Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : March 1856, Vol. XXXIV, No. III

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HUNT’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
MARCH,

1 856.

Art. I.— RUSSIA, AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ARMED NEUTRALITY.
[A recent number of the Deutsche Vienteljahrsschrifl, a leading periodical
of Germany, contained an article on the “ International Policy of the Maritime
Powers, and the Progress of the Law of Nations,” from the pen of Professor
Wurm, of Hamburg, -well worthy of attention. After a brief survey of the advance
made in this science since the days of Frederick the Great, especially with regard
to the rights of neutrals, the writer enters upon his more especial task— one for
which he proves himself eminently fitted— the exhibition of the origin and early
history, hitherto somewhat obscure, of the armed neutrality and the political re­
lations of England and Russia at the time of its formation.
The theme is suggested by, and derives much new light from recent publica­
tions, revealing the secret diplomatic intercourse of the period between the courts
of London and St. Petersburg ; and in his treatment of it the writer manifests
not only the thorough research and independent spirit of inquiry which are char­
acteristic of German scholarship, but evinces a keenness of scent and shrewd pen­
etration in arriving, through the devious and hidden paths of diplomacy, at the
truth— a bold and terse facility in enunciating it peculiarly his own.
The article would thus at any time have commanded attention, but at the pres­
ent moment especially the war going on in Europe between these two powers
lends it additional importance and fresh interest, none the less for the curious in­
version it presents of the attitudes of those countries toward each other as well
as toward France, Turkey, and the rest of Europe at that time, as compared with
those now exhibited. Of the chapter in question, therefore, wo present to our
readers a translation, confident that it will prove to them an acceptable employ­
ment of our pages.]




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Russia and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

T he origin o f the first armed neutrality, and the consequent relations
between England and Russia, have been exhibited in a new and surprising
light— first by a Memoir o f Count Gortz, later by the Diaries and Cor­
respondence o f Lord Malmsbury, and lastly by the Memorials o f Charles
James Fox, published two years ago by Lord John Russell.
It is difficult to comprehend the impatient, almost anxious haste with
which England, occupied by the struggle with her American colonies,
threatened by the Fam ily P act o f the two Bourbon houses o f France and
Spain, threw herself upon Russia.
To obtain an alliance, offensive and
defensive, were the instructions o f Sir James Harris (first Lord Malmsbury)
when he was dispatched in 1778 to St. Petersburg.
The first answers
were evasive— that Russia made only defensive alliances— that the name
o f offensive alliance was repugnant to the empress— that the course of
events, too, must be awaited— that the newly-arisen question o f the Bava­
rian succession m ight lead to fresh complications in Europe.
Sir James Harris was not long kept in the dark as to the motives
w hich interfered with his suit.
Count Panin was a Prussian, and Fred­
erick the Great had never forgotten that England, in the second half of
the seven years’ war, had, under the influence o f Lord Bute, basely de­
serted him. This it was w hich led him to seek the Russian alliance, the
evil consequences o f which he lived to see and— we may conclude from
expressions o f his at the time o f the Confederation o f Sovereigns— to re­
pent. N or did Russia conceal that she had an especial object in view,
the furtherance o f which was the price at which she would sell her al­
liance. She would not pledge herself to take arms against France, unless
England would engage to make com m on cause ayainst the Turks. For
Tu rkey,it was urged, was Russia’ s natural enemy, just as France was Eng­
land’s. The ruling idea, writes Harris, June 4, 1779, is the establishment
o f a new Eastern empire in Athens or Constantinople.
I f the king finds
Russian assistance indispensable, there is but one way to obtain it. This
romantic idea must be gratified.
Harris meanwhile seeks, by means o f Potemkin, to com e directly at the
empress. H e succeeds. There is no lack o f personal distinction shown
b y her to the ambassador, or o f assurances o f friendship towards England.
W e ll if it did not all end in words, and if it were not so troublesome to
keep Potemkin up to the m a rk !
The correspondence soon betrays by
what means the zeal o f “ m y friend ” had to be quickened. “ M y friend ”
is very rich— he is not needy ; yet accepts with alacrity.
The friend is
very aristocratic; scarcely will a less sum suffice than that Torcy once
offered in vain to the Duke o f Marlborough, which, as will be remembered
from Torcy’s Memoirs and from Flasson, was two million francs.
The
money, it would seem, is p a id ; for the friend is in the best humor.
It is curious to notice how Harris falls in his demands. In September,
1779, he no longer ventures to ask for an alliance; a simple declaration
addressed to the courts o f Versailles and Madrid will satisfy him— to be
enforced, o f course, by a suitable naval armament.
Catherine confesses
she can devise no sufficient pretext for meddling in the affair.
The Eng­
lish ambassador replies, that for a Russian autocrat o f the seventeenth
century to have so spoken were conceivable, but that Russia has since be­
com e a leading power in Europe, and now the affairs o f Europe are the
affairs o f Russia. “ I f Peter the Great,” he adds, with well-meant flattery,
“ could see that the navy which he created was now important enough




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Russia and the Principles o f Ine Arm ed Neutrality.

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not only to take a place by the side o f that o f England, but to assist her
in the assertion o f naval supremacy, he would confess that he was not the
greatest o f Russia’s sovereigns.”
The empress seems pleased with this
notion, the result being that she requests Sir James to hand in his views
in writing.
Two months later— November 5, 1779— George III. writes himself to
“ our sister ” the empress Catherine, and now the royal wishes not only
do not aspire to an alliance, but no longer even to the open declaration.
A mere demonstration will satisfy them.
“ The employment, the mere
display o f a portion o f the Russian fleet will restore and insure the peace
of Europe, as the league which has formed itself against me will be
thereby destroyed, and the balance o f power which that league sought to
disturb, will be preserved.”
That this is throwing one’s self away, I will not s a y ; but never, surely,
has one leading power so urgently plead her helplessness to another. A nd
it is important to know that these transactions immediately preceded the
armed neutrality.
On the 18th o f January, 1780, intelligence reached St. Petersburg o f an
order just issued at Madrid, directing that all vessels bound to the Medi­
terranean be brought into Cadiz, and their cargoes sold to the highest
bidder. Potem kin was convinced that the empress would not stand this.
“ Par Dieu, vous la tenez !” he exclaimed. Reports o f the ill-treatment o f
Russian vessels followed ; the empress issued orders— directly, as was her
wont, and not through Count Panin— to equip the vessels at Cronstadt.
Potemkin was overjoyed. The ambassador m ight be assured that it was
from his representations the empress had been led to this course, and he
might look upon the British fleet as already stronger by twenty sa il; he
even declared that the empress herself had sent him to be the bearer o f
the joyful tidings, (to the ambassador,) which were known to no one else.
During the next four days the ambassador is twice present at small even­
ing parties; the empress is full o f goodw ill toward him and his country.
“ If any false plot is here concealed, it is too well devised for me to dis­
cover i t : if m y representations should be the means o f deluding your lordship, it will be because I myself labor under a complete delusion.”
W hile JSir James is writing thus to to Lord Stormont, the last touch is
given to the world-renowned declaration o f the armed neutrality.
In the declaration o f the 28th o f February, 1780, five points are stated
as fundamental principles o f the natural law o f nations— such as cannot
be disregarded by the belligerent powers without violation o f the law o f
neutrality. The first and second points we quote verbatim :—
1. That neutral vessels can pass free from one harbor to another, and
along the coasts o f the belligerent nations.
2. That goods belonging to the subjects o f the belligerent powers shall,
unless contraband, be free in neutral vessels.
The third clause refers to the existing treaty with England, as declara­
tory o f what is to be regarded as contraband. The fourth indicates pre­
cisely the conditions which constitute a blockade. The fifth provides that
the above principles shall form the basis for the procedure and decisions
of the prize courts.
A n y one who remembered the correspondence between the Prussian
and English cabinets, who recalled the Hubner controversy in 17.59, must
have felt that the first point in all its scope had never been acceded to by




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Russia and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

Great Britain, and that the second was utterly at variance with the prin­
ciples uniformly insisted upon (unless in exceptional treaties) by the Brit­
ish cabinet. Conscious o f this, and with the warm congratulations o f P o­
temkin still ringing in his ears, Sir James Harris might well characterize
the Russian declaration as a “ mountebank’s feat.”
Indeed we could
scarcely blame him had he been as m uch at a loss with regard to the
identity o f the intentions o f Catherine, and her favorite, as the Irishman
was with regard to his own— when he declared that he had not always
been such a bad-looking chap, but that he had been changed at nurse.
That Catherine was not aware how seriously she was injuring England,
that such an intention was far from her, and that neither she nor Potem ­
kin were playing a false game with Harris, we shall take for granted. It
was the opinion o f Maria Theresa that Catherine was not aware what she
had done, a remark o f hers to this effect occurring in Flasson. She be­
lieved, however, that the declaration, originally favorable to England, had
been changed to one adverse to England, through the influence o f Panin.
The dispatches o f Sir James Harris convey a different Impression. It
is there expressly asserted, (March 7, 1780,) that the whole was the em­
press’s own act, without the advice or even consent o f Count Panin. P o­
temkin’s confidant informed him, (upon promise o f a g ood reward,) on the
6th o f May, 1780, that the five points were contained in a rough draft,
w hich the empress sent to Count Panin, and that this minister had in his
revision o f it added n oth in g ; who put these points into her head he could
not say, but presumed, as she had for several months seen frequently her
agent at Hamburg, St. Paul, and Count W oronzow , president o f the Board
o f Trade, that she arranged the points in conversation.
A n d here perhaps we have the key to the whole transaction. Frederick
St. Paul appears in the year 1771, in Hamburg, in the capacity o f Russian
consul-general to the Ilanse towns— from 1778 as charge d’affaires ad
interim— becomes councilor in 1787, tenders his resignation in March,
1791, and dies, after a long illness, on the 14th o f April, 1792. H e had
becom e in 1776 a member o f the Patriotic Society— which affords a strong
presumption that he lived in the atmosphere o f John George Busch, where
hatred o f England’s overbearing policy, indignation at the principles which
Sir James Meryatt, the “ hell judge,” introduced into the British admiralty,
were the natural growth, and where belonged to enlightened efforts for the
improvements o f the world’s Commerce. The suggestions o f a man of
this school, during a visit to St. Petersburg, m ay naturally have been ac­
ceptable to the president o f the Board o f Trade, and from their conversa­
tions the five points have sprung.
This supposition readily explains the affair without presuming a counter
intrigue o f Panin, o f which there is in Harris no trace. Moreover, though
Catherine may have had no very clear ideas about Commerce, or o f the
manner in which her five points would affect the English interests, still
her composed and ingenuous bearing towards the English embassador,
was, in another view, not so unaccountable as we might imagine.
From a careful perusal o f the dispatches o f Sir James Harris, it appears
that as early as the 11th o f January, 1780, he made in behalf o f his court
this very important concession : “ A s the king o f England was convinced
that the empress would never allow her subjects in time o f war any trade
which would be injurious to England, and tend to strengthen her enemies
by land or water, the empress might be assured that the navigation o f her




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Russia and the Principles o f the Ar.med Neutrality.

279

subjects would never be interrupted or arrested by the cruisers o f Great
Britain.” The editor has quite correctly recognized in this declaration a
renunciation as to Russian ships, o f the right o f search. In this renuncia­
tion, however, lies plainly something more. I f Russian ships are not
brought to, to ascertain what is on board, it is, practically, enabling them
to protect, by means o f their neutral flag, goods belonging to the enemies
o f Great Britain. It is difficult to see how any control could be thus ex­
ercised even over contraband o f war. Later (May 26) the embassador
complains to Count Panin o f the notorious deception by means o f which
Russian houses lend their name and flag to Spanish and French houses, to
protect their goods against British cruisers; at the same time he ad d s:
“ Our cruisers will not molest Russian subjects in pursuit o f their business,
if her imperial majesty gives a solemn assurance that she will not permit
her flag to cover and protect this unjust and, to British subjects, so injuri­
ous trade.”
A ll turns evidently upon fa ith and integrity. Thus the
widest scope is given to the Russian flag. Harris also takes credit to the
British admiralty for having, when Russian ships, as often happened,
carried naval stores to the enemies o f England, taken no notice o f the
occurrence, and o f having made ample compensation, whenever, ow ing to
short compulsory delay, ship or cargo had suffered.
It may be that England determined upon this concession to the Russian
flag the more readily, that only a few ships, comparatively, o f this nation
ventured outside the Baltic, (only five, it is stated, in the year 1781.)
But the concession was in fact, so far as Russian vessels were concerned,
equivalent to an acceptance o f the second o f the live points. Can we,
then, wonder, that Catherine was not prepared for the bitter complaints
from England, when she demanded f o r all neutral flags, upon principle,
what had already been granted exceptionally to R u ssia? Generosity—
sharing with others alike— the thought o f imposing the law o f reason and
moderation upon the powerful in favor o f the weaker— a proud conscious­
ness o f effecting this by a mere declaration or, if necessary, by an arma­
ment in support o f the declaration— this flattered the em press; but that
it should be at England’s expense was not in her intention.
The attitude o f Great Britain at this time is remarkable. W h ile reply­
ing to all the separate powers who had joined the armed neutrality by
simply referring them to the Law o f Nations and existing treaties, one
ministry after the other exhausts itself in vain attempts to prevail upon
the empress o f Russia by valuable concessions to abandon the idea o f a
neutral alliance, and win her to the alliance with England. “ Is there not,”
asks Lord Stormont, O ctober 28, 1780, “ any object worthy the ambition
of the empress— any concession desirable for her Com merce or her navy,
which could induce her to lend us powerful assistance against France,
Spain, snd our rebel colonies ?” “ Prince Potemkin,” replies Harris, D e­
cember 5, 1780, “ gives me to understand plainly that the only concession
which can allure the empress into an alliance with us is Minorca.” And
if we must make a sacrifice, says Harris, let us rather make it to one frien ds
than to our enemies. Minorca is actually offered (in February, 1780,) to
the empress, but in vain. N ot that the offer does not flatter her, that she
would not like to have M in orca ; she yearned for i t ; but, according to
Potemkin, she could not bring herself to adopt the course which would
have given her the possession o f i t ; she was not disposed to risk a war,
having no longer the heart for bold enterprises.




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Russia, and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

Meanwhile, the sentiments, the tone, the temper, even, o f the empress
are constantly changing. In the long and confidential interview with Sir
James Harris, on the 18th o f Decem ber, 1780, she exclaimed:-—“ Mais
quel mal vous fait cette neutralite armee on plutot nullite arm ee!” In
September, 1781, Harris thinks her zeal considerably c o o le d ; in the fol­
low ing May, that the empress is heartily tired o f the armed neutrality.
In September, again, the empress, he says, will not rest till she has made
this pet idea o f hers a general la w ; and adds, it is extraordinary she
should not have perceived how worthless the measure will be to Russia in
peace— how troublesome in w ar; that it should not occur to her that she
had already, in introducing this Quixotic system, expended far m ore than
she and her neighbors could ever reap from it.
England had (D ecem ber 20, 1780,) declared war with Holland, the
dealings o f the latter with the American rebels having com e to her knowl­
edge. The adhesion o f H olland to the armed neutrality occurs a fortnight
later, (January 3, 1781.)
Catherine had never yielded to the entreaties
o f the D utch for her assistance, though she offered her intermediation,
which England did not decline. The English, said the Russian Vice-Chan­
cellor, in February, 1782, m ight have peace with H olland on their own
terms whenever they would accept the principles o f the armed neutrality.
The next m onth came the ministerial crisis in England. On the 28th of
March, the day after Fox entered the ministry, a cabinet council is held,
and it is intimated to the Russian ambassador that they stand in readiness
to negotiate a peace with the D utch upon the basis o f the treaty o f 1764,
(that is, acknowledging that free ships make free goods,) and at once to
conclude an armistice. On the 2d o f April, Harris receives instructions
from Fox to represent this concession as in consequence o f the respectful
deference which the king is ever disposed to pay to the views and wishes
o f the empress. This has its effect, and so decidedly, that on the 21st of
June Harris is enabled to report, under seal o f secresy, the determination
o f the empress to make her intercession effective by a powerful armament
in case the Dutch should still defer peace.
But Fox is resolved to g o still further. A cabinet council o f June 20th
(the minutes o f which, in F ox’s hand, have been printed by Lord John
Russell) recommends to the king to make known to the Russian ambassa­
dor that his majesty desires to accede entirely to the views o f the empress,
and to form the closest ties with the Court o f St. Petersburg, and that his
majesty is w illing to make the principles o f the imperial declaration of
February 28, 1780, (i. e., o f the armed neutrality,) the basis'of a treaty
between the two countries. From an accompanying letter o f Fox to Harris
it appears that even this did not satisfy him.
Harris’s reply to Fox in a private letter (likewise published by Lord
John Russell) strikingly illustrates the state o f affairs. In the letters pub­
lished in his correspondence, he has repeatedly declared that either war,
if they did not object to it, must be at once declared with Russia, or the
principles o f the armed neutrality must be, as to Russia, recognized. That,
in the latter case, they m ight rely upon it that these principles would he
forgotten, and the alliance dissolve itself. H e now says, most decidedly,
that in the event o f a maritime war the empress will be the first to violate
its principles, so inconsistent are they with her ideas o f self-defense, and
that a system, originating in misunderstanding, and maintained from ob­
stinacy and vanity, can only be kept alive by opposition. A n d the neu­




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Russia and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

281

trals, he adds, are at this very mom ent practically enjoying the immunities
which England withholds only in form. “ W e may contest the fairness o f
what the neutral alliance demands, but we must submit to the law which
it prescribes.” H is counsel is, to exchange with the empress alone an act
o f adhesion to the neutral alliance, in the same manner as the emperor
(Joseph) had done, and as Portugal was on the point o f doing. This
would better com port with our national dignity than a public recognition,
which might seem to arise fr o m fea r.
W hen this private letter reached London, Fox was (since July 5tli) no
longer minister. W h en Lord Shelburne, after the death o f Lord R ock­
ingham, took the lead o f the ministry, Fox, from personal motives, re­
signed. H is successor, Lord Grantham, gives this testimony in his favor,
in a private letter to Sir James Harris, July 2 8 th :— That the more favor­
able sentiment in St. Petersburg and Berlin is, without doubt, the result o f
the language held by F ox. “ H is measures were great though hastily put
into execution.” Quite otherwise judged, a year later, W illiam Pitt in his
great speech upon the pseace.
“ The Dutch were not disarmed by the
humiliating tone o f the administration o f the R ight lio n , gentleman.”
W h at were the motives o f F ox? W as it a generous homage which he
offered to principles ? W as it the conviction that England’s former system
conflicted with the natural rights o f neutrals? N o. It was the belief
that Russia, above all things, must be made a friend.
There still reigns in Germany the greatest confusion as to the party
view o f the W h igs and Tories in respect to Russia. Numberless distorted
judgments upon the jrresent position o f affairs arise from the belief— en­
tirely groundless and at variance with the whole course o f history-— that
the W h igs and their successors havd'been the natural and sworn opponents
to Russia. A n y one familiar with the policy o f Charles James Fox, the
great oracle o f the modern W h igs— the ideal, by-the-by, o f Lord John
Russell— is not surprised by certain sentiments uttered recently in Parlia­
m e n t-ce rta in acts o f compliance in the conferences o f Vienna.
To counteract this erroneous impression it will be necessary, above all,
to compare Fox’s own words in confidential letters to Sir James Harris.
W hen, in consequence o f the coalition with Lord North, whom he had
a few years before declared deserving o f the scaffold, Fox again entered
the ministry, he wrote, on the 11th o f April, 1783 :— “ Alliances with the
northern powers have ever been, and must be, the policy o f every enlight­
ened Englishman.” On the 16th o f M a y :— “ I regard the court at which
your are as that whose friendship is o f all the most important to Great
Britain. The great pride o f m y administration o f a few years ago was
the progress I flattered m yself I made in demonstrating to her Russian
Imperial Majesty how earnestly the ministry desired to follow her counsel
and merit her confidence.” On the 27th o f July
“ The post which you
are now on the point o f quitting (that o f ambassador at St. Petersburg) is,
in my judgment, by far the most important in the present state o f affairs
of all public places.”
N or was this a transient m ood.
On the 30th o f
July, 1792, Lord Malmsbury (Sir James Harris had meantime acquired
this title) says, in his diary, o f Fox, at whose house he had passed the
morning, there being present besides only Thomas Grenville, “ llis partial­
ity for a Russian alliance is very great.”
The alliance with the “ northern powers ” in general, which Fox recom ­
mended, is further elucidated by this declaration, July 27, 1783 :— “ I con­




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Russia and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

fess m y favorite scheme was an alliance with Prussia, Denmark, and
Russia.” A s to Prussia, the draft (in French, and entirely in Fox’ hand,
discovered and printed by Lord John Russell,) o f a confidential dispatch
in cipher, addressed to the Prussian ambassador, and intended evidently
for the eye o f the old king, is surprising enough.
This document is a
general concession o f all the great political errors committed by England,
and by which she had been brought into so deplorable a state. Never,
surely, has party-spirit arraigned political opponents before a foreign tribu­
nal so unsparingly. “ The breach with France,” it declares, “ was an event
that everybody except our predecessors had long expected.”
“ W ith
shame,” it continues, “ do I recount all this, so humiliating for m y own
nation ; but the weaker we have been, the more is it the duty and interest
o f those who wish us well, to assist us with word and deed.” •Counsel
and support, therefore, it is which Fox solicits o f the old king, and like­
wise his intercession with the empress o f Russia, to induce her to devote
m ore attention to English affairs. Lord John Russell believes the letter
actually went. H e does not seem to have taken any hint from it.
In Parliament, also, Fox manifested his leaning to Russia. In the mem­
orable debate o f the 29th o f March, 1791, when a royal message asked
for a grant o f war supplies, in order to the reduction o f the Russian force,
when Pitt and Herzberg were endeavoring to stay the advance o f Russia,
backed by Austria, on the Black Sea, it was Fox who exclaimed in deris­
ion, that it was something new for a British House o f Commons to hear
the greatness o f Russia represented as a matter o f an xiety; that twenty
years before, Great Britain, f a r fr o m wishing to protect the Turks, had
even conducted the Russian vessels into the Black Sea. W h en Catherine
incorporated the Crimea, Verg-eunes proposed to make a general protest.
I was at that time one o f the ministers o f his majesty, and the answer
which I recommended was this :— “ That his majesty would make no pro­
test in the affair, nor put any impediment in the way o f the empress.”
England, added Fox, supported Russia in her design o f building up an ex­
tension o f her own empire on the ruins o f the Turkish. The truth of
these historical references is as indubitable as is the short-sightedness with
which Fox, in continuation, says that llezakow is a single small fortress,
and asks if it would be politic, for the sake o f a single city, to carry on
war with Russia. It would be madness for us, he added, madness to ex­
hibit to the world a jealousy o f Russia's growing power on the B lack Sen.
W h y assistance should be lent the Turks in asserting their supremacy
o f the Black Sea was to him inconceivable. Finally, he bitterly inveighs
against the supercilious tone which the ministers had allowed themselves
to make use o f toward the empress; and, that no doubt might remain
that the tw o divisions o f the W h ig party (for the breach was already
complete) were equally blind with regard to the power o f Russia, on the
same evening Burke came out with the observation that it was something
quite new f o r the Turkish Em pire to he regarded as belonging to the E u ­
ropean balance o f power.
Burke besides reproached his former friend and recent enemy with
having, through an emissary, conducted a secret negotiation with the Rus­
sian Court, behind the back and contrary to the expressed wish o f the
cabinet. Sir Robert Adair, who undertook that journey to Russia, has, at
an advanced age, with that touching devotion to Fox’s memory which
pervades all his writings, repelled this accusation in the appendix to the




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283

second volume o f Fox’s memoirs. Sir Robert, however, frankly disclosed
that it was part o f the policy o f the W higs, in 1791, to bring over Russia,
as a rising maritime power, to the English system, as a counterpoise to
the naval power o f France, recently strengthened by the family-pact with
Spain. These indications o f the W h ig foreign policy make many other
things, besides the submissiveness o f Fox to the armed neutrality, intelli­
gible to the reader.
In vain we seek to discover Fox’s real conviction with regard to the
principles at issue. A few hints, however, are afforded in Lord Malmsbury’s .Journal o f 1801, vol. iv., at the time o f the second armed neutral­
ity. Fox, it would appear, did not think it expedient to contest those
doctrines longer, after Europe had once pronounced itself for them, but
hoped, by assenting to them, to obtain great advantages for England. The
friendship o f the empress, especially, he endeavored to purchase by large
concessions and unbounded flattery. H e never directly asserted that he
considered the right o f search on the high seas o f neutral ships as strictly
based in law, but he pronounced it a measure o f great importance, and its
renunciation a great sacrifice, only to be counterbalanced by great and
substantial advantages. W hen, in 1801, F ox strenuously opposed the
northern war, and loudly declared the demands o f the neutrals just,
Thomas Grenville supposed he held this language because he wanted peace
at any price, and hoped it m ight again fall to his lot to conclude a peace
and take a seat in the cabinet.
Although the principles o f the armed neutrality were established only
in this manner, though the rights o f neutrals were to the leader o f the
English W h ig party nothing m ore than a matter o f convenience and in­
strument o f negotiation, yet in the hand o f the authoress o f the armed
neutrality they are the same. It has been supposed hitherto that the first
armed neutrality died a natural d ea th ; that the diplomacy o f England
dealt separately with her opponents, and the alliance once sundered,
Russia silently relinquished her leadership, as well as abandoned the motto
— “ Free ships, free goods.” To Sybel belongs the credit o f having first
brought to light (in the second volume o f his History o f the Revolution­
ary Period) the negotiation in consequence o f which Russia resigned her
claims.
In the articles o f the peace, concluded with France and Spain in 1783,
England renewed the stipulations o f Utrecht with regard to the neutral
flag. It could not be said that she made any concession to the armed
neutrality, since she only restored previous treaties. Holland, on the con­
trary, which had before received from England the admission o f the same
right o f the neutral flag, could not in the peace o f 1784 obtain a renewal
of it, notwithstanding Great Britain determined to make this concession
to the Americans, when forced to recognize their independence in the
peace o f Versailles, September 3, 1783. Y et Holland and North Am erica
had both belonged to the armed neutrality. It was by this politic course
that England succeeded in severing the alliance; two o f the powers aban­
doned the claims, to substantiate w hich they had entered the alliance.
That in 1786, she renewed the former stipulations with France, upon the
basis o f the treaty o f Utrecht, was justified by the ministry, in replying
to an attack o f the Marquis o f Lansdowne, upon the ground that nothing
was more improbable than a naval war in which one o f the two powers,
England or France, should remain neutral.




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Russia, and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

W ith Russia England had not been at war, so there was no occasion
for a peace, and the long-talked-of treaty o f Commerce (the former having
expired in 1 *786) was purposely, no doubt, avoided. On the verge o f the
French Revolution, the second partition o f Poland came near causing a
misunderstanding between England and Russia. Pitt by no means shared
the infatuation under which Lord N orth labored, as we learn from Lord
Mahon, with regard to the first partition o f Poland.
That he did not
make a formal remonstrance to the second, was because Catherine found
means to make a concession w hich seemed to him o f sufficient importance
to justify his silence upon the occasion.
Sybel furnishes us, from the dispatches o f H ogguer, the ambassador of
the Netherlands, with the follow ing information. The ambassadors of the
maritime powers received immediate intelligence o f the conclusion o f the
treaty o f partition between Russia and Prussia, (on the 23d o f January,
1793.) Lord W hitw orth at once, in January, and without awaiting in­
structions, entered an earnest protest.
Councilor W a rkoff had the face
to reply that future events could not be foreseen, but at present no parti­
tion would take place. The lying system, however, could not long be
kept up. As early as the 6th o f February, Ostermann communicated to
Lord W hitw orth the instructions to be sent to W oronzow , the Russian
ambassador at London, which contained the concilatory declaration that
Russia would renounce all privileges o f the armed neutrality, and allow
England to do whatever she thought lit with regard to it. On the 11th
o f February a promise was added not only to forbid the subjects o f Russia
all trade with France, but to insist upon the adoption by the Courts of
Stockholm and Copenhagen o f a like regulation. A letter o f Catherine’s
to W oronzow empowered him to declare that if England could find means
to hinder the partition o f Poland the empress had no objection ; that she
was only forced to it by Prussia against her w ish ; and that she would be
glad to make a treaty o f alliance and Commerce, and would await the
propositions to that end o f the English ministry.
These propositions were not long deferred. In consequence o f them two
treaties were, on the 25th o f March, 1783,- subscribed at London. One
renewed the treaty o f Com merce o f 1766 ; the other contains the alliance
o f war against “ the persons who carry on the government in France,”
and in it this remarkable fourth article:— “ Their majesties pledge them­
selves to unite all their efforts to hinder other powers not involved in this
war, on this occasion o f com m on interest to every civilized State, from
giving, by reason o f their neutrality, any protection, direct or indirect, to
the trade or property o f the French at sea or in the ports o f France.”
Thus does the authoress o f the armed neutrality unite herself with Eng­
land to refuse to the neutral fla g the protection o f enemy's property— that
very protection w hich Russia had insisted on, which England had with­
held. The prophecy o f Sir James Harris was fulfilled.
Catherine had
not only turned her back on her own principles, but the English manifests
against Russia, o f D ecem ber 18, 1807, could say with justice that no
power had applied the English doctrine with greater harshness and sever­
ity than Russia under the Empress Catherine.
It was, indeed, a triumph
for Pitt-— the more brilliant that the humiliating measures o f his rival had
been useless. A n d at what price did P itt purchase this triumph ? A
price, we answer, at which England never hesitated whenever an advan­
tage was to be secured. The Catalonians, the Genoese, the Sicilians, the




Russia, and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

285

Norwegians can testify whether England’s policy ever scruples, if anything
is to be gained thereby, to subject a free people, as far as it depends on
her, to a foreign despotism.
Such is the connection o f the armed neutrality with the partition o f
Poland. Other times came, and another ruler sat on Russia’s throne.
Paul’s stormy temper, the recklessness o f his foreign policy, the unaccount­
ability o f the second half, at least, of his reign are well known.
Violent
enmity to the English prompted him to again bring forward the principles
of the armed neutrality, which his mother had once denied, and to add to
them another. This principle, the fifth, was not altogether new. It pro­
vided that when trading vessels sail under armed escort of a man-of-war,
the simple declaration o f the commander that there is no contraband on
hoard shall absolve the trading vessels o f all search from the belligerents.
The Netherlands, as early as 1051, asserted this principle with C rom w ell;
Denmark had, in her maritime laws o f 1683, enjoined upon the command­
ers o f armed escorts to resist all search; the doctrine was held by Eussia
in September, 1781, in the case o f a Swedish vessel as against Spain, and
subsequently adopted by her in several treaties.
Denmark and Sweden had, after the secession o f Russia, still clung to
the principles o f the armed neutrality. Danish and Swedish captains had,
during the war o f 1799, made a spirited resistance to the attempts o f the
English to search vessels sailing under their convoy, and though superior
force had at length disarmed, it had not intimidated them ; by means o f
negotiation, and ow ing to the appearance o f a British squadron in the
Baltic, Denmark was at length induced, in a preliminary convention o f
the 20th o f August, 1800, to reserve the question o f right for further dis­
cussion, and meanwhile discontinue her armed convoy.
Two days before the signing o f this convention the Emperor Paul issued
an invitation to the Baltic states, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia, to enter
into an alliance for the restoration o f neutral rights. H e at the same time
laid an embargo on all English property found in Eussia. H is wrath
against England was still further inflamed by the non-delivery o f Malta, in
violation, as he maintained, o f the treaty.
Nothing could be less agreeable to the northern powers than to be
forced into an alliance, prompted unquestionably by enmity to England,
and exposing them to her resentment. In vain the king o f Sweden sought
by his personal presence at St. Petersburg to effect a mitigation. D en­
mark’s position was awkward. In the face o f the convention she had just
signed, she was now to assert, if necessary with arms, a right, the discus­
sion o f which she had postponed, while she had renounced its practice.
And what was to becom e o f Prussia’s system o f neutrality, so carefully
cherished since the Peace o f Basle.
These governments, as we see from their measures, obeyed, not a prin­
ciple which they had voluntarily adopted, but the dictate o f the ill-temper
of one stronger than they. Sweden and Denmark entered into the Rus­
sian alliance on the 10th, Prussia on the 18th o f Decem ber, 1800. A t
the close o f March, 1801, the Danes took possession o f H amburg, or rather
of the gates and walls, laid an em bargo on English property, and destroy­
ed the buoys and other marks o f the channel. “ The occupation of H am ­
burg,” says an English writer on International Law, “ was at best but an
attempt to defend the law o f nations by means o f a direct breach o f it, an
attempt to assert a contested principle by the violation o f one universally




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Russia, and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

recognized, to protect a questionable right by an unquestionable wrong,
and to extend the privileges o f neutrals by a grievous infringement of
neutrality.” A similar outrage committed by Prussia, also upon Ham­
burg, though not known to our English author, exhibits an equal want of
principle and confusion o f ideas. A n English cruiser had captured a
Prussian ship in the Texel, and brought it into Cuxhaven. Prussia re­
quired the Ham burg authorities to take the prize forcibly from the Eng­
lish and restore it to the owner. N ow it is one o f the incontrovertible
maxims o f the law o f nations, known to all the world, except Mr. Yon
Ilaugvvitz, that the neutral cannot take upon himself the decision o f the
legality o f a seizure, except when the capture has been made in violation
o f his neutral jurisdiction, or the prize has been taken from one o f his own
subjects and brought by chance into his territory.
Neither o f these was here the case. In vain did the Ham burg Senate
expound what was consistent with neutrality and what was n o t; in vain
did it take counsel o f fear and purchasing from the Englishman his prize,
bestow it on the owner. Ritzebuttell was none the less occupied by the
Prussians. Hanover, too, was occupied by them, and indeed it is difficult
not to suppose a secret understanding between the Elector o f Brandenburg
and his colleague o f Hanover. A t all events Prussia did not do enough
to satisfy the Emperor Paul, who let her feel his strong hand by forbid­
ding, in a ukase o f the 13th o f February, 1801, all internal trade destined
ultimately for England, to pass through the Prussian states. That Prussia
was spared by England is also apparent. Charles Grey, subsequently Earl
Grey, in the debate on the address in 1801 said openly : “ It is not the
policy o f a great nation, but a low, contemptible subterfuge not to attack
Prussia, who is considered strong, while we attack Sweden and Denmark
because known to be weak.”
It was for Denmark to bear the brunt. In the naval battle o f Copen­
hagen, on H oly Thursday, A pril 2, 1801, victory was dearly purchased by
the English. The armistice o f A pril 9th suspended for a fortnight the
treaty o f armed neutrality, whose author Emperor Paul was murdered in
the night o f the 23d o f March. Thus Sweden escaped with only menaces.
An alteration in the policy o f Russia was, immediately upon the accession
o f Alexander, held out prospectively, and on the 20th o f A pril formally
announced by Count Pahlen. Assurances were given o f Alexander’s wish
for peace, provided, “ the justice and moderation o f the cabinet o f London
would permit him to reconcile the requirements o f humanity with what
the emperor owed to the dignity o f his crown and to the interests of his
allies.”
Fair w ords! A nd how did Russia manage it? In the maritime con­
vention o f June 17, 1801, it was in express words declared that the neutral
flag shall not protect enemies’ property. After this principle o f the armed
neutrality, twice with so much emphasis proclaimed to the four winds,
had been thus, without a blow , disavowed by Russia, no one can wonder
that upon occasion o f the new demands she was equally compliant. She
contented herself with the compromise, that vessels under armed convoy
m ight be searched b y ships o f war, but not by mere cruisers, and was
amiable enough to allow a little word to be smuggled in the definition of
effective b lock a d e; where before a blockade was recognized only when
constituted by vessels stationed for the purpose, and sufficiently near, it
was now open to the English, as they boasted in Parliament, either to




Russia, and the Principles o f the Arm ed Neutrality.

287

station their vessels or to cruise about and capture neutral vessels as guilty
of breach o f blockade, if they happened to be “ sufficiently near ” to exe­
cute this achievement.
Sweden and Denmark had been driven into the second armed neutrali­
ty by Paul. Russia now left them by her secession no choice but to sub­
scribe to the maritime convention. The blood had all been spilt in vain.
Let us hear the judgm ent o f two witnesses, a Frenchman and English­
man, upon the character o f Russia’s compliance. V ignon says: “ The
convention o f June 17 is one o f the most disgraceful treaties that a great
power has ever signed ; for the renunciation o f a most precious right can
never plead for itself the excuse o f necessity ; the conflict o f the principles
proclaimed on the 16th o f December, 1800, with those admitted on the
I7th of June, 1801, is one o f the proofs only too frequent, how wretched­
ly off is a country where all is so little to be depended upon as are the life
and temper o f one man.” Alison sa ys: “ This treaty is so far glorious for
England, that it confirms the correctness o f the English conception o f the
law o f nations in this important particular.” Alison further declares, that
no greater encomium can be bestowed upon this treaty, than was pro­
nounced by Napoleon, who says: “ Europe saw with astonishment this
ignominious treaty signed by Russia and imposed upon the Danes and
Swedes. It was equivalent to conceding to the English Parliament the
sovereignty o f the seas, and subjecting to it all other states. The treaty
was such as left England nothing more to desire; a power o f the third
rank would have been ashamed to sign it.”
But it was not enough for Russia to have twice proclaim ed and twice
disavowed the principles o f the armed neutrality.
Hostility to England was the m otto which in the Peace o f Tilsit pro­
cured to the Emperor Alexander, at the expense o f both friend and foe,
(as Prussia knows,) the alliance and favor o f Napoleon. The Russian
manifesto o f Novem ber 7, 1807, exhausts itself in virtuous indignation
over the piratical expedition o f England against Copenhagen. “ The em­
peror declares that no relations can be resumed until Denmark shall have
received satisfaction from England.” “ He proclaims anew,”— so runs the
manifesto— “ the principles o f the armed neutrality, that monument o f the
wisdom o f the Empress Catharine, and pledges him self never to act in op­
position to that system." It has fared with the one pledge as with the
other. Russia has not only not procured any satisfaction to the Danes,
but has done what it could to rob them o f N orway. And on the 1st o f
August, 1809— not two years after the vow was registered— appeared a
ukase, the second article o f w hich provides th a t: “ vessels freighted in
part with fabrics or products o f hostile countries, are to be arrested, the
goods confiscated, and sold for the benefit o f the crown. But in case the
said wares compose more than half the cargo, then not only the cargo hut
the ship also shall be confiscated.”




288

A Chapter in the H istory o f

Art. II.— A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF CURRENCY AND BANKING IN
NEW ENGLAND.
T he circular which follows was prepared by the H on Nathan Appleton,
o f Boston, in the year 1808, and the signers o f it were the principal firms
o f that city at the time, engaged in the trade with the country, most of
them being importers o f European goods.
This circular possesses much interest as an important incident in the
history o f the currency o f N ew England. The object o f it was to remedy,
if possible, the great inconvenience and the apprehended dangers of the
excessive issue o f the country bank notes for circulation, by discrediting
those banks in the different towns o f N ew England that refused to pay
their notes in specie. This object was fully accomplished, while at the
same time confidence was strengthened in those banks that promptly and
honorably m et their obligations.
The extract at the close o f this article from a pamphlet, published in
1831 bv Mr. Appleton, entitled “ A n Examination o f the Banking System
o f Massachusetts, in Reference to the Renewal o f the B ank Charters,” con­
tains a slight sketch o f the history o f the banking system o f N ew Eng­
land, w hich illustrates the important effects o f this circular at the time it
was issued. It was the first step in a movement which may be said to
have terminated in the establishment, in 1824, o f what has been called
“ the Suffolk Bank System,” the operation o f which was so efficient and
successful in causing the notes o f all the banks o f New England, both city
and country, to be at par in Boston, and in every part o f those States.
The main object, however, in publishing this circular now is, to call at­
tention to the statement accompanying it, respecting some o f the results
o f the business and o f the condition, after the lapse o f forty-eight years,
o f one hundred and nine business men, com posing sixty-four firms, whose
names are attached as the signers o f it. It has been so often repeated,
that to most people it has becom e a settled maxim, that o f the individuals
who engage in trade and Commerce in this country, not more than three
in a hundred are even moderately successful; or, rather, that ninety-seven
out o f every hundred w ho engage in business are unsuccessful, and fail
sooner or later. If this is generally true, the result with regard to the
signers o f this circular is very extraordinary. But we have never believed
it to be true.
The accuracy o f the statement may be relied on. It was prepared by
one o f the signers o f the circular, who was the youngest o f the number—
one w ho has been ever since, and still continues, in active business, and
for many years has been as much respected for his integrity o f character,
his munificent liberality, and his zeal in prom oting useful and philanthropic
objects, as for the intelligence, sagacity, and success in business which lias
rendered him one o f the wealthiest survivors o f the signers o f this cir­
cular.
CIRCULAR.

B oston,
1808.
To the Cashier of
Batik.
S ir :— The subscribers, merchants and traders in the town of Boston, from a
disposition to afford every facility and convenience to their country customers,
have been in the habit, since the establishment of country banks, of receiving the




Currency and Banking in N ew England.

289

bills issued by them in payment for goods, or debts, at -par; and which they were
for a good while enabled again to circulate without loss.
Within the last two years, however, many country banks have unwarrantably
abused this confidence placed in their bills, by refusing payment of them, when
presented, or by opposing every obstacle which chicanery and artifice could invent,
to delay or evade it. The obvious consequences have followed— the public confi­
dence has been shaken, their faith in written promises of institutions, avowedly
established as patterns of punctuality, no longer exists. Country bank paper has
depreciated, and cannot be negotiated without a discount, which varies from two
to four per cent. W e have, however, in hopes this unwarrantable conduct would
be abandonded, continued to receive this paper at par, and borne the loss of the
discount, till our patience is exhausted, and our suffering interest calls imperiously
for a change of measures. W e have therefore found ourselves compelled to send
the bills home for payment, and in case of refusal shall proceed to the collection
by due course of law. W e beg you will communicate this letter to the President
and Directors of
Bank, and hope that by a prompt payment
of their bills, they will save us from the disagreeable necessity o f resorting to the
legal alternative.
W e are, sir, your very obedient servants,
B. & T. Wiggin,
S. & N. Appleton,
Bellows, Cordis & Jones,
Sewall, Salisbury & Co.
Gore, Miller, & Parker,
S. & H. Higginson,
Kirk Boott,
Otis & Dwight,
Knowles & Hurd,
Parker & Appleton,
James & John Carter,
Benjamin Kich,
Storrow & Brown,
Haven, Williams & Co.
Bond & Prentiss,
Gassett, Upham & Co.
Rice, Reed & Co.
Peter Diekerman,
Phineas Poster,
Minchin & Welch,
Munroe & Grosvenor,
Seth W right & Son,

David Greenough,
C. & G. Barrett,
William Appleton & Co.
Colburn & Gill,
Giles Lodge,
Cabot & Lee,
John Tappan,
S. J. Prescott & Co.
Joseph Nye & Son,
N . & R. Freeman,
Tuckerman, Shaw & Ro­
gers,
P. & S. Clark,
Smith & Otis,
Freeman & Cushing,
Pratt & Andrews,
Richardson & Wheeler,
Eben Francis,
Thomas C. Amory & Co.
Timothy Williams,
Bryant P. Tilden,
Cornelius Coolidge & Co.

Thomas Wigglesworth,
Joseph Tilden,
Uriah Cotting,
William Shimmin,
Andrew Eliot,
Stevens & Joy,
Samuel May,
John Grew,
Jonathan Phillips,
Ebenezer & John Breed,
Torrey, Symmes & Co.
Joshua Davis,
Whitney & Dorr,
Samuel Dorr,
Luther Faulkner & Co.
Howe & Spear,
John Binney,
Samuel Billings,
David S. Eaton,
Lovejoy & Taggard,
Whitney, Cutler & Ham­
mond.

Of one hundred and nine individuals, representing the sixty-four busi­
ness firms who signed the above circular to the hanks in the year 1808,
there were only twenty-six living on the 1st of January, 1856 ; 83 o f the
number have closed their accounts on earth.
F ifty (50) of the one hundred and nine individuals were unsuccessful
in business, and only six of that fifty are now living.
F ifty- nine (59) o f the one hundred and nine may be considered as
having been, in a greater or less degree, successful in business, as they ac­
quired property and never failed. O f this number twenty are now living.
T hirty-two (32) of the number acquired sufficient property to be hide
pendent and comfortable, varying in amounts, but none supposed to exceed
one hundred thousand dollars.
T hirteen (13) acquired fortunes varying from one hundred thousand to
three hundred thousand dollars.
19
VOL. xxxiv.— NO. III.




290
Seven
thousand
Seven
lars, four

A Chapter in the H istory o f

(7) acquired fortunes o f between three hundred and five hundred
dollars.
(7) acquired fortunes supposed to be at least one million of dol­
of whom are now living.

The above statement has been prepared with much care, and is believed
to be c o rre ct; it is certainly sufficiently so for the present object, o f show­
ing the pecuniary result o f the business o f these gentlemen. It may be
doubted if a m ore favorable result could be found in the experience of
nearly half a century, in any country, or in any profession or pursuit,
taking a list o f names, as occurs in this instance, without selection, except
that it may be presumed they constituted the prominent firms in Boston,
engaged at the time in a particular branch o f trade.
The results shown by this statement are at variance with the popular
idea that few o f those who engage in commercial pursuits in this country
are successful. It presents a m ore cheering prospect to the young mer­
chant, and is m ore encouraging to him to persevere in intelligent and use­
ful enterprise, than the popular notion alluded to, which would discourage
him at the start with a belief that, exert himself ever so much, there are
only three chances in a hundred that his efforts will avail h im ; that sooner
or later, after years o f exertion with industry, and frugality, and integrity,
he can hardly expect to avoid being a ruined and disappointed man.
It is hoped that this statement o f the actual result o f the business of
one hundred and nine merchants, covering half a century o f time, may
help to destroy this disgraceful and, as the writer believes, unmerited stig­
ma on the merchants o f this country, which has been so often quoted and
repeated to discourage the enterprise and blast the aspirations o f our young
merchants. They certainly com m ence their career with greater advan­
tages o f education, and o f aids, by means o f mercantile libraries and asso­
ciations, for mental culture and obtaining business information, than was
com m on fifty years ago ; it remains for them to prove whether they possess
equal advantages in habits o f industry, o f application to business, and of
integrity o f character, all o f which was absolutely requisite to insure suc­
cess as a merchant.
The effect o f the foregoing circular, and its importance as an incident
in the history o f the currency o f New England, which renders it worthy
o f now being recorded in the Merchants' Magazine, to redeem it from ob­
livion, will be apparent in reading the follow ing extract from the pamphlet
by the H on. N athan A ppleton, published in 1831. This extract also
contains many interesting facts in the history o f banking that should not
be forgotten. W e deem it important to preserve them, and occasionally
to refresh the minds of business men with them, that they may avail of
past experience to guard against future dangers. W e would preserve, also,
and call attention to the carefully-considered views and opinions o f a gen­
tleman so thoroughly acquainted as Mr. Appleton with commercial sub­
jects, and particularly with the operations o f the currency laws o f Euro­
pean countries, as well as our o w n ; a gentleman who has publicly and
privately done much for the Com m erce o f the country', and to elevate the
character o f American merchants.
The differences o f opinion with regard to important principles o f the
currency question in this country often arise from the different points of
view in considering it. T oo many o f our business men are disposed to
consider it merely in reference to their purchases and sales and the pay­




Currency and Banking in N ew England.

291

ment o f their debts; they sometimes think that the m ore unsound and
fluctuating the currency m ay'he the better for them. This is particularly
the case with a class o f needy traders or speculators, who are constantly
in debt and o f doubtful credit. Such men cannot comprehend w hy one
kind o f money is not as good as an oth er; they usually think it extreme
folly to talk o f a sounder currency, or o f any advantages in specie over
paper money. There is another and a higher view o f the subject o f cur­
rency, o f far greater importance to the com m unity; it is, that the cur­
rency should be a just standard o f value, operating with equal justice to
the creditor and the debtor, to the honest farmer, mechanic, or laborer, to
the experienced banker, and to the skillful trader. In this view it becomes
a question affecting the character and morals o f the community as well as
their p ock ets; it affects the general business o f the country, the importa­
tions o f merchandise, and the value o f property o f all kinds.
It is in this latter view that Mr. Appleton has considered the subject o f
the currency in this extract from his pamphlet. It will be perceived that
the principles and opinions expressed are sound and useful, and as applic­
able to the present condition o f the banks and o f the currency question
in this country, as they were when published a quarter o f a century ago.
The pamphlet is now out o f print. W e are quite sure, therefore, our
readers will require no apology for the length o f the extract:—
The period is not very remote when it was considered by many persons injuri­
ous and improper to call on a bank for specie in payment of its bills; when the
brokers who sent home the bills of country banks were denounced as speculators
and bloodsuckers, whose extirpation would bo a public benefit. Respectable men
have been known, in the halls of legislation, to defend the conduct of banks in in­
terposing obstacles to the payment o f their notes to brokers, who had bought
them up at a discount. About the year 1806, the State of Vermont established
a State Bank, with several branches, on the principle that no capital whatever
was necessary to banking operations; borrowers were furnished with the bills of
those banks, on paying one-third of the amount into the bank in specie, and giving
their notes for the other two-thirds. The borrowers would naturally take care
that the notes which they gave to the bank should not be more valuable than those
they received in exchange. It is not surprising, therefore, that the banks soon
failed. It is a fact, however, that a Boston broker was brought before a grand
jury for demanding payment in specie for the bills of one of those banks, on the
complaint of the Attorney-General of the State, as guilty of an indictable of­
fense.
These mistaken views have long since passed away. Bank operations have be­
come better understood.
Bank notes are no longer considered as money, but as the representation of mo­
ney, and of no value any farther than money can be obtained for them. A bank
professing to deal in money, or to loan money, is understood to give to every per­
son dealing with it a free choice to receive money or bank notes at his option j
and the bank is expected to exchange the notes so received for the money they
represent, when the convenience of the holder leads him to ask it, with equal
promptitude and courtesy.
The common consent of mankind has established gold and silver as the common
measure of the value of all other commodities, and the common medium for ex­
changing them, and has given them, in the state of coin, the name of money ;
some nations making use of one of these metals, some of the other, and some of
both.
The laws of the United States have established the currency of both gold and
silver, at the option of the payer; but owing to a change in their relative values
since the passage of the laws regulating the mint, (1792,) gold has ceased to make
any part of our actual currency, which now consists entirely of silver. By our




292

A Chapter in the H istory o f

mint regulations, gold is estimated to be worth fifteen times the same weight of
silver ; whereas, in the markets of Europe, for many years, gold has commanded
about fifteen and four-fifth times its weight in silver. Of course, whenever gold
makes its appearance in the country, it is sold as an article of merchandise, com­
manding a premium of from four to six per cent over the rate established by law.
It is an interesting question, whether a change should or should not be made in
our mint regulations, in order to bring gold into circulation according to the
original plan. A report of the Secretary of the Treasury on this subject was
laid before Congress during their last session, accompanied by numerous docu­
ments and tables. The Secretary arrives at the conclusion that it is impossible so
to regulate the proportion of these metals to each other as to secure their circulation
together, and that silver is the more eligible standard of the two. It does not come
within the plan of this essay to enter into a discussion of this subject. The writer
is of opinion, however, that such a reduction in the weight of our gold coin as
would equalize it, as near as may be, with the present value of silver, and thus
bring it into partial, if not general, circulation, would be a decided improvement
in our system.*
The business of banking may properly be defined the trade or traffic in money,
or in securities for the payment of money, excluding all trade in merchandise other
than bullion or foreign coins.
The issuing notes for circulation is incidental to the business of banking, but
does not make a necessary part of it. The famous Bank of Amsterdam never
issued notes. The Bank of England does so to a great extent, being the great
fountain of paper circulation for Groat Britain. The bankers of London, how­
ever, never issue notes.
In the United States there has never, probably, been a bank established which
has not issued notes for circulation ; in fact, the issuing such notes is, most fre­
quently, the leading object and motive. It may well be questioned, however,
whether it would not be an improvement in our system, to separate, in many cases,
the right of issuing notes for circulation from the other branches of banking.
The public have a deep interest in the solidity and good management of a bank
of circulation, whilst they have comparatively none in the management of a bank
employing their own funds in making discounts tuily, or in buying and selling bills
of exchange. It would seem, therefore, that banks of the first class should be es­
tablished on a principle of safety, and guarded with a care and vigilance which
might be dispensed with, in a great measure at least, in respect to those of the
second class.
The place where a bank note is payable is of the utmost importance, in order to
secure its general currency at par. That place must be the commercial center of
the district through which it is to circulate. The constant demand for remittances
to this central point will give to bank notes payable there a constant equality
with, or preference over, specie, through all the district of country drawing their
supplies from that center. Thus a bank note, payable in Boston, will have a nat­
ural circulation through all that part of New England trading to Boston, or draw­
ing their supplies from thence ; but the moment the line is passed into the district
drawing their supplies from New York, bank notes payable in that city can alone
supply a pure circulation, and so of the other great cities. The depreciated paper
currencies which have, at different times, inundated so many parts of the United
States, have generally been owing to a departure from correct principles in this
particular; to the forcing into circulation the bills of banks situated in places
* A greater change than is here suggested was made by the law o f 1834, by which gold coin is
made current at the rate o f sixteen times its weight in silver. The effect o f this law was, practically,
to change our currency from silver to gold, even before the discovery o f gold in California. So
great was the export of silver, in consequence of this excessive reduction in the value of gold as
compared with silver, and the inconveniences resulting from the want o f it for change, that
the law of 1852 was passed, authorizing a silver coinage, made current in limited quantity at some­
thing like - per cent above its actual value. This has remedied the evil, our currency now consist­
ing, like that o f Great Britain, of gold as its substratum.




Currency and Banking in N ew England.

293

more or loss remote from the commercial centers, toward which all circulation
tends.
A hasty sketch of the course of banking in Massachusetts willfully illustrate
this truth, as respects ourselves, and ought to furnish us a lesson of some use for
the future.
The Massachusetts Bank was established in Boston in 1784, being the second
bank established in the United States; the Union Bank in Boston in 1792 ; banks
in Salem and Newburyport soon after; and by the year 1803, no fewer than
twelve country banks had been established in Massachusetts, extending from Kennebeck east, to Northampton in the interior. Numerous banks were also incor­
porated about this time in the adjoining States.
While the only bank notes in circulation were payable in Boston, they were
preferred to specie, both in town and country; but from the moment the notes is­
sued by the banks of places at even small distances made their appearance, the
question arose whether they should be received at the Boston banks; the practice
was fluctuating, sometimes at par, sometimes at a small discount. The country
banks considered it a great hardship, that the Boston banks should send home
their bills and demand specie for them, instead of putting them in circulation
again. Public opinion took the side of the country banks, and the Boston banks,
very unadvisedly, gave up receiving the bills of out-of-town banks altogether.
The consequence was, that the bills of country banks obtained the entire circula­
tion even within the town of Boston. The Boston banks had given them credit
and currency, their solvency was not doubted, and for all common purposes they
became equally current with the bills of the Boston banks, which were only ne­
cessary for the purpose of making payments at those banks. A double currency
was thus introduced— the one called “ foreign money,” or “ current m o n e y t h e
other “ Boston money ”— the difference being, for several years, about 1 per cent.
It was deemed a sort of heresy to call this difference a discount on country bills ;
it was a premium on Boston money— a scarce commodity, only wanted for partic­
ular purpose; precisely as the difference in England between Bank of England
notes and guineas, at the period of the greatest depreciation, was held to be a pre­
mium on gold.
This state of things introduced a new branch of business and a new set of men
—that of money brokers— whose business it was to exchange these currencies, one
for the other, reserving for themselves a commission of about one-quarter of 1 per
cent; or in the language of the day, giving a premium of three-quarters per cent
for Boston money, and selling it at a premium of 1 per cent. While the quantity
of foreign money continued moderate, it was thus kept afloat by the demand for
circulation, as persons wanting money to send into the country, or for other pur­
poses, where foreign money would be received, would buy and employ this cheaper
currency, rather than use the more valuable bills of the Boston banks. But the
business of issuing these notes being a profitable one, the supply ere long exceeded
the demand, and, as the channels of circulation overflowed, the brokers began to
send the bills home for payment.
The state of the currency became the subject of general complaint, the brokers
were denounced as the authors of the mischief, as the cause of scarcity of money,
and the country banks made no scruple of throwing every obstacle in the way of
their opex-ations. It is a well-known principle, that when a currency is tolei-ated,
composed of materials depreciated in different degi’ees, the inferior, or the most
depreciated currency, will eventually expel, not only the pure, but also the less de­
preciated parts of the currency, and this equally whether it consist of paper or
metal; the mass of the community being wholly insensible to the process of de­
preciation going on. In conformity with this principle, the nearest banks were
naturally called on first, and it was soon discovered that a bank could be made
profitable in proportion to its distance from Boston, and the difficulty of access to
it. The establishment of distant banks became a matter of speculation, the fa
vorite location being the remote parts of Maine and New Hampshire.
In oi'der to equalize and extend the circulation of foreign bank notes, an insti­
tution was incorporated in 1804, call the Boston Exchange Office, with a capital




294

A Chapter in the H istory o f

consisting wholly of such notes, in which currency it received deposits, collected
notes, and made discounts. The experiment, however, was not very successful;
brokers continued to send home, the bills of the nearer banks, until they disap­
peared, and the discount on foreign money continued to increase as the bills of the
more distant banks predominated.
In the meantime, an individual, perceiving how convenient an engine the Ex­
change Office might be made for the purpose of circulating the notes of particu­
lar banks, undertook one of the most extraordinary speculations ever attempted
in any country— no less than the control and monopoly of the circulating medium
of bi ew England. He bought up at a great premium nearly the whole stock of
the Exchange Office, of several distant banks, as the Berkshire and Penobscot,
and of several in Rhode Island, amongst others the celebrated Farmers’ Exchange.
Ip several of them he apparently obtained the entire control of their issues. The
funds so obtained were invested in the purchase of real estate, and the erection
thereon of the enormous pile, since destroyed by fire, known by the name of the
Boston Exchange Coffee House.
Had the money thus placed within his control been employed judiciously, it is
difficult to say what might have been the result, But under the enormous in­
vestment, in property wholly inconvertible, he became pressed for means, and was
forced to push his bank-notes into circulation on any terms. In this state of
things, the discount on country bank-notes rapidly increased, and the obstacles to
making payments were multiplied in equal degree. Many ingenious methods of
counting money were invented, in order to create delay ; and the custom was in­
troduced of giving drafts on an agent in Boston at 10, 20, and 30 days, which
were extended by degrees to 60, and even 90 ; and in consequence of the drafts
being in some cases dishonored, the parties were permitted to retain the bills as
security, when they required it. The discount on foreign money increased to 4,
and even to 5 per cent.
By this time the merchants and dealers engaged in country trade, on whom the
burden of this depreciated currency fell most severely, thought it time to interfere.
In the autumn of 1808 they raised a fund for the purpose of sending home the
bills received in the way of business for payment, with the determination of en­
forcing it by bringing numerous suits in case of refusal. This soon brought the
currency to a crisis. The Farmers’ Exchange Bank suddenly failed, under the
most alarming circumstances: the shock upon the public was tremendous. The
Berkshire Bank soon followed. The discovery that banks could fail, affected the
credit of all, and in the course of the year 1809, the greater part of the country
banks in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire, having any considerable
amount of bills in circulation, stopped payment. Some of them recovered, but a
great number proved irredeemably insolvent. It would probably be a moderate
estimate to put the losses by the bank failures of that period at a million of
dollars.
N o change of system followed, with the exception that a law of the State, taking
effect in 1810, imposed a penalty of 2 per cent a month on every bank refusing or
delaying payment of their bills when demanded, which has had the effect of secur­
ing punctual payment, except in cases of acknowledged bankruptcy.
For some years after the explosion of 1809, the amount of bills of distant banks
in circulation was moderate; and in 1814 the New England Bank adopted the
measure of receiving the bills of all the banks in New England, at a discount
varying according to distance, but in no case exceeding 1 per cent, and on condi­
tion of a sufficient permanent deposit being kept good, they were returned to the
banks issuing them at the same rate of discount; the bills of banks not keeping
such deposit, were sent home for payment.
This arrangement was the source of considerable profit to the New England
Bank, which induced other banks to become competitors for the deposits of the
country banks, and for a few years the discount was fluctuating from £ to \ per
cent. In 1824 the present system was adopted, by which the bills of all the banks
of New England are received in Boston at par. The system is this: certain
banks in Boston have contributed a sum agreed on to a common fund, and in con-




Currency and Banking in N ew England.

295

Bideration of the use of that fund, one of them— the Suffolk— undertakes to receive
all New England bills from the associated banks as cash, and collect them from
the country banks. The mode of doing it is as follows : the country banks are
invited to keep a fund in deposit at the Suffolk Bank for the redemption of their
bills, and by doing so, it becomes a very simple operation to both parties. If
they decline, the bills are sent homo for payment, in which case, nothing is re­
ceived but specie. The trouble and inconvenience attending this mode of pay­
ment soon induce the ctfuntry bank to yield to its true interest, and keep up the
deposit, since thereby it can keep in circulation a larger amount of bills than it
would otherwise be safe to attempt.
Under this system the character of the currency has become wholly unexcep­
tionable ; all New England bank-notes are virtually redeemable in specie, at par,
at the counters of the associated banks in Boston, and this equally whether the
banks issuing the notes agree to it or not. It was, in fact, the subject of great
complaint with many country banks, that their bills should, thus be raised in value
to an equality with specie against their own consent. But the public being ben­
efited by the change, they have been obliged to submit in silence.
It is, in fact, apparent that in all the changes of our currency, the quality of be­
ing exchangeable for specie in Boston has been that on which every bank-note
has depended for circulation. N o matter whether the specie has been advanced
by friend or foe, by broker or banker, at par or at a discount, it was the fact or
the belief, that money could be had for it at Boston, which alone has given it
general currency. It is true, that up to 1824, the currency has been depre­
ciated ; and the measure of that depreciation has always been the rate which it
was necessary to pay in Boston to convert that currency into specie. During the
first period— from 1800 to 1809— the paper dollar of country banks was grad­
ually depreciating from 100 to 95 cents, according to the price which a Boston
broker would give for it. So, from 1814 to near 1824, the currency was nearly
uniform at about 99 cents to the dollar, because that sum would be paid for it by
the New England Bank in Boston. During the first period the currency was
depreciated, and to that evil was added another uncertainty or fluctuation in the
amount of depreciation ; during the latter period depreciation was the only evil,
the rate being nearly uniform.*
No argument can be necessary to prove that a depreciated currency, whether
uniform or fluctuating, is one of the greatest evils which can befall a nation, hav­
ing reference to its legislation. It is true, with us each individual has the remedy
in his own hands, no one being obliged to receive anything but gold or silver.
But experience shows that this right will have very little effect in checking the
evil in small transactions. The shopkeepers and small dealers think it better to
raise the price of their goods than to turn away a customer who offers them any­
thing which has obtained a currency as money. The only security against a de­
preciated currency with us lies in the fact that the bills of the banks in circulation
shall be redeemable at par in Boston.
The present system would leave us nothing to desire in this particular, could
we be assured of its permanence; but of this there is good reason to doubt.
The principal inducement to the associated banks to appropriate the necessary

* This state o f things was certainly an improvement on the other, although it is not to be con­
cealed that it favored the circulation o f the bills of distant country banks. A great increase o f their
circulation accordingly took place during this period. The bills were put in circulation through
Boston brokers, and a large portion o f their funds employed in Boston. At the same time, the sys­
tem afforded no security to the p u b lic; their being received at the New England or other banks de­
pended on their deposit being kept so good as to leave no doubt of their solvency. The banks were
the first to discover symptoms of weakness, and sure to take care o f themselves. The failures o f the
Hallowed and Augusta, Castine, Wiscasset, Hallowed, Bangor, and Kennebeck banks, took place in
1820, 1821, and 1822, under the operation o f this system. The bills of these banks in circulation at
the time of their failure cannot have been much short of a million of dollars. The official return of
the three first named, four months before their failure, gave four hundred and sixty thousand dollars
as the amount of their circulation.




296

Currency and Banking in N ew England.

fund to this purpose, undoubtedly was the belief that the measure would materially
increase their circulation. This they had a right to expect; but this effect has
been in a great degree defeated by the establishment of banks in the immediate
vicinity of the city, as at Charlestown, Cambridge, Roxbury, & c.; banks which
owe their existence to this system, and have acquired a large circulation.
Besides, a few banks are bearing a burden for the sake of an advantage which
is equally shared by all the banks of the city and vicinity, and there is necessarily
much uncertainty in the permanency of an association of doubtful individual ben­
efit under such circumstances, however beneficial it may be to the public.
There is, however, another point in which the deficiency of our present system is
much more apparent, about which there can be no dispute— that is, the inade­
quacy of our provisions to guard against bankruptcy, against bank failures. No
other evidence of this need be required than the fact, that within the last eighteen
months two among the banks most recently chartered in the Commonwealth, have
stopped payment and proved deeply insolvent; while a third has been found, on
examination, in a situation of so much uncertainty as to induce a repeal of its
charter. Or, if other evidence be necessary, it exists in the list of banks, chartered
by the State of Massachusetts under the existing system, which have become
bankrupt, and all since the year 1809, v iz .: Berkshire, Northampton, Penobscot,
Hallowell and Augusta, Lincoln and Kennebeck, Bangor, Castine, Kennebeck,
Wiscasset, Passamaquoddy, Sutton, and Bclchertown— twelve banks failed in
twenty years. Surely it is time to pause, to inquire if there be no remedy, before
it is too late, by renewing the charters of all the existing banks on the present
system.
The cause of failure in all these cases is easily traceable to one source—the
original want of capital. Solid capital is the only safe basis of a paper circula­
tion. Country banks have frequently if not generally been established with very
little real capital; the motive and object in their establishment not having been
the investment and employment of capital, but the profit to be derived from the
circulation of bank-notes. There is nothing censurable in establishing them for
this purpose ; if the public require and choose to employ a depreciated currency,
there is nothing censurable in undertaking to furnish it. It were idle to employ
capital where capital is not wanted. There is no difficulty in setting a bank in
operation with no permanent capital. The responsibility of such a bank rests en­
tirely on the character and responsibility of the debtors to the bank. I f managed
with prudence and skill, no difficulty occurs. But such institutions, under the
best management, are not the proper basis of a general circulating medium.
It has not been uncommon for banks to have been gotten up with a view to
furnish funds for private speculation or the private use of the principal stock­
holders ; or the same object has been sometimes accomplished by buying up a
majority of the stock, so as to control a choice of directors. It is obvious that
banks so situated furnish a very unsafe circulating medium, since the solvency of
the bank depends on the success and solvency of the principal stockholders, who,
in such cases, are usually the directors.
It is believed that in all cases of bank failures in Massachusetts, the failure of
the principal stockholders and directors has accompanied or preceded the failure
of the bank. The great point, therefore, to be guarded against is, the liability of
banks to fall into few hands, to be used for their private speculations.
The pamphlet goes on in remarks upon the bank tax, which the author
proposes to change from one per cent, on the capital o f banks, to three
per cent on their circulation.




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Commerce o f the United States.

Art. I I I . — COMMERCE

OF T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S *
N U M B ER X X III.

R E S I D E N T C O M M IS S IO N E R S OF C U S T O M S — D U T Y O N G L A S S , T E A , P A P E R , & C . — N O N -IM P O R T A T IO N A G R E E ­
M ENT— HOW

OBSERVED

BY

D IFF E R E N T

E A C H P A R T Y — R E T R E A T OF T H E

C O L O N IE S — R E A S O N S

OF T H I S

D IF F E R E N C E — E F F E C T S

ON

M I N I S T R Y — N O N -I M P O R T A T I O N L I M I T E D , W I T H T H E D U T Y , T O T E A ,

E T C ., E T C .

T ub beneficent acts o f 1760, removing or modifying recent legislative
obstacles to the commercial prosperity o f the colonies, had the effect o f
renewing the enterprise o f the provincials in its former vigor. The results
upon the interests both o f England and o f America, though embarrass­
ments still existed, were such as fully to justify the retreat from the revenue
experiments o f the preceding years, and ought to have precluded every
thought o f their revival. The year 1767 was allowed to come in favor­
ably, and among the earlier legislation o f the year some little encourage­
ments were extended to colonial trade.
Rice was permitted free export
from the colonies to Great Britain until Decem ber 1 o f the same year, and
Sago-powder and Vermicelli until D ecem ber 1, 1781. The act permitting
the export o f Rice in British built ships, navigated according to law, to
any part o f Europe south o f Cape Finisterre, being about expiring, was
renewed. The free import into England o f Cochineal and Indigo from
America, as provided in an act o f 1760, was also continued.
But the urgent necessities o f English finance still endured. The House
and W in dow tax had been added, in 1766, to the burdens o f the realm,
and amid the embarrassments which surrounded them, a ministry which
had come in as professed friends o f colonial exemption, and which was
headed by the Earl o f Chatham himself, could not refrain a longing look
toward the abundant resources o f North Am erica. Even amid the good
endeavors o f 1766, a coercive essay in favor o f the defeated principle of
taxation, was determined upon. A s the preliminary provision was made
the same year for sending troops to America, and by the amendment to
the Mutiny act, alluded to, the incipient step in the renewed policy was
taken, but in a form so feeble and hesitating as to make the attempt ut­
terly ridiculous. It was solemnly enacted that the colonial governments
should provide the troops thus sent with, in addition to quarters, the cheap
luxury o f beer, and the simple condiments o f salt and vinegar, sharing
thus, slightly, with England in the burden o f the support o f this standing
force. The act came first into operation in New Y ork, the assembly o f
which colony refused to issue the required orders for its enforcement, and
it accordingly failed.
Late in the spring o f 1767, an act was passed for making the collection
system within the colonies more efficient. The revenue officers in the col­
onies were often obliged to apply for instructions on doubtful points to the
Commissioners o f the Customs in London, a procedure occasioning much
delay and inconvenience ; to avoid which it was now enacted that resident
* This with one more number will close this series o f papers for the present, at least, for the
reason stated in the following extract of a letter to the editor o f this Magazine. Mr. Hale writes:—
“ l have met with a misfortune which must bring to an immediate close the series on the Com­
merce of the United States—a destructive fire at Rondout, on the 8th inst., pulverized the Courier
office, and with it about two thousand pages o f manuscript, in which were all my notes for the Com­
merce of the United States. I can never again go through the labors I endured in preparing these
notes, and without such labor the series could never be completed in any manner at all correspond­
ing with the style in which they thus fur have been carried.”




298

Commerce o f the United States.

Commissioners o f the Customs should be appointed for America, located
at Boston, who should be independent in their functions o f the Commis­
sioners in England, and as well o f any action o f the colonial legislatures.
This was followed by a bill for levying the contemplated taxes. Al­
though measures referring to coercion had been adopted, it was yet hoped
the form o f the new scheme was such as would avoid the objections raised
by the Americans to the former attempts.
Townshend, the Chancelor of
the Exchequer, who devised the project, and introduced it in Parliament,
boasted in the House o f Commons that he knew “ how to draw a revenue
from the colonies without giving them offense.”
H e was not without
reason in this opinion o f his measure, since what he proposed was simply
the laying o f duties in the accustomed style upon certain articles imported
into the colonies. The Americans had always submitted to acts o f this
character, or avoided them only by clandestine means, conceding the full
power o f Parliament to impose them. They had never dreamed o f shar­
ing in the power o f legislation upon the subject o f their outward trade.
Could they ask now to divide that authority?
But times had changed. The Americans had o f late revised some of
their former opinions. The Stamp act, and the accompanying measures,
had set them to the study o f the British constitution, which they now
comprehended better than the generality o f British statesmen did. Hav­
ing discovered that representation was the corollary o f the power to tax,
they became sensible also that under the authority o f regulating Com­
merce was concealed, in one o f its most effective and most dangerous forms,
an unchecked power o f taxation.
The system to which they had freely
submitted while their Commerce was in its infancy, and while the govern­
ment was disposed to leniency, would not answer for the developed state
o f the now important interest, and for the existing m ood o f the supervis­
ing power. Although, to avoid collision and the violence o f a sudden
change o f usages, the system, so far as it had gone, m ight for the present
be borne, its farther extension could not be tolerated.
During the sickness o f the Earl o f Chatham, in May, Mr. Townshend
introduced his bill, laying sundry duties upon Glass, Painters’ Colors, Teas,
Paper, Pasteboard, and Paper Hangings imported into the colonies from
Great Britain. The revenue from these duties was to be appropriated for
the support o f the civil governments in the colonies, and the balance, in
case o f any surplus, to be paid into the British exchequer, to be used by
Parliament in provision for the defense o f the colonies. The same act
abolished the drawback before allowed on the export o f Chinaware to
Am erica, thus saving to the treasury the whole original duty paid on the
im port into Great Britain. Although professing to avoid occasion of of­
fense to the North Americans, the author o f this act saw fit yet to make
it the vehicle o f an invidious distinction between them and the W est In­
dia colonists. W h ile its action upon the interests o f the former was only
unfavorable, it encouraged the planters o f coffee and cacao by allowing on
exportation from Great Britain a drawback o f the whole duty payable on
the im port o f those articles. The act passed with little opposition, in
June, and received the royal assent on the 29th o f that month.
Immediately follow ing this was an act im posing a duty o f 2J per cent
ad valorem on the export o f R ice from the colonies.
The same act granted the partial offset to this tax, o f permitting the
export o f L ogw ood from any o f the colonies free. The northern colonies




Commerce o f the United States.

299

had been long engaged in the cutting o f this article at Honduras, and at
this time there was exported to Holland alone from New Y ork, Boston,
and Rhode Island, 1,000 to 1,500 tons annually.
Another act added further encouragement to the cultivation and dress­
ing o f H em p and Flax in the colonies, providing for a fund o f £1 5,00 0 a
year for the payment o f premiums, &c., to be raised by laying additional
duties on foreign canvas and lawns im ported for consumption into Great
Britain.
Another measure was a coercive effort against the Assembly o f the
province o f New York, suspending the legislative functions o f that body
in all other matters, until it should furnish the troops stationed there with
the supplies required in the amendment to the Mutiny Act.
Such was the legislation o f 176V— in its main features more unwise,
considering the circumstances o f the time, than that o f any preceding
year. The popular excitement was at once renewed in the colonies, and
reached nearly the height it had attained under the Stamp A ct. The
writers who had used their pens with such effect on the former occasions,
again made urgent and most eloquent appeals to the public, through the
newspapers and by pamphlets, in behalf o f the principles o f freedom from
taxation and o f unrestricted trade. The legitimate issue o f the position
concerning the inseparability o f representation and the power o f taxing,
assumed in the former case, was now by many unhesitatingly enunciated
— the complete legislative disjunction o f the colonies from the empire.
Boston, as before, inaugurated the system o f retaliative measures to be
followed by the colonists generally. A town meeting was called there on
the 28th o f October, at which several resolutions were adopted by a unan­
imous vote, evincing, as MacPherson complains, “ a determination rather
to widen than to heal the breach with the mother country, and to direct
their attacks against her Commerce, which they considered as her most
vulnerable part, as well as that which they could distress without the in­
fringement o f any law.”
The preamble to these resolutions assumes that “ the excessive use o f
foreign superfluities is the chief cause o f the present distressed state o f
this town, as it is thereby drained o f its money ; which misfortune is likely
to be increased by means o f the late additional burdens and impositions
on the trade o f the province, w hich threaten the country with poverty and
ruin.” To remedy the evil, it was therefore resolved immediately to lessen
the use o f all superfluities imported from abroad, totally abstaining, from
the 1st o f December, from the use o f the following foreign articles, v iz .:
“ loaf-sugar, cordage, anchors, coaches, chaises and carriages o f all sorts,
horse furniture, men’s and women’s hats, men’s and women’s apparel ready
made, household furniture, gloves, men’s and women’s shoes, sole-leather,
sheathing and deck nails, gold, silver, and thread lace o f all sorts, gold
and silver buttons, wrought plate o f all sorts, diamonds, stone and paste
ware, snuff, mustard, clocks and watches, silversmiths’ and jewelers’ ware,
broadcloths that cost above 10s. per yard, muffs, furs and tippets, and all
sorts o f millinery ware, starch, women’s and children’s stays, fire-engines,
Chinaware, silk and cotton velvets, gauze, pewterers’ hollow-ware, linseed
oil, glue, lawns, cambrics, silks o f all kinds for garments, malt liquors, and
cheese.”
As the natural complement o f this non-importation agreement, it was
further resolved, “ by all prudent ways and means, to encourage the man­




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Commerce o f the United States.

ufactures o f British Am erica, and m ore especially those o f this province,”
and they particularly recommended to the public attention and patronage
the manufacture* o f two o f the articles included in the new tariff-— Glass
and Paper. They resolved, further, to retrench all superfluous expense of
new clothes, &c., at funerals, and on such occasions to use no gloves except
those o f American manufacture.
In January, 1768, the assembly o f Massachusetts prepared a petition to
the king against the late offensive measures, in which they firmly assert
the illegality o f all taxes imposed upon the colony without their consent
In February they dispatched a circular to the assemblies o f the colonies
before uniting with Massachusetts, embodying the same sentiments, and
inviting their co-operation in obtaining a redress o f the grievances com ­
plained of. A ll the legislatures so invited readily concurred in the princi­
ples and in the object o f the address.
The ministry, though perhaps something surprised by the course o f the
colonists, was not induced to a relenting m ood. On the contrary, Gov.
Bernard was instructed to make an imperative demand in the name o f his
majesty upon the Massachusetts assembly to rescind the resolution adopt­
ing the circular above mentioned, and to express their own “ disapproba­
tion o f that rash and hasty proceeding.” Another illustration o f the es­
tablished partiality to the Sugar colonies, and also, at the same time,
afforded, by an act encouraging one o f their interests, and calculated to
depress indirectly a corresponding interest o f New England. This act
permitted a drawback o f the duties paid on the im port into Great Britain
o f Rum and Spirits, the produce o f the British Sugar colonies, upon its
re-exportation, and exempted them also from the excise duties, though
under full proof, from the 25th March.
A n act passed in January, ex­
tended to North Am erica the privilege, already granted to Ireland, o f im­
porting freely into Great Britain the articles o f Salted Beef, Pork, Bacon,
and B u tter; but this was with no intent to favor or to quiet the colonies,
but was a measure o f simple necessity.
The island was still oppressed
with a scarcity o f food, and had, in 1767, paid over £1,000,000 in money
for-imported corn. Thus favorable was the situation o f England for re­
newing her costly experiments upon America.
The government was indeed little inclined to aid any farther either the
Com merce or production, except o f particular articles, o f the North Am er­
ican colonies. It was rather b y checks upon these that they wished to re­
strain their dangerous increase o f population, the multiplication o f their
towns, and the enlargement o f their powerful marine.
In some branches
o f navigation the colonies were suspected to already equal England. The
once cherished fisheries sunk in favor as producing American seamen and
an Am erican naval power, rather than increasing the mariners and ship­
ping o f Britain. Instead o f auxiliaries to British Commerce, these pro­
vinces were now regarded as in fact its rival. Instead o f requiring aid to
push them forward, they had become so overgrown and self-reliant that
measures o f repression were felt to be an urgent necessity.
The non-importation scheme o f the Bostonians had not yet been carried
into effect, ow ing to the want o f co-operation among the other colonies,
* The year 17G7 was an era in the progress of cotton manufactures, being the time o f the inven­
tion in England, by Hargrave, of the Spinning-Jenny, by which eight threads could be spun at once,
instead of one singly, as could only be done previously. Arkwright took out his flrst patent for an
entirely new method o f spinning cotton yarn from warps in 1-69, and put his flrst mill in operation.




Commerce o f the United States.

301

who were loth to resort to a measure so severely affecting their own in­
terests. Another effort was made in May, and non-importing associations
were organized in Massachusetts, but some o f the large commercial towns
in other colonies still refusing to combine in the project, it was again laid
aside.
Gov. Bernard preferred his demand upon the General Court o f Massa­
chusetts, for the rescindal o f the resolution adopting the obnoxious circu­
lar, in May, and was answered by a determined negative, adopted by the
strong vote o f 92 to 17.
The attempt to invade the freedom o f legisla­
tive action was denounced as a fresh attack upon their rights, and the
doctrines o f the circular were re-affirmed in still more decided terms.
Upon which, in the beginning o f June, the governor dissolved that refrac­
tory body.
The Commissioners o f Customs had, in the meantime, arrived at Boston,
and entered upon the duties o f their office.
The functions o f this new
power soon brought the commissioners in collision with the people. A
sloop belonging to the active popular leader, John H ancock, arriving at
Boston from Madeira with a cargo o f wines, an officer was placed on board
to see that the cargo was not clandestinely removed. The officer was con­
fined in the cabin, and the vessel unloaded during the night. The sloop
was, in consequence, seized and condemned, the 10th o f June. There­
upon, the people o f the town assembled in a state o f high excitement,
burned a custom-house boat, attacked the houses o f the commissioners,
and obliged them finally to take refuge on board the Rom ney sliip-of-war.
The assembly afterward strongly condemned these acts, and invited the
governor to prosecute the offenders; but the chance o f conviction was so
small, it was not deemed worth while to make the effort. A more efficient
method o f vindicating the law was deemed by his excellency to be the
presence o f an armed force, the favor o f which he accordingly requested.
In August, the merchants o f Boston again took up the subject o f non­
importation, and entered into a new resolution against im porting any
British goods from January 1, 1769, to January 1, 1770, except salt, coals,
fish-hooks and lines, hemp and duck, bar-lead and shot, wool-cards, and
card-wire. A n d they more especially resolved not to im port any tea, pa­
per, glass, or colors, until the duties lately imposed upon these, articles
should be rem oved; nor to have any dealings with any who should im port
these goods from any other colony. The merchants o f Salem and other
towns in Massachusetts entered into a similar agreement, and thus Massa­
chusetts started singly the scheme o f non-importation, by the action o f
her people, prior to the meeting o f the convention chosen to supply the
place o f the dissolved assembly.
The request o f the governor for troops to enforce the new measures was
complied with, two regiments, 700 strong, being sent to Boston from H al­
ifax, and landing on the 1st o f October.
A s the selectmen o f Boston re­
fused to provide them quarters, they were lodged in the State House, and
on the public grounds. Their presence only irritated, without at all in­
timidating, the people.
The assembly o f Virginia followed the popular movement o f Massachu­
setts, in regard to the measure o f non-importation, completing their pur­
pose after a dissolution, which the governor, Lord Bottetourt, had declared,
in a vain attempt to prevent the project.
Connecticut, New Y ork, Mary­
land, and North Carolina, also readily came into the compact, and the rest




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Commerce o f the United States.

o f the original thirteen joined one by one. New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
and Georgia were very reluctant to yield their assent, but were induced
to do so by the threat from their larger neighbors o f subjecting them to
the penalty o f non-intercourse.
The year 1769 opened without any change o f policy on either side, but
rather a more rigid adherence o f both to their respective systems. In
February, Parliament adopted resolutions much stronger than any meas­
ure yet entertained. The acts o f the Legislature and people o f Massachu­
setts were reprobated in the most energetic terms. Their pretension of
not being bound by the late acts o f Parliament was declared “ illegal, un­
constitutional, and derogatory o f the rights o f the crown and Parliament
o f Great Britain.” Their conduct was pronounced to be daring insults on
his majesty’s authority, and audacious usurpations o f the powers o f gov­
ernment. The employment o f force for the suppression o f these treason­
able practices and principles was sanctioned; and it was requested o f the
king to direct the governor o f Massachusetts to cause those guilty o f trear
son to be arrested, and conveyed to England for trial. The H on. Thomas
Pownal, some years before governor o f Massachusetts, warmly defended
the people o f that colony in the House o f Commons, and was unavailingly seconded by other friends o f the colonies. The resolutions passed the
House by a vote o f 161 to 65. The only effect was to call forth still
stronger affirmations o f the principles before advanced by the colonial as­
semblies.
But Parliament in its anger did not forget to grant a few favors o f the
secondary class to the colonies, where the chief gain was expected to be
on the side o f England. The permission to carry rice to any port o f Eu­
rope south o f Cape Finisterre, and to any places in Am erica south of
Georgia, was in April prolonged to June 24, 1774.
To encourage the
languishing silk culture in the Southern colonies, the practice o f purchas­
ing the cocoons at a high-fixed price having proved inefficient, was changed
for a bounty upon the im port o f Am erican silk into Great Britain, brought
in vessels legally navigated, the rate being 25 per cent ad valorem, from
June 1 , 1770, to June 1 , 1777 ; 20 per cent for the next seven, and 15 per
cent for the third period o f seven years.
The im port o f raw Hides and
Skins from Ireland and the Am erican colonies into Great Britain was per­
mitted for five years, and the duty on seal-skins, tanned or tawed, was
altered to three-halfpence a pound, o f which one penny was allowed to be
drawn back on exportation from Great Britain.
On the 18th July, an act o f violence occurred at Newport, R. I. Two
vessels, a brig and a sloop, both owned in Connecticut, were seized by the
revenue sloop Liberty, on suspicion o f having on board contraband goods,
and brought into that port.
In the evening, a party o f citizens having
seized the captain o f the garda costa, on the wharf, obliged him to send
on board and bring off his c re w ; they then boarded her, ran her ashore,
cut away her mast, scuttled her, and burned her boats.
The vessels
seized, thereupon weighed anchor, and proceeded on their destination.
The Assemblies o f Virginia and North Carolina had been dissolved by
the governors o f these colonies for a refractory disposition. The governor
o f Massachusetts now called upon the Assembly o f that province to pay
the troops quartered in Boston, which they most peremptorily refusing,
were speedily prorogued.
Meanwhile, the non-importation agreement was in vigorous operation,




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Commerce o f the United States.

being observed by the Northern colonies with the utmost zeal. Com mit­
tees o f superintendence were appointed, who were very active in the exer­
cise o f their functions. Those w ho refused to enter into the agreement
were subjected to votes o f censure; those who violated it were published
by name in the public papers, and found their position exceedingly uncom­
fortable.
The proscribed goods, upon their arrival in the colonies, were securely
locked up in the warehouses, and, in some instances, were sent back to
England. A t the South, however, the people were less inclined to sub­
mit to the inconvenience o f a strict enforcement o f the measure, and ob­
served it in a manner that, if follow ed by the North, would have had very
little influence in causing the abandonment o f the ministerial policy. In
the farther Southern colonies, Carolina and Georgia, there was indeed an
actual increase o f imports from Great Britain over those o f the previous
year. The effect o f the measure upon the trade o f the several colonies is
exhibited in the follow ing statement o f their imports from Great Britain
in the two years 1768 and 1769, as furnished by the British Custom-house
returns:—
EXPORTED

FROM

GREAT

B R I T A IN

TO -----

New England.........................................
New Y ork..............................................
Pennsylvania........................................

Maryland and V irginia.......................
North and South Carolina...................
G eorgia..................................................

1768.

I7GJE

£430,807
490,674
441,830

£223,696
75,931
204,976

£1,363,311

£504,603

669,422
300,925
56,562

614,944
327,084
58,341

£1,026,909

£1,000,369

It will be observed that while the Northern colonies received one-third
larger amount from Great Britain than the Southern colonies, in 1768,
the former took from her only h alf the quantity received b y the latter,
in 1769.
Considerable allowance must, however, be made for the different situa­
tion o f the two sections. The Southern colonies were entirely devoted to
planting, and could not at all supply themselves from their own resources
with the interdicted articles, many o f w hich were prime necessaries. Eng­
land was also the great market for their produce, which it was necessary
for them to send thither to obtain the means o f living, and for which they
must o f necessity receive British manufactures. T o suspend the trade o f
the South with England to the degree effected by the North, was an utter
impossibility, though much more m ight have been done, had the planters
been adventurous enough to turn their attention to new markets on the
European continent.
The North, on the other hand, had no important staple depending on
England for its market.
For their own exportable products, they found
consumers mainly in the W est Indies and the south o f E u rope; and it
was chiefly through the profits o f this trade that they were able to main­
tain their Commerce with England. Thus, in regard to the province o f
New Y ork, while her imports from England dwindled down from above
£490,000 in 1768, to below £ 7 6,00 0 in 1769, she received in the latter
year £97,420 from the W est Indies, £14,927 from the south o f Europe,




304

Commerce o f the United States.

and £ 6 97 from Africa. Somewhat through their legitimate foreign trade,
hampered as it was in regard to return goods, but more from their con­
traband traffic, especially in the W est Indies and at the Fisheries, the
Northern people could obtain partial supplies o f French and Dutch manu­
factures.
But these were furnished generally at dearer rates than the British
goods, and under existing regulations were brought into the country with
difficulty. The Turk’s Islands appear to have been a principal depot for
this traffic, so far as carried on in 1769. Formerly, these islands were
visited merely for salt, but o f late years had been settled by Bermudians,
and made an entrepot for vessels from the Northern colonies, the Dutch
islands o f St. Eustatia and Curacoa, and from Cuba and Hispaniola. No
custom-house being established there, these visitants had made it the
theater o f a trade between themselves in the products and manufactures of
their respective countries. In 1769 the traffic at this rendezvous became
much enlarged. Between March 2d and Novem ber 15th there were 110
vessels arrived at these islands from N orth Am erica and the W est Indies.
It was observed that the inhabitants o f the Turk’s Islands were dressed in
French cloths, and it was apprehended that by the foreign goods supplied
the non-importing colonies through this channel, their endurance of that
system would be rendered so easy, that it might be indefinitely pro­
tracted.
Notwithstanding the vigilance o f the superintending committees and of
the general body o f .merchants, English goods were also sometimes clan­
destinely brought in from other places. Some such importations may
have been received from Canada, N ova Scotia, and Newfoundland. But
the amount from these quarters was probably not large, attention being
strongly directed thither in the purpose o f baffling the hope there indulged
o f making the difficulties o f the other colonies an occasion o f profit to
themselves. The imports o f these extreme Northern provinces from Great
Britain increased from £1 78 ,0 00 in 1768, to £262,000 in 1769 ; but this
addition would have replaced only a small part o f the diminution in the
imports o f either New England or New York, and even the enlarged
amount o f 1769, was really much below the average sent to these upper
colonies in previous years.
Another resource o f the N orth was in the vigorous prosecution o f their
young manufactures, which, small as they yet were, enabled them to pro­
vide the supply of a considerable portion o f the necessaries, and some even
o f the luxuries which they had been accustomed to receive from England.
It is mentioned that the class o f students graduating at Harvard College
in 1770 appeared in black cloth o f domestic manufacture.
But whatever mitigation o f the severity o f the non-im porting policy was
derived by the Northern colonies from these various sources, the positive
evidence o f their agreement being well observed, and therefore in effective
operation toward the desired end, wras in the inconvenience which the peo­
ple o f that section endured.
The merchants felt seriously the weight of
the burden they had voluntarily imposed upon themselves, although not
inclined to abandon the effort.
The rest o f the community got some­
thing uneasy. The superintending committees were accused o f harshness
and partiality. Different seaports became jealous o f each other’s respect
for the contract, and there were mutual charges o f extensive infraction.
It was felt to be very aggravating that the North must make up by pro­
traction o f their burden for the breaches o f the agreement by the South.




Commerce o f the United States.

305

The effect o f the non-importation policy was severely felt b y the Eng­
lish merchants, and the suffering thus induced was extending to the other
interests o f the kingdom .
The exports o f Great Britain, which in 1768
amounted to £2,378,000, had fallen off in 1769 to £1,634,000, the reduc­
tion in tea alone being from £132 ,0 00 to £44,000. The cry was general
for a repeal o f the unwise acts w hich had provoked this ruin.
Under these circumstances, there was another total revolution in the
ministry. Several o f these political convulsions occurred thus far during
the American troubles, which were the grand perturbing element o f Brit­
ish politics. It had been, through this period, the practice o f each new
premier to enter upon his office with some concession to the colonists as
the basis for restoring friendly relations Lord North followed the custom,
and relapsed as speedily as his predecessors into the coercive policy. In
accordance with the earnest petition o f the merchants engaged in the
American trade, he brought in a bill on the 5th o f March, 1770, after the
non-intercourse agreement had been fourteen months in force, repealing
so much o f the act o f 1767 as imposed duties on glass, red and white lead,
painters’ colors, paper and pasteboard, imported into the colonies from
Great Britain. The drawback on Chinaware exported to the colonies, re­
pealed in the act laying these duties, was also restored ; but the duty on
Tea was retained as an assertion o f the right to tax the colonies, which, in
so humble a form, and coupled with concessions so important, it was
hoped the Americans would acquiesce in. The premier, in behalf o f his
scheme, urged the embarrassments o f British Commerce, which could be
in no other way removed. H e held out the prospect o f restored harmony.
He declared the act o f 1767 impolitic, even if it had been quietly enforced,
as the taxes were laid mainly upon British manufactures, which should be
encouraged, rather than burdened.
The measure was energetically opposed. Mr. Grenville condemned the
new policy as imperfect and inconsistent.
One system or the other, he
said, should be thoroughly adopted, instead o f a vain etfort to combine
both. Many insisted that the act to be repealed, instead o f having failed,
could and should be enforced. To retreat, they declared, was fatal. Gov.
Pownall moved to make the repeal complete, by including the Tea duty.
The motion was negatived by 204 to 1 4 2 ; the bill was passed as pre­
sented, and received the royal approbation on the 12th o f April.
The merchants and popular leaders in Massachusetts saw in this meas­
ure neither occasion for thanks, nor for the relaxation o f their retaliative
policy. They beheld in it rather a cause for fear.
It was only an in­
sidious attempt, they thought, to lull the colonies into quiet, without
really making any surrender.
For nothing could be said to be really
given up, while the pith o f the obnoxious act, the right to tax the colonies,
was still asserted, and even retained in practical force.
A s the measure
of non-importation had forced the partial abandonment o f the British
scheme, its complete relinquishment should be compelled by full continu­
ance of that effective agent.
The exasperation occasioned in the public
mind o f Massachusetts by the collision between the people o f Boston and
the British soldiers on the very day the repeal act was introduced, gave
increased energy to this determination.
It was feared the other colonies
might be inclined to an inopportune yielding at this point, where only a
little more firmness seemed likely to secure a full victory ; and lest cause
of complaint should seem scarce, the Assembly o f the province added to
VOL. xxxiv.— no . h i .
20




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Mercantile B iograph y:

the retention o f the tea duty, the old restraints existing upon the pursuit
o f manufacturing industry, and openly denied the right o f Parliament to
legislate at all in regard to colonial concerns.
The fears o f Massachusetts regarding the disposition o f the other colo­
nies were verified.
The spirit o f discontent rapidly subsided, and they
were glad o f any occasion to relieve themselves o f the burden o f a measure
that was becom ing very uncomfortable. Some o f the smaller colonies had
made movements against the system, which were suppressed. But at
length, New Y ork openly broke away from the restriction, determining to
im port all goods which were free o f duty. Rhode Island followed the ex­
ample ; other colonies were ready to join, and Massachusetts could do no
otherwise than yield to the general inclination. The exclusion was there­
fore limited to Tea— an article that m ight be dispensed with without
positive suffering, or whicK m ight be clandestinely imported from Holland.
But the effect o f the single inhibition o f that article, though severely felt
by the East India Company, was not sufficiently general to induce a re­
peal o f the duty upon it, and both the tax and the exclusion were therefore
sustained for several years.

Art. IV.— M E R C A N T I L E

BIOGRAPHY :

JAMES JOHNSON*

J ames J ohnson was born at North Andover, Massachusetts, March 2,
1T83. In the early days o f his boyhood, he enjoyed the com m on advan­
tages o f the public school o f his native to w n ; and scarcely any other op­
portunities o f education in seminaries o f learning were ever afforded him.
The practical teachings, however, which, in this country, com e home to
all, were not neglected by h i m ; and, if he could not be called a learned
man, he could, with strict truth, be said to be well educated and highly in­
telligent. "When quite young, he entered the store o f David Howe, a
well-known trader o f Haverhill, then engaged in a large country business.
There he remained till after he attained his majority.
Mr. Johnson came to Boston in 1806, to com m ence business for himself,
with a cash capital o f less than one hundred dollars, but with a fund of
g ood principle, econom ical habits, and energetic purpose, which afforded
a surer guaran y o f ultimate success than any amount o f mere money
would have done.
Like him who has reflected upon the mercantile community, not only
o f Boston, but o f the whole country, the credit acquired by the able dis­
charge o f the highest diplomatic function which that country recognizes,
Mr. Johnson never ignored the humble beginnings o f his prosperous life.
• Th8 following brief biographical sketch o f one who, for nearly fifty years, was well known as
an upright, sagacious, and successful merchant, was originally prepared for the Boston Daily Advtrtiter. The writer knew him, more or less intimately, for upwards o f thirty years. For more than
half that period, he has often met him in near business relations. What he has said, therefore, is
the result o f personal knowledge. To those who were best acquainted with Mr. Johnson, the ex­
cellencies of his character will not appear overstated. To others who may see these pages, it is
only necessary to say, that his simplicity and humility were so great as to conceal from a careless
observer not a few of the graces that adorn his life.
a. l.




James Johnson.

30

?

H e began business in a shop in Union-street, o f small capacity and
cheap rent. l i e bought his goods in moderate quantities, and was not
ashamed to take them home, oftentimes, under his own arm. H is profits
were not at first large, and his accumulations were slow, especially during
the dark and troublous times o f the embargo and the war. H e has often
been heard to say that, for the first fifteen years after he came to Boston,
he gained, besides his frugal living, but little more than his experience and
good name. These, however, were invaluable to him. In these he laid
the deep and solid foundation o f that honorable mercantile character
which carried him on in continued and complete success.
In 1817, Mr. Johnson formed a business connection with the late W il­
liam Sewall, and soon after com m enced the importation o f British dry
goods. For this purpose he twice visited England, in 1822 and 1824.
About the year 1825, when Hew England capitalists began to turn their
attention to the extensive manufacture o f woolen goods, this firm directed
its attention largely to that interest, and, in one o f its departments, soon
took the lead. It was here, as a commission merchant, standing between
and acting for both the manufacturer and purchaser, that his powers as
an intelligent, upright, and liberal-minded man o f business were fully de­
veloped.
His object did not seem to be to manage his affairs solely for the pur­
pose o f securing to himself an ample fortune, but he appeared always to
be anxious that others should share in his success. Whilst, in the true
spirit o f his calling, he was not unmindful o f his own right to a fair pro­
fit from his mercantile transactions, he ever had an equal eye to the g ood
of those who entrusted their business to his care. Indeed, it may be said
without exaggeration, that he appeared to labor with more zeal to pro­
mote their interests than his own. That large group o f successful flannel
manufacturers, who have, for so long a time, resorted to him as to a coun­
selor and friend, bear, by their prosperity, a living and lasting testimony
to the unselfishness o f his conduct. The veterans in this line, who, for a
period o f thirty years, have uninterruptedly kept their accounts with him,
are among the warmest in speaking his praise, n is counting-room was a
favorite resort; and there his numerous business associates loved to listen
to his words o f counsel and advice, uttered in his peculiar, racy m anner;
but leaving always a residuum o f sound sense and practical wisdom which
could not pass unheeded.
Although, during the latter part o f his life, Mr. Johnson employed a
portion o f his wealth in foreign Commerce, yet it was in the mercantile
house which he founded that his chief interest centered. The name o f
his firm has long been regarded, not only in Boston, but wherever its ex­
tensive business has spread, as synonymous with uprightness and mercan­
tile honor. H e left it a significant monument o f his sagacity and integ­
rity. It is pleasant to feel the assurance that, under the direction o f those
who, by education and sympathy, as well as by the ties o f relationship,
have been wont to honor his character, and co-operate in his efforts, it will
be preserved, as far as is practicable, unchanged.
Mr. Johnson was a g ood specimen o f the merchant o f the old school.
He belonged to that class by which Boston has long been so proudly distin­
guished, but which has had such large inroads made in its numbers by the
death, within a short time, o f a Perkins, a Lawrence, an Appleton, a W ales,
and a W igglesw orth. H e regarded the solid qualities o f sagacity, indus­




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Mercantile B iogra ph y:

try, and integrity, rather than the mere showy and forward smartness
which not unfrequently places its possessor for a time in a position of note
in the business community, but often leaves him, before middle life, a
bankrupt in property and reputation.
H e well knew the snares that
awaited him who “ makes haste to be rich.” H e would not, for hope of
great and speedy gains, embark in extraordinary and hazardous specula­
tions, but pursued the even tenor o f his way from the commencement to
the close o f his long career.
H e was not a public man in the ordinary use o f that phrase. His ser­
vices were highly valued as a director in some o f the financial and other
institutions connected with mercantile afi'airs; but his name was never
brought forward for political honors or promotion. H e well understood
that his talents would be m ore usefully employed by giving his undivided
efforts to the calling he had chosen. H e took no narrow view o f the vo­
cation o f the merchant. H e knew that it afforded a field for the full ex­
ercise o f some o f the noblest gifts and graces that adorn and bless the
human mind.
It has been said by Roscoe— no mean authority on such a subject—
“ that o f all the bonds by which society is at this day united, those of
mercantile connection are the most numerous and most extensive.” The
distinguished biographer o f the Florentine merchant, who has made fa­
miliar to the world the name and the fame o f Lorenzo He Medici, proved
by his own example that a life o f active business is not incompatible with
the highest culture and the most liberal patriotism and philanthropy. Mr.
Johnson, whilst pursuing earnestly and chiefly the business o f his choice,
kept up a general interest in the political, religious, and social afi'airs of
the community in which he dwelt. Though not an active politician, he
prized highly the privilege o f voting, and always exercised that right in­
telligently.
The youthful and eloquent Buckminster was ordained as the minister of
the Brattle-street Church the year before Mr. Johnson came to Boston.
Under his pastoral care, and that o f all o f his honored successors, he con­
tinued a member o f that religious society, and a constant attendant on the
Sunday services there, till within a few y ears; when, on his removal to
another part o f the city, he selected a nearer place o f worship. H e showed,
in his daily life, that he not only listened attentively to the teachings of
religion, but governed his life by its rules. H e often reminded those
around him o f the good man mentioned by the Psalm ist:—
“ W ho to his plighted vows and trusts
Has ever firmly stood ;
And, though he promise to his loss,
He makes his promise good.”
D uring the latter years o f his life, Mr. Johnson’s interest in religious
matters greatly increased, and he made a public profession o f his faith.
A m ore truly humble, sincere, and consistent Christian is seldom found.
Though never married, he was by no means unsocial is his disposition.
H e loved to gather around him, without ceremony or display, in that
home which he made for others more than for himself, his affectionate
relatives and friends, and to render them happy.
H e never, in the days o f his prosperity, forgot the home o f his child­
hood. H is native town and the associates o f his early years w’ere always




James Johnson.

309

dear to him. On the days o f the annual Thanksgiving and Fast he was
always there, and attended the religious services as well as enjoyed social
intercourse with his friends.
H e took a strong interest in the Rural Cemetery which has lately been
consecrated at that place, and prepared a lot for himself only a short time
before he was called to occupy it.
H e had reached a ripe old age, o f m ore than “ three score years and
ten,” when, in the enjoyment o f his usual health, and in the full possession
o f all his faculties, at the close o f a day o f active business in w hich he
had taken a part with his accustomed zest, on his way to his quiet home,
his step faltered; and, on reaching the door, he fell, and was taken to his
room, where he soon peacefully slept, no m ore to wake on earth. H e
died on the 26th o f April, in the 73d year o f his age, surrounded by those
who loved and respected him.
It was a beautiful and fitting close to a
long and useful life.
“ Of no distemper, of no blast, he died,
But fell like autumn fruit that mellowed long."
The funeral took place from “ The Second Church,” in Bedford-street,
on Saturday, April 28th, 1855. It was the purpose o f the family, in ac­
cordance with the well-known retiring habits o f the deceased, to have
only private services at the house. But, at the request o f many mercan­
tile friends, they yielded their wishes to the general desire for a m ore pub­
lic testimonial o f respect. The stores o f many merchants throughout the
city were closed at the time, and the church was filled with an assembly
o f sincere mourners. After a few appropriate remarks b y the Rev. Mr.
Robbins, the minister o f the ch u rch ; selections from the Scriptures by
the Rev. Mr. Lothrop, his former pastor; a prayer b y Rev. Mr. R ob b in s;
and a solemn chant by the choir— the remains were taken to North A n ­
dover, to be placed in the grave which he had selected, within sight o f
the spot where he was born.
There, too, were evinced, by the people o f that place, the unmistakable
marks o f respect which are shown only to those who are truly worthy.
The church was thrown open to receive the remains, and funeral services
were again performed.
One o f the most touching tokens o f respect to the m em ory o f Mr. John­
son, was paid b y the manufacturers o f N orth Andover, on the occasion o f
the funeral. The noisy rattling o f machinery, and the busy hum o f spin­
dle and loom , w hich have been heard there almost incessantly through
days o f jo y and sorrow, for so many years, were on that day hushed— a
silent but expressive tribute, alike creditable to the proprietors, and to him
whose mem ory they thus sought to honor.
W e close this brief m em oir with the remarks made at his funeral by
the Rev. Chandler R ob b in s:—
“ W e have assembled for no empty pageant; for no vain pomp ; for no heart­
less display of grief; for no formal eulogy. W e have come to the house of God
to gratify no vanity of partial friendship; to indulge no ostentatious taste; to
minister to no unworthy pride.
“ The family and kindred of our deceased brother, whose remains are before us,
have reluctantly yielded their own wish for a private and quiet funeral (more
agreeable to their own feelings and consistent with the character of the deceased)
to the spontaneous and reiterated request of his numerous associates and friends,




310

Should the U sury Laws he repealed?

whose hearts prompted the desire to participate in this last tribute of respect to
his memory.
“ This church, too, has, of its own accord, thrown open its doors, to receive at
its altar the lifeless form of one of its truest friends and firmest supporters, and
fairest though meekest ornaments; whose venerable image has been intimately
associated with its sacred ceremonies, and to whom its very walls and stones were
dear.
“ W e come to bury an humble-minded man— upright, sincere, and kind ; who
feared his God, and loved his fellow-men, and faithfully served his Heavenly Mas­
ter by an open confession of allegiance, by an outward walk of obedience, and,
better than all, by a secret conformity o f spirit. W e pay him these honors the
more willingly, because he did not covet them ; and the heartiness of our funeral
tribute is the more profound, because it was neither solicited nor expected.
“ A t the interment of such a man, the simplest services are the best. There
was a degree of grandeur in the simplicity of his own character, which we would
recognize, if we may not be able to express, in his obsequies.
“ W o bury him only with the W ord of God and with prayer; with the lan­
guage that is suited to the lowliness of man, and the language that declares the
loftiness of G od ; with the language that expresses our own dependence and frail­
ty and submission, and the language that reveals to us everlasting consolation and
strength.”

Art. V.— SflOliLD THE USURY LAWS BE REPEALED ?
OR THE W A Y IN W HICH DIFFERENT MEN LOOK UPON THE SAME QUESTION.*
THE AFFIRM ATIVE.
T h e r e is nothing more unaccountable than the tenacity with which
some men cling to the Usury Laws. Ever eager to break in upon old
customs and opinions, no matter in how much wisdom they are founded,
merely because are old, these laws, hearing their absurdity on their face,
opposed to every principle o f com m on sense, taking their rise in the igno­
rance and superstition o f the past, they cling to, with the most obstinate
perseverance, and in defiance o f the w eight o f unanswerable argument,
which has been brought to bear upon them, allow them still to disgrace
our statute aook. H ow Moses and Aristotle would be amazed, if they
were to com e back to the earth and find that a local law o f the Jews en­
acted by them, and a mere “ ipse dixit ” o f the other, had been the prolific
parents o f so much deformity and nonsense! W h a t makes this course of
action the m ore unaccountable is, that the laws act in direct opposition to
the object which they wish to obtain. There is hardly a borrower in the
land who does not suffer from them. It is a well known fact that money
daily rules above the legal rate, that transactions are daily made in it
above that rate, the lender always requiring an equivalent for the risk he
runs in breaking the la w s; besides this it has given rise to the whole sys­
tem o f brokerage, the expenses o f w hich are o f course paid by the bor­
rower.

• The writer of this article, in a letter to the editor, says: u I lay no claim to originality, as most,
if not all my positions have been advanced in back numbers of the M e r c h a n t s ' and the Bankers'
Magazines.” He adds, “ My object was to make as complete a statement of both sides of the ques­
tion as I could, in order to contrast the manner in which different persons regard the same point.”




Or the W a y different M en look upon the same Question.

311

But what is the testimony o f history ? Are there no facts in the records
of the past to teach us the im policy o f the Usury Laws ? In Holland, up
to the time o f the code Napoleon, usury laws had no existence, and the
rate of interest was, for a very long period, lower in that country than in
any other portion o f Europe, the Bank o f Amsterdam never reached m ore
than live, sometimes as low as two-and-a-half and three per cent. In Eng­
land, on the best security during the same period it ranged from five to
seventeen per cent. In Mahometan countries, notwithstanding the posi­
tive prohibition o f the Koran, the rate is ten or twenty times as high as
the ordinary one in Europe. W e have, moreover, instances in France,
Livonia, Genoa, and Barcelona, where the lowering o f the rate by law in­
creased it in fact. In Austria, Russia, and the United States, the market
rate for m oney is almost always above the legal one. But the example o f
England is alone sufficient to prove all that the opponents o f the Usury
Laws desire. Since 1833 there has been in that country a virtual repeal
of these laws, any rate o f interest being legal on documents not having
more than twelve months to run, and yet we see none o f those exorbitant
rates which restrictive croakers are so fond o f p redictin g; on the contrary,
the rates there are almost always about one-half o f what they are in the
United States, where Usury Laws exist. H ow any honest man not actu­
ally demented, can be aware o f these facts and still support the laws, is
really beyond our comprehension. Theory must ever give place to fact,
and after the array o f these which we have given, we must consider the
question as forever settled, and that nothing more is needed to prove the
impolicy o f the existing laws. Y et the farther we continue the examina­
tion o f it the more supremely absurd does the position o f our opponents
appear. W h a t is gold, that it should be regulated by different laws from
any other article o f merchandise ?
It is every day quoted in the “ prices current,” and the stamp which the
government puts on it does nothing more than give us a certificate o f its
weight and fineness, to facilitate exchanges, which would be made whether
government stamped the gold or not. The mere fact o f gold being used
as currency does no more take away from it its character as an article o f
merchandise, than it would take it away from rags should they be used for
the same purpose. W hen two individuals, one having gold and the other
corn, make an exchange, is it not as much a purchase o f gold by the one
as of corn by the other? A nd when, owing to the scarcity o f gold, it takes
twice as much corn to obtain it as it did in a time when it was plenty, is
not this a rise in the price o f g o ld ? Yet, according to the indefensible
and nonsensical reasoning o f the supporters o f the Usury Laws, the former
is nothing but a purchase o f corn, and the latter a rise in the price o f
corn. But the sum o f the foolishness o f these laws is not by any means
shown when we have proved that gold is an article o f merchandise, rising
and falling in price according to the supply and demand.
The most important item to take into consideration in loaning money
is credit, the greater or less certainty o f repaym ent; and yet the idea o f
credit is entirely ignored by the Usury Laws. I f I can lend m y money at
the legal rate on g ood real estate security, does any one think that I
would lend it to a gunpowder manufacturer on his individual responsibili­
ty, at the same rate? Y et these laws will force me to do this or refuse
the application o f the needy manufacturer altogether— a refusal which
might involve his ruin, and for which he would have to thank the friend




312

Should the U sury Laws he Repealed ?

o f the Usury Laws. W h y should a man be allowed to invest his money
in a house and charge twenty or thirty per cent rent, when at the same
time it is deemed a criminal act for him to loan his money directly at
more than six per cent, is a question to which no reasonable answer can
be given. But besides this, what is the sense, or where is the use— even
granting these laws are g ood ones— to cumber our statute books with
them when they never have been and never can be carried out ? when
they are so opposed to the customs and practices o f our people, that they
are openly and unblushingly broken every day by men o f the most unim­
peachable integrity ? There is nothing gained in practice by keeping
them there, while there is much lost in principle, in engendering a spirit
o f lawlessness, and depriving the law o f the prestige o f authority. It is
useless to continue the question farther; these laws supported by a plea
o f philanthropy we have shown to be unjust and unreasonable. They are
injurious to young men by preventing them from com ing into competition
with the old and wealthy, by laying them open to be driven out o f the
field o f business by capitalists, who continue in the marts o f trade to ob­
tain legally that remuneration for their money to which they are entitled,
but which the law forbids to them should they retire and lend that money
to young and enterprising men. Credit, the chief thing to be considered
in all monetary transactions, they ignore, and vainly try to bring men of
all standings to the same level, the needy merchant with the millionaire,
the intelligent and prudent man o f business, with the wild and reckless
speculator; when at the same time it is known by all that on good secu­
rity money can always be obtained at the market rate, and that without
it it cannot be obtained at all. Y ou m ight as well try to put an end to
the laws o f gravity, or reverse the course o f the planets, as to do away
with the principles upon which the monetary affairs o f the world are
carried on.
H ard is it that old m oneyed men who have worn out their energies in
commercial life, in adding to the wealth and influence o f their fatherland,
should be compelled, at the time when they need to rest from their labors,
either to break the law, or rest satisfied with six or seven per cent for
their money, while those to whom they lend it, are m aking from fifty to
one hundred per cent, or perhaps more.
THE NEGATIVE.

Usury Laws exist with a few exceptions in all o f the civilized countries
o f the world, and have existed for ages. This fact alone proves that there
must be some good reason for their enactment and support, and that their
absurdity is not so self-evident as some o f their opponents o f the present
day would make us believe, for it would involve the opinion that the vast
majority o f legislators, both o f this country and Europe, for a number of
centuries, have either been too ignorant or prejudiced to see this absurdi­
ty, or that they knowingly and deliberately supported pernicious laws— an
opinion which no man in his right senses would hold. N ow what is the
reason which has induced this universal adoption and vigorous support of
these Usury Laws? W e scout at the idea that it is because o f the pass­
age o f the Mosaic Law in reference to usury, or the opinion o f Aristotle,
that “ m oney is barren.” It is and has been nothing m ore or less thaii
th is: “ To keep down the rate o f interest, and thereby prevent extortion
and protect the needy.” W hether this object has been obtained is a




Or the W a y different M en look upon the same Question.

313

matter o f fact, not o f theory. The experiment o f repealing the Usury
Laws has often been tried and found pernicious. In the sixteenth century
they were repealed in England, and for nineteen years there was no re­
striction as to the rate o f interest. Lord Burleigh in the reign o f Eliza­
beth restored them, for the reason, “ that the repeal o f the statute against
usury had not been attended with the hoped for effects, hut that the high
price for money on usury has more abounded, to the undoing o f many
persons, and to the hurt o f the realm.” The beneficial effects o f their re-enactment seems to have confirmed England to the policy o f having the
laws, for in 1685 the rate was reduced from ten to eight per cent. Crom­
well reduced it from eight to six per cent, giving as a reason “ that the
former reduction had been beneficial to trade, land, and husbandry.” In
1714 it was again reduced from six to five per cent, and for the same rea­
son. But we need not go outside o f our own land for examples to the
same effect. In Alabama the laws were repealed and attended with such
a rise in the price o f money and other ruinous consequences, that they
were re-enacted in less than one year. Indiana also repealed the laws
about twenty years ago, where again the effects were so disastrous that
the public were clamorous for their re-adoption. In W isconsin, in 1850,
they were repealed, and the rate o f interest immediately ran up to from
twenty to fifty per cent. In Hndoostan there are no laws, and the rates
o f interest range from thirty to forty per cent. In Athens before the adop­
tion o f Usury Laws the rates were from thirty to sixty per cent, and this
was the reason for adopting them. In Rom e the usurers were so exorbit­
ant, that the people retired to “ Mons Sacra,” and forced the city to relieve
them o f their burdens b y adopting laws lim iting the rate o f interest.
These facts speak the voice o f history. In them we see the reasons for
enacting these laws, the effects of their enactment, and the effect o f their
repeal.
But to g o farther, (though we think enough has been said to show the
good policy o f the present restrictive laws,) is it a fact that m oney is noth­
ing more than a merchantable com m odity ?— a position so strongly main­
tained in the affirmative by the opponents o f the Usury Laws. W e hold
that it is not. One thousand dollars’ worth o f gold is o f the same value
as one thousand dollars’ worth o f merchandise, but it is far different in its
power— a power which it has outside o f its intrinsic value, as the currency
of the country. The government may make rags currency, but as soon as
it has done so, who will say that they have not a very different position
from what they had before. It is this difference outside o f the value o f
the money itself, a difference created entirely by the action o f government,
that gives the governm ent a right to control it in a manner in which it
could not control any mere article o f merchandise. I f m oney possesses
no power but that which its intrinsic value gives it, what can be said o f
paper money, millions o f dollars o f which exist for which there is no valu­
able basis, nor was it ever intended that there should be. N ot one-tenth
o f the paper money afloat in the world could be redeemed if presented for
payment, which nevertheless passes current for the amount stamped upon
its face by the authority o f government. It would be idle to say anything
farther in reference to this distinction between m oney and merchandise ;
it must be evident to any one not naturally or intentionally a fool.
There is another distinction equally as clear as the above, to w hich our
opponents likewise seem blind, and which is o f great moment in the con-




314

The N ew Y o rk Chamber o f Commerce

sidevation o f the question before us, and that is, the difference between rent
and interest. It would be useless after what has been already said, to
enter at any length upon this subject, we would merely say, that the rate
o f interest directly affects the rate o f rent, and every business transaction
that is entered into. I f the rate o f interest is low houses can in conse­
quence be built comparatively cheap, and rents will be low. If the rate
o f interest is high, it will cost m ore to build houses, and rents will be
higher, when the same effects can be attributed to rent, then the distinc­
tion between it and interest will be done away, and not till then.
A s to the practical w orking o f the Usury Laws, it must be admitted
that they are very little respected b y the people at la rg e ; yet we cannot
but laugh at the folly o f the man who offers this as an argument against
them. It is because they are not enforced that interest rules so high, and
if so framed that men could not evade them without incurring the penalty,
usury would very soon be one o f the curses o f bygone days.
In conclusion we would say, that, granting that free trade in money
would lower the rate o f interest as a general thing, (which the facts we
have given prove not to be the case,) what would be the condition o f the
agricultural portion o f citizens, if these laws were repealed 2 This class,
upon whom so much o f the strength and prosperity o f our country de­
pends, in their times o f need have to look to a few country capitalists, or
perhaps a country bank. W h at think you, without any restrictive law,
would govern the rate o f interest in this instance, but the amount it was
possible to exact from the necessities o f the applicant 2 A n d such a state
o f things would not exist long before the insatiable money lender would
have a hold on all the property in the land ; every homestead would be­
lon g to the usurer. Our people see this, and hence their steady mainten­
ance o f the Usury L a w s; for it is a remarkable fact, that those who are
advocating repeal, are, with but few exceptions, the moneyed men o f our
large cities, whose object it is to keep up the rate o f interest, and the
principal argument they use is, that this repeal will lower the rate. W h at
has com e over human nature, that it has so suddenly becom e thus selfsacrificing 2 “ It is passing strange.”

Art. VI.— THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ON OUR TRADE WITH
THE CANADAS.
W e take great pleasure in laying before our readers the Report o f a
Committee, presented by the Chairman, the Hon. J. P hillips P henix, to
the Chamber, at its regular monthly meeting in January, 1856, together
with its memorial to the Congress o f the United States. The memorial, it
will be seen, goes for a perfect system o f reciprocity— in other words, for
Free Trade with the colonies o f Great Britain in Am erica.
These views
are in accordance with the view's o f a large majority o f the people o f both
countries, and harmonize with the progressive spirit o f the times. W e re­
gret that an official copy o f the report and memorial were not received in
season for publication in the pages o f the Merchants' Magazine in the
February num ber:—




On our Trade with the Canadas.

315

The undersigned committee, to whom the subject of a more perfect reciprocity
of Commerce and Navigation between the adjoining British provinces and the
United States has been referred, respectfully report: That the project laid before
your committee is intended to remove all commercial restrictions on the Com­
merce and navigation of the Canadas and the United States— that is to say : To
admit into the respective countries the natural productions and manufactures of
both, and to open to their vessels, the coasting trade on the intervening waters of
the two countries, all the advantages that now exist between adjoining States.
By reference to the Itevenue Laws of the United States, and particularly that
of 1799, it will appear that the exportation of foreign merchandise for the benefit
of drawback, was confined exclusively to “ exports by sea,” consequently our com­
mercial intercourse with Canada was very limited, and depended much upon the
smuggling enterprise of persons residing on the frontier of the two countries.
These difficulties prevailed until 1845, when the restrictions on the export of
foreign merchandise by land for the benefit of drawback were repealed, and the
same facilities given to the exportation of foreign dutiable goods to Canada as if
the same were exported by sea. By these measures the people of Canada were
enabled to receive their foreign merchandise at a much earlier period and with
less expense, and to send abroad their surplus produce through the canals and
ports of the United States, much more expeditiously, resulting to the advantage
of the Commerce of both countries.
The Reciprocity Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, in relar
tion to our commercial intercourse with the adjoining British provinces, was
passed the 5th of June, 1854; and notwithstanding the brief period that has
elapsed since that important measure has been adopted, sufficient evidence has
been developed to show that the result cannot fail to be greatly advantageous to
both countries. While the trade of Canada, by the St. Lawrence, has been re­
duced, that with the United States has been greatly augmented— our canals and
railroads have been enriched by the transportation of their surplus productions—
our neighbors have purchased largely in our markets of domestic manufactures,
and our vessels have had the advantage of an increased foreign trade.
Prom a report made to the Canadian Parliament by the chairman of their
committee, on Trade and Commerce, in May, 1855, it appears “ that the imports
of the United States from Canada in 1848 amounted to §642,672, and in 1854,
to §6,097,204; and the imports into Canada from the United States, in 1848,
were §984,604, and in 1854, §2,180,084— showing, during a period of six years,
an increase in the former of nearly ten to one, and in the latter, for the same pe­
riod, of more than two to one." There is also “ a striking increase in foreign im­
portations through the United States. The imports for Canada direct, passing
through under bond in 1854, were £1,336,770. The amount purchased by Canada
in the United States, under their warehousing system, £299,428 ; the value of
goods purchased in the United States, on which a duty was paid there, £144,024;
the value of goods not subject to duty in the United States, £230,606. These
figures give the value of our importations from beyond sea, through the United
States, at £2,010,825, to which add importations of their domestic manufactures,
£2,835,525, and it would appear that the total imports from the United States
into Canada was increased to £4,846,350, and the exports, £2,604,320, or a
grand total of £7,450,607, Canada currency,” equal to §29,802,680.
These estimates will be sufficiently corroborated. By reference to the Report
of the Secretary of the Treasury on the Commerce and Navigation of the United
States, for the year ending 30th June, 1855, (page 326,) this most flattering re­
sult appears, v iz.:—
Export of domestic produce to Canada.....................................................
“
foreign
“
“
......................................................

$9,950,764
8,769,580

Showing a total o f exports of.......................................................................

Importations into the United States from Canada..................................

$18,720,844
12,182,814

Making the value of exports and imports growing out of the trade
with Canada.................................................... ....................

$30,902,658




316

American Merchants.

Excelled only by the trade with Great Britain and France.
The tonnage employed in the trade with Canada amounts to 1,TIG,730 tons,
entered, and a like number of tons cleared, and about equally divided between
American and British tonnage. The apparently large amount of shipping em­
ployed in this trade is no doubt occasioned by the shortness and consequent fre­
quency of these trips from port to port— it however exhibits the importance of
the trade, and the propriety of giving to it every possible encouragement.
In the judgment of your committee, the trade with Canada may be greatly ex­
tended, and made in every respect reciprocal, not only as relates to the interchange
of the productions and manufactures of the respective countries, but the naviga­
tion of the adjoining lakes and rivers. The result would be to make free and en­
large the demand for our manufactures and other productions, now chargeable
with duty in Canada, and facilitate the navigation of the lakes by extending to
the vessels of both like advantages in the coasting trade, on the intervening war
ters of the two countries.
They therefore submit, for the consideration of the Chamber, the following
Memorial to Congress on the subject.
J. PHILLIPS PH UNIX,
ROBERT KELLV,
M. H. GRINNELL.
N ew

Y ork, January 3, 185G.

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives o f the United States
in Congress assembled :—
The memorial of the Chamber of Commerce, of the city of New York, most
respectfully represents that— a partial reciprocal exchange of the natural produc­
tions of the United States and Canadas having been established by their respec­
tive governments—the principle of reciprocity may be extended with mutual
advantage to the citizens of both countries.
Your memorialist therefore prays that Congress will pass “ A n A ct ” to remove
all duties and restrictions on the importations into the United States of all articles
the growth, produce, or manufacture of the Canadas, also to permit all ships and
vessels built in Canada to participate on equal terms in the shipping and coasting
trade on the interior lakes and waters intervening between the two countries, and
for that purpose to open to the free and common use of both, all the water com­
munications, coasts, and ports on the aforesaid intervening waters between the
Canadas and the United States— to take effect whenever the government of Canada
shall pass a law to extend the like privileges to the citizens of the United States
— so that vessels of both countries may engage in the coasting trade on the inter­
vening waters aforesaid on equal terms, and that the intercourse for all purposes
of Commerce and navigation in the productions and manufactures of the two
countries, may be placed on the same footing as between two adjoining States.

Art. VII.— A M E R I C A N

MERCHANTS.*

W e have placed at the foot of this page the title of a new work, the first vol­
ume of which is now ready for delivery to subscribers. W e do not, however, in­
tend to speak of our own labors in its production. The plan of such a work, we
may, however, be permitted to say, had been entertained by the writer for the
last fifteen years, and is, in fact, coeval with the establishment of the Merchants'
Magazine, in 1839. The field of commercial literature, it is believed, was almost
* Lives of American Merchants. By
Vol. i., pp. 600.




F r eem an H unt,

A. M., editor of the

M e r c h a n ts 1 M a g a zin e.

American Merchants.

317

entirely unoccupied until we entered it some seventeen years ago. This field we
have sedulously endeavored to cultivate, with what degree of success we leave the
public, and particularly the large and influential class of men who are most inter­
ested in the vast and multiform commercial and industrial affairs of the world, to
judge. I f we have not earned any considerable degree of fame, or large fortune,
neither of which we have sought so much as to promote the genuine growth and
greatness of the land of our birth, we have the consciousness of constant and un­
tiring devotion to what has seemed to us our mission, and consequently our duty.
With these few preliminary remarks, we respectfully ask the attention of our friends
and the public generally to a part of the preface, accompanying the first volume
of our “ L iv e s o f A m e r ic a n M e r c h a n t s ,” in which we have endeavored to de­
velop more fully the design of that publication, and especially present our esti­
mate of the historical and social eminence of the mercantile class. W e begin
with the beginning, omitting only a few of the closing paragraphs.
THE PREFACE.

W e have lives o f the Poets and the Painters; lives o f Heroes, Philoso­
phers, and Statesmen; lives o f Chief Justices and Chancelors.
There is a class o f men whose patronage o f art has been princely in its
munificence, as their wealth has equaled that o f princes, whose interests
have become a chief concern o f statesmen, and have involved the issues
of peace and w a r ; whose affairs afford a leading subject o f the legislation
of States, and fill the largest space in the volumes o f modern jurists. This
class has produced men who have combined a vast comprehensiveness with
a most minute grasp o f details, and whose force o f mind and will in other
situations would have commanded armies and ruled States; they are men
whose plans and combinations take in every continent, and the islands and
the waters o f every s e a ; whose pursuits, though peaceful, occupy people
enough to fill armies and man navies; who have placed science and inven­
tion under contribution, and made use o f their most ingenious instruments
and marvellous discoveries in aid o f their enterprises; who are covering
continents with railroads and oceans with steamships; who can boast the
magnificence o f the Medici, and the philanthropy o f Gresham and o f A m os
Lawrence; and whose zeal for science and zeal for philanthropy have pen­
etrated to the highest latitude o f the A rctic seas, ever reached by civilized
man, in the ships o f Grinnell.
Yet no one has hitherto written the lives o f the merchants. There are
a few biographies o f individuals, such as the life o f G resham ; but there
is no collection o f such lives which, to the merchant and the merchant’s
clerk, would convey lessons and present appropriate examples for the con­
duct o f his business life, and be to him the “ Plutarch’s Lives ” o f trade ;
while for the historical student the lives o f the merchants o f the world,
and the history o f the enterprises o f trade, i f thoroughly investigated,
would throw much light upon the pages o f history.
Modern scholars have seen the important bearing o f the history o f
Commerce upon the history o f the w o rld ; have seen, rather— as who, in
this most commercial o f all eras, can fail to see ?— how large a chapter it
forms in the history o f the world, although crowded out o f the space it
ought to fill by the wars and crimes which destroy what it creates. Hume
was among the first to call attention to this branch o f historical inquiry,
and Heeren has investigated with much learning the Com merce o f the an­




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American Merchants.

cients. If we were in possession o f lives o f the great merchants o f an­
tiquity, what light would they not throw upon the origin o f States, the
foundation o f cities, and inventions and discoveries, o f which we now do
not even know the dates?
Trade planted Tyre, Carthage, Marseilles, London, and all the Ionic col­
onies o f Greece.
Plato was for a while a m erchant; Herodotus, they
say, was a merchant. Trade was honorable at Athens, as among all na­
tions o f original and vigorous thought; when we find discredit attached
to it, it is among nations o f a secondary and less original civilization, like
the Romans.
But if Commerce forms so large a chapter in the history o f the world,
what would the history o f Am erica' be if Commerce and men o f Com­
merce were left out ? Trade discovered Am erica in the vessels o f adven­
turers, seeking new channels to the old marts o f In dia; trade planted the
Am erican colonies, and made them flourish, even in N ew England, say
what we please about Plym outh R o c k ; our colonial growth was the growth
o f trade— revolution and independence were the results o f measures of
trade and commercial legislation, although they undoubtedly involved the
first principles o f free governm ent: the history o f the country, its politics
and policy, has ever since turned chiefly upon questions o f trade and of
finance, sailors’ rights, protection, banks, and cotton.
Agriculture is doubtless the leading pursuit o f the American, as o f every
other people, being the occupation o f the great mass o f the population;
but it is not agriculture, it is Commerce, that has multiplied with such
marvellous rapidity the cities and towns o f the United States, and made
them grow with such marvellous growth— which has built Chicago in
twenty years and San Francisco in five. It is trade that is converting the
w hole continent into a cultivated field, and binding its ends together with
the iron bands o f the railroad.
If Commerce be thus pre-eminently the characteristic o f the country
and o f the age, it is fit that the Lives o f the Merchants should be written
and read.
W ere it not for the picturesque eloquence o f Burke, the enterprise of
the American merchants o f the colonial times would be in danger o f being
lost sight o f in the dazzling brilliance o f our commercial career since the
Revolution. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say, that the growth of
Am erican trade during the colonial period was relatively as great as it has
been sin ce; and there are names in the list o f the merchants o f those
times which should find a place and would adorn the pages o f American
Mercantile Biography. They were no com m on men w ho laid those found­
ations upon which the trade o f Am erica has been b u ilt; men o f enterprise,
men o f intellect, men o f religion.
In this, the first volume o f a series o f the Lives o f Am erican Merchants,
I propose to begin with what m ay be called the First Period o f our Com­
mercial History as a nation, giving the lives o f deceased merchants only.
D uring this period, although but the life o f one man in duration, the seed
sown by the merchants o f the colonial time has attained the growth, the
wonderful growth, o f which we are the witnesses, and enjoy the fruits.
O f a few o f these remarkable men, by w hom the work has thus been car­
ried on, and whose enterprise and wisdom have given scope, and impulse,
and permanence to Am erican Commerce, biographies are given in the
present volume. I propose, in a second volume, to give the lives o f other




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The Great India-Rubber Litigation.

merchants o f this period, together with those o f living m erchants; and
to give completeness to this collection o f mercantile biographies, I hope
to be able hereafter to do justice to the merchants o f the colonial period.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I am indebted to the eminent literary ability o f the Hon. E dward E v ­
erett, Hon.

T homas G. G ary, H on. J oseph R. Chandler, G eoroe R.
R ussell, LL. D ., Charles K ing , LL. D., S. A ustin A llibone, Esq., J ohn
A . L owell, Esq., Rev. J ohn L. B lake, D. D., Rev. W illiam B errian , D. D.,
and others, for valuable contributions.
FREEMAN HUNT.

A r t . T i l l . — T IIE

GREAT

INDIA-RUBBER

LITIGATION:

A FEW CHAPTERS FROM ITS HISTORY.

T he mazes o f the law have been called interminable— inextricable. Its
dull delay is ranked by Shakspeare among the heaviest ills o f life. W e
shall sketch a few o f the outlines o f the greatest lawsuit ever prosecuted
— the one which has cost the most money— been tried in the greatest
number o f places and before the greatest number o f tribunals— which has
enlisted the most imposing talent, and taxed the resources o f the most
formidable combination. A bove all, the one which best shows how much
may be achieved by a true, brave, trusting, generous man, when singlehanded he goes out to meet his enemies.
Some twelve years ago, the applications o f India-rubber to the wants
and comforts o f men became so numerous and valuable, that the cupidity
of capitalists was found arrayed against the genius o f inventors. For the
thousandth time the world saw the painful but exciting struggle o f the
strong against the weak— might against right.
The number o f suits, at
law and in equity, grow ing out o f these inventions and discoveries, have
exceeded one hundred and fifty, and the expenses o f the litigations have
exceeded six hundred thousand dollars.
In 1844, certain patents were granted to Charles G oodyear and to
Horace H. Day. Corrugated or shirred rubber goods had then been pro­
fitably manufactured some two years. G oodyear’s patent for his process
of manufacture and for his machine, were so far superseded by one o f
Day’s patents for cutting the rubber threads and by another for shirring
goods, that G oodyear’s processes were abandoned.
Numerous establish­
ments, however, at once began to use G oodyear’s and D ay’s patents, in
violation o f the rights o f their inventors and owners.
Mr. D ay com m enced various suits against the violators o f his rights. A
Mr. Suydam, w ho claimed to have purchased G oodyear’s patent, prose­
cuted D a y ; and soon the suits reached five-and-twenty. A m on g those
who infringed Mr. D ay’s patented rights, were a former partner and also a
workman o f D ay— both having learned the process in his establishment.
Common violators o f his rights combined against him, and instead o f one
he was confronted by twenty combatants.
In the Circuit Court o f the
United States, District o f New Y ork, two trials left juries which did not
agree. A t the same time, those who were using D ay’s patents bought




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The Great India-Rubber Litigation.

licenses from Goodyear, who fortified them by his influence in their be­
half, while he pressed his rival by a series o f suits against him (D ay) to
secure himself.
This alliance o f all the men D ay had prosecuted ended in concentrating
upon his head a combined force which threatened his overthrow. New
suits were brought by them against D ay’s agents and customers in Massa­
chusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and New Y ork, while the
prosecutors were using D ay’s patents, without which shirred goods— at
that period the most important article o f all— could not be profitably
made.
But Mr. D ay had learned a fact o f great moment, which, o f course, he
used to his advantage.
H e was informed by a letter from Nathaniel
Hayward, that he had himself invented the process o f manufacturing
heated metallic rubber, although it had been issued in Goodyear’s name.
D ay went to the spot and took the testimony from the workmen, H ay­
ward being o f the number. W ith this testimony he met the motions for
injunction in the United States Courts, in New Y ork and elsewhere. But
Goodyear refused to g o to trial, and thus the various suits were met and
disposed o f in the same way. B u t defaulted as he was, Goodyear at once
started new issues.
Meantime Hayward opened a factory at Lisbon, Connecticut, for putting
into practice his own invention for metallic rubber, although Goodyear
had got the patent out in his own name.
H o made shoes, and stamped
them “ H ayward’s Spring Tempered Rubber,” while Goodyear had ap­
plied the name “ metallic rubber,” to the same manufacture.
B y this
time, shirred suspenders alone had reached a million dollars a year. Four
or five large factories were employed, all using the “ metallic rubber”
claimed by Hayward and contested by Goodyear, and all using machinery
and processes invented by D ay and his foremen.
Defeated at every point by Hayward and Day, G oodyear made a new
and stronger combination. Those who had hitherto used Goodyear’s pat­
ent without license, had been prosecuted by Day for using his inventions,
and they united with Goodyear, acknowledging him the rightful author.
Even Hayward was, by collusion, brought into the arrangement, by re­
ceiving from Goodyear, am ong other things, a free license to manufacture
500 pairs o f shoes per day, and be protected in any o f his violations of
D ay’s patents. Hayward’s influence in the trade was great, for he was a
laboring man highly esteemed b y the workmen w ho were privy to the
origin o f the discovery he (Hayward) claimed.
H e the m ore readily
yielded, under the assurance that their combination would invest them
with a m onopoly too powerful to be resisted by Day, or all other in­
ventors.
But D ay’s rights were pressed with vigor, and when the expenses and
fatigues o f the great conflict became nearly intolerable, D ay and Good­
year signed an agreement, (in 1846,) by which the former was to discon­
tinue, on certain conditions, the manufacture o f all but shirred g o o d s ;
while Goodyear, who controlled the litigation on the other side, was to
put an end to all infringements o f D ay’s patents. This, for the time being,
put an end to all the D ay and Goodyear suits.
Hitherto no process was known to the parties for vulcanizing rubber
successfully in a heated atmosphere, without oxide o f lead and sulphur,
making a triple com pound, as described and patented by Goodyear in




A fe w Chapters fr o m its H istory.

321

1844, but claimed to have been discovered by Hayward two or three years
before. But in England a process had been discovered o f vulcanizing
rubber by steam— mixed with sulphur alone.
This discovery ended all
idea o f making G oodyear’s process o f manufacture a m onopoly in 'this
country.
A ll parties, therefore, wished to settle their difficulties, and
turn over a new and fairer leaf, and each for himself.
Most o f the capi­
talists connected with Goodyear began to be disheartened, and the bank­
ruptcy o f several o f them made them all anxious to abandon G oodyear’s
expensive process for a better, and to put an end to all litigation. A t this
point, when D ay’s position had grow n strong— since his inventions had
not been superseded— he signed the agreement with Goodyear, which left
him sole owner and master o f the department o f shirred rubber, the
profits on which were over a quarter o f a million dollars annually. This
right was also recognized in due form by other violators o f his patents,
who enwatred to infringe his rights no more.
A t the same time Goodyear engaged to protect Day s rights, while he
entered into an agreement to allow all who had intrenched on D ay the
use o f his (G oodyear’s) patents or claims for manufacturing boots and
shoes. These manufacturers afterwards became known as the “ Shoe A s­
sociates.” They were to make no m ore shirred goods, after they had
worked up the stock then on hand in their factories. Thus ended all liti­
gation, with many libel suits grow ing out o f it, each party paying his own
costs; and here ends the first chapter in the “ History o f the India-rubber
Litigation.”
For a while this great art went on with no interruption. But the “ Shoe
Associates” violated their contract.
They purchased largely o f new
stock, and, working their factories night and day, they flooded the mar­
ket with over half a million dollars’ worth o f shirred goods, so imper­
fectly made that the rubber decom posed; and the effect was so fatal, that
the sales in this class o f fabrics soon dwindled to $20,000 a year. Day
was now likely to be ruined more completely than he could have been by
litigation. H e discovered, too, that while his agreement with Goodyear
— which had ended litigation— was lying in escro, G oodyear had entered
into a private arrangement with his legal counsel, Judson, by which he
transferred to him the whole, or a large part, o f the shirred suspender inter­
est.' A few days o f time were thus gained, for before the agreement was
delivered, and while it was in escro, Judson had g ot his transfer from
Goodyear recorded in the Patent Office, although D ay had received from
Goodyear an equitable, and, he supposed, a legal title to the business, so
far as Goodyear could grant it.
Thus, finding his legal title wrested from him by fraud, and his business
ruined by the bad faith o f the parties, in 1848 he repudiated his contracts
with Goodyear, and began the manufacture o f all kinds o f fabrics. This
opens the second chapter in the History o f the India-rubber Litigation.
The English discoveries were now fully known, and other important de­
partments besides shirred goods were opened.
Fuller had sent from
England an agent to this country for the disposal o f his patent for making
rubber car springs. Day' bought the right for the United States, and be­
gan the manufacture. A t the same time other parties, who had in Eng­
land seen this invention, and been intrusted with the duty o f showing to
our railroad companies, for sale, procured from G oodyear the right to use
his compound in the manufacture o f “ car-springs.”
von. xxxiv.— no . m.
21




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The Great India-Rubber Litigation :

D ay now became involved in another series o f lawsuits, to protect a
patent which he had bought, and which incontestibly belonged to him by
legal transfer. Thus, in 1848. the whole litigation was renewed with
m ore virulence than ever, with new interests involved, and a fresh corps
o f litigants.
Suits were now instituted in different States, and with all the old com ­
bination, and the aid o f the car-spring and packing manufacturers to
strengthen them, Goodyear again opened the crusade against Day. This
aspect o f the struggle continued two or three years, with endless laby­
rinths o f litigation, which would bewilder the brain o f the reader. A t­
tempts to end the strife by negotiation were often made— but as they all
contemplated his ruin, he could not be induced to surrender his rights
until they should be wrested from him by the omnipotent hand o f the law.
A number o f suits were then instituted to enjoin D ay— but in none of
them did his opponents succeed.
A t length a suit at law was tried in New Jersey, before a jury, to re­
cover the tariffs stipulated in the compromise to be paid to Goodyear, and
also to stop Day from using any process o f manufacture claimed by Good­
year. After a hard-contested battle, the jury rendered a verdict in favor
o f Day, who was thus exempted from all damages, and his prosecutors de­
clared guilty o f a clear breach o f the contract with Day.
But the combination had now grown rich, and, nothing daunted by
their recent failure, they pressed their suits against D ay and his agents;
and suits at law and in equity, for the same cause o f action, were brought
in different States, thus com pelling him to incur enormous expenses and
inconvenience. H is goods were attached, and in Massachusetts an officer
was placed in his factory, and he was b y ingenious and multiplied pro­
cesses thus harassed and distressed, and compelled to give large securities
or be entirely broken up in his business.
It was believed that this system o f harassing would soon wear out by
attrition, a castle which could not be taken by storm. But it was ascer­
tained that D ay was making use o f a process different from Goodyear’s—
invented by tw o o f D ay’s foremen— a process by which zinc was combined
with rubber, and finished by the use o f the English process o f steam.
This made a better fabric than G oodyear’s processes could produce. Thus
foiled, and finding themselves in the power o f their antagonist, a compro­
mise with Day, or his overthrow, became necessary for their preservation.
A new consultation o f the combination was now had, which resulted in
the adoption o f two other schemes for prostrating Day, and securing a
m onopoly o f the rubber business. The original Goodyear patent o f 1844
for metallic rubber, which had been superseded, was to be re-issued and
made to embrace the English processes o f H ancock, together with three
or four processes already discovered and patented in this country. The
second measure— to get an extension o f a patent which had been granted
to Edwin M. Chaffee, long before Goodyear had taken up the rubber busi­
ness, and which patent was claimed to have passed into Goodyear’s pos­
session, and which was indispensable in the business. The success o f these
two measures would, in the opinion o f the monopolists, drive D ay from
the field.
A ccordingly, in December, 1849, without D ay’s knowledge, the patent
was re-issued to Goodyear, upon a new specification, and at once an entire
set of new suits was commenced against Day, his customers, and agents.
The old suits were allowed to be defaulted, or permitted to be non-suited,




A fe w Chapters fro m its H istory.

323

or renewed only to annoy. These new suits were m ore numerous than
the old, and the assault was the more tremendous. Meantime all the
manufacturers w ho had begun or gone on independent o f Goodyear, had,
with one or two exceptions, been induced by motives o f gain to join against
Day. W ith suits against him in five States, they could marshal their
forces to the greatest advantage, and select that point for a final issue
which promised the best success.
A t this point a circumstance occurred which, however trivial it may
have seemed, was intended to ruin Day, and which, being managed adroit­
ly, nearly succeeded. Some disappointed party had made an attack in a
New Jersey paper, upon one o f the judges o f the Circuit Court, involving
the integrity o f the judge’s son— the Clerk o f the Court— for alleged im­
proper practices, not connected, however, with the India-rubber interests,
and this was, unjustly, attributed to Day.
It finally became apparent that, however successful D ay m ight be in
side issues or suits in equity, he had little hope o f final emancipation from
difficulty, except in a trial involving the main question, and before a jury.
To prepare for such an ordeal, when it could no longer be postponed,
Day’s antagonists had so managed as to have thirteen separate examina­
tions going on at the same time in different parts o f the country, before
as many commissioners, rendering it impossible for Day or his counsel to
be present for cross-examining many important witnesses.
W h en this
was shown to the Court, as the New Jersey trial came on, an order was
made postponing the trial, and to stop such corrupt and unjust practices
in the future, and three certain commissioners were appointed, before
whom all the testimony should be taken.
The parties then went on
taking their testimony under that rule, in both the law and equity cases.
Meantime, D ay’s counsel unhesitatingly advised him that, according to
the pleadings, there could be no estoppel established against him and
therefore that the Court, as a matter o f course and o f universal practice,
would try the suit at law first, especially as it was the oldest on the calen­
dar, and the title h id never been established at law.
Relying on this opinion, D ay had not taken the testimony o f some thirty
witnesses, who lived within one hundred miles o f the place o f holding the
Court, intending, under the rules, to call them to the stand before the jury
in the course o f the trial at law.
The court came in, and the suit at law, being first on the calendar, was
called, when Day announced himself ready. The plaintiff', however, re­
fused to g o on with that suit, and insisted on his right to try the case in
equity. This was resisted by the defendant through his counsel, Rufus
Choate and Francis B. Cutting, and argued in the side o f the plaintiff by
Daniel Webster, Seth P. Staples, and James S. Brady.
After a day or
two o f argument, the court ordered the suit in equity to be put on its
final hearing, in spite o f the fact that the question o f the title and validity
of the patent had never been tried before any jury. O f course, a solemn
protest was entered by Day against the order, for it gave his antagonist
every advantage, and dealt a heavy blow against Day on the very thresh­
old o f the court-room. But this new hardship had to be met. Nine
large printed volumes o f testimony, running over twelve or fifteen years,
were then laid before the court, and eight or ten days at least must be
consumed in the reading. Other serious embarrassments passed heavily
upon Day’s case— even the clerk o f the court was counsel for Goodyear,




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The Great India-Rubber L itigation :

and son o f one o f the judges. But with all his want o f preparation, and
under all these evil omens, D ay was compelled to g o to trial.
It was on this occasion— this great occasion'— that Mr. Choate made
his m ighty argument on the question o f estoppel, complimented as the
greatest effort ever made on that question. Some idea o f the expenses o f
this litigation may he g ot from the fact that Mr. W ebster received £15,000
for his fee at this single hearing, and the expenses o f this case alone ex­
ceeded 160,000.
This was in 1852. The rubber business had grown to five or six mil­
lion dollars a year, and the fabrics were sent to all the world.
But this strange trial waited six or eight months for a decision, and of
course when it came it was just what everybody except D ay expected— a
final and perpetual injunction against him. Tie was required and ordered
to stop the wheels he had first set rolling at the bidding o f his own will,
long before Goodyear had entered the business— to arrest the clank o f his
own machinery, which had sprung into being by the fiat o f his own in­
ventive genius. Ever afterward he was to manufacture shirred goods—
and according to the terms o f that slighted, broken agreement with Good­
year, which G oodyear himself did not regard !
D ay had some time been regarded as a ruined man, for nobody could
believe one human being able to resist so hostile and so tremendous a
power. H e even bent to the blast himself for a while.
l i e could not
hope for justice— he could see no light— he even gave up the hope o f a
trial by jury— that sheet-anchor right o f the A nglo-Saxon race. H e sold
out his business, and quit the field.
This was before the court had propounced its decision.
But although the men he sold to at once stopped all manufacture ex­
cept shirred goods, yet his opponents found some pretext for further troubling
him. H e was proceeded against for contempt o f court, and was sum­
moned to Trenton. D ay asked a further hearing in the absence o f his
chief counsellor.
It was denied. Crowded to a hearing, he unqualifiedly denied, under
oath, any violation o f the injunction, and supported it by other strong affi­
davits. But this would not suffice. D ay was put under examination be­
fore the judge, in person, for several hours. The outrage was great—
without a precedent— for the defendant had legally, morally, and honor­
ably, purged himself o f the charge o f contempt, and by precedents tvro
hundred years old. The judge could g o no further. But the judge—
whatever may have been his motive— had not yet exhausted upon the
stricken man all his power. H e would command his person and his goods.
H e did. H e wanted possession o f his books and papers, and closed his
tribunal to adjourn it to such time and place as to him seemed best. It
was, in a day or two, opened again at Jersey City.
D ay’ s principal counselor (Mr. Choate) could not be present; Mr. Cut­
ting was engaged in a trial, and he sent another legal gentleman to pray
the Court for delay. But the ju dge’s son, as counsel for D ay’s opponents,
requested his father to declare D ay in contempt, and o f course it was done.
It would have been strange after all that had passed, if it had not been just so.
A precept was instantly issued against him and placed in hands o f officers;
but D ay was safely sheltered in the circle o f his family friends, on the east
side o f the Hudson river. H e had a house and home there— several houses
— homes numerous. Finding their victim out o f reach, an attempt was
made to revise the judicial persecution. This failed on the east side o f




A few Chapters from, its H istory.

325

the river: and although the ruin o f his fortune seemed entire, they could
not complete an utter overthrow.
But the plot grow s— the conspiracy extends. There is not power in
money profusely lavished— nor in the blinding maze o f a hundred laby­
rinthine lawsuits, to paralyze utterly a true man. Law is not broad enough
— -justice is not elastic enough. W hat shall be done?
Congress must a ct! N o other power can save the Conspiracy. They
had exhausted every law— -they had worn out every precedent. They
asked Congress to increase the jurisdiction o f the courts o f the United
States— that the court in New Jersey might reach its strong arm over
the Hudson river, and drag a hunted citizen into territory where a tyrant
might seize him. It was an audacious attempt, to poison a whole system
of jurisprudence for a nation, in order to wreak vengeance upon a pros­
trate foe.
W hile all this was being done, a large factory in Connecticut, which
Day owned in connection with Anson G. Phelps and others, was con­
sumed by fire. Railroad companies— to whom Day had sold car-springs—
were prosecuted, and claimed protection from Day, whose friends and
partners were alarmed. Anson G. Phelps died, and D ay stood almost
alone to defend suits against the United States Car Spring Co., in which
he had the largest interest. H e was still under injunction, and being com ­
pelled to sacrifice his property in that company, for less than one quarter
its cost, he seemed to fall below the possibility o f a rescue. A t this crisis,
when all the hopes which cheer and comfort the soul in life give way, he
hurriedly paid all his debts, and sunk for a while in the depth o f tha
abyss—-his hair became prematurely gray !
The end was not yet. Goodyear asked for an extension o f the patent
for curing India-rubber, which was claimed by Hayward. D ay opposed
this'because he was himself the inventor, and had used it ten consecutive
years before it was issued to Goodyear. A n d application was also made
to extend Chaffee’s patent.
Volum es o f testimony were rolled up to the Patent Office by Day’s op­
ponents, and so powerful were the means, the result was at last reached—
this patent was extended. This seemed to be that depth Milton spoke o f
where his angel fe ll!
Such wrong, outrage, and deception could not last, even in an erring
world. It could not last. It did not.
Litigations had been going on all the while against D a y ; and they
were spread over so many States, and addressed to so many issues, and
pressed so unfairly by the numerous adjudants of the chief enemy, that it
required a large corps o f clerks and reporters to keep even an abstract
record o f the crimes and accusations alleged against him.
New points were continually started. But the last effort had not yet
been made— for the great Inventor was not yet silenced. H e spoke again.
But his voice could scarcely be heard. Once m ore the hostile forces ral­
lied. One hundred against o n e ! A new writ o f contempt was issued, and
Day appeared. H e denied that he was in contempt, and he announced
through his counsel his readiness for any action o f a full court. But he
was at once put under heavy bonds to appear before a Master, with all his
books and papers, and submit to an examination on the question o f con­
tempt, and to go on in accounting to Goodyear for all his profits, after
Goodyear had been cut off from all his pretended claims up to 1849, by
the finding o f a jury !




326

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

This opened a new chapter o f the crusade ; and if it were fully written
would show enough to make the reader tremble to think how insecure his
rights may sometimes become, under this great republic.
The examination exhausted the ingenuity and trick o f five different
lawyers, heavily paid to crush a single unprotected m an; and they had
full scope for their power for weary m on th s; and all this at an expense of
many thousand dollars— for the sole purpose o f proving a contempt of
court on the part o f a man who had steadily denied before the same court,
and proved it at every step.
But day-light at last began to dawn. The case was worn out. The
hunted man had steadily, uprightly, answered the questions o f the Master,
(Judge Green,) who at last put an end to the farce, by announcing that
the charges o f contempt were unfounded, and that D ay was innocent of
every allegation. The report was made to the court and duly filed ! The
crushed, but never the broken-spirited man, once more rose from the
heavy burden o f a terrible prosecution, and stood up, without his fetters.
H ere ends the second chapter o f this dreadful controversy. *

JO U R N A L OF M E R C A N T ILE LAW .
ACTION TO RECOVER THE AMOUNT OF A CERTIFICATE FOR MERCHANDISE BOUGHT.

Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts.— January, 1856. James B. Eaton, vs.
Henry Melius.
The action was to recover the amount of a certificate passed by the defendants,
Messrs. Melius & Howard, to the plaintiff, in California, in 1847, in payment for
merchandise bought. The certificate was signed by J. K. Wilson, captain of ord­
nance, and countersigned by Colonel Fremont, and certified that $1,000 was due
to Messrs. Melius and Howard by the United States, for powder furnished to the
California battalion, then commanded by Colonel Freemont. A t the same time
with receiving this certificate, Messrs. Melius & Howard gave Captain Wilson a
receipt for §1.000, in payment of their bill for the powder. The plaintiff had ap­
plied to the Treasury Department for payment o f this certificate, and payment had
been declined, and the plaintiff sought to recover the amount of the defendants.
In support of the action, the plaintiff offered evidence tending to prove that the
United States refused to pay the certificate, because they had allowed the §1,000
to Colonel Fremont, in settlement of his accounts, by reason of the above receipt
by the defendants, and of another receipt which Captain Wilson gave Colonel
Fremont, of the same date with the certificate, which receipt was for §1,000 paid
by Colonel Freemont to said Wilson for this powder. And the plaintiff contend­
ed that this mistake was owing to the defendants’ having given such a receipt to
Captain Wilson, as led to the whole transaction having the appearance of a cash
transaction, and so misled the government. There was no allegation of a fraudu­
lent intent in any of the parties, but the plaintiff contended that the defendants
were liable for the consequences of their receipt being given in the form it was.
J u d g e T h o m a s ruled that to entitle the plaintiff to recover (where there was
no element of fraud) he must show not only that the government had declined to
pay, but that it had rightfully declined; and that in this case there was not suf­
ficient evidence to sustain that position. The receipt given by the defendants to
Captain Wilson was prima facie given for the certificate and not for cash. If the
government, without regarding this, or without due inquiry, had paid Colonel
Fremont, by reason of another receipt between its owrn officers, to w'hich the de­
fendants w’ere not parties, the defendants w'ere not liable, and the claim was still
good against the government, A verdict was taken proforma for the defendants,
the case to be reported for consideration of the full bench.




Commercial Chronicle and Review.
SALE

OF

327

P R O P E R T Y — M IS D E S C R IP T IO N .

A sale of property, described as “ customary leasehold, renewable every twentyone years,” had been made, the conditions of sale containing provisoes that the
vendor should be entitled to vacate the sale, and return the deposit in the event
of any objection arising “ which he could not or would not remove,” and that
errors of description should not vacate the sale, but that abatement or compensa­
tion should be made in case thereof. It turned out that the property was held
merely for an absolute term of twenty-one years, without any custom of renewal.
Vice-chancellor Wood held that this was an error of description, that the purchaser
was consequently entitled to compensation, and that the vendor had no option to
declare the sale void, and return the deposit without interest.
A freehold house was disposed of at public auction, the description in the par­
ticulars of sale being that the house was “ a freehold estate, being No. 58 Pall
Mall, Marlborough House.” It turned out, however, that the house was not actu­
ally in Pall Mall, but that it was situated to the rear of No. 57 in that street, and
that the front elevation faced toward St. James's-street instead of Pall Mall, and
that, moreover, the approach to it was by an inconvenient covered passage. On
these grounds the purchaser resisted completing the contract. Counsel for the
vendor argued that, as it had been for a long time commonly known as “ No. 58
Pall Mall,” there was no misdescription to vitiate the sale. But this argument
was overruled by Vice-chancellor Stuart, who held that the vendor could only be
bound by the description in the particulars of sale, that the contract must be re­
scinded and the deposit returned.— Stanton v. Tattersall, 21 L. T., Rep. 334.

C O M M E R C IA L C H R O N IC LE A N D R EV IEW .
I N F L U E N C E O F P E A C E ON C O M M E R C I A L A F F A I R S — L A R G E P A Y M E N T S F R O M T H E S U B - T R E A S U R Y — I N ­
C L U D I N G T H E T E X A N A N D M E X I C A N I N D E M N I T Y — T H E M O N E Y A ND S T O C K M A R K E T — R E C E I P T S OF
G O L D D U S T — T H E B A N K M O V E M E N T — I M P O R T S A T N E W Y O R K F O R J A N U A R Y — G R E A T I N C R E A S E IN
T H E R E C E I P T S OF D R Y G O O D S — E X P O R T S F R O M N E W Y O R K T O F O R E I G N P O R T S F O R T H E M O N T H
OF J A N U A R Y — F O R E I G N C O M M E R C E A T N E W Y O R K F O R S E V E N M O N T H S OF T H E F I S C A L Y E A R — R E ­
C E I P T S F O R C A S H D U T I E S — S H I P M E N T S OF D O M E S T I C P R O D U C E — T O N N A G E A ND S H I P P I N G F O R
— ST A N D A R D OF INSPEC TION F O R B R E A D S T U F F S , E T C .

lfc55

T h e tone of feeling in commercial circles has been very much changed since our
last by the prospect of returning peace, and the announcement of a renewal of
negotiations between Russia and the Allies has been everywhere hailed with de­
light. W e do not believe that the return of peace would effect such a rapid im­
provement in our commercial prosperity as the most sanguine seem to suppose.
The course of trade can never be suddenly changed without many interruptions
and hindrances, and the effect of a settlement of the present European difficulties
will no doubt be greater upon the public mind, than upon the actual interchange
of commodities. The large outlays of money at the seat of war have excited a
very active trade in that quarter, and many millions of goods have been sold to a
people who never purchased an article from Western Europe before. A reaction
will come as soon as the army is withdrawn and the heavy expenditure ceases,
but the trade will not bo wholly lost. When want is unknown, the demand may
slumber ; but the desire once gratified, cannot be readily stifled; and the new
sources of traffic, opened by the war will pay the Allies in a short time for ail
the expenditure of the war, if that were the only consideration.
Another reason for confidence in a fresh impulse to our commercial prosperity
is found in the large payments which arc to be made from the Sub-Treasury.
This reservoir now holds nearly thirty millions of gold and silver, but means have
been found for its depletion. The A ct of Congress, passed 1850, provided for the
issue of $10,000,000 of stock to Texas, half of which was to be reserved in the
United States Treasury until the creditors of Texas would release to the United
States all claims upon the general government. The creditors refused this condi­
tion, and a new settlement was devised at the last session of Congress. By this
last-named plan, $7,750,000, in cash, were offered in lieu of the $5,000,000 stock,




328

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

the proposition to bo approved by the Legislature of Texas, and both the State
and individual creditors to release the United States from all claims growing out
of the responsibilities connected with the annexation of Texas. After much de­
lay and discussion, this A c t has been assented to by Texas, (it is said with some
conditions which may destroy its force,) ninety days must elapse before the money
is payable. A farther depletion of the treasury is on account of the Mexican indemity. In the treaty under which the United States acquired the territory
known as the Mesilla Valley, our government became bound to pay to Mexico
the sum of ten millions of dollars, of which three millions were to be reserved
until the boundary line was duly completed by a commission appointed by both
countries. The treasury of Mexico is always in a thirsty state, and an advance
was obtained upon this three millions during the administration of Santa Anna,
the first installment of §1,500.000 having been borrowed in December, 1854, and
afterwards §950,000 and §650,000 respectively. Receipts were given for this
money, stating on their face that the fund in the hands of the United States was
hypothecated for their payment. Before the boundary line was formally com­
pleted, and the fund payable, Santa Anna’s power was overturned by a revolution,
and he himself obliged to flee the country. As the treasury of Mexico was ex­
hausted, the government cast a longing eye upon the fund just becoming due from
the United States treasury, and as the capitalists who had advanced the money
had not yet received it, a decree was passed suspending all unfinished contracts.
Our government was notified of this decree, and the holders of the pledge were
warned that their claim would not be recognized unless they consented to make a
fresh loan to Mexico. This they at first declined to do, but after a while, one of
their agents in Mexico, being tired of waiting, and seeing that the interest of the
money would amount to more than the bonus demanded, made a loan of §50,000
to the new government, and obtained authority for the payment of the two amounts
last above named. The other §1,500,000 was made the subject of fresh negotia­
tions.
These large payments from the Sub-Treasury, present and prospective, are sup­
posed to indicate an easier money market, and have produced a more buoyant
feeling in all departments of trade. Capital has been more freely offered at 6 a 7
per cent for loans on call, and 7 a 9 per cent for prime business paper.
The stock market felt the influence of these favorable circumstances, and prices
rapidly improved, the change being in some cases as much as 5 a 8 per cent.
The receipts of gold from California were fully up to the average lor the month
of January, but have since declined. The following are the deposits and business
at the Assay Office in New York for the month of January :—
D E P O S IT S A T T H E ASSAV

O F F IC E , N E W T O R E , F O R T H E M O N T H O F JA N U A R Y .

Gold.

Foreign coins.....................................
Foreign b ullion ...............................
Domestic bullion...............................
Total deposits.....................

$2,800 00
19,500 00
2,327,700 00
$2,350,000 00

Silver.

$2,050 CO
4,190 00
16,760 00
$23,000 00

Total deposits payable in bars..................................................................
Total deposits payable in coins.................................................................
Gold bars stamped..................... .'..............................................................
Transmitted to U. States Mint, Philadelphia, for coinage..................

Total.

$4,850 00
23,690 00
2,344,460 00
$2,373,000 00
8,640
2,364,360
797,660
491,471

00
00
15
21

Of the deposits, §30,000 in gold consisted of California Mint bars.
The deposits at the Philadelphia Mint in January were §365,000 in gold,
§102,816 in silver, making a total of §467,816. The coinage for the same time
was $1,382,540 in double eagles, §28,000 in silver dollars, §100,000 in silver
quarter dollars, and §912 in copper cents.
The supply from the mines thus far in February has materially fallen off, the
bad weather encountered having driven the miners from their work.
The banks have been prosperous, and now stand nearly as strongly as they did
at the same date last year. A t New York the specie has increased, and the show­
ing is a favorable one. W e annex a comparison of the weekly summaries since




329

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

January 1st, with a line at the foot showing the totals for the corresponding date
last year :—■
W EEKLY

AVERAGES

NEW

YORK

C IT Y

BANKS.

Date.
Jan. 5, 1856.
Jan. 1 2 ..........
Jan. 1 9 ..........
Jan. 2 6 ..........
Feb. 2 ...........
Feb. 9 ..........
Feb. 1 6 ..........

Capital.
4 9 ,4 5 3 ,6 6 0
4 9 ,453,660
4 9 ,4 5 3 ,6 6 0
49 ,6 9 2 ,9 0 0
49 ,6 9 2 ,9 0 0
49 ,6 9 2 ,9 0 0
4 9 ,6 9 2 ,9 0 0

Loans and
Discounts.
9 5 ,863,390
96,145,408
9 6 ,382,968
96,887,221
97,970,611
98,344,077
99,401,315

Specie.
11,687.209
11,777,711
13,385,260
12,733.059
13,640,437
14,233,329
15,678,736

Circulation.
7,903,656
7,612,507
7,462,706
7,506,986
7,622,827
7,819,122
7,693,441

Deposits.
83,534,893
77,931,498
82,652,828
7 8 ,918,315
82,269,061
82,848,152
88,085,944

Feb. 1 7 ,1 8 5 5

4 8 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

90,850,031

17,339,086

6,941,606

75,193,636

W e also annex a continuation of the weekly averages of the Boston banks :—
W E E K L Y A V E R A G E S A T BO STO N .

January 21.

January 28.

February 4.

February 11.

February 18.

Capital...................... $31,960,000 $31,960,000 $31,960,000 $31,960,000 $31,960,000
Loans and discounts..
51,875,611 52,019,487 52,210,000 52.486,600 52,445.000
Specie.........................
3,516,028
3,595,459
3.623,000
3,537.000 3,445,000
Due from other banks
7,487,446 7,142,280
7,370,000
7,584,000 7,263,000
Due to other banks. .
5.578,024 5,621,241
5,750,000
6,069,000 6,207,500
Deposits.................... 14,644,341
14,855,812 15,091,000 14,744.000 14,634,700
Circulation................
7,728,092
7,295,154
7,100,800
7,389,000 7,159,000

The following will show the condition of the banks of Massachusetts, February
4th, 1856, compiled from the returns to the Secretary of State :—
L IA B IL IT IE S .

36 city.

133 country.
$26,027,000
12.469,922
6,091,554
2,687,534

$57,987,000
17,922,006
21,182,772
6,636,870

$47,276,010

$103,728,648

Notes, bills of exchange, <fcc.. . .
Specie............................................
Real estate....................................

$45,590,495
1,054,380
632,135

$97,800,726
4,677,580
1,250,342

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

$47,276,010

$103,728,648

Capital..........................................
Net circulation...............................
Deposits........................................
Profit on h a n d ..............................
Total...................................

Total.

RESOURCES.

The above statement exhibits, upon comparison with the first day of January
last, an increase in the item of deposits of §452,555 ; of loans, §577,850 ; and of
specie, §179,849 ; and a decrease in the item of net circulation of §135,756.
The imports for January have not been as large as generally expected, but still
show a considerable gain as compared with last year. A t the port of New York
the total entered for consumption is much larger than for the corresponding month
of 1855, but the entries for warehousing show a decline of 50 per cent. The total
receipts for the month are §2,632,237 greater than for January, 1855, and
§2,136,094 greater than for January, 1853, but §4,029,755 less than for January,
1854, which still stands at the head of the list. W e annex a comparative state­
ment :—
F O R E I G N I M P O R T S AT N E W

YORK

IN

JA N U A R Y.

1853.

1854.

1855.

Entered for consumption. . . .
Entered for warehousing.. . .
Free goods................................
Specie and bullion.................

$1 1 ,6 6 3 ,4 0 5

642,279
1,202,238
33,048

$ 1 5 ,651,415
2,271,976
1,395,063
289,365

$8,370,259
3,254,654
1,230,630
90,284

$ 1 2,556,638
1,625,254

Total entered at the port___
Withdrawn from warehouse

$ 1 3 ,4 4 0 ,9 7 0
1,536,365

$1 9 ,6 0 7 ,8 1 9
2,88 9 ,5 1 6

$ 1 2,945,827
2,057,931

$ 1 5,578,064
2,345,618




1856.
1,341,808
54,364

330

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

The great hulk of the imports for the last month at the port named consists of
dry goods. Usually not more than half the receipts are of that description, but
the entries have been larger than ever before during the same period of the year,
being in excess of the large total for the same month of 1854. The imports of
general merchandise are comparatively light. W e annex a summary showing the
fluctuations in this respect
F O R E IG N M E R C H A N D IS E , E X C L U S IV E O F S P E C IE , IM P O R T E D A T N E W Y O R K IN J A N U A R Y .

18S3.
Dry goods........................................
General merchandise.....................

1851

1855.

1856.

$8,564,618 $10,232,470 ¥5,630,393 $10,686,771
4,843,104
9,085,964 7,225,150
4,836.929

TotaL........................................$13,407,922 $19,318,434 $12,855,543 $15,523,700

The increase in dry goods and falling off in general merchandise, exhibited in
the above table, is very remarkable. It shows that no branch of our Commerce
is likely to be overdone this season, unless it be the receipts of foreign fabrics.
The dealers explain these large receipts by insisting that the goods have been
shipped earlier than usual, as the first sales of the season generally bring the high­
est prices. The few goods thrown into warehouse prove that the receipts have
not been greater than the wants of the trade, for with money worth 9 a 10 per
cent the duties would not be paid, and the goods held for a market, unless they
had been wanted.
The receipts of dry goods, it will be seen, are $5,056,378 larger than for Janu­
ary, 1855, (an increase of nearly 100 per cent,) $454,301 greater than for the
same time in 1854, and $2,121,953 greater for January, 1853. W e annex a full
statement of the discription of goods received :—■
IM P O R T S OF F O R E IG N D R Y

GO O D S A T T H E

PORT

JA N U A R Y
ENTERED

FOR

O F N E W Y O R K F O R F O U R W E E K S EN D IN G

25TH .

C O N S U M PTIO N .

1856.

1853.

1851.

Manufactures o f w o o l ...................
Manufactures of cotton...................
Manufactures of silk.......................
Manufactures o f flax......................
Miscellaneous dry goods................

$1,614,872
1,743,168
3,383,165
870.460
478.461

$1,671,251
2,626,816
2,972,981
972,844
631,872

$989,922
983,081
1,012,621
584,491
472,775

$2,177,332
2,525,951
3,045,608
813.564
719,438

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

$8,089,626

$8,875,764

$4,042,890

$9,280,893

W IT H D R A W N

FROM

1855.

W AREH O U SE.

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

$117,711
165,387
336,582
29,965
75,096

$281,406
443,056
506,483
121,613
34,676

$188,323
265.530
269,437
95,918
81,519

$186,288
406.605
282,872
128,792
50,714

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

$724,741
8,089,626

$1,387,234
8,875,764

$900,727
4,042,890

$1,055,271
9,280,893

Total thrown on the m arket.

$8,814,367 $10,262,998

ENTERED

Manufactures of w ool....................
Manufactures of co tto n .................
Manufactures of s ilk ......................
Manufactures of flax.......................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...............
Total.........................................
Add entered for consumption....... .

FOR

W A R E H O U S IN G .

$72,951
103,491
233,759
11,516
53,475

$239,510
571,470
382,693
154,213
8,820

$307,316
547,935
348,842
227,871
155,539

$282,084
568,188
294,896
191,158
69,602

$475,192
8,089,626

$1,356,706
8,875,764

$1,587,503
4,042,800

$1,405,878
9,280,893

Total entered at the p o r t ............ $8,564,818 $10,232,470




$4,943,617 $10,336,164

$5,630,393 $10,686,771

331

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

The exports from New York to foreign ports have not been as large as expected,
in consequence of the severe weather which has obstructed navigation. Vessels
have been frozen in at the dock, and the floating ice in the channel has been so
abundant that it was not safe for lighters to be moyed about the harbor. Under
these circumstances it is gratifying to observe that the shipments of domestic pro­
duce have been larger than for the same time last year, although a little less than
for the same period of 1854. There has been a considerable falling off' in ship­
ments of foreign merchandise, and a large decrease in exports of specie. The
total exports for the month, exclusive of specie, are $384,287 less than for Janu­
ary, 1855, $333,5C5 less than for January, 1854, but $2,212,302 greater than for
January, 1853, as will appear from the following summary :—■
EXPORTS

FROM

NEW

YORK

TO

F O R E IG N

PORTS

1853.

FOR

TH E

M ONTH

OF JAN U ARY.

1855.

1854.

1856.

Domestic produce...........................
Foreign merchandise (free)...........
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)...
S p ecie..............................................

$2,990,624
42.574
265,730
717,679

$5,304,203
71,524
469,068
8,845,682

$4,996,787
458,091
440,639
156,398

$5,257,686
41.305
212,239
104,834

Total e x p o rts ..............................
Total, exclusive of s p e c ie .........

$4,046,607
3,298,928

$7,690,477
5,844,795

$6,051,916
5,895,517

$5,616,064
5,611,230

The total imports of all descriptions, and the exports of merchandise and pro­
duce since the commencement of the fiscal year, (July 1st,) exhibits many features
of peculiar interest. The imports are five millions larger than for the correspond­
ing period of the previous year, but ten millions less than for the corresponding
period of the year before last. But the exports (exclusive of specie) for the last
seven months are about eleven millions larger than for the same time last year, and
nearly two millions larger than for the same time in 1853-4, all of which will ap­
pear from the following comparison :—
IM P O R T S A T N E W Y O R K F O R S E V E N M O N T H S O F T H E F IS C A L Y E A R C O M M E N C IN G J U L Y 1 .

1851—4.
Six months................................................
January....................................................

$96,261,129
19,607,819

Total seven months........................

$115,868,948

E X P O R T S (E X C L U S I V E O F S P E C IE ) F R O M N F.W

YORK

TO

1854—5.
$86,658,097
12,945,827

1855-6.
$89,912,809
15,578,064

$99,503,924 $105,490,873

F O R E I G N P O R T S F O R S E V E N M O N TH S

C O M M E N C IN G J U L Y 1 .

1851—4.

1854—5.

18,55-6.

Six months..................................................
January......................................................

$37,975,895
5,844,795

$28,892,747
5,895,517

$39,915,729
5,611,230

Total for sevenmonths......................

$43,820,690

$34,788,264

$45,426,959

As we have previously shown, except for the large receipts of dry goods, the
imports at New York for January would not have been as large as usual.
We have added the goods entered directly for consumption to the goods
warehoused, in order to show at a glance in what description the change has oc­
curred :—
R E C E IP T S

OF D R Y

GOODS A T

NEW

YORK

FOR

1853.
Manufactures o f w o o l...................
Manufactures o f cotton .................
Manufactures of s i l k .....................
Manufactures of f la x .....................
Miscellaneous dry goods...............
Total for four weeks




$1,6S7.323
1,846,659
3,616,924
881,976
531,936

FOUR

W E E K S .-----R E C A P IT U L A T IO N .

1854.

1855.

1856.

$1,910,761
3,198,286
3,355.674
1,127,057
640,692

$1,297,238 $2,459,416
1,531,016
3.093,089
1,361,463
3,340,504
812,362
1,004,722
628,314
989,040

$8,564,818 $10,232,470

$5,630,393 $10,686,971

332

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

It will thus be seen that notwithstanding all which has been said about the
great increase in imports of dry goods, it is only extraordinary as compared with
the same period of last year, and not in comparison with former years. 'Che fol­
lowing will show the imports for the corresponding four weeks in each of the last
six years :—-

.

.

First 4 weeks of 1851........
1852
1853

$9,812,564
7,927,376
8,564,818

First 4 weeks of 1 8 5 4 ....... $10,232,470
1855...........
5,630,393
1856........... 10,686,771

The total is large, and shows that the importers have been urging their goods
forward at an early date ; but the total for the same time last year was unusually
small. The receipts for cash duties exhibit a larger comparative increase than
the total imports, because a larger proportion of the goods entered have been
thrown directly upon the market. W e annex a comparison, showing the receipts
for January, and since the commencement of the fiscal year :—•
CASH

D U T IE S R E C E IV E D

1851.
January...................
Six months ending
January 1st........

AT

NEW

YORK.

1854.

1855.

1856.

$3,311,137 37

$4,379,285 82 $2,560,038

32 $3,683,654 85

17,082,424 93

21,920,896 35 28,358,927

32 20,087,362 28

Total 7 months___ $20,393,562

30 $26,300,181 65 $20,918,965

64 $23,771,017 13

There is a proposition now on foot at Washington for a revision of the tariff,
which will probably result in a diminution of the national revenue, the present in­
come being greater than is required by the wants of the government. All raw
materials are to be brought in duty free, and some other changes made, involving
a loss in the aggregate receipt of duties. The exports of produce have been in­
terrupted by the severe weather, but the total shipments, as shown in the tables
above given, are quite large for the season. A s a matter of interest, we have
compiled a comparative statement of the exports of certain leading articles of
produce from the port of New Y ork since the opening of the year :—
EXPORTS

OF

C E R T A IN

A R T IC L E S O F

PORTS

D O M E S T IC

FR O M JA N U A R Y

1855.

1ST

1856.

PRODUCE

FROM

TO FEB R U A R Y

NEW

YORK

TO

F O R E IG N

1 8 t H :-----

1855.

1856.

28,186
1,055 Naval stores.. . .bbls.
74,614
3,042
289 Oils— w h a le .. . .galls.
15,958
33,356
sperm . ,
8,798
55,468
15,908
lard . . .
2,562
B rea d stu ff’s —
linseed .
304
Wheat flour . .bbls.
83,233 250,942
Rye flo u r...............
7,605
5,861 P r o v is io n s —
32,800
Pork.............
Corn meal...............
8,605
7,490
30,441
W h e a t............ bush.
26,160 258,056
15,344 20,291
Beef..............
Cut meats, lb s....... ■4,294,444 4,047,768
5,139 269,837
R y e .........................
74,796
. Oats .......................
4,196
5,400
96,268
B u tte r.........
C orn .......................
575,233 447,824
663,479 386,625
Cheese.........
Candles— mold-boxes
6,703
4,778
L ard............. ..........2,249,413 4,010,072
5,486
sperm.........
1,285
665 R i c e .................
2,408
C oal....................... tons
1,686
666 Tallow .............
407,489 435,878
11.114
5,894
Cotton..................hales
26,697 22,603 Tobacco, crude, . pkgs
H a y .............................
1,592
536 Do., manufactured.lbe. 370,430 466,823
13,234
29,106
H o p s ...........................
2,471
671 W halebone.. .

Ashes— p o t s ....b b ls
pea rls...........
Beeswax................. lbs.

1,164
158
25,600

W e have carefully compiled a statement of the tonnage which arrived and




333

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

cleared from the port of New York for the year 1855. The great demand for
shipping in Europe, with the depression in freights in this country during the
early part of the year, has limited the number of arrivals from foreign ports, while
the direct clearances show a slight increase in domestic, but a large falling off in
foreign vessels :—
TONN AGE

AT

NEW

YORK

FOR

THE

YEAR

1855.

E N T E R E D F R O M F O R E IG N P O R T S .

Tonnage.

Seamen.

1,340,257$
222,000

40,886
8,440

1,562,257$
1,919.317$
1,813,255
1,709,988

49,326
67,075
60,993
58,867

Vessels.

American vessels . . . .
Foreign vessels..........
Total e n t e r e d ..........
“
1854.,
“
1853.......................
“
1852.,.....................
CLEARED

FOR

4,079
3,847
F O R E IG N

American vessels . . . , .....................
Foreign vessels........... ...................
Total cleared.........
1854.. ...................
“
1853..
“
1852.......................

PORTS.

Vessels.

Tonnage.

Seamen.

2,131
894

1,197,020$
229,181$

39,019
8,951

1,426,201$
1,528,1044
1,521,286$
1,355,814

47,970
53,250
54.889
50,459

3,278
3,035

The number of registered arrivals from abroad is always greater than the direct
clearances for foreign ports, because many vessels entering in the foreign trade
clear for a coastwise port. The decline in entries has been chiefly in foreign ves­
sels, the number of that description having fallen oft' 507, a decline of nearly 40
per cent, while the entries of domestic have fallen off but 149, a decline of only
about five per cent. The following is a comparison of the American and foreign
entries and clearances for the last two years :—ENTERED

FROM

F O R E IG N

PORTS

FOR

THE

,--------------- A M E R IC A N .--------------- ,

Year.

Vessels.

1855 ........ ........................
1854

2,487
2,636

Decrease.....................

149
CLEARED

,---------------F O R E I G N .--------------- ,

Vessels.

T o d s.

1,340,257$
1,442,282$
102,050

FOR

F O R E IG N

YEAR.

Tons.

904
1,411

222,000
477,034$

507

255,034$

PORTS.

,-------------- A M E R IC A N .--------------- ,

,--------------- F O R E IG N .--------------- ,

Vessels.

Tons.

Vessels.

1855
1854 .................................

2,131
1,945

1,197,020$
1,082,799$

894
1,333

229,181$
445,305

Increase.........................

186

114,220$

Decr’se 439

216,123$

Year.

Tons.

It will bo seen that the falling off in foreign tonnage is far greater than in the
number of vessels, showing that the craft arriving have averaged of much smaller
size than last year. In the clearances for foreign ports the total decline has been
m foreign vessels, the domestic showing an increase, both in number and tonnage.




334

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

Those who have watched the commerce of the country for a number of years,
will see that the general tendency is strongly toward an increase of tonnage, al­
though the total for the last year is a little less in domestic and far less in foreign,
than for the preceding year. Compare the aggregate for the year, however, in
the small beginning, and the growth of our mercantile marine assumes almost the
appearance of magic. W e annex a statement representing the annual progress of
this interest since 1821.
TONN AGE

Year.
1 8 2 1 ............................ ..................
1 8 2 2 ............................ ..................
1 8 2 3 ............................ ..................
1 8 2 4 ............................ ..................
1 8 2 5 ............................ ..................
1 8 2 6 ............................ ..................
1827 ...........................
1 8 2 8 ............................
1 8 2 9 ............................ ..................
1 8 3 0 ...........................
1 8 3 1 ............................ ..................
1 8 3 2 ............................
1 8 3 3 ............................ ..................
1 8 3 4 ........................... ..................
1 8 3 5 ............................ ..................
1 8 3 6 ............................ ..................
1 8 3 7 ............................ ..................
1 8 3 8 ............................ ..................
1839 .........................
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 ............................ ..................
1848 ......................... ..................
1 8 4 9 ............................ ..................
1 8 5 0 ............................ ..................
1 8 5 1 ............................ ..................
1 8 5 2 . .........................
1 8 5 3 ...........................
1 8 5 4 ...........................
1 8 5 5 ............................

AT

NEW

YORK

No. of
arrivals.
912
1,172
1,217
1,364
1,436
1,389

1,310
1.634
1,926
1,932
2,0 4 4
2,285
2,071
1,790

2,118
1,962
2,208
2,1 4 4
2,292
3,147
3,060
3,227
3,3 4 3
3,840

FROM

F O R E IG N

Tons.
American.
155,723
2 0 3 ,0 8 2 }
203,308
2 3 6 ,0 8 0 }
2 5 9 ,5 2 4 }
2 4 6 ,1 7 4 }
255,276
2 3 6 ,3 0 8 }
2 5 5 ,6 9 1 }
280,918
274,23712 9 5 ,2 9 3 }
320,0831
352,2251
373.465
4 0 7 ,0 9 5 f
3 6 8 ,0 1 1 }
3 7 7 ,5 0 3 }
4 2 2 ,3 4 0 1
4 0 9 ,458
4 2 3 ,9 5 2 1
4 0 6 ,6 2 3 f
3 8 5 ,1 2 4 1
4 3 8 ,0 7 4 1
4 7 2 ,4 9 1 }
4 9 6 ,761
6 0 5 ,4 8 2 1
6 5 7 ,7 9 4 }
7 3 4 ,0 0 8 1
8 0 7 ,5 8 0 1
1,144,485
1,231,951
1 ,3 21,6741
1 ,4 42,2821
1 ,3 4 0 ,2 5 7 }

PORTS.

Tons.
Foreign.
16.240
2 3 ,7 0 7 }
22,481
16,689
2 0 ,6 5 4 }
2 8 ,8 2 2 }
3 7 ,5 9 6 }
3 9 ,3 6 8 }
2 5 ,8 2 0 }
3 3 ,7 9 7 }
62,772
106,425
110,835
96,679^
90,999
1 4 9 ,6 3 4 }
1 7 1 ,3 6 0 }
9 1 ,8 2 6 }
1 4 2 .9 8 5 }
118,136
1 2 5 ,0 7 3 }
1 4 8 ,6 9 1 }
1 0 6 ,3 7 0 }
1 5 1 ,2 9 8 }
1 4 0 ,8 5 8 }
185,404
333,587
3 6 7 ,3 2 1 }
414,096
4 4 1 ,7 5 6 }
4 7 9 ,5 5 6 }
478,037
4 9 1 ,5 8 0 }
4 7 7 ,0 3 4 }
220,000

Total
Tons.
171,963
220,790}
226.789
252,769}
280,179}
274,997}
292,872}
275,677
281,512
314,715}
337.009}
401,718}
430,918}
444,904}
464,464
556,780
539,373}
468,890}
565,335}
527,594
549,025}
565,315}
491,495}
593,873}
613,350
682,165
939,019}
1,025,116}
1,148,104}
1,249,337
1,624,051}
1,709,988
1,813,255
1,919,317}
1,562.257}

The great demand for vessels in Europe, as stated above, has united with the
falling off in our import trade, from the immense business of 1853 and 1854, to
diminish the tonnage, but the total is still very large.
W c have also prepared a summary of the coastwise commerce at that port, as
far as this can be done from the custom-house records. Vessels engaged in this
trade are not obliged to make official record of their entrance or clearance unless
they have foreign goods or distilled spirits on board ; and as a majority of vessels
arriving from domestic ports come within this exception, the official entries of this
class include only a fraction of the actual trade. The vessels which leave for do­
mestic ports oftener carry the description of property which obliges them to take
official leave, and thus the clearances on record are far more numerous than the
entries. Even the clearances, however, do not embrace a very considerable por­
tion of this branch of trade. W ith this explanation, we annex a summary of the
official records:—




Commercial Chronicle and Review.
E N T E R E D C O A S T W IS E .

1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855

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

335
C L E A R E D C O A S T W IS E .

Vessels.

Tons.

Vessels.

Tons.

1,855
1,928
1,768
1,766
1,733
1,880
1,966

424,976
489,395f
455,542
497,840
507,531
543,452
614,045

3,994
4,719
4,803
4,680
4,789
4,779
4,563

895,589
1,020,070
1,214,942
1,173,762
1,810,697
1,499,968
1,378,889

It is very desirable to obtain a complete record of coastwise tonnage, bat the
government have as yet adopted no plan which fully secures that end.
There is still another branch of this subject, of great interest to the political
economist. W e allude to the comparative earnings of American and foreign ship­
ping engaged in our foreign commerce. The coastwise trade is, of course, con­
fined exclusively to American vessels, as foreign vessels are by law prohibited
from engaging in it. In the foreign trade the share of the business, by calms, is
still more in favor of domestic shipping than the comparison by bulk, as will ap­
pear from the following, from the official records :—
R E L A T IV E T R A D E W I T H F O R E IG N P O R T S IN A M E R IC A N A N D F O R E IG N
OF N E W Y O R K FOR TH E Y E A R

BO TTO M S A T T H E

PORT

1855.

American vessels.

Foreign vessels.

Imports..................................................
Exports domestic produce..................
Exports foreign produce.....................

$144,907,712
81,065,270
7,994,080

$12,089,231
9,251,819
1,691,216

Total...................................................
Total 1854 ........................................

$233,937,062
213,883,970

$23,032,266
70,346,543

Total.

$156,996,943
90,287,089
9,685,296
$256,969,328
284,230,513

The above shows a very important change in the year’s business. For the year
1854 about twenty-five per cent of the foreign commerce was carried in foreign
bottoms, and seventy-five per cent in American ; while for the year 1855 less than
nine per cent was carried in foreign vessels, and over ninety-one per cent in Ameri­
can. This is seen also in the accruing revenue; of 834,387,307 99 collected on
goods landed in New York in 1855, 831,442,765 65 were collected on merchan­
dise brought in American vessels, and only 82,944,542 34 on merchandise brought
in foreign vessels.
There has been a movement on foot at New York to raise the standard of in­
spection on flour, which had fallen so low as to bring discredit upon American
produce abroad. The system of forced inspection provided by the State was sur­
rounded by difficulties, and was finally abandoned. The voluntary inspection has
worked better as a system than the one which was abolished, but experience shows
the necessity of having some standard ivhich shall govern the decisions of the
board. This the Corn Exchange have now undertaken to provide, and we hope
the year to come will witness less imposition on the sale of flour unfit for human
food, than has been detected in the past. The police in France have seized and
condemned several lots of flour which passed New York inspection; and there
are lots not yet shipped which would fare little better, if the same rigor was shown
by the American police. W ith the finest grain in the world, and frolicking
streams of water to do the work of the miller, there is no excuse for this fraud
upon the community.
STEW YORK COTTON MARKET FOR THE MONTH ENDING FEBRUARY 22.
PREPARED

FO R T H E

M E R C H A N T S * M .V UA ZI ME

BY U H L H O . I N St F R E D E R I C K S O N , B R O K E R S , N E W Y O R K .

The transactions for the month ending at date have been very large, and prices
show an advance of one cent to one-and-a-quarter cents per pound on all grades.
The intelligence received at the commencement of the month under review of the
acceptance on the part of Russia of the propositions of the Allies for the reopen­
ing of nogociations, gave an impetus to the trade here which continues unabated.
The advancing tendency exhibited at all the Southern ports, aided by a small de­




336

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

crease in the total excess of receipts as compared with the month previous, like­
wise aided to strengthen the position of holders in this market. The sales for the
month are estimated at 72.000 bales, of which 40,000 bales were in transitu. This
branch of the trade finds daily new friends, and after standing the test of the past
two or three years’ transactions, agreeably to both buyers and sellers, may now
be considered firmly established as one of the “ institutions.” Our own spinners,
owing to the interruption of inland and coast navigation by ice, have been de­
terred from purchasing in this market to their usual extent, and speculators, being
rather shy of “ Russian acceptances,” have acted with more than their usual cau­
tion. The total receipts now show an increase over last year of 647,000 bales,
and there is an increase in exports to Great Britain of 143,000 bales; to France,
129,000 bales; total increase in exports, 388,000 bales; stock on hand in excess
of last year, 124,000 bales.
The sales for the week ending February 1st were 12,000 bales, at an advance
of f a f cent per pound, in consequence of the improvement in the Liverpool mar­
ket, based on “ Russia’s ” acceptance of the allied propositions for the opening of
negotiations. Holders were not disposed to sell at the above advance, and the
market closed firmly at the following :—
P R IC E S

ADOPTED

FEBRUARY

1ST

Ordinary............................................
Middling.............................................
Middling f a ir ....................................
Fair....................................................

FOR

TH E

F O L L O W IN G

Upland.

Florida.

8$
9$
10$
10$

8$
9$
10$
10$

Q U A L IT IE S I-----

Mobile. N. O. & Texas.

8$
9$
10$
11

S|
9$
11
11$

The week ensuing opened with increased activity, and a further advance of $ a
f cent per pound was readily obtained. The sales, principally in transitu, were to
the extent of 20,000 bales. A t the close of the week, owing to the absence of
later foreign advices, there was a pause, without, however, affecting prices:—
P R IC E S

ADOPTED

FEBRUARY

8tH

FOR

THE

Upland.

Ordinary............................................
Middling............................................
Middling fa ir .......................................
F a ir........................................................

9
9$
10$
10$

F O L L O W I N G Q U A L IT IE S 1-----

Florida.

9
9$
10$
10$

M obile.

N .O .& Texas.

9
10
10$
11$

9$
10$
11$
I lf

For the week ending February 15th, aided by diminished stocks and peace
prospects confirmed by the arrival of thd Persia, with increased activity in the
foreign markets, our holders obtained a further advance of $ a | cent per pound
on sales of 15,000 bales. The market closed firm at the following :—
P R IC E S

ADOPTED

FEBRUARY

15TH

FO R TH E

Upland.

Ordinary.............................................
M iddling............................................
Middling fair.....................................
F a ir....................................................

9$
10$
10$
11

F O L L O W IN G

Florida.

9$
10$
11
11$

Q U A L I T I E S !-----

M obile. N .O .& Texas.

9$
10$
11$
11$

9$
10$
11$
12

The transactions for the week closing at date are estimated at 25,000 bales, at
a further advance of a quarter cent per pound. The foreign advices being of a
more pacific character, and a greater ease in monetary affairs on both sides of the
Atlantic, gave an additional strength to our market, which closed firmly at the
following:—
P R IC E S A D O P T E D

FEBRUARY 2 2 d

Ordinary.................... ....................................
Middling..................... ...................................
Middling fa ir............ ...................................
Fair............................ ...................................




FO R TH E

F O L L O W IN G

U p la n d .

F lo r id a .

n

1 0 f

n

10$

11

11$

11$

11$

Q U A L I T I E S I—
M o b ile .
9$

N . O . & T exas.

9$

10$

10$

11$
11$

11$
12$

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

337

JO U R N A L OF B A N K IN G , C U R R E N C Y , A N D FIN A N C E .
THE BANKS OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1855.

W e have before us an official statement of the returns made to the ControllerGeneral, Charleston, December 12, 1855, of such of the banks of South Carolina
as have accepted the provisions of the act of December 18,1840, from which we
compile the subjoined statement of the rates and amounts of dividends, together
with the reserved profits for the last fiscal year :—
Bank State of S. C..........................
Bank of State of S, C. at Columbia
Bank of S. C. at Cam den...............
Southwestern Railroad Bank.....................................
Planters’ and Mechanics’ Bank..................................
Union Bank o f Charleston..........................................
State Bank of South Carolina....................................
Bank of South Carolina..............................................
Bank o f Charleston....................................................
Farmers’ & Mechanics’ Bank, Charleston, S. C........
Commercial Bank of Columbia................................
Bank of Newberry......................................................
Planters’ Bank of Fairfield.........................................
Exchange Bank o f Columbia....................................
Merchants’ Bank of Cheraw......................................
Bank of Chester..........................................................
Bank of Cam den.........................................................
People’s Bank o f Charleston......................................
Bank of Georgetown..................................................

Dividends.
Per cent.

6
7
7
8
7
8
8
8
8
8
6
12
8
10
8
14

Dividends.
Amount.

Reserved
profits.

$26,174
35,000
35,000
40,000
35,000
126,432
40,000
32,000
12,000
8,400
15,000
24,000
12,000
20,000
36,318
14,000

$93,870
111,435
15,279
125,260
65,825
803,103
34,961
22,687
30,590
21,436
20,667
76,400
15,439
48,152
10,589
34,845

The profits of the three first-named banks in the preceding table are included
in those of the parent bank. The capital stock of the State Bank of South Car­
olina is @1,113,789 ; Southwestern Railroad Bank, @872,475; the Planters’ and
Mechanics’ Bank, the Union Bank of Charleston, State Bank of South Carolina,
Bank of South Carolina, the Farmers’ and Exchange Bank of Charleston— seven
banks— have each a capital stock of @1,000,000 ; the Bank of Charleston,
@3,160,800; the Commercial Bank of Columbia, @800,000 ; Bank of Newberry,
Planters’ Bank of Fairfield, and Bank of Chester, each @300,000; the E x ­
change Bank of Columbia, $500,000 ; Merchants’ Bank of Cheraw, and Bank of
Camden, each $400,000 ; the People’s Bank of. Charleston, $909,750 ; and the
Bank of Georgetown, $200,000 — showing a total capital for the State of
@14,256,841, exclusive of the Bank of Hamburg, from which no returns had been
received at the Controller-General’s office.
From the official table above referred to, it appears that the total of bills in
circulation is @7,201,059 ; the net profits on hand, @1,433,107 ; and the deposits,
@3,019,130. Of the resources, there is of specie @1,102,483 ; of notes discounted
on personal security, @11,212,242 ; of domestic exchange, @8,842,367 ; and of for­
eign exchange, @3,111,962.
It would seem from this and previous statements, that few, if any, banks in the
Union are better managed, or pay larger average dividends. The citizens of
South Carolina may well be proud of the solidity of their banking institutions.
VOL. xxxiv.— no . in.
22




338

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
BANKING DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORE.

In accordance with our usual custom, we condense from the Annual Report of
the Superintendent of the Banking Department of the State of New York, which
was transmitted to the Legislature January 1, 1856, a summary view of the bank­
ing system of New York during the year 1855 :—
On the 30th day of September, 1855, the number of banks in this State organ­
ized under special acts and general laws, with the amount of capital of the incor­
porated banks and banking associations, fixed by their acts of incorporation or
certificates of association filed in this department, the amount of unreturned circu­
lation issued to banks and bankers, and of securities deposited for such circulation,
were as follows :—
Banks.*
1. Incorporated...................
2. Associations..................... .........
8. Associations..................... .
..........

No.

Capital.

81

$15,015,660
40,133,182
17,020,150

.........

33

6. Closing business.........................

62

7

Securities.

$46,000
9,134,054
13,692,510
383,739
2.111,752
268J91

Circulation.

$11,290,236
8,744,130
13,091,180
329,187
2,017,254
256,250

There are detailed tables in the Report of the Superintendent of the reputed
state and condition of every incorporated bank, banking association, and individ­
ual banker, from whom reports have been received during the preceding fiscal
year, at the several dates to which such reports refer. The aggregate amount of
the debts and liabilities of all such banks, and also of the means and resources, as
shown, were respectively as follows :—
DEBTS

Items.

Capital............................
Circulation .....................
Profits.............................
Due to banks...................
D u e f................................
Due Treasurer of State of
New Y ork....................
Due depositors...............
Due;):................................

AND

L IA B IL IT IE S .

Dec. 30, 1854.
$83,268,860
28,220,783
12,093,627
20,540,605
1,230,389

March 10, 1855.
$84,831,152
27,909,324
10,122,835
26,817,605
1,236,977

June 2, 1855.
$85,032,621
28,562,395
10,863,572
24,009,232
1,010,614

Sept. 29, 1855
$86,589,690
31,340,003
11,073,987
26,045,439
1,097,744

3,453,115
69,866,112
2,745,385

3,842,060
78,490,807
2,505,870

2,817,160
83,537,767
2,772,537

3,241,469
86,610,926
2,517,758

165,106,907
388,985
12,720,800
5,726,027
15,921,467
15,932,480
20,156,616
7,888,065
3,248,982
1,123,567

166,002,111
450,116
12,666,517
5,857,537
10,910,330
18,096,545
20,590,150
7,886,328
2,958,555
1,154,466

MEANS AND RESOURCES.

Loans and discounts.. . .
Overdrafts........................
Due from banks...............
Real estate.....................
S p ecie............. .............
Cash items.......................
Stock and n o te s .............
Bonds and mortgages . . .
Sills of banks.................
Loss (fc expense account.

141,604,996
472,554
12,440,509
5,327,555
13,470,879
15,327,063
20,149,509
7,826,631
3,435,277
1,428,516

152,181,030
401,488
13,203,479
5,479,479
17,946,432
13,824,877
20,362,308
7,807,624
3,588,562
998,364

* The character and securities o f circulation we designate in thiB table, for the sake of convenience,
by reference to numbers in the above table—that is, (1) relates to banks incorporated by specia-^
law s; (2) associations, circulation secured by stocks; (3) associations, circulation secured by stocks
and real estate ; (4) individual bankers, circulation secured by stocks; (5) individual, circulation
secured by stocks and real estate; ( 8 ) banks closing business,
f To individuals and corporations other than banks and depositors,
t Others not included under either of the above heads.




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

339

The aggregate securities deposited by each banking association and individual
banker for* security of the circulation, and the amount of circulating notes issued
to each respectively by the Superintendent, and which were outstanding on the
30th of September, 1855, and a description of the securities, will be seen in the
condensed table, as follows:—
Bonds and mortgages................................................................................. $6,848,726 90
N. York State stocks, 4-Jper ce n t....
$395,600 00
“
5
“
....
6,072,763 16
“
5£
“
....
1,202,000 00
“
6
“
....
7,554,137 26
--------------------$15,225,300 42
N. Y . revenue certif.. 6
“
303,000 00
United States stocks, 5
“
. . . . $130,000 00
United States stocks, 6
“
. . . . 1,918,181 47
-----------------2,048,181 47
Arkansas State stock, 6
“
___
$211,000 00
Illinois
“
6
“
....
646,687 83
Michigan
“
6
“
....
172,000 00
-----------------1,029,687 83 18,606,169 72
Cash in deposit............................................................................................
169,863 55
Total, September 30, 1855................................................................ $25,614,760 17
The aggregate of the securities held in trust for banking associations
and individual bankers, including cash in deposits, September 30th,
1854, w a s ..................................................................................................$25,962,160 33
Showing a decrease during the last fiscal year o f .................................

$347,400 16

During the last fiscal year sixteen banking associations, with an aggregate cap­
ital of $4,1)95,000, have been organized, and have deposited the securities required
by law, of which number eight were organized by the shareholders of expiring
safety fund banks, under the provisions of chapter 313, of the Lawd'of 1849, and
the remainder were new institutions. During the same time six individual bank­
ers have commenced the banking business under the provisions of the general
banking law, and deposited the requisite securities, and received circulation
thereon.
During the same period four banking associations and five individual bankers
have given notice of their intention to discontinue the business of banking, and
have withdrawn a portion of their securities upon the surrender of an equal amount
of circulating notes.
The Superintendent, in the discharge of the duty devolving upon him to suggest
any amendments to, or improvements in the banking system, in the report before
us confines his suggestions to the particular points in which the laws appear de­
fective. He does not recommend any radical change in the banking laws, but
points out a few of the most prominent defects. The system, as a whole, operates
admirably well, and furnishes a paper currency—we should say credit— equal
to any in the world, and has answered the most sanguine expectation of its
friends.
It appears from the Report of the Superintendent, that the mutilated bank­
notes returned to the department for burning, during the fiscal year ending Sep­
tember 30,1855, was— of incorporated banks, 915,506, amounting to $5,003,106 ;
and bills of banking associations and individual bankers, 1,934,178, amounting to




340

,

Journal' o f Banking Currency, and Finance.

§6,340,761— stowing a total amount of the bills of incorporated banks, banking
associations, and individual bankers destroyed by fire, of $11,351,255. ’
The number of specially incorporated banks whose charters have not expired, is
forty-four, with an aggregate capital of $15,015,600. These banks are by law
entitled to circulate $12,455,440, and have, in circulation and on hand, $11,290,235
— leaving their circulation less than authorized, $1,165,205.
There is appended to the Report of the Superintendent a table of thirty-three
incorporated banks whose charters have expired, from which it appears that the
aggregate circulation of those banks at the time of the expiration of their respec­
tive charters, was $9,667,864. On the 30th of September, 1855, there was out­
standing of that circulation $5,431,386— showing that there had, prior to that
date, been returned to the department $4,236,478.
B R IE F S K E T C H OF TH E BANKING SYSTEM OF NEW YORK.

In reviewing the banking history of the State, it appears, from the Report of
Mr. S c h o o n m a k e r , late Superintendent of the Banking Department, that prior
to the passage of the restraining act in 1804, banking privileges were enjoyed and
exercised by individuals and copartnerships at pleasure. During the existence of
the colonial government no banking institutions whatever were incorporated.
Under the State government only seven banks were incorporated prior to 1804.
A t that time there existed no restrictions upon the amount of circulation to bo
issued, and there was no provision of law to protect the public against an irre­
deemable and inflated paper circulation. Under the restraining act of 1804, and
the several others succeeding it, an act of incorporation became essential to the
exercise of banking privileges. The incorporations were placed under many
wholesome restraints, but the redemption and security of the circulation was im­
perfectly, if ftt all, provided for.
In the year 1829, after the people had suffered much by several bank failures
and the inability of the failing and insolvent institutions to redeem their circu­
lating notes, an important step was taken towards the perfection of the banking
system by the introduction of the principle to secure the circulation in behalf of
the public. The law which was then passed, called the Safety Fund Act, was
more important as introducing the principle of protection than as furnishing a
permanent and reliable security for the redemption of the circulation. The safety
fund system creating a fund by annual contributions from the banks for the re­
demption of the notes, and discharge of the debts of failing institutions, operated
well for a time in establishing the confidence of the public, and imparting a char­
acter and appearance of safety to the circulation. This system, however, in a
short time proved a failure and inadequate to the protection of the circulating
notes.
When a severe commercial crisis swept through the country, and banking insti­
tutions were shattered in the blast, the accumulated fund was soon wholly ex­
hausted, and the future contributions of the remaining banks, up to the time of
the expiration of nearly all their respective charters, anticipated by loans upon
the credit, and on account of the fund, so as to leave nothing for protection in the
event of future failures and insolvency. Such deficiency and insolvency of the
fund was, in a great measure, to be attributed to the illegal and excessive issue of
circulating notes by many of the insolvent institutions beyond the limit author­




,

841

Journal o f B anking, Currency and Finance.

ized by law. Such illegal issue and its effects exhibited the necessity of something
more than a mere statutory restriction against excessive issues, and the propriety
of controlling the issue of circulating notes by means of, and through the agency
of one of the departments of government.
The failure and defects of the safety fund act led to the conception and adoption
of the present banking system, having for its peculiar features the free and un­
limited exercise of banking privileges by individuals and associations, without the
necesssity of any special act of incorporation, except the issue of any circulating
notes or currency other than such as shall have been countersigned and regis­
tered by the State Superintendent, and received from him; the securing the whole
amount of circulation thus issued by deposit with the Superintendent of at least
an equal amount of public stocks, or stocks and mortgages; and prohibiting,
under severe pains and penalties, the Superintendent from countersigning or issu­
ing to any banking association or individual banker circulating notes to any
amount exceeding the securities in deposit. By this means, under a fair and
honest administration of the system, the holders of bank-notes are fully protected.
The banking institutions of the country, and the circulating medium provided
by them, have become such essential and indispensable elements in the commercial
and business transactions of the community, that the Legislature cannot too rigidly
and perfectly guard and provide for their security.
NEW YORK BANK DIVIDENDS.

The following are the dividends made by the banks in New Y ork city who de­
clare the same in January and July of each year. This table, as will be seen,
shows the semi-annual dividends for July, 1854, January and July, 1855, and
January, 1856, that is, for the six months ending at the periods above named. In
several cases the banks have a surplus fund o f 5 to 10 per cent after the payment

Bank of America..............................
Bank of Commerce...........................
Bank of New Y ork...........................
Bank of North America....................
Butchers and Drovers’ Bank.............
Chemical Bank....................................
Continental Bank................................
East River B a n k ................................
Grocers’ Bank.....................................
Hanover Bank.....................................
Irving Bank.........................................
Island City Bank................................
Market Bank........................................
Mechanics’ Bank..................................
Mercantile Bank.................................
Merchants’ Exchange Bank...............
Metropolitan Bank.............................
Nassau Bank........................................
North River Bank...............................
New York Dry Dock B a n k .............
Ocean B a n k ........................................
People’s Bank.....................................
Phenix Bank........................................
Seventh Ward Bank.........................
Tradesmen’s Bank..............................




July,

January,

July,

January,

1854.

1855.

1855.

1856.

4
4
4

4
4
4

4
4
4

4
4
4

Si

5
6

31
31
84
31
4

31

31

31

5
6
4

5

5

31
31
31
.

4
4
4
4

31
31
7
71

4
5
4
4
4
4
4

6

6

4

4

31
31
3431

4

#

4
4
5
4
4

4

31
31
31
4
4
5
4
4
4

4
4

4

.

4

31

31

4
5

5
5

4
4
5

41

6

5

342

,

Journal o f Banking, Currency and Finance.
CONDITION OF T H E RHODE ISLAND BANKS.

W e give below the latest statement, compiled from official returns, of the con­
dition of the banks in Rhode Island. The number of banks in that State is 92 ;
that is, 38 in Providence, and 54 in the other towns of the State, out of the
capital:—■
L IA B IL IT IE S .

38 banks in
Providence.
Capital stock .............................
Circulation.................................
Deposits on interest..................
Do. Dot on interest...................
Due banks..................................
Dividends...................................
Profits........................................

8,310,566 25
266,235 12
1,920,383 42
59,U73 42
875,161 00

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

54 banks out of
Providence.
$5,231,296 00
2,093,538 69
85,304 50
910,252 58
134,443 42
24,786 93
275,637 75

Total.
$18,714,824
5,404,104
351,539
2,830,636
1,192,449
83,960
1,150,798

$8,755,259 87

$29,728,313 26

00
94
62
00
60
35
75

RESOURCES.

Due by directors.......................
Due by stockholders.................
Due from others.......................
Specie..........................................
Bank bills...................................
Deposits in banks......................
Own stock held..........................
Other stocks............................. .
Real estate.................................
Other property.........................
Total........................................ . .
Increase capital.........................
Last dividend...........................
Increase suspended paper . . .
Reserved profits........................
Loaned on s to ck ..................... .
Debts due and unpaid..............
Circulation under $ 5 .................

475,845
17,661,982
265,395
906,797
794,085

32
19
78
54
90

70,029 28

$20,973,053 39

54,392 14
631,738 60
209,622 56

616,884
483,043
6,703,418
120,371
160,454
448,276
19,847
61,043
105,769
36,150

38
35
92
70
45
05
32
25
84
71

1,062,169
958,088
24,364,401
386,767
1,167,251
1,242,362
82,022
131,072
323,092
70,285

05
57
11
48
99
04
32
53
73
44

$8,755,259 87

$29,728,313 26

258,664
172,058
62,826
183,655
259,798
333,827
542,793

720,552
659,604
17,218
814,393
469,420
540,767
1,254,167

00 1
50
13
24
28
76
25

00
10
27
94
84
60
25

The fifteen Savings Banks in the State had on deposit, near the close of 1855,
nearly five millions of dollars, chiefly the earnings of the industrial population of
the State.
TH E USURY LAWS A DEAD L E T T E R .

The Savannah Journal calls upon the Legislature of Georgia, not only to bury
the usury laws of that State, but to “ run a stake through it, that we may be safe
henceforth against being frightened by its ghost.” W e quote from our cotempo­
rary of the Journal:—•
“ Carlyle says somewhere, time once was that when a thing had the breath
knocked out of it, and was thoroughly dead, it was suffered to be decently interred,
so as no longer to corrupt the air and shock the sight by its loathsome presence;
but that such is no longer the case. His remark, if we recollect rightly, applied
to that monster of iniquity, the English Corn Laws. The same might be made
with equal propriety in relation to our usury laws. So far as argument and rea­
son could do it, they were killed before we were born. For all purposes of good
they are confessedly a dead letter. Y et they still live in our statute book, from
which they occasionally glare upon us with their ghastly stare.”




,

343

Journal o f B anking, Currency and Finance.
PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.

In the Annual Statement of the Secretary of the Treasury the total of the
public debt on the 17th of November, 1855, was stated at $39,969,731; besides
which, there are payable, on time, under treaties with Indian tribes, the sum of
$19,253,522.
The subjoined statement by the Register of the Treasury will show the amount
of public debt paid off, by the redemption of stocks, since the 3d of March, 1853,
to the 31st December, 1855, inclusive :—
Statem ent show ing the am ount o f U n ited S ta tes stock o f the loa ns o f
1846, 1847, a n d 1848 ; T exa n in d em n ity, a n d the debt o f the c o rp o ra te
D is tr ic t o f C olum bia, p u rch a sed f r o m M a rch 3, 1853, to D ecem b er 31,
sive ; the in terest that w ou ld have been p a id i f p a ym etit had n o t been
and the savin g to the g overn m en t by the p re s en t m ode o f p u rch a se.
Amount

Loans.

When redeemable.

1842.....................................December 31, 1862____
1843 ................................. July
1,1 85 3____
1846.....................................November 12, 1856____
1847 ................................. January
1, 1868____
1848 ................................. July
1 ,1 8 6 8 . . . .
Texan indemnity...............January
1 ,1 8 6 5 ....
Debt of corporate cities. .January
1,1865___
Total.................................................................
Total premium p a id ..................................................
Total interest p a id .....................................................

1842, 1843,
cities o f the
1855, in clu ­
a n ticip a ted ,
Interest

redeemed.

to maturity.

$3,940,890 92
3,977,931 35
3,988,626 45
12,350,500 00
3,905,858 20
1,050,000 00
720,000 00

$2,277,033 88
99,448 28
717,919 05
40,778,494 50
3,614,012 6 2
553,750 00
215,660 81

$29,933,806

22

$18,156,31914

$4,173,495 15
885,182 38
--------------------

5,058,677 53

Amount sa ved .......................................................................

$13,097,641 61

DEBT, POPULATION, AND TAXABLE PROPERTY OF SEVERAL STATES.

The following table shows at a glance the debt of each State in 1855, together
with the amount of taxable property of the States enumerated. Most of the
States not enumerated in this table are free from debt :■—
Debt.

United States..............
Alabama......................
California....................
G eorgia.......................
Illinois...........................
Indiana........................
Kentucky....................
Louisiana.....................
Maryland.....................
Massachusetts.............
Michigan.....................
Missouri........................
New Y ork ...................
North Carolina............
O hio.............................
Pennsylvania...............
South Carolina..........
Tennessee.....................
Virginia.......................

4,231,889
2,644,222
5,726,394

2,531,545
5,385,900
25,250,000

2,287,156

Population.

Year.

26,500,000
771.623
264,436
935,090
1,300,000
988,416
982,405
678,189
583,034
1,133,259
397,654
682,044
8,466,118
869,039
1,980,329
2,311,786
668,507
1,002,725
1,428,863

1855
I860
1852
1855
1855
1853
1850
1854
1850
1855
1850
1850
1855
1850
1860
1850
1850
1850
1850

Taxable property.. Date.

$79,233,027
56,982,320
354.425,174
239,376,775.
290,418,148
411,000,198
299,996,176
243,537,091
573,342,286
59,787,255
137,247,707
1,266,666,190
226,800,472
959.881,366
531,731,304

1852
1852
1850
1855
1864
1865
1854
1854
1850
1850
1850
1863
1850
1855
1S54

219,011,048
431,000,000

1854
1855

There are, probably, some errors in this statement, but it is believed to be nearly
correct.




344

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
RECEIPTS AND EXPORTS OF SPECIE AT NEW YORK.

The table below, derived from the Economist, shows the amount of specie ar­
rived from California, and exported to foreign ports from the port of New York
during the years 1854 and 1855 :—
r--------------- 1854.--------------- \ ,--------------- 1855.---------------■,
January .............
February.............
M arch................
A p r il...................
M a y .....................
J u n e................... .
J u ly .....................
August.................
September...........
O ctober...............
November...........
D ecem ber...........

TH E

F O L L O W IN G

Received.
$4 ,6 2 0 ,0 0 0
3,706,210
4 ,8 17,632
3,769,190
5 ,6 34,074
4 ,3 15,830
6,267,919
3,886,922
4,49 9 ,9 4 8
3,926,636
4,485,746
5,037,893

Exported.
$ 1 ,445,682
5 7 9 ,724
1,466,127
3,474,525
3,651,626
5,168,186
2,922,452
4 ,5 48,320
6,547,104
3,359,998
3,638,001
68,2 6 4

Received.
$3,691,908
3,468,756
2,317,938
1,889,313
3,148,906
3,059,562
4,473,784
2,130,131
2,796,666
3,638,527
3,348,717
5,962,429

Exported.
$166,398
2,823,708
2,298,697
3,813,447
5,320,152
3,812,562
2,923,324
2,609,393
1,831,684
1,188,109
1,011,900
1,017,776

$54 ,9 6 8 ,9 1 8

$3 7 ,1 6 9 ,4 0 6

$40,721,637

$27,607,150

.

W IL L

SH OW

TH E

AM O U N T OF S P E C IE S H IP P E D

YORK

AND

BOSTON F O R

THREE

FR O M TH E PORTS OF NEW

Y E A R S :-----

New York.

Boston.

1853 .........................................................................
$ 2 6 ,7 5 3 ,3 5 6
$5,763,518
1 8 5 4 .......................................................................
37,169,406
7,413,437
1 8 5 5 ............................................................................
27 ,6 0 7 ,1 5 0 14,859,170

Total.

$32,416,874
44,582,343
42,467,620

CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF PORTLAND.

W e give below a condensed comparative statement of the condition of the
banks in Portland, Maine, at the periods named in the months of June, October,
December, June, and January, in 1854,1855, and 1856. The statement, June,
1855, and January, 1856, does not include the Atlantic and Merchants’ Bank :—
June 3, 1 8 5 4 ..........
October, 1854 ____
December, 1854 . .
June, 1 8 5 5 ...............
January, 1 8 5 6..........

Capital.

Loans.

Circulation.

Deposits.

Specie.

$ 1 ,7 7 3 ,1 6 9
1,816,022
1,875,000
1,675.000
1 ,7 75,000

$3 ,4 0 6 ,1 9 4
3,604,771
3,556,994
3,221,481
3,324,639

$1 ,4 2 2 ,3 36
1,288,725
1,258,771
1,146,017
1,192,174

$796,325
841 40 8
669 845
788.301
6 98,544

$259,866
223,500
178,660
166,972
162,744

BANKS OF CIRCULATION.

A gentleman in the interior of Virginia has written a letter to a member of
the Legislature, who had asked his opinion as to the relative advantages and dis­
advantages of the two kinds of Banks of Circulation, now existing in Virginia—
and which kind should be preferred in granting charters. The writer of the letter
expresses the opinion, that neither kind should be permitted, with their present
dangerous privileges and practices : but.that either or both plans will be compa­
ratively safe and harmless, if with the proper and necessary restrictions, which he
points out as follows:—
1. Complete divorce of the State government from the banks, in the same gen­
eral manner as has been effected in regard to the United States government, by
the Independent Treasury System. This measure, if adopted, would imply and
include the two next— which also may severally be independent measures.
2. Dissolution of the existing business and trading partnership existing between
the banks and the commonwealth.




,

Journal o f Banking Currency, and Finance.

345

3. The entire cessation of the existing guaranty, or general securityship, of the
banks and their paper circulation, afforded by the State in receiving their bills for
taxes. This general privilege, secured to all the banks by law, is enough to sus­
tain their credit— and this only sustains the credit of some banks, which other­
wise would have no credit, and therefore no circulation of their notes.
4. Cessation of all branch banks— by which machinery, and the exchanging of
notes of mother banks and branches, (and also of different independent corpora­
tions,) the banks can and do virtually shield themselves from paying specie for
their notes, to any important extent.
5. N o bank to issue, as currency, any other than its own bills in payment of its
obligations of any kind.
6. A ll bills of or checks on banks, to be paid in specie at the counter, on de­
mand, without delay, evasion, or any of the long prevailing tricks and subterfuges
used to avoid payment. This to be enforced by heavy damages to the aggrieved
creditor, to be obtained by summary and sure process.
7. Every stockholder to be responsible, individually, the amount of his stock,
for any debt of the bank of which payment has been refused, or improperly post­
poned or delayed.
8. In the event of any bank’s stopping payment, (confessedly,) on the fact being
proved and legal notice served on the bank, all its banking privileges and action
thenceforward to cease— and if longer exercised, under the penalty of heavy pecu­
niary damages or amercement, forfeiture of charter, and all benefit of the bank
law, and the making such illegal acts of the officers of the bank felony.
9. These conditions and restrictions to be enforced in every particular, by heavy
penalties, the inflicting of which by every aggrieved creditor, or other citizen,
should be by simple and easy legal process of sure and summary operation.
With these conditions, truly and strictly observed, banks would perform all
their useful and (to the public) beneficial functions— and may be permitted, by a
general banking law, either on the plan of sufficient specie capital and basis only,
as required of the old banks, or on a basis mainly of State stocks, as required of
the new banks. And even if, with these conditions, every company were permits
ted to bank that desired it, the evil would be far less than under the present sys­
tem of banking, as privileged or restricted by the government of Virginia.
THE PAR OF STERLIJVG EXCHANGE,

The explanation below of the reason why Sterling of Exchange is said to bo at
a premium of 8, 9, or 10 per cent, as the case may be, originally appeared in the
Boston Post, and was evidently prepared by one who understands the subject:—
“ When the first Spanish dollar's became known in England, it required four and
forty-four-one-hundredths only of these dollars to make a pound sterling, accord­
ing to the then value of silver and gold. Since that time, the relative value of
the two metals has been slightly altered, but what is of more importance in this
matter, neither the Spanish dollar of more recent date, nor the American dollar
of any date, contains nearly so much silver as was contained in the early dollars
coined by Spain. The changes in the quantity of pure silver in the dollars of va­
rious governments have been numerous ; but the essential result is, that including
the minor changes in the relative value of gold and silver, it now requires four
and eighty-four-one-hundredths of the present dollars, American, Mexican, or
Spanish, to be worth one pound sterling' in Liverpool. And as, during the last
two centuries, the actual value (in silver) of the dollar varied, from time to time,
while the pound sterling (in gold) was almost unchangeable, it became convenient
in England to quote foreign exchange ‘ at an advance,’ when it began to take
more, of these debased or diminished dollars to make a pound sterling. In other
words, the English very properly took their unchangeable pound sterling as a unit,
and measured the changeable dollars by it. The practice, begun long before mo­
ney was coined in the United States, was continued when this country adopted,
essentially, the Spanish dollar for its unit of coinage. It prevails, as is well
known, to this day, but its origin is not generally understood.




346

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

“ It is, simply, the English idea of the present value of dollars, as compared
with a par that was the true one a century or two ago. Should our dollars become
so debased, at some future time, that five would be required to make a pound ster­
ling, it is obvious that the real par of sterling exchange, instead of standing at 9
per cent premium, or thereabouts, as at present quoted, would be called 12$ per
cent premium. And it is equally obvious, that if the silver in our dollars were
increased to the quantity found in the early Spanish dollars, it would require but
four and forty-four-one-hundredths to make a pound sterling. Thus sterling ex­
change would be quoted at par, and the real and nominal par would again corre­
spond, as in former times.
“ Those interested in the details of the subject are referred to the elaborate
Congressional Reports of 1834, that resulted in an alteration of our own gold
coinage. The present manner of quoting sterling exchange has long custom in
its favor. Upon the whole, we can see no better way of stating it, that shall be
recognized and understood both here and in Europe. Were the American idea to
prevail, it would be easy and correct, of course, to say that sterling exchange was
at par, instead of 9 per cent advance. But after so long a use of the old system,
the prevalence of the American view, on both sides of the Atlantic, is hardly to
be expected. And the present mode is, perhaps, as generally intelligible and easy
of reckoning as that employed in calculating French exchange— the only other
mode that suggests itself as likely to be employed both here and in Europe, if the
present system were abolished.”
W HEN ARE BANK-NOTES AT PA R l

A suit was lately decided before Judge Pearson, at Harrisburg, in which the
Bank of Chamborsburg was sued for the amount of the penalty imposed by the
47th section of the general banking law, which requires that the banks east of the
mountains shall keep their notes at par at Philadelphia, those west of the moun­
tains in the city of Pittsburgh. I f any bank fails to comply, a penalty is im­
posed, during such length of time as its notes may be under par, at the rate of
two mills per annum on every dollar of the average amount of its circulation for
the preceding year. The suit was decided against the commonwealth, because of
some informality in bringing i t ; but the following point made by Judge Pearson,
as -to the meaning of the words, “ at par,” is of importance, if it is to be adopted
as a general principle : “ The notes of a bank at par, within the meaning of this
act, is whenever they are equal to gold or silver for ordinary purposes. The
phrase “ at par ” does not mean that the paper must be received at the custom­
house, at the city banks, or by the brokers. I f the notes are equivalent to gold
and silver for ordinary business transactions, they arc at par within the true in­
tent and meaning of the act.”
VIRGINIA HYPOTHECATED BONDS.

Prior to the 1st of January, the amount of bonds issued by the Commonwealth
of Virginia, under acts of the Legislature authorizing loans for purposes of inter­
nal improvements, after deducting the amounts redeemed and canceled, and the
amount purchased by the Board o f the Literary Fund, is $24,718,742 03. Of
this amount $11,490,742 03 were certificates of registered debt, upon which the
money was received prior to their issue, $11,353,000 were six per cent coupon
bonds, upon which the sum of $10,653,000 has been paid into the treasury, leav­
ing the sum of $700,000 to be accounted fo r ; and three hundred and seventy-five
pounds sterling, or $1,875,000 five per cent coupon bonds, payable in London,
were issued, upon which there has been received the sum of $1,360,741 92 ; and




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

347

there is due upon said bonds, rating them as netting the sum of eighty-seven
dollars per hundred, the sum of $270,508 08, making in the aggregate the sum of
$970,508 08 yet due upon the entire amount of bonds issued by the Common­
wealth.
TH E CURRENCY OF TH E UNITED STA TES,

The table accompanying the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibit­
ing the amount of gold, silver, and bank-notes in circulation at different periods,
gives the amount of gold and silver in circulation, for the fiscal year 1855, at over
$250,000,000, and the bank-notes in circulation at $187,000,000 ; making a total
circulation of $437,000,000, and showing that the bank-note circulation was re­
duced from that of the preceding year about $17,000,000 ; but which the Secre­
tary considers has more than recovered. The table of coinage for the same year
exhibits gold and silver bullion, received at the mint and branches, to the amount
of $70,017,007 82, and the table of exports exhibits the export of gold and
bullion to the amount of $56,247,343; showing an excess of receipts over the
exports of $13,769,664 82. The exports for the same fiscal year, in addition
to the export of gold, was $30,427,187 manufactures exported, and $26,158,368
foreign goods exported, exclusive of specie, and $162,323,948 of all other articles;
making the whole exports $275,156,846, against $261,468,520 imported, showing
the excess of exports $13,688,326 over the imports. There is no. return of the
gold imported by emigrants, and no return or estimate for the freights of our
vessels that have contributed to our imports.
The table upon the currency appended to the Secretary’s Report, justifies the
belief that there is not less than $250,000,000 of gold and silver in the country,
while there is no reason to doubt the continued yield of the mines of California,
and that the demand for our exports will enable us to exchange as largely for the
productions of other countries as in former years, without parting with our gold
and silver in larger quantities than we produce it.
TAXABLE PR O PE R 'I Y IN SAN FRANCISCO.

F. D. K ohler, Esq., of San Francisco, furnishes the following abstract of
property of all kinds, its valuation, State and county tax and aggregate thereof,
rate and amount of tax, and number of polls assessed, for the county of San Fran­
cisco, for the year 1855 :—Number of acres of real estateother than city or town lo ts .. . .acres

215,500

Value of sa m e ............................................................................................
“
city and town lots .....................................................................
“
improvements thereon..............................................................
“
personal property .............................

$758,880
18,625,475
8,892,425
5,065,347

Total value of property..........................................................................
State tux thereon, at 60c...........................................................................
County tax thereon, at 92|c.....................................................................
Poll tax for State purposes.....................................................................
Poll tax for county purposes...................................................................
State portion of delinquent tax of previous y e a r.................................
County portion of d o.................................................................................




00
00
00
76

$32,841,027 76
197,046
308,779
4,500
8,000
63,180
115,841

16
49
00
00
24
44

$087,353 33

348

Journal o f Insurance.

J O U R N A L

OF

IN S U R A N C E .

INSURANCE CONPANIES IN MASSACHUSETTS.

W e are indebted to our esteemed correspondent, T homas C. S mith , Esq., the
President of the Merchants’ Insurance Company, Boston, for an early copy of
the annual “ Abstract of the Returns of Insurance Companies in Massachusetts,
exhibiting the condition of these institutions on the first day of December, 1855,”
as prepared from official returns by Francis De W itt, Esq., the present Secretary
of the Commonwealth. The Report covers some 84 pages, and shows— 1. The
state of insurance companies incorporated with specified capital on the first day
of December, 1855. 2. Insurance companies, mutual marine and mutual fire,
same time. 3. Mutual fire companies. 4. Life insurance companies.
The following table shows the aggregate condition of all the incorporated in­
surance companies in Massachusetts with specific capital:—
19 offices in
Boston.

C apital................................................................ $ 5 ,1 2 5 ,0 0 0
10,000
United States stocks and Treasury n otes.. . .
3,440,229
Massachusetts bank stocks.................v l . . . ,
State stock..........................................................
10,360
25,500
Loans on bottomry and respondentia.............
350,000
Invested in real estate.....................................
8 8 6 ,036
Secured by mortgage on the sam e.................
Loans on collateral and personal security . . .
548,397
4 9 7 ,1 8 0
Loans on personal security o n ly .....................
209,629
Cash on hand......................................................
4 2 2 ,643
Reserved or contingent fund.............................
594,093
Invested in railroad stock ................................
169,992
Losses ascertained and unpaid.........................
3 8 4 ,708
Amount of estimated lossesa...........................
Amount premium notes on risks terminated..
4 8 5 ,8 8 8
Amount premium notes on risks not terminat’d 2,074,119
Total amount of premium notes.......................
2,560,007
Amount of n o te s i..............................................
6,172
A t risk—marine.................................................. 7 6 ,936,987
A t risk— f ir e ...................................................... 7 7 ,549,744
Amount premi’ms on fire risks, undetermined.
5 5 7 ,194
Average annual divideDdsc..............................
Highest rate of interest^....................... per ct.
6
Highest rate of intereste....................................
6
Amount borrowed and on what security........
17,500
18,650
Amount of capital stock pledged to the C o ..
Amount of fire losses paid the last y ear..........
2 8 4 ,5 7 0
1,683,448
Amount of marine losses paid the last year. .
Number of sh a re s/............................................
5

15 offices out
o f Boston.

$1,261,100
769,210
7 1 ,240
4.000
9.000
331,605
96,525
34,135
62,021
55,479
113,315
28,448
48,703
132,298
97,196
237,841
1,700
2,140,269
28,287,326
301,542

6
6
12,139
185,233
201,458

T o ta l34 offices.

$6,386,100
10,000
4,209,440
87,600
29,500
359,000
1,217,641
644,923
531,315
271,650
478,122
707,408
198,440
433,412
618,186
2,171,316
2,797,848
7,872
79,077,256
105,837,070
858,737
6
6
29,639
18,650
469,808
1,884,906

5

W e also subjoin a statement of the aggregate state of the Mutual Marine and
Mutual Fire and Marine, as follows:—
a Exclusive o f such as are returned as ascertained and unpaid.
b Considered bad or doubtful, not charged to profit and loss,
c For five preceding years, or since incorporated.
d, Received on loans, excepting on bottomry or respondentia.
e Or discount paid for moneys borrowed by the company.
/ Of the capital stock owned by the campany, or that remain unsubscribed for.




349

Journal o f Insurance.
Amount o f assets..................................................................................
Cash..........................................................................................................
Premium notes on risks terminated....................................................
Premium notes on risks not terminated............................................
Other notes, how secured, and for what given..................................
Debt due to the company, other than those above stated...............
All other property, specifying amount and value of each..............
Losses paid during the year ending December l,on marine risks.
Return prem. paid or credited during same time on marine risks.
Losses paid on fire risks during the Bame time.................................
Amount of losses ascertained and unpaid on marine risks.............
Amount of losses ascertained and unpaid on fire risks...................
Estimated amount of losses on claims unliquidated on marine risks
Estimated amount of losses on claims unliquidated on fire risks..
Amount of expenses paid.....................................................................
Amount insured during the year on marine risks...........................
Amount o f premiums on marine risks..............................................
Amount insured during the year on fire risks...................................
Amount of premiums on fire risks....................................................
Amount of marine risks terminated..................................................
Amount of premium on marine risks terminated............................
Amount of fire risks terminated..........................................................
Amount o f premiums on fire risks terminated.................................
Amount of undetermined marine risks............................................
Amount of premium on undetermined marine risks.........................
Amount of undetermined fire risks....................................................
Amount of premium on undetermined fire risks.............................
Amount of debts owed by the com panya........................................
Highest rate of interest received.. . . ..............,..............per cent
Highest rate of interest paid................................................per cent
Amount o f liability6.............................................................................
Amount o f premiumc...........................................................................
Amount of delinquent notes included in the assets above.............
Amount of dividends made during the last five yearsd.................

16,398,388 97
161,431 19
687,960 55
2,019,997 73
2,647,219 85
10,162 74
1,734,976 53
3,263,742 34
295,422 80
145,104 27
114,777 13
...................
534,999 27
3,042 57
104,673 33
120,191,194 50
3,659,670 74
23,174,019 00
72,923 07
126,015,858 50
3,606,478 19
32,639,819 00
101,039 77
69,382,864 50
2,864,381 91
9,363,443 00
47,072 80
683,671 57
6
6
207,998 44
121,587 49
60,049 98
720,042 26

F IR E INSURANCE COMPANIES IN TH E STATE OF NEW YORK.

The State Controller in his last annual report, made to the Legislature, Janu­
ary 1,1856, gives a somewhat extended notice of the condition and management
of Insurance Companies in the State, which we here present in a condensed form :
The fact that a large number of those corporations, based upon the mutual
principle, formed under the law of 1849, and situated in the interior of the State,
have passed into the hands of receivers, either by the consent of the parties in in­
terest or by a compulsory process issued by the courts ; connected with the strin­
gent provisions of the insurance law of 1853, as to their future formation, must
and will devolve upon the joint-stock companies the great majority of the busi­
ness of insuring the property of the citizens of this State. The experience of the
last two or three years must have taught policy holders in the mutual corpora­
tions, (although the mutual principle may have been the best in the abstract,)
that it was decidedly easier to pay a premium than to collect a loss. In fact, with
the exception of a few of the old chartered mutual companies, who continue a
prosperous business, the system of mutual insurance, as far as it relates to fire
risks, may be considered as ended in this State. N o attempt has been made to
form a new company during the past two years. It is unnecessary here to discuss
a Other than those for losses above mentioned ; state for what, and how secured, b Of parties
insured, to assessment over and above the amount p id for premium and deposit money, c In­
cluded in the assets, which the assured have the right to have indorsed on notes, making part of
the assets above mentioned, d Or since incorporated, if incorporated less than five years.




350

Journal o f Insurance.

the causes that have produced this result, and the controller remarks, that it has
been reached by an entire perversion of those principles upon which it was origi­
nally founded.
It is not supposed that the Legislature will abolish the general law for the
formation of these companies, or that a return to the system of special charters
will be attempted by it.
•
Under this view of the subject of insurance, the controller examines the opera­
tion of the general law in the formation and operation of stock companies under
its present provisions.
There is an inherent difficulty in all general laws for the formation of corpora­
tions, whose business leads to the investment of their capital in personal property.
This has been aggravated in the general insurance law from the fact that the use
of capital at all by the corporators depends upon a contingency which may never
happen. If the receipts of the company exceed its disbursements, the actual cap­
ital remains undisturbed in their hands, and it is upon the theory that this will be
the result, (taking the doctrine of chances as a guide,) that all insurance compa­
nies are formed, whether organized by real or fictitious capitalists. N o other class
of corporations, formed under general laws in New York State, present this pe­
culiarity. Their capital is placed by the nature of their business, or at least a
large portion of it is invested in other than personal property, or, as in the case
of banks formed under the general bank law, secured beyond the control or reach
of the corporators themselves.
The real use of actual capital for a successful insurance company exists only as
forming' a basis with which a credit with the community may be created, in which
it proposes to issue policies. It (the capital) only comes into use upon a result
which would prevent the formation of the corporation, were it anticipated by the
corporators themselves. Its existence is not a necessity for the commencement or
transaction of the business of insurance, as before stated, but is only necessary
after it is absolutely, or at least a portion of it, lost. It should bo, and is only
held as security if the business is unsuccessful, a sort of indemnity bond, only ne­
cessary if the chances of the game turn against the corporators.
The steps necessary to be taken in forming an insurance company are briefly
these: under the provisions of the general insurance law, any number of persons,
not less than thirteen, may associate and form a fire insurance company, upon
filing a declaration of their intention to form one, with a copy of the charter pro­
posed to be adopted by them, in the office of the Controller, and publishing the
notice for six weeks in a public newspaper in the county where the company pro­
pose to locate.
The charter and proof of publication are then submitted to the Attorney-Gen­
eral, and if not found inconsistent with the laws and constitution of this State,
he shall certify the same to the Controller. The Controller, either by himself or
three disinterested persons, shall cause an examination to be made, to ascertain if
the amount of capital required by the law has been paid in, and is possessed by
the company in money, or such stocks and bonds and mortgages as the 8th section
of the law provides.
The usual method is to produce the certificate to the appraisers of a deposit of
the necessary amount in some good and solvent bank. In some instances a por­
tion of it is composed of mortgages. This is not necessary under the provisions
of the law. This presentation of capital is accompanied with the affidavit of the
officers, that the same is the bona fide property of the corporators. Upon filing
the certificate of the appraisers under oath of this exhibition of capital to them
in the office of the Controller, it is imperative upon him to deliver a certified copy
of such certificates to the corporators, and upon filing the same in the office of the
county clerk, where the company is to be located, with a copy of the charter, the
parties are authorized to commence the business of insurance.
The first conclusion resulting from this process is, that no inducement is offered




Journal o f Insurance.

351

to keep the capital in the hands of the corporators. They have the certificate of
the Controller and appraisers, that gives them the necessary credit to commence
business. The commencement of their business from its very nature is the receipt
of money for premiums. The second is that no actual capital being necessary, the
amount of money to procure the certificates may be borrowed upon the credit of
the corporators for a single day, (and for that time be their actual property, as
sworn to by their officers,) and'be repaid the following one, and the company pos­
sess all the credit that would attach to a real paid-up capital by parties who in­
tend to form a company, and retain its capital as an investment. The third is,
admitting the capital is actually paid in without any intention of withdrawing it,
no obligation rests upon the corporators, as far as their policy-holders are con­
cerned, to keep the capital intact. It can be wholly transferred from their control,
or worthless mortgages substituted in the place of the money originally forming
its capital.
The only knowledge within the reach of the holder of a policy is the annual re­
port of the company made to the Controller. N o knowledge of the real nature
of their property or its value, in many cases, can bo derived by him from the an­
nual statement thus made.
The Controller does dot believe that any change for the better can be made by
amending the law as to those statements, for the simple reason that legislative inenuity cannot keep pace by such amendments with the sharpness and shrewdness
not to use a stronger word) of parties who have nothing to lose, but all to gain
by the formation of insurance companies under the present law. Every general
law for the formation of corporations deprives the Legislature of, at least, one
prominent safeguard against fraud by the parties availing themselves of its pro­
visions.
The Legislature, in the enactment of a special charter, controlled the location
of the institution thus created, and the parties by whom the same should be or­
ganized. It also exercised the right of judging as to the number of companies,
and the amount of capital required by the people of this State. One of the causes
of the failure of so many insurance companies in this State may have arisen from
their multiplication with a rapidity far beyond the wants of the business proposed
to be transacted by them. This is mentioned as an occurrence incidental to all
general laws, and not as a fact, or even an opinion of the Controller. The power
is given by the present law for any thirteen persons, without reference to honesty,
capital, or capacity, on their compliance with certain provisions, to undertake the
prerogative of insuring not only the property of the people of this State, but that
of every other State in the Union, when they are not precluded by positive enact­
ments by those States.
The present law indorses alike the needy adventurers and the able capitalists.
The one by the production, for a day, of the amount of capital, and which is to
be returned, perhaps, to-morrow, (which has repeatedly occurred.) receives the same
certificate of authority to enter upon a career, the result to them of certain profit,
as they have nothing to lose, and they stand before the public with the same claim
to their patronage as the other whose real basis is integrity, experience, and
capital.
The failure of an insurance company falls upon a portion of our citizens with
more crushing force than that of any other corporation. The proceeds of a life’s
labor are swept away by the misfortunes of a single hour from a citizen, and as
he turns with hope to his policy of insurance for relief, he learns, perhaps for the
first time, that the laws of the State to which he has looked for protection from
the very misfortune that has overtaken him, permit the formation of insurance
companies whose capacity to pay his loss consists in the profits of the concern,
and that their pretended capitals are only valuable as a basis to make affidavits,
the moral perjury of which is fathomless.
The amount of property at fire risks at the close of the year 1854, by the
joint-stock companies in this State and located within its boundaries, was
$499,422,647 97, and by mutual companies $183,076,460 03, and by companies

?




352

Journal o f Insurance.

located in other States $79,017,305 72. Total amount at risk, $761,446,413 72.
The total premiums paid in cash for the insurance of property in this State that
year was $6,305,478 73, and notes given for premiums, (not premium notes,)
$526,163. The losses which accrued to companies of this State during the year
and were paid, amount to $3,251,242 13. In process of liquidation, $594,907 39,
and $445,493 16 are resisted from various causes.
It appears to the Controller that something more than the mere personal in­
tegrity of corporators should be given for a payment of nearly $7,000,000 per
annum for insurance, against loss or damage by fire by the people of this State.
The mere possession of any given amount of capital in personal property, trans­
ferable at the will of the corporators, is not sufficient guaranty to the policy hold­
ers of our insurance companies.
By chap. 95 of the Laws of 1851, all companies engaged in the business of life
insurance in this State were compelled to deposit with the Controller, in securities
named in said act, a sum equal to $100,000 each, to be held in trust for the secu­
rity of policy-holders in such companies. The same provision was applicable to
companies of other States proposing to transact the business of life insurance in
this State.
The object and intent of that law was not that it afforded sufficient security
upon all policies issued in this State, but to settle the question that an actual cap­
ital was in possession, or under the control of each life insurance company pro­
posing to transact the business of insurance in this State. This act was amended
in its application to foreign companies by chap. 463 of the Laws of 1853, by al­
lowing such deposit to be made in the office of the chief financial officer of the
State where such company was located. These provisions are now in force as
to life insurance companies in this as well as those located in other States, trans­
acting business in this.
The operation of this law has been attended with little or no inconvenience to
the companies, and the amount of securities now deposited in the Controller’s
office are more than $1,300,000.
The Controller recommends to the Legislature the passage of a law compelling
the deposit, in a department to be created under the name of the Insurance De­
partment, to be located in the State Hall at the city of Albany, of 50 per cent of
the capital of all joint-stock insurance companies located within this State, in
such securities as are authorized by sec. 8 of the “ A ct providing for the incorpo­
ration of insurance companies, passed June 25, 1853.” It is not presumed that
sound, solvent companies will object to this arrangement, as that proportion of
their capital, if properly invested iff accordance to law, can be held for their ben­
efit by such a department with all the safety that arises from its actual possession
by the company itself. The expenditures of such a department could not ex­
ceed one-twentieth of one per cent upon the capital of the joinffstock companies
in this State.
The same obligation resting upon foreign life insurance companies proposing to
do business in this State, should be made applicable to fire insurance companies
located in other States of the Union, v iz.: a deposit of securities of like kind
and same amount in the hands of the chief financial officer of the State where
they are located, before granting them a certificate to transact business in this
State.
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF INSURANCE COMPANIES FORMED UNDER GENERAL
LAWS SINCE JANUARY 1, 1855 :--M A R I N E IN S U R A N C E CO M PA N IE S O R G A N IZ E D U N D E R C H A P .

Name.

Location.

Orient Mutual Ins. Co.......................New York
Pacific Mutual Ins. C o.....................
“
Globe Mutual Ins. C o......................
“
Great Western Ine. Co....................
“




308,

L A W S OF

Dale.

February 23, 1854.
January
8, 1855.
April
12, 1855.
September 28, 1855.

1849.
Capital.

-$300,000
300,000
300,000
600,000

N au tical Intelligence.
T H E F O L L O W IN G

A R E T H E F IR E

IN S U R A N C E
OF L A W S

OF

353

C O M P A N IE S O R G A N IZ E D

UNDER

CH AP. 4 6 6

1853 —

Location.
Name.
Star Ins. Co.*.........................
Metropolitan Fire Ins. C o* . ___ New York.
Susquehanna Fire Ins. C o .. . . . . .Cooperstown.
Webster Fire Ins. C o.............
a
Henry Clay Fire Ins. Co. . .
u
Mechanics’ Fire Ins. C o ... ..
tt
Tontine Fire Ins. C o.............
it
National Exchange Ins. C o ..
it
Enterprise Ins. Co................ \
<(
Relief Fire Ins. C o................

Date.
April
April
September
March
March
April
May
May
August
December

19,
29,
2,
26,
SO,
27,
16,
21,
9,
17,

1854.
1854.
1854.
1855.
1855.
1853.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.

Capital.
§50,000
300,000
50,000
150,000
200,000
150,000
200,000
150,000
150,000
150,000

The location of the Susquehanna Fire Insurance Company has been changed
to the city of Albany by an act of the Legislature, passed February 21,1855.
A commissioner was appointed to inquire into the affairs of the Webster,
Henry Clay, Mechanics’, Tontine, and National Exchange, five of the abovenamed fire insurance companies, since their organization, and they have each
passed into the hands of a receiver.

N A U TICA L IN T E L L IG E N C E .
NOTICES TO M ARINERS.
T r in i t y -H o u s e , L o n d o n ,

November 13, 1855.

Whereas the Buoys and Beacons placed by the Corporation of Trinity-House
for the guidance of shipping navigating on various parts of the coast of England,
and especially in the channels leading to the port of London, have in repeated in­
stances been negligently or wilfully broken away, or otherwise damaged and
rendered unserviceable by vessels running foul of, or making fast to and riding by
the same; and the Light Vessels moored off different parts of the coast, have also
been frequently run on board of, and much damaged, with imminent risk of being
broken from their moorings and lost; and whereas the safety of shipping, and of
the lives and property embarked therein, requires that the said Light Vessels,
Buoys, and Beacons should uninterruptedly preserve their respective stations—•
masters and other persons having charge of vessels are hereby cautioned against
the commission of such offenses, and are desired to take notice that by the “ Mer­
chant Shipping Act, 1854,” sec. 414, it is enacted as follows, viz. :—
“ Damage to Lights, Buoys, and Beacons. I f any person wilfully or negligently
commits any of the following offenses ; that is to say—
“ 1. Injures any lighthouse or the lights exhibited therein, or any buoy or bea­
con ; 2. Removes, alters, or destroys any light ship, buoy, or beacon ; 3. Rides
by, makes fast to, or runs foul of any light ship or buoy, he shall, in addition to
the expenses of making good any damage so occasioned, incur a penalty not ex­
ceeding Fifty Pounds.
By order,
J. HERBERT, Secretary.

ALTERATION OF BUOYS IN DUNKEF.QUE ROADS— NORTH SEA.

The French government has given notice, that a new arrangement of the buoys
m Dunkerque Roads was completed on the first of the present month of October,
in place of the former, and that the following instructions are in consequence to
be observed by vessels entering either by the eastern or western passage, v iz.:—
All buoys and beacons painted red are to be left to starboard, and those painted
* These two companies commenced their formation under the law o f 1849.
VOL. X X X IV .-----NO. III.
23




354

N au tical Intelligence.

black are to be left to port, by vessels entering the Roads from sea; and buoys
painted with alternate red and black horizontal bands, may be passed on either
hand. The foregoing distinction of color is not applied to beacons or turrets,
these being painted white above the level of high water. Warping buoys are
painted white.
The small rocky heads in the frequented channels are painted in the same man­
ner as the buoys, with this reservation, that the most conspicuous part of them is
thus only painted, when the surface they present is so considerable that it becomes
unnecessary to do more, in order to their being readily distinguished; and they
are not painted at all when they are mostly beneath the surface, or are covered
with weed.
Every buoy or beacon bears in full length, or abbreviated characters, the name
of the shoal or rock which it is meant to distinguish, and also its number, show­
ing its numerical order in the same channel. These numbers commence from sea­
ward ; the even numbers on the red buoys to bo passed on the starboard hand, and
the odd numbers on black buoys to port.
The letters and numbers are painted white on the most conspicuous parts of
the buoys, and from ten to twelve inches high. The masts of the beacons which
do not present sufficient surface are surmounted for this purpose by a small board.
A ll the jetty heads and turrets are painted above the half-tide level; and on the
former, a scale of metres is marked, commencing from the same level.
H y d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
10th October, 1855.

NORWAY--- FIXED LIGHT ON STAVA3RNSO, SOUTHERN CHANNEL INTO FREDERIKSViERN.

The Norwegian government has given notice, that on and after the first of the
present month of October, a Fixed Light will be exhibited on the south end of
the island called Stavrernso, on the eastern side of the entrance of the south chan­
nel into Frederiksvaern harbor.
To vessels approaching Frederiksvaern from the southward, the light will be
visible between the bearings of N. and N. N . W . f W ., and by always keeping
it in sight within these bearings, they will be clear of the Svenoer group with its
Skaten on the east, and the Rakkebo rocks on the west. Those approaching it
from the cast, by not bringing it anything to the northward of W . N. W., will
clear the Fladen, (the northern danger of the Sveno group,) and although it is vis­
ible from the eastward when bearing as far southerly as S. W . by W ., and may be
serviceable to vessels within a mile of it, it is not intended as a guide to those
north of the Svenoer Islands, or among the more distant Ranoer group.
The Light Tower stands in lat. 58° 59' 30" N., and long. 10° 4' 30" cast from
Greenwich; the light is visible at the distance of 8 miles, and will be subject to
the same regulations, as to lighting, as others on the coast of Norway.
JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
H ydrographic O ffice, A dmiralty , L ondon, October 3, 1855.

This notice affects the Admiralty Charts of the South Coast of Norway, sheets
No. 2,329, 2,330 ; and also the Norway Pilot, page 62, and Lighthouse List,
page 28.
LIGHTS AT MALAMOCCO, VENICE----ADRIATIC GULP, MEDITERRANEAN.

The maritime authorities at Trieste have given notice, that on and after the
first day of November instant, two temporary Harbor Lights would be exhibited
at the entrance of the port of Malamocco, Venice. The lights will be fixed, of
the natural color, and of the fourth order of Fresnel. They stand at a height oi
45 feet above the level of ordinary high water, and will be visible in clear weather
at a distance of 12 miles.
The eastern or outer light is placed upon the round head of the inner Mole of




N autical Intelligence.

355

the Rocchetta, on the north side of the channel, at a mile-and-a-third within the
entrance. The western light stands in the Lagoon on the southern side of the
entrance of the Spignon Canal, at a distance of 1,380 yards from the outer light.
The lights, in one bearing N. W . by W . nearly, lead in a mid-course between the
two Moles now in course of construction. The northern Mole or breakwater is
already above water, the southern Mole is only partly visible. The width of en­
trance between the Moles is about 510 yards.
All bearings magnetic. Variation, 14° 34' west.
By command of their lordships,
H y d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
November 12, 1855.

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :— Mediterranean, General
No. 2,158 ; Adriatic, No. 1,440 ; Gulf of Venice, Sheet 3, No. 201; Venice,
No. 1,483 ; also Mediterranean Lighthouse List, No. 120 a.
HARBOE LIGHT AT SHERSHEL— MEDITERRANEAN, COAST OF ALGIERS.

The French authorities at Algiers have given notice that on the 15th October
instant a Harbor Light was established at Shershel, in the province of Algiers,
at the extremity of the jetty which projects from Joinville islet to the eastward.
Seen from seaward the light is bright, and cannot be confounded with the more
distant lights in the town. By means of this light, vessels may avoid the shoal
which narrows the entrance into the port of Shershel from the east, and steer a
fair course to enter the inner harbor or basin. By command of their lordships,
Hy d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
27th October, 1855.

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :— Mediterranean, No. 2,158 ;
Cape Ferrat to Cape Carbon, No. 1,766 ; also, Mediterranean Light-house List,
No. 198 a, and Berard, Description Nautique des Cotes de 1’Algere, 3me edition,
p. 102.
LIGHT AT CEDTA— COAST OF AFRICA, MEDITERRANEAN SEA.

The Spanish government has given notice that on the 1st of December next a
light will be established on the summit of the hill named Cerro de los Mosqueros,
on Almina Point, at Ceuta, on the north coast of Africa, at the eastern entrance
of the Strait of Gibraltar. The light will be a bright first-class light, revolving
once a minute. It is placed at an elevation of 476 English feet above the level of
the sea, and will be visible in clear weather at the distance of 27 miles. The
lighting apparatus is catadioptric of the first order, of the system of Fresnel. The
tower stands in latitude 35° 53' 44" north, longitude 5° 17' 12" west of Green­
wich. By command of their lordships,
Hy d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
22d November, 1855.

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :— Mediterranean, No. 2,158 ;
Gibraltar to Alicante, No. 1,186 ; Ceuta, No. 252 ; Gibraltar Strait, No. 142 ;
also, Mediterranean Light-house List, (edition 1855,) No. 216.
SHOAL OFF THE NORTH END OF OLAND— BALTIC SEA.

The Swedish government has given notice that a rocky shoal, having only 15
feet water over it, has been discovered in the Baltic, lying N . N. E. J- E., distant
7J miles, from the north end of the island of Oland. The shoal consists of stone
in level strata with abrupt edges; the shallowest portion, about 70 yards long,
forms its northern edge, from which it extends to the S. S. E. for about four ca­
bles’ length, having 3, 4, and 5 fathoms depth, after which the depth gradually in­
creases, but on the N., N. E., N. W ., and S. W . sides, the water deepens abruptly, and the lead gives no warning. From the shoal, Oland North Light-houss




356

N au tical Intelligence.

bears S. S. W . i W ., (S. 26° i W .,) Jungfrun Island, western point, S. W . | W.,
(S. 53° W „) Huno Bote, W . N. W . | N., (N. 62° W .) All bearings magnetic.
Variation 12° i W . By order,
H y d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
25th October, 1855.

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :— Baltic Sea, No. 2,262 ;
Oland to Norrkoping, No. 2,189 ; Sheets 2 and 3 of the Coast of Sweden, Nos.
2,251, 2,361; also, Baltic Pilot, page 39.
COAST ON BRAZIL— WHITE BUOY OFF OLINDA.

The harbor authorities at the port of Pernambuco have have given notice that
a White Buoy has recently been placed to mark the outer edge of the shoals off
Olinda, on the coast of Brazil. The buoy is a cone-shaped or can buoy, 8 feet
high above the sea level, and 7 feet in diameter at its base; it is painted white to
distinguish it from the two buoys on the Banco do Inglez, or English Bank—
which lies about 4 miles to the southwestward— the more northern of which has
red and white vertical stripes, and the southern is a red buoy. The Olinda Buoy
is moored in 5 fathoms at low ivater, at about 2 miles E. S. E. of Olinda Point,
with the following approximate bearings : Se church tower W . N . W . £ N., the
flagstaff of Fort Buraco W . by S. i S., and the tower of the Naval Arsenal in
Pernambuco S. W . by W . In clear weather it may be seen at from 5 to 6 miles
distance.
Vessels not bound to the port of Pernambuco should not approach the shore on
this part of the coast of Brazil nearer than 3 miles, keeping in a depth of 10 fath­
oms, as within that depth the soundings are irregular, and the reefs in many parts
steep to. A ll bearings magnetic. Variation, 9° W .
By order,
H y d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
October 24,1855.

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :— Pernambuco Roadstead,
No. 538; Maranhao to Pernambuco, No. 528; Pernambuco to Victoria, No.
529.
FIXED LIGHT ON STANG-HOLM— NORWAY, SOUTH-EAST COAST.

The Norwegian government has given notice that a fixed light has been estab­
lished on Stang-holm, on the south-east coast of Norway, to light the southern
passage to the harbor of Osterriisor, and that it would be first exhibited on the
27th of October instant. The light is a fixed red channel light; it is placed on
the eastern point of the island of Stang-holm, at an elevation of 34 English feet
above the sea, and will be visible 10 miles in clear weather from N. f E. round
easterly to S. i W . The light-house stands in latitude 58° 42' 40" north, and
longitude 9° 15' east of Greenwich. Vessels approaching from the south-west,
by keeping this light in sight, will clear the rocks and shoals lying outside of
Fisund. To clear the shoals lying about two cables’ length south of Little Stangholm on the east side of the passage, masters of vessels, when within four cables’
length of the entrance, must take care not to bring the light more westerly than
N . W . by N . After having passed the light in proceeding towards Osterriisor
the mariner will observe that the limits of the light in that direction do" not fall
more westerly than about half a cable’s length clear of Tangen, the most southern
part of the town of Osterriisor. A ll bearings are magnetic. Variation 21° W .
By order of their lordships,
H y d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , L o n d o n ,

JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
30lhOctober, 1855.

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :— Baltic Sea, No. 2,162 ;
North Sea, No. 2,339; Skagerrak, 2,289; Norway, south coast, sheet 3, No.
2,329 ; also, Norway Light-house List, N o. 232 a, and Norway Pilot, part 1, pp.
45 and 49.




357

Commercial Statistics.

C O M M E R C IA L STA TIS TIC S .
ARRIVAL OF SH IPPIN G AT SAN FRANCISCO.

The following comparative statement of the arrival of vessels at the port of
San Francisco, for the last three years, that is, 1853, 1854, and 1855, shows a
decline in imports at that port
VO
>-r
QO

‘O
CO

Arrivals from—
Domestic Atlantic ports............................................
Northern and home coast ports.................................
Ports in France...........................................................
British ports.................................................................
German ports..............................................................
East India p o r ts .........................................................
Ports in Chili................................................................
Central and South American ports (sailing vessels)
San Juan and Panama (steamers).............................
Sandwich and Society Islands.. . . .......................
Australian p o r ts .........................................................
Mexican ports..............................................................
Whaling voyages.........................................................

375
963
31
93
20
73
130
15
58
71
7
55
11

172
1,405
11
41
14
63
27
10
52
55
16
24
3

144
1,117
20
54
13
63
15
16
47
71
19
22
16

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

1,902

1,893

1,606

1854.

The freight lists on cargoes arriving from domestic Atlantic and from foreign
ports, for the three respective years, will give an idea of the great falling off in
imports at San Francisco. It is well known that many cargoes and parts of car­
goes arrive there which have been shipped on owners’ or ship’s account, and on
which no charge is made apparent at the port of delivery. This is particularly
the case with foreign vessels. The several amounts paid in 1853, 1854, and 1855,
foot up as follows :—
1853.
1854.
1855.
Domestic Atlantic ports................
Foreign ports...................................
Totals

$9,911,428
1,840,652

$5,230,913
1,050,108

$2,901,037
955,402

$11,752,080

$6,281,021

$3,856,439

COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF FRANCE.

An attentive correspondent, a member of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, has
furnished for the last eight or ten years the official reports of French Commercej
from which we have translated, from year to year, statements. In the absence of
the official report, we avail ourselves of the subjoined summary, which we find in
the Paris Monileur of January 21, 1856 :—
“ The import trade of France in 1855 was so good that the Minister of Com­
merce has said that it equals the trade of 1846, the most renowned under the
former government, and has thus entirely overcome the depression which began
with the convulsion of 1848. The revenue obtained by the customs duties, which
we quote as the only criterion we have of the total imports, was in 1855.
189,704,G90f.; in 1854,150,587,303f.; and in 1853,141,607,552f.
“ In the cereales, a term which includes flour as well as wheat, and all kinds of
grain and meal, the imports were less in 1855 than in 1854 and 1853.




358

Commercial Statistics.

“ The following is the account in metrical quintals, each metrical quintal being
nearly two hundred weight:—IMPORT OP CEREALS.

1855.

1854.

4,109,589

5,414,950

m
5,159,854

“ Our surprise that France should have imported less in 1855 than 1853, disap.
pears when we notice what were in these years the
EXPORTS OP CEREALS.

1855.

1854.

1851.

957,581

1,596,206

3,963,487

“ The exports, therefore, of 1853 exceeded the exports of 1855 by upwards of
3,000,000 quintals. France imported grain and exported flour. On the whole,
therefore, France is an importing country, and we may conclude, from the recent
extension of her manufactures and of her town population, that this is likely to lie
her condition for a considerable period.
Combining this with the fact that a
large proportion of her agricultural produce, of her wines and her brandies, is in­
tended for exportation, it supplies an irrefragable condemnation of her system of
stimulating the manufactures of cotton, silk, leather, sugar, glass, &c., by bounties.
On the principles of free trade neither should be favored; but certainly the pro­
duction of silks and cotton should not be promoted at the expense of the produc­
tion of food.
“ O f the articles of which the import increased, we transcribe the following :—
IMPORTS INCREASED IN 1855.

1855.
Oxen and c o w s .................................................. No.
Sheep.........................................................................
W ine........................................................ hectolitres
Brandy, & c .................................................................
Coffee.........................................................M. qntls.
Copper.......................................................................
Bar-iron......................................................................
Cast-iron...................................................................
Linseed...............................................................
C oa ls.........................................................................
Olive oil.....................................................................
W o o l .........................................................................
Lead, pigs..................................................................
Sugar, colon ial.........................................................
Sugar, foreign..........................................................
Meat, fresh and salt.................................................
Z in c ...........................................................................

1854.

1851

36,162
90,946
113,469
187,168
272,610
308,961
31,650
192,023
412,205
45,116
89,899
234,998
277,873
319,770
398,992
82,611
73,812
116,667
59,735
125,959
717,963
864,989
918,958
1,360,411
221,117
189,804
268,519
40,575,054 35,573,708 29,820,737
181,213
174,842
298.001
285,102
210,479
375,587
289,326
308,701
359,477
620,862
826,991
889,935
412,205
483,917
800,848
9,542
69,805
105,028
252,380
165,949
258,419

“ The article tea, of which we import upwards of 70,000,000 lbs., does not appear
in the French imports. The coffee impor.ted in each of the three years was con­
siderably more than what was consumed, and the stock at the end of 1855 is onehalf more than at the end of 1854. The average consumption of the three years
was 228,007 quintals, roughly estimated at 47,000,000 lbs., only a fourth more
thau the consumption of coffee in England, in which tea is still the principal bev­
erage. Of sugar, too, the consumption was considerably less than the import;
but as a good deal of sugar is made from beet in the country, and some exported,




359

Commercial Statistics.

we shall not now venture to institute any comparison between the consumption of
sugar in England and France. It is essential, however, to remark that the con­
sumption of colonial sugar was in excess in 1855, and that the stock was in 1855
only 54,645 m. q., against 134,787 m. q., in 1854, and 145,839 m. q. in 1853.
Both of sugar and of coffee the consumption increased in 1855 as against 1854,
the former to 1,500,000 m. q. from 1,200,000 m. q., and the latter to 217,200 m. q.
from 189,568 m. q., showing, in conjunction with the increased consumption
throughout the greater part of Europe, in America, and Australia, a very enlarged
market for these colonial products.
“ There is one fact in which the English manufactures have greatly the advan­
tage over those of France, and which probably more than compensates for the
bounties given by the French government. The import of cotton, wool, and silk
is here entirely exempt from any duty; in France they are all subject to duties,
and the impolitic imposts are countervailed by bounties.
“ The increase in the quantities of coal, bar-iron, and cast-iron imported, is an­
other noticeable feature in the French tables.
“ The exports— except of every species of agricultural produce, which have de­
creased— have generally increased in 1855.
EXPORTS OF FOREIGN AND FRENCH MERCHANDISE.

Books, engravings, and lithographs....... . . .m. q.
Machinery, <fcc...........................................
Millinery..................................................
Soap .........................................................
S a lt..........................................................
Sugar, refined..........................................
Cottons, white.........................................
printed......................................
others........................................
Linen c lo t h ..............................................
Linen cambrics........................................
Woolens, cashmeres, and merinos........
others..................................... .
Silks, raw................................................ .
Silks, w oven ............................................
Glass and crystals.................................

1855.
17,469
9,515,754
11,544,423
71,570
1,215,563
338,994
64,401
41,900
28,591
24,656
579
35,565
38,036
10,869
37,464
277,485

1851
1854.
17,026
16,516
7,951,584 11,295,192
6,407,004
7,242,269
65,849
60,760
995,330
946,921
251,356
181,848
37,270
38,234
37,989
36,940
29,101
25,685
19,260
17,809
718
535
29,060
28,857
34,361
34,182
7,585
6,555
37,066
34,050
262,818
256,197

“ A small increase in the number of metrical quintals exported implies a consid­
erable increase in the value of the books, silks, and merinos exported.
“ France, then, is becoming, like ourselves, more and more manufacturing, and
she requires more and more to import all kinds of raw materials.
“ The navigation of France was as follows :—
ENTERED INWARDS.
,

----- FRENCH.---------s

,------------F O I LEIGN.---------- \

t---------------- T O T A L .---------------\

Y ears.

Ships.

Tonnage.

Ships.

Tonnage.

Ships.

Tonnage.

1853........
1854........
1855........

9,210
9,307
9,574

1,065,688
1,131,702
1,247,452

11,569
10,982
13,442

1,685,011
1,606,887
2,057,313

20,799
20,280
23,016

2,750,699
2,738,539
3,304,765

1853........
1854____
1855___

6,625
5,726
5,756

796,350
706,718
934,598

15,481
13,645
13,810

1,854,665
1,856,305
2,034,765

ENTERED OUTWARDS.




8,856
7,919
8,054

1,058,315
1,059,592
1,100,057

360

Commercial Statistics.

“ The navigation, therefore, has increased since 1853. Taking the aggregate
tonnage, both inwards and outwards, it increased between 1853 and 1855 about
16 per cent; and the French tonnage in the interval increased rather more than
the foreign— 17 per cent against 15 per cent— though the foreign tonnage em­
ployed in the French trade exceeds the French tonnage by about 48 per cent.
“ The trade of France, like the trade of England, has suffered very little inter­
ruption by the war, and was in fact much larger in 1855 than in 1853.
EX PORTS OP W ILM INGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, IN 1854 AND 1855.

The following comparative table of Exports of the principal articles from the
port of Wilmington, North Carolina, compared with that of the previous year, is
derived from a journal published in that city
f

1Q£.l
IKICoastwise.

Spirits of turpentine ...........bbls.
Spirits of turpentine .5-gal. cans
Crude turpentine.. . . ...........bbls.
Rosin..........................
Tar..............................
Pitch...........................
Flour...........................
Timber, P. P..............
Lumber, P. P.............
Shingles................... .............No.
Staves.........................
Ground peas, or peanuts . . .bush.
C otton.......................
Cotton sheeting.........
Cotton yarn................
Cotton w a s te ...............
Cotton warp..............
Newspaper .............
W o o l.........................
Rice (clean)...............
Rice (rough ).............

119,308
65,102
441,092
32,919
4,624
14,431
1,350,263
20,003,958
91,807
10,328
1,689
1,573
206
181
2,805
39
401
137,672

A
Foreign.

r
j-ut
Coastwise.

110,624
1,314
5,020
200
55,614
12,071
11,603
452,463
7,188
44,397
5,714
1,001
7,208
630
396,158
206,915
11,118,180 12,069,340
300,202
5,128,259
166,653
133,819
67,876
32
19,898
....
1,693
1,183
....
245
....
149
3,731
....
69
331
....
89,064
....

Foreign.

1,604
10,536
8,610
5,915
1,761
261
213,775
8,371,447
6,131,850
60,878
...

59

....

....
....
. ..•
....

27
17,860

COMMERCE OF HAVANNA.

The subjoined statement exhibiting the arrivals and clearances of shipping at
the port of Havanna, Cuba, for the years 1848 to 1855, inclusive, has been com­
piled from an official source. The total tonnage and principal nations to which
they belong is also given, as will be seen :—■
Year.

1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855

American.
Spanish.
British.
Other nations.
Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons.
729 170,817 5 5 6 107,707
165 65,2 1 4 159 38,781
745 200,069 563 106,135 159 65,2 7 4 146 35,556
634 2 9 8 ,299 541 1 0 7 ,2 3 0 164 65,136 203 52,803
856 344,046 5 5 0 1 1 4 ,2 1 6 191 58,3 0 8 203 51,913
750 3 0 8 ,1 2 0 578 1 1 4 ,338 143 55,4 2 7 176 42,311
813 304,138 553 1 1 1 ,029 136 6 8 ,3 2 4 215 53,911
983 3 3 6 ,998 571
1 1 1 .823 122 69,5 6 6 185 48,799
889 3 7 9 ,327 627 120,881 116 4 9 ,9 1 6 235 63,031

Total.
Vessels. Tons.
1,599 382,513
1,611 407,039
1,542 523,468
1,800 568,483
1,647 520,196
1,717 527,402
1,782 567,186
1,767 613,155

The Courier and Enquirer in publishing the preceding table, says:—
“ It will be observed that while the total tonnage falls a good deal short of
doubling within the eight years, the American tonnage has much more than doub-




361

Commercial Statistics.

led. The English tonnage has decreased, and the Spanish tonnage remains in
slalu quo. The tonnage o f ‘ other nations ’ is only saved from exhibiting a marked
decrease by the French tonnage, which has increased from twenty-six vessels of
6,363 tons in 1848, to fifty-two vessels of 12,538 tons in 1852, and 122 vessels of
33,522 tons in 1855.
“ The large increase in the American tonnage, compared with the small increase
in the number of vessels, shows that a much larger class of ships has been brought
into the Savanna trade than were employed a few years ago.”
INCREASE OF TH E TRADE OF ST, LOUIS IN 1 8 5 5 ,

The subjoined table, derived from the carefully prepared annual report of the
St. Louis Republican, will convey at a glance an idea of the increase of the busi­
ness of that city. In the following table a few of the leading products received
in 1854 and 1855 are shown, and the increase and decrease of the enumerated
products noted :—RECEIPTS OF LEADING PRODUCTS AT ST. LOUIS IN 1854 AND 1855.

1854.

H em p ................................... bales
T obacco............................... hhds.
Tobacco................................ boxes
R o p e ......................................coils
L ea d....................................... pigs
Flour..................................... bbls.
Wheat...............................bushels
C orn ............................................
Oats..............................................
Rye...............................................
Barley..........................................
Whisky.................................. bbls.
Pork................ casks and tierces
P o rk .................................. ..b b ls.
Pork...................... boxes and sks.
Pork......................... bulk pieces
Pork and lard....................... bbls.
Pork and lard.................... tierces
Pork and b e e f ..................... bbls.
Pork and beef.. . bbls. & tierces
Bacon.................. tierces <Si casks
Bacon..................... bbls & boxes
Bacon.................................. pieces
Lard...................................tierces
Lard....................................... bbls.
L a r d ..................................... kegs
L a rd ............................. packages
Lard...................................pounds
Beef....................................tierces
Beef.......................................bbls.
Beef..................... bbls. & tierces
Bacon and pork................pounds
Sugar.................................... hhds.
Sugar..................... bbls. & boxes
Molasses................................ bbls.
Coffee................................... Backs
Salt........................................bags
Salt........................................bbls.
H ay...................................... bales
H id e s ..................................... No.
H id es............................... pounds




1855.
73,825
93,386
9,907
7,055
6,818
8,527
49,921
38,943
323,943
315,677
291,146
396,603
3,878,803
2,340,217
1,784,189
2,944,590
1,905,400
1,777,873
50,140
90,198
130,050
134,300
86.600
85,377
11,361
9,915
70,628
81,328
1,848
1,124
471,909
960,635
................ 555
................3,043
................ 286
................ 609
9,962
22,767
492
1,639
24,134
13,462
10,910
29,353
44,408
53,658
12,334
13,247
................6,299
41,149
................
3,260
1,588
18,517
4,001
.........
481
................
139,326
58,215
60,923
23,100
14,461
62,046
62,890
120,429
139,619
271,912
407,852
61,785
28,989
28,554
24,787
72,483
118,807
................
150,347

D ecrea se.
2,852
10,979
8,266

1,446
724

.........
„
10,672

2,708
10,844

3,767
.........
.........

In crea se.
19,561
.........
2,709
.........
.........
105,457
1,538,586
1,160,401
127,527
40,058
4,250
1,227
.........
10,700
.........
488,726
555
3,043
286
609
12,805
1,147
.........
18,443
9,150
913
6,299
41,149
1,672
14,516
481
139,326
.........
8,639
.........
19,190
135,940
32,796
46,324
150,347

*

362

Commercial Statistics.
LUM BER TRADE OF ALBAIY A ID BAIGOR.

The lumber business at Albany for 1855 shows a decrease in receipts, price, and
rates, as compared with the preceding years. The receipts at Albany during the
year 1855, and the five preceding years, have been as follows:—•
Years.

1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855

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

Boards and
scantling, feet.

Shingles,
M.

Timber,
C. feet.

Staves,
lbs.

216,791,890
260,238,003
317,135,620
393,726,073
311,571,161
245,921,652

34,226
34,136
31,636
27,582
24,003
57,210

28,832
110,200
291,714
19,916
28,909
21,104

150,515,280
115,087,290
107,961,289
118,666,750
135,805,691
140,155,285

Showing a decrease in boards and scantling from last year of 65,649,499 feet;
and from 1853 of 147,804,421 feet; and an increase in shingles from 1854 of
33,207 M .; of staves, 4,449,594 pounds.
The amount of lumber surveyed at Bangor, the great lumber market of Maine,
for the year ending December 31,1855, compared with the amount surveyed dur­
ing the years 1853 and 1854, is as follows:—
Green pine................................................
Dry pine....................................................
Spruce.......................................................
Hemlock, A c............................................

1851
82,540,021
9,944,690
78,087,096
12,370,477

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

182,942,284

1854.
84,638,751
8,808,048
53,564,196
12,580,342
169,591,337

1855.
115,288,836
7,737,321
78,887,288
10,305,753
211,669,193

Deducting less amount surveyed down the river, 5,426,801, leaves a total of
206,242,392. The survey of 1855 is larger than that of any former year except
1848, when it wyent up to 213,000,000.
In Maine, the business for the year has been disastrous, prices ruling so low as
to be below the cost of production, and involving many of the dealers in bank­
ruptcy.
THE MACKEREL FISHERY OF MASSACHUSETTS,

This branch of productive industry, according to the returns of the InspectorGeneral for 1855, has declined considerably since 1851, when the number inspected
amounted to 329,278 barrels. The number of barrels of the different qualities,
from No. 1 to 4, for 1855, is given in the following1table:—Boston......................................... bbls.
Barnstable..................................
B ev e rly ...................................... .......
Chatham................................... .........
Cohasset......................................
Dennis......................................... ........
Gloucester................................
Harwich ................................... .......
H ingham ................................. .......
Newburyport ......................... .......
Provincetown .........................
R ock p ort .................................
Truro ..........................................
'W ellfleet ................................. ____
Yarmouth ............................... .......
Total.......................................




No. 1.
6,047f

84
2361
723£
14,7181
1,0771
420f
1,5171

1,919
95f

No. 3.

No. 4.

14,813
217
274
7351
2,767|3,2431
41,511
4,0801
3,0261
5,915|2,4271
2,5301
1,564
7,6021
418

22,7061
2241
106
2,1841
5,8481
4,660
16,5321
6,5461
4,939f
5,803§
3,264f
2,3141
3,576
11,018
5861

368|

91,1251

90,301f

1,338#

No. 2.

....
2
....
58
104
3411
321
64
4
37

....
17
308

2

363

Commercial Statistics.

The comparative number of barrels of mackerel inspected for the undermen­
tioned twenty-four years has been as follows:—
1855 ...........
1 8 5 4 ........
1853 ........... . .
1862 ........
1 8 5 1 ........
1850 ___
1849 ........
1848 .........

211,952
133,340
329,278
231,856
300,130

1847 .........
1846 .........
1845 ...........
1844 .........
1843 .........
1842 .........
1 8 4 1 .........
11840 ...........

282,581
174,064
202,303
64,451
55,537
50,902

1839
1838
1837
1836
1835
1834
1833
1832

73,018
108,538
138,157
176^931
194,450
252,884

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

212,452

TH E LOUISVILLE TOBACCO MARKET,

The Commercial Review, established during the last year, is a small but very
handsomely printed sheet, and edited with evident ability. A late number con­
tains a comprehensive review of “ Louisville, as a Tobacco Market,” from which
we derive the interesting table below, which we are assured by the editor of the
Review was prepared with great care and, as will be seen, with considerable labor.
It shows the price at which every hogshead of tobacco -was sold in that market
during the year 1855. A s the compiler remarks, this table will be valuable for
future reference :—
Hhds.
Price. I Hhds.
1........ . . . $ 3 )5 310......... . . .
210... .
3 .........
3 ........
217.........
6.........
220.........
4 ........
211.........
8 ......... . . . 4 10 378......... . . .
i ........ . . . 4 1 5 2 1 2 . . . . . . .
i ......... . . . 4 20 170........
4 ........ . . . 4 25 167.........
5 ........ . . . 4 30 159 ....... . . .
5 ......... . . . 4 35 239 ....... . . .
5 ....... . . . 4 40 210 .......
8 .........
198......... . . .
17.........
190......... . . .
5 ....... . . . 4 55 168 ....... . . .
23 ....... . . . 4 60 281 ....... . . .
18 ....... . . . 4 65 218 ....... . . .
25 . . . . . . .
4 7 0 1 9 5 ... . . .
51........ . . . 4 75 210 ....... . . .
51......... . . . 4 80 175........ . . .
48........ . . . 4 85 232........
46 ___ . . . 4 90 175 ....... . . .
6 1 ....... . . .
4 95 175 ....... . . .
150....... . . . 5 00 165 ....... . . .
86 ....... . . . 5 05 207 . . . . . . .
67......... . . . 5 1 0 380 ....... . . .
*73....... . . . 5 15 210 ....... . . .
72........ . . . 5 2 0 140......... . . .
92 .......
100 .......
94 ....... . . . 5 30 105 .......
83 .......
. 5 35 1 7 8 ... . . .
100....... . . . 5 40 1 2 0 ....... . . .
89 .......
. 5 45 1 0 0 ....... . . .
17o
n o ....... . . .
152.
. . . 5 55 7 7 ......... . . .
151........ . . . 5 60 130 ....... . . .
242 ....... __ 5 65 147 ....... . . .
232......... . . . 5 70 i n .......




Price.
$ 5 75

6 00
6 05
6 20
6 25
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70

6
6
6
6
7
7
7

80
85
90
95
00
05
10

7
7
7
7
7
7
7

25
30
35
40
45
50
55

Hhds.
195___
7 7 ....
1 8 1 ....
86___
8 9 ....
53___
85 ___
175 . . .
7 5 ___
53___
5 8 ...
58___
7 0 ....
59 ___
89 ___
41 ___
30 ___
1 1 0 ....
5 1 ___
60___
2 9 ....
35 ___
4 5 ___
50 ___

Price.

...
...
...

775

6 ...

7 so
7 85

...

7 95

...

8 05
810
8 15
8 20
8 25
8 30
8 35
8 40
8 45
8 50
8 55
8 60
8 65
8 70
8 75
8 80
8 85
8 90
8 95
9 00
9 05
9 10
9 15

5 ___
1 1 ....
5 ___
5 ___
5 ....
5 ___
2 3 ....
6 ___
2 ___
4 ___
1 ___
6 ___
2 ___
2 ___
3 ___
1 1 ....
2 ___
1 ___
4 ___
3 ___
4 ___
2 . .. .

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

...
...
...
...
2 2 ___ . . .
2 2 ___ . . .
28___ .. .
7 8 . .. . . . .
24 ___ . . .
24 ___ . . .
8 ___ . . .
1 2 ... ...
35 ___ . . .
25___ . . .
1 5 .. . . . . .
13 ___ . . .
5 ___ . . .
20....

Hhds.
1 9 ___ . . .
9 ___

9 20

9 25
9 30
935
9 40
9 45

...

10 05

...

...
...

10 15
10 20
10 25

...
...

10 35
10 40

....
.... ...

___
1 ___
1 ___

55
60
65
70
75
80
85

9 95

...
3___
1 ___
4 ___ . . .
4 ___
3 . . ..
2 ___ . . .
1 ___
1 ___
1
1
1

P rice

$9
9
9
9
9
9
9

10 65
10 85
1125
12 00

14 00

364

Commercial Statistics.
PRICES OF W H EA T AND FLOUR AT CLEVELAND, OHIO, IN 1855.

The Commercial Gazette, a reliable journal, recently established at Cleveland,
devoted to the mercantile interests of that region, furnishes the data for the fol­
lowing table, showing the value of brcadstuffs in Cleveland each week from July
1, 1855, to January 1, 1856 :—
Date.

July

2 .................... .............
9.....................
16.....................
23.....................
30.....................
August
6................... .............
13....................
20.....................
27.....................
September 3.....................
10.....................
17.....................
24.....................
October
1...................
8.....................
15.....................
22.....................
29.....................
November 5...................
12.....................
19.....................
26.....................
December 3.....................
10.....................
17.....................
24.....................
31.....................

Wheat.
$1 80 a
75 a
75 a
70 a
65 a
1 60 a
50 a
40 a
37 a
37 a
30 a
30 a
35 a
40 a
48 a
50 a
60 a
64 a
60 a
68 a
70 a
70 a
70 a
63 a
60 a
54 a
60 a

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

$9
9
9
8
8
8
8
7
7
6
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7

00
90
85
85
75
70
60
50
50
50
42
42
56
60
60
65
70
75
75
78
80
80
80
75
70
65
57

Flour.
00 a 10
00 a 10
00 a 10
75 a 10
00 a 9
00 a 9
00 a 9
60 a 8
38 a 8
75 a 8
60 a 8
00 a 8
00 a 8
00 a 8
12 a 8
75 a 8
75 a 9
12 a 9
12 a 9
12 a 9
12 a 9
38 a 9
25 a 9
00 a 9
00 a 9
00 a 9
50 a 8

26
25
25
25
00
00
00
50
50
50
00
00
00
25
25
76
00
00
00
00
00
25
25
25
25
00
75

The range of prices for wheat is given for common to prime qualities of Medi­
terranean, red, mixed, and white, from cars and boats, also from store. The range
for flour is for common superfine to best extra and fancy brands. The greatest
range — for wheat, §1 30 a $2 ; flour, §6 50 a $10 25.
Average range of
wheat, $1 56 a $1 75 ; flour, $7 92 a $8 27. Average value of wheat, $1 56 ;
flour, $8 45.
TH E EAST INDIA AND PACIFIC TRADE.

The whole number of arrivals and clearances of the principal ports o f the Uni­
ted States to and from the East Indies, from January 1,1855, to January 1,1856,
is as follows :—
ARRIVALS.

100
New York...........
Total................

59

.
Providence............ .

6

4

At Philadelphia...

5

.

114

CLEARANCES.

From Boston..............
New York ____
New Orleans ..
Philadelphia.. „

*76
50
25

Baltimore.........
Providence.......

8
4

New London...

4
3
1
1
1

1
Charleston...
Savannah...

i

Total..........

175

i

The arrivals and clearances to and from ports in the Pacific during the same
time are as follows




365

Postal Department.
ARRIVALS.

At Boston...................
New York..............
Baltimore...............
Norfolk...................

18
38
48
19

From New Y o r k .. . .
Boston.............
Philadelphia..
Baltimore........
New Orleans .

113
95
10
7
3

At New London..........
New Bedford.........
Alexandria.............
Philadelphia.........

6
2
4
10

At New Orleans... .

1

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

146

3
2
1
1
1

From Providence. . .
Jacksonville..

1
1

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

287

CLEARANCES.

From Norfolk................
Savannah...........
Portsmouth........
B a th ...................
Wilmington, N. C.

POSTAL D EPA R TM EN T.
UNITED STATES PO ST OFFICE DEPARTM ENT.

The annual report of Postmaster-General Campbell, accompanying the Presi­
dent’s Message, and communicated to Congress in January, 1856, is an interesting
document. This report shows a net increase of 862 post-offices during the year
ending 30th of Juno, 1855— the whole number of offices at that date being 24,410,
and on the 30th of November, 24,770. On the 30th of June last there were
7,033 mail routes, at an estimated length of 277,908 miles. The total annual
transportation of mails was 67,401,166 miles, costing $5,345,238. Compared
with the previous year there is an increase of 3,397,025 miles of transportation of
about
per cent, and of $675,221 cost, or about 14 4-100 per cent. The in­
crease by railroad service is 3,483,132 miles; by modes not specified, 3,575,177
miles— while the transportation by coaches is less by 2,325,628 miles, and by
steamboat 1,335,656. This change results mainly from the reletting of contracts
in many of the Southern and Western States and Territories. On the 30th of
June last there were in service 319 route agents at a compensation of $235,170 65 ;
29 local agents at $19,328 ; and 981 mail messengers at $100,471 65, making a
total of $354,970 30 to be added to the cost of transportation. This makes the
total amount for the current year, $5,824,989 30, which will probably be increa­
sed to $6,000,000 by new services and routes. The cost of foreign mail service,
not included here, amounts to $611,467.
The expenditures of the department for the last fiscal year are $9,968,342, and
the gross revenue derived from postages (inland and foreign) is $6,642,136 13,
which, adding to the aunual appropriations made in compensation of mail service
to the government, by the acts of 3d March, 1849, and 3d March, 1851, amount
to $7,342,136 13. Deducting the balance against the United States, due to for­
eign powers, for postal accounts, from the above, the actual gross revenue of the
department, for the year ending 30th June, 1855, wall be $7,335,177. The gross
revenue of 1854, after deducting foreign balances, amounted to $6,816,651 61,
making a difference in favor of 1855 of $518,519 10. The excess of expenditure
for 1855 over that of 1854 is $2,622,206 16. The condition of the department
goes to show that the rates fixed by the act o f 3d March, 1851, will not enable the
department to sustain itself by its own resources.
The expenditure of the department for 1856 is estimated at $10,199,024, and
the means available the same year $9,010,873, leaving a deficiency of $1,188,151
to be provided for.




366

Postal Department.

Keference is again made to the fact that the Collins line of steamers receives
from government $858,000 for twenty-six trips, while the British government paid
the Cunard line $866,700 for fifty-two trips, which, in the opinion of the Post­
master-General is amply sufficient.
R EV EN U E FROM L E T T E R S AND N EW SPA PER S BY OCEAN STEAM SHIPS,

W e give below a carefully prepared table showing the revenue derived from
postages by the Cunard, Collins, Bremen, Havre, and California mail steamers.
These figures, from successive reports of the Post-Office Department, show the
business done by the steamers during the last four years. The figures show the
amount of postage paid, and the entire correspondence, in both directions :—
REVENUE FROM POSTAGES BY OCEAN STEAMERS.
GO

1852.

1853.

Cunard . . . .
Collins........
Bremen.......
Havre..........
California ., ....................

195,907

$ 5 9 8 ,7 1 7
310,362
100,370
100,170
271,714

$ 7 0 1,409
307,917
138,037
94,778
338,839

$516,828
5 04,694
130,663
96,329
328,956

Total.
$2,382,527
1,351,841
446,280
372,801
1,135,416

T otal..,....................

$ 1 ,1 4 8 ,3 7 2

$1 ,3 8 1 ,3 3 3

$1 ,5 8 0 ,9 8 0

$1,577,460

$5,688,145

185 5.

LETTERS SENT AND RECEIVED BY OCEAN STEAMERS.

18® .
Cunard . . . . ....................
Collins.........
Bremen....... ..................
Havre..........
California . . ..................

$2 ,7 5 8 ,0 9 6
354,470
1,694,909

Total...

1853.

1854.

1855.

$ 2 ,7 7 4 ,4 2 4 $3 ,1 0 7 ,5 0 8
1,018,345
1,210,326
412,117
812,067
4 0 6 ,126
371,055
2,777,802
3,060,221

$2,161,232
1,744,315
840,218
436,562
2,917,186

Total.
$10,801,259
4,936,678
2,418,872
1,569,032
10,350,118

$7 ,3 8 8 ,8 1 3

$8,099,513

$30,065,959

$8 ,5 6 1 ,1 7 7

NEWSPAPERS SENT AND RECEIVED BY OCEAN STEAMERS.

18® .

1853.

Cunard . . . . ..................
Collins.........

$ 9 4 2 ,9 5 0

$1 ,0 3 4 ,1 6 3
305,045
36,768
4,987

$ 1 ,5 9 6 ,3 2 4 $ 1 ,395,425
1,286,540
6 3 9 ,720
268,623
144,493
268,142
156,011
3,540,666
3,869,313

T otal... ..................

$ 1 ,2 2 3 ,9 2 4

$1 ,3 8 0 ,9 6 3

$ 6 ,0 7 7 ,2 1 4

1854.

1855.

$7,088,043

Total.
$4,968,862
2,512,279
449,884
429,140
7,409,979
$15,770,144

POSTAL MONOPOLY TO BE ABOLISHED IN FRANCE.

The Paris correspondent of the North American writes:—
“ There are hopes at last of getting rid, at Havre, of a monopoly which has
been the plague of all seafaring men frequenting that port since 1776. By pre­
scriptive right, the whole of the business between the authorities and British and
American captains, has been ever since that period transacted by four marine
clerks, or courtiers, as they are called. The consequence has been for a long time
a deplorable delay in business, and waste of time to all masters of vessels. The
British have at last petitioned the authorities here, through their ambassador, and
the Americans have gone still more directly to work and petitioned the emperor
himself, to rid them of this nuisance, and increase the number of clerks, or throw
open the business to all alike.
“ The consequence of the recent postal arrangement between this country and




367

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

England is, that newspapers are now delivered in Paris free of cost, whether com­
ing only from Great Britain, or merely via Great Britain from America and the
Transatlantic States. This is a great boon to American correspondents, pre­
viously subjected to a very heavy and very arbitrary postage. In future, all
printed matter is to be transmitted between the two countries at the rate of eight
centimes.”

R A ILR O A D , C A N A L , A N D S T E A M B O A T STA TIS TIC S .
TH E P R E S E N T AND FU TU R E OF AMERICAN RAILROADS.
AMOUNT OF CAPITAL, NET EARNINGS, AND PRICES OF STOCK OF SUNDRY RAILROADS.
Net earnings.

Capital.
Baltimore and O h io ............... §13,000,000
Boston and Worcester...........
4,500,000
Boston and Providence.........
3,160,000
Camden and A m b o y .............
1,500,000
New York and Erie...............
10,500,000
H udson....................................
3,740,000
New Jersey.............................
2,200,000
Philadelphia and Baltimore .
5,000,000
Reading....................................
6,600,000
6,581,000
Michigan Central...................
Michigan Southern.................
3,597,000
Cleveland and Pittsburg........
2,000,000
Columbus and Cincinnati. . . .
3,930,000
Cincinnati and Dayton...........
2,100,000
Buffalo and State Line...........
1,100,000
4,227,000
Boston and Maine...................
Eastern, Massachusetts..........
2,850,000
Fitchburg..................................
3,540,000
Little Miami.............................
2,688,000
Madison and Pennsylvania...
1,650,000
Uhio and Pennsylvania..........
2,224,000
Pennsylvania Central..............
9,770,000
Providence and W orcester...
1,457,000
632,000
Terre H a u te ...........................
Total............................... .

1854.
ISfiS.
$798,000 $1,472,000
413,000
342,000
226,000
100,000
478,000
552,000
2,806,000
1,800,000
338,000
603,000
316,000
440,000
541,000
353,000
1,251,000 2,140,000
582,000
879,000
586,000
876,000
123,000
267,000
611,000
483,000
202,000
275,000
Opened.
299,000
338,000
420,000
241,000
346,000
232,000
272,000
314,000
352,000
268,000
662,000
617,000
1,977,000
140,000
120.000
71,000
159,000

$98,486,000 10,338,000

Prices of stock.

1 8 5 2 -8 ..
98
105
99
149
85
76
132
36
97
106
118
93
122
102
130
102
91
94
118
78
96
93
83
108

1855.
56
87*
65|
128
52
34|
124
24
91
97
97
70
101
85
118
94
49
75
97
45
82
88
79
107

16,343,000

The above table is worthy the careful consideration of all concerned in existing
railroads, most of whom must have suffered by the fall that has already taken
place, and all of whom may be supposed to feel some desire to know what is to be
expected in time to come.
It is here shown that roads whose stock, two or three years since, would have
sold for a hundred millions of dollars, would recently— and before the tremendous
fall—have sold for but seventy-five millions, and that thus their owners have al­
ready realized a loss of one-fourth in the exchangeable value of their property,
while the maintenance of even the present value is wholly dependent upon the
course of events in Europe. The whole amount of capital invested in roads
throughout the Union, i3 not less than seven hundred millions, and if we take the
above table as the basis of calculation, the total loss already experienced must
have been not less than a hundred and seventy millions, with every prospect that,
before the lapse of two years more, it will reach three hundred millions.




368

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

This enormous loss, too, has occurred at a time when the receipts from Califor­
nia have averaged a million of dollars per week, or more than fifty millions of dol­
lars a year. Three years since it was supposed that such a receipt would have
the effect of greatly enhancing the price of all dividend yielding securities, and
yet cotemporaneously with this enormous influx of the precious metal, the prices
of such securities have fallen so much as to have ruined a considerable portion of
those by whom they were then held.
T o what is due this extraordinary course of things ? Is it to diminish receipts
of the roads ? Certainly not. The table shows that the net receipts of last year
were greater by almost 50 per cent than those of the year before.
NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD STOCKS IN BOSTON.

The following table, compiled from the generally accurate reports of Mr. M a r ­
gives the prices at or near the 1st of January in 1855 and 1856, the highest
and lowest rates at which sales were made in the Boston market in 1855, the num­
ber of shares sold, & c.:—
tin ,

Railroads.

Boston and Lowell...........
Boston and Maine............
Boston and Providence...
Boston and Worcester.. .
Cheshire (preferred) . . . .
Concord .............................
Con. & Montreal (pref.). .
Connecticut River,.............
Eastern.............................
Erie (New Y ork ).............
Fitchburg...........................
Grand Junction................
Illinois Central..................
Manchester & Lawrence..
Michigan Central..............
Nashua and Lowell..........
New York Central...........
Northern (New H am p.). .
Ogdensburg.......................
Old Colony & Fall River .
Passumpsic.......................
Portland and Saco...........
Reading.............................
South Shore.......................
Stonington.........................
Vermont Central..............
Vermont and Canada . . .
Vermont and Massachus’s
W estern ............................
Wilmington.......................
Worcester and Nashua . .

Shares
<
■
— 1855.— » sold in 1855.
1856.
Par. Highest. Lowest. 1855. Jan. 2. Jan. 2.
80
60
83
75
500
63
96
100 1011 8 3 f 4,241
84
61
61
100
75
1,593
64
88
100
951 8 6 1 2,723
85
274
26
100
2 7 J 16
18
5 3 J 40
1,722
50
421
50
40
258
68
100
58
87
60
50
50
100
162
52
58
46
60
46
100
2,657
56
39
None.
39
100
50
86
791
100
7 1 f 2,951
7 41
18
22
25
100
37
143
92
100
98
443
91
97
55
62
61
100
73
379
80
100 104
71
91
3,867
100
100 1031 80
91
82
82
82
100 103
27
91
35
35
100
46
1,372
3 91
8
50
21 16,708
21
6*
100
9 0 1 71
71
84f
2,627
100
25
12
20
None.
12
85
90
100
94
218
90
35
86
100
48
15
46
8
25
8
7
378
7
100
45
None.
60
591
44
1
1
50
36,536
41
If
442
51
481
100
49
77
8 14,619
10
100
221
81
100
2,508
88
89
98
87
29
24
50
34
19
3,055
100
55
45
60
45
65

t—

Dividends.
Jan.,
1855.— x 1856.

0
4
0

3
3

3
3

0

0
81
0
..
..
..
0
0

3

3

0

2

3
3

3
3

21
0
0
0
0
0
0
6s.
3
4
0

21
0
0
0
0
0
0
4

O
3
0

3
4
0
0
8
0

3

3
4
0
21
0
0
0

SI

31
12
$2

0
0
4
6
..
.#
..
0

3

10s.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0

i.

0
..
..
..
..
0
..
0

31
..
$2

RAILROAD AND CANAL TOLLS IN PENNSYLVANIA.

The Annual Beport of the Canal Commissioners of Pennsylvania contains many
interesting facts. From it we learn that the total receipts of the Columbia Bailroad amounted to $857,000, while those of the main line of canal amounted to
$243,000. The total expenditures on all the public works are stated at $1,090,427,




369

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

and the total receipts at $1,913,121. The profits therefore amounted to $822,695.
If we add the tonnage tax, $196,935, the aggregate profits will be $1,019,629.
The increase of 1855 over 1854, was $103,186. The Delaware Division was par­
ticularly profitable, the net revenue for the year being $328,816. The commis­
sioners discuss the policy of selling the main line, and say that, “ if the past year's
experience should be regarded as an index to the future, there would not seem to
be much encouragement for the proposition.” They urge upon the legislature to
to decide either one way or the other, and they argue “ that some definite action
should be had,” in order to put an end to the suspense which has been hanging
over the matter, to the prejudice of the revenue for the past two or three years.
“ If,” they say, “ the ownership of the line should remain with the commonwealth,
then policy would dictate that every effort should be exhausted to make it as pro­
ductive as possible.”
STEAMBOAT DISASTERS ON TH E W EST ER N W ATERS.

The Louisville Courier gives a statement of the serious disasters that have oc­
curred on the western waters during the last six months. The list details the loss
of forty boats, the value of which is estimated at $1,170,500. These disasters in­
clude also the loss of thirty-five lives. The following is a summary of the disas­
ters for the entire year:—
Snagged.

Burnt. Collisions. Explosions.

J a n u a r y to J u l y ......................................
J u ly to J a n u a r y ......................................

41
19

14
16

10
3

6
2

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

60

80

13

8

The sum total amounts to the loss of 111 steamboats, exclusive of flat-boats,
involving the loss of 107 lives, and property to the amount of $2,573,100.
TRADE AND COMMERCE OF TH E NEW YORK CANALS.

We usually publish in the pages of the Merchants' Magazine a tabular state­
ment of the Canal Commerce of New York, compiled directly from the official
report which is made annually to the Legislature of the State. That document,
has not yet been printed, but the subjoined statements, compiled from that report
by the commercial editor of the Albany Evening Journal, is undoubtedly correct,
and reliable. The tables below present some features worthy of notice. In the
table of the products of animals, the figures show a falling off in pork equal to
68,576 bbls.; bacon, 8,772,000 lbs.; lard, tallow, &c., 7,316,000 lbs.; and an in­
crease in cheese of 3,832,000 lb s.; butter, 1,888,000 lbs.; and wool, 1,198,000 lbs.
With the exception of the latter, the market value of all the articles named have
ruled high the greater part of the season ; and during the fall our railroads were
taxed to their utmost capacity in the conveyance of the articles above named.
Up to the commencement of the fall trade, the receipts of flour were far behind
those of the previous season, but the shipments afterwards were more liberal, and
the result shows an increase of 40,703 bbls. The same can be said of wheat, for
the figures show an excess of 1,902,466 bushels. By reducing the wheat to flour,
we have an excess of the latter over last year of 421,196 bbls. The receipts of
rye over last year were 448,033 bushels. Other grains show a falling off—corn
equal to 3,495,787 bushels; barley, 210,751; and oats, 816,125. The increased
VOL. X X X IV .-----NO. I I I .




24

I

370

,

,

Railroad Canal and Steamboat Statistics.

receipts of both barley and oats, by railroad, have been more than made up by
the falling off in the supply by canal.
Perhaps it would not be out of place here to state that during the season of
1854, one of the weekly statements from the New York office reported the re­
ceipts of corn at that place for the week at over two millions of bushels. These
figures were carried into the yearly return, and were doubtless nearly two millions
of bushels in excess of the actual receipts.
The annexed tables have been carefully compiled, and can be relied upon as
being semi-official:—STATEMENT OF ALL THE PROPERTY WHICH CAME TO THE HUDSON RIVER BY THE
ERIE AND CHAMPLAIN CANALS IN 1 8 5 4 AND 1 8 5 5 , AND THE QUANTITY OF
EACH ARTICLE.
THE FOREST.
1854.
68,000

1855.
44,000

4 7 2 ,3 1 7 .4 0 0
34,948
4 ,4 '6 ,0 5 0
178,936,000
15,123
26,196
1,103,018

404,543,400
71,344
3.158,400
199,784,000
10,187
12,184
877,805

139,194
52,825
18,362,000
5,6^4,000
2,354,000
16,804,000
3,130.000
202,000
53,956

70,618
67,130
9,530,000
9,506,000
4,212,000
9,458,000
4,328,000
452,000
39,198

1,219,453
3,523,800
184,333
12,839,572
160,704
1,895.208
5,353,125
16,576,501)
170,766
626,499
604,000
786,692

1,290,156
5,426,266
632,366
9,343,735
2 342
1,674,457
4,537,000
44,038,000
90,700
689,032
322,000
741,326

P u r and p e lt r y ........................
PRODUCT OF WOOD.
B oards and s ca n tlin g .............
S h in g le s.....................................
T im b er........................................
S ta v es ........................................
W o o d ..........................................
A sh es— p o t and p ea rl . . . .
T o ta l o f the fo r e st..................

..................M.

AGRICULTURE.
PRODUCr OF ANIMALS.
P o r k .............................................
B e e f...............................................
Bacon ..........................................
C h e e se ..........................................
B u t t e r ..........................................
Lard, tallow , and lard-oil .
W o o l.............................................
H id e s .............................................
T otal product o f anim als . .
VEGETABLE FOOD.
..............b b ls.

P l o u r ..........................................
W h e a t ..........................................
E y e ...............................................
Corn-m eal ..............................
B a r le y ..........................................

Bran and ship stuffs.............
Peas and beans.....................
Dried fruit...........................
Total vegetable food...........
ALL

OTHER

Cotton....................................
Unmanufactured tobacco . .
H e m p ....................................
Clover and grass seed........
Flaxseed................................
H o p s ..................... ................
Total all other agricultural products
Total agricultural products.




A G R IC U L T U R A L

PRODUCTS.

7 08,000
6,632,000
2,268,000
9 42,000
132,000
916,000
5,799

846,447

96,000
2,344,000
442,000
820,820
198,260
260,000
2,080
782,604

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
M ANU FACTURES.

lions
Domestic spirits................................................ gallons
Oil-meal and cake.................................................. lbs.
lbs.
Leather..........................................................
Furniture......................................................
Bar and pig lea d ...........................................
Pig-iron..........................................................
Bloom and bar iron.......................................
Castings and ironware...................................
Domestic woolens........................... .............
Domestic cottons...........................................
Domestic salt................................................
Foreign salt..................................................
Total manufactures.................................................tons
tons

1854.
2,292,400
13,622,000
6,216,000
770,000
852,000
12,316,000
14,340,000
1,784,000
306,000
1,310,000
7,770,000
564,000
40,082

37l

185 5.
1,180,800
11,144,000
6,886,000
1,276,000
2,796,000
31,120,000
14,982,000
2,096,000
372,000
6,034,000
6,034,000
58,000
44,844

M E R C H A N D IS E .

.lbs.
Sugar..................................... ....................
Molasses........................................................
Nails, spikes, and horseshoes.......................
Iron and steel ..............................................
Flint enamel, crockery, and glassware........
All other merchandise...................................
Railroad iron................................................ .
Total merchandise.................................................. tons
OTHER

14,632

2,000
8,000
6,510,000
1,874,000
400,000
22,978.000
346.000
15,559

168,000
137,514,000
10,130.000
85,804.000
3,576,000
201,936,000
219,564
2,223,743

126,000
158,838,000
6,878,000
36,066,000
232,000
149,422,000
174,781
1,895,693

4,582,000
9,342,000
334,000
13,576,000

A R T IC L E S .

Live cattle, hogs, and sheep........................
Stone, lime, and cla y ...................................
Gypsum........................................................
Mineral coal..................................................
Copper o r e .................................................. .
Sundries........................................................
Total other articles.......................................
Sum total......................................................
S TA TE M E N T O F A L L T H E P R O P E R T Y W H I C H C A M E
C H A M P L A IN C A N A L S IN 1 8 5 4 A N D 1 8 5 5 , W I T H

TO

THE

TH E

HUDSON R IV E R B Y TH E E R IE AND

E S T IM A T E D

V A L U E O F E A C H A R T IC L E

IN T H I S C IT Y .
TH E FOREST.

Fur and peltry..

V E G E TA B LE FOOD.

1851.

1855.

$86,337

$16,827

PRODU CT OF W OOD.

Boards & scant’g
Shingles...........
Tim ber.............
Staves...............
W ood................
Ashes— pot and
p e a rl.............

8,495,426
124,674
927,958
826,243
83,083

7,634,709
283,808
645,322
898,974
53,680

959,549

362,250

Total.......... $11,502,270

$9,895,470

A G R IC U L T U R E .
P R O D U C T O F A N IM A L S .

$7,918,466




Total........

$35,832,937 $38,942,243

A L L O T H E R A G R IC U L T U R A L PR O D U C TS .

P ork ................. $1,729,921 $1,408,234
Beef...................
524,681
658,903
Bacon .............
1,646,138
951,411
Cheese...............
613,405
940.712
Butter...............
563,016
865,292
Lard, tallow, &
972,076
lard-oil.........
1,718,738
Wool..................
1,493,556
1,091,335
Total..........

Flour................. $11,431.807 $12,496,336
Wheat...............
7,047,670 10,667,345
248,063
971,374
Rye....................
Corn...................
10,630,638
9,126,671
Corn meal..........
773,760
11,221
Barley...............
2,128,718
2,217,019
Oats.......... .
2,676,567
2,276,912
Bran <fc ship-stuff
184,652
440,367
Peas A beans ..
250,621
222,787
Potatoes...........
407,182
480,248
Dried fruit . . . .
50,359
31,963

$7,386,636

Cotton...............
Unmanufactur’d
tob a cco.........
H em p ...............
Clover seed, Ac...
Flaxseed............
Hops..................

$68,803

$10,846

1,191,500
156,756
84,335
4,587
322,699

312,820
83,207
38,287
13,7.42
50,104

Total..........

$1,828,580

$509,006

Tot. agriculture. $45,579,983 $46,837,885

372

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics,
M ANU FACTURES.

Domes, spirits...
Oil-meal ifc cake.
Leather.............
Furniture.........
Bar & pig lead. .
Pig-iron.............
Bloom & bar ir’n
Castings
iron
ware...............
Domes, woolens.
Domes, cottons.
Domes, sa lt.. . .
Foreign salt . . .
TotaL. . . . .

1854.
$773,865
385,879
1,292,365
77,094
58,548
182,809
461,103

1854.
412,043

1855.
68,245

30,061
4,071,749
31,689

40,043
6,017,984
10,890

$4,754,446

$6,417,596

O T H E R A R T IC L E S .

69,934
271,166
373,155
59,008
25,466
$4,020,393

M E R C H A N D IS E .

Molasses.......... ..
Nails, spikes, <fcc.

Iron and steel. .
1855.
F lin t-en a m el,
$549,642
crockery, and
241,249
crockery ware
1,908 579
Oth. merchand..
124,124
Railroad iron. . .
194,622
558,322
Total..........
423,250

$208,904

40,958
77,706 Live cattle, hogs,
$5,026
$6,336
and sheep.. . .
116,454
37,900 Stone, lime, and
1,029,128
962,008
clay................
391
13,755
20,261
G ypsum ...........
107,456
385,415
$4,273,197 Mineral coal___
67,586
798,190
Copper ore........
6,739,528
4,162,689
Sundries...........
$120
Total.......... $6,263,589 $6,953,789
303
55
Grand total.. $72,120,681 $74,317,937
279,956

The following table shows the comparative tonnage and estimated value of
property which came to the Hudson River in the years named :—
Years.

Tons.

1853 .........
1854............

2,505,797
2,223,743

Value.

Years.

173,688,004 11855...........
73,120,681 |

Tons.

1,895,693

Value.

$74,377,937

The number of tons of property going from tide-water was as follows :—
1853................

584,141 | 1854................

531,831 |1855.................

504,696

And the total tonnage to and from tide-water—
1853............

3,089,938 |1854.............

2,755,574 |1856 .............

2,400,289

The amount of tolls received on the canals was—
In 1853..........

$3,204,718 I In 1854..........

$2,773,566 |In 1855..........

$2,805,076

The above exhibits a falling off in tonnage and an increase of tolls over the
previous season. This is accounted for in the fact that the shipments of property
paying a high rate of tolls exceeded those of 1854, while, at the same time, there
has been a large falling off in those paying a mere nominal toll.
STEAM COMMUNICATION BETW EEN EU ROPE AND AMERICA.

In and after May, 1856, fifteen gigantic mail steam-packets will leave Europe
monthly for the American continent, v iz.: seven English packets, four United
States, three Belgian and one Portuguese. Fourteen of these will start from or
touch at England, the Portuguese packet being the single exception ; eight of the
fourteen steamers will start from Southampton, and the remaining six from Liver­
pool. These mail packets will cross the Atlantic by three different routes, which
will terminate on the American side at the Brazils, Central America, and the
United States; Rio de Janeiro will be the most Southern point touched at by
them, and Halifax, in Nova Scotia, the most northern point. In connection with
these Atlantic lines, there will be nearly twenty tributary ones, some of them as
long as the Atlantic lines themselves. By these the whole of the American con­
tinent, down so far south as the River Plate, on the eastern side of the great con­




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

373

tinent, and from Peru to California, in the Pacific; also the whole of the adjacent
islands, including those of the West Indies, will be supplied with European corre­
spondence.
STEAMBOAT ACCIDENTS IN 1855.

The following table embraces the number of steamboat accidents which have
occurred on the rivers, lakes, and bays of this country, and which have been at­
tended with loss of life and injury to persons during the year 1855, together with
the number o f killed and wounded. W e also give a comparative table o f like accidents in 1854 :—
January ..........................................
F ebruary........................................
March..............................................
A pril................................................
May..................................................
June.................................................
J u l y ................................................
August.............................................
Septem ber......................................
October............................................
November......................................
Decem ber..................................... .

-1855.
f
1854.C
' A
Accid’s. Kill’d. W’nd’d. Accid’s. Kill’d. Wound’d.
69
8
130
20
25
6
26
7
7
57
4
25
6
165
26
15
12
5
59
69
..
3
24
4
7
12
22
1
1
1
.
..
..
23
6
10
6
4
22
13
.«
28
6
4
7
4
48
5
2
3
6
26
9
65
11
2
27
••
••

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

176

107

48

587

225

RAILROAD ACCIDENTS IN 1865.

The following table shows the number of accidents, together with the number
of killed and wounded, which have occurred on the various railroads of the Uni­
ted States during the past year, together with a comparative table of the number
during 1854. The table contains a record of no accident which was not attended
with loss of life or injury to person; neither does it embrace the great number of
persons who have been killed and maimed by jumping from moving trains, at­
tempting to get on cars while they were in motion, being run over, & c.:—
,------------- m

. --------------, , ------------- 1854.------------- ,

Accid’s. Killed. W’ nded. Accid’s. Killed. W ’ nded.

January .........................
February....................... ...............
March...........................
A pril..............................
May...............................................
June..............................................
July .................................................
August............................
September........................
October......................... .
November..................... ...............
December.......................
Total...................

10

10
2
3
5
4
9
28
10
13
26
4

39
20
36
19
30
20
48
103
67
39
81
12

20
19
18
13
9
16
11
27
9
16
21
14

12
11
13
5
5
13
44
23
8
12
29
11

25
37
99
37
42
34
66
25
51
41
95
37

116

539

193

186

589

o

7
8
13

13

Included in the above, there have been killed during the year of the employees
on railroads :—•
Engineers.

Firemen,

20

19




Conductors.
6

Brakemen.
16

374

Commercial Regulations.
SPAFFORD’S SELF-ADJUSTING SIGNAL.

S. M. F elton, Esq., President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad, thus describes a new self-adjusting signal, invented by Mr. Spafford, the
superintendent, and now in use on all the drawbridges of that road, between Balti­
more and Philadelphia •-—
“ The motion of the lever which unlocks the draw changes the signal of safety
to one of danger before the draw is unlocked ; and the motion of the lever which
locks the draw when in proper position shows that the signal of safety cannot be
shown except when the draw is in its right place, and securely locked. The sig­
nal has been subjected to all the tests considered necessary to prove its entire
efficiency. The advantage of this signal over ordinary signals is that it is in reali­
ty a means of putting it out of the power of the draw tender to make a mistake,
and thus cause an accident.”

C O M M E R C IA L R EG U LA TIO N S.
INSPECTION OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES IN LOUISIANA.

W e give below the several sections of an act passed by the Legislature of
Louisiana at its last session, relative to the inspection of weights and measures.
This act was approved March 15, 1855, and repeals all laws contrary to its pro­
visions, except what is contained in the Civil Code and Code of Practice in that
State :—
AN

ACT

R E L A T IV E

TO

TH E

I N S P E C T IO N

OF

W E IG H T S

AND

M EASURES.

1. That the Governor, at the expense of the State, shall procure or
cause to be procured, one complete set of copper weights, to correspond with
weights of their like denomination used by the revenue officers of the United
States in their offices, together with scales for said weights, and a stamp or seal,
with such devices as the Governor may deem proper ; as also one complete set of
measures, calculated for dry, liquid, and long measures, of the same capacity and
length as those of their like denomination used by such revenue officers aforesaid ;
which set of weights and measures, together with the scales and stamps, shall be
deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, to serve as a general standard of
weights and measures in this State.
S ec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the Governor to nominate, and by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint for each of the four districts
of the city of New Orleans a suitable person as a sealer of weights and measures,
and he shall appoint in like manner a person in each of the respective parishes of
this State, each of whom shall hold the office for the term of two years.
S ec. 3. That it shall be the duty of the person thus appointed to visit all
places of business in their district or parish for which they are appointed, once in
each year, and at any other time, when on complaint or by request, their services
may be required, and to inspect all weights and measures used in the places of
business, and when found to correspond with the standard of the State, to seal
them or to give them a written certificate of their correctness; but when found to
disagree with the standard of the State, the inspector shall forbid their further
use until they shall have been corrected, approved, and sealed. It shall also be
the duty of the inspectors to attend upon all calls made upon them for performing
the duties of their office.
S ec. 4. That it shall be the duty of each inspector to see that no other weights
and measures but those established bylaw bo made use of within the limits of this
State, and in case of negligence or breach on the part of the inspector, he shall be
S e c t io n




Commercial Regulations.

375

condemned to pay a fine not exceeding $200, nor less than $100. The Common
Council of New Orleans are authorized to pass regulations or ordinances relative
to the police of weights and measures, to insure within the city of New Orleans
the execution of this law.
Sec. 5. That each parish, as soon as practicable, shall be provided at the ex­
pense of such parish, with a set of weights and measures, and a stamp conformably
to those hereinbefore set forth, the same to be kept by the parish recorder.
Sec. 6. That the inspector for the four districts of the city of New Orleans
shall procure a set of weights and measures at the expense of the city.
Sec. 7. That the appointed sealer of weights and measures shall be entitled to
and receive the following fees:—
For each yearly visit and inspection of a full set of steelyards, or of scales with
their weights, or of balances with their weights, or of a bushel measure and its
parts, or of a gallon measure and its parts, or of a set of yard-sticks, they shall re­
ceive 25 cents and no more; for sealing each weight and measure, 5 cents; for
the examination of each platform scale, cotton and tobacco scale, and its appara­
tus, 50 cents, and for sealing the same, 50 cents. The fees in all cases to be paid
by the owners of the weights and measures inspected and sealed. The stamp shall
be impressed, and payment required for doing the same only on such as have not
been stamped, or such as having once been stamped, are found so defective as to
require to be regulated with the standard.
Sec. 8. That in case of vacancy by death or resignation, the Governor shall
have power to appoint.
Sec. 9. That the inspectors only shall have the power to stamp weights and
measures, and upon the stamp shall be the initials of the inspector’s name.
Sec. 10. That no person shall buy or sell any commodity whatsoever, by weight
or measure, which does not correspond with the aforesaid standard, or are not
stamped after the said parishes have procured the standard of weights and meas­
ures as aforesaid ; nor shall keep any such weights or measures for the purpose of
buying or selling thereby, under the penalty of $50 for each offense; besides the
forfeiture of the weights and measures found to be false, and of a fine of $10 when
the weights and measures shall be found to be just though not stamped ; said fine
to be recovered before any tribunal of competent jurisdiction— one-half to the
benefit of the informer, and the other half to the parish in which the offender re­
sides. All weights and measures seized shall be forfeited for the benefit of the
stamper, who shall not return them into circulation until he has made them con­
formable to his standard.
Sec. 11. That whoever shall make, or cause to be made use of, or shall utter
false stamps or seals, shall, on conviction thereof, be subjected to all the pains and
penalties of forgery under the laws of the State.
Sec. 12. That it is forbidden to sell, or cause to be sold, measures and weights
unless they have been tried and stamped by persons appointed for that purpose,
under the penalties imposed by the second preceding section.
Sec. 13. That the person appointed to inspect and seal weights and measures
may employ assistance when necessary, at their own expense, but shall not com­
mit their functions to a substitute without being subject to dismissal from office
by the Governor.
Sec. 14. That there shall be in this State, a dry measure, to be known under
the name of barrel, which shall contain three-and-arquarter bushels, according to
the American standard, and shall be divided into half and quarter barrels.
Sec. 15. That coal shall be sold by the barrel or bushel measure ; grain shaH
be sold by the barrel, bushel, or weight. The legal weight of a bushel of wheat
shall be 60 pounds; of a bushel of corn, 56 pounds ; of a bushel of oats, 32
pounds ; of a bushel of barley, 32 pounds ; and of a bushel of rye 32 pounds.
Sec. 16. That it shall be the duty of each inspector in the city of New Or­
leans to make quarterly returns, under oath, to the Treasurer of the State, of all
the moneys collected for fines, together with a written statement thereof.




Commercial Regulations.

376

TH E DUTIES OF HARBOR-MASTERS IN NEW ORLEANS DEFINED.

The Legislature of Louisiana, at its last session, passed the following act regu­
lating and defining the duties of harbor-masters in New Orleans. This act was
approved by the Governor on the 15th of March, 1855, and is now in force :—
A N A C T T O R E G U L A T E A N D D E F I N E T H E D U T I E S O F H A R B O R -M A S T E R S .

1. That it shall be the duty of the Governor to nominate, and by and
with the consent of the Senate, appoint four harbor-masters for the port of New
Orleans, who shall hold their office for two years; one of whom shall be assigned
to each district, designating at the time of his nomination the district to which he
shall be assigned.
Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the harbor-master for the Fourth District
to give a bond with two sufficient securities in the penal sum of two thousand dol­
lars, and the harbor-masters of the other districts to give bond with sufficient se­
curities in the penal sum of two thousand five hundred dollars, conditioned for the
faithful performance of the duties required of them by law.
S ec. 3. That the harbor-masters in case of sickness or temporary absence shall
have power to appoint a deputy.
Sec. 4. That the harbor-masters in their respective districts shall have power
to demand and receive from the commanders, owners, or consignees, or either of
them, of every vessel that may enter the port of New Orleans, and load, unload,
or make fast to the levee, within the said limits, at the rate of three cents per ton,
to be computed from the tonnage expressed in the register of such vessels, respec­
tively, and no more. This shall not extend to chalons, flats, or keel-boats, which
are employed in the river trade, unless, upon the application of the person having
charge of such chalon, flat, or keel-boat so employed, the said harbor-master shall
interfere and adjust any difference respecting the situation or position of such flat
or boat, which difference the harbor-master is authorized to hear and determine, in
which case he may demand and receive from the party in default in the premises
the sum of two dollars for every difference so adjusted, and no more. The harbor­
master of the district within which a vessel shall first moor, and commence dis­
charging, shall be entitled to receive the fees herein allowed.
Sec. 5. That each harbor-master shall keep an exact account o f the fees by him
received, and shall, at the end of every quarter, make out and deliver to the treas­
urer of the city of New Orleans, a detailed account or statement, under oath, of
the sums by him received, together with the dates when, and names of the vessels
from which the same were collected. The harbor-master of the Fourth District
shall be entitled to deduct from each quarterly account seven hundred and fifty
dollars for his compensation; and those of the other districts shall deduct from
each quarterly account the sum of one thousand dollars. The balance, if any,
shall be paid over to the treasurer of the city of New Orleans, to be applied to
the maintenance of the wharves and other improvements within the limits of said
c ity ; and it shall be the duty of the city controller to call upon the several har­
bor-masters for the port of New Orleans every three months for settlement.
Sec. 6. That said harbor-master shall have authority to regulate and station all
vessels in the stream of the river Mississippi, within the limits of the city, and at
the levee thereof, and remove, from time to time, such vessels as are not employed
in receiving and discharging their cargoes, to make room for such other as require
to be more immediately accommodated, for the purpose of receiving or discharg­
ing theirs, and as to the fact of being fairly and bona fide employed in receiving
or discharging their cargoes, the said harbor-masters are constituted the sole judges.
And further, the harbor-master shall have authority to determine how far, and in
what instances, it is the duty of the master and others having charge of ships and
vessels to accommodate each other in their respective situations, and if any master
or other person shall resist or oppose the harbor-master in the execution of tho
duties of his office, he shall for each offense forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dol­
lars, to be sued for by the treasurer of the Charity Hospital of the city of New
Orleans, for the use of said hospital.
S e c t io n




Commercial Regulations.

377

S ec. 7. That it shall also be their duty to superintend and enforce all laws of
this State, and all laws of the city of New Orleans, for preventing and removing
all nuisances whatsoever in or upon the levee of the city, within their respective
districts.
S ec. 8. That all laws contrary to the provisions of this act, and all laws on the
same subject matter, except what is contained in the Civil Code and Code of
Practice, be repealed.
CUBA® COMMERCIAL DECREES.

The following decrees of the Governor Captain-General, as Chief of the Treas­
ury of the Island of Cuba— the first exempting vessels taking mineral coal to that
island from the payment of certain port dues, and the second in favor of vessels
leaving ports of Cuba completely laden with molasses— were communicated to the
Department of State by William H. Robertson, Esq., acting United States Con­
sul at Havana, and are published in the Merchants’ Magazine for the information
of those whom they may concern:—
NUMBER I.
O F F IC E OF T H E G O V E R N O R

C A T T A IN -G E N E R A L A N D S U P E R IN T E N D E N T O F T H E E X C H E Q U E R O F
T H E E V E R F A IT H F U L IS L A N D O F CU BA.
O ffice of t h e S e c r e t a r y o f t h e S u p e r in t e n d e n c y .

Having examined these documents, the object of which is to declare, if in ac­
cordance with the royal order of 24th December, 1853, and subsequent one o f 16th
November, 1854, the time granted by her majesty for the exemption from payment
of duties to vessels that import coal into the island ;
Having seen the reports of the Administration-General of Maritime Revenue,
and of the Contaduria, the opinion of the Crown Attorney, the statements of the
Intendency, and the consultation of the General Legal Adviser, I have resolved :
1. That the exemptions extended to vessels bringing mineral coal continue on
the terms prescribed in the royal order of the 24th December, 1853, and the ex­
planatory one of the 16th November, 1854; and
2. That this measure remain in force until her majesty, having before her the
documents, shall communicate to this Superintendency her sovereign will on the
subject. Lay the subject before her majesty's government; communicate what
may be convenient to the General Intendency, and let due notice be taken by the
Superior Tribunal of Accounts for this territory; publishing the same in the Offi­
cial Gazelle for general information.
Signed,
JOSE DE LA CONCHA.
Havana,

18th November, 1855.

NUMBER II.

1. That in the exemption from duties within the effects of the royal dispositions,
(2d of May, 1846, 8th and 17th of August, 1854,) are included all vessels leaving
the ports of this island completely laden with molasses.
2. That by completely laden with molasses is to be understood vessels that have
filled their gravity, sinking to the navigation line, though they may not have oc­
cupied all their capacity.
3. That the fact is to be made evident by the certificate of a competent person,
vised by the respective captain of the port, stating if the vessel is, by her con­
struction, capable of receiving more cargo or not.
4. That the Administration of the Revenue shall be sure that the vessel has on
board nothing but molasses.
5. That vessels not complying with the above requirements be considered as de­
prived of the privileges in question.
Signed,
JOSE DE L A CONCHA.
Havana,

18th November, 1855.




378

Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

S TA TIS TIC S O F A G R IC U L T U R E , & c.
AGRICULTURAL FAIRS AT PARIS.
M . Rouher, the French Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works,

has issued a decree, providing for the holding of two annual exhibitions of do­
mestic animals, agricultural products, and machines, tools, and utensils, used in
the cultivation of the earth. The exhibitions will be held at Paris in the months
of May and June, 1856 and 1857, and will be open alike to natives and to for­
eigners, on equal terms. Liberal prizes in money, and medals, in gold, silver, and
bronze, will be awarded to successful competitors, the sum of more than 150,000
francs having been appropriated to the payment of cash premiums alone, in each
year. For animals the prizes range from 1,000 francs and a gold medal, for the
best short-horn Durham bull, down to 25 francs for the fourth best pair of geese
or ducks ; and for machines, &c., from a gold medal and 500 francs for the best
reaping or mowing machine, to 75 francs and a bronze medal for some of the less
important agricultural instruments. The following is a list of the principal pre­
miums offered in this latter department:—
For the best plow, for all kinds of work......................................francs
Best plow for deep plowing (at least ten in ch es)................................
Best plow for light soils............................................................................
Best plow for heavy and tenacious soils................................................
Best harrow.................................................................................................
Best cultivator, scarifier, or extirpator....................
Best roller, or instrument for breaking sods..........................................
Best seed-sower for all kinds of seed......................................................
Best seed-sower for sowing broadcast, wheat, rye, (fee., and as far a9
possible spreading the manure with the seed...................................
Best seed sower for beets, carrots, turnips, (fee......................................
Best collection of fanning tools................
Best reaping machine................
Best mowing machine...............................................................................
Best steam-engine, of not more than six-horse power, capable of being
applied to threshing machines or other agricultural u ses...............
Best power thrashing machine (for large farm s).................................
Best power threshing-machine, (for small estates,) not requiring more
than one or two horses.........................................................................
Best hand-power threshing-machine.......................................................
Best fans for winnowing grain..................................................................
Best vegetable cutter for cattle...............................................................
Best vegetable cutter for sheep...............................................................
Best straw-cutter.......................................................................................
Best churn..................................................................................................
Bt<st horse cart, for all work.....................................................................
Best wagon for one or two horses, for all work....................................
Best harness for farm use..........................................................................
Best balance for weighing animals, fodder, (fee., (for small estates).. .
Best machine for making draining t ile s ................................................
Best collection of draining tools.............................................................

150
125
100
100
125
250
250
250
205
125
125
500
400
500
250
250
150
125
75
75
75
75
125
250
100
250
800
100

Five medals of gold, ten of silver, and others of bronze will accompany the
prizes for instruments. A sum of 1,000 francs and silver medals will also be dis­
tributed to the foremen and workmen employed in the manufacture of prize in­
struments. Articles intended for the exposition will be conveyed to Paris from
the French frontier at the expense of the government.




Statistics o f Agriculture , etc.

379

The first exhibition will continue from the 23d of May to the 7th of June, 1856.
Written notice of intention to send any article to the exhibition must be given at
least six weeks before the opening. In foreign countries this notice may be given
to a French minister or consul, and should set forth : 1, the name and use of the
instrument, the space it will occupy, and the price of sale or manufacture ; 2, the
name and residence of the exhibitor; 3, whether he has invented or improved the
same, or has constructed it upon principles before known ; 4, if possible, the name
of the workman w'ho made it should be given.
If a power of attorney is given by the owner to another, for the purposes of the
exhibition, it must be verified by a French minister or consul.
AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Agricultural resources of the Golden State are rapidly being developed. These
show that gold is not the only valuable product. The figures are derived from
the Assessors’ returns for twenty-eight counties. This leaves out thirteen counties
not yet heal'd from. One of the omitted counties is the most thickly populated in
California.
Cereals. The twenty-eight counties heard from show a total yield for 1855
of wheat, 2,554,726 bushels; of barley, 3,343,453 bushels; and of oats, 1,028,357

bushels.
Whole number of acres reported under cultivation, 484,498. Y olo is the ban­
ner county for wheat and barley, the product being of wheat, 600,000 bushels;
barley, 800,000 bushels. Alameda County produced 481,840 bushels oats.
L i v e S t o c k . Cattle, 436,871 ; horses, 78,651 ; sheep, 128,315 ; hogs, 193,685 ;
mules, 14,194. The greatest number of animals are set down for Los Angeles
County, namely, cattle, 106,159 ; horses, 19,840 ; sheep, 28,538.
F ruit. Partial returns from twenty-nine counties give 220,611 grape vines ;
191,210 peach trees ; 91,817 apple trees ; 11,873 pear trees ; and 63,091 of other
fruit trees.
In Alameda County we find reported 55,480 grape vines ; 89,449 peach trees;
49,670 apple trees ; and 29,203 of other fruit trees.
Napa County reports 57,500 grape vines; 66,962 peach trees ; and 16,062 ap­
ple trees.
The principal vine-growing counties are Napa, Alameda, Sacramento, Santa
Clara, Sonoma and Mendocino, Yuba, Butte, and San Joaquin. Los Angeles
County produced 44,004 cwt. of grapes; Sonoma and Mendocino, 50 tons ; San
Bernardino, 202,800 pounds; and Butte, 12 tons.
Peach trees are found in great abundance in the counties of Alameda, 89,449 ;
Napa, 66,962 ; Sacramento, 27,102 ; Shasta, 3,247 ; and San Joaquin, 3,000.
Apple trees are mainly confined to the counties of Alameda, 49,670 ; Napa,
15,405 ; Sacramento, 15,505 ; and Santa Cruz, 3,000.
According to the San Francisco Herald of January 5, 1856, to which we ara
indebted for most of the above statistics, the shipments during four months end­
ing October 31, from the southern counties at the port of San Pedro, alone
amounted to 31,095 boxes grapes, value, $155,475 ; 1,036 boxes other fruit, value,
$8,288 ; 330,000 pounds salt, value, $5,775 ; 139,316 pounds beans, value, $6,966 ;
38,006 pounds wool, value, $4,750 ; 158 tons other produce, value, $21,000. A g ­
gregate, 2,395 tons of merchandise, value, $202,254.




Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

380

In twenty-one counties there are 70 flouring-mills, having 115 run of stone. In
twenty counties there are 251 saw-mills. In the counties of Amador, Trinity,
Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sonoma and Mendocino, and Yuba, the saw-mills are esti­
mated to be able to turn out 123,544,000 feet of lumber during the year.
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF TH E HAY CROP OF TH E UNITED STATES.

Among all the statistics with reference to the agricultural products of the Uni­
ted States, which have been given to the public, those setting forth the quantity
of grass yearly cut and put into market, have been entirely overlooked. In at­
tending to this omission, Governor Wright, of Indiana, says that our grass crop
is not properly appreciated. “ N o crop,” he says, “ approaches so nearly a spon­
taneous yield, and none affords so large a profit.” The hay crop of the United
States in 1850 he estimates at 13,000,000 tons; that for 1855 he estimates at
15,000,000 tons, which is wortli 8150,000,000; while the whole cotton crop is
valued at only §128,000,000. Of this crop more than half is produced by the
four States, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The grass crop, which is
used for pasturage, is at least as valuable ; so that single herb is worth annually
over $300,000,000.
In Pennsylvania the grass crop is set down in the census of 1850 as reaching
in quantity 1,842,970 tons, which, at $20 per ton, would amount to $36,859,400.
Of this quantity Berks County produced 33,257 tons; Butler, 95,842 tons ; Ches­
ter, 96,315 tons; Crawford, 70,784 tons; Lancaster, 96,134 tons; Montgomery,
98,701 tons; York, 50,760 tons, and the balance is distributed in unequal quanti­
ties among the other counties of the State. Philadelphia County produced
28,288 tons, which is a large yield, considering the area devoted to the raising of
this product. But small as this amount may seem to be, its value is not inconsid­
erable. When computed at $20 per ton, the grass crop of this county in 1850
reached in value $565,700.
Without the figures it would not be supposed that the grass crop in one State
ig more valuable than that of wheat; yet such is the fact. In 1850 there was
produced in all the counties of Pennsylvania 15,367,691 bushels of wheat. At
$2 per bushel, which is a liberal allowance, this would amount to $30,735,332,
leaving a balance of more than $6,000,000 in favor of the grass crop. This fact
is worthy of attention.
PHILADELPHIA CATTLE M ARKET.

The following tabular statement presents the number of cattle received in Phil­
adelphia during each of the last eleven years, with the exception of the large num­
ber brought in by butchers, of which no account can be obtained :—
Years.
1855.......................
1854.......................
1853.......................
1852.......................
1851.......................
1850.......................
1849.......................
1848.......................
1847.......................
1846.......................
1845.......................




Beeves.

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

71,200

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

68,750
68,120
67,211
50,270

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

51,289

Cows.
11.530
15,350
15,100
14,420
15,400
15,120
14.320
14,108
16,700
14480
18,805

Swine.
65,300
78,000
53,300
49,200
46,700
46,900
46,700
47,690
22,450
18,670
26,455

Sheep.
132,500
61,000
72,300
81,200
83,000
82,500
77,110
76,820
67,800
55,810
56,948

Total.
264,530
227,750
212.600
216,020
214,200
213,270
206,250
206,829
147,220
136,460
153,506

Statistics o f Agriculture , etc.

38 1

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS OF SCOTLAND,

The Scottish agricultural statistics for the year 1855, voluntarily rendered and
collected, for the second year, by the intelligent and public-spirited farmers of
Scotland, show the following ascertained results, as contrasted with the estimates
of M'Culloch and other writers :—
Former estimates.
W h e a t....................................qra.
B arley....................................
Oats................................................
Beansandpeas.............................

1,225,000
1,800,000
6,500,000
150,000
9,675,000

Ascertained.
1851.
1855.
606,063
632,817
954,950
761,618
4,281,789
3,758,893
135,115
147,956
5,927,917

5,301.279

The potato crop in 1855 yielded 732,141 tons, against 529,915 tons in 1854.
If the whole produce of the two last harvests in Scotland be reduced into tons
weight, and potatoes be included, the result is found to be that there is very little
difference between the two ; the year 1854 having yielded 1,532,004 tons of food
for man and beast, and the year 1855, 1,592,604 tons.
NEW MEXICAN SUGAR,

It is said that almost all grains and vegetables which grow in the clear dry cli­
mate of Mexico are remarkable for their extraordinary sweetness. The common
corn-stalk abounds in saccharine matter to such an extent as to furnish the native
population with molasses, which, although hardly as good as the inferior molasses
of Louisiana, might doubtless be much improved by a more perfect mode of man­
ufacture than that adopted by the Mexican population. The molasses is pur­
chased there by those who do not supply their own wants at a rate of $1 50 per
gallon. The beet of New Mexico contains so unusual a quantity of saccharine
matter, that the manufacture of beet-sugar is said to offer strong inducements to
gentlemen of enterprise and capital to embark in the business. The only sugar
which is brought to Santa Pe now, is transported from the Valley of the Missis­
sippi across a desert of nearly 900 miles in extent, and the cost of transportation
increases its price about ten cents a pound, so that the most inferior kinds range
from nineteen to twenty-five cents in value.
PRODUCTION OF GRAIN IN ILLINOIS IN 18 5 5 .

The Chicago Press says:—
Upon the subject of the crop of 1855, we are in possession of direct information
from some of the most intelligent men of the State, and from nearly every county
in it, on which we venture the following estimate :—Indian corn.................................................................bushels
Wheat......................................................................................
Oats, barley, and rye............................................................

180,000.000
20,000,000
60,000,000

This estimate we believe to be under rather than over the actual result. I f any
objection is urged against it, it will doubless be with respect to the corn crop, the
figures for which are truly startling to those who have not duly considered the
subject. A n observation extended over a large portion of the State last summer,
together with a large mass of information obtained from others, warrants us in
saying that the breadth devoted to corn last year was about four times as great
as that of all other grains.




Statistics o f Population, etc.

382

S T A T I S T I C S O F P O P U L A T I O N , &c.
POPULATIOV OF CITIES A.YD TOWNS IV NEW YORK, 1855.

W o are indebted to the Hon. E k a st u s B r o o k s , Senator from New York, for
an official copy of the preliminary report upon the Census of the State of 1855,
which was transmitted to the Legislature, January 3d, 185G. This report shows
the total population of each town and ward, with the increase or decrease since
the census of 1845, the number of voters, aliens, and persons of color not taxed,
with the number upon which the representation in the State Legislature is based.
Prom these tables it appears that the present population of the State is 3,470,059,
being an increase of 372,005 since the United States census of 1850, and of
805,504 since the State census of 1845. It is distributed among 910 towns and
13 cities, the latter being subdivided into 110 wards.
W e have compiled from this report for the Merchants’ Magazine the subjoined
table, showing the population, &c., of all the incorporated cities and all the towns
in the State with a population exceeding 5,000, arranging the cities and towns
according to their numerical greatness :—
P O P U L A T IO N OF T H E C IT IE S IN T H E S TA TE O F N E W Y O R K .

Cities.

N e w Y o r k ................
B r o o k l y n ....................
B u f f a l o ...................... ..
A l b a n y .................... ..
R o c h e s t e r ................ ..
T r o y ......................... .
S y r a c u s e ....................
U t i c a ..........................
O s w e g o .....................
P o u g h k e e p s i e ..........
A u b u r n ......................
S c h e n e c t a d y ..............
H u d s o n .....................
T o t a l .................

..

Total
population,

Increase,

18 A
629,810
205,250
74,214
57.333
43,877
33,269
25,107
22.169
15.816
12,763
9,476
8,389
6,720

184 5.
258,587
132,481
44,441
16,194
18,612
11,623

1,143,893

502,201

since

9,979
4,082
3.305
1.834
1,063

P O P U L A T IO N O F T O W N S W I T H O V E R

W a t e r v l i e t ................
K i n g s t o n .............................

Lockport ...................
C h e n a n g o ...................

New burg...................
W e s t Farms.......... .
Fishkill...................
Rome........................
Hempstead............. .
Oswegatchie.............
B r o o k h a v e n ..............
N e w t o w n ..................
Saugerties.............. .
P o m f r e t .....................
E l m i r a ........................
Cortlandt................ .
O w e g o ...................... .




20,889
13.974
13.386
13,128
12.778
12,436
11,383
10.720
10,477
10,060
9.696
9.446
9,818
9.167
8,486
8,468
8,328

5,000
9,680
7,466
4,072
6,526
3,772
....
732
4,765
2,208
3,646
2,235
3.926
2.789
4.871
2,588
1,7 30
2,224

'------------- V O TE R S .------------- \

Native.

Naturalized.

46,113
17,143
4.457
5,060
3,825
3,393
2,633
2.012
1,599
1,568
1.309
1,110
963

42,704
14,003
6.228
4,562
2,905
2,139
1,677
1,656
1,011
655
369
415
208

A liens.
232,678
62,105
26,086
13,344
12,701
8,736
6,192
5,825
4,144
2,164
1,461
1,653
841

91,185

76,532

377,930

IN T H E S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K .

2,134
1,515
1,589
2,342
1,502
985
1.903
1,354

2,000
875
1,706
861
1,384
1.546
1,546
1,260
1,763

1,283
641
654
326
498
1,067
268
698
243
407
92
507
406
207
236
198
120

4.990
3,936
3,092
1.384
2,641
3,012
1,454
2,263
686
3,165
624
8,024
1,610
2,353

1,211
1,769
534

Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

Total
population,

Increase
since

Tow is.
Seneca..........................
Castleton......................
Huntington...................
Oyster Bay...................
Flushing.....................
Johnstown....................
Lenox...........................
W atertown...................
Yonkers.......................
W awarsing...................
Ithaca.........................
Verona.........................
Southampton..............
Barre.............................
Haverstraw..................
Potsdam.......................
Canandaigua.................
Volney.........................
Queensburg .................
Greeiiburg....................
Corning.......................
Saratoga Springs.........
Manlius.......................
Champlain...................
Plat.tsburg....................
Bath.............................
Orangetown.................
Ossining.......................
Oatskih........................
Lansingburg.................
Southold......................
Jamaica........................
Hector...........................
Arcadia.........................
Deerpatk.....................
Lancaster......................
N iagara.........................
Southfield....................
Wallkill........................
Onondaga ....................
Eilisburg.......................
Batavia.......................
Phelps.........................
Sullivan........................
Ridgeway....................
Lyons...........................
Malone.........................
Galen............................
Bethlehem....................
Amherst......................
Lisbon.........................
Lysander......................
Meutz...........................
Dryden ........................

1855.
8,298
8,252
8,142
8.047
7,970
7,912
7,800
7,557
7,554
7,277
7,153
6,923
6,821
6,797
6,747
6,631
6,480
6,476
6,438
6,4 35
6,334
6,307
6,228
6,197
6,080
6,031
5,838
5,758
5,710
5,700
5,676
5,632
5,629
5,516
5.504
5.489
5,457
5,449
5,415
5,400
6,339
5,304
6,293
5,253
5,228
6,205
5,186
5,181
5,151
5,118
5,109
5,060
5,058
5,003

1845.
387
3,049
1,396
1,686
4,052

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

525,671

383

/--------V O T E R S . ----- —>
Native.
Naturalized.
261
669

....

1,314
795
1,102
1,344
781
1,541
1,541
1,117
856
1,109
1,404
1,011
1,397
1,283
870
1,308
1,088
1.261
1,134
899
1,476
1,082
754
517
664
1,197
929
732
1,070
655
1,239
867
1,258
1,122
885
356
527
425
1,003
901
1,260
672
1,115
1,011
683
830
647
856
683
321
488
1,013
9S6
1,193

150,668

78,876

18,154

2 ,5 0 4

1,869
2,124
5,037
2,305
1,098
1,9S1
1183
1,941
1,775
853
2.581
1,996
3,230
3,813
2,031
026
2,147
1,055
2,611
2,446
252
1,718
1,485
1,749
537
8,492
2.759
8,989
2,818
447
258
920

....
865
1,283
938
1,552
723
1,836
1,985
733
554
770

102

159
444
170
212
236
312
253
135
814
51
286
236
156
208
131
176
208
178
181
176
205
245
144
161
142
90
311
69
175
35
126
119
475
89
467
99
133
17
151
56
136
81
239
211
151
161
421
283
76
91
50

Aliens.
1,134
2,274
672
1,201
1,943
659
778
1,376
2,336
850
602
1,286
866
886
1,690
835
1,092
809
900
1,563
880
1,189
779
1,714
1,421
322
993

1,4 62
552
1,066
584
1,033
159
523
1,020
1,727
2,220
1,667
531
909
215
710
486
602
1,244
848
1,054
739
1,160
1,368
895
427
542

70
92,109

Thus it will be seen that 1,6S9,564 of the population of the State of New
York reside in the cities and towns of above 5,000 inhabitants. There are also
in the State forty-two towns with a population ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 ; one
hundred and twenty-six from 3,000 to 4,000; two hundred and forty-six from




384

Statistics o f Agriculture , etc.

2,000 to 3,000; three hundred and forty-five from 1,000 to 2,000; and eightythree towns with less than 1,000 inhabitants.
On each former occasion in which a census has been taken by the State of New
York, the names of the heads of families only were given, with columns for enter­
ing the number of males and females between certain ages, the number of aliens,
colored persons and paupers, and those liable to military duty, the number of vo­
ters, of children attending school, &c., in each family ; and the inquiries relating
to manufactures were limited to some twenty different branches of industry, while
all others were left unrepresented. In the present census, the name, age, sex, and
birth-place of each person was required, with the professions of those over fifteen
years of age, civil condition, color, years resident in present locality, and columns
were prepared to designate voters, aliens, owners of land, those over twenty-one
unable to read and write, and the deaf and dumb, blind, insane, and idiotic.
The federal census of 1850 cost the State of New York 8114,474 95 for the
collection of statistics, or three cents seven mills to each person. The expense of
the present census is not yet ascertained from all the counties; but so far as ob­
tained, it gives the corresponding expense at about three cents three mills to each
person, while the information obtained is more extensive and varied. The office
work of the census of 1850 cost over $300,000, or about $45,000 for the proportion of the State of New York.
AMERICAN SEAMEN IN THE UNITED STATES.

The following table shows the number of American seamen registered in the
United States from October, 1, 1854, to October 1,1855, in the Northern and
Southern Atlantic States :—■
Native.

.

1,303
67
4,501
285
885
712

New Hampshire
Massachusetts .. .
Rhode Island...
.
Pennsylvania ...

Natural
ized.

25
2
121
34
81

Total.

Native.

1,328
69 Virginia........
4,622 North Carolina
285 Georgia.........
919
793 Louisana........

T o t a l _____

195
655
27

Natural
ized.

11

Total.

557

3
5
18

206
565
27
276
82
676

9.3R6

300

9.686

..

AVe also subjoin the number registered in the United States during the last
sixteen years— that is, from 1840 to 1855, inclusive:—
1840 .............
1 8 4 1 .............
1842 .............
1848 .............
1844 .............
1845 .............
1846 .............
1847 .............

Native.

Naturalized.

Total.

7,951
9,015
7,738
7,084
8,220
8,450
8,018
6,867

140
148
160
92
147
129
105
122

8,091
9,163
7,898
7,166
8,367
8,579
8,123
6,989

1848 .............
1849 .............
1850 .............
1851.............
1852 .............
1853 .............
1854 .............
1855 .............

Native.

Naturalized.

8,159
9,843
8,998
8,565
9,863
9,010
8,617
9,386

92
241
193
171
286
253
302
300

Total.

8,251
10,084
9,191
8,736
10,149
9,263
8,919
9,686

HOUSES US BALTIMORE.

By the following table it will be seen that at the beginning of 1855 Baltimore
contained 33,188 houses, and at the close of the same year 34,042. Of all those
houses, about 2,000 are used for manufacturing purposes, stores, stables, &c.,
leaving 31,188 houses for resident purposes. By allowing an average of seven




Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

385

persons to each dwelling, which is not, we think, an over estimate, the population
of the city is shown to be about 218,316.
1

2

3

2*

Districts.

story.

Ptory.

story.

i ___
2 ...
3 ___
4 ___
5 ___
6 ___
7 ....
8 ___
' 9 ___
1 0 ___
1 1 ___

191
27
19
69
..
SO
121

2.754
979
4,189
3,372

....
353
....

Total

...
63
15

506
2.542
1,211
2,769
2,036
949

....
....
1,028

607
337
118
829
...
826
560
846
911
1,232
747

625

21,297

1,381

6,513

...

....

... .

n

story.

....

story.

4

5

Btory.

story.

4

Built,
J855.
m

Total.

....

8

59
....
....
....
391
....
....
....

19
10
...
428
49
200
245
86
64

20
4
..
1
••

3,556
1,704
4.404
3.770
2,748
1,810
3,276
2,648
3,915
3,418
2,793

450

1,103

25

34,042

i

19
ei
63
14
85
56
141
134
133
854

JO U R N A L OF M IN IN G AN D M A N U FA C T U R ES .
THE IRON TRADE OF SCOTLAND IN 1855.

It appears by the Annual Report of Thomas Thorburn, that the year 1855,
though an oscillating one, has been one of prosperity to the iron manufacturers.
Extensive transactions were made during the year in pig-iron, at from 55s. to
82s. 6d. ; in rails, £7 10s. to £8 15s.; in bars, £7 15s. to £9 10s.; in cast-iron
pipes, £5 to £6 15s. ; railway chairs, £4 15s. to £5 7s. Gd. per ton. And the
foundries and malleable iren works continue still generally active and well em­
ployed.
Owing to the peculiar adaptation of Scotch pig-iron for foundry and forge pur­
poses, the sphere of its consumption is rapidly extending, and it is penetrating
quarters never reached before. Whilst the beneficial consequences which must
ultimately accrue to the iron trade from the recent modification of the French
import duties, and from the liberal movement of the Spanish government, in re­
gard to the importation of British iron into that country, have not as yet been
experienced.
W e subjoin a statement of the number of furnaces in blast on the 31st of De­
cember in each month of the undermentioned years, and also the number of tons
made :—
Year.
1849.....................
1850.....................
1851.....................
1852.....................

Tons.
690,1.00
595.000
760,000
775,000

Furnaces.

112
105

112
113
P R IC E S

£ *. d.
Bars....................

. 8 15
. 11
Rods ...................
5
R a ils.................. . 8 5
Railway chairs.. . 5 2
Cast-iron p ip es.. . 5 16
VOL. X X X IV .---- NO. III.




Year.
1853 .....................
1854.......................
1855.......................

DECEM BER

£

s. d.

9

0

Furnaces.
117

121

Tons.
710,000
770,000
825,000

31, 1855 I---

£ s. d.

£

s. d.

0 79 0 a 0
0 a 10 5 0 Mixed G. M. B . . .
0 75 0 a 0
0 a 9 ......... Ayrshire brands... 0 73 6 a 0
6 a 5 10 0 East coast brands . 0 74 0 a 0
0 a 6 15 0
Stock on 3lBt Dec., 1855, 98,000

0 0
75 6
74 6
76 0
tons.

0 a

0 Ditto, No. 1, Garts-

25

386

Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
PRODUCTION OF THE CUMBERLAND COAL FIELDS.

The following is a statement of the shipments of coal from the Cumberland
Coal Fields, from 1842 to 1855, inclusive :—
Jeiiy’s Run
Valley.

1842 ..................................... tons
1843 ..........................................
1844 ............................................
1845 ............................................
1846 ............................................
1847 ............................................
1848 ............................................
1849 ............................................
1850 ..........................................
1851 ............................................
1852 ............................................
1853 ..........................................
1854 .........................................
1855 ............................................

Brad’s Run

Western

Valley.

Port.

Total.

767
3,661
5,156
13,738
11,240
20,615
36,571
63,676
76,950
122,331
174,891
234,441
203,343
170,685

951
6,421
9,734
10,915
18,555
32,325
42,000
78,773
119,898
135,348
159,287
226,813
263,115
200,634

73,725
181,840
292,995

1,708
10,082
14,890
24,653
29,795
52,940
79.571
142,449
.196,848
257,679
334,178
533,979
648,299
664,304

1,138,004

1,304,810

548,560

2,991,374

PRODUCTION OF THE LEAD JUNES OF MISSOURI.

According to the St. Louis Price Current, the lead trade exhibited no improve­
ment in 1855. The river receipts in 1851 were 503,671 pigs; 1852, 409,314;
1853, 442,218 ; 1854, 306,727 ; 1855, 315,677.
"We give herewith a tabular statement of the product of the Upper Mines from
1842 to 1853, with ruling rates and other data :—
1842.. . .
1843.. . .
1844.. . .
1845.. . .
1846 . . .
1847.. . .

Pigs pro­ Price 100 lb.
duced.
Lead.
447,909
$2 24
559,261
2 34
624,672
2 80
778,498
2 96
732,403
2 89
772,656
3 17

Value at
Galena.
$702,321
916,069
1,224,357
1,613,047
1,481,651
1,714.523

1848___
1849___
1850___
1851___
1852___
1853___

Pigs pro­ Price 100 lb. Value at
Lead.
Galena.
duced.
681,969
$3 24 $1,546,705
1,615,731
628,934
3 67
4 20
1,671,651
568,589
1,354,062
4 08
474,115
1,178,483
408,628
4 12
425,814
5 50
1,639,883

A LIQUID FOR THE PREVENTION OF SEA-SICKNESS.

A n invention has been made in England, consisting in the composition of a
liquid for preventing or alleviating sea-sickness, which will, we think, interest
some of the readers of the Merchants' Magazine, especially those who frequently
cross the Atlantic, and as frequently suffer from sea-sickness. For this purpose
the inventor distils one-third of an ounce (Troy) of hydrocloric acid in live ounces
of alcohol, mixes the product in thirty-two or thirty-eight ounces of water, and
then sweetens the liquid with sirup of sugar. By preference, however, he com­
poses the liquid of two and two-thirds of an ounce (Troy) of dry chloride of lime
mixed with eight ounces of water, to which ten and two-thirds of an ounce of
alcohol are added. The whole is distilled by ordinary means, until five ounces
and one-third of the liquid are obtained as the product. He next mixes this pro­
duct in a stone or glass beaker with thirty-two or thirty-eight ounces of water,
and sweetens it with sirup of sugar ; and adds to one or the other of these liquors
a few drops of essence of mint or bitter almonds, giving it a rose-colored tint by
a weak solution of cochineal.
One or two table-spoonfuls of the liquor, thus




Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

387

prepared, should be taken prior to going on board, when it will, in most cases,
prevent sea-sickness; if taken during the retching, it will greatly reduce its vio­
lence and the pain arising from the sickness.

SHIPPING AND SHIP-BUILDING AT CYPRUS.

A correspondent of the Department of State at "Washington, writing from the
island of Cyprus, under a recent date, gives the following facts in relation to the
port of Cyprus, and the regulations relative to ship-building at that p o r t:—
“ There being no good port in Cyprus, the number of vessels belonging to the
island is quite insignificant, and these are small craft not built in Cyprus, but on
the coast of Caramaria from Castel Basso to Adalia. Vessels are also sometimes
bought at public sales in and out of the island; but these instances are extremely
rare. Small boats are built in Cyprus now and then.
“ The regulations with regard to ship-building, sailors in merchant service, ship­
ping, navigation, quarantine, &c., are exactly the same as those in Constantinople
and the other principal ports of the Turkish Empire.
“ There is, however, no direct trade whatever between this island and the Uni­
ted States, and vessels of the said States seldom visit our shores. The customs
duties on exports and imports, as well as the weights and measures in common
use in this island, are the same as those established by the supreme law of the
mother country The Spanish dollar is worth here at present twenty-six-and-ahalf piasters.
“ Foreign vessels are not liable to port charges, nor any other dues, with the ex­
ception of those exacted for quarantine.”
OXYD OF COPPER.

The ordinary method of preparing this substance as it is used in organic analy­
sis, is to heat the nitrate of the metal to ignition in a crucible; this is attended
with much inconvenience, owing to the salt melting, frothing, and in general flow­
ing over the sides of the vessel; in addition to which the crucible commonly cracks
during the operation, and permits the liquid portion to run through into the fire.
Now all this may be avoided by using a vessel of copper, wThich is easily made by
any one, by simply taking a piece of sheet copper, and folding it so as to form a
water-tight vessel, without the use of solder; every one by inspecting a common
kitchen fire-shovel will render this intelligible.
In a vessel of this description the nitrate may be safely decomposed, and with­
out any risk of overheating and fusing the ox yd ; although the vessel gradually
wears out in so doing, it yields a quantity of oxyd of copper, which is mixed along
with that produced from the nitrate.
ANALYSIS OF LAKE SUPERIOR IRON.

A dkian B. T erry, Esq., in compliance with the request of E. B. W ard, Esq.,
has analyzed two specimens of Lake Superior iron, in the region of Detroit, and
gives the following statement as the result. The composition of No. 1 is, accord­
ing to Mr. Terry’s analysis, of oxide of iron 96.00, silica of silex 2.50, alumina
.40, water and loss 1.10— 100 ; the composition of No. 2 is as follows : peroxide
of iron .96, silica of silex 2.50, alumina .40, water and loss 1.10. Mr. T. describes
them as “ remarkably fine specimens of nearly pure peroxide of iron, which must,
from the absence of sulphur, make the best of iron.”




388

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.
YIELD OF THE GOLD FIELDS IN AUSTRALIA.

The Melbourne Journal o f Commerce, good authority, of September 13th, 1855,
thus speaks of the product of Gold in Australia :—
“ W e have the most conclusive evidence to offer of the great and continually
increasing amount of our gold produce. The population on the various gold fields
are devoting their energies to modes of obtaining gold other than those which
until within these two weeks have been almost exclusively employed. Instead of
searching for the precious metal solely in the alluvial drifts— that is, instead of
gold digging they are now commencing gold mining, and we are happy to say,
from reliable private information, with the most satisfactory results. Our friends
in England will scarcely credit a yield of ten ounces per ton, but we know that
the quantity obtained from one claim at Mount Blackwood has equalled that for
nine successive days, during which time only the machinery has been in operation;
and this has been even eclipsed by the produce of another claim, about one hun­
dred yards from the claim which gave the preceding results, the amount obtained
from which— if we did not know it for a fact— we should hesitate to publish, for
it exceeds eighty ounces per ton, 11-J cwt. having produced sixty-three ounces, or
over six pounds troy. As yet these are individual cases. It is necessarily so, for
there are few machines of any sort, and fewer still of any value, at present in
operation in the Mount Blackwood field. When these can be increased in num­
ber and efficiency, the results will no doubt be still more astonishing, for the reef
commonly known as Simmons’ Reef is only just opened, and experienced miners
inform us that as they descend from the surface the quartz becomes richer. We
know that this reef is being worked for a distance of six miles, and there are other
reef's already opened, which promise nearly— perhaps those working them believe
equally well.”
PROGRESS OF DAGUERREOTYPIKG,

Niepiece, the co-laborer of Daguerre, has, after years of study and experience,
succeeded in almost perfecting the art which his associate discovered. “ I have
begun,” says he, “ with reproducing in the camera obscura, colored engravings,
then artificial and natural flowers, and lastly, dead nature, a doll dressed in stuffs
o f different colors, and always trimmed with gold and silver lace. I have obtained
all the colors, and, what is more extraordinary and curious, the gold and silver
are depicted with their metallic luster, and rock-crystal, porcelain, and alabaster,
are depicted with the luster natural to them.”
STEEL MANUFACTURE OF PITTSBURG.

There is at Pittsburg an establishment called the “ Eagle Steel Works,” manu­
facturing cast steel of all varieties, bar, shear, and sheet. They have three con­
verting furnaces, five heating furnaces, and eighteen melting furnaces. They em­
ploy about sixty hands, many of them imported from England, and consume annu­
ally seven hundred and fifty tons of iron, one-third of which is Swedish. The
steel produced by these works has been repeatedly tested, and is found fully equal
to the best English imported.
INVENTION OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Boots are said to have been invented by the Carrans. They were at first made
o f leather, afterwards of brass and iron, and were proof against both cut and
thrust. It was from this that Homer called the Greeks brazen-footed. Formerly,
in France, a great foot was much esteemed, and the length of the shoe in the four­
teenth century was a mark of distinction. The shoes of a prince were two-and-ahalf feet long ; those of a barou two feet, those o f a knight eighteen inches.




389

Mercantile Miscellanies.

M ER C A N TILE

M IS C E LLA N IES .

OUR AMERICAN MERCANTILE BIOGRAPHY.

In a former part of the present number (page 310) we have extracted a part
of the preface to the first volume of our “ Lives of American Merchants.” W e
now take the liberty of making a few extracts from the critical notices of several
of our cotemporaries of the newspaper press as follows:—
[ f r o m t h e e v e n in g m ir r o r , OF FEBRUARY 2 d , 1 8 5 6 .]

The public have been awaiting, with no little interest, the appearance of Mr.
Freeman Hunt’s first volume of the “ Lives of American Merchants.” That vol­
ume is just issued. It is a superb octavo, extending to 600 pages, in clear, bold
type, entirely befitting the interesting records of the remarkable and honored lives
therein sketched. It was a noble and original conception of Mr. Hunt, the pion­
eer publisher of American commercial literature— of which the Merchants' Mag­
azine is the proud initial memorial— to gather up records of our eminent merchants
and financiers, and permanently embody them in a series of volumes of “ American
Mercantile Biography.” In the execution of this conception, Mr. Hunt will have
done for our mercantile notabilities what Jared Sparks has done for miscellaneous
American celebrities; he will have given them their deserved historical niche, and
at the same time contributed an inestimable treasure to our dawning commercial
literature.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
W e have remarked that the only lack in the sketches is in their matter, and
this is only in two or three cases, where the reader will feel that if the record had
been extended it would not have been wearying. It is intensely interesting to
study the personal history, even to minute details, of men who have not only
carved their own way to fortune and eminence, but have at the same time influ­
enced the course, and contributed to the progress and elevation o f communital
and national destiny. Nine of the sketches, those of Perkins, Cope, Brooks,
King, Appleton, Slater, Chickering, Clapp, and Jackson, are accompanied with
steel engraved portraits. It is to be regretted that portraits do not accompany
all the sketches. It is pleasant to look on the faces of those whose names are fa­
miliar and honored.
*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

“ Commerce is King,” and Mr. Hunt was not mistaken when he conceived the
princes of Commerce, and the lords of the mercantile— which embrace the empire
of the artisan and manufacturer— world, worthy of historical recognition and en­
during record. To no class of men is the world, and civilization itself, so largely
indebted. Colonization, multiplied enterprise by land and sea, the baring of the
mines in the earth’s bosom, and the uprising of new communities, cities, and States,
are among the fruits of the lives of the men whom Mr. Hunt seeks to memorial­
ize and honor. They have done, and are doing, for our country and age, what
their class did for Tyre, Carthage, Venice, Genoa, and the free cities of Germany
and Holland— founded or built up commonwealths, enriched States, developed
arts, and furnished and sustained victorious armies and fleets. Before their con­
quering marine piracy has fled the seas, and the fields of peaceful vocation they
have opened have made an end of roysterers, robbers, and feudal forays.
Mr. Hunt has only fairly entered on his work ; he has a broad and rich field
before him— a field scarcely traveled until he entered it. There are hundreds of
names appealing to him from the past and present— hundreds of lives deserving
to be snatched from greedy oblivion. W e learn with pleasure that a second vol­
ume of “ Lives of American Merchants ” will be forthcoming by the close of the
present year. Let the good work go on, with such rapidity as may be, but in no
such haste as to mar its perfectness. There is no man living, perhaps, so well




390

Mercantile Miscellanies.

snited to accomplish the work as Freeman Tlunt. Enthusiastic in his interest in
the class of whose lives and literature he is the pioneer chronicler, he knows just
how and where to lay his hand on the material for his laborious, and not a little
delicate and responsible enterprise. And he will have his reward. Besides the
pleasure immediately derived (and profit, we trust, also) he will have joined his
name indissolubly with those he has biographized, and one could hardly desire im­
mortality in a better company.
[ f r o m t h e n e w t o r e e v e n in g p o s t .]

In this volume we have the memoirs o f twenty-one eminent American merchants
— all of them remarkable for sagacity and success as men of business, and some
of them distinguished as the authors of great commercial and manufacturing en­
terprises, philanthropists, founders of public institutions, or in some other way as
public benefactors. The lives of such men, if the examples are well chosen, are
particularly instructive. Commerce is a pursuit which increases in importance
with every advance in the useful and elegant arts, with every new facility of com­
munication between distant countries, and every improved method of transporta­
tion. It rewards those who are successful with wealth which can be acquired in
no other manner, and gives them, by force of wealth alone, even if they possess
no remarkable qualities of mind and character, a high standing and influence
among their fellow-men. It is of the greatest importance that the multitudes who
are drawn into this pursuit should have constantly before them the examples of
those who have acquired in it not merely wealth, but the general respect of man­
kind, and who have dispensed their wealth worthily, and in obedience to the sug­
gestions of a wise and large humanity. Mr. Hunt’s book presents examples of
such men in the greater part of the lives he has given.
[ f r o m t h e b o s t o n d a i l y t i m e s .]

Mr. Hunt, editor and proprietor of that able and popular periodical, the Mer­
chants' Magazine, is engaged on a work of much value.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
W e have the fullest belief that this work will be a popular one, as we know
that it will be found of uncommon interest. W e are glad to see the literary field
extending itself, and that biography is not to be monopolized by those gentlemen
who get their notoriety through their success in the arts of destruction, or as men
of scientific knowledge or artistic skill. The soldier is a deserving member of so­
ciety, and so is the man of science, and the artist; but neither does more for the
world than the merchant, provided the latter is worthy of his calling. Nor does
it require less talent to succeed as a merchant than as an artist, or as a soldier.
N o one can be a great merchant who is not possessed of high and various talents,
and of very extensive knowledge. A man may be a very respectable artist, and
yet be, out of his own metier, an ignoramus ; but an ignorant merchant is an im­
possibility. A man may be in trade, and be ignorant, but he is no more a mer­
chant than a sign-painter is a Raphael. Ignorance would be as fatal to a mer­
chant as ignorance of navigation would be to the commander of a ship. The
one thing that the merchant must have is knowledge, if he would not be in con­
stant danger of making shipwreck of his fortunes. W e find that all eminent
merchants have been superior men, and that they could have succeeded in almost
any other department of life, if they had chosen to essay it. Then they are, too,
as a general rule, men of liberal minds, though in politics somewhat inclined to
conservatism, as is but natural with persons engaged in conducting affairs in which
millions are ventured. They give liberally, and in that way have done much for
the world’s advancement. They are also patriotic, and have been known to come
to their country’s assistance at times when all others hung back. There were not
a few such merchants living here at the time of our Revolution, of whom Han­
cock and Langdon were splendid examples. The lives of such men are as well
worth writing as those of men who have distinguished themselves in politics or in
war. W e hope that Mr. Hunt will extend his work, and not only give us biog­
raphies of merchants of our own age, but also of those eminent merchants who
lived in the colonial times.




Mercantile Miscellanies.
[F R O M

THE

NEW

YORK

391

S U N .]

It was scarcely to have been expected that Mr. Hunt’s own pen, busy as it if j
should have been able to chronicle the careers of all these merchant princes i
therefore, he has availed himself of the eminent literary abilities of such men a*
Edward Everett, Charles King, Thomas G. Cary, S. Austin Allibone, John L.
Blake, D. D., and others. In this he has done wisely, inasmuch as all sameness
of treatment is avoided, and amongst such a multitude of biographers there must
be truth and wisdom.
What Bancroft and Macaulay have done for American and English literature
generally, Mr. Freeman Hunt has done, and is doing, for American commercial
literature particularly; and in a country like ours such an undertaking cannot
fail to lead to results of the very highest importance. It is too much the fashion
in Europe for the scions of aristocracy to turn. up their noses at the merchant:—
but with Old World prejudices, thank God, America has nothing to do. Here
Commerce stands on its own solid pedestal, and asserts its true dignity. W e honor
those who have been the builders of their own fortunes, and consider that the man
who has by his own unaided efforts built for himself a high position among his
brother merchants, as a far greater hero than a Raglan or a Pelissier. To tell us
of the struggles, fears, hopes, and final successes of such men in America has been
Mr. Hunt’s aim, and the execution of his purpose is in all respects worthy of it.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
All that remains for us to say is, that the volume is beautifully printed, and
that the portraits are faithful and finely engraved.
[ from

TH E

NEW

YORK

D A IL Y

T I M E S .]

W e have for some days been in possession of the above noble work, and it is
with great satisfaction that we see the energy and talents of Mr. Hunt, so long
and eminently devoted to the interests of American Commerce and the extension
and improvement of American commercial literature, engaged in a walk of exer­
tion still higher, if possible, by its solidity and permanency, than the range of pe­
riodical writing, high and valuable as Mr. Hunt has made it.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Mr. Hunt’s object in the first volume of these Memoirs, is announced in his
preface to be the characterization of what we may term “ the First Period of our
Commercial History as a Nation,” giving the lives of deceased merchants only.
He has certainly carried out his laudable design with gratifying success, enriching
the studies of our statesmen and scholars with a work which, depicting the first
progress and establishment of American Commerce under the republic, and the
high enterprise that has given the United States their present unequaled prosper­
ity, will remain a treasured and invaluable standard book of reference. Nor is it
merely a dry detail of unadorned, unillustrated facts. The same ability which has,
rendered it a historical treasure, has not disdained the ornaments of style and dic­
tion, yet we have good specimens of every kind of writing. The sketch of
Stephen Girard, ascribed by us to the skillful pen of Mr. Hunt, abounds in sub­
stantial detail and instructive comparison ; that of Nicholas Brown, possibly by
the same hand, is smooth and eloquent; those of Samuel Ward and James Gore
King, by Charles King, LL. D., combine both varieties of excellence, and if this
were the appropriate place, we might specify the others, one by one.
Commerce, as well as art, literature, and war, has had her great, high-minded,
noble, and patriotic men, and the gallery before us will hold its place in the libra­
ry of the future historian, beside the biographies of the statesmen, warriors, wri­
ters, and artists who have adorned our country’s annals!
A PRACTICAL PATRON OF THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.

W e are frequently encouraged in our editorial labors by kind words from gen­
erous patrons residing in different sections of the Union; and were it not for
abstracting from the space allotted to matters of more general interest, we should
be glad to publish more of these gratifying testimonials that our efforts are ap-




392

Mercantile Miscellanies.

predated, perhaps too highly. W e have before us a letter from a merchant of
Detroit, which we venture to give, omitting the writer’s name, as his communica­
tion was evidently designed only for our own eye. Our correspondent writes as
follows:—

“ Deak Sir :— I have just commenced taking and reading the Merchants' Ma­
gazine, and find in it so much valuable matter, as to astonish me, and really to
feel that any young man who is of suitable years should have it early placed iu
his hands and give it a careful perusal. Any one of six or seven of the arti­
cles for January, 1856, is worth more to any young man than the cost of the
Magazine for five years, and particularly article five, entitled ‘ The True Mercan­
tile Character.’ I wish every young man in the world would carefully peruse
this one article. I expect within a, few weeks to take a tour through this State
(Michigan,) Wisconsin, and Iowa Territory. If I can be of any service to you,
send me on a prospectus and authority, and for the sake of the young men, I will
do all in my power to get subscribers for you. Messrs. Huntington, Lea & Co.,
of this city, who I believe are your agents here, I offer as reference respecting my
ability and integrity.
“ Had I been permitted to peruse the pages of your Magazine some years since,
I think I might have been spared some missteps which I have taken as a business
man, and when once taken, are not easily retraced. I leave it entirely with
you, whether or not I shall receive a commission on the names I may obtain.
“ Respectfully yours.”
SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL CONVENTION.

From the Richmond papers of the 4th of February, 1856, we copy the results
of the Southern Commercial Convention, as embodied in the subjoined resolutions.
These resolutions may form a chapter in the unwritten commercial history of the
United States :—Whereas this Convention deem it indispensable to the successful progress of
Southern Commerce, that a line or lines of firsLclass steamers be established
between a port or ports of the South and some port or ports in Europe; There­
fore
Resolved, That we earnestly recommend the Southern and Southwestern States
to unite in the establishment of such a line or lines, and that the delegates from
those States to the Convention be requested to call the attenton of their respec­
tive Legislatures to the importance of the subject, and urge their co-operation.
Resolved, That the Senators and Representatives of the Southern and South­
western States be requested to vote for no law granting appropriations in aid of
ocean mail liues terminating at any Northern port, without the insertion of a
clause binding the government to extend like aid to a line or lines that may here­
after be established between ports of the Southern States and foreign ports.
It was resolved that the duty of 30 per cent now levied on railroad iron im­
ported into this country from abroad ought to be repealed, or greatly reduced.
The following resolutions were passed by acclamation :—
Resolved, That it is expedient for Southern Legislatures to release from the
license tax all direct importations from foreign countries, and adopt such other
measures as will protect and advance Southern Commerce.
Resolved, That it is expedient that Southern manufactures should in all cases
be used when they can be procured on as advantageous terms as Northern manu­
factures.
Resolved, That Southern men should patronize Southern literary institutions,
and use books published at the South, when they can be procured.
Resolved, That in excursions for health or pleasure, a preference should be given
to watering places and other localities on Southern soil.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

393

A committee of nine gentlemen— at the head of which we notice the name of
Mr. De Bow, the editor of De Bow's Rer.iew— was appointed to prepare and
publish an address to the people of the Southern States, expressing the views of
the Convention. After a short address by the President, General Tilghman, c f
Maryland, the Convention adjourned to meet at Savannah in December, 1856.
“ There were,” says the New Orleans Commercial Bulletin, “ but few delegates
present, and we doubt not that this Convention, like its predecessors, will fail to
prove of any practical benefit to the South.”
AS AMERICAS MERCHANT IS MELBOURNE,

In the Merchants' Magazine for February, 1855, (vol. xxxii., pages 154-165,)
we published a letter from our valued correspondent, George F. T rain, Esq., of
Melbourne, Australia, containing a full and interesting account of the “ Commerce
and Resources of Australia.”
W e have before us another letter, and some fur­
ther statistical matter bearing on the same subject, from the same source, under
date Melbourne, Nov. 5,1855, which we shall print in the next (April) number of
this magazine.
Mr. Train is about to return to this country, as will be seen by the following
paragraph, which we copy from the Melbourne Age, of November 3,1855 :—
“ Mr. G. F. T rain. W e regret to learn that our enterprising fellow-citizen'
Mr. G. F. Train, is about to leave the colony. During the short period that he
has been among us, he has won a prominent position as a merchant, and exerted
no small influence as a public man. Few of our mercantile men have come so
frequently or so favorably under public notice, in connection with the Chamber
of Commerce or with that particular line of business which he has managed with
so much energy and dispatch. Without violating the political neutrality which,
as a citizen of the United States, he was called upon to maintain, he has never
hesitated to take part in any discussion involving the general welfare of the com­
munity. The land question, emigration, mail communication, lighthouses, &c.,
are among the topics to which he has thus devoted time and attention— not with­
out benefit to the public. For ourselves, we cannot do otherwise than express
our obligations to him for the uniform courtesy and consideration which he has
displayed in furnishing us with flies of both English and American newspapers,
whenever it was in his power. Such favors it would be ungrateful in us to pass
over without acknowledgment. Mr. Train goes home, we believe, by way of
Java, Singapore, Canton, Calcutta, &c., with the view of enlarging his knowledge
of commercial affairs by personal observation. With his wide-awake, pushing
faculty, he will no doubt be able to turn this to good account, whether he return
to commercial pursuits, or betake himself to the higher sphere of political life in
his native land.”
THE TRADE OF SHANGHAI, CHINA.

The United States Consul at Shanghai, writing from that port to the Depart­
ment of State, under date of August 7th, 1855, gives the following interesting
facts in relation to the trade and commerce of that p ort:—
“ The export trade for the past year has been very large, and, inasmuch as the
business season is just opening, it may be safely inferred that the value of exports
for this year will be about double that of any previous one. The disorganized
state of the empire, the equal and regular levy duties at this port, and its superior
geographical position, are the main causes of the concentration of trade at this
point. The imports have been small, because it has required some time to dispose
of the enormous quantities of merchandise which had collected at this port during
the period the city was in possession of the rebels.




394

Mercantile Miscellanies.

“ The great valley of the Yang-tsi-Kiang is the commercial field, and this port
is the entrepot. The greatest privileges conceivable might be obtained at all the
other ports, and yet one half of such facilities at this port would be productive of
more advantage than could by any possibility be obtained from all the other ports
combined. Poochow will in time be a port of some importance for the purchase
of a few black teas, but no more. Amoy and Ningpo never have furnished any­
thing worthy of notice, and Canton was only a port of trade because the Chinese
had been in the habit of going there to trade with foreigners when there were no
other ports open. „ But the difficulty created by the rebellion has diverted the
great mass of the trade from its ancient and out-of-the-way channel, and concen­
trated it here. And now that the Chinese find Shanghai to be nearer to their tea
and silk districts than Canton, and that they can get better prices often, and al­
ways as good as at Canton, they will abandon their old and long route to a port
of sale, and will continue to concentrate at Shanghai. They did this during the
past as well as the present year, and have already made contracts for the sale of
this year’s produce, deliverable at this port.”
INTEREST AND DEBT,

W e copy the following pungent paragraph from one of our exchanges, and
commend the wholesome lessons it inculcates to the readers of the Merchants'
Magazine. The homily is as applicable to the merchant as the farmer:—
“ I forgot to ask, in the earnestness of my congratulations, whether'the farm is
yours ? Whether it is paid for ? I hope the deeds are recorded, without mortgage or lien of any kind. I hope no notes are drawing interest. N o blister
draws sharper than interest does. O f all industries none is comparable to that of
interest. It works day and night, in fair weather and in foul. It has no sound
in its footsteps, but travels fast. It gnaws at a man’s substance with invisible
teeth. It binds industry with its film, as a fly is bound upon a spider’s web.
Debt rolls a man over and over, binding him hand and foot, and letting him hang
upon the fatal mesh until the long-legged interest devours him. There is no crop
that can afford to pay interest money on a farm. There is but one thing raised
on a farm like it, and that is the Canada thistle, which swarms new plants every
time you break its roots, whose blossoms are prolific, and every flower father of a
million seeds. Every leaf is an awl, every branch a spear, and every single plant
is like a platoon of bayonets, and a field full of them is like an armed host. The
whole plant is a torment and a vegetable curse. And yet a farmer had better
make his bed of Canada thistles, than attempt to lie at ease under interest."

THE FORTUNE OF A GREAT BANKER.

The Swabian Mercury, from Frankfort, contains the following account of the
fortune and charities of the late Baron de Bothschild:—
The fortune of Baron de Bothschild, who recently died has been valued at from
forty to fifty millions of florins. A sum of 1,200,000 florins is destined to continue
the alms which the deceased was in the habit of distributing every week, as w'ell
as for the distribution of wood to the poor in winter. The fund for giving a dower
to a Jewish maiden, receives fifty thousand florins ; the fund for the sick as well
as the Jewish hospital, ten thousand each. The Jewish school fifty thousand
florins. Sums of three thousand florins are bestowed on several Christian estab­
lishments. The clerks who have been more than twenty years in the firm receive
two thousand florins; the others one thousand; the juniors from three hundred to
five hundred florins. Many legacies are left to servants.
W e have been informed by an eminent American merchant, who once dined
with the noted Banker, that he lived in showy but vulgar splendor, and that his
manners were far from the bearing of a courteous gentleman.




The Book Trade.

395

T H E BOOK TR A D E.
1. — Travels in England, France, Italy, and Ireland.
By the Rev. G eorge
F oxcroft H askins, Rector of the House of the Angel Guardian. 12mo., pp.
292. Boston : Patrick Donahoe.
When our early friend Haskins tells us in his preface that he has not written
this little book to seek fame as an author, we believe him. For, as we knew him
in early life, he was too unselfish to seek it. W e once thought pretty much alike.
Our views of the Church harmonized. Now there is a great gulf between us, not
personally but theologically. This is not, however, the place for personalities, be
they ever so friendly. Mr. Haskins says there is a remarkable deficiency in Cath­
olic literature. The Catholics of this country have no books of travel, and with
regard to the customs of other nations, they have little means of information ex­
cept from Protestant tourists. As an offset to some of these journals and tours,
Mr. H. has prepared the present pages, as the impressions and experience of a
Catholic traveler. He made a brief tour, and his book is brief. W e like his
homely off-hand style of jotting down his observations and his experiences while
abroad. It is on the whole one of the most racy and readable books of travel we
have read in a long time.
2. — Bertha; or the Pope and the Emperor. An Historical Tale. By W illiam
B ernard MacCabe, author of “ Florine,” “ a Catholic History of England,”
&c. From the Second Dublin Edition. 12mo., pp. 414. Boston: Patrick
Donahoe.
Protestants write stories in defense of their religion, and we see no good reason
why the honest Roman Catholic may Dot do the same. The inducements, we are
told by the author, for the publication of this tale, was the delivery, at a public
meeting in Edinburgh, of a speech by Macaulay, the historian, reflecting on the
character of Pope Hildebrand. It was an electioneering speech. Mr. MacCabe
thinks it “ a marvelous exhibition of impenetrable and obstinate prejudice for the
historian to promulgate such a slander upon the dead, by one wdio has the charac­
ter of the scholar and the historian.” The story is written in a flowing and grace­
ful style, and will be read with interest, and approved or condemned according to
the religious predilections of the reader.
3. — The Day-Star of American Freedom; or the Birth and Early Growth of
Toleration in the Province of Maryland ; wfith a Sketch of the Colonization
upon the Chesapeake and its Tributaries, preceding the Removal of the Gov­
ernment from St. Mary’s to Annapolis, &c., &c. By George L ynn-Lacklin
D avis, of the Bar of Baltimore. 12mo., pp. 290. New York : Charles
Scribner.
Although the author of this work thinks the history of toleration in Maryland
cannot yet be properly written, he has certainly succeeded in citing papers, taken
from the archives at Annapolis, which give value to his work as an interesting
chapter in that history. W e have, moreover, glimpses of the numbers and geneeral state of society, of the religion and legislation, of the life and manners of
the men who worshipped in the wilderness at the first rude altar of liberty.
4. — All Abroad ; or, Life on the Lake. A Sequel to “ The Boat Club.” By
Oliver Optic. 18mo., pp. 256. Boston : Brown, Bazin & Co.
Like “ The Boat Club ” this book was written for especial amusement of boys,
by one who knows what they like. A s the interest of the story to which this is a
sequel centers in Tony Weston, so that of the present does in Charles Hardy.
The author’s design, while administering to the amusement of boys, is to make
them believe that the path of truth and rectitude is not only the safest but the
pleasantest path, and the experience of Charles with the “ Rovers,” illustrates and
supports the position.




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5. — The Stable Book: being a Treatise on the Management of Horses, in rela­
tion to Stabling, Grooming, Feeding, Watering, and W orking; construction
of Stables, Ventilation, Stable Appendages, Management of the Feet. By
J ohn S tewart, Veterinary Surgeon, Professor of Veterinary Medicines in the
Andersonian University, Glasgow. W ith Notes and Additions, adapting it to
American Food and Climate. By A. B. A llen, editor of the American Agri­
culturist. 12mo., pp. 378. New York : 0. M. Saxton & Co.
The most valuable advice respecting the management of that useful and hand­
some domestic animal, the horse, is given in the present volume, by a competent
individual, who has made the subject a matter of special study. It is adapted to
our own climate by the notes and additions of the American editor, whose pur­
suit necessarily involved the investigation.

6. — Lires o f the Queens of England of the House of Hanover.

By Dr. D oran.
In two volumes. 12mo., pp. 420 and 377. New York : Kedfield.
These volumes, from an author to whom we are indebted for other works of a
more discursive and a less solid character, presents the biography of the English
queens from Sophia Dorothea, of Zell, to Caroline, of Brunswick. Seeking to
amuse as well as to instruct, he has interspersed his narratives with fragments of
court experience and a record of the more minute details of personal life which
could scarcely be found in the plain and unadorned history of Hume, or the more
stately pages of Gibbon. He appears, in fact, to have aimed to present a record
of the daily circumstances transpiring at court during the lives of the queens
whose biographies he has presented to us, as well as the general facts of history.
7. — Six Sermons. By G eorge F. S immons. 12mo.,pp. 134. Boston: James
Munro & Co.
W e seldom read sermons; we prefer hearing them fresh from the living mind
of a Channing, a Chapin, or a Beecher; but the six sermons printed in this vol­
ume are the culled, ripe thoughts of an earnest, finely-constituted mind, perfectly
free from conceit and hollow declamation. They were selected by the author for
the purpose of publication, or rather as a gift to his friends, in the first days of a
sickness which closed with his life, on the 5th of September, 1855. The intro­
duction, written at the time, was marked by him “ Fragments of a Preface,” but
is inserted just as he left it.
8. — The Private Life o f an Eastern King. By a Member of the Household of
his late Majesty, Nussu-u-deen, King of Oude. 12mo., pp. 246. New York :
Kedfield.
The narrative is alleged to be that of facts, not fiction, by one who resided at
the Court of Lucknow. It presents, in a readable form, the court habitudes of
oriental life, which exhibit a striking contrast with that of the Occident. Much
of what he denominates the strange and the horrible, that passed before his obser­
vation, he has omitted to describe, but the brief account which he has given of
this department of existence in the East probably presents a faithful picture of a
native court within the territory of Hindostan.
9. — The Communion Sabbath. By N eiiemiah A dams, D. D., Pastor of the
Essex-street Church, in Boston. Boston : John P. Jewett & Co. New York :
Sheldon, Lamport & Co.
This book is designed for communicants, and for those who leave the house of
worship when the Lord’s Supper is to be administered. The book will interest
that portion of the Christian world who believe in the ceremonials of the Church.
It is beautifully printed.
10. — The Bible History of Prayer. With Practical Reflections. By Charles
A . Goodrich. 12mo., pp. 384. Boston : John P. Jewett & Co.
The Bible account of prayer is fully unfolded in this treatise, and in order to
add to the interest of the volume, the author has indulged a good deal in narra­
tive, opening and explaining the circumstances which gave birth to the several
prayers recorded in the Bible.




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11. — The Heathen Religion, in its Popular and Symbolical Development. By
Kev. J o s e p h B. G r o s s . Boston : John P. Jewett & Co. 12mo., pp. 372.
The doctrines of the Heathen Mythology, with the mysteries of a period which
was overshadowed by a sort of Egyptian twilight, are clearly set forth in the pres­
ent volume. The religion of the H indoos, the Scandinavians, and the Persians, is
likewise described. The system of ancient mythology, the author remarks, arose
from the spirit of the age. He states, that in the earlier ages of the world, the
universe could not be contemplated by the untutored mind of man as the sole pro­
duction of a Supreme Being, as he was incapable of reasoning a posliori, and it
was reserved for the Novum Organum of Lord Bacon, in more recent times, to
point out the inductive way which leads through nature up to nature’s God.”
12. — Plain Talk and Friendly Advice to Domestics: with Counsel on Home
Matters. 12mo., pp. 241. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. New York :
J. C. Derby.
This volume is dedicated “ to American Housekeepers, whose trials and diffi­
culties have enlisted the author’s sympathy— whose vexations she has shared—■
whose labors she hopes to lighten— but whose co-operation she earnestly desires.”
The design of the book is quite laudable. It appears to be the earnest desire of
the author to improve the condition, as well as the efficiency and usefulness of the
large class of people filling the various and responsible grades of service; and is,
we believe, the first book written expressly for the guidance and encouragement
of servants. It is a good book, and should be in the hands of every mistress and
maid-servant in the country.
13. — Vera: or the W ar of the Peasants— an Historical Tale. By H e n d r i k
C o n s c ie n c e . 18mo., pp. 256. Baltimore : Murphy & Co.
This romance of M. Conscience, a writer of marked celebrity, is designed to
preserve the memory of the grand but unavailing stiuggle of the Flemings, to up­
hold their religion and their liberties against the armies of the French republic.
It portrays with power the oppressions and cruelties practiced by the revolution­
ary agents, and shows us how simple peasants were stung to madness by a sense
of intolerable wrong, and how they were goaded on to desperate and bloody re­
prisals. Its characters are all imaginary ; but like all M. Conscience’s historical
romances, it is pronounced by the English translator scrupulously accurate in
statement.
14. — The Discarded Daughter. By Mrs. E m m a D. E . N. S c u t h w o r t h , author
of “ The Deserted Wife,” “ The Lost Heiress,” “ Missing Bride,” “ W ife’s V ic­
tory,” “ Curse of Clifton,” etc. 12mo., pp. 412. Philadelphia : T. B. Peter­
son.
The romances of Mrs. Southworth are much admired by a large class of readers.
The present work was originally published in 1852, and its reappearance in a
new and more beautiful form, alter a lapse of four years, is, perhaps, the best evi­
dence of the permanent popularity of the author. Mrs. Southworth is regarded
by the critics of the press, as one of the boldest and most forcible of American
novelists.
15. — 7'he Magician's Show Bex, and other Stories. By the author of “ Bainbows for Children.” With Illustrations. 18mo., pp. 295. Boston : Tieknor
& Fields.
W e have, besides the “ Magician’s Show Box,” some half dozen other Stories,
which, without reading, we have no hesitation in recommending to the young, be­
cause we know that Tieknor & Fields never publish an uninteresting or a bad
book. W e have never said as much of any other publishing house.
16. — More Truth than Fiction: or Stories for Little Folks at Home. By A un t
M a r t h a . Boston : James French & Co. 18mo., pp. 110.
Here is another little volume appropriate for a holiday present for children,
decorated with pretty engravings illustrating the stories, with gilt edges and gild­
ed binding.




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17. — The Prison o f Wellevreden, and a Glance at the East Indian Archipelago.
By W a l t e r M. G ib s o n . Illustrated from Original Sketches. 12mo., pp. 495.
New York : J. C. Biker.
A description of the experience of the writer of this book during a somewhat
protracted residence in the East constitutes the main portion of the text. In con­
sequence of charges made against him, arising from jealousy on the part of the
Butch authorities, he suffered an imprisonment of fifteen months ou the Island of
Java. Buring his sojourn in that part of the globe, he enjoyed a favorable oppor­
tunity of studying the Malay and Javanese characters. The minute description
which he gives of the inconveniences which he suffered, is chiefly personal, and the
scope of the work, as we learn from its pages, is dedicated “ to the elevation of
the native races of the East Indian Archipelago in religious truth, in morals, and
social virtues.” It is an exceedingly interesting.book, and is copiously supplied
with woodcuts, which tend to illustrate the text.
18. — The Sacred Plains. By J. H. H e a d l e y . 12mo., pp. 239. Buffalo:
Wanzer, McKim & Co.
The design of this work, like its predecessor, the “ Sacred Mountains,” by the
Rev. J. T. Headley, the present Secretary of State in New York, is to render
more familiar and lifelike some of the scenes commemorated in the Bible. The
author of the present work attempts to carry out the original design of his kins­
man, v iz .: to collect together, in one continuous series of groups, some of those
sublime and thrilling events connected with certain generic localities, as a painter
would throw all his marine views into one series, and his landscapes into another.
“ The Bible and a map of Palestine,” say3 the author, “ have been my only text­
books.” A t the same time he has consulted a great number of the best authors.
The book is written in a pleasing and popular style, very much after the manner
of the “ Sacred Mountains.” There are several appropriate illustrations.
19. — The Newcomes ; or Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family. Edited by
A r t h u r P e n d e n n is , Esq.
In 2 Yols. Vol. i., 8vo., pp. 202. New York :
Harper & Brothers.
These popular and humorous sketches, which originally appeared in the num­
bers of Harper’s Magazine, are here issued in a convenient form, with woodcut
illustrations. The author, a man of genius, it is well known has by a recent
course of popular lectures upon the subject of four of the kings of England,
widened his previous reputation in the United States, which had been already at­
tained by his works.
20. — On the Phenomena o f Modem Spiritualism. By W i l l i a m B. H a y d e n ,
Member of the New Jerusalem Church at Portland. 18mo. Boston : Otis
Clapp.
This volume consists of five lectures delivered, by the author, we presume, be­
fore the “ New Jerusalem at Portland.” A disciple of Swedenborg, Mr. Hayden
has full faith in spiritual intercourse with the unseen world. He thinks, too, that
some of the communications with spirits we have while in the body, are of a dis­
orderly character. Boubtless those of modern spiritualism, rapping, moving of
tables, &c., come in his view under this category.
21. — Richard the Fearless; or the Little Bake. By the author of the “ Heir of
Redcliffe,” “ Kings of England.”
With illustrations, drawn and lithographed
by J. B. 12mo., pp. 208. New York : B. Appleton & Co.
This is a tale drawn from the Middle Ages, adapted to the new year, with a
narrative interesting, and embellished with appropriate pictorial illustrations.
22. — Kit Barn's Adventures; or the Yarns of an Old Merryman. 18mo., pp. 3G0.
Boston : Ticknor & Fields.
A book from the author of the Sliakspcare Concordance must be good, and
such, we predict, the young reader will find the Adventures of K it Barn. The
volume is appropriately illustrated with fine wood engravings.




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23. — Dealings with the Dead. By a Sexton of the Old School. 2 Vols. 12mo.,
pp. 350, 698. Boston : Dutton & Wcntworth.
The first article in these volumes originally appeared in the Boston Ecening
Transcript, and occasioned at the time some little controversy, and it is well it
did, as we are told that it led to the preparation of the essays which follow.
These papers, numbering some hundred and forty, which appeared from time to
time during the years 1848 to near the close of 1855, in the Transcript, are
reminiscences of the “ solid men of Boston,” who have figured in all the diversified
pursuits in life, and are now numbered with the things that were. But it is not
confined to that class alone, but abounds in sketches of men of varied eccentrici­
ties, and is full of grotesque figures, enriched, too, with classical allusions. The
“ Sexton of the Old School ” is understood to be no less a personage than Lucius
Manlius Sargent, a septuagenarian, who walks the streets of Boston with gait
firm and elastic, and form unbowed by years. The richness and resources of his
mind, nowr in all its vigor, permeates every page and paragraph of this latest pro­
duction of his prolific pen. W e are not personally acquainted with the author,
but we never pass by him without giving a glance at his form and features,
which men of mark, though unsought, will ever command from their cotem­
poraries.
24. — Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence o f the late Amos Lawrence.
With a brief Account of some Incidents in his Life. Edited by his son, W i l ­
l ia m R. L a w r e n c e , M. D.
Boston : Gould & Lincoln.
The work, whose title is prefixed, contains a brief biographical sketch, accom­
panied with the correspondence and diary of a prominent merchant, who was well
known both in New England and in the greater part of the Union ior his success,
integrity, and benevolence, the greater portion being compiled from letters found
among his private papers. The diary presents a record of his general habitudes
of thought and modes of life, and shows him to have been possessed of a highly
charitable spirit and religious principle. His benefactions, to public institutions
as well as to other objects, are worthy of his general reputation, and sustain his
character as a philanthropic and sagacious member of the mercantile profession.
The volume is embellished with a well-executed engraving of the subject of the
work, and also with that of his brother, the late Hon. Abbott Lawrence.
25. — Dreams and Realities in the Life o f a Pastor and Teacher. By the author
of “ Rolling Ridge,” “ The Parish Side,” etc. 12mo., pp. 439. New York :
Derby & Jackson. Boston : Phillips, Sampson & Co.
The author of this volume, who, it seems, is a teacher, has cleverly grouped
some of the striking every-day facts of an interesting period of his life— a life not
devoid of romance. Castlereagh, the principal character, represents a true per­
son, although in the coloring and intensity of the portraiture, he is simply ideal.
The reader will here perceive truth and fiction snugly enfolded together— where
the fact has been highly fabled— where the i'able is largely true, and where the
foundation laid is firm or sandy. The genius of the author is finely displayed in
the unique and cleverly-worded dedication of the work— “ To one man, and he my
friend.” W e should desire no better eulogy than that embraced in the dedication,
which we regret we cannot quote entire for want of space.
26. — A Collection of Familiar Quotations, with Complete Indices o f Authors and
Subjects. New edition. 18mo., pp. 358. Cambridge: John Bartlett.
The object of this work is to show to some extent the obligations our language
owes to various authors for numerous phrases and familiar quotations which have
become “ household words,” and “ to restore to the temple of poetry the many
beautiful fragments, which have been stolen from them and built into the heavy
walls of prose.” The arrangement of the quotations in this book is admirable,
and we confess we were somewhat astonished to find the origin of so many words
and phrases we hear daily used, in ordinary conversation, by men, too, who have
no idea of their origin.




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27. — Home; or Anna Leland. 12mo., pp. 352.
New Y o rk : J. 0. Derby.
Boston : Phillips, Sampson & Co.
It is refreshing to find the “ yellow-covered literature ” giving place to such
beautifully-printed volumes as Mr. Derby and some other publishers are constant­
ly sending on their mission of good. In these days of many books, says the au­
thor of the present work, multitudes of tales are told, whose only foundation is in
the fancy. This has, however, been written in the indulgence of the feeling that
Romance is, after all, less strange than Reality. Hence, he has, from his own
history, and his own knowledge, woven a tissue of facts, more interesting and more
startling than the airy structures of Romance.
28. — Selections from the Writings o f Waller Savage Landor. Edited b y G e o r g e
S. H i l l a r d . 18mo., pp. 308. Boston : Tickuor & Fields.
But little seems to be known by the general public in this country of Landor.
The concise and comprehensive critical essay from the pen of our accomplished
countryman, which prefaces the present selection from his writings, i3 a model of
just and manly criticism, and will, we trust, tend to introduce the entire works of
one of the most original and powerful writers in the English language. As Mr.
Hillard remarks, he deserves to be read by the American people, aside from his
literary merits, for his ardent love of liberty, and his sympathy with all who do
not possess its blessings.
29. — Lanmere. By Mrs. J u l ia C. R. D o r r , author of “ Farmingdale.” 12mo.,
pp. 447. New York : Mason Brothers.
The author of this story has thrown off the rwm de flume under which “ Farm­
ingdale” made its appearance something over a year ago. That was a story of
New England life, and although not a single incident in it was even so much as
“ founded on fact,” its local descriptions and its truthfulness as an idyl of Green
Mountain life and manners, at once betrayed the secret of its authorship. To
those who have read and admired “ Farmingdale,” it were a work of supereroga­
tion to commend the present story, which, is not a whit behind that, either in
graceful narrative or graphic description.
30. — M y First Season. By B e a t r ic e R eynolds. Edited by the author of
“ Counterparts” and “ Charles Anchester.”
12mo., pp. 284. New Y ork :
W . P. Fetridge.
This is a sort of autobiography of the daughter of a baron, who married a
clergyman, whose erudition was remarkable, though he was remarkable for no­
thing else. The feelings and sympathies of the writer are portrayed in a manner
that will be interesting to young ladies, who are on the verge of entering into the
routine of life.
31. — W ager r f Battle; a Tale of Saxon Slavery in Sherwood Forest. By
H e n r y W . H e r b e r t . 12mo., pp. 336. New York : Mason & Brothers.
The gist of Mr. Herbert’s story lies in the adventures and escape of a fugitive
Saxon slave from the tyranny of his Norman lord, and although it does not pro­
fess to contain any reference to the peculiar institution of any portion of this
country, the author “ would recommend no person to open a page of this volume,
who is prepared to deny that slavery, per se, is an evil and a wrong, and its effects
deteriorating to all who are influenced by its contact.”
32. — Elnpoesis: American Addresses. Now first published from the original
manuscripts. 12mo., pp. 240. New Y ork : J. O. Derby. Boston: Phillips,
Sampson, & Co.
The sixteen “ addresses” contained in this volume, have the initial letters of as
many of our poets, including W . C. B., R. W . E., 0 . W . II., &c., &e., and closing
with “ an indignation meeting ” by the whole company. The book is very beau­
tifully printed, and is withal a clever burlesque of something, or somebody. We
dont know exactly who is what.