and variety o f authentic information on the same sub
jects to be four
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