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H U N T ’S MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE. MAY, A rt. 1 843. I.—T H E N ATIO N AL DEBTS OF EUROPE. T o form a correct estimate o f the debts o f the principal European states, is a task which is made impossible by obstacles which the most exhausting industry would find it difficult to remove. The governments themselves, in the first place, falsify in many instances, the actual amount o f their ob ligations ; the debts when reported, in the second place, are often made up o f items, which, like the treasury notes o f Sweden, are issued without limit and without computation; and the provincial debts themselves, in the third place, which enter so largely into the actual incumbrances o f the na tions o f the south o f Europe, are often omitted entirely from the account. A close approximation to the truth, in estimates which are sometimes stu diously false, and which are generally necessarily under-rated, is impossi ble. It shall be our endeavor, in the present article, to give simply an ab stract from the official statements o f the respective governments o f which we shall treat, leaving it to the reader to make that allowance for the cor rectness o f the valuations which the considerations just mentioned will suggest. W e make acknowledgments, in the threshold o f the inquiry, to Mr. McGregor’s late valuable work on “ Commercial Legislation,” to Mr. J. R . McCulloch’s “ Statistical Dictionary,” and to the very laborious ar ticle in the “ Conversation’s Lexicon der Gegenwart, on Staatsschuldenwesen.” I. G keat B ritain .— By the budget o f 1840, the basis o f the following table was afforded :— Principal, Funded and Unfunded. Debt at the Revolution, in 1G89,...................................... Excess of debt contracted during the reign of William III. above debt paid off,................................................ Debt at the accession of Queen Anne, in 1702,........... Debt contracted during Queen Anne’s reign,................. Debt at the accession of George I., in 1714,................. Debt paid off during the reign of George I., above debt contracted,...................................................... Debt at the accession of George II., in 1727, V O L . V I I I .-----N O . V . Interest and Management. .£664,263 £39,855 15,730,439 16,394,702 37,750,661 54,145,363 1,771,087 1,310,942 2,040,416 3,351,358 2,053,125 52,092,238 1,133,807 2,217,551 398 The National D ells o f Europe. Debt contracted from the accession of George II. till the peace o f Paris, in 1763, three years after the ac cession of George III.,.................................................. Debt in 1763,......................................................................... Paid during peace, from 1763 to 1775,......................... Debt at the commencement of the American war, in 1775,................................................................................ Debt contracted during the American war,........................ Debt at the conclusion of the American war, in 1784,. Paid during peace, from 1784 to 1793,........................... Debt at the commencement of the French war, in 1793, Debt contracted during the French war........................ Total funded and unfunded debt on the 1st of Februa ry, 1817, when the English and Irish exchequers were consolidated,..................................................... Debt cancelled from the 1st of February, 1817, to the 5th of January, 1838,........................................................ Debt, and charge thereon, 5th of January, 1838,......... Principal, Funded and Unfunded. Interest and Management. £86,773,192 138,865,430 10,281,795 £2,634,500 4,852,051 380,480 128,583,635 121,267,993 249,851,628 10,501,380 239,350,148 601,500,343 4,471,571 4,980,201 9,451,772 243,277 9,208,495 22,829,679 840,850,491 32,038,291 48,544,049 792,306,442 2,576,763 29,461,528 Many serious considerations should be taken into account when com puting the period o f the liquidation o f the English debt. Great Britain, said Lord Brougham, is under recognizances in the sum o f £800,000,000 to keep the peace ; and it is worthy o f inquiry whether, if peace should be broken, the penalty will not be forfeited. How that great load is to be re moved, we know not. Sinking funds have been devised, which have aug mented the debt by the operations which were meant to lessen it, and, af ter serving as reservoirs for the support o f extravagant appropriations, have been exhausted and broken up. Compensatory taxes have been imposed, whose revenue has been seized as the security o f a new debt, and not for the liquidation o f the old. Even within the last few years, within which the preceding table has not been carried, the expenditures o f the realm, notwithstanding the annual absorption o f bullion from India, notwithstand ing the occasional extortion o f tribute from China, have fallen without the revenue. Sir Robert Peel, whose boldness in meeting the danger o f na tional bankruptcy is as commendable as his candor in avowing it, has given proof o f the exhausted state o f the sources o f revenue by his adop tion o f the income tax ; a tax which Mr. Addington feared to enforce dur ing the worst stages o f the continental struggle, and which Mr. Fox, in the parenthesis o f his short though brilliant administration, was unable to extend. It must be recollected, that the extinguishment o f the funded debt can only be the work o f years ; that ten millions, a year, appropriated spe cifically to its liquidation, would not accomplish the whole task til! eighty years were passed; and that, so far from there being a surplus at present o f that amount, there is almost a corresponding deficit. That the funding policy, both o f the whig administration of Sir R. Walpole, and o f the tory administration o f Mr. Pitt, was dangerous in the extreme in its consequen tial influence, will be readily admitted. W e believe that no more satis factory precedent can be found for the repudiation o f our own days, than the reduction by the English government, between 1716 and 1727, o f the interest accruing on the funded debt from six per cent to three and a half percent. W e scarcely know a more striking instance o f national ill-faith, than the appropriation by Mr. Pitt and Lord Henry Petty, of the sinking fund pledged to public creditors, to the purposes o f temporary revenue. Such precedents require the intervention o f a strong overruling hand to prevent their repetition; and we trust, for the honor o f the Anglo-Saxon The National Debts o f Europe. 399 race, both in the country from whence its origin is dated, and in the coun try in which its later energies have taken root, that the principle on which they are based will be crushed signally and forever. II. F rance.— By the statement o f Osiander, the French debt, in 1830, comprised 3,273,343,240 francs at five percent, 22,846,111 francs at four and a half percent, 38,776,350 francs at four per cent, and 1,180,640,133 francs at three per cent, making altogether 4,515,605,834 francs, a large portion o f which was in process o f rapid liquidation. In 1839, the interest charged on account of the public debt consisted o f the following items, the principal o f which has, since then, remained stationary :— Franca. Interest on 5 per cent stock,........................................................................ Interest on 5J per cent stock,..................................................................... Interest on 4 per cent stock......................................................................... Interest on 3 per cent stock,....................................................................... Sinking fund per cent stock,........................................................................ Interest and sinking fund onloans for bridges and canals,...................... 147,096,672 1,026,600 10,464,412 34,498,015 44,616,465 9,940,000 Consolidated debt and sinking fund,.......................................................... Interest of capitaux des cautionnements,.................................................. Floating debts,............................................................................................... Annuities, or dette viagen,.......................................................................... Pensions,........................................................................................................ 247,642,162 9,000,000 10,000,000 4,656,000 60,186,130 Total,..................................................................................... 331,484,292 The national debt o f France was a main instrument in bringing on the revolution, and the ancient dynasty and the entailed encumbrances o f the empire were thrown off together. W e confess, that to us the French debt appears to have had less share than has generally been assigned to it in the production o f that great catastrophe; because, in the first place, it amounted to not more than 50,000,000 livres, only one-sixth of what was supported with such cheerfulness under Napoleon; and because, in the second place, there are causes enough to account for the desperation o f the French peasantry, without resorting to the more doubtful palliation o f financial sensibility. They were taxed heavily ; but they were taxed far more for the support o f present extravagances, than for the payment o f inherited debts. “ I am accountable to God and my own conscience,” said Louis X IV ., as he marched in, with whip and spur in hand, upon the refractory parliament. Had the taxes thus raised, been devoted to the furtherance o f some great national conquest, or the humbling of some an cient national foe, the French might have submitted to the yoke. It was the monotonous insignificance o f the oppressions which they were made to bear, which aroused at last their indignation. They were willing to be driven on in myriads to the valleys o f Austria, or the wastes o f Russia; but their nature revolted against the inglorious usurpations o f the old re gime. Like show-horses in the circus, they were whipped without inter mission around the narrow ring which described their existence; while, on their backs, were perched the puppets and creatures o f the court, who showed forth, for the amusement o f royalty, the most grotesque and the most wearisome antics. W ho can wonder that the fury o f the bearer was not roused ? In proportion, as we stated in a former paper on this branch o f the subject, as the popular distress increased, the royal extravagance expanded. No less than thirty thousand plough-horses, at best but an awkward cavalcade, were smuggled away in a press-gang, to flank the tri 400 The National Debts o f Europe. umphal entry o f the young Dauphiners. An army o f milliners were sent in advance o f her equipage, to dress with garlands the villages on the road through which she was to pass. Scarcely had her rear guard emerged from the scene o f the last display, when the gala-day trappings were torn off, and hurried away by a by-road, to form the apparel o f the town next in order. It is no wonder that the young stranger wondered at the uni form gaiety o f the French villages. The oil which had been laid away for the frugal uses o f the ensuing winter, was confiscated for one night’s display ; and when more suitable ornaments could not be found to decorate the rapidly thrown up arch, the kitchen gardens o f the poor were rooted up to make good the deficiency. “ France is in her honey-moon,” said the Austrians, as the meats, which had been stored away for the season which was approaching, were stewed down, and concentrated into costly jellies, to amuse the palate o f the visiters. At the moment o f the wedding festivities, martial law was proclaimed at Besangon and at Tours. Dur ing the same week, four thousand o f the citizens o f La Marche and the Limosin perished through starvation. A pamphlet, published about the time, similar in scope to Swift’ s proposal for eating Irish children, sug gested, that the twenty millions to be applied to feting the Dauphiners, should be appropriated to the absorption o f taxes. Had the plan met with favor, her wedding might have been less splendid, but her fate would have been less fearful. The repudiation o f the national debt, was much more the work o f the court than o f the revolutionists. Neckar proposed to reduce it by severe economy in the palace, and temporary sacrifices by the nation ; but while the people signified their assent, Louis X V I., always waiting to surrender, till the period when capitulation was too late, rejected both plan and pre mier. When the deed was done, the error was discovered; but the king, when Neckar was at last recalled, found that the popular consent to any thing else but regal retrenchment, had been retracted. The debt was wiped away by a transfer o f securities, as it was styled; and those who doubted the capacity o f France to sustain it, lived to experience the prompt assumption and ready payment o f six times its amount, during the more acceptable days o f Napoleon. Notwithstanding, however, the dishonor o f her old obligations, we can not but consider the present debt o f France as based on a more secure foundation than that o f her immediate neighbors. She resorted to repu diation under the concurrence o f accidents, whose repetition it is almost absurd to imagine. Had the Bourbons been undisturbed, or had the em pire swung into power without the stormy parenthesis o f the republic, it is probable that the assignats would never have been issued. The French debt fell in the chasm which opened between the monarchy and the em pire. That a chasm so fearful and so profound can exist again, seems improbable. The French nation has become too well versed in the art o f throne-shifting, to allow the repetition o f scenes so clumsy, as those which took place during the throes o f the revolution. The government may, perhaps, be liberalized, or may, perhaps, be strengthened; but, whatever may be the changes that take place, they will take place by the shifting o f the scenes without the act coming to a close. O f the power o f France to pay the debt, there is no doubt. By a calculation which we shall ex hibit at the close o f this article, it will be seen, the average o f her debt to her population is only one-sixth o f what it is in Great Britain. It will The National B elts o f Europe. 401 be observed, also, that the wealth o f France is not, nor cannot be, ficti tious ; that it is founded on the agricultural and manufacturing facilities of the realm ; that, in face o f commercial disadvantages, it has steadily in creased ; and that, as fresh commercial facilities are opened upon it, it will steadily increase. The total value o f the annua! products of the mines and manufactures o f France, is estimated at 2,000,000,000 francs. The particulars are about 450,000,000 o f home raw materials, 225,000,000 o f foreign raw materials, 900,000,000 o f workmanship, 225,000,000 o f gen eral expense, as implements, repairs, lighting, interest o f fixed capitals, and 200,000,000 for the profit of the manufacturer. The entire debt, ac cording to Lamot’s “ Manuel de la Bourse,” (Paris, 1840,) in Jan. 1,1839, amounted to 4,457,736,996 francs. The yearly interest of the debt ab sorbs, at present, about one-third the yearly revenue o f the kingdom, which is rated at about 1,100,000,000. The English debt swallows up, in inter est, more than one-half o f the revenue out of which it is to be supported. III. R ussia.— So scattered are the chief reservoirs o f wealth throughout the Russian empire, that the aggregate revenue drawn for the support o f the state, is small in comparison to the great bulk o f the country from which it issues. The moderate income of the crown has checked both the emperors in borrowing, and capitalists from lending to a large amount. The public revenue o f the empire is rated at 380,000,000 rubles a year, or about $75,000,000. The taxes are partly farmed at a great discount, and partly collected by military agents, at a vast expense; so that it is estimated, that one-third o f the stream is absorbed by the channel through which it passes, before it reaches its destination. In times o f peace, the two sides o f the account are balanced ; but in case of war, or intestine disturbance, the scale of receipts rises in proportion as that of expenditure is forced downwards. The expense o f the army and navy, the latter be ing about one-sixth o f the former, amounts to more than half the revenue. The next great items are the interest on the public debt, and the sinking fund ; the civil list, internal administration, public works, and, finally, the diplomatic service. What the debt is, is a matter o f some dispute. Mr. McCulloch rates it at 956,337,574 rubles ; and the author o f the article “ Slaatsschuldenivesen,” in the Conversation’s Lexicon, whose authority we are inclined to prefer, states that, on January 1, 1840, it amounted to 263,634,881 rubles funded debt, and 595,776,810 rubles treasury notes. How much o f the loan o f 36,000,000 guilders, made in Poland in 1839, for the purposes o f national improvement, is included in the preceding cal culation, it would be difficult to determine, as the process o f consolidation has proceeded so rapidly as to have destroyed already a large portion o f the individuality o f the two nations. IV. T he N etherlands.— Next to Great Britain, there is no country which feels more heavily the burden o f heavy taxation than that which is now included in the kingdom o f Holland. The ways and means for 1840, were estimated at 56,386,298 florins, under which head was estimated the sum of 11,220,000 florins, which it was expected would be furnished by the colonies. It cannot be much wondered that Holland, whose merchants were, for a long time, the principal creditors in Europe, should be the state which is, through its government, most greatly indebted. The interest of money at home was exceedingly small, scarcely exceeding, on an average, two and a half per cen t; and the capitalist, therefore, searched abroad for investments which might render him a profitable return. T o America, 33* 402 The National Debts o f Europe. during the revolutionary war, to France, at the same period, as well as at her subsequent more terrible necessities, the citizens o f the low countries extended the most ample loans. Wherever interest mounted over three per cent, might be seen the Dutch skipper. On the jungles o f India, on the canals of China, in the streets o f New Amsterdam, as well as on the dykes o f Holland, might be seen the fruits o f Dutch industry and enter prise. In the Holland side o f the low countries, however, the creditor interests *eem giving way to the debtor. The national debt, according to the report o f the minister o f the finances, in October, 1840, amounted to 800,000,000 German dollars, or $266 to each o f its inhabitants, being a ratio the great est that can be found among debt-incurring nations. The debt o f Belgium was rated, in 1840, at 120,000,000 German dollars, though, from the mag nificence o f the internal improvements conducted by the government, it bids fair to be vastly increased. W e confess that the ultimate solvency o f Holland has been placed in strong doubt by the more recent reports o f the minister o f finance. “ Since 1830,” says Mr. McCulloch, “ the ex penses of the state have almost uniformly exceeded the income ; and there has been, in consequence, a constant increase o f national debt. The Dutch are too sagacious a people not to see in what this state of things must end ; and hence the growing dissatisfaction with the budgets. A nation may advantageously contract debt during w ar; but a nation, unable during peace to provide for her expenditure, must either retrench or prepare f o r bankruptcy, or, perhaps, revolution.” * That it will be a long while before the Dutch people, honest and indus trious both in their constitution and their dealings, will consent to either o f the two last remedies, we can well believe. Retrenchment, however, has been tried, but tried in vain. Retrenchment, when brought to bear on the interest o f a debt already incurred, is next to repudiation; and though it was adopted by Great Britain, after the accession o f the Hanover family, it will be long before a measure so dishonest will be re peated. The interest on the Dutch loans amounts, but on an average, to three and a half per cent; but, small as it is, it cannot be paid without the encountering o f fresh obligations. New debts are incurred, to pay old debts; and it is clear that, unless some untried experiment be adopted, the top of the ladder will soon be reached. The Dutch have, undoubtedly, struggled manfully against the difficulties in their path. They have cut down the perquisites o f royalty so low, that their king is not much more than a head burgomaster ; and they have pared away the protective duties, with which their home produce was coated, till the maximum amount o f revenue has been procured. Go farther, they cannot. Their government they cannot farther change without revolution ; and, if their tariff should be reduced much more, it will cease to exist altogether. The bankruptcy o f a nation, which, for nearly a century, was at the head o f the commerce o f the world, whose character for integrity, for soundness, and for wealth, has existed as long as its national independence, is a spectacle which car ries with it a moral, whose meaning is but too clear. Dr. Paley told one o f his friends, that he always made his wife and daughters shop with ready money, as it formed so good a check upon the imagination. It would have been well if a similar rule had been made imperative upon Great * McCulloch’s Geographical and Statistical Dictionary, vol. i, p. 1011. The National Debts o f Europe. 403 Britain, upon Holland, and upon these United States, when they employed themselves either with war or internal improvements. V. Spain .— When we recollect the utter profligacy o f the Spanish gov ernment in the repudiation, as well as the evasion o f its obligations, we will find great difficulty in computing the total amount o f its present debt. The gross amount o f the Spanish revenue is estimated at 850,000,000 reals, or about $45,000,000, though we should suppose, from the struggles made by the government for the negotiation o f large loans for purposes o f ordi nary expenditure, that it was much lower. From the ministry, whoever they may be, no true report can be expected. According to the semi-offi cial statements brought down as far as October, 1841, the total debt o f Spain amounted to 14,160,968,047 reals, or about $775,000,000 ; o f which sum the internal debt amounted to 8,318,985,279 reals, and the external debt of every description to 5,841,982,768 reals, or very near $316,000,000. A large amount o f the sum total is due to the English, though the interest has not been paid for a long period o f time. The debt o f Spain is owing rather to governmental mismanagement, ra ther than to national poverty. W e believe that, under a prudent and per manent administration, Spain would be not only able to recover her past position, but to redeem her dishonored obligations. Vast are her resources, and powerful her people; and if the liberal government that has been in stituted can only take root, her name may be once more great among the nations. The later ministries have gone a great way already to redeem the disgraced character o f their country, by their anxiety to make good its ancient, though shaken engagements. The value o f the unsold national property belonging to the state, was estimated by Senor Mendizabel, on the 22d o f May, 1840, at nearly $480,000,000; and as sales were effect ed in the following year to the amount o f $80,000,000, its value is still to be rated at $400,000,000, the whole o f which is pledged to the liquida tion o f the national debt. A thorough reform in the treasury, a letting down o f the absurd hereditary tariff, an equalization of the internal taxes, would annually put into the treasury, according to a recent credible calcu lation, more than $15,000,000. Such a reform is in progress. W e con sider Spain, as well as the United States, as laboring under debt far more through the mismanagement of its finances, than through the poverty o f its resources. Taxes, framed for protection and not for revenue, form but a poor means for the removal o f debts which required but an untrammelled income to absorb; and we trust that, when the good sense o f the one na tion, and the pride o f the other, are aroused, they will both take means to redeem their engagements by a method which will both remove their na tional encumbrances, and restore their commercial prosperity. V I. P ortugal.— The financial position o f Portugal, is not less obscure than that of Spain. By the budget o f Feb. 17, 1840, the income o f the realm was rated at $9,000,000, and its expenditures, including $2,300,000 for the payment o f interest due on foreign bonds, at $11,000,000. The loss of the deficiency is most usually made to fall on the public creditors; and though an effort has been lately made by which they were to receive one-half their interest, it is probable that the government will, before long, cut loose from the last half o f its obligations, with the same facility as it rut loose from the former. The whole debt, according to the aggregate estimate we shall produce at the close o f this paper, amounts to 144,500,000 German dollars. 40 4 The Rational Debts o f Europe. VII. D enmark.— Until 1835, the Danish government had given to the world no credible account of its indebtedness; and even at present, not withstanding the expositions which have since been made, the inquirer will find himself involved in obscurity at the commencement o f the exami nation. The first reports o f the minister o f finance displayed the most extraordinary discrepancy between the receipts and the expenditures of the government; and though, o f late, there has been a considerable approach to accuracy, there are still statements put forth at Copenhagen which it is difficult to comprehend. One-fifth o f the Danish revenue, to take an ob vious illustration, is derived from a land ta x; and that tax is levied in a manner so novel and so irrregular, as to leave no basis for a calculation o f its probable value. The Danish acre, or ton o f land, is equivalent to 56.000 square Danish feet; and four such acres are equal to a standard of hard corn, one o f the latter being consequently equal to five and a half o f our own acres. But as a certain equal and uniform quantum o f tax is laid upon each ton o f hard corn, the size o f the latter varies according to the fertility of the land, from 224,000 feet to 2,240,000 feet. The ton o f hard corn is, therefore, an imaginary measure; and even if entire order reigned through the remainder o f the accounts, would be enough alone to throw into confusion the whole system o f Danish finances. At the end of 1839, the national debt was estimated at 62,786,804 rix dollars unfunded debt, 5,390,385 funded debt, and 1,423,841 annuities; the internal debt being estimated at 69,601,031 rix dollars. O f the sum total, 1,041,500 are at five per cent, 793,300 at four and a half per cent, 63,114,000 at four per cent, 1,632,000 at three and three-quarters and three and a half per cent, and 1,356,940 at three per cent. The whole amount may be valued at 124,821,030 rix dollars. VIII. S weden and N orw ay .— The Swedish debt, such as it is, has never been funded, and consists principally o f treasury notes which have been issued without regard to system or limit. Norway presents a spec tacle which, for order and solvency, is unequalled on the face o f the globe. For a long time her expenses and her revenue were so carefully managed, as to chime precisely; and o f later years, so great have been her retrench ments, and so economical the regulations o f her treasury, that there has been annually a considerable surplus remaining for the liquidation of the few national incumbrances which have been permitted to arise. The two and three-quarter millions o f dollars debt will, under such auspices, speed ily melt away ; and the permanent excess o f income over expenditures, amounts to $100,000. IX . Italy .— O f the indebtedness o f the different Italian states it is dif ficult, perhaps impossible, to speak with accuracy. The Papal domains, taking the most favorable estimates, are heavily embarrassed. According to Bowring’s statements, which were compiled from authorities the most indulgent, the yearly deficit, in 1839, amounted to 854,000 scudo, out o f not quite 8,000,000 scudo income. The collected debt amounts to 50,000,000 scudo, or about $60,000,000. In Naples, the deficit which became so alarmingly great about the year 1830, has, since then, consider ably lessened. The receipts of 1830 amounted to 26,777,664 ducats, leaving a deficit o f 651,853 ducats. The receipts o f 1835 amounted to 26.089.000 ducats, with a deficit o f only 20,000 ducats. The debt o f Na ples amounts to about 108,000,000 ducats. The debt o f Sardinia amounts to 87,000,000 crowns, the corresponding income to 45,000,000. The National Debts o f Europe. 405 X. G ermany.— The aggregate sum o f the debts o f the different Ger man principalities is placed at 650,000,000 o f German dollars, being about one-fifteenth o f the entire debt o f E urope; while their inhabitants (36,000,000) form one-sixth o f the whole European population. W e shall conclude the estimates we have collected by placing rapidly together the indebtedness o f the different governments which can be classed in part or in whole under the German head. 1. The Swiss states, as a confederacy, are free from debt, though many o f the cantons, individually, are heavily involved. 2. The Austrian debt, in 1840, consisted o f the following items:— The old debt o f 1817 amounted to 243,200,000 convention florins, in addition to which must be enumerated the loan o f 350,000,000 convention florins at five per cent, the loan o f 45,000,000 at four per cent, the loan o f 40,000,000 at three per cent, the loan o f 20,000,000 at two and a half per cent, and the loan o f 35,000,000 at one per cent, making the sum total 733,200,000 convention florins. 400,361,970 florins were liquidated on April 30, 1839, so that the remaining balance o f the funded debt is 332,838,030 florins, to which, however, must be added the debt to the Bank o f Austria o f 100,000,000 florins, the treasury notes afloat in Jan., 1840, 13,430,188 florins, together with 45,000,000 florins still due on the lottery loan o f 1834, and 74,000,000 florins on the lottery loan o f 1839, so that the actual debt, in 1841, can be rated 565,518,218 convention flor ins. The exertions o f the Austrian government in the removal o f its debt, have been most commendable, and a few years o f peace will be able to re move the greater part o f that which still remains. The yearly income amounts to 240,000,000 convention florins. 3. Prussia. Frederick the Great, after a life devoted to wars the most extended, and improvements the most useful, left behind him a treasury filled with gold and unincumbered with debt. During the necessities o f the French invasion, however, Prussia was forced to borrow most largely at a heavy interest, and a debt was contracted which, by means o f steady and successful retrenchment, was reduced, in 1840, to 130,000,000 rix dollars. The Prussian disbursements o f 1836 amounted to §>52,681,000, o f which a considerable fraction was devoted to the sinking o f the prin cipal, as well as to the payment o f the interest, o f the national debt. 4. The treasury o f Bavaria is in a condition as prosperous as that o f any o f its sister states. The average income o f 1836 and 1837, amount ed to 33,472,889 florins, leaving, in two years, a surplus o f 11,418,638 florins. On Oct. 1, 1838, the national debt amounted to 126,550,907 florins, and one-third o f the income o f the state was devoted to the pay ment o f its interest, and the liquidation o f its principal. 5. The kingdom o f Saxony has also recovered from the embarrassments which were occasioned by the wars o f the French revolution. Its receipts are, yearly, about $5,000,000, yielding a permanent surplus for the extinc tion o f the national debt, which, in 1838, amounted to $10,926,456, which is increased by $3,000,000 o f government paper. 6. The Hanoverian debt, in 1838, was about $19,500,000, to the pay ment o f the interest and the extinction o f the principal whereof, $1,300,000 are annually appropriated. 7. The income o f Wirtemberg, in 1839, exceeded by $2,750,000 the calculations of the preceding y ea r; leaving a heavy appropriation for the lightening o f the taxes and the removal o f the debt, which, in 1838, 406 The National Debts o f Europe. amounted to $24,354,202. The liabilities o f the remainder o f the Ger man principalities, as well as o f the states o f which we have already treat ed, will be exhibited, in a condensed shape, in the following table:— COUNTRY. Holland,............................. England,............................. Frankfort-on. the-Main,...... France,................................ Bremen,............................... Hamburg,........................... Denmark,........................... Greece,................................ Portugal,............................. Lubeck,............................... Spain,................................. Austria,.............................. Belgium,.............................. Papal States,...................... Hesse-Hamburg,................ Saxe-Meiningen,................ Anhalt-Kothen,................... Brunswick,......................... Bavaria,............................... Naples,................................ Saxe. Weimar,.................... Hanover,............................. Prussia,................................ Nassau,................................ Russia and Poland,............ Baden,................................. Wurtemburg,..................... Parma,................................. Hesse-Darmstadt,............... Modena,.............................. Sardinia,............................. Saxony,............................... Saxe-Altenburg,.................. N orw ay,............................. Mecklenburg,...................... Saxe-Coburg,..................... Saxe-Gotha,........................ Hesse-Cassel,..................... Schwarzburg,..................... Debt. Dollars. 800,000,000 5,556,000,000 5,000,000 1,800,000,000 3,000,000 7,000,000 93,000,000 44,000,000 144,000,000 1,700,000 467,000,000 380,000,000 120,000,000 67,000,000 587,000 3,000,000 800,000 5,000,000 72,350,000 126,000,000 3,000,000 19,000,000 150,000,000 3,700,000 545,000,000 11,000,000 14,000,000 3,700,000 6,250,000 3,000,000 32,000,000 11,000,000 700,000 4,125,000 2,000,000 1,600,000 1,256,000 150,000 Inhabitants. Aver, o f debt to each lnhabit't. 3,000,000 25,000,000 55,000 33,000,000 55,000 155,000 2,100,000 1,000,000 3,800,000 45,000 13,000,000 12,000,000 4,000,000 2,500,000 25,000 140,000 39,000 260,000 4,250,000 7,600,000 240,000 1,700,000 13,500,000 370,000 60,000,000 1,250,000 1,600,000 430,000 800,000 403,000 4,500,000 1,700,000 120,000 1,000,000 600,000 $266 668-100 222 240-100 90 909-100 54 545-100 54 545-100 45 161-100 44 571.100 44 000-100 38 627-100 37 777-100 35 923.100 31 667-100 30 000-100 26 800.100 23 480-100 2 1 429-100 20 513.100 19 231.100 17 000-100 16 579-100 12 500-100 11 471-100 11 111.100 10 000-100 9 091-100 8 800-100 8 750-100 8 605.100 7 812.100 7 444.100 7 111.100 6 471-100 5 833.100 4 125.100 3 383.100 700,000 116,000 1 794.100 1 294.100 10,499,710,000 German dollars, equal to about 82 cents of our own currency. Such is the aggregate debt o f Europe ; and the object o f its contraction is fully equalled by the manner o f its liquidation. How large a portion o f it has been actua.ly dishonored, wre leave to our readers to calculate on the basis o f the statements we have offered under the preceding heads. How* large a portion has been contracted for the purpose o f intestine war, is apparent from a glance at the table itself. With one exception, the boun daries o f the European nations remain precisely as they were a century ago, when their treasuries were still unincumbered ; and yet, in attempts to alter or modify their bearings, in attempts to extend the French limits till they reached the Rhine, to consolidate the German confederacy, and to expand or contract the Prussian and Austrian dominions, ten billions of The General Principles o f Free Trade. 407 money have been spent. The partition o f Poland, the only material change that has been wrought on the relative position o f the great nations o f Europe, was effected without the aid o f a national debt; and o f the wars which depopulated Europe, which broke down her commerce, which shattered her agricultural interests, which retarded, for more than a cen tury, her advance in civilization, the only result has been a debt which it will require a series of fresh revolutions to extinguish. Such is the repro ductive power o f war ; and we fear that prodigious will be the sacrifice o f blood and treasure, before the long account is closed. W ho can guaran tee that the revolution which may sweep away the present French debt, shall be less fearful than that which swept away the debt o f the older Bourbons? In only two ways can the present incumbrances be removed : by exhaustive sacrifices, or by national repudiation. W e trust that the days o f the last alternative are run; and yet there is great danger that, should an extinguishment o f the debt be attempted, in Great Britain, at least, the overburdened condition o f the lower classes would produce gen eral rebellion. On contingencies so disastrous, it is not our business to speculate. W e pray that, by the interference o f that hand in whose hol low are held the nations o f the earth, the perils o f the crisis will be averted. A rt. II.— TH E GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FREE TR A D E * Several o f the ablest minds in the civilized world, during the last half century, have been devoted to the discussion o f the principles o f free trade. Little, therefore, which is original and striking, can be suggested on this topic at the present day. But, from peculiar circumstances, the subject is not without interest in this country ; and a revision o f some o f its general principles may, on this occasion, do some good in helping to correct er rors concerning them, both in public opinion and in legislation. The misapprehensions about free trade are here the worse to cure, because mingled, in some degree, with the creeds and prejudices o f politi cal parties. But though painted so often as a Gorgon or Hydra, this kind o f trade seeks, as a general object, only liberty in commercial intercourse. Is this not reasonable— right? Surely the owners o f property ought to be allowed freely to make exchanges o f what is their ow n ! In a free gov ernment, such liberty would not seem to imply anything either very ab surd or very criminal. But the opponents o f free trade wish, at times, either partially or wholly, to prohibit such exchanges and sales; at other times, to confine them to particular places, persons, or articles; and, at others, to subject them to regulations vexatious in character, and burdens highly oppressive. Hence, a different meaning has been given to free trade in different countries and at different periods, according as its friends are then strug gling against one or another species o f restriction. It happens thus, that sometimes the term is applied to trade, free in all respects, absolutely and unconditionally; while, at others, it is used in a qualified or limited sense, * The present paper was delivered a s a Lecture, by the Hon. L e v i W o o d b u r y , before the “ New York Free Trade Association,” at the Tabernacle, and is now first published in the Merchants’ Magazine, at the request of the Association. 408 The General Principles o f Free Trade. such as trade free from high taxes or unequal ones, and exempt from pro hibitions, as well as regulations very onerous and embarrassing. But the express provisions in the constitution o f the general government are such, as to render it unnecessary to examine here several incidental questions intimately connected with the principles o f free trade elsewhere. Among them is one, whether the home or foreign trade should be made most free ; as here, both are alike permissible by the constitution and the impolicy o f interfering, so as to restrict or diminish either, is believed to be clear and will soon be fully considered. Another question, very material elsewhere, is, how far a tax on exports conflicts with free trade ? But this possesses little interest here; as here, no burden is ever attempted to be imposed directly on exports either to foreign countries or neighboring states, it being expressly prohibited by the constitution. This is fortunate ; for nothing short o f that wise prohi bition would probably have been able to prevent the disturbing interference, long ere this, o f a system o f discriminating duties on exports, more sec tional, partisan, and odious, than that which has sometimes burdened so heavily our imports. But without entering upon other details, connected with the peculiarities concerning commerce under our forms o f government, it may be useful to review the general principles o f free trade, as applicable here, in two sep arate aspects: one belonging to our intercourse and exchanges o f prop erty at home, and the other to those abroad. Respecting the former, the system o f domestic commerce in this country is much freer than that in most portions o f the world. W e have no prohibitions even as to alien merchants or alien capital embarking in it. Nor does a single restriction exist on our own people, concerning their residences or occupations, like the castes o f India and Egypt. No tolls between different states. No transit duties. No city exactions at their gates. This is all as it should be, and as the true principles of free trade demand; no less than the ad vancement o f our country to those high destinies, which belong to and will thus accompany its liberal institutions and great natural advantages. Hence, the growth o f our home trade has, thus far, been not only larger than our foreign, but unparalleled in history. Untaxed and unfettered, as to either merchandise, places, or persons, it has swollen so as to create a demand from only a few vessels at first, to fleets o f them; constituting a mass o f tonnage in the aggregate exceeding one million and a quarter. This includes an increase in the way o f steam-vessels from nothing, forty years ago, to the vast number o f near a thousand now, and some o f them as large in size as formidable ships o f war. The rapid advance o f the tonnage employed in our domestic commerce, may be imputed by some to the regulation requiring it to be Am erican; but, in fact, the whole amount has probably become no greater than it would have been if left entirely open and free; since the quantity o f ton nage is varied by the quantity o f freights and business, rather than they by the tonnage. This home trade, too, has penetrated all our navigable rivers, however remote— stretched along, not only two thousand miles o f sea-coast, but covered immense inland lakes— interior oceans— and it is remarkable how nearly it has approached the gorges o f the Rocky moun tains, and how eagerly it aspires to cross, by caravans, boats, and portages, through a line o f forts and settlements, even tq the Pacific. This will ap pear the more striking, when we reflect that, less than a century ago, our The General Principles o f Free Trade. 409 fathers assembled at Albany, as nigh a frontier, to plan the best system o f colonial union for mutual defence against savage aggression; and that now, St. Louis, a thousand miles farther west than Albany, is but a halt ing place for business and supplies, to be pushed still thousands of miles farther.* What but freedom, untrammelled freedom, could ever have pushed forward, with such rapidity and greatness, all this immense interior trade, throughout every inhabited portion o f our two millions and a half miles o f territory ? The other meaning o f the term free trade, which is interesting here as a practical inquiry, relates to the liberty o f commerce abroad, that is en joyed by the citizens o f this country. What is our policy in that respect 1 What are our rights ? and what are the restraints on them by usage or by legislation, whether at home or abroad ? In relation to this branch o f commerce, the friends o f free trade here have always advocated the largest liberty. From the start, the whole American people, after becoming an independent nation, evinced unusual solicitude on this subject, in consequence o f the colonial vassalage which had been long imposed on them, and had restricted their commerce so exclu sively to the mother country. Throwing off this, with other galling yokes, their motto early became that embodied so beautifully by Jefferson, and worthy to be set in letters of gold : “ Peace and friendship with att na tions; entangling alliances with none.” Persevering in this, their com merce abroad was much aided by the long continuance o f wars in Europe, growing out o f the French revolution; and this system and those wars, combined, flung into the hands of the United States, as the greatest neu tral power, almost the whole carrying-trade o f the world. In only twelve or fifteen years, they pushed our commercial growth to an extent unpre cedented in the annals of mankind. They swelled the tonnage employed in trade abroad to a greatness never, in our brilliant and most prosperous career, since attained even by ourselves, till a few years previous to the present moment. They increased, in a like manner, our commerce and freights. The aggregate o f imports for some years exceeded even the amount two or three years ago, and went many millions beyond what it is now. Another striking illustration o f the portion o f this navigation un der the principle o f free trade, and without which it could not have exist ed, that has been devoted to the business o f other nations centering here, (and not including the freights by us between foreign places,) half o f our whole large imports at that period were again exported and carried to every sea and people, whose necessities, comforts, or luxuries, created a demand for them. This position, so favored and fortunate, became, at last, the envy o f bel ligerent Europe; and, uniting with other causes, provoked orders in coun cil, impressements, Berlin and Milan decrees, unjust confiscations, paper blockades, and a series o f tyrannical sequestrations, disfiguring history and civilization some thirty years ago. Then, for the first time since our in dependence, we were compelled to defend our rights, as a nation, to that free trade on the ocean which had been found not only so consonant to * An anecdote, illustrating this, may not be without interest. Only the last autumn, I saw in the family mansion of Mecheck Weare, one of the delegates from New Hamp shire to Albany on that occasion, the deer antlers brought home by him from that mis sion, and which are carefully preserved by his daughter, now ninety years of age. V O L . V I I I .— N O . V . 34 410 The General Principles o f Free Trade. our republican principles, but so conducive to our national growth. Then for the first time, in war, was unfurled to the breeze in every sea, that glorious flag bearing for its motto the essence o f the whole contest: “ Free trade and sailors’ rights.” That flag conquered in regard to this part of the struggle ; and in no crisis during the quarter o f a century since has any power, European, Asiatic, or American, ever ventured to renew such a series o f aggressions against free trade. So far from this, the firmness, perseverance, and inflexible adherence to our rights, which characterized, in that struggle, the great captain, immortalizing its close at New Orleans, again were displayed by him in defence o f the same principles in the pub lic councils, while he held the helm o f state. Again, too, it succeeded; and under his administration were secured indemnities for all those aggres sions on our free trade by every offending country in Europe, where the claims had not been merged in actual hostilities. The rights o f neutrals thus became better understood over all the civil ized world. The principles o f free trade became more widely acknow ledged. Liberty o f intercourse on every sea is now, in consequence, bet ter protected. Every nation has, and exercises now, the same right with the haughtiest, to make her march “ over the mountain wave— her home upon the deep.” The ocean is now the practical, as well as theoretical, highway o f nations; and any encroachment attempted in this age against such freedom, would justly excite, not only an armed neutrality in the north o f Europe, but hostility over all Christendom ; and the national pow er, however great, and circling the globe as it may with its flag, that shall dare again to disturb a principle so well settled in national law as free trade on the ocean— whether she do it by orders in council, or odious visi tations, or rights o f inquiry pushed into insolent rights o f search— she will arouse, not only the indignation o f other powers, but sap her own vast moral as well as political influence, and earlier fall unpitied and unwept. As soon as the war o f 1812 terminated, our sagacious statesmen sought by all possible means, consistent with public honor and the public welfare, to secure a permanent establishment o f free trade between us and other nations. They regarded it as the strongest security for the rapid growth o f all our great interests. Mutual privileges were therefore invited and guarantied, treaties o f reciprocity encouraged, and the road smoothed in various ways to that liberality in national intercourse, which is so vital to prosperity, letters, civilization and religion, as well as freedom. It is des tined to prove the glad herald o f them all to all people. This policy was calculated to open the eyes o f the rest o f mankind gradually to the utility o f promoting a similar spirit in their foreign relations. The intelligent and far-seeing perceived that it would tend first to abolish everywhere, in commerce, the substitution o f mere might for right. All oppressive tolls, under cover o f sound dues, or light money, or close seas, would in time cease. All seizures under the impotent plea o f state necessities, would be proscribed, retaliatory prohibitions be deemed suicidal, permanent non-in tercourses be hooted at, and Japanese exclusions be prostrated. In the train o f all these reforms would come next a spirit of enterprise, truth, and reason, which, ere long, must penetrate even the ridges o f the Himalaya mountains ; carry thither useful fabrics from abroad as freely as to the Alleganies, or Alps, or Andes ; explore thus the hidden recesses o f China ; and in time open the heart o f Africa to a liberal foreign commerce, and accompany it with a higher civilization in the place o f savage slavery. It will prove to be The General Principles o f Free Trade. 411 the only effective mode to abolish man-stealing and the traffic in human blood, as it will substitute for such atrocities a better and wiser code o f faith and practice ; cultivate more suitable articles for consumption ; furnish better examples ; make commercial exchanges o f the products o f honest in dustry, instead o f the captives o f war or the spoils o f plunder; as well as cherish, in all things, a more enlightened sense o f right, duty, and human ity. Again, under such influences, we shall no more behold a continental system in Europe consigning to the flames useful and costly merchandise on account o f a dislike to its origin, nor the condemnation o f innocent neu trals for having unwillingly been spoken to by a belligerent on their voyage, or for using in their cabins merely a carpet or rug o f hostile manu facture. Nor, again, shall we witness, in civilized regions, white men kidnapped by impressment and forced to fight against friends, or serve a government they loathe and defend principles they abhor. Indeed, cours ing over the annals o f all ages, we shall find that half their wars have either originated from hostility to free trade, or would have been prevent ed had truer notions o f political economy prevailed. It is national par tiality, unnatural restraints, retaliatory obstacles, and false theories and practices, o f one kind and another, in trade, which oftenest excite disaffec tion at first, then complaint, and, in the end, collision and violence. Com merce, like water or air, cannot be long deprived of a free circulation without fatal maladies to business, as all of them naturally and healthfully seek a level or equilibrium. If governments aim at exclusive privileges over others, or attempt monopolies, or resort to prohibitory restrictions on the exchange o f useful articles, or throw fetters o f any kind over freedom in foreign intercourse, they often injure themselves the worst. They cut off their own people from all those practical blessings o f free trade which are neither few nor small; for trade o f that kind, as defined by me, is not what some ridicule as a mere abstraction. It is not a beau ideal, nev er to be realized, or Utopian, but frequently exists, and involves principles which come home to our business and bosoms in daily life; and if laws are equal, just, and reciprocal, as they should be, those principles are felt in the market-house, the workshop, and in the street or ploughfield, and on the ocean as well as the land. Hence, if we can sell any o f our exports higher in France than here or in England, and purchase articles imported, lower in England than here or in France, is it not, as a general rule, clear ly our interest to do both ? W hy, then, should laws or treaties be made to counteract either ? Freedom o f commerce, in this way, is the life-blood to both purchaser and seller; while restrictions or prohibitions, under the idea that all nations must buy or sell at home only, or buy only where they sell, however patriotic in design, are unphilosophical and crude— are fatal to commerce, and sacrifice the prosperity o f the whole and the best interests o f society to narrow or selfish views. One o f the least mischiefs from such a course has been the wars thus engendered, and the lives and wealth thus wasted. For, beyond all that, it has been prolific in other evils. How ? It has obstructed the wider diffusion o f arts and letters, and, in many countries, retarded the progress o f civilization itself for cen turies. Indeed, it will be found, through the whole annals o f the human race, that all kinds of improvement have been most rapid where commerce was freest and greatest; and that it seems as useful to advance man from barbarism, as are winds, waves, and steam, to promote navigation. With 412 The General Principles o f Free Trade. out it, as without them, there may, to be sure, be motion and intercourse ; but they would usually be slow, awkward, and unprofitable, rather than forward and upward, in a manner aspiring to conquer all other difficulties, as well as time and space. You can see, with a little calculation, that not a tithe o f the population o f many ancient and modern cities could have been maintained at all, much less so highly improved, without the aid of a large and liberal foreign commerce. And if the lessons, as to the growth o f Tyre and Carthage, Venice, Genoa, and Antwerp, are wasted on us as a nation; if we become exclusive, captious, and prohibitory, in our intercourse abroad ; if we move backwards in the cause o f free trade, while much of Europe is moving onward— yearly diminishing some o f its rigors, and getting more o f our locomotives to facilitate intercourse, as well as more o f our free trade principles— we shall, ere long, be out stripped in every kind o f improvement. W e shall even be distanced, in stead o f running, as becomes us under our free institutions and great na tural advantages, first among the foremost in all which is progressive, liberal, and glorious. T o be convinced that half our elements o f growth and greatness are likely to be lost if we indulge in hostility to foreign commerce, it is only necessary to reflect a moment that this kind o f commerce, for which free dom is desirable in the broadest sense, is that which brings home to us the comforts and excellences o f all climates— which carries ours to all. It thus increases their value and enriches us, while it obliges, liberalizes, and improves both ourselves and others. It is this commerce which found a new world. It is this, too, which opened a new ocean-path to India; which doubled both the great capes o f both continents, and is discovering the thousand islands of the Pacific, as well as penetrating the icebergs o f the poles. It is the spirit o f this commerce which alone, as before inti mated, can not only carry high civilization into the heart o f Africa, but pervade Japan and all branches of the Mogul race, surmount the Chi nese walls of high protection, throw open one-third of the whole human race to new influences, and diffuse, permanently, better arts, letters, and religion, among the four hundred millions o f slaves, bigots, and savages, who yet constitute half the family o f man. Religion may alone preach through her devoted missionaries, and the schoolmaster may wander abroad wider and wider; but they will avail little unless the spirit o f this com merce precedes them as a pioneer, or accompanies them for defence and practical blessings, as well as to keep interest fresh, and intercourse open, frequent, and durable. Otherwise, millions after millions may continue to die as immured and unelevated in the scale o f human rights, as countless convents o f the Jesuits have for ages in both hemispheres o f the globe. It is this same spirit, free, fearless, and indomitable, which has already broken down the feudal system over much o f Europe; closed, in most places, the dungeons o f the inquisition; and aided everywhere to prostrate the idols o f Paganism, and disseminate light, literature, and a purer faith. Another civilizing effect of foreign commerce has been colonization, and, in its train, the substitution of refinement and arts for the rudeness o f barbarism. In the newly colonized regions, the plough soon supplants the spear— the loom, the arrow ; and all the comforts o f a more advanced society take the place o f the nakedness, starvation, ignorance, brutality, and sufferings o f savage life. It is true, that other objects have led to the establishment o f some colonies in both ancient and modern times, and The General Principles o f Free Trade. 413 others still have been mixed up with those o f commercial gain ; but com merce has oftenest been the predominant motive, and, as free or restrict ed, has pushed forward, faster or slower, an increase in wealth, numbers, and glory. Eventually, if their trade continued to be entrammelled too much, the love o f greater freedom has entirely prostrated every barrier— asserted independence; and a larger liberty in commerce, as well as gov ernment, has not only been vindicated, but bravely established. Then, like us in our colonial state, they have taken their independent stand among nations; and, like us, in Greece from Egypt, or in Carthage from Tyre, or the south o f France and east o f Spain from older portions o f the shores o f the Mediterranean, they have combatted the tyranny o f colonial parents, and by freer systems o f trade not only increased in power and fame, but proved able to sustain separate sovereignties, and advance, with rapid and improving strides, the destinies o f our race. In short, looking to freedom o f trade in foreign intercourse, each nation best promotes its own inter ests in a durable manner by allowing every other one in that respect to be equal, and establishing such free communication between each as ought to exist between individuals o f the same nation. W e are accustomed, in commendation, to speak o f the great republic o f letters; but commerce forms a republic still wider. It often precedes, and always fosters letters. It defends, as well as often diffuses, a purer religion; and is out o f place if it tolerates either political inequality, or social injustice. Obstacles to the free intercommunication o f all people, and the free interchange, among all, o f what each may need and each can spare o f the surplus productions o f each, not only vanish before it, but, till this liberal intercourse is established, all climates, soils, and pursuits, are not united as a whole in the sympathies and benefits which should bind together the human family, and are not, as duty requires, perfecting as much as possible the whole, by making each part beneficial and co-opera ting. Till then, the strongest guarantee o f peace and security against war is not obtained by rendering it injurious to each nation mutually to disturb the commerce or tranquillity o f any other, bound together, as they would then be, in the golden chains o f reciprocal and useful trade. Leaving any further consideration, separately, o f the true principles of free trade as connected either with our domestic or foreign intercourse, I hasten to the only remaining branch o f the subject proposed to be review ed on this occasion. It relates to a matter o f no less interest than the regulations which governments possess the right, and which it is expedient to make within their limits, bearing indirectly on freedom of trade, wheth er interior or exterior. It is, whether those regulations ought to be liberal or contracted, equal and impartial, or the reverse— free or slavish; and when not free, but shackled by partial privileges, prohibitions, unjust discriminations, and other kinds o f interference, invidious and fallacious, what are their fatal tendencies to society at large and all its best inter ests, as well as to commerce ? In this view o f the subject, the true principles o f free trade require that every citizen be allowed to embark in the business o f commerce no less than in every other honest pursuit. There should be no disfranchisements on account o f birth or residence— no personal vetoes— no tabooing o f dif ferent sections o f the country— no monopoly in families, tribes, or particu lar cities— no long apprenticeships, exacted servilely as a right. Skill in business, I concede, is desirable, and ^morals and intelligence; but these, 34* 414 The General Principles o f Free Trade. certainly, are better secured by the stimulus o f free rivalship and the re wards o f free enterprise, than by any rigorous exclusions. All employ ments not open to all, are likewise aristocratic in spirit, as well as un equal in operation; and they can more properly be tolerated in monarch ical governments, where they originate and prevail most, than in those where all men are born equal, and possess an equal right to seek subsis tence and happiness in the manner most agreeable to each. Laws, by partiality, may become as great tyrants as men ; and bad legislation is a more wide-spread and deep-seated curse than any bad execution o f laws. If one class is robbed, by law, to build up or enrich another, it is still a species o f robbery, and is no less unjust suffering than to be robbed with out law. So, if one section o f a common country, or one branch o f indus try, is rendered tributary to others by a course o f unequal legislation, the slavery is as oppressive and intolerable as if inflicted by the actual scourge, the dungeon, or the chain. The violation o f the principles o f free trade, if caused by the restrictive course o f some nations as to the commerce and other pursuits o f all their subjects, is more endurable than when it is practised only towards particu lar classes or employments. When the whole community choose to let rulers regulate the occupations and intercourse o f the whole, either among themselves or abroad, all will naturally submit with more calmness to pri vations which are general and common to all. Hence it is, that the citi zen o f Canton or Pekin cares but little for free trade, and as little does the merchant o f Japan, or a bazaar-owner in Constantinople; because they see around them all others equally restrained, and because they are humbled by despotism to submit in all such matters to the dictation of their rulers. At the same time, tyrants think as highly o f their own wisdom in all things as their slaves can, and hence the pacha of Egypt flatters him self with being as much better a farmer, merchant, and cotton-spinner, than any of his subjects, as he is more powerful; and he presumes to regulate business for them, or to transact it himself, in their behalf, as coolly and arbitrarily as would any Pharaoh have done it thirty centuries ago. In that country, once the pride o f the civilized world, more than half its popu lation have been extirpated within a few years by such a system o f misgovernment, and by wars in which the people had no voice but that of suffering. But under institutions like ours, formed by the people and not their rulers— for the people and not their rulers— no power should be con fided to the latter to discriminate, in any way, between different occupations, classes, or sections. All legislation ought, therefore, to be equal; and if the constitution o f any state enables its officers to favor particular branches o f industry, nothing o f the kind is expressly conferred on the general gov ernment. The error on this point often arises from hastily taking it for granted that this last government possesses all the broad authority o f that of England or Spain, while, in truth, it is much limited, and it is the gov ernments of the states, which, for all domestic purposes, more resemble those abroad; though the state officers, at times, are jealously restrained by their people, through provisions in their own constitutions, from any partial, unequal, or exclusive legislation. But beside the fact, that no right is expressly granted to congress to pro hibit freedom of trade, the expediency of preserving such freedom here is so manifest, from the character o f all our institutions and the dangerous consequences o f an opposite policy, as to repel any implication o f such a The General Principles o f f r e e Trade. 415 right; for if you permit discriminations and exclusive privileges in one thing, the door is open to them in others, and thus the vitality o f a govern ment o f equal rights and equal laws is destroyed. The example o f such invidious favoritism is not only in other ways pernicious, but, by provoking complaint and re-action, it is suicidal o f all the permanent advantages con templated. The efforts and success o f the community, as a whole, are also weakened by it. The energies o f every citizen do not run in their most natural channel, and hence not with full force or rapidity. There is, likewise, less cordiality and co-operation. Jealousies are sown deep, heart-burnings excited, and the public harmony disturbed, if actual violence does not break out. In this way, rather than promoting the greatest good o f the greatest number— the legitimate object of all government— the aim seem* to be the good o f a few, the elevation o f a few, and the rule o f a few, over others equal by nature as well as constitutional rights, and often in all useful acquirements. The hearts o f freemen, no less than their judgments, rebel at such injustice. The opponents o f free trade, there fore, attempt in various ways to justify their course ; and it is due to the vindication o f our own principles, as well as candor and justice towards others, to notice as many o f their arguments as time will permit. One of their grounds o f defence is placed on a right, given by the con stitution, to regulate commerce and impose taxes. But the power to regu late, is not a power to destroy. An authority to regulate commerce is, therefore, not one to prohibit it. Regulations must also be uniform and equal, rather than partial and exclusive, like the present tariff. In short, their design, when applied to trade, should be to encourage rather than lessen it, and to impose no restraints but such as are necessary to secure the public health, public morals, and the safe collection of the public rev enue. I do not deny, to scarcely any government, powers like these last; and, if fairly exercised, they may, without injury, be extended in almost every country to the exclusion of imports of poisonous drugs— as in China, of opium ; and as here, o f obscene prints. But too much regulation, as to anything, is intrusive, vexatious, odious ; and the exact limits o f such pow ers, in point o f either right or expediency, are somewhat difficult to define, and need not be examined further on this occasion for any practical object connected with free trade. But the other power, to impose taxes, is most relied on by our opponents. Being one that is necessary in all governments, it is, from the wide gen erality of its use, more likely to be perverted; and has, in fact, been re peatedly subjected to abuses, which have impaired free trade both at home and abroad. It, therefore, requires greater watchfulness and closer con sideration. The usual method o f applying it, so as to trench on the estab lished principles o f free trade, is by imposing unequal duties on the im ports o f foreign merchandise. This comes into operation in a manner directly unfavorable to our foreign com m erce; and as those duties indi rectly reach, to some extent, our exports, such a tariff bears some on the domestic, as well as foreign trade. Without going here into the examina tion how far the theory be sound, that all the burden o f a tariff falls cir cuitously on the exports, it is certain that much o f it falls on them if it affects, in common, all who consume the imports, since the producers o f the former are the largest consumers o f the latter. The right, however, to assess some duties on imports is not doubted by me, because it is ex pressly granted in the constitution; but the expediency o f exercising it on 416 The General Principles o f Free Trade. ordinary occasions, if at all, has been questioned by many on the very plausible grounds that it falls in too large a proportion on the middling and poorer classes, who consume nearly as much o f imports, per head, as the rich ; that it is very open to partiality, by means o f the high discrimi nations often introduced between the amounts o f duty on different articles ; and that it is felt but indirectly by the community, (though the burden in the end is quite as great as in the other forms o f taxation,) and hence, any extravagance in expense leading to it is less noticed and checked. Yet the states, having taxed imports to some extent before they parted with the power entirely to the general government, and the latter having always used it since, while the states continue to resort to other modes o f taxation, the inference seems fair that a tariff, imposed by congress to collect rev enue, is not only constitutional, but if equal, proportionate, and needed, may be expedient. These qualifications and limitations indicate the extent to which such a tax is permissible, as well as consistent with the principles of free trade ; because a tariff on imports, not much exceeding the tax lev ied on other kinds o f property by the states or the general government, does not prevent trade from being equally free with all other kinds o f busi ness. N or is such taxation unjust; for, when equal, it treats all with like favor, and merely makes all pay, as all should, in a just ratio for the ordi nary protection o f life, liberty, and all kinds o f property. The true practical motto, then, in my opinion, where taxation becomes indispensable to maintain an economical administration o f the government, is, not “ free trade and no duties,” but, “ free trade and low duties the latter being no higher than what is required for revenue alone, and only in due proportion to the tax which is generally imposed on other property in the country under our mixed forms o f government. If more revenue be wanted than this will yield, it, o f course, should be collected equally from other sources, as well as this. But while the ordinary rate o f taxa tion on most other property is not, by the states, over five per cent on its value, and often not one, the existing tariff is seldom less than twenty per cent, and in some cases is forty, eighty, and even a hundred per cen t; and these highest not, in most cases, on either luxuries, or articles prejudicial to health and morals, but on such great necessaries o f life to the humbler classes, as cottons, sugar, salt, and some kinds o f iron. So, while the tariff in some states, before the constitution was formed, did not exceed three per cent, and in none ten, and, for many years after, seldom equal led on any articles twenty, yet now, after a return from high excesses to something like twenty, and on half our imports still lower— and after oth er nations, under our example and their own experience, were reducing their duties to a like moderate standard, it is surely calculated to alarm the friends of free trade, all the world over, to see a tax on imports sud denly raised on almost every article to more than quadruple that which is usually paid on other property— to an amount far beyond any precedent here, when the constitution was formed, and to be vindicated in its high discriminations only by the notions o f darker ages than this in the science o f political economy. Another justification for such an outrage in all fair principles o f taxa tion, as well as o f free trade, is claimed by our opponents to be, the right to give that peculiar protection to domestic manufactures which such a course confers. But, as before explained, this can never be vindicated under a constitution which authorizes a tax for no purposes but to pay the The General Principles o f Free Trade. 417 public expenses, and then only in a uniform and equal manner; and nowhere confers authority, in any way, to give peculiar protection to manu factures, or any other branch o f industry. On the contrary, such protec tion is left to the separate states, according to their several local interests, if it should be exercised anywhere. For anywhere, when exercised in favor o f one class alone, it usually opens a Pandora’s box o f evils as to the rest; and when exercised for all alike, it ceases to be peculiar, and be comes nugatory as a special advantage to any. It is no apology to argue further, as is sometimes done in palliation o f exclusive protection, that it will be needed only a few years. If wrong, it should not be granted at a ll; and experience shows that, instead o f being desired but temporarily, it is sought with as much importunity now as it was twenty years ago. But our opponents again ask, in words most syren-like to the patriotic, would you refuse protection to American industry and home labor ? I answer— by no means; but let that protection be made equal to all, and not exclusive for a few. Grant it by equal laws, where the rights o f all are equal; as the justice that should reign among moral and intelligent re publicans; and the only justice, though the heavens fall. If any partiality or inequality could be justified, it would certainly be in favor o f agricul ture rather than manufactures, as that gives employment to more than four times the number o f persons and ten times the amount o f capital, and is second, in virtue and patriotism, to no other pursuit. How proudly, also, does commerce contrast with either in several re spects already alluded to ? and beyond even them, as the foundation of all maritime strength and naval defence, how fatally is it undermined by a hostile tariff? and how greatly is thus endangered the attainment o f those high destinies that have just been within our grasp, as the second power in the world on the ocean ? Such a narrow policy looks more in keeping with the monkish bigotry o f the eighth century, than the light and states manship o f the nineteenth; and I am happy to admit that, in theory, it is disavowed by many o f our opponents. But it inevitably occurs in prac tice by their system as a system, because it disturbs the natural employ ment o f both capital and labor; forces them into new and artificial chan nels, by encouraging one branch of business and overburdening others ; and, by being prohibitory o f some foreign articles, it provokes retaliations from abroad, as well as weakens the interests neglected at home, and alienates here the attachment o f large classes and sections. Such a fatal course is the more objectionable, because so unnecessary. The manufacturers, in common with other classes, and without any special favor, always enjoy a liberal incidental protection. It is obtained first by the expense o f transporting hither, at so great a distance, all foreign arti cles. Beside this, they have the additional protection o f any equal duties. These, at only twenty per cent, will alone amount to one-fifth o f the whole value o f the foreign production; and if so great a protection as that, and the cost of freights from abroad united, will not secure success here in any particular business, is it not strong presumptive evidence that such busi ness is of a hot-bed character ? one not well suited to our climate, tastes, habits, or skill ? and which, like the growth o f silk in our provincial con dition, notwithstanding high bounties, may fail, till we are riper in those other qualifications so very indispensable ? It is those tastes, habits, and skill, with suitable climate and other natural advantages, on which alone we can safely re ly ; and they will always succeed better seconded by a 418 The General Principles o f Free Trade. steady, uniform policy in legislation, by free trade and low duties, than the highest and a vacillating system. Still other pretences, thrust forward at times in favor o f partial distinctions in legislation, are alike untenable. O f this character are discriminating laws, made with a view to change the balance o f foreign trade— so to keep more gold and silver in the country, secure from exportation— so to lessen the trade with those particular na tions, who take least directly of our own products— so to alter the rates o f exchanges, which are fixed from time to time by the great laws o f trade, as surely as the ebb and flow o f the tides are fixed by the great laws o f nature. These are all a litter o f the same lame and impotent breed, from the same obsolete school. So to regulate prices, and, as some absurdly reason, to impose a larger duty in order to reduce the price o f the article taxed. How would such a pretence be ridiculed in the case o f ordinary taxes in the states ? And if a higher tariff lessens the price, why not im pose five hundred per cent rather than fifty ? and why not retaliate on oth er governments, by lowering instead o f raising duties ? The fact that prices sometimes fall after a tariff is made higher, does not conflict at all with this conclusion; because they fall from other causes, such as improve ments in machinery, greater skill, or scarcity o f money; and they fall on free goods, as well as those which are dutiable. In brief, it would be quite as wise for governments to attempt to regulate, by legislation, the quantity o f corn or hay to be grown per acre, as to regulate, in that way, most mat ters o f trade. Equally futile is the intermeddling spirit that seeks to fix, by law, the only currency or circulating medium either o f commerce or the people at large. Governments may very properly prescribe a just standard o f value, and the kind o f money, or other articles, it is willing to receive for its own dues; and it may even manufacture such a circula tion as it deems the most useful. But free trade regards everything as a matter o f exchange— o f value against value. Its prices cannot be justly affected by arbitrary legislation. The rules for the adjustment and en forcement o f contracts, may be regulated; but the exchanges o f trade are in themselves generally beyond any salutary control, except the agreement o f parties and the instinct o f individual interests. Without the imputation o f any personal claims in a matter o f history, I may be allowed to add that the attempt made here, a few years ago, to dispense with the sound constitutional standard o f value, both in the busi ness o f the government and in private contracts, as well as in exchanges, was fortunately resisted, and ultimately with signal success. The inviola bility o f contracts, the public faith, and the credit o f the general govern ment, were thus preserved unbroken amidst a pressure unexampled in se verity, and with advantages to the eventugl soundness o f the currency over the whole country which all parts are now reaping, and which, other wise, were likely to have been lost for a quarter o f a century. No stronger proof o f a portion o f this can exist than the fact, that the rate o f exchanges, both foreign and domestic, was never lower than at the present moment. There exists several other objections among the friends o f free trade to the system o f a high tariff, as well as to officious interference in busi ness by law, a few o f which only is there time left to specify, even in a condensed form. Beside being thus forced to pay a higher price than would otherwise be ask ed for foreign products, the people are compelled to pay more for like domes tic articles or no special protection is gained for them, and thus consumers The General Principles o f Free Trade. 419 are doubly fleeced. Again, while some nations are reducing duties on many imports, and especially grain, so that an additional market is thus made for ours, and the whole transportation o f ours is thrown more into American vessels, instead o f a large part o f the carriage o f most o f it being, as before, through colonies in foreign bottoms, we, by the late tariff, repel such liberal advances. W e refuse to offer a reciprocal scale o f low duties, and rashly raise ours much higher on almost every article to be imported thence in return for our meats, and bread-stuffs, and raw cotton. W e thus endeavor to diminish those very imports which have always giv en so much and so profitable employment to American tonnage, engaged in the foreign trade. Such a course Adam Smith, near a century ago, pronounced to be “ evidently as destructive to the revenue o f the customs as to freedom in trade,” and on both accounts to deserve reprobation. In that very law, also, we have taxed higher almost every article which enters into ship-building, and have thus radically impaired our ability to compete, so successfully as before, for the carrying-trade o f the world. In the same way we have inflicted a vital injury on the fisheries, that no ble nursery o f naval as well as commercial greatness; because, without adding anything to the bounty or drawback, we have increased the cost o f their vessels much beyond what it otherwise would be, by placing duties on the iron, duck, and cordage, used in them, and on the salt consumed— much higher than what existed originally, when the bounty was fixed or computed. Indeed, by this policy, we impose a new tax on the very tools o f their trade or occupation, and overburden the employment by which they earn their daily bread. What a specimen o f the kindness evinced towards interests so depressed as those o f navigation and the fisheries— interests, whose great encouragement has heretofore been that fr e e trade and sailors’ rights, for which they fought with such brilliant glory during the last w ar! While many o f the raw materials used in manufactures are left free, or at a low duty, not only all but one, used in ship-building, are taxed higher, but most o f the foreign articles eaten and worn by the mechanics and seamen thus employed. Another view o f the unfavorable bearing o f the present tariff on our tonnage is, that the increased duties only on the articles used in building and repairs, is computed by some to equal near five dollars a ton. The consequence is, that all our vessels en gaged in the foreign trade are to suffer hereafter such additional taxation. How is it possible, then, for them to compete so well as before with the vessels o f other nations whose tariffs have not been raised ? Our domes tic tonnage feels it the least, because that is not exposed to rivalship from abroad ; and hence can raise the price o f freights, and thus obtain some in demnity, though unfortunately, in most cases, from our own citizens. But if our vessels, in the foreign trade, attempt this mode o f relief, the ships o f other nations are ready to carry at the old price with profit, and thus our own tonnage remains unemployed, or is obliged to work at ruinously low rates. Another objection to this kind o f legislation is, that it resumes what was called the mercantile system a century or two ago, and which was brought into discredit under the increased lights o f reason and experience. The manufacturers are thus, at the present moment, wearing the cast off cloth ing o f the merchants. Another objection is, that, by this vicious system, the greatest necessaries o f life are the most burdened, and some luxuries the least. The very 420 The General Principles o f Free Trade. highest duties, instead o f falling on the wines, the silks, and laces o f the rich, fasten themselves, like harpies, on the tools, food, and clothing o f the poorer classes. By this mode o f taxing necessaries, as well as luxuries, consumption cannot be avoided, and the burden of the tax escaped by those least able to pay it, unless they can go without both food and clothes. Hence, it operates as a high and oppressive poll-tax in disguise; the mid dling interest in society contributing nearly as much from small incomes, as the wealthy do from large ones. This is the very worst species of in come tax, and, beside all such unjust disproportion, falls, at first, on busi ness itself as much as on property— on mere sales, and purchases— and, therefore, tends to check them, and all the enterprise, industry, and com merce o f life connected with them. Another objection is, that, by the experience o f all ages, governments prove to be not so wise in regulating either the trade or pursuits o f indi viduals, as the latter are when left to themselves. T o regulate prices by law, directly, was once quite as popular as it is now with some politicians, to influence them, in that way, indirectly, and control other matters o f pri vate business. But the latter is a doctrine from the same school as the former, and should be exploded, as that has been, for its despotic folly. I f unmolested, people will generally sell where they can get most, and buy where they must give least; and this instinct o f trade, this impulse o f self-interest, not only prompts and justifies free commerce, but aids both national and individual prosperity. The more each thus gains, the more the whole gain ; and if liberty in trade is interrupted, so that you cannot buy where articles are cheapest, the interruption is usually pushed so that you cannot sell where you are able to get m ost; and hence, much is lost both ways, beside embarrassment and delay. It is obvious, that under the doctrine o f free trade, the profit would be quite as much to purchase abroad cheaper either sugar, salt, iron, or woollens, as to sell abroad higher either our grain, tobacco, cotton, pork, or even manufactured goods. Nor is such a kind of business overreaching or disadvantageous to others, as it confers mutual benefits; the trade consisting often o f surpluses, which otherwise would not be produced, or would be much less valuable. Nor is it justly open to a specious exception, that articles procured abroad are not the result o f our own industry, and should, therefore, be proscribed. For, whatever is bought on the other side o f the Atlantic, and paid for by our exports, is the fruit o f American labor as much as if bought or pro duced in the United States. Nor does if matter whether the articles are obtained in direct exchange for others, or with money procured by the sale o f others, originating here. In either case, they are gotten by means o f sweat, toil, and enterprise h e re ; and in either case, if, as before sup posed, the sales are higher and the purchases lower than here, American industry is better stimulated, and American wealth more rapidly increased. In connection with this view, it is a curious fact in the recorded statis tics o f our foreign commerce, that both our tonnage and freights have aug mented fastest under falling duties and the largest portion of free imports, and that both have swollen quickest with those nations that supplied us chiefly with such imports. Nor is such a course o f business unfavorable to independence and peace, as well a3 prosperity. On the contrary, it removes one temptation to aggressions and wars by opening access for all, quietly, to the mutual products and excellences o f each. It also furnishes necessaries and The General Principles o f Free Trade. 421 comforts to each from the rest, which hostilities would endanger, if not destroy ; and thus it makes the free interchange o f them a pledge, a guar antee, and bond of peace. As to national independence, I go as far as the farthest. The plausible argument against the free trade system, that it makes nations, in some degree, dependent on each other, seems to over look or confound the distinction between political as well as pecuniary in dependence, so very desirable, and that social independence of all others, which is not so very desirable, as it cannot exist in much perfection ex cept with the hermit in his cell, or the solitary savage in the desert. En lightened, civilized, social man, can hardly be expected to imitate the oys ter in the mud, or the grub, folded in his vegetable blanket for the winter, both, for a time, at least, independent o f the rest o f the world; but it be comes his susceptible nature to draw comforts and happiness from all around him, and derive from society all the reciprocal advantages for which society itself is organized. And each nation, belonging, in a like manner, to the great family o f nations, should cheerfully impart, as well as use, all those benefits which may promote the good o f the whole. Failing in argument, our opponents sometimes appeal to precedent or usage, in favor o f high restrictive systems. But precedent may be cited for almost every error, delusion, and even crime. W e must discriminate between different places and eras. Many principles might be avowed and practiced on in Egypt, or the Celestial empire, or the Fejee islands, which could hardly be urged as a fit example for imitation in an enlightened re public in the nineteenth century. This is no theatre for repeating such inconsistencies as to increase taxes, in order to relieve an embarrassed community! T o shut up some o f our existing markets, when prices are already ruinously low ! T o assist a depressed navigation to compete with other nations, by taxing it higher ! T o promote harmony and co-operation in society, by introducing discriminations! In an age boastful as one of progress, and in a country proud as among the most advancing, and un der rulers pledged to auspicious reforms, and amidst taunts against other nations as illiberal, intolerant, and monopolizing, is it decent or decorous to summon us to assist in measures like these— measures, likewise, so sub versive o f all those great principles of free trade, o f which, heretofore, as a nation, we have held ourselves to be the champion ? It is difficult to characterize such steps, however well meant, in plain and truthful language, without making it offensive. I forbear, therefore, saying more o f them in this view o f the subject, except to quote another precedent o f the high protective system, which stares us in the face, as a signal failure, and from a quarter once highly distinguished. It is the case o f Spain; and it is the more striking, as her natural advantages for commerce were so very conspicuous. She had some o f the finest harbors in the world. Her borders were washed by two oceans. Her colonies inhabited almost every latitude, from the equator to the poles. Yet, resorting most unadvisedly to prohibitory laws, and madly persisting in their severities, have contributed largely to sink her to a third rate power— have, in brief, reduced her popu lation one-half; caused the grass to grow over the streets o f her great commercial marts; robbed her o f some o f the richest countries the sun ever shone on in his whole career; filled up her seaports with rubbish and decaying wharves; rotted her navies; lined her borders with armies o f brigand smugglers and ruined most o f her vast internal trade, and, in the end, her manufactures themselves, almost as effectually as her foreign V O L . V I I I . — no . v . 35 422 The General Principles o f Free Trade. commerce. The only striking exception to all this, in her possessions, is Cuba, and that is still illustrative o f the same principles, by being indebt ed for its great prosperity and exports to the opposite policy o f lower du ties, and freer ingress and egress to all nations, instead of the exclusion o f all, formerly indulged in by Spain.* And for what are we invited to become retrograde in our commercial policy, and incur all such dangers and sacrifices 1 Merely to push, fur ther, experiments already fatal. In short, merely to try, at the expense o f other interests, to manufacture a few more yards o f calico here, rather than buy them lower elsewhere; or to make a few more pounds o f sugar in Louisiana, rather than purchase it from Cuba or Brazil, where the cane ripens two-thirds larger and the sugar is cheaper in proportion, and where we can get it in exchange for our lumber and flour, sold at much higher prices than here. T o dwell on these considerations no longer, it is manifest that such a system o f taxation is as much at war with common sense and common economy, as it is with free trade ; while it abandons all constitutional ad herence to that system o f equal legislation, equal rights, and equal protec tion, so indispensable to the prosperity o f the whole, and to the preserva tion o f the essence, as well as form, of a republican government. Beside such local views, there are some general ones, connected with the principles o f free trade, which deserve special notice, as they bear on the progress of civilization, on the better security o f human rights, and the improvement o f both morals and intelligence. The system, fully car ried out, is a harbinger and guarantee o f all these. It is not, like other systems, tainted with exclusiveness. It does not, like them, claim a sort o f divine right for some pursuits, and impute a want o f it to othefs; is not, like them, partial, and so far unjust; and not, like them, officious, and intermeddling with private business and tastes, so as to govern too much and confide too much in the wisdom o f rulers, rather than in the people at large. By pushing the principles o f free trade everywhere and into every thing, each country will gradually participate more in the advantages o f all, and the imperfections o f most o f them will stand a better chance to be remedied. Facilities will thus be afforded, rather than creating inter ruptions ; improvements be attempted, rather than obstacles ; and securi ties provided for all interests, rather than neglect or oppression indulged in as to a part. There will then be a growing disposition to propagate widely all benefits, instead o f trying to monopolize them; and nations possessing advantages, whether in arts, arms, or science, will permit them to be diffused wider, and thus the whole become more civilized, rather than a portion be kept in darkness and subjugation. In this way most modern advances in machinery, as well as valuable inventions o f all kinds, not only enrich and strengthen first those who make them, but are spreading quicker and wider; and will, ere long, cheapen consumption as well as production everywhere, and, in time, fully pervade every people fitted by situation, education, and habits, to improve by them. It is always a narrow view o f commercial, as well as moral policy, to seek profit to ourselves by beggaring others. Nothing is gained durably, by over-taxing or over-reaching others. On the contrary, the wealth o f all nations is promoted by the prosperity o f all; and the great social prin * See Merchants’ Magazine. The General Principles o f Free Trade. 423 ciple, as well as sound political wisdom, requires us to be humane and just to all, liberal to all, and to confer benefits on all, rather than seek undue advantages. If less wealth were attendant on such a course o f free trade, which is not the case generally, there would be more liberty, and hence, more satisfaction. Only a crust and liberty, are often preferred to splen did bondage. Mankind are willing, when intelligent, to possess less prop erty, if they can, at the same time, enjoy greater freedom— freedom in action, as well as opinion— extending, o f course, to both government and conscience; and even these are no more gratifying than freedom in em ployment and business, in pleasure and locomotion o f all kinds. W e sigh often to have, as did our great progenitor, the whole earth before us where to choose, and Providence our guide. Any climate or soil, any profession or employment, will, as it should, thus become open to the enterprising. They can select where to dwell, where to trade or to visit or labor, as inclination or judgment may prompt; and besides being, in this kind o f free intercourse, enabled to buy where cheapest and sell where dearest, the fancy and health can be pursued, and happiness in all ways be promo ted. W ere it otherwise, our nature revolts at restraint. W e object to have even wealth forced upon us. W e would fain do nothing by compul sion— like Falstaff, not even give reasons in that way. People are willing to be taxed even higher, if they are allowed a free voice in imposing and expending the revenue so as to insure more equality. But the consequence o f such a free voice is to stimulate industry, enterprise, and trade, and gradually to lessen those burdens which would otherwise increase, and which, unchecked, tend to break down society by impoverishing all wlio produce and pay, and driving them, in the end, to repudiation, insurrection, or revolution. But it is not the truth that light taxes, and less restraint on all kinds of industry and trade, ever lead to a permanent diminution of wealth in any country, however unfavored, in appearance, by either na ture or art. On the contrary, the very Alps themselves have become fer tile under liberal institutions; and the Swiss inhabitants o f their slopes and vallies have become well-fed, well-clothed, intelligent, and, above all, most successful in manufactures themselves, without high or protecting du ties. Industry, climate, skill, coupled with liberty, have made them out strip those who were most powerful and wealthy when they started in the contest. And is it possible that we need monopolies and oppression, to enable us to compete with any country in raising cotton at the south ? or wheat in the west ? or corn in the middle states ? or hay in the east ? Nay, do even the ship-builders of the east ask any discriminating duties on tonnage, if you will only exempt them and the articles they consume from high and discriminating taxes? Far, far from it; if, at the same time, you throw open all the proper avenues for employment to their navi gation. Among other aids, a free trade with foreign countries on our bor ders, by land, should be fully encouraged. W hy should not such a trade be permitted by land as well as sea, when it can be well protected against frauds on the revenue ? It is a most vicious policy to prohibit this trade in re-exporting foreign articles, except at the loss o f the whole imposts on them. W e thus not only deprive our own vessels o f much employment, in bringing merchandise here from abroad for this trade, but rob our own canals, railroads, boats, and carriers o f all kinds, o f large gains from the interior transportation o f it to the extensive foreign possessions, Texian, Mexican, and British, on our vast inland frontier. W e forget the more 424 The General Principles o f Free Trade. wise policy, in this respect, even o f France, Holland, and northern Ger many. Under a like spirit, the most liberal rules o f warehousing should be adopted. They would give additional activity to our vessels and commer cial enterprise, prevent the loss o f interest on cash duties till articles are re-exported, and relieve all from troublesome, as well as useless, payments and repayments on articles never intended for consumption here. With out such rules, our country is obstructed in becoming the great commer cial depot for the whole American continent, as well as the W est Indies; and even our manufacturers are frequently deprived o f an opportunity to make sales, as would then be done, to foreign merchants resorting here for assorted cargoes to supply the growing demands o f the Spanish, Brit ish, French, or Indian races, covering yearly, as the former do more and more, the hills, prairies, and savannahs o f this new world. What Tyre or Venice, Alexandria or Antwerp, once were, and London now is, to the shores o f the Mediterranean and Europe, it is clear that, in this way, Bos ton, New lo r k , and New Orleans might, ere long, become to regions larger, if not richer, that fill the vast spaces between the Atlantic and the Pacific. T o discourage such an enlarged intercourse, profitable even to manu factures as well as agriculture and commerce, is short-sighted, and is a relic, in policy, o f systems and theories unworthy the present age. No matter whether this intercourse between different nations, or different por tions o f one nation, be carried on by, caravans, or ships o f the desert, through the heart of Asia and the sands o f Africa, or by lakes and rivers, watering half a continent; or by sea, doubling the stormiest capes and penetrating remotest islands— still let it be fr e e — still let it he untaxed, un fettered. It will then shower down innumerable benefits, not only in its progress by the way side, but benefit all, both producers and consumers. Again, it is o f no consequence, in one view, whether those articles are iron for the plough, or ostrich-feathers for the ball-room ; the olive for peace, or arms for w ar; drugs for health, or gold for ornament; woollens and cottons for the poor, or silks and cashmeres for the rich ; or sugar and salt for all classes, and the last for the whole animal creation; still, liber ality in the trade blesses, like mercy, twice, both him that gives and him that takes. On the one side, that is parted with which is not wanted, or can without suffering be spared ; and, on the other, that is obtained which is needed either to supply real wants, minister to our comforts, or gratify taste. Both are accommodated, or both enriched; and the industry is stimulated, and the faculties sharpened, in search of more o f that which either promotes pleasure, or advances knowledge, or increases power. In fine, it is the theory which tends best, in all countries, to develop the na tional mind as well as the national wealth. It gives full and free play to all the faculties and instincts o f man, while it is content to take from the earth the gifts o f Providence, where they are natural and most pro fuse. It does not attempt to cultivate drugs in Greenland, or tea and cof fee in New England, or pine-apples in Canada. And should the Hindoos strive to freeze their own ice by a chemical process, or the inhabitants o f New Orleans labor to make their own stone artificially, or the Yankees endeavor to grow, for their general consumption, pepper and palm-oil, they would only illustrate, in a different form, some o f the follies and loss es which attend most o f the departures from the free trade principle. The General Principles o f Free Trade. 425 The moral and intellectual view o f the subject is stronger than even the physical or the commercial one. It is a question going far beyond the ledger— beyond dollars and cents— the number o f bushels, pounds, gallons, or yards produced, and the value o f exports and imports, as well as amount o f tonnage. It concerns natural fitness, social improvement, morals; and the higher education and civilization, as well as happiness, of millions on millions o f immortal beings. That is a circle wider than all others, reaching the future, no less than the present welfare, o f most o f the human race. Intolerance in religion has been one o f the allies o f restrictions in trade. It is bred in the same proscriptive school, and has sometimes injured even its coadjutors. It helped to expel the Lutheran mechanics from Spain, and drive across the Mediterranean her best Moorish manufacturers. By the repeal o f the edict o f Nantz, it long retarded the prosperity of France ; and, by a like exclusive spirit, peopled originally several of our own states from the persecuting shores of England. Even at this day, by the union o f church and state in the latter, thus doubling ecclesiastical taxes on seceders, and by high corn law duties, so oppressive to labor, it violates some o f the most salutary o f the free trade principles. A mass o f human suf fering has thus been produced there of late years, which is ill-atoned for by all her greatness and glories. Though palaces rise in the streets o f Manchester, and fertility clothes the fields o f contiguous counties with golden sheaves, yet the laborer often starves in sight o f them, or lingers out a miserable existence in some Neighboring almshouse. What matters it to him if the treasuries o f China are captured, and conquering armies are pushed over the snows of Afghanistan, and heroic columns rise in Lon don to commemorate national glory, if he and his children suffer for bread, or freeze from half nakedness, or are robbed o f political suffrage, and have their morals and intellects debased by brutal ignorance.* Under a like view, as to'the effects o f such a system on mind, morals, and progress, while high protection is yielded here to manufactures, it must be remem bered that it is at the expense o f agriculture and commerce, and is con fined in its influences to the owner o f the establishment or the capitalist; to property alone, or dead matter, rather than extended to the artisan or laborer, the spirit, heart, and soul engaged. In the most manufacturing state of the Union, the mere operative is stripped of all political rights, and deprived o f that free suffrage in forming and regulating government, which constitutes the great distinction between liberty and slavery. On the contrary, the free trade principle spreads a table for industry and vir tue in every climate. Under its operation man is so constituted, and is the only known being in creation thus blessed, that he can sucqped in liv ing under the frosts o f the pole, as well as the heats o f the equator; and can and will, if let alone, thrive and improve by all kinds o f employment. Under it no surplus o f anything useful exists which is lost, as nothing abounds in any country needed elsewhere without finding a market. Such intercourse stimulates industry, and rewards enterprise. It diffuses, also, arts, as well as letters ; and the whole world thus gradually becomes im proving and useful to the whole. W e know how, from acorns and roots, man has advanced in food to grain and meats— from skins for clothing, to the most beautiful fabrics o f silk and wool— and from ignorance and the * See Lester. 35* 426 The General Principles o f Free Trade. chase, to learning and all the glories o f civilization. This has always been witnessed most rapidly where commerce has most abounded and was freest. Thus, in the dawn of time, it gradually circled, and thus civilized, all the shores of the Mediterranean. It then passed the pillars of Her cules, and penetrated the forests of what were savage Britain and savage Germany— crossed the Atlantic afterward, to a little less savage people, covering the whole western continent— explores still farther to the remot est isles— and is now at such a height, and surrounded with such improve ments in arts, laws, and literature, as to reflect back, from the once Gothic portions o f Europe and from barbarian America, increased light and knowledge. Whither ? you may ask. Even to the seven bills o f Rome, the banks o f the Tiber, as well as the Ilissus and the Nile. It is a curious fact, illustrating the mutual action and re-action through commercial inter course, that this very year, in the city o f New York, has been formed a society to diffuse useful and religious knowledge in Italy. This, among us, a people whose English ancestors, thirteen centuries ago, were paint ed savages, carried into slavery to Italy— and this in a country, five cen turies ago, utterly unknown to Italy, and full o f forests and vandal Indians. How irresistibly do such facts carry our memories back to the conquest and civilization o f Palestine, from more commercial Egypt, and transport our imaginations forward to a period, not far distant, when commerce may carry home most o f the exiles from Africa educated, and fitted to civilize her vast waste places and reform her debased servitude. The tenants o f those arid regions, reachedjbut seldom by foreign commerce, continue, like the Esquimaux, almost as barbarous as when first discover ed ; and, like most communities shut up from the liberalizing influences o f free trade, have improved little more than the ox, since the days o f Job, or the swine, since the miracle o f our Saviour. In fine, without the vivifying impulses o f that trade on man, the world is stationary or retrograde, while, with them, all is progress, as well as an apparent development o f some useful end in the contrivance o f the human ra ce; and if any one nation or tongue is destined to pervade the globe otherwise than by arms, and to ameliorate its condition, through the arts o f peace, letters, and religion, it must be that one most influenced in all things by the spirit o f free commerce. That, alone, can surmount every obstacle— penetrate remotest regions— win confidence by political favors — and through its comforts and necessaries, if not luxuries, interest, ex cite, benefit, and elevate every people. Withdraw, too, or shackle its power, after once enjoyed as here, and though it may seem, at first, to af fect only the humble shipwright, the sailor, or the merchant, and the axe and the saw may only appear to stand still, the wharf and the warehouse only at first to decay, rather than the splendid abodes o f wealth and the gorgeous temple, yet, rely upon it, there is a canker preying— a worm gnawing at the root o f the prosperity o f the whole— a mildew begun which will, in time, blast every ramification o f society. Miserable, indeed, beyond any description, must be the condition o f any country where, by a violation o f these principles o f free trade, the masses must deteriorate rather than improve, and wages become lower, and the clothing or food o f the millions are highly taxed to supply the extrava gances and follies o f the fe w ; and, what is even worse than this, the in tellects o f the former are left neglected, and their morals depraved. But it is time to close this hasty address. The free trade system, as Progress o f Population m d Wealth in the, etc. 427 thus explained, is, in my view, the only one suited to a free people or a free government. If it cannot be restored and perpetuated here, my de liberate conviction, without any want of candor or charity as to the designs o f our opponents, is, that our boasted form of government, and all its gold en promises to mankind, must in the end prove a mockery. If it does not soon triumph again in all its essentials, we shall lose consistency o f char acter over the globe, and it is vain to look for restoration o f permanent prosperity, or to cherish brilliant hopes for the future; and the experiment o f a just and equal self-government in this part o f the western hemisphere, as a model for the world now and forever, must be considered to have failed. If this be not the truth, let others exhibit i t ; for truth should be the object o f all. In the mean time, I trust that, knowing these princi ples, to use the words adopted as your beautiful motto— “ You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Though my remarks have been addressed to all classes, all being deep ly interested in the success o f such principles, yet, before closing, allow me to repeat the exhortation o f the philanthropic Channing on this topic, to the merchants in particular. It was given not long previous to his death, and some may respect it the more from an impression that it may have been influenced less by any party prejudice than my own views. This was his language: “ Allow me to say a word to the merchants o f our country on another subject. The time is come when they are particu larly called to take yet more generous views of their vocation, and to give commerce a universality as yet unknown. I refer to the juster principles, which are gaining ground on the subject o f fr e e trade, and to the growing disposition o f nations to promote it. Free trade! this is the plain duty and plain interest of the human race. T o level all barriers to free ex change ; to cut up the system o f restriction, root and branch; to open every port on earth to every product; this is the office o f enlightened hu manity. T o this, a free nation should especially pledge itself. Freedom o f the seas; freedom o f harbors; an intercourse of nations, free as the winds; this is not a dream of philanthropists. W e are tending towards it, and let us hasten it. Under a wiser and more Christian civilization, we shall look back on our present restrictions as we do on the swaddlingbands by which, in darker times, the human body was compressed.” A rt . III.— PROGRESS OF POPULATION AND W EA LTH IN THE UNITED STA TE S, IN F IF T Y YEARS. AS EXHIBITED B Y THE DECENNIAL CENSUS TAKEN IN THAT PERIOD. CHAPTER XIII. TH E FU TU RE PR O G RE SS OF S L A V E R Y . So far as can now be seen, the progress of the slave population in the United States is likely to undergo but little change for several decennial terms, and to be no more affected by schemes o f emancipation or coloni zation, or even by individual cases of manumission, than it has been. This is not the place for assailing or defending slavery; but it may be confi 428 Progress o f Population and Wealth in the dently asserted, that the efforts o f abolitionists have hitherto made the peo ple in the slaveholding states cling to it more tenaciously. Those efforts are viewed by them as an intermeddling in their domestic concerns that is equally unwarranted by the comity due to sister states, and to the solemn pledges o f the federal compact. In the general indignation which is thus excited, the arguments in favor o f negro emancipation, once open and ur gent, have been completely silenced, and its advocates among the slave holders, who have not changed their sentiments, find it prudent to conceal them. Philosophy no longer ventures to teach that this institution is yet more injurious to the master than the slave; religion has ceased to refuse it her sanction; and even the love o f liberty, which once pleaded for eman cipation, is now enlisted against it. Statesmen and scholars have tasked their ingenuity to show that slavery is not only legitimate and moral, but expedient and wise. The scheme o f Las Casas, which, to relieve Indians from the prospective yoke o f bondage, actually placed it on the necks of Africans, is no longer deemed a paralogism in morals, and the slavery o f a part o f the community is gravely maintained to be essential to a high state o f civil freedom in the rest. Such have been the fruits o f the zeal o f northern abolitionists in those states in which slavery prevails; and the fable o f the Wind and the Sun never more forcibly illustrated the difference between gentle and violent means in influencing men’s wills. Nor is the effect a temporary one. All the pre judices o f education and habit in favor of slavery, have struck their roots the deeper for the rudeness with which they have been assailed. The slave himself, too, has suffered by the change. The progressive amelio ration o f his condition has been arrested; and in the precautions which the schemes o f abolitionists (whose numbers have been as much over rated by the slave-owners as their power has been by themselves) have suggested, his condition has, in some instances, become positively worse. Even where this has not been the case, the “ bliss o f ignorance” has been converted by his misguided friends into a sullen and hopeless discontent. The irritating conflicts and recriminations to which the subject has given occasion between different parts o f the Union, have afforded new means o f gaining popular favor, which crafty politicians on both sides have gladly seized ; and the dissensions thus inflamed, induce those who look with evil eyes on the future strength and greatness o f this republican confederacy, to indulge in vain hopes o f its dissolution. The causes o f this strife o f feeling and opinion are too deeply seated in the human heart not to be supposed to continue for the period that has been mentioned; and, accordingly, the state o f domestic slavery, and the progress o f the slave population, will probably experience no material change for forty or fifty years, or even a yet longer term, in any o f the slaveholding states, except Delaware, and perhaps Maryland. But if we carry our views to a yet m ire distant future, we shall find causes at work whose effects on this institution neither the miscalculating sympathies o f fanaticism or philanthropy, nor their re-action on the slave owners, can avert or long delay. The population o f the slaveholding states, at its present rate o f increase, and even at a reduced rate, will, in no long time, have reached that moderate degree o f density which sup poses all their most productive lands taken into cultivation. As soon as that point is reached, the price of labor, compared with the means o f sub- United. States, in Fifty Years. 429 sistence, will begin to fall, according to the great law o f human destiny, so ably developed by Malthus, and which is the inevitable result o f man’s tendency to increase and multiply; o f his dependence on the soil for his subsistence ; and o f the limited extent of that soil. Labor, then, as it in creases in quantity, must exchange either for less or for cheaper food ; and such reduction is altogether independent of a gradation o f soils. It must take place if every rood o f earth was o f equal fertility with the American bottoms in Illinois, since every succeeding generation being more numer ous than the preceding, the products o f but a smaller portion o f the earth’s surface can fall to the share of one individual. In this progressive declen sion of its value, labor will finally attain a price so low, that the earnings o f a slave will not repay the cost of rearing him, when, o f course, his master will consider him as a burdensome charge rather than a source of profit; and as the same decline in the value o f labor once liberated the villains or slaves o f western Europe, and will liberate the serfs o f Russia, so must it put an end to slavery in the United States, should it be termi nated in no other way. This may be called the euthanasia o f the institution, as it will be abol ished with the consent of the master no less than the wishes o f the slave ; and the period o f termination will be sooner reached because the labor of slaves, by reason of the inferiority in industry, economy, and skill, insep arable from their condition, is less productive than that o f freemen. But this depression in the value o f labor will reach the different states at different periods o f time, and it will advance more slowly as we proceed south. Yet the facility with which slaves can be transported from one state to another, will countervail much o f this difference; and slave labor, in the more northern of the slaveholding states, will not greatly decline in price so long as it is very profitable in the more southern. If Mary land, Virginia, and North Carolina were insulated from the rest, then, at no very distant day, slave labor in those states, with its inherent disadvan tages, would not more than defray the cost o f its maintenance ; but so long as their slaves can be readily transferred to other states, they will retain a value in every state proportionate and approaching to their value in oth er states. This would, moreover, be the case, if the trade in slaves, now carried on, were interdicted, and their importation was permitted only in those cases in which they migrate with the families o f proprietors, so many o f whom are ever seeking to improve their condition in the south and the west. W e must, therefore, in our estimates o f the future progress and duration of slavery, regard all the slaveholding states as one community for a considerable time to come ; and expect that, if the institution remains undisturbed by state legislation, (for that o f the United States is not only unwarranted by the constitution, but is inconsistent with a continuance of the Union,) they will all approach to the same density o f slave population, except so far as it may be affected by diversities o f soil and other local cir cumstances. The slaveholding states and territories had, in 1®40, a population of 7,334,431, on an area of 629,500 square miles; and their comparative density, both as to the whole number and the slave portion, may be seen in the following— 430 Progress o f Population and Wealth in the Table, showing the Density of Population in the Slaveholding States. STATES & TERRITORIES. Area— miles. W hole Population. NO. TO THE SQ. MILE. Slaves. W hole pop. Slaves. Delaware,.................... Maryland,.................... District of Columbia,... Virginia,....................... North Carolina,........... South Carolina,............ Georgia,....................... Florida,........................ Louisiana,.................... Alabama,..................... Mississippi,.................. Arkansas,..................... Tennessee,................... Kentucky,.................... Missouri,....................... 2,200 11,150 100 66,620 49,500 31,750 61,500 55,680 49,300 52,900 47,680 55,000 40,200 40,500 65,500 78,085 470,017 43,712 1,239,797 753,419 594,398 691,392 54,477 352,411 590,756 375,651 97,574 829,210 779,828 383,702 2,605 89,737 4,694 448,987 245,817 327,038 280,944 25,717 168,452 253,532 195,211 19,535 183,059 182,258 58,240 35.5 42.1 43.7 18.6 15.2 18.7 11.2 .9 7.1 11.2 8.3 1.7 20.5 19.2 5.8 1.2 8. 4.7 6.7 5. 10. 4.5 .5 3.4 4.8 4. .3 4.5 4.5 .9 Total,................... 629,580 7,334,431 2,486,226 11.6 4.1 The slaveholding states and territories, then, taken together, have an average population o f not quite twelve to the square mile, o f which some what more than one-third are slaves ; and they, as well as the free por tion, are very unequally distributed over these states. T o ascertain when the population o f these states will attain a density which will make slave labor unprofitable, let us inquire, first, into that precise degree o f density which reduces the price o f labor to the cost o f its maintenance; and secondly, into the future rate o f increase o f those states. I. T o answer our first inquiry, we have but scanty materials. In those countries of Europe in which slavery has been abolished, history seems to be entirely unacquainted with the motives o f the abolition, and it is left only to conjecture to infer that it was because it was no longer gainful to the master. Supposing this fact established, we have no authentic data for determining the density o f population, and still less for estimating the state o f husbandry, which must be taken into the account; since a popu lation o f 50 to the square mile in the 12th and 13th centuries, when slave ry was abolished in England, might be equal to twice or thrice as many at the present day, by reason of the increased productiveness o f the soil. It is, however, clear, that slavery is still profitable in Russia, and that it would be unprofitable in every part o f western Europe. As, there, a large part even o f the free labor can barely earn a subsistence, and a por tion cannot always do that, it follows that slaves, whose labor is inherent ly less profitable, could not earn enough for their support. W e may, therefore, infer that a far less dense population than now exists in the western part o f Europe would be inconsistent with slavery; and that the degree of density which would render it productive o f more profit than ex pense, would be some intermediate point between that o f Russia and that o f the other states o f Europe. But the population o f those states is about 110 to the square mile, whilst that o f Russia is but 25 ; and though the degree o f density when slavery first ceases to be profitable is somewhere between the two, yet,between such wide extremes, we have no means o f United States, in Fifty Years. 431 ascertaining that intermediate point, or o f even approximating to it. Nor could any rule, drawn from countries differing so widely in soil, climate, goodness o f tillage, and mode o f living, be o f easy application to the Uni ted States. But we may make a nearer approach to the truth if we confine our speculations to the abolition o f slavery in England, though that part o f her history is involved in no little darkness and contradiction. In the 14th century, when the emancipation o f villains had made considerable pro gress, the population in England and Wales was computed, from the re turns o f a poll-tax, to be 2,350,000, which is 40 persons to the square mile. About the end o f the 17th century, (in 1690,) when no vestige o f villainage remained, from the number o f houses returned under the hearthtax, the population was estimated at 5,318,100, which is 92 to the square mile. The medium point o f density is 66, which we may assume to be inconsistent with any profit from domestic slavery. But in applying this fact to the slaveholding states, there are several points of diversity between them and England to be taken into considera tion. 1. The difference of fertility. Though three o f the slaveholding states, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, constituting less than one-fourth o f the whole, are naturally more fertile than England, and are capable o f supporting a denser population than she was at the period supposed, the other three-fourths are yet more inferior to England in fertility. 2. The standard o f comfort for the laboring class is much higher here than it is in England, so far as it concerns the consumption o f animal food, in consequence o f the peculiar circumstances o f this country, where the husbandry and useful arts o f a cultivated people are conjoined with the thin population o f a rude one. In every part o f Europe, population and the arts have advanced at the same rate; and the ascertained slowness of the rate supposes straitened means o f subsistence in every stage o f the progress. This is conclusively proved, as to England, by the fact that her population, which, in 1377, had been 2,350,000, had increased in 1800, that is, in 423 years, only to 8,872,980; since nothing but great difficulty in obtaining the means o f subsistence, and extreme discomfort with the great mass of the people, could have retarded the period o f duplication with our progenitors to upwards o f 200 years! Now, although the stand ard o f comfort for the free laborer is not necessarily that for the slave, yet in the same country and at the same time, the last will approximate to the first— at least that has hitherto been the case in the United States, where animal food always constitutes a part o f the daily aliment o f the slave. 3. The difference o f husbandry. Agriculture is doubtless much less skilful and productive in the United States than it is in England at the present day ; but it is probably much more so than it was in that country at the period to which we refer. O f all, or nearly all, the improvements in husbandry, whether taught by experience or science, our agriculturists readily avail themselves; and the chief difference between the two coun tries is, that the labor which there neatly tills a small surface, here sloven ly tills a large one. O f these diversities, the effect o f the last is to make the rate o f density that is inconsistent with slavery greater here than it was in England, and that o f the second is to make it smaller. Let us suppose that the two neutralize each other; and that the more liberal consumption o f the slave in the United States is compensated by the superiority o f their tillage to 432 Progress o f Population and Wealth in the that which prevailed in England at the supposed era. IF, then, we make a deduction from the assumed density o f 66 to the square mile, for the greater natural fertility o f England, which we will suppose to be greater than that o f the slaveholding states by one-fourth, that is, as 100 to 75, then the density, which in those states will be found inconsistent with profit from domestic slavery, will be reduced to about 50 persons to the square mile. Should this moderate degree o f density be considered inadequate to the effect here ascribed to it, it must be recollected that adult labor may still be profitable, though it may not be sufficiently so to defray the expense of rearing it from infancy; and that the payment o f this expense is assumed to be an indispensable condition to the continuance o f the institution. In any country less populous than China, the labor o f grown slaves would generally be profitable; and the barbarous policy o f making slaves o f prisoners o f war may continue slavery in some countries, as it does in Africa, in which its profits could not keep up its own stock. But in the United States, those who would appropriate to themselves the labor o f the adult slave, must consent to bear the previous charge o f his childhood. W e must also bear in mind that the slaveholding states are almost ex clusively agricultural, and, consequently, that their population is princi pally rural. Not over one-thirtieth o f their population, if we take away Baltimore and New Orleans, live in towns, and, with those cities, not onesixteenth part. In densely peopled countries, however, from one-half to two-thirds live in cities and tow ns; thus showing that from a third to a half of their whole population is sufficient for their culture; o f course, were the density as much as 120 to the square mile, from 40 to 60 perpersons would be as many as could be advantageously employed on the soil; and thus the value o f labor would decline as much and as fast in a country that was purely agricultural, as it would in another o f twice its population that was also manufacturing. Should, then, agriculture continue to be the principal occupation o f the slaveholding states, and they not be take themselves more extensively to manufactures, the population, when it amounts to 50 persons to the square mile, will have reached that point when every addition to it will rapidly depreciate the value o f labor. W e may, therefore, reasonably infer that, if its value in the slaveholding states should not have attained the supposed point o f depression when they have a population o f 50 to the square mile, they will attain it in no long time afterwards. It affords some confirmation o f these views, that when emancipation took place in New Jersey, which probably has the average fertility o f the pre sent slaveholding states, the population was something less than 40 to the square mile, and that, even then, the labor o f slaves was thought not much to exceed the cost o f their subsistence; and that many judicious slave owners in Maryland and eastern Virginia, where the population, exclusive o f Baltimore, scarcely exceeds 35 to the square mile, believe that the la bor o f their slaves yields but a small net profit. Supposing, then, a density o f 50 persons to the square mile to be incom patible with the longer continuance of slavery in the states now permitting it, their aggregate population would then amount to 31,479,000. When are they likely to attain this number ? Their past progress, from 1790 to 1840, has been as follows :— United States, in Fifty Years. 433 1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1630. 1840. Total population,....... 1,961,372 2,621,316 3,480,904 4,502,235 5,848,303 7,334,431 Increase in each decen33.7 32.8 29.3 30.2 25.4 nial term,...per cent, The whole increase in 50 years has been as 100 to 383.7. The rate of increase, it will be perceived, has declined in the four decennial terms bstween 1800 and 1840, from 33.7 per cent to 25.4 per cent, showing a falling off in that time o f 8.3 per cent in the ratio o f increase for ten years. But more than half this decline took place between 1830 and 1840, in con sequence o f the emigration to Texas, which was principally from the slaveholding states. As much o f that emigration was the consequence of an ardent desire to aid the Texians in their struggle for independence, as well as o f the great and sudden reverse o f prosperity experienced by some o f those states, and as motives equally strong are not likely to recur, we, perhaps, ought to regard this unwonted reduction o f increase as temporary, and to consider the previous rate as affording the just rule for our esti mates. Between 1800 and 1830, the falling off in the decennial increase was only 3^ per cen t; but between 1800 and 1810, it was augmented 3 per cent by the acquisition o f Louisiana. Let us, then, take a medium course, and suppose a rate of diminution greater than that shown by the four first enumerations, but smaller than that shown by the last. Let us suppose that, in the future progress o f the slaveholding states, the increase in each decennial term will be one-fifteenth part less than the increase of the preceding term, and see when, from that increase, the population will attain a density o f 50 to the square mile. The rate o f increase thus diminishing, will be 23.3 per cent in 1850 ; 21.7 per cent in 1860 ; and so on, in a descending series, by which, in a little upwards of 80 years, the ^population would reach the required den sity, and amount to 31,000,000. But inasmuch as the other states increase in a much greater ratio, as experience has shown, this circumstance is likely, after a time, to accelerate the rate o f increase in the slaveholding states. In 50 years, when, on the supposed rate o f increase, the latter would not exceed 30 to the square mile, many, perhaps most of the free states, will have attained a density of upwards o f 100 on the same area. The difference in the price o f land which these different densities imply, cannot but induce an increase o f emigration from the free states to the slaveholding states. The swarms from the New England hive prefer, at present, migrating to states where there are no slaves ; but as soon as the northwestern states are settled throughout, and before they are densely peopled, the cheaper lands of the slaveholding states will hold out induce ments to the settler too strong to be resisted. Those states, instead o f sending out emigrants, as at present, will then receive them ; and thus the rate o f their increase, instead of continuing in a descending ratio, will be a while stationary, and then moderately increase. The effect o f this change, depending upon so many contingencies, it is impossible to calcu late ; but it might hasten the period in question some 20 years or more. The period, too, when slavery will be likeiy to expire o f itself, will reach the different states at different times. So long as the labor o f slaves is very profitable in any o f the states, their value, as we have seen, is en hanced in all the others; but when that labor has greatly declined in value, as it will do when greatly augmented, the influence of one state on anoth er will have proportionally diminished, and not be sufficient to overcome VOL. v m .— no. v . 36 434 Progress o f Population and Wealth in the other obstacles to the removal o f slaves. The diversities o f the states, physical and moral, will then have an unchecked operation, and they are considerable. Some states and parts o f states raise grain and cattle, which occupations require but little labor, and, o f course, can support but few slaves ; whilst others, cultivating cotton, sugar, tobacco, and rice, which, requiring much labor and manipulation, cannot be grown without a much larger number. In the former, then, emancipation will be at once easier and sooner; and thus after Delaware, in which it will first, and in no long time take place, the States o f Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Ten nessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, may be expected to abolish slavery some considerable time before slave labor has ceased to be profitable in the states south of them. The climate, too, may have the effect o f prolonging slav ery in the last mentioned states, both because it indisposes men to field la bor, and because it is less suited to the white than the negro temperament. Such appears to be the result o f general visible causes, whose operation is beyond human control. It may, however, be hastened or retarded by contingent events, the influence o f which, as well as their occurrence, time alone can determine. The following circumstances would tend to delay the termination o f slavery: Further emigrations to T exas; the formation o f new slaveholding states, which, though it would accelerate the increase o f the slaveholding population, would lessen its density; or, should slave labor be more extensively applied to manufactures, which does not seem impossible, as they would incur no greater charge for superintendence than is now incurred by agriculture ; or, should the cultivation o f the sugarcane be extended to meet the growing demands o f our increasing population, and that commodity should maintain its monopoly price ; or, lastly, should new articles o f culture requiring much labor, such as silk and wine, be in troduced in the slaveholding states. But, on the other hand, should none o f these events take place, and should the sympathies now felt for the slave subside, or find sufficient em ployment at home, the same liberal sentiments which once prevailed in most o f the slaveholding states may revive, and decide on the gradual abolition of slavery, or lessen its amount by colonization and private manu mission. The natural multiplication o f the slaves, too, may be affected by a less careful and kind treatment o f them, as their value declines. Or, popular enthusiasm may be excited by religion or otherwise in favor o f emancipating them, or the same popular feeling, in a frenzy o f fear or re sentment, may aim to destroy or expel them. These and other causes, not now foreseen, may prolong or abridge the existence o f this institution in the United States, but none of them seem capable of averting its ultimate destiny. W e may say o f it, as o f man : the doom o f its death, though we know not the time or the mode, is certain and irrevocable. T o conclude this subject, so pregnant with matter o f serious reflection to a ll: the citizens of the slaveholding states are persuaded that emancipa tion will necessarily lead, first, to political equality, and finally, to an amal gamation o f the two races. Believing, as they really do, that the negroes are physically, as well as morally and intellectually, their inferiors, they regard this intermixture as a contamination of their own ra ce ; and these supposed consequences constitute their most invincible objections to the liberation o f their slaves. Those who entertain these opinions, and who also believe that the result here inferred is inevitable, or even probable, have it now in their power to make some preparation for an issue so fraught 435 United States, in Fifty Years. with mischief, and so abhorrent to their feelings. If they think the num ber o f their slaves is too great for them quietly to remain, when the period o f natural liberation arrives, as an inferior caste, or with a qualified free dom, they ought to lessen the number by all allowable means— as by coloni zation; and, since the emancipated class are found to increase more slowly than either the slaves or the whites, they ought to encourage, rather than check, private manumission. Even as a measure o f precaution, the policy o f prohibiting the liberation of slaves is very questionable; and if so, the states that have adopted it, have not only yielded to the common tempta tion o f avoiding a present danger by incurring a greater one hereafter, but, perverting a wise maxim, have incurred a certain evil to avoid one that is doubtful. Though the natural increase of the free colored class is less than that o f the slaves or the whites, yet, by its accessions from emancipation, its actual increase is far greater than that o f either o f the other two classes, as may be thus seen in the following— Table, showing the Increase of the White and the Colored Population in the Slavehold. ing States. Decennial inc’se, p.cent, in— 1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. W hites,................ 1,271,692 1,702,980 2,208,785 2,842,341 3,660,758 4.631,998 33.9 Free co lo r e d ,.... 32,635 61,241 88,678 135,294 182,07C 211,889 87.7 Slaves,................. 657,047 1,857,095 1,163,754 1,524,220 1,996,758 2,486,226 30.4 29.7 44.8 35.8 28.7 52.6 31.0 28.8 37.7 31.6 26.5 16.4 24.5 The increase in the whole 50 years has been as follows:— Whites, as 100 to....................................................364.2 Free colored, “ 649.3 Slaves, “ 378.4 Total colored “ 391.2 It is thus seen that, in these states, the whites have increased a little less than the whole population, (383.7' per cent,) and the slaves a little more ; but that the free colored have increased almost twice as fast as the whites. The table further shows that, but for emancipation, the slave holding states would, at this time, have contained from 200,000 to 300,000, perhaps over 300,000 more than they now contain ; and that the reduction would have been still greater than it now is, if none of them had prohibited or impeded manumission. CHAPTER XIV. TH E IN C R E A SE OF TH E A T L A N T IC A N D W E S T E R N , S L A V E H O L D IN G A N D N O N -S L A V E H O L D IN G ST A T E S , C O M PA RE D . T he several states and territories have been differently divided, accor ding to circumstances. Sometimes they are classed, as we have seen, under five divisions, as they severally agree in climate, products, and in the prevailing habits and pursuits o f their people. Sometimes, again, they are divided into Atlantic and western states; and lastly, according to the fact o f their permitting slavery or not. By combining the last twofold divisions, they admit o f a fourfold division, as the Atlantic slaveholding and non-slaveholding states, and the western slaveholding and non-slave 436 Progress o f Population and Wealth in the holding states. These four divisions will now be compared as to their present numbers, density of population, and rate o f increase. The following tables show the population, area, number o f persons to the square mile, and increase at each enumeration since 1810, o f the four divisions, composed o f the Atlantic and western states, slaveholding and non-slaveholding:— A t l a n t ic S t a t e s . PO PU L A T IO N IN — L O C A L DIVISION S. A r e a - No. to Increase, p. cent, in— Square asq. miles. mile. 10 yrs. 2 0 y r s . 30 yrs. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. / . Non-slaveholding States. M aine,..................... N ew Hampshire,... Verm ont,................. Massachusetts,....... Rhode Island,......... Connecticut,............ N ew Y ork ,.............. N ew Jersey,............ Pennsylvania,......... 228,705 214.360 217,713 472.040 77,031 262,042 959,049 245,555 810,091 298,335 244,161 235,764 523,287 83,059 275,202 1,372,812 277,575 1,049,458 399,455 269,328 280,652 610,408 97,199 297,675 1,918,606 320,823 1,348,233 501,793 284,574 291,948 737,699 108,830 309,978 2,428,921 373,306 1,724,033 32.000 9,200 9,800 8,750 1,300 5,100 49.000 7,500 47,500 15.6 30.9 29.8 86.5 83.7 60.8 49.5 49.7 36.6 Total,................ 3,486,586 4,359,653 5,542,381 6,761,082 170,150 39.4 II. Slaveh'd'g SVtes. Delaware,................ Maryland,................ Dist. o f Columbia,.. Virginia,.................. North Carolina,----South Carolina,. . . . Georgia,................... 72,674 380,546 24,023 974,622 555,500 415,115 252,433 72,749 407,350 33,039 1,065,379 638,829 502,741 340,987 76,748 447,040 39,834 1,211,405 737,987 581,185 516,823 34,730 78,085 470,019 43,712 1,239,797 753,419 594,398 691,392 54,477 2 ,2 0 0 11,150 100 66,620 49.500 31,750 61.500 55,680 35.5 42. 43.7 18.6 15.2 18.7 11.2 .9 Total,................ 2,674,913 3,061,074 3,645,752 3,925,299 278,500 14.1 22. 5.3 55. 94. 25.3 43.5 W estern S t a t e s. P O P U L A T IO N IN — L O C A L D IV IS IO N S. 1810. III. Slaveholding S. Louisiana,...... ... Mississippi,.............. 76,556 40,352 T en nessee,.............. Missouri,.................. Kentucky,................ T otal,................ 1820. 1830. 1840. Area— No. to Increase, p. cent, in— Square a sq. miles. mile. 10 yrs. 20 yrs. 30 yrs. 261,727 20,845 406,511 153,407 75,448 144.317 14,273 422,813 66,586 564.317 215,739 136,621 309,527 30,388 681,904 140,455 687,917 352,411 375,651 590,756 97,574 829.210 383702 779,828 49,300 47,680 52,900 55,000 40,200 65.500 40.500 7.1 7.8 11.1 1.7 20.6 5.8 19.2 805,991 1,441,161 2,202,551 3,409,132 351,080 9.4 I V . Non-slavehold in g States. O hio,......................... Indiana,................... Illinois,..................... M ichigan,................ 230,760 24,520 12,282 4,762 581,434 147,178 55,211 8,896 937,903 343,031 157,445 31,639 1,519,467 685,866 476,183 212,267 30,945 43,112 39,750 36,500 57,900 59,700 95,000 200,000 38.2 18.8 8.2 3.5 .3 .2 T otal,................ 272,324 802,719 1,470,018 2,967,840 488,850 6. 54.8 102. 136. 323. 269. 1090. A t l a n t ic a n d W e s t e r n S t a t e s — S l a v e h o l d in g a n d N on - sl a v e h o l d in g S t a t e s . Decennial incr. in— 1820. 1830. 1840. 6,161,499 1,078,315 7,420,727 2,243,880 9,188,133 3,672,569 10,686,381 6,376,972 448,650 839,930 23.8 7.6 20.4 108.1 23.8 63.7 16.3 73.6 Non-slaveholding S. 3,758,910 Slaveholding States, 3,480,904 5,162,372 4,502,235 7,012,399 5,848,303 9,728,922 7,334.431 659,000 629,580 14.7 11.6 37.3 29.3 35.8 29.9 38.7 25.4 Atlantic States,.. . . Western States,.... United States, in Fifty Years. 437 It will be seen by the preceding tables that the four divisions differ con siderably in numbers, but far more in density o f population; that the At lantic non-slaveholding division has the greatest number and density, and the western non-slaveholding division has the least. If, however, the vast territories o f Wisconsin and Iowa, which are comparatively unsettled, be deducted, this fourth division would rank second in density o f numbers; its four states containing, in 1840, nearly 15 persons to the square mile. It will also be seen that the slaveholding states have increased more slowly than the states without slaves, though they are less densely peopled, which fact is owing principally to the difference o f their accessions from immigration. In the 30 years from 1810 to 1840,— The increase o f the states without slaves has been as......... 100 to 258.8 ......... 100 to 210.7 That o f the slaveholding states “ The disparity o f increase between the Atlantic and western states, has been far greater; for, whilst the former have not doubled in 30 years, the latter have, in the same time, augmented nearly sixfold. Thus,— Increase o f the Atlantic states from 1830 to 1840, was as. 100 to 173.4 That o f the western states “ “ . 100 to 591.4 Should their respective rates o f increase in the current decennial term be the same as it was in the last, the numbers in the Atlantic states would, in 1850, be 12,428,000, and those in the western states, 11,170,000. It, therefore, will not be before the next succeeding census, in 1860, that those states will have preponderance in numbers and political power, un less there should be, in the present decennial term, a further disparity in their rate o f increase. On this subject it may be remarked, that most o f the western states, which are as yet but thinly settled compared with their extraordinary ca pabilities, have increased faster in the last ten years than in the ten years preceding, and that the same census may continue to operate until the next census ; whereas, in the Atlantic states, the cases of such increasing ratio are only two, and those to a small extent. They are Massachusetts, whose decennial increase has augmented from 16.6 per cent in 1830, to 20.9 in 1840— the great extension o f her manufactures having checked her wonted emigration— and New Jersey, whose increase has, in like manner, aug mented from 15.5 per cent to 16.4 per cent, in consequence o f her sym pathetic growth with the cities o f New York and Philadelphia. In every other Atlantic state, the ratio of decennial increase has diminished, so as to make the diminution in the New England States from 17.8 per cent to 14.3 ; in the middle states, from 29.2 to 23.3 ; and in the southern states, from 21. to 8.2. But of the western states, Mississippi augmented its ratio o f increase, in the same time, from 81. to 175. per cent; Louisiana, from 40.6 to 6 1 .6 ; Arkansas, from 112.8 to 221.1; Missouri, from 140.4 to 173.2; Illinois, from 185.1 to 2 0 2 .4 ; Michigan, from 255.6 to 55 5 .6 ; and even Ohio, the third state in the Union, from 61.3 to 62. per cent. And in most of these states, the next decennial increase may possibly be yet great er than the last. In the Atlantic states, on the other hand, the diminution may continue, though probably at a less rate, since the emigration from the more northern slaveholding states to the cotton-growing states may be much less in the present term of ten years than it was in the last. On the whole, should the decennial increase of the Atlantic states continue 36* 438 Commerce o f France. to decline as it has done, which is not probable, and should the western states continue to increase in the same accelerated ratio, which also seems improbable, and unwarranted by the history o f other states similarly cir cumstanced, these two great divisions of the Union will, in 1850, be near ly equal in population and political power. A rt. IV.— COMMERCE OF FRANCE. I n our September number we entered largely into the trade o f Franee, a nation which is making rapid strides in commercial prosperity, being foremost o f the continental powers. She is treading hard upon the heels o f England, whose commercial prosperity is greatly thwarted by the re action of her long course o f mistaken protective measures, and oppressed beneath the weight o f her debt and paper system, the effects o f which are fatal to her interests when brought into competition with the comparative ly untaxed products o f foreign powers. Our September article presented a comparative view of the aggregate imports and exports o f France from 1836 to 1840, inclusive. The result was a progressive increase in each year, until the amount had nearly doubled in 1840. The several values the computation o f which produces the aggregate result, are official; that is to say, by a royal ordonnance of May, 1826, a fixed value was placed upon each article o f import and export, based upon average real values o f former years. Hence, the aggregate, since then, displays more the changes in quantities or real business, than that o f prices. The returns for the year 1841, display a continuance o f that progressive increase in business which characterized the former thirteen years. The aggregate imports and exports show an increase o f 6 per cent over that o f 1840; o f 17 per cent over the average o f the previous five years. The comparison is as follows :— Importations,... Exportations,... Average for five years For 1840. Francs. Francs. 930.000. 938.000. 000 1.052.000. 000 000 1.011.000. 000 Total,....... fr. 1, 868, 000,000 350,212,500 2,063,000,000 387,000,000 For 1841. Increase for 1841. Francs. Francs. 1 , 121, 000,000 1,066,000,000 69 to 191,000,000 55 to 128,000,000 2,187,000,000 410,062,500 124 to 319,000,000 37 to 59,880,000 The imports and exports keep very nearly balanced, the imports showing a healthfully increasing excess. The position o f France on the Atlantic coast o f Europe, necessarily renders her seaports the place o f shipment for large quantities o f the pro duce of the nations o f the interior o f Europe, and of imports received in exchange by sea from abroad. This causes her national commerce to be divided into two general heads, v iz : general commerce, and special com merce ; which terms apply alike to imports and exports. Importation general commerce, embraces all articles that arrive at French ports, whether by sea or land, without reference to their ultimate destination, whether that may be home consumption, warehousing, re-ex portation, or transit. Importation special commerce, comprehends that portion o f the general commerce which is destined for French consump 439 Commerce o f France. tion only. Exportation general commerce, embraces all articles sent out o f the country, whether of foreign or domestic origin. Exportation spe cial commerce, embraces only French products and manufactures, and those articles which have been naturalized by the payment o f import duties. There is also a classification o f commerce by sea, and commerce by land. The comparison o f these is as follows, expressed in millions o f francs:— I m ports and E xports b y L and. Exports. Imports. Switzerland,.............. Belgium,................... German Confederation, Sardinian States,....... Spain,....................... Netherlands,.............. Total francs, 1841,. Total, 1841. Francs. Francs. 83.000. 000 96.000. 000 77.000. 000 78.000. 000 10.000. 000 2,000,000 346,000,000 Francs. 89.000. 000 45.000. 000 49.000. 000 39.000. 000 61.000. 000 2,000,000 285,000,000 Total, 1840. Francs. 172.000. 000 161,000,000 141.000. 000 125.000. 000 126.000. 000 105.000. 000 117,000,000 98.000. 000 71,000,000 72.000. 000 4,000,000 21.000. 000 631,000,000 582,000,000 Imports and Exports by Sea. Countries of Europe, . Countries out of Eur.,. French Colonies,........ Grand Fishery,.......... Total,....,.............. 414.000. 279.000. 69.000. 14.000. 000 361.000. 000 000 353.000. 000 000 61,000,000 000 5,000,000 776,000,000 780,000,000 775.000. 000 632.000. 000 130.000. 000 ' 19,000,000 ] 1,556,000,000 757.000. 000 582.000. 000 1 142,000,000 1,481,000,000 The following table gives, for six years, the imports and exports general commerce, showing the value under the French flag and under foreign flags:— I m p o r t s a n d E x p o r t s of F r a n c e , G e n e r a l C o m m er ce , d is t in g u ish in g t h e F l a g . I m port. By Sea— French Flag. Fore’ n Flag. *1 Tot. by Sea. By Land. Francs. Francs. Francs. Francs. Francs. 1836, .......... 1837............... 1838, .......... 1839, .......... 1840............... 1841,............. 307,900,000 284,300,000 317,400,000 372,700,000 369,000,000 340,500,000 270,100,000 259,700,000 311,800,000 283,400,000 385,500,000 435,000,000 578,000,000 544,000,000 629,200,000 656,100,000 754,500,000 775,500,000 327,600,000 263,800,000 307,900,000 290,900,000 297,800,000 345,900,000 Grand Total. 905,600,000 807,800,000 937,100,000 947,000,000 1,052,300,000 1,121,400,000 1836,............ 1837, .......... 1838, .......... 1839, .......... 1840............... 1841,............. 277,300,000 252,400,000 276,000,000 312,300,000 335,900,000 312,300,000 439,600,000 269,900,000 418,800,000 444,600,000 390,700,000 468,000,000 244,400,000 235,800,000 261,100,000 246,400,000 284,300,000 285,100,000 961,300,000 758,100,000 955,900,000 1,003,000,000 1,010,900,000 1,065,400,000 E xport. 716,900,000 522,300,000 694,800,000 756,900,000 726,600,000 780,300,000 These tables present a result favorable to the whole trade o f France, but unfavorable to its navigation, inasmuch as most o f the increase which has taken place in the period embraced by the table, has been in foreign vessels. The trade by sea, it appears, has increased 40 per cent, while that by land shows but little variation. W e will compile a table o f the imports and exports general commerce, to and from each nation with which France has commercial intercourse. The article in our September number, to which we have before alluded, will show the comparative fig ures o f former years; at present, we confine ourselves only to the move ment for 1841:— Commerce o f France. 440 I m p o r t s a n d E x p o r t s o p F r a n c e p r o m a n d t o e ac h C o u n t r y . T ot. I m p. & E x p . I m ports. E xports. General Com. General Com. Special Com. General Com. Special Com. Franca. United States,.. England,........... Sardinia,........... Belgium,........... Switzerland,..... German League Spain,................ Russia,.............. English E. Ind., Holland,........... Turkey,............ Tw o Sicilies,... Tuscany............ Guadaloupe,__ Hanse Towns,. Spanish Amer.,. Austria,............. Bourbon,........... Martinique,....... Saint Pierre,__ Norway,........... Brazil,............... Mexico,............. Hayti,................ Barbary,............ Rio Plata,......... Dutch E. indies, Venezuela,....... Sweden,........... Other countries, Francs. 340.700.000 157.100.000 308.000. 000 144.100.000 168.100.000 106,000,000 155.300.000 101.700.000 172.000. 000 82,600,000 82,600,000 134.100.000 138.100.000 37.200.000 52.100.000 67.800.000 25.700.000 32.400.000 32.300.000 53.600.000 40.500.000 57.100.000 33.300.000 20.500.000 21.400.000 41.700.000 20.400.000 37.800.000 8.700.000 30.500.000 30.000. 000 14.400.000 10.500.000 15.600.000 38.000. 000 22 , 000,000 35.000. 000 16.700.000 13.900.000 18.900.000 12 .100.000 14.100.000 12.400.000 45.100.000 5.900.000 18.600.000 6.900.000 10,600,000 7.200.000 11.500.000 15.400.000 28.400.000 5.400.000 6, 200,000 5.300.000 9,300,000 4,000,000 5.000. 000 98.800.000 842,500,000 Francs. 121.500.000 101.900.000 82,200,000 89.900.000 22.200.000 52.200.000 28.100.000 35.100.000 21.200.000 19.100.000 28.600.000 14.100.000 16.100.000 15.800.000 5.800.000 7.900.000 9.900.000 21 , 000,000 14.600.000 13.600.000 12.100.000 8 , 000,000 4.500.000 5.200.000 5.200.000 12.700.000 3.900.000 3.900.000 4.100.000 23.200.000 Francs. Francs. 183.600.000 121 , 200,000 163.900.000 107,500,000 62,100,000 38.900.000 53.600.000 45.900.000 89.400.000 39.400.000 51.500.000 48.200.000 100.900.000 79.100.000 15.700.000 11.900.000 6.700.000 6,000,000 21.300.000 18.300.000 16.600.000 11.800.000 62,100,000 7.200.000 20.300.000 13.100.000 17.400.000 17.400.000 21.800.000 17.300.000 15.600.000 8.900.000 5.100.000 2.700.000 16,000,000 16,000,000 18.300.000 18.300.000 5.000. 000 4.400.000 2 .000. 0001.900.000 32.700.000 20.300.000 12.700.000 10.100.000 3.700.000 3.100.000 4.300.000 2.400.000 13,000,000 11,800,000 800,000 700.000 4.000. 000 3.300.000 1.000 .000 800.000 56.300.000 63,800,000 Total,........... 2,115,800,000 1,121,400,000 804,600,000 1,065,400,000 760,700,000 In this table, we observe that the United States occupy the first rank in commercial importance with France. The exports o f the products o f France to the United States are very nearly equal to the imports from this country for French consumption, showing an exceedingly healthy state o f trade between the two countries, arising doubtless from the compara tive freedom o f intercourse. In her communication with Spain, an im mense discrepancy between the exports and the imports is apparent, show ing the former to exceed the latter nearly 200 per cent. The exports to Spain are mostly contraband, forwarded through Bayonne, Perpignan, and the other frontier towns. It is impossible to exclude, by law, goods, the introduction o f which will pay a profit. The only result from the attempt, is, to prevent anything but specie being taken in return for the goods smuggled in. Hence, the country is impoverished, and its industry dis couraged and destroyed by the very laws passed for its protection. With Switzerland, the intercourse is mostly a transit trade. The freedom from taxation in any sort, enjoyed by the Swiss manufacturers, enables them to pay the heavy expense o f transit over France to other countries, and still compete successfully in the markets o f the world. During the past year, the several nations o f the continent have entered strongly into the protective system, more particularly as a measure o f retaliation against Great Britain; who, although now attempting a libera! policy, yet persisted so long in her exclusive system, as to produce the 441 Commerce o f France. present retaliative measures in other powers. France has imposed a high duty upon linen thread, o f which the import from England has been rap idly augmenting for the last ten years, as follows :— T hread of Flax and L inen entered for Consumption in France. Colored. Year. From England. 1832,............. 1833,............. 1834,............. 1835,............. 1836,............. 1837,............. 1838,............. 1839.............. 1840,............. 1841,............. Total. Kilogrammes. Kilogrammes. 19,400 259,800 672,200 1,151,900 1,697,400 2,867,000 4,757,700 707,800 1,184,900 1,423,300 1,862,900 2,414,400 3,472,900 5,216,700 6,076,400 6,274,200 9,039,400 5,649,600 8,373,800 W hite. From England. Total. Grand Tot. Kilogrammes. Kilogrammes. Kilogrammes. 11,200 65,700 108,600 112,800 151,800 297,300 444,700 532,600 469,700 771,800 114,600 200,700 238,200 213,500 265,400 403,000 534,800 631,000 520,900 825,900 822,400 1,315,600 1,661,500 2,076,400 2,679,800 3,875,900 5,751,500 6,707,400 6,795,100 9,865,300 This shows an enormous increase, and rapidly augmenting from England. It has been promptly checked by the new duties, but whether more for the benefit of the French spinners than injury to the manufacturers, is a mat ter o f doubt. W e may now pass to the consideration o f the numerous articles which make up the aggregate imports and exports o f the French nation. The table we annex is a continuation o f that contained in our September num ber, which presented a comparative view for thirteen years:— A rticles of Import and Export Raw Materials. Cotton............. Silk,............... W ool,............. Sugar, eolon’l, Silks,.............. Prints.............. Cottons,......... W oods,.......... Linen yarn,.... Leaf tobacco,. Raw hides,..... Indigo,........... Linen goods, . Grain,............ Olive oil,........ Coal,............... Copper,.......... Coffee,............ Woollens........ C ok e,............. Foreign sugar, Horses,.......... L ivestock,.... Iron,............... Hair,............... Lead,.............. Dye woods,.... Fish,............... Table fruits,... Tallow,........... of France for 1841. Import. E xport. General Com. Spec. Com. General Com. Special Com. Francs. Francs. Francs. Francs. 129,800,000 98,500,000 Silks,............... 217,200,000 104,700,000 115,400,000 75,600,000 Cottons,......... 145,700,000 162,100,000 78,800,000 64,600,000 58,700,000 45,900,000 Woollens,...... 54,400,000 47,500,000 W ines,........... 55,000,000 54,600,000 50,300,000 3,500,000 53,600,000 6,300,000 Silk, raw,....... 53,100,000 49,500,000 Linens,........... 42,400,000 29,300,000 31,600,000 16,800,000 41,900,000 ... Grains,........... 41,300,000 38,400,000 Toys, & c...... 28,500,000 26,700,000 21,900,000 21,200,000 40,400,000 40,100,000 Paper,............ 34,600,000 29,700,000 Cotton,........... 20,600,000 ................ 20,200,000 20,200,000 32,800,000 27,100,000 Shoes, &c...... 28,800,000 21,100,000 Glass, & c...... 18,100,000 17,500,000 16,700,000 16,700,000 27,800,000 22,200,000 Brandy............ Cloths,............ 13,400,000 12,600,000 25,700,000 3,600,000 13,300,000 13,200,000 24,900,000 23,700,000 Madder........... 24,000,000 22,800,000 Sugar, refined, 13,300,000 9,300,000 11,600,000 11,600,000 20,500,000 19,700,000 Horses,........... 9,500,000 9,500,000 18,600,000 12,000,000 Perfumery,.... 9,500,000 9,300,000 14,500,000 ... Leather,......... 8,600,000 ................ 14,200,000 14,200,000 Coffee,............ 8,000,000 6,700,000 11,900,000 6,000,000 Jewellery,...... 7,900,000 7,600,000 11,400,000 11,400,000 Metal goods,.. 7,000,000 1,400,000 10,800,000 10,800,000 Olive oil......... 6,900,000 4,100,000 9,700,000 7,400,000 Cabinet wood, 9,500,000 3,800,000 Raw sugar,.... 6,500,000 ............... 9,000,000 7,800,000 Fashions,....... 6,400,000 6,400,000 6,400,000 ................ 8,400,000 6,500,000 Hair,............... 7,300,000 6,900,000 Watches,....... 6,300,000 2,200,000 5,800,000 5,800,000 6,200,000 5,700,000 Eggs............... 5,600,000 5,600,000 6,100,000 6,100,000 Fancy articles, 442 Commerce o f France. A rticles of Raw Materials. I mport and E x po r t of F rance for E xport. General Com. Spec. Com. General Com. Special Com. Francs. Francs. Francs. 5.900.000 5,800,000 5.100.000 4,600,000 5,000,000 4,900,000 2,500,000 2,400,000 165,600,000 116,600,000 Volatile oil,.... Raw hides,__ Fruits, table,.. Colors,............ Iron,................ Total,.......... 1,121,400,000 804,600,000 Salt,..!............. Other articles,. Fish oil........... Straw hats,.... Rice,............... Potash,........... Other articles,. 1841 — Continued. I mport. 5,500,000 5,500,000 5,400,000 5.100.000 4.300.000 3.900.000 3.700.000 129,100,000 Francs. 4,400,000 4,800,000 4,800,000 1,800,000 3,500,000 98,200,000 Total,......... 1,065,400,000 760,700,000 This table presents a great increase in the special import o f the raw materials of manufacture, such as cotton, wool, silk, raw hides, olive oil, coal, iron, & c., showing a great increase in the manufacturing prosperity o f France. At the same time, the import o f what are designated as “ na tural articles o f consumption,” such as grain, fish, rice, & c., show a great falling off, consequent upon the improved agricultural prosperity of France. An abundant crop caused a decrease in the import of grain for consump tion, during the year, to an extent equal to 44,000,000 francs, while the export of French grain increased 12,000,000 francs. The excess o f ex port over import was 12,000,000 francs, while, for the five preceding years, the excess o f import was 7,800,000 francs; showing an unusual abundance o f the crops, which was the basis o f prosperity in all other branches o f industry, both by cheapening the price o f bread, and, conse quently, the cost o f production, and by enabling all the industrious classes to expend a larger portion of their earnings for manufactured and import ed articles. The aggregate imports exceed those o f the average o f the previous five years 160,000,000 francs, or 26 per cent, notwithstanding a decrease o f 44,000,000 francs, or 79 per cent, in the import o f grain for consumption. The aggregate exports o f French products increased 20 per cent, of which the largest proportion was in manufactured articles, particularly silk goods, cottons, and woollens. The whole return o f the imports and exports presents a state o f affairs highly favorable to France. O f her intercourse with different countries, the volumes compiled by order o f government give very comprehensive and minute details. W e will here, however, confine ourselves to that with the United States for the year 1841. The annexed tables give the quantity and value o f each article imported into France from the United States, as well for consump tion as for transit; also, the exports to the United States both of French and foreign articles :— I m p o r t s in t o F r a n c e f r o m t h e U n ite d S t a t e s . Articles. Cotton,..........kilosrm. Leaf tobacco,. “ R ic e ,............. “ Potash,........... “ Art’s of oak, .pieces... Whalebone,.. kilogrm. Raw hides,... “ Vanilla,......... “ General Commerce. Quantity. Value. Special Commerce. Quantity. Value. Duty. Francs. Francs. Francs. 66,325,714 119,386,285 11,227,791 25,823,919 1,573,206 3,933,076 1,333,024 2,221,707 1,131,733 3,491,805 983,238 280,925 736,849 894,069 726,250 2,905 50,349,569 90,629,224 11,235,838 15,124 9,407,710 21,637,733 97,305 1,420,982 3,557,111 318,351 1,157,762 1,929,604 1,155,420 6,961 3,571,714 1,125,282 115,767 321,509 847,652 9,353 726,828 177,500 3,973 710 443 Commerce o f France. I mports from Articles. Provisions,.....kilogrm. Coffee,.......... “ Palm hats,. ...pieces... Dye woods,...kilogrm. Volatile oil,... “ Quercitron,. .. “ Pearls,........... gramm’s W a x ,.............kilogrm. Cocoa,........... “ Pimento,....... “ Silk goods,.... “ Cochineal,..... “ Cabinet wds., “ Copper,......... “ T e a ,.............. “ Wheat flour,. “ Gum copal,... “ Woollen gds., “ Indigo,........... “ Raw sugar,... “ Cotton cloth,. “ Lac,............... “ Pepper,......... “ Straw mats,.. “ Other articles, F rance into the U nited S tates — Continued. General Commerce. Value. Quantity. Special Commerce. Quantity. Value. Duty. Francs. Francs. Francs. 834,120 574,757 100,084 2,602,875 8,488 708,639 10,720 83,805 151,155 78,296 752 2,866 247,300 35,693 9,477 113,101 15,157 1,255 984 28,656 314 814 227 21 583,883 488,543 418,740 520,575 266,280 255,110 214,400 167,610 136,040 109,614 90,188 85,987 76,028 71,386 56,862 39,585 36,377 23,981 15,744 12,918 8,732 3,664 318 273 1,536,129 3,949 259,689 67,874 1,247,744 4,375 820,002 10,290 101,058 105,637 38,624 103 11,062 203,980 32,820 355 1,071 21,956 5 483 10,896 2,764 220,736 267,234 249,549 151,060 295,201 205,800 202,116 95,073 54,074 11,356 .331,861 ' h 63,178 65,640 2,130 375 52,695 35 7,728 4,928 1,451 268,875 21,581 23,328 19,148 36,080 56 8,934 62,492 37,908 952 8,659 14,297 719 2,281 265 2,319 11 1,068 7,825 9,804 286 21 25,687 400 273 1,029,506 2,980 330 157,070,691 29,450,754 32,967,440 Tot. imp.,.fr.. 1841, “ .$ .1 8 4 1 , “ .$ .1 8 4 0 , 197,766 121,490,954 12,521,997 22,592,053 2,347,873 22,115,566 2,351,304 E x p o r t s f r o m F r a n c e t o t h e U n ite d S t a t e s . Articles. General Commerce. Value. Quantity. Special Commerce. Quantity. Value. Duty. Francs. Francs. Francs. 800,358 Silk goods,....kilogrm. 697,690 Woollens,..... “ Cottons,........ “ 374,671 W ines,.......... litre...... 12,261,787 146,750 Plain works,.kilogrm. Colored silk,. 44 51,187 129,010 Leather goods “ M ercery,.................... Brandy,.........litre....... .Earthenware & glass,. Madder,........ kilogrm. Perfumery,.... “ 401,562 3,974,132 Olive oil,....... kilogrm. Linens,.......... 44 Volatile oil,... “ Stationery,.... “ 769,434 59,108 12,231 302,006 Leather,........ kilogrm. Table fruits,. 44 Straw mats,.. “ Liquor,.......... litre....... 129,451 1,033,660 18,331 185,194 T oy s,.............kilogrm. Tartaric acid, “ 71,311 192,535 1,907,507 202,028 93,477,735 15,849,152 14,130,959 7,222,685 5,870,000 4,862,765 4,835,808 4,608,560 3,324,802 2,786,106 2,782,212 1,907,507 1,414,196 1,310,562 R308i038 1,231,838 1,223,100 1,036,091 1,033,683 753^492 749,476 714,000 555,582 456,654 382^04 336,936 444,623 669,877 473,574 12,185,050 3,063 1,041 128,749 394,392 3,962,521 1,907,507 202,028 89,588 49,918 8,289 272,851 119,223 705,615 470 173,190 67,951 158,688 52,225,918 14,857,445 11,118,864 7,183,934 122,520 98,895 4,829,288 4,552,075 3,252,552 2,774,771 2,716,282 1,907,507 1,414,196 1,308,462 '159,300 665,344 828,900 937,374 113,137 715,536 584,934 7,152 519,570 265,185 36L124 277,704 1,311 69 142 2,077 3,377 460 358 207 1,093 4,364 7,649 10,492 558 3,599 246 139 23 765 286 328 1,942 1 1,905 396 194 437 444 Commerce o f France. E xports from F rance to the U nited S tates — Continued. General Commerce. Quantity. Articles. Value. Francs. 334,762 80,268 321,072 292,000 Musical instruments,.. 102,687 270,872 Colors,...........kilogrm. Cork goods,... “ 89,735 269,205 Metal works,. “ 159,231 262,019 258,510 Fancy goods,.............. 253,167 Silk umbrellas,........... 122,759 245,518 Verdigris,......kilogrm. 221,610 30,055 Medicines,.... “ 219,265 419 194^077 Jewellery,... .kilogrm. 185,698 43,648 Baskets,........ “ 171,323 Fish in oil,.... “ 68,529 160,595 11,330 155|558 Arms,............ kilogrm. 2,646 132,300 Phosph. acid,. “ 88,570 Metal plates,. “ 8,857 122,032 85,422 Provisions,.... “ 59,868 4,989 Cutlery,......... “ 12,800 25 Silk w’ m eggs, “ 5,233,461 Other articles,............. Special Commerce. Quantity. Value. Francs. 334,762 274,151 258,090 89,889 252,097 258,510 253,167 245,518 219,495 219,067 14L377 179,042 171,323 159,992 43^821 132,300 88,570 52,640 10,716 12,800 4,039,703 16,400 183,562,015 34,417,878 25,529,456 121,233,599 22,731,298 15,142,410 64,521 12,098 8,256 Tot. exp.,.fr.. 1841, “ $ .1 84 1 , “ $ .1 8 4 0 , 79,494 29,963 155,145 122,759 29,838 373 42,169 68,529 2,690 2,646 8,857 75,200 893 25 Duty. Francs. 921 755 219 83 429 771 696 338 84 603 i 116 440 8 7 24 206 2 In our September number, we remarked that the transit trade o f France, which is that which passes through her territories from and to countries adjacent to her, would probably be checked by the revolution which the currency o f the United States has undergone. When there was a full paper currency here, and large purchases o f goods were made on the con tinent through credits obtained in London, the exports o f the interior o f Europe across France to the United States were large, and with the decay o f that means of purchase they would fall off. The above figures show that, for the year 1841, the French exports to the United States increased $7,000,000 out of the aggregate income o f $9,000,000. The imports of France from the United States increased $480,000, while those o f the in terior of Europe declined $3,000,000. It will be observed, that the largest proportion o f the imports from the United States, are o f those articles de signated as necessary to manufacture. The following table will show the value o f the leading articles composing the transit trade:— T r a n s it T r a d e of F r a n c e . 1838. Silk goods,....... Silk,.................. Cotton goods,. . Cotton,............. Woollens,......... Linens,............. Coffee,.............. Watches,.......... Refined sugar,. W o o l,................ Francs. 32,700,000 47,200,000 25.500.000 15.200.000 13,800,000 9,900,000 3,900,000 2,600,000 2,700,000 300,000 1839. Francs. 54,300,000 34,800,000 28,500,000 9,600,000 13,500,000 10,500,000 4,200,000 2,700,000 2,700,000 200,000 1840. Francs. 40,300,000 40,700,000 31,200,000 21,000,000 12,700,000 11,000,000 4,000,000 3,100,000 4,500,000 200,000 1841. Francs. 50,800,000 37,700,000 35,100,000 15,500,000 11,400,000 9,700,000 3,900,000 3,900,000 3,500,000 400,000 445 Commerce o f France. T r a n s it T r a d e of F r an ce — •Continued. 1839. 1838. Francs. 1840. Francs. 1 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 1.900.000 1.700.000 1.500.000 2 ,1 0 0 ,0 0 0 196,300,000 203,200,000 Cochineal,........ Iron................... Indigo,.............. Sugar, raw,....... 1,600,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 2.500.000 1.300.000 1.600.000 Total francs, 182,900,000 192,500,000 2 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0 1811. Francs. 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 France. 300,000 1,600,000 1,500,000 O f the countries from and to which this last transit trade is kept, Swit zerland occupies the first rank. Her trade has been vastly prosperous, al though conducted at an immense disadvantage o f being obliged to pay, both ways, the expenses and duties o f a transit over the French territories. The following table, continued from our previous number, will give an idea o f its growing prosperity :— 1841. 1841. Origin. Aver, five years. Francs. Francs. Francs. Francs. Switzerland,.... Great Britain,.. Sardinia,.......... United States,.. Germany,......... Belgium,........... Brazil,............... Spain,............... Other countries, 46.900.000 37.900.000 8,500,000 46.700.000 52.500.000 39,000,000 8,100,000 52.500.000 4,800,000 6,000,000 14,000,000 19,900,000 4,600,000 11,200,000 13.100.000 25.400.000 53.600.000 26.600.000 28.500.000 13.700.000 28.400.000 13.100.000 76.400.000 30.700.000 22.300.000 14.900.000 28.500.000 11,000,000 20,800,000 19,400,000 Total francs, 184,700,000 203,200,000 184,700,000 203,200,000 T r a n s it T r a d e o p F r a n c e , Destination. Aver, five years. 1841. The exports of Switzerland uniformly largely exceed its imports, the latter of which increase steadily, and are not subject to those violent fluc tuations which mark its exports. The reason is traceable to the currencies o f those countries with which its largest intercourse is carried on, viz : the United States and England. The paper currencies o f those countries are constantly varying in their relative value to merchandise. When the prices are very high, Swiss merchandise becomes valuable, and its exports consequently swell in volume; while its own steady currency, and the un varying economy and frugality of its people permits scarcely any other variation in its imports than what is caused by the increasing consumption o f the raw material for manufactures within its bosom. The following table will give the comparative exports, customs, rev enue, and tonnage o f France, England, and the United States, for the year 1841:— C ustom s D u t ie s , E x p o r t s , a n d T on n ag e , of F r a n c e , E n g l a n d , a n d t h e U n ite d S t a t e s , f o r 1841. France,......... United States, Great Britain, Customs. Exports. National. Foreign. Dollars. Dollars. Tonnage. Tonnage. Tonnage. 36,226,678 18,350,220 93,528,000 199,762,500 121,851,803 247,846,190 575,122 1,634,156 2,624,680 693,696 736,842 918,776 1,268,818 2,371,005 3,543,456 Total. During the past year, the French duties have been raised, as also those o f the United States, which now average 35 per cent o f the imports, while those o f Great Britain have been materially diminished. England has, since the peace of 1815, been gradually losing its markets for its merV O L . V III. — n o . v . 37 Commerce o f France, 446 chandise, not only through the increased ability o f other countries to pro duce and manufacture for their own consumption, but to compete with England in the supply o f other markets. In order to show the present relative trade o f each country with all the world, we have compiled the following table o f the exports o f each country to the rest o f the world, for the year 1841:— i, Places. England,................................ Russia,................................... Sweden,................................. N orw ay,.............................. Denmark,............................. Prussia,. ) Germany, $ ......................... , Holland, ) ........................... Belgium, £ ........................... France,.................................. Portugal,................................ and Great Britain, to each Country in 1841. France. United States. Francs. Dollars. 163,890,613 15,680,378 973,839 2,019,975 2,201,349 49,552,273 1,025,729 602,319 134,788 Great Britain. Pounds. 1,607,175 197,813 117,938 191,481 51,324,798 175,976 6,017,854 21,315,409 53,558,222 2,514,922 1,823,882 21,766,755 121,764 413,820 1,119,920 1,445,380 48,939 3,610,877 1,066,040 2,902,002 1,099,100 463,587 1,053,367 2,578,697 223,734 119,523 1,220,261 238,486 410,798 384,574 7,921 340,140 5,595,000 862,570 285,514 1,269,351 2,947,061 2,504,004 169,142 895,441 7,098,642 434,901 158,972 2,556,554 989,362 438,089 536,046 350,407 ............ 3,543,058 100,893,906 ............ Gibraltar,............................... Italy,...................... ............... Malta,.................................... Ionian Isles........................... Turkey,................................. Egypt,.................................... Coast of Africa,....... I ......... Cape of Good Hope, $ ....... St. Helena,........................... Mauritius,............................. East Indies, 1 ....................... China, $ ....................... Sumatra,................................ Australia,............................... English North Am. Colonies, West Indies,......................... Hayti,................................... Cuba,..................................... United States,....................... Mexico,................................. Columbia,............................. Brazil,................................... Rio Plata,............................. Chili,...................................... Peru,..................................... Guernsey and Jersey,.......... Hanse Towns....................... Other places,......................... 21,812,673 •[162,070,864 4,560,716 3,602,662 1,292,199 Total,...1841..................... “ ...1841......Dollars, “ ...1831,.... “ 1,065,357,603 199.762.500 114.788.500 121.851.803 121.851.803 81,310,230 50,342,424 247,846,190 178,588,979 $84,974,000 or 67 per cent. $40,541,573 or 33 per cent. $69,257,211 or 26 per cent. Increase,. 95,206,887 ............ 16,644,325 5,355,622 51,637,2911 7,592,453 61,201 377,702 41,371,148 3,673,211 15,608,078 183,562,015 12,652,501 3,674,919 32,676,114 3,443,164 14,150,696 2,383,177 ............ 380,546 ............ 636,768 51,324 .............. 2,388,041 1,200,816 176,341 6,656,563 6,198,932 1,155,557 5,739,082 2,036,620 872,937 3,517,273 818,170 1,102,988 This result shows how rapidly France is outstripping the other nations, notwithstanding the terrific competition sustained by the constantly falling money values o f English exports, which fall is made singularly apparent, 447 Internal Trade o f the United States. comparing the official values, which are fixed and express quantities, with the declared or real value at different periods, as follows:— E n g l ish E x p o r t s . Official value,.......... Real value,.............. 1816. 1821. 1811. $171,441,600 199,953,600 $195,988,800 175,963,200 $291,278,400 178,588,979 1841. $559,056,000 247,846,190 T o have preserved the same prices in 1841 as were current in 1816, the real value o f the British exports should have been $648,230,000, show ing a depreciation of 65 per cent. This depreciation has, no doubt, been caused, in some degree, by the restoration o f the British currency in 1821, and by improvements in every branch o f manufacture; but it has been mostly caused by the active and dangerous competition of France and oth er countries o f Europe, which place their goods in those markets which she formerly monopolized on terms, that drive her to ruinous concessions in order to maintain them.* A rt. V.— IN TERN AL TRADE OF TH E UNITED STATES. NUMBER II. Providence has evidently designed the temperate regions o f the inte rior o f North America for the residence o f a dense population o f highly civilized men. Throughout its southern and middle regions, which are elevated but a few hundred feet above the level o f the Gulf o f Mexico, the deflected trade wind bears from that sea the vapors, which, falling in show ers, give fertility to the soil, and swell to navigable size their numerous and almost interminable rivers. Towards the north he has spread out, and connected by navigable straits, great seas o f pure water, to equalize and soften the temperature o f that comparatively high latitude, and to aid in irrigating the surrounding countries. And he has so placed these seas, as to give them the utmost availability for purposes o f trade; for, while they reach to the highest latitude to which profitable cultivation can be carried, they stretch away south almost to the very heart of the great valley. Towards the east they approach the Atlantic, and extend west ward towards the Pacific, more than a third o f the distance across the continent. T o give the lake and river countries easy access to each oth er, he has placed them nearly on the same level; and strongly pointed out, and, indeed, in some places, almost finished, the great channels o f inter course between them. T o invite and facilitate migration from Europe and the old states, he has provided the St. Lawrence and Mississippi riv ers, and cut a passage through the Appalachian chain, where flow the tur bulent Mohawk and the majestic Hudson. His munificence ends not here. He has diversified its surface with hills, vales, and plains, and clothed them alternately with fine groves o f timber, and beautiful meadows o f grass and flowers. Beneath the soil, the minerals o f nearly every geological era, * W e would here take occasion to acknowledge our indebtedness to M. L. S. Rodet, o f Paris, and Alexander Guillaume, one of the Commissioners of Commerce and Agri culture, who came out to this country in the French government steamer Gomer, for official documents connected with the commerce and navigation of Franee. 448 Internal Trade o f the United States. and of every kind, which has been made tributary to man’s comfort and civilization, are properly distributed. On the north, the waters o f the great lakes begin their expansion in a region o f primitive formation. De scending thence by the river St. Mary’s into, and expanding over a por tion of that great transition limestone bed which forms the basis of the richest soil o f the country, and after entering, by their southernmost reach, the coal measures o f northern Ohio, they are precipitated over the eastern margin o f this great limestone basin at Niagara. A few miles distant they again spread out, 330 feet below, in a region o f salt bearing sandstone and shales, and finally pass off to the ocean through a primi tive country. Thus a great variety o f minerals, useful to man, are placed where transportation and exchange are easy and cheap. Nor, in this con nection, should be overlooked, among the multiplied evidences o f Provi dential bounties to this favored region, the immense power to move ma chinery laid up for us at the outlet o f Lake Erie. Here is a head o f 330 feet, with an inexhaustible supply o f pure water, easily and cheaply brought under control, in a healthy and pleasant country, and at the door o f the great west. Nor should we omit to mention the harbors for shipping, which abound in the primitive shores to the north, and which are also found at the mouths o f all the large streams o f the transition and second ary regions below. Such is the broad patrimony which we are invited to enter upon and improve. Our people have begun to enter into possession. Along the line of the 5,000 or 6,000 miles of habitable shore which is offered to the mariner o f these lakes, he may now and then see a cluster o f houses, a nascent c ity ; and anon he may espy small indentations o f their forest borders, where farmers have begun to hew their way to independence. The southern shore o f Lake Erie, and both shores o f Ontario, are so far advanced in settlement, that it is easy to anticipate the speedy triumph o f the art and industry o f man. Already, in many places, he has achieved his victory; for his farms and villages have nearly driven his forest ene my from his sight. Here, he has already built himself spacious barns, and comfortable dwellings. He has also made roads, on which to carry the products o f his industry to market. More than this : he has built towns, canals, and railroads ; constructed and improved numerous harbors; and created a commercial marine that, three centuries ago, would have been a source o f pride, if possessed by the greatest maritime power in Europe. In anticipation o f the early settlement o f the fine country bordering these waters, and its capacity to furnish the basis o f a large commerce, the Erie canal was projected and opened. But its banks had hardly be come solid, its business been got into train and reduced to system, before the discovery was made that its capacity would little more than suffice for the business o f the country through which it runs, and, o f course, that it would soon be inadequate to the passage o f the trade then just spring ing up, with indications o f a vigorous growth, on the upper lakes. Wild as were thought the visions o f Morris and Clinton by the strictly practical men o f their day, it turns out that what were considered visions were but practical deductions, falling short o f the truth instead o f exceeding it. Ten years after the chimerical, grand canal was completed, men, having the reputation o f being eminently practical, thought they saw the neces sity of making it about three times as large, and forthwith entered upon such enlargement. Practical men in other states have believed, perhaps Internal Trade o f the United States. 449 prematurely, that such portion o f the lake trade as they could divert from this New York route would pay them for the outlay of so many millions as will be necessary to construct two more canals, and the same number o f railroads, from the Atlantic to the lake waters. Not only are cities and states entering upon a competition for this trade, but there are indications that a few years will witness an active emulation between the United States and Great Britain, in endeavors, on the one hand, to retain, and on the other to acquire it. On all sides it is admitted, that the city of the At lantic coast which receives the bulk o f our eastern business will be the leading city o f that border; and if it is not now admitted, it soon will be, that the emporium of the Mississippi valley which commands the best channel o f intercourse with the lakes, must be and remain the queen city o f that valley. But what is it that makes this lake country o f such commanding importance ? In the first place, it is o f great extent. Its navigable shores, in cluding bays and straits, measure more than 5,000 miles. Not only do these command a large country lying back, in many places, much beyond the head waters o f the streams which flow into them, but, by means o f canals and other artificial aids, no inconsiderable portion o f the Mississippi valley is made tributary to their commerce. This is owing to their afford ing the cheapest and best route to New York and Canada. Even with the small canal between Buffalo and Albany, levying tolls high enough to haye already paid for its construction, we find a strong inclination to that route, not only for the foreign and eastern manufactures that are purchased in the great Atlantic emporium, and brought into the lake and Mississippi valleys, but for the farming produce o f sections o f country that formerly floated it down to New Orleans. This is strongly exemplified on the Ohio canal, the lake end o f which receives o f the agricultural productions transported on it more than twelve times as much in value as the Ohio river termination. W e have examined the receipts by canal, at Cleveland and Portsmouth, for the six past years— the only years for which the board o f public works have given full returns— and the result shows the above proportion. For those six years— Cleveland received of wheat,........................................... bushels Portsmouth “ “ Cleveland received o f flour,.........................................barrels Portsmouth “ “ 8,325,022 4,193 “ 2,199,542 149,645 “ When the Erie canal shall be made three times its original size, through its whole length, to Buffalo, or from Albany to Syracuse, with an equiva lent enlargement o f the Oswego canal, the cost o f transportation on it will be materially diminished, so as to draw trade to the lakes from a still more extended portion o f the great valley. This tendency will be increased by the facilities which the Canadian improvements will give the lake ports, to make shipments direct to foreign ports; and it will, in like manner, be greatly strengthened by the completion o f the Wabash and Erie canal, which comes first into operation the present season; and by the Miami canal, which will connect Cincinnati with the lake, by a direct communi cation of only 235 miles in length, and which will be in operation in the summer of 1844. Until the cities and towns o f the central valley become numerous, and large enough to consume most o f its agricultural surplus, the main exertions o f her people will be properly directed to the construc 37* 450 Internal Trade o f the United States. tion and improvement o f channels for its transport, by way o f the lakes, to Quebec, New York, and Boston. The country lying north and northwest o f the lakes, to an almost inde finite extent, must carry on its main exchanges through these waters. This, though new and little improved, will, at no very distant day, be come populous and powerful. Before the late troubles, the migration to Upper Canada from the United Kingdom was unexampled in the history of colonization; being, some seasons, upwards o f 50,000 annually. Quiet being again restored, the current, in that direction, is becoming stronger than ever. The soil o f the countries bordering the lakes is, in general, o f the most fertile character; and the climate, for health and pleasantness, equal to that o f any part o f the continent, except, perhaps, the table-lands o f Mexico. They join, and are in the same latitude, with those Atlantic states having the densest population and greatest wealth; and the expen diture of time and money to change a residence from these to the lake borders is now small, and is every year becoming less. The main cur rent o f surplus population has, for several years, flowed from those states into the lake region; and that current will grow wider and deeper and stronger, in proportion to the removal o f obstacles impeding its progress. Now let us see what means are in course o f preparation for making easy and cheap the intercourse between the lakes and the Atlantic states. First, in importance, is the enlarged Erie canal. This work is now in progress, and it will probably be finished, as far as its connection with the Oswego canal at Syracuse, in two years. By that time it is hoped the Oswego branch will also be enlarged to the same size. Its dimensions are 70 feet in width, 7 feet in depth, with double locks throughout, large enough to pass vessels o f 150 tons. Next in importance, when finished, will be the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, with its continuation from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. This will be a continuous line o f canal, about 520 miles in length, connecting tide water at Baltimore, and Georgetown with Lake Erie, at Cleveland. Its dimen sions vary, from 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep to 60 feet wide by 6 feet deep ; averaging, say 50 feet wide and 5 feet deep. The Pennsylvania line o f canal and railroad will unite with the fore going at Pittsburgh; and, from tide water at Philadelphia to Cleveland, will be about 570 miles long. These are the rival canal routes in the states for the trade o f the lakes. Let them stand together, that we may see how they compare :— 1. Erie canal, from Buffalo to Albany,....... 2. Chesapeake and Ohio, and Mahoning and Ohio canal, to Cleveland,..................... 3. Pennsylvania works, and Mahoning and Ohio canal, to Cleveland,...................... Length. Size. Miles. 363 F eet 70 by 7 520 50 by 5 4 ,5 0 0 3 570 40 by 4 5 ,0 0 0 3 Lockage. Tr’shipm. Feet. No. 688 None. It is a contrast, rather than a comparison. If, however, the other routes were to afford equal facilities for business, that to New York would have a decided preference, because it leads to that established and controlling mart. But the Erie canal is to have a formidable foreign rival. Canals are in progress o f construction around the rapids o f the St. Lawrence, of a size, and with locks, large enough to admit large steamboats; and the Welland canal and locks are also being made capable o f passing small Internal Trade o f the United States. 451 steam vessels, and sailing vessels o f 300 tons. These, when completed, will give entrance at once to foreign vessels o f 1,000 tons burden to Lake Ontario, and o f 300 tons to the ports o f Lake Erie. These works are vigorously going forward to completion; the money, necessary for that purpose, being pledged under a guarantee o f the home government. Many expect them to be finished in about two years, but we fear this expectation is over-sanguine. A comparison o f the New York and Canada routes would stand thus :— From Lake Erie to New York, by canal and Hudson river— Size Size Length Lake No. o f Distance. of Canal. o f Locks. o f Canal, and River. L'kage. Tr’shipm. f} Miles. 508 Feet. Feet. 70 by 7 120 by 24 Miles. 360 Miles. Feet. 145 688 1 517 None. From entrance of Welland canal, on LakeErie, to Montreal— 407 100 by 10 200,by 50 604 346 The locks o f the Welland canal are being constructed 122 feet long in the chamber and 26 feet wide. It will be seen, that we have set down the size o f the Erie canal as if enlarged all the way to Lake E rie; and the size o f the Canadian locks on the St. Lawrence, as if continued to the same lake. W e have set down but one transhipment against the New York route by Buffalo ; whereas, in regard to all freights coming from other ports o f the upper lakes, there will, of course, be a reshipment at Buffalo, as well as at Troy or Albany. Let us see how the New York route, by Oswego, will compare with that o f the St Lawrence :— From exit of Welland canal, in Lake Ontario, to New York— Size o f Size o f Length Lake and Reship. Distance. Canal. Locks. o f Canal. River. Lockage, meats. 504 miles. 70 by 7 feet. 120 by 24 feet. 209 miles. 295 miles. 551 feet. 2 From exit of Welland canal, in Lake Ontario, to Montreal— 379 miles. 110 by 10 feet. 200 by 50 feet. 324 miles. 347 miles. 1884feet. None. In a Report o f the Board o f Directors o f the Welland canal, in 1835, it is stated, that “ merchandise from London would be conveyed to Cleve land for £ 2 10s. per ton,” when the St. Lawrence should be rendered navigable to the lakes by the works now in progress o f construction. This would be but 54 cents per 100 lbs., not above two-thirds its present cost from New York. If this statement be not greatly erroneous, Euro pean goods will be delivered at the ports o f Lake Erie, on the completion o f the Canadian canals, cheaper than at the port o f New Orleans. The railroads made, and in progress, to connect the ocean and the lakes, are— 1st. that from Buffalo to Albany, and thence by branches to Boston, New York, and all the large towns o f New England, and the State of New Y ork ; 2d. the Hudson and Erie, from Dunkirk to the Hud son ; 3d. the Sunbury, from Erie to Philadelphia ; and 4th., the Baltimore and Ohio, which, beginning at Baltimore and Washington, will, one day, terminate on Lake Erie, at Cleveland and Maumee; the former branch passing through Pittsburgh, the latter through Wheeling. O f these routes, that passing along near the line o f the Erie canal possesses nearly the same advantage over the others, as that canal has been showm to afford over her would-be rivals o f Pennsylvania and Maryland. It avoids the ascent and descent o f the Allegany mountains, and passing along a level country, is much straighter, is made and kept in repair at much less ex- 452 Internal Trade o f the United States. pense, and, o f course, will allow a greater speed to the locomotives that fly along its track. Such are the great works made and making; and for whom ? Surely not for the two or three millions that, within a few years past, have fixed their homes in the lake countries. N o ! but for the anticipated tens o f millions o f intelligent and industrious freemen, who will, as a moderate forecast enables men to see, in no long course o f years, spread over, and clear and cultivate and beautify these pleasant and fertile shores. What ever other error may arise from making the past a basis o f calculation for the future, that o f a too sanguine estimate could hardly be committed, in treating o f any civilized country o f the present day, much less o f ours, the most rapidly progressive o f the whole family o f nations. T o exhibit the growth o f the principal upper lake towns, from 1830 to 1840, we here give their population at those periods :— Buffalo,..................... Erie,.......................... Cleveland,*.............. Sandusky City,........ Lower Sandusky,,... Perrysburg,.............. Maumee City,.......... Toledo,.................... 1830. 1840. 8,653 1,329 1,076 400 351 182 200 30 18,213 3,412 7,648 1,433 1,117 1,065 1,290 2,053 12,221 36,231 Detroit,.................. Monroe,............... Chicago................. Milwaukee,......... Huron,................. Total,............ ..... 1810. 1840. 2,222 500 100 20 75 9,102 1,703 4,470 1,712 1,488 2,917 12,221 18,475 36,231 15,138 54,706 Showing an increase which, if the numerous villages that have com menced their existence since 1830 were added, would more than quadru ple their numbers in the ten years. The increase o f business on the up per lakes has been in a greater ratio than even ten to one. Indeed, it has nearly all grown up since 1830. If the reader doubt this, let him exam ine and compare the account o f the collector o f canal tolls at Buffalo for that year with that for the past season, and add to the last the produce passing through the Welland canal. But it should not be forgotten that, while the relative amount o f pro ducts o f the soil, in proportion to the population, is rapidly augmenting, our cities and towns are beginning to receive a large accession o f mechan ics, manufacturers, and other business men, which will, more and more, tend by its increase to keep down exports to the east. The intercourse between the agricultural and manufacturing regions o f our country, will doubtless increase as fast, and be productive o f as much mutual benefit, as any friend of both sections now anticipates; but the home trade within the limits o f our North American valley will grow much faster, and pos sess a vigor as superior to the former, as do the great arteries near the heart to those of the limbs o f the human system. Western commerce with the Atlantic border, is analogous to that o f the eastern and middle states with Europe. This trade has had a rapid development, but by no means in proportion to the augmentation o f that with their own coast and interior. The for eign commerce of Philadelphia, for instance, is no greater than it was in 1787, when the population of the city and liberties did not exceed 40,000, while its home trade has increased tenfold, and its population become more than five times 40,000. It will probably surprise many o f our readers to ( * Including Ohio city. 453 Internal Trade o f the United States. be informed, that the exports and imports o f our upper lake region, the past season, have probably exceeded in value those o f all the colonies on an average of six years preceding 1775. According to Pitkin, the annual exports from the colonies, o f those six years, amounted to £1,752,142, and the imports to £2,732,036. The average annual amount o f the ex ports and imports o f this upper lake country for the last three years, would be estimated low at $20,000,000. Such are the results of the infantile labors o f the young Hercules o f the lakes. The basins o f the St. Lawrence and Mississippi, constitute nearly all the great interior valley. Each o f these basins, when settled to a fair extent, will have a vast commerce o f its own ; and it will be interesting to ascertain through what channels and through what towns the great in tercourse, that will naturally grow up between them, will be carried on. The time will come, within the present century, when the trade between the northern and southern portions o f the North American valley will be come more important than that of the whole valley, with the eastern states and Europe. Until that period arrives, the channels which command most o f the eastern business will be o f paramount importance. Let us exam ine the relative claims o f those now used and soon to be prepared for use. Coming from the east, the first improved communication connecting lake and river trade, is the Genesee valley and Olean canal. This will compete with the canal from Erie, for the supply o f eastern and European manufactures to much o f western Pennsylvania. In the intercourse be tween Pittsburgh and the upper lakes, which must soon be o f great im portance, the channels terminating at Erie and Cleveland will be rivals. T o determine which o f these is best, requires a more minute knowledge o f them than we possess. Supposing them equal, Cleveland being the largest town, and the best mart for such manufactures as Pittsburgh ex ports, will be sure to attract the greatest portion o f this trade. The Ohio canal, from Cleveland to Portsmouth, on the Ohio, with its arms to Pittsburgh, to Marietta, and to Athens on the Hocking, furnishes an ample highway for the interchange o f productions between the lake regions, and the east and the river regions, embracing southeastern Ohio,, southwestern Pennsylvania, and western Virginia. This it holds without having or fearing a rival. How far down the Ohio can its exports from the lakes be carried ? This can be ascertained with some degree o f cer tainty by comparing it with the Miami canal route. The Miami canal, connecting the lake at Maumee with the Ohio at Cin cinnati, embraces at its north end 60 miles o f what is known as the W a bash and Erie canal. It is completed, with the exception o f 35 miles, which is to be constructed within the next year. The eastern trade, by way o f the Ohio and Miami canals, will probably meet on the Ohio, above Maysville. Let us see :— From Lake Erie, at Cleveland, From Lake Erie, at Maumee, By Ohio canal to Portsmouth...... By Ohio river down to Maysville. Total,, By Miami canal to Cincinnati. By Ohio river up to Maysville. Total,.............................................. Difference in favor of Miami route,.................................................................... .miles it it 306 47 miles 353 235 66 “ “ 301 52 Sixty miles of the Miami canal (the Wabash and Erie portion) is more 454 Internal Trade o f the United Stales. than twice as large as the Ohio canal. The lockage on the Miami canal is several hundred feet less than it is on the Ohio canal. The conclusion seems unavoidable, that the Miami route will send its lake productions and eastern business as far up the Ohio as Maysville. What will be the limit o f its control o f this business, south and southwest? Following the shores o f the lakes westward from Maumee bay, one will look in vain for any rival channel between the lakes and the Mississippi waters, before reaching the Illinois canal at Chicago. The Miami canal can have no rival in the eastern business o f at least 10,000 square miles o f Ohio, the southeastern portion, or 9,000 square miles o f Indiana, and nearly the whole o f Kentucky. It remains to show where the trade from Lake Erie, by way o f the Miami canal, will probably meet, on equal terms, the same trade by way o f the Illinois canal on the Mississippi waters; in other words, what portion of the great river valley will be likely to use the one or the other, in the transaction o f its eastern business. W ill the place at which they may meet on equal terms, be at the mouth o f the Cumberland river ? The Cumberland waters a large extent o f fertile country, affords good navigation, and has, upon its banks, besides many other thriving towns, the important commercial city o f Nashville. W e will place the distances by the two routes side by side. Lake Erie is the common starting point; for upon her waters must merchandise first come, whether the Erie canal or the St. Lawrence be the channel through which it has been transport ed :— Lake Erie to the mouth o f Cumberland river, by way o f Miami canal. From Maumee harbor to Cincinnati, by canal..................................................miles “ Cincinnati to the mouth of Cumberland, by river................................... “ Total,............................................................................ “ 235 449 684 « By way o f Illinois canal. From Lake Erie to Chicago, by the lakes........................................................ miles “ Chicago to lower end of Illinois canal...................................................... “ “ thence to mouth of Illinois river.............................................................. “ “ thence down the Mississippi to mouth of Ohio........................................ “ “ thence up the Ohio to the mouth of Cumberland................................... “ Total,.......................................................................... Difference in favor of Miami route.................................................................. “ “ 750 100 267 209 57 1,383 699 It will be observed that the Illinois route has an excess o f 86 miles o f river navigation over the Miami channel, some o f which is inferior to that o f the lower Ohio. This will, in part, go to balance the excess o f canal on the Miami route. The Cumberland valley, then, clearly belongs to the eastern rival. But here comes the more important Tennessee, a river longer than the Rhine, the Elbe, or the Tagus, and navigable into the rich cotton regions o f Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. This is a prize worth contend ing for. W hich o f our rival channels will supply its fertile and extensive valley with the large amount o f merchandise which its ample means and civilized wants will require ? There are but 13 miles separating the mouths o f the Cumberland and Tennessee, so that the Illinois channel gains but 26 miles in comparison with the route just detailed. Still will this route have a balance against it o f 673 miles, as compared with its rival, as the following figures will sh ow :— Internal Trade o f the United States. 455 From Lake Erie to mouth of Tennessee, by Chicago................................... miles “ “ “ “ Maumee and Cincinnati....... “ Difference in favor of Miami route.................................................................... “ 1,370 697 673 W e now descend to where the Ohio joins the Father o f waters. W ill the trade o f the east, through Lake Erie, reach this point 1 It has al ready, to some extent, passed out of the Ohio, both up and down the Mis sissippi, and by a course more circuitous and expensive than either o f those I am now comparing: to wit, that by the Ohio canal. Let the comparison then be made at this point, between our rivals. From the mouth of the Tennessee to the Mississippi, the distance is 44 miles. From Lake Erie to mouth of Ohio, by Chicago and St. Louis................... miles “ “ “ “ Maumee and Cincinnati................. “ Difference in favor of the latter route.............................................................. “ 1,326 741 585 In going up the Mississippi, we must o f course come to the point where the advantages o f the two routes will be equal. Is that point at St. Louis ? From Lake Erie to St. Louis, by Chicago........................................................ miles “ “ “ Miami canal, and Ohio and Mississippi... “ Difference,............................................................................................................ “ 1,150 917 233 Thus, it appears that St. Louis will have a choice o f two nearly equally desirable routes o f communication with New York, by way o f Lake Erie. Another route from Lake Erie to St. Louis, by way of the Wabash and Erie canal, would be much shorter. From Maumee to Covington on the Wabash, by canal....................................miles “ Covington by proposed railroad to St. Louis............................................ “ 270 196 Whole distance,..................................................................................................... 460 “ On the whole, it seems to us quite plain, that o f all the channels o f trade now open and being opened in our extensive country, no one, o f the same extent, is destined to be the medium o f such extensive commercial operations as the canal which connects, by the shortest route, Lake Erie with Cincinnati. When the day shall arrive that witnesses the predominance o f the home trade o f the North American valley, over that which is carried on with the eastern states and with Europe, and the intercourse between the northern and southern portions o f it takes the place o f that which now is carried on with the old states; and when, also, the shores o f the upper lakes shall be brought under cultivation, and become densely settled, the just claims o f the Chicago route to participate largely in the trade between the lakes and the central and lower Mississippi valley, will be greatly en larged. Then she will be the port from which supplies o f southern pro ductions will be drawn for all the borders o f the great lakes Michigan and Superior, and the northern shores o f lakes Huron and Iroquois; and through which will be sent, southward, most o f the surplus productions o f those extensive regions. But the Miami canal, as soon as completed, will fall into possession of a well-peopled and highly cultivated region, o f great extent, whose productions will rush through, from both extremes, the mo ment it is rendered navigable. Not less than two millions o f people, liv ing in the southwestern part of Ohio, the southeastern part o f Indiana, and almost throughout the entire states o f Kentucky and Tennessee, will 456 Internal Trade o f the United States. make it the medium through which their imports from New York will be received; and not less than one million, living on the borders of the lakes, will depend on it for the introduction o f sugar, cotton, rice, and other peculiar productions o f the south. If the agricultural productions, put afloat upon it, incline as strongly for a market to the lake end o f this, as of the Ohio canal, (and we cannot doubt that they will still more so, for it is a better and more direct canal, being 71 miles shorter,) then will they pass along its whole line, from south to north, embracing the vast surplus gathered in at Cincinnati. From the lake there will be sent up this canal, besides merchandise, great quantities o f pine lumber, buildingstone, which abounds near its northern termination, mineral coal, salt, gypsum, lake-fish, and doubtless many other articles. It seems clear, then, that, o f all the thoroughfares provided for the promotion o f trade between the lake and river valleys o f the west, the Miami canal is to be by far the mos’t important. But there are rivals in the New York trade with the river valley, which nowhere touch the lakes or the Erie canal. These are, first, the Phila delphia and Pittsburgh, by canals and railroads; and second, the Ocean, Gulf, and River route, by way o f New Orleans. It remains to compare these with the Miami channel. The present leading emporium o f river commerce, Cincinnati, will be the assumed point o f receipt and shipment. For expense of the carriage of goods (100 pounds) at present rates, from New York to Maumee, 800 miles,.............................................................................. Insurance of 100 pounds at one half of one per cent, on estimated average value of $ 1 6 ,......................................................................................................... From Maumee to Cincinnati, by Miami canal, 235 miles,................................... 08 45 Amount,............................................................................................. $1 33 80 By Philadelphia and Pittsburgh from New York, the freight and charges will be— To “ “ “ Philadelphia, per 100 pounds,.......................................................................... Pittsburgh, “ “ .......................................................................... Cincinnati, “ “ .......................................................................... Insurance of 100 pounds at 1J per cent on $1 6 ,........................................... 12 $1 10 20 20 Amount,............................................................................................ $1 62 The time required by each will be nearly the same, when the Ohio is in good navigable condition. It is, however, well known that the river be tween Pittsburgh and Cincinnati is not to be relied on for any considerable portion o f the season, when the Pennsylvania canals are navigable ; and the merchant, who, above all things, desires certainty and expedition in his operations, will hardly decline the reliable and safe route by the lake, in favor o f the more uncertain and hazardous one by the Ohio river. For his earliest spring supplies, he will doubtless receive a small stock by the Pennsylvania and Baltimore routes; but for his main supply, he will as certainly adopt the cheapest and safest channel. W hich o f these routes will be best for the surplus o f agriculture, shipped to New Y ork ? Con tracts by responsible lines have been made for the transportation of flour, from Lafayette, on the Wabash, to New York, for from $1 45 to $1 50 per barrel. The distance from Lafayette to Maumee is 215 miles, 20 miles less than from Cincinnati. W e will, therefore, put the cost o f send ing a barrel o f flo'ur— Internal Trade o f the United States. From Cincinnati to New York, at. 457 $1 55 45 1 10 12 Total,. ■per barrel $1 67 The difference in the cost of insurance would ordinarily be 6 or 8 cents in favor o f the lake route. On pork and other articles, the proportion of expense would be about the same. Let a comparison now be instituted between the lake and ocean routes. And, first, in the transport o f goods westward:— From New York by Lake Erie, as before detailed.................... cost, per 100 lbs. $1 33 By ocean and river (N ew York to New Orleans................................ J New Orleans to Cincinnati................................. 1 Insurance to New Orleans, 2 per cent on $16, (.Insurance to Cincinnati, “ “ i Total,. 25 63 32 32 $1 52 As most o f the goods bought in New York for the Cincinnati market, would greatly exceed in value our estimate o f $16 per 100 pounds, the interior route will have, in regard to all such, a still greater advantage over that by the ocean, and in proportion to the excess o f cost above that sum. Productions sent from the west, having greater weight and bulk in pro portion to their value than merchandise coming the other way, can better afford to pay insurance; and, other things being equal, would incline to the New Orleans outlet, as the cheapest. The cost o f taking flour to the New York market, from all places on the Ohio below Cincinnati, (at which point it will be about equal,) will be less this way than by the Miami canal. But flour taken from the west, through New Orleans, brings less in the great northern markets than that which goes by the lakes, by more than the ordinary cost o f carriage from the mouth o f the Ohio to Cincin nati. This is well known to be owing to the great liability to damage, in going through a hot climate. As a final market, New Orleans is, in gene ral, very fluctuating and uncertain. These facts assure us, that nearly all the surplus flour, within reach o f the canals leading from the lakes into the Mississippi valley, will take the northern road to market. For safety from the bursting o f boilers, there is no steam navigation in the states, and perhaps not in the world, equal to that o f the lakes. On the ocean the use o f salt water, and on the western rivers the use o f muddy water for the boilers, has, probably, occasioned a large proportion o f the explo sions, that have so greatly augmented the risk o f navigation on the Missis sippi waters. The pure water o f the lakes has proved eminently favorable to safe steam navigation; and the numerous harbors along the American shore o f Lake Erie have lessened the risk, and given it an advantage in that respect over the others— Ontario, perhaps, excepted. But it may be said that, at no very distant day, a large portion o f the productions o f foreign countries brought into the great western marts for sale, will be imported directly from the regions in which they are produced ; and that the assuming o f New York as the great centre o f supply, will fail in regard to these, and thus affect the conclusions heretofore drawn. An examination o f the various inlets to this foreign trade # ill not, however, vox,, viii__ no. v. 33 458 The Principle o f Speculation. much vary the results on the routes we have contrasted and compared. Is the St. Lawrence, the route for the European supplies, adopted ? The Miami and Illinois canals will still be the channels for its transport to a great part o f the Mississippi valley. Is the Mississippi the chosen channel for the introduction o f what are usually called West India and South American products to the upper lakes ? Still are these the only rivals in their transportation. W ill the Mississippi challenge a comparison with the St. Lawrence, in our anticipated European trade ? Such comparison can only result in the triumph o f her northern rival. It would not be dif ficult to prove that, when the canals now being made around the obstruc tions to navigation from Montreal to the upper lakes, shall be finished, so as to admit sea-going vessels to their ports, freight and insurance, between Liverpool and the ports o f Cleveland, Maumee, and perhaps Chicago, will be lower than to the port of New Orleans. The distance from England or France, by the St. Lawrence, to the ports o f Lake Erie, is less, by more than 1,100 miles, than to New Orleans by the Gulf of Mexico. On the St. Lawrence route, the distance by river and canal, requiring the aid o f steam or horse power, may be about 200 miles ; and by the Mississippi, from its mouth to New Orleans, upwards o f 100 miles. The advantage possessed by the latter o f the saving o f tolls, can hardly be an offset against the 1,100 miles additional length o f voyage. Each route will have some peculiar advantage. The northern will build, man, and own, the shipping employed on i t ; whereas the southern will depend on ships foreign to her port. The southern will be open all the year ; whereas the northern will be barred by ice half the year. The favorable effect upon a trade, o f being carried on by a maritime people in their own vessels, from their own ports, is made manifest by contrasting the trade o f Boston and Portland, with that of Charleston and New Orleans. As New Or leans depends, mainly, on northern and European vessels to carry on her coastwise and foreign commerce, the lakes can furnish her with their ves sels from the middle o f November to the middle o f April, a season most favorable for the trade o f that port, but o f entire idleness to lake vessels, that do not seek employment on the open seas o f more sunny climes. J. W . S. A m . VI.— TH E PRINCIPLE OF SPECULATION. If , in consequence o f tidings from Europe, there should be a sudden advance in the price o f cotton in New York, which, it is certainly known, will produce a correspondent advance in Boston, is it fair in a merchant o f New York to send an express to Boston in anticipation o f the mail, and purchase cotton in that city before the news o f the increase o f price could possibly be received ? A large portion o f the mercantile world would probably answer this question in the affirmative. It would be call ed a fair speculation. If a man, passing an office in which a lottery had just been drawn, should be told that a certain ticket had come up the highest prize, would it be fair in him to send an express to the owner o f that ticket and pur chase it, at the market value o f tickets, before the owner could possibly be informed of his^ood fortune ? This question would probably he answerin the negative. It would be called overreaching, or some worse name. The Principle o f Speculation. 459 It is possible, that a distinction may be taken between the two ca ses; but, at the first view, they certainly appear to rest on the same principle. The owner of the cotton and the owner o f the ticket have each an article o f commerce, which has, at the present moment, a definite market value. The cases, thus far, are alike. But in consequence o f events unknown at the time to the respective owners, both the cotton and the lottery ticket have acquired a new value; and the owners, ignorant o f this increased value, make the sale in the belief that they are receiving the fair equiva lent for what they part with. The analogy appears to hold throughout. The broad and safe principle appears to be that laid down by the vir tuous Pothier : “ Any deviation from the most exact and scrupulous sincer ity, is repugnant to the good faith that ought to prevail in contracts. Any dissimulation concerning the subject-matter o f the contract, and what the opposite party has an interest in knowing, is contrary to that good faith.” This principle does not at all affect the fair profits o f trade. It is a vul gar prejudice to suppose, that what is a good bargain on one side, must ne cessarily be a bad bargain on the other. Commerce is an exchange o f equal values for the purpose o f bringing the products o f industry to the hand o f the ultimate consumer, and, when conducted with skill, may be profitable on both sides. A shoemaker, who exchanges a pair o f boots for a hat, or for five dollars, which will buy a hat, parts with that which he does not want, in exchange for that which he does. This, which is the simplest form o f trade, brings the article at once to the hands o f the con sumer. The articles exchanged are o f equal value, but both parties are rewarded for their industry; the shoemaker by a hat, and the hatter by a pair o f boots, which they respectively need. The operations o f foreign commerce, though more circuitous, are pre cisely the same in principle. Equal values are everywhere supposed to be exchanged. A merchant, for example, ships a cargo o f boards to the W est Indies, which have cost him twelve dollars a thousand ; but by car rying them across the ocean, he adds eight dollars a thousand to their value. And when, on his arrival, he sells them for twenty dollars and purchases coffee, he still exchanges only equal values; and what he calls profit, is only the increased value, which his industry has given to the materials o f his commerce. On the other side, the West India planter, who has more coffee than he can consume, but has no boards to repair his house, gains by exchanging the one for the other; and the result is the same, whether at his own expense he send coffee to America to buy boards, or whether he exchange his coffee in the W est Indies for boards at the advanced price. The products o f industry have been brought to the hands o f the consumer, and both parties have gained by the exchange. Nor does the rule of Pothier exclude the advantages which may be de rived from the exercise o f diligence and skill. A man, in making a pur chase, is not obliged to proclaim all that he knows respecting the fluctua tions o f the market, or o f the profitable uses to which a commodity may be applied. The ordinary state o f the market and the value o f commodi ties, are supposed to be in the knowledge o f every person engaged in trade ; and if the vender o f goods neglect to use the ordinary means o f intelli gence, he must suffer the consequences o f his indolence. Some twenty-five years since, the southern mail was detained at Powles’s Hook nearly two hours, to enable certain speculators to reach Philadel phia and make their purchases before the arrival of the mail. This natu 460 Table o f Lunacy in the United Stales. rally called forth everywhere strong expressions o f indignation. The merchants o f Philadelphia were deprived o f the ordinary source o f intel ligence, upon which they relied. They were taken unawares; for no hu man prudence could have foreseen and guarded against a failure o f the mail on that particular day. But where is the difference between stopping the mail to effect a particular object, and sending an express in anticipa tion o f the mail ? In both cases the seller is deceived by trusting to the ordinary means o f intelligence. A kt. VII.— “ TABLE OF LUNACY IN TH E UNITED STA TE S.” * To the Editor o f the Merchants' M agazine:— Sir : Although the census affords us authentic data for important con clusions concerning the strength, wealth, health, and general condition o f the country, yet it is necessary that we should be very accurate in our es timates, and very cautious in our inferences ; otherwise that most valuable document will be wrested from its proper purpose to give a currency to error, by lending to it the seeming sanction of mathematical reasoning. These remarks were suggested by an article in your March number, in which the writer seeks to deduce important facts in physiology, from the number o f insane persons in the different states; but who has failed in his commendable purpose by gross errors, no doubt unintentional, in his sta tistics. Besides some minor inaccuracies in the white population o f some o f the states, he has, in all o f them, understated the colored population; having seemingly omitted one-half the free portion o f it. Thus, he states the number o f the free colored persons in Maine to be 635, when it is 1,355; that in New Hampshire to be 290, instead o f 5 3 7 ; that in Massa chusetts at 4,015, instead o f 8,668 ; and the whole colored population at 2,686,891, instead o f 2,873,703. The consequence o f this error is, that the proportion o f colored persons o f unsound mind is doubled, and more than doubled, in some states, and is considerably increased in every state. Nor is this all. In comparing the proportion o f the insane of the whites in the slaveholding states, with the proportion in the other states, he says that, in the latter, it is to the whole white population in the ratio o f 1 to 995.5 ; while, in the former, it is as 1 to 318.6. But the whole white pop ulation o f all the states and territories is 14,189,555, o f which 9,556,915 are in the states without slaves, and 4,632,640 in the states permitting slavery. O f the whites o f unsound mind, 4,905 are in the slaveholding states, and 9,613 in the states without slaves. Consequently, the propor tion o f the insane in the latter is as 1 to 994.1, and in the former as 942.3— showing a difference between them o f a little more than 5 per cent in favor o f the states free from slaves, which is not more than may be accounted for from the greater proportion o f foreign emigrants received by those states. It may be further remarked, that the diversities among the several states as to the proportion o f insane o f their white population, is not greater than may be referred to emigration; for, as insane persons are seldom or * See Merchants’ Magazine for March, 1843, page 290. 461 Table o f Lunacy in the United States. never seen among emigrants, we ought to find the proportion o f this class greater in those states that lose by emigration, as the New England states, and least in those which gain from that source, as the western states. If, then, we make fair allowance for this influence, we shall find that the dif ference among the different states, as to this afflicting visitation, is insig nificant ; and that in all o f them, as to the white population, if we deduct the foreign emigrants, the proportion o f the insane will be very nearly as 1 to 1,000. But as to the colored population, it appears to be far otherwise. After correcting the errors before adverted to, there is found an extraordinary difference among the states, in the proportion o f the insane o f the colored race. The proportions in the several states appear to be as follows:— S T A T E S AND T E R R IT O R IE S . Maine,.......... N. Hampshire Vermont,....... Massachusetts R. Island,...... Connecticut, . New York,... New Jersey,. Pennsylvania, Delaware,__ Maryland,*... Dist. of Col.,. Virginia,........ N. Carolina,.. S. Carolina,... Colored No. o f population. Insane. 1,355 94 537 19 730 13 8,668 200 3,238 13 8,105 44 50,031 194 21,718 73 47,918 187 28 19,524 151,815 151 13,055 7 495,105 384 268,549 221 335,314 137 Ratio as 1 to 14.4 28.2 56.1 43.3 249. 184. 257. 297. 256. 697. 1005. 1865. 1289. 1215. 2447. S T A T E S AND T E R R IT O R IE S . Georgia,........ Florida,.......... Alabama,...... Mississippi,... Louisiana,__ Arkansas,...... Tennessee,... Kentucky,__ Missouri,....... O hio,............. Indiana,........ Illinois,.......... Michigan,__ Wisconsin,.... Iow a,............. Colored No. o f Ratio as population. Insane. 1 to 283,697 134 2117. 26,534 12 2211. 255,571 125 2044. 196,580 82 2397. 193,954 45 4310. 20,400 21 971. 188,583 152 1240. 189,575 180 1053. 59,814 68 879. 105. 17,345 165 7,168 75 95.5 3,929 79 49.7 27.2 707 26 196 3 65.3 188 47. 4 2,873,945 Total,.. 2,936 978.8 It thus appears, that the proportion o f insane is greatest among the col ored population o f the northern states, and that it considerably increases as we proceed south ; from which we may infer that the rigors of a northern winter, which have no influence on the temperament o f the whites, affect the cerebral organs o f the African race. There are, however, two other circumstances, which operate to produce the great diversity we s e e ; and these are, emigration and slavery— the slave population seeming to be less liable to this malady than the free colored population, and the insane very rarely migrating. By a due regard to these three circumstances, o f cold ness o f climate, migration, and the proportion o f slaves in the colored popu lation o f a state, we may probably go far to reconcile most o f the diversi ties which are exhibited in the above table. But perhaps it is premature to theorize on this subject; for when we see in some o f the states so large a proportion o f the colored population as 4 in 43, and in Maine nearly 1 in 14, so anomalous a fact throws a doubt over the correctness o f this part o f the census, and at least inclines us to suspend our opinion, until we have further evidence or explanation. A n Inquirer. According to the last correction of the census. 38* 462 Monthly Commercial Chronicle. MONT HL Y C OMME R C I A L C HR ONI C L E . T he spring trade, as yet, makes but slow progress. The canals, which are usually open on the 20th o f April, will, this year, not be in operation before the 1st of May, a delay which has been a consequence of the lingering presence of winter. This year, most of the transactions are on a cash basis; hence, the actual movement of business depends upon the receipt of produce to meet the numerous bills drawn against it, a fair amount of which are already accumulating balances in favor of the west. As we ex plained in our last, however, the profits on sales, out of which new business must grow, are small; the trade is, therefore, proportionate. The quantity of business-paper created, to give employ to the large amounts of capital which have so long been lying idle, is small. This plenteousness of money has wrought a great change in the prices of most stocks since we gave a list of the current rates in our January number. The rates, as compared with the former dates, are as follows:— P r ic es of S tocks in t h e N e w Y o k e M a r k e t . Rate. Unit. States, 5 i tt e It 6 New York,. 7 “ 6 It 6 “ 54 it 5 It 5 It 5 <t 5 tt 5 “ 44 6 Ohio,.................. tt 6 tt 5 Kentucky,... 6 Illinois,....... 6 Indiana,...... 5 Arkansas,... 6 Alabama,... 6 tt 5 Penns’Ivania 5 N. Y. City,.. 7 tt 7 tt 5 5 “ Redeemable. 1844 1844 1862 1848-49 1850-54-60 1861-62-67 1860-61-65 1845 1846-7-8-9 1850-1-7 1855-58 1859-60-61 1849-58 1850 1856-60 1850-56 — 1870 25 years. — — — — 1857 1852 1850 1858-70 Aug., 1841. Feb., 1842. 100 a 10 0 4 96 a 9 7 — a — 97 a 99 — — a — a — — — a — a — 100 a 10 0 4 79 a 80 — a — 78 a 80 914 a 92 71 a 73 93 a 95 80 a 87 93 a 95 80 a 87 91 a 92 80 a 87 91 a 92 68 a 72 86 a 87 68 a 72 75 a 77 53 a 56 94 a 95 68 a 70 94 a 95 67 a 68 — 84 a 85 a — 84 a 85 67 a 68 56 a 564 18 a 19 55 a 57 19 a 20 59 a 63 35 a 45 — — a — a — — 50 a 55 a — 79 a 80 44 a 49 — — a — a — — — a — a — 844 a 854 72 a 76 844 a 854 77 a 78 Sec., 1842. 97 a 99 99 a 10 0 100 a 1 0 1 4 103J a 104 96} a 99 96J a 98 88 a 90 92 a 93} 86 a 90 85 a 86 84J a 86 85 a 86 79 a 82 744 a 75 72 a 7 2 4 60 a 65 78 a 784 18 a 18} 20 a 21} 28 a 30 65 a 80 65 a 75 38 a 394 1064 a 108 105 a 106 85 a 87 844 a 85 April, 1843. — a — — a — a 113 112 105 a 106 103 a 105 103 a 105 97 a 98 97 a 98 ___ a _ ___ a ____ 93 a 94 94 a 95 87 a 88 69 a 70 67 a 68 54 a 55 89 a 89} 23 a 2 3 4 25 a 26 284 a 30 50 a 60 ___ a ___ 41 a 42 107 a 110 106 a 108 94 a 95 94 a 95 This table embraces four eras. That of August, 1841, when the distribution law was passed to relieve the states— a measure intended to restore confidence, which utterly failed. The bankruptcy of Illinois and Indiana became avowed, and the increasing dif ficulties in New York carried stocks to their lowest points in February, 1842, about which time the mill tax was passed, to provide for any possible contingency whereby the state credit might be endangered. From that moment stocks rose rapidly, until the repeal of the New York mill tax was agitated by one of the political parties at the No vember election. So delicate is credit, that the mere mention of such an event caused some abatement in prices. The settlement of that question again restored affairs. Since Monthly Commercial Chronicle. 463 December, the increasing abundance of money has caused the prices to rise rapidly in those stocks about which no doubts are entertained. Unfortunately, however, the num. ber of these in the New York market has been confined to New York state and city and those of the federal government. Ohio and Kentucky have stood very high, but the proceedings at the recent sessions of the legislatures has greatly shaken their credit. Kentucky, after making various attempts at relief laws, finally adopted one reducing the capitals of her banks by the amount of the state’s subscription to them. The Bank of Kentucky was incorporated in 1834, with a capital of $3,000,000 of individual subscrip tions, and $1,000,000 of 5 per cent bonds, subscribed by the state. Subsequently, the state subscribed the amount received under the distribution law of congress. The North ern Bank of Kentucky was incorporated in 1835, with a capital of $3,000,000, of which $1,000,000 was subscribed by the state in 5 per cent bonds. The state also subscribed $600,000 to the Bank of Louisville. By subsequent enactments, the excess of dividends paid by the banks over the 5 per cent dividends due on the bonds subscribed by the state, was appropriated to the sinking fund. During the late session, the state has au thorized the withdrawal and cancelling of these 5 per cent bonds, on condition that the banks in question extend their loans to citizens to a similar amount. Should these loans be made, and the state bonds returned and cancelled within the year, the executive is empowered to issue a similar amount, viz: $1,700,000 of 5 per cent bonds, and pur chase with the proceeds the stock of the respective banks, on condition that the Bank of Louisville and Northern Bank stock can be bought 10 per cent less than state bonds sell for, and the Bank of Kentucky 20 per cent less. The ultimate effect of this would be simply to reduce the capitals of the banks to that extent. The relation of the state in regard to them would be nearly what it is now. There is, however, very little prob. ability that this issue can be effected, and the banks have proceeded to make their loans under the law. The direct debt of the state of Kentucky, issued for internal improve ment, is $3,900,000, and under existing laws about $1,000,000 more 6 per cent bonds may be issued. Some of these have made their appearance. These facts have influ. cnced the value of the stock in some degree. The Ohio legislature has not done s o . well. That state has, for two years, been much embarrassed, and has now authorized the issue of $1,500,000 new 7 per cent foreign stock, and about $500,000 6 per cent domestic stock— the latter to complete the Miami extension canal, and the former to pay sums long since due contractors. The interest on the public debt is now about $700,000 in excess of the net revenue of the works for the construction of which the debt was con tracted. This amount is to be raised by an increase of taxation, the authority to do which is vested in the state auditor. Under these circumstances confidence in the stock has been much diminished, and the prospect of the new 7 per cent to come into the market has de pressed the price. It will be observed in the table in December, just before the meeting of the legislatures of these states, that the prices of Ohio and Kentucky 6’s were very nearly the same. Since then, Kentucky has improved 11 per cent, and Ohio’s have fallen 5 per cent, making a difference of 16 per cent as the effect of legislation in the two states. During this period, New York and government stocks have continued to rise until the latter is at a premium of 13 per cent, at which rate the investment yields but 5 3.10 per cent. This indicates the cheapness of money. In London, the same features are appa rent. 3 per cent consols have risen to 97§, higher than they have been for fifteen years, which yields a revenue of 3J per cent; while the Bank of England has reduced its rate to 3 per cent, and the market rate for short commercial bills is scarcely over 2 per cent. This state of affairs is, however, far from indicative of a sound or desirable state of af fairs. In Great Britain in particular, while those possessed of money are competing with each other for consols until they have run the rate up to a degree scarcely ever before reached, the means of investment are becoming daily more difficult to be obtained. The 464 Monthly Commercial Chronicle. great mass of the people are in the utmost distress, and the home trade is languishing in consequence; while the foreign trade has been cut ofT by hostile tariffs enacted by -eix nations, retaliating upon Great Britain her exclusive policy. A good part of the pres ent abundance of money may be ascribed to the necessities of the government. The distress of the people caused an immense falling off in the consumption of dutiable goods; this reacted upon the government, by reducing its income from excise near $5,000,000 in one quarter. This, on a revenue previously deficient, was a serious thing; and as the securities of the bank have been simultaneously increased by advances on deficiency bills, the volume of money has been artificially increased in consequence of a decline in trade, which renders its employment more difficult. The following table will show the movements of the bank through the past year:— B a n k of E n g l a n d — J a n u a r y , Current rate o f interest. Circulation. 1842. January,...... 6 per cent. £16,632,000 (A February,.... 6 16,630,000 ll 16,769,000 March,........ 4 tt 17,235,000 A pril,.......... 4 it 17,586,000 M ay,........... 3* it 17,795,000 June,............ 34 it 18,279,000 July,............ n it August,....... n 18,952,000 it 19,714,000 September,. as it 2 20,004,000 October,...... ti 19.903.000 November,.. 2 it 19.562.000 December,.. 2 1843. it 19,562,000 January,...... 1| it 19,342,000 February,.... 1J it 19,739,000 March,........ l i it 20,073,000 “ 2 5 ,.. H 1842, to M arch, 1843. Deposits. £7,948,000 8,506,000 8,954,000 8,283,000 8,045,000 8,061,000 8,565,000 9,330,000 9,833,000 9,368,000 9,072,000 8,957,000 Security. £22,880,000 22,680,000 23,699,000 21,898,000 21,366,000 21,083,000 21,713,000 22,525,000 23,159,000 22,573,000 21,934,000 21,210,000 Bullion. £4,799,000 5,237,000 5,687,000 6,590,000 7,032,000 7,320,000 7,818,000 8,496,000 9,177,000 9,633,000 9,789,000 9,984,000 8,957,000 10.407.000 11.205.000 12,003,000 21,210,000 21,672,000 22,695,000 23,830,000 9,984,000 10,705,000 10,945,000 11,054,000 It will be observed that the circulation of the Bank of England, which forms the basis of the whole paper system of England, has increased from January, 1842, to March, 1843, £3,100,000, or 19 per cent— an enormous rate when we recollect the whole paper system vibrates immensely from the smallest movement of this motive power. The re sult is seen in the fall of the rate of interest from 6 per cent, to which it had been raised for the first time in centuries by the previous restrictions of the bank to get back its coin, drawn from it for the purchase of corn in Europe. The engagements of the mercantile public had been a good deal extended, and the contractions of the bank threw them into convulsions. When those engagements were settled by failure, and ruinous expenditures for money, new enterprises were not entered into, and money failed to find employment; consequently, the rate has fallen to I f per cent. The following table will show the progress of the whole currency:— B a n k C u r r e n c y of E n g l a n d , f r o m J a n u a r y , 1841, a n d t h a t of G r e a t B r i t a in , f r o m F e b r u a r y , 1841, t o A p r i l , 1843. Periods. 1841. February,.. April,......... June,......... September,. October,.... November,. December,. P>ank o f England. Pounds. 16,220,000 16.587.000 16.632.000 17.069.000 17.340.000 17.065.000 16.292.000 Private Banks. Pounds. 6,575,838 6,322,579 6,444,395 5,768,136 6,253,964 6,288,723 5,718,211 Joint Stock Scotch and Banks. Irish B'ks. Pounds. 3,798,155 3,666,258 3,807,055 3,311,941 3,519,384 3,421,135 3,217,812 Pounds. 8,900,380 8,449,858 9,227,725 9,333,648 Total. Bullion in Bank. Pounds. Pounds. 35,049,457 35,563,199 36,102,583 34,561,671 3.816.000 4.638.000 5.098.000 4.803.000 4.290.000 4.218.000 5.031.000 465 Monthly Commercial Chronicle. B a n k C u r r e n c y of E n s l a n d , e t c .— Continued. Periods. 1842. January,.... February,.. March,...... April,......... May,.......... June,......... July,.......... August,.... September,. October,.... November,. December,. 1843. January,.... February,.. March,...... Bank of England. Private Banks. Joint Stock Scotch and Banks. Irish B’ks. Bullion in Bank. Total. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 16.293.000 17.402.000 16.894.000 16.674.000 18.404.000 17.543.000 19.908.000 20.351.000 19.914.000 19.503.000 20.104.000 18.841.000 5.478.189 5,532,324 5,299,455 5,289,050 5.482.189 4,995,594 5,166,581 5,150,628 5,098,259 5,488,661 5,434,822 5.085.000 3,042,197 3,068,901 2,990,986 3,047,656 3,160,900 2,850,532 2,939,195 2,823,090 2,819,749 3,064,539 3,196,964 3.001.000 8,791,627 8,735,996 8,407,484 8,003,971 7,802,662 7,557,747 7,289,442 6,939,202 7,317,586 7,787,729 8,180,894 8.333.000 33,605,013 34,779,421 33,591,925 33.014.000 34,849,751 32,946,873 35,303,218 35,463,920 34,949,594 35,843,929 36,916,680 35.263.000 5.629.000 5.602.000 6.281.000 7.006.000 7.082.000 7.846.000 8.883.000 9.570.000 9.816.000 9.801.000 9.907.000 10.511.000 18.283.000 21.108.000 20,360,000 4.912.000 5.024.000 4,785,724 2.839.000 2.908.000 2,844,077 8.981.000 7.943.000 7,881,720 34.049.000 36.985.000 35,851,521 11.054.000 10.933.000 10.984.000 The apparent discrepancy between the bank circulation in this table and the other, arises from the fact that in this it is the real amount, and in the other a four weeks’ average. The ruin o f the merchants saved the paper system for once. The bank recovered its bullion rapidly, and it now stands higher than for some years. The deposites have, how. ever, increased a3 rapidly j and late advices state that £5,000,000, on bankers’ accounts, are lying without employment in the vaults of the bank. The aggregate currency has been increased near £2,000,000, or six per cent, which has been altogether on the part of the bank. In all the local institutions, whose returns more immediately indicate the move ments in industrial districts, they have largely curtailed their issues. The result of com paring the two periods—November, 1841, and February, 1843— is as follows:— November, 1841,.......... circulation, February, 1843,.......... “ Increase,. Decrease,. Bank of England. Country Banks. £17,065,000 £19,037,583 21,108,000 15,877,000 £4,043,000 ............... ................ £3,160,583 Total. £36,102,583 36,985,000 £882,417 The decline in the country banks marks the decreasing wants of trade, and the augmen tation in the Bank of England shows the increasing wants of the government, for the sup ply of which the paper bank is the mere machine. It changes the value of the curren cy, and of all property at the behests of government, with far greater facility and safety, but with the same effect, as was formerly produced by the adulteration of the coin, be fore the invention of paper money obviated the necessity of that mode of repudiation. These violent fluctuations of the artificial standard of value, to meet the exigencies of a worn out system, cannot long be persevered in. For nearly a year money has been abundant, and has failed altogether to produce its usual effect in stimulating business. On the contrary, the last quarter’s returns presented an alarming indication of internal distress; while the renewal of the China war not only checks the curtailment in ex penses, but requires a heavy increase in expenditure. The state of affairs points stead ily and unerringly to an entire revolution in the financial and commercial position of England. The nations of Europe are rapidly assuming their positions as equals in man ufactures and commerce. As they advance, England must inevitably retrograde, because she occupied a position artificial in itself, growing out of the backwardness of other na tions of Europe. Of late years, her foreign trade has been sustained by forcing new markets and the influence of the paper system, in urging and extending sales. The ex 466 Monthly Commercial Chronicle. ports to the United States rose to £12,000,000 in 1836, declined to £5,000,000 in 1837 ; again rose to £9,000,000 in 1839, and were scarcely £4,000,000 in 1842. This fluetuation arose solely out of the paper system. English goods, consumed in the United States, were paid for by the capitalists of London on state and corporate securities here. The abundance o f English capital not only caused the production of the wares, but found a market for them abroad. In all the English colonies, banking in the last ten years has been rapidly extended, and in the same proportion have the exports of English pro ducts increased. In Australia there are seven banks, whose leading features in March, 1842, were as follows :— B a n k s of N e w S ou t h W a l e s , M a r c h , 1842. Capital,......... Circulation,... Deposits,...... Liabilities,.... £2,040,751 274,138 975,810 92,575 Discounts,..... Specie,........... Real Estate,., Other means,. £2,430,027 474,645 29,895 162,630 Total, £3,282,274 Total,. £3,091,197 Under this extension of banking, the exports of Great Britain to Australia rose from £400,000, in 1831, to £2,000,000, in 1840. The same general features are apparent in all the colonies. British capital establishes banks and stimulates extravagance, and of course enhances sales of British goods; because, under the restrictive system, the colo nists must buy of their masters. For more than a century the United States, as colonies, groaned under a similar oppression. The governments issued paper money to meet their necessities. The effect was, to fill the country with English goods, and keep exchanges always immensely in favor of England. After the declaration of independence, the same means, viz: the continuance of paper money, produced the same result. In the Brazils, which is the next largest market for British manufactures, the same state of affairs has existed. Under the commercial treaty between England and the Brazils, which has now expired, England had exclusive privileges allowed her, which, in connection with the government issues of paper money, has enabled her to fill the Brazils with her goods and keep the country poor. This treaty has now expired, and the English minister has re ceived from the Brazilian government a peremptory negative to his proposal to renew it. The exports of Great Britain to the Brazils, in 1841, were £2,556,544— $12,780,000. The United States exported thither, in the same year, $3,517,273. T o Cuba, where England and the United States have equal privileges, and the currency is metallic, the reverse was the case. The United States exported to it $5,739,000, and Great Britain £895,000— $4,475,000. This indicates the importance which the change in the English treaty with Brazil is to the United States. The whole foreign intercourse of England having rested on this false basis, is now suffering a reverse, from which it cannot recov er. The countries of Europe have excluded her wares by high tariffs; and the paper system, upon which her exports to new markets mostly depended, cannot be sustained for a length of time, because it carries within it the seeds of rapid and certain decay. All these are elements of a large future trade for the United States. England will be forced into purchasing her agricultural products, and a specie currency will open to the United States foreign markets for her manufactures. The following table of the imports o f cotton goods into the Brazils for three years will indicate the course which, under a dear currency and low prices in the United Slates, trade will take :— I m p o r t s o f C o t t o n G oods in t o t h e B r a z i l s . From Great Britain,.............................packages “ United States,................................ “ “ France,........................................... « “ Hanse Towns,............................... “ 1840. 1841. 1842. 20,828 6,169 1,618 853 24,968 8,961 1,526 941 14,059 5,337 1,317 678 467 Monthly Commercial Chronicle. The decrease in imports from Great Britain in 1842 was at the rate of 43J per cent as compared with 1841, and as compared with the average of 1840 and 1841, at the rate of 37h per cent; from the United States, 40 and 29 J per cent respectively; from France, 13J and 16 per cent; and from the Hanse Towns, 28 and 24J per cent. As the Bra. zils have heretofore been a large and growing market for British goods, we may here state that the government paper money in the country has been the main cause of large imports and disastrous overtrading. The quantity of paper money outstanding is as follows:— Milreis. Dollars. Paper money in circulation January 1, 1842,.............. 36,345,471, or 18,821,433 “ issued in 1842,......................................... 2,952,000 “ 1,536,000 Total outstanding January, 1843,..................... 39,297,471 “ 20,357,433 The domestic funded debt of the Brazils is as follows :— D om estic F unded D e b t of t h e B r a z i l s . 6 per cents,...........................milreis 5 “ 4 “ Issued to 1842. Issued in 1842. Total. 33,382,600 6,333,200 39,715,000 “ 1,106,800 88,600 1,195,400 “ 119,600 .............. 119,600 Total,. 34,609,000 6,421,600 41,030,000 The fluctuation in the mean rates of exchange on London, and the prices of the 6 per cent stock in five years, has been as follows :— Rate of exchange..................... Prices of stock,........................ 1818. 1819. 1840. 1841. 1842. £28,474 82,052 £31,051 75,031 £31,059 75,591 £30,631 73,433 £27,157 70,712 The produce of the Brazils—sugar, coffee, and hides— depends for its value upon the foreign markets, most of which have specie currencies; while its imports are forced or otherwise, according to the abundance of the vile paper issues, which fluctuate enor mously. While the position of the English trade and currency present these precarious features, the financial state of France, as exhibited in the operations of the Bank of France, show a different result. W e have before us the returns of the Bank of France for 1842. It contains valuable information. The following is a statement of the operations of the bank for three periods of three years each:— O p e r a t io n s op t h e B a n k of F r a n c e . Total movement,..............francs Yearly average,................ “ “ “ doll’ rs 1884—5—6. 1837- 8- 9. 1840- 1- 2. 2,031,000,000 693,000,000 129,937,500 3.367.000. 000 3.941.000. 000 1.313.000. 000 246,187,500 . . . 1 122 000 000 210,375,000 W e have here the fact, that the grand movement of the central bank has doubled in nine years. The discount of commercial bills displays a marked feature, viz: the increase in the number of bills discounted, and the decline in their average value. The comparison is as follows:— Number. Value— Francs. Bills discounted December 30, 1841,............... 11,967 17,262,000 “ “ “ 1842,................ 15,409 17,459,000 The comparative movement of the circulation and specie reserve is as follows:— 468 Monthly Commercial Chronicle. Circulation, maximum,----“ minimum,...... “ average,......... Specie reserve, maximum,. “ minimum,. “ average,.... ■francs l( t( (( U 1840. 1841. 1842. 251,000,000 200,000,000 221,000,000 249,000,000 206,000,000 238,000,000 249,000,000 209,000,000 224,000,000 241,000,000 169,000,000 210,000,000 247,000,000 215,000,000 227,000,000 229,000,000 174,000,000 202,000,000 These display a great tendency to uniformity, and the whole movement would indicate an exceedingly prosperous state of the internal trade of France. The steadiness of the banking movement presents a strong contrast to the violent oscillations of the English bank. The subdivisions of the discounts into numerous small sums, indicate that ten. dency to general benefit which gives evidence of increasing distributive wealth. This is supported by the movement of the branches, of which there are ten in number. Most of these were established in 1839, in which year the whole discounts were 13,000,000 francs. In 1842 they rose to 229,000,000 francs, divided as follows:— D iscou n ts of t h e B r a n c h e s of t h e B a n k of F r a n c e in Bills on Paris,................................... “ local,......................................... “ from branch to branch,........... Total discounts,................... ii U 1841,........................ 1842, .................... 1842. Value. fr. 126,722,000 101,938,000 1,333,000 Number. 40,068 76,864 671 Aver. $3,163 1,326 1,984 fr. 229,993,000 $43,123,687 117,603 $2,493 766 Transmission o f Specie. fr. 53,400,000— $10,012,500 57,460,000— 10,773,750 Circulation. fr. 4,138,000 5,513,000 Average. $775,875 1,033,687 The working of this system is healthy. The small discounts, averaging less than $800 each bill, scatter specie among the masses of the people, whose increasing industry earns it for them; hence the decreasing quantity in the bank at Paris, on which the whole financial movement centres. The banking in France follows, and assists the movements o f trade. In England and its dependencies, banking is an instrument of borrowing to the government and of forcing trade, by inducing consumption beyond the annual production of the consumers to remunerate. It forces many years’ business into one, and, in consequence, superinduces revulsion, which sweeps away the profits. This has been the case in the United States; but the revulsion of late years has gone far to wards removing the credit features of banking operations, and restoring sound princi ples. The revulsion in England has not been so radical, and accumulating difficulties seem to indicate that it is yet to come. The great abundance of money in England has induced speculation in stocks to a great extent. Last year at this time consols were at 89, and other stocks in proportion ; pari passu with the increasing volume of the paper currency, consols have risen to 97. The low rates of last year induced continental investments of money. Such operations now will yield a profit of 8 per cent, and release money to find better rates of interest in other occupations. There is, therefore, danger that specie may flow out of England with as much rapidity as it has flowed in during the past year. 469 Commercial Regulations. COMMERCI AL REGULATIONS. COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS OF DENMARK. Quarantine Regulations. The position of Elsinore has rendered it the point of quarantine examination for all the ports within it, and of the Baltic, and a “ sound pass” may be considered equal to a clean bill of health. The station for vessels which are subjected to quarantine is Ken. soe, near Gottenburg. The short quarantine of four days’ observation is, however, al lowed to be performed in the roadstead of Elsinore. The quarantine charges are— R. b. d. skg. For For For For For For For first visit,.................................................................. sanatory guard,........................................................ the quarantine boat,................................................ per centage of one-twelfth to administration,...... purification charge,.................................................. quarantine flag,........................................................ free pratique charge,.............................................. 5 5 13 1 2 3 2 Total,................................................................ 31 0 0 0 8 72 0 0 80— equal to £ 3 11s. 7Jd. Bill o f health, one rix bank dollar (2s. 3d.) for each man of the crew. No vessels destined for Danish ports are subjected to quarantine at Elsinore. Vessels from the north of Europe, including all the Baltic ports, from England and from the west coast of France, are also exempt from quarantine at Elsinore. Vessels from all other countries are liable. C o p e n h ag en . The port charges at this port, and pilotage, including sound dues, are high; and those charges are increased about one-third upon ships which arrive from countries south of Cape Finisterre. The charges upon a ship of 250 tons, arriving from ports north of Cape Finisterre, are calculated at about £55 sterling, and from ports south of that cape at nearly £80 sterling. COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS OF TH E REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY. T r e a t ie s . [The information which follows, relative to the commercial regulations of Uruguay, is derived from the accompanying documents appended to the Letter of the Secretary of State, on the changes in the commercial systems of foreign nations.] N6' treaty exists between this republic and the United States. A contingent conven tion has for some time existed with France, stipulating that, in case any treaty should be formed with other nations, France should be entitled to all privileges granted to the most favored. Treaties are now pending with England, Sardinia, and Spain; the latter is on the point of ratification. The treaty with England w'as concluded and signed at Montevideo, on the 18th of July, 1842. It is not, however, anticipated by our consul and resident merchants that these will affect the trade of the United States, or that its oitizens will thereby be excluded from any of the privileges hitherto enjoyed, or now extended to other nations. V O L . V I I I .— N O . V . 39 470 Commercial Regulations. L aws and Commercial R egulations. The commercial law in force in this republic is the old Spanish code, called the “ Ordinanzas de Bilbao.” The commercial regulations and revenue laws equally affect the commerce o f all foreign nations. A discrimination is, however, observed in favor of national vessels, in regard to tonnage and other dues; also, a trifling difference in the direct tax of “ license to trade.” All laws affecting commerce are independent of local legislation, but emanate directly from the supreme government, and are liable to such changes only as the political exi gencies of the republic may require. The present revenue laws affecting foreign commerce are the following:— 1st. The custom-house law of June, 1837, establishing the rate of duty on imports and exports, and the different ports open to foreign flags. 2d. A law% revised yearly, imposing a direct tax for license to trade, in which a trifling advantage is secured to citizens of the republic. 3d. An addition of sixteen per cent to the duties on imports, and five per cent on ex ports, imposed to assist in meeting the extraordinary expenses of the war with Buenos Ayres. 4th. A decree, consequent on the declaration of war against Buenos Ayres, interdict ing commercial intercourse with that state. It is stated, however, that no real obstruction is offered to the trade between the two countries, so far as relates to foreign flags. Customs L aws. The Senate and House of Representatives of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, in Congress assembled, decree, &c., concerning importations :— A rt. 1. Free from duty—printing presses, paper, and other articles exclusively for this purpose ; printed books; geographic maps ; barks, for tanning; ashes; staves and hoops of wood ; calf skins; cow and horse hides, raw ; common salt; gold and silver, coined or in bullion ; and live animals, for promoting industry and improving the breed o f the country. A rt. 2. Iron, in bars, sheets, wire, or plates; brass and steel, unwrought; tools, in general, except those expressed in article G; w oods; saltpetre; gypsum; fossil coal; fur, rabbit, hare, beaver, and other, used for hats; cables and cordage; tar; ornaments of gold and silver, and watches, shall pay six per cent. A rt. 3. Linen cambrics; silk, raw or spun; fabrics of silk; laces and ribbons of silk or linen; gold and silver embroidery, and fine jewelry of gold and silver, shall pay ten per cent. A rt. 4. All goods and effects, natural or industrial, not expressed in the articles of the present law, and the common serge, called “ bajaras,” used for bags and other pur poses, shall pay nineteen per cent. A rt. 5. Sugar; mate; tea; cacao; cinnamon; sweet o il; spices; drugs; provisions in general; woods, wrought; and tobacco in leaf, shall pay twenty-four and a half per oent. A rt. 6. W heat; pastes of flour, (as macaroni, & c .;) biscuit; starch; cheese; but ter ; pork and beef in pickle; trunks and boxes, empty or containing goods; movea bles ; hats; manufactures of sheet tin; lamp o il; rings (large) of iron or brass; false jewelry; perfumery; soap; doors and windows, with the iron work therefor; window grates and balconies; spits of iron; crowbars; ploughshares, of the kind used in the country; shoes, for horses and mules; tallow candles; carriages of all kinds, not intend ed for carrying heavy loads; saddles and horse trappings; clothing, made up; caps; Commercial Regulations. 471 dress combs; feathers; artificial flowers and other ornaments for the head; hosiery; boots and shoes of all kinds; china ware ; glass, cut, or gold figured ; mirrors; liquors; ardent spirits; wine ; vinegar; cider; and chewing tobacco, shall pay thirty-one and a half per cent. A r t . 7. Flour; meat, dry salted; cigars; and playing cards, shall pay thirty.five per cent. A r t . 8. Storage duty (almacenage) on all articles deposited, viz: one-eighth per cent per month on dry goods; thirty-seven and a half cents on each pipe of liquids; nine and three-eighths cents on each barrel of flour; nine and three-eighths cents on each 203 pounds 8 ounces (avoirdupois) of tobacco, yerba, sugar, and other articles of weight, except minerals, which shall pay three and one-eighth cents on the same weight; and boxes of wine, liquors, or other liquid, which shall pay twelve and a half cents for every eight boxes. A rt. 9. In case of doubt arising in relation to the payment of storage duty, from the effects not having been expressed in the present article, the duty will be collected on the weight, 9§ cents per 203 lbs. 8 oz. On Exportation. 10. Hides, dry, bull, cow, ox, horse, 12J cents; calf and colt skins, 6£ cents. A rt. 11. Hides, salted, 18| cents. A r t . 12. Steers, heifers, breeding animals, and mules, $1. A rt. 13. Mares, colts, and geldings, $1 50. A rt. A rt. 14. All products of the country, not comprehended in the foregoing articles, shall pay ^ per cent on the market prices, as export duty. A r t . 15. The following are excepted : Salt meat, wool, pulse, grain of all kinds, flour, tanned hides, and all works of art; foreign goods which have paid import duty, those which clear to be discharged in ports inside of the capes of the river de la Plata, and those which may be warehoused for exportation, shall be free from duty. A r t . 16. Silver, coined and in bullion, 1 per cent; gold of the same description, i per cent. Qualified Ports and Warehousing. A rt. 17. Warehousing, as yet, is not permitted, except in the custom-house of Monte video. A rt. 18. The length of the deposite is indefinite, so long as the articles continue uninjured. A rt. 19. The state is responsible for the value of effects deposited, except in cases of fire, the inculpability of those having charge being proven. A rt. 20. Goods deposited shall always be at the disposition of the depositors during the office hours of the custom-house, and the alcalde is obliged to order the stores to be opened at their request. A rt. 21. The introducers may effect sales by wholesale, without being obliged to re move the merchandise in warehouse. A rt. 22. The executive power is authorized to establish warehouses in any of the custom-houses of the state, under the restrictions which circumstances may demand. A rt. 23. By the present law, the following ports are qualified, (habilitados:) Monte video, Maldonado, Colonia, Soriane, Paisandee, Yaguaron, and the inland port of Tacuaremho. Transit. A r t . 24. Is permitted and free from all export duty: all foreign effects leaving the deposito of Montevideo for foreign marts, or for other depositos which may be establish ed in any transit custom-house. 472 Commercial Regulations. A rt. 25. Is permitted and free from import duty, in transit from a foreign country into the state, the following articles: yerba matd, tobacco in leaf, cotton, (raw or spun,) hides and tallow, if their destination is to one of the qualified ports of the state. A r t . 26. Is also permitted, and free from duty, the transit for foreign ports of the effects expressed in the foregoing article, by way of the river Uruguay. A r t . 27. The government will establish rules necessary to advance this class of com merce, and retains the right of determining the precise points where goods in transit to foreign marts shall be introduced. General Dispositions. 28. The duties will be regulated by the wholesale market prices; the calcula tions to be made by a surveyor and two merchants, at the time of despatch of the effects at the customs office. A rt. 29. The merchants mentioned in the foregoing article shall be comprehended in a list of twelve, which shall be formed every six months by the “ tribunal del consulado,” and who shall alternate by fours, each month, to be designated by the collector general. A rt. 30. In case of disagreement between the surveyors, or objection on the part of those interested, for any difference which exceeds ten per cent, it shall be decided by the collector general and two merchants, drawn by lot from said list, without recourse. A rt. 31. The judges, once assembled, shall not separate without having pronounced A rt. their decision, which will be carried into effect. A rt. 32. The operations of the surveyor and his colleagues shall be published, and the former shall be obliged to give account thereof to such merchants as may request it. A rt. 33. The government retains authority to establish special rules, in cases where, from local exigencies, the punctual execution of the dispositions of the present law can not be obtained. A rt. 34. The dispositions of the present law cannot be altered until after six months from its publication. A rt. 35. Said dispositions shall take effect, with regard to importations from ports north of the equator, in six months from its publication; from ports south of the equator, in three months; from ports within the capes of the river de la Plata, one month; and in fifteen days on goods and effects in deposite. A rt. 36. The duties established by the law of 26th January, 1831, of one per cent “ eonsulado,” and one-half per cent “ hospital,” on imports, are comprehended in this law, and their respective products shall be separated and applied to the objects to which they are destined. H a l l op S essio n s , June 13, 1837. A d d it io n t o t h e C u st o m L a w s o f t h e S t a t e . 1. All those effects comprehended in articles 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, of the gen eral law, shall pay 8 per cent as extraordinary subsidy. A rt. 2. Those effects designated in article 5 as “ provisions in general,” woods wrought, wheat, pastes of flour, and flour, are excepted. A rt. 3. Common salt shall pay, at importation, 25 cents per three bushels. A rt. 4. Tallow, unmanufactured, shall pay, at exportation, 8 per cent. A rt. 5. The foregoing articles shall take effect, with regard to importations from ports north of the equator, in six months from its publication; from south of the equator, in three months; from ports within the capes of the river de la Plata, in one month; and in fifteen days for articles and effects in deposite. A rt. 6. This law shall be revised next year. A rt. Commercial Regulations. 473 A rt . 7. In addition to the duties specified above, all articles of importations shall pay 8 per cent as “ subsidy,” except flour, which shall pay no additional duty than the 8 per cent “ extraordinary,” designated by the law of 29th March; articles of export, 5 per cent, and jerked beef 374 cents Per 103 pounds. M o n t e v id e o , March 29, 1838. Decree.—Foreign Flour. M ontevideo, June 11, 1839. A rt. 1. When the price of this article is upwards of twelve current dollars, it shall pay, as a maximum, four dollars per barrel; and when the price is below ten current dollars, it shall pay three current dollars per barrel, as a minimum. R ondeau. F ran. J. Munoz. Decree. Montevideo, June 18, 1839. A rt. 1. Fifteen days from the publication of the present decree, all goods which may be despatched from the custom-house, and which are subject to importation duty, shall pay 8 per cent additional, as a war duty extraordinary, to continue until pacific relations shall have been established. A rt. 2. From and after the same date, all articles of exportation which are actually liable to duty shall pay 5 per cent additional to same. A rt. 3. The executive power is authorized to extend the operation of this law, so far as regards imports, to the further term of fifteen days, to be counted in succession. F ran. J. Munoz, Minister o f Finance. Decree.— Extra Duty. Montevideo, April 1, 1840. A rt. 1. Jerked beef shall pay three rials per quintal on being exported, from and after the 1st day of May next. This shall be continued two years, to commence from said date, in event of the especial circumstances by which the market of this republic is af fected should not have definitively ceased. A rt. 2. Establishments which are liable for patents shall pay one-third more in 1841, in addition to that which corresponds to the present year, and during the said year of 1841 the stamp paper shall be subject to an additional twenty per centum. A rt. 3. All goods which may be despatched for consumption from the custom-house of the state, and which are already liable to duties, (with the exception of wheat and flour,) shall pay, after fifteen days from the promulgation of the present law, in addition to the custom-house subsidy law already established, eight per cent ad valorem; which recharge shall, however, cease from the moment the loan towards the payment of which the proceeds of the five and eight per cent subsidy extraordinary shall have been satis fied. The payment of the duties exacted by this law shall be paid in cash. Sanctioned by the “ Sala de Sessiones,” in Montevideo, April 7, 1840, and its receipt acknowledged by the Minister of Finance on the 12th instant, at which date its fulfil ment is decreed. Tonnage Duties and Port Charges on American Vessels. Tonnage duty, 3 reals, currency, per ton. Guard on board, 8 reals, currency, per diem. Hospital fees, $ 4 4 reals, currency. Entering and clearing, $35, currency. Harbor pilotage, $10, currency. Custom-house vessel, $1, currency. 39’ 474 Commercial Regulations. Pilotage from Cape St. Mary's to Montevideo. ’ Twelve feet pays........................................................................................................... Thirteen feet pays......................................................................................................... Fourteen feet pays.................................. .•..................................................................... Fifteen feet pays....,..................................................................................................... Sixteen feet pays........................................................................................................... Seventeen feet pays...................................................................................................... Eighteen feet pays........................................................................................................ Nineteen feet pays........................................................................................................ $50 60 70 90 110 130 150 180 Port Charges on National Vessels from Sea. Harbor pilotage.................................................................................... $ 2 0 Tonnage duty...................................................................................... 2 reals per ton. Entering and clearing........................................................................ 10 6 Coasting vessels pay no port charges. Currency. The currency of the country is computed in dollars, reals, and reis, viz :— 100 reis, equal to.................................................................................... 8 reals, equal to.................................................................................. 1 real. 1 current dollar. The current dollar (nominal) is sixteen and two-thirds less than the Spanish, (or silver dollar without pillars.) The Spanish pillared dollar, and the patacone or patriot dollar, are equal to 960 reis, and 20 per cent more than the current dollar. Doubloons, Spanish or patriot, are a legal tender for sixteen Spanish dollars or patacones ; the former, however, generally command a premium of one per cent. All busi ness transactions are settled in gold and silver coins. Weights and Measures. 100 lbs., equal to................................................................. 1 quintal, equal t o ........................................................... 1 arroba, equal to............................................................. 1 pesada of dry ox hides, equal to................................. 1 pesada of salted ox hides, equal to............................. 103 lbs. avoirdupois. 100 lbs. Spanish. 25 “ 40 75 Dry Measure. 1 fanaga of wheat, equal to 233 lbs. Spanish. 1 fanaga of salt, equal to 290 lbs. Spanish. A fanaga is equal to 3J English bushels. A moyo of salt is about 60 English bushels, or 2J tons, and averages about 17 fanagas. Liquid Measure. In ascertaining the contents of casks of liquids, the same instruments are used as in the United States, and consequently all liquids are bought and sold by the gallon. Long Measure. 100 yards English are equal to 108 varas Spanish. 100 varas Spanish are equal to 97 varas Buenos Ayres. INTE REST ON UNITED STATES TRE ASU RY NOTES. The Secretary of the Treasury, in reply to a Philadelphia correspondent, who wrote to him in regard to the interest on Treasury-notes now falling due, states that interest continues on all Treasury-notes issued under the several acts previous to that of the 31st o f August last until the department shall give the sixty days’ notice of readiness to re deem them provided by the act of the 15th of April. The notes his correspondent re fers to as becoming due in the course of the present month, will continue on interest until the 1st of July next, when the interest will be payable, and semi-annually after wards. Or, if the holder prefers that they should be redeemed, they will be paid off on being sent to the Treasury after maturity. Nautical Intelligence. 475 A C T REGULATING TH E CURRENCY OF FOREIGN GOLD AND SILVER COINS IN TH E UNITED STATES. This act, passed during the 3d Session of the 27th Congress, and approved by the President March 3, 1843, provides— That, from and after the passage of this act, the following gold foreign coins shall pass current as money within the United States, and be receivable, by weight, for the payment of all debts and demands, at the rates following: that is to say— The gold coins of Great Britain, of not less than nine hundred and fifteen and a half thousandths in fine, ness, at ninety-four cents and six-tenths of a cent per pennyweight; and the gold coins of France, of not less than eight hundred and ninety-nine thousandths in fineness, at nine ty-two cents and nine-tenths of a cent per pennyweight. That, from and after the passage of this act, the following foreign silver coins shall pass current as money within the United States, and be receivable by tale, for the pay ment of all debts and demands, at the rates following: that is to say— The Spanish pil lar dollars, and the dollars of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, of not less than eight hundred and ninety-seven thousandths in fineness, and four hundred and fifteen grains in weight, at one hundred cents each; and the five franc pieces of France, of not less than nine hundred thousandths in fineness, and three hundred and eighty-four grains in weight, at ninety-three cents each. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to cause assays of the coins made current by this act to be had at the mint of the United States at least once in every year, and to make report of the result thereof to Congress. A C T TO PERM IT THE E N T R Y OF MERCHANDISE SECURED FROM SHIPWRECK. This act, approved by the President of the United States March 3d, 1843, provides— That, whenever any ship or vessel laden with merchandise, in whole or in part, sub ject to duty, shall be, or shall have been, sunk in any river, harbor, bay, or waters, sub ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and within its limits, and shall have remain ed so sunk for the period of two years, and shall be abandoned by the owners thereof, any person or persons who may raise such ship or vessel, shall be permitted to bring any merchandise recovered therefrom into the port nearest to the place where said ship or vessel was so raised, free from the payment of any duty thereupon, and without being obliged to enter the same at the custom-house, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. NA UT I C A L I NTELLI GENCE. HARW ICH HARBOR. Trinity House, London, 1843.— The shoals in and about the entrance of Harwich harbor having materially changed their positions, notice is hereby given, that the follow ing alterations in the buoyage thereof have consequently been made by direction of this corporation, viz :— The Red buoy, formerly placed off the southwest end of Landguard beach, has been removed, and a Black buoy, marked “ Beach End,” placed off the south spit thereof, in 2J fathoms, with the following marks and bearings, viz The Martello tower on the mound of Felixstow in fine with the s. e . angle of Landguard fort k . e . b y e . Harwich High light-tower, its apparent width open west of the Low light-house, x. x. w. | w. Andrews’ buoy s. e. The Black buoy on the Altar has been removed about a cable’s length southeast by south of its former position, and now lies in three fathoms, with— 476 Nautical Intelligence. The Martello tower on the mound of Felixstow in a line with the northernmost boat house next north of Landguard fort it . e . by E. } E. Harwich High light-tower just open north of the Low light-house u. w. by n . Beach End b u o y s. b y e . i E. Cliff Foot-rock buoy N. w . by w. Glutton buoy n . n . e . J e . And, in order to point out the western boundary of the proper channel to Harwich after passing the above buoys, two red buoys have been placed as under, v iz:— One on the east part of the shoal marked “ Glutton,” in nine feet, with— Harwich church spire N . w. by w. | w. Harwich Cliff end tv. | s. Felixstow Martello tower e . by N. The other on the north end of the shoal, marked “ Gristle,” in two fathoms, with— Landguard fort cupola, its width open east of the flagstaff on the fort s. by e . Harwich Low light-house, its apparent width on a line with the north angle of Harwich citadel w. by s. f s. Glutton buoy s . } e . Ships and vessels using the Harwich lights to enter the harbor, must, to avoid Landguard beach, after passing the ridge, keep the High light well open west of the Low light until Landguard fort bears east, when they may haul in for the beach and anchor. N. B.— The above bearings are magnetic, and the depths those of low water spring tides. By order: J. H e r b e r t , Secretary. PILOT ST ATIO N OFF TH E MOUTH OF THE RIVER HOOGHLY. Notice is hereby given, that the same causes existing which, during the last south west monsoon, rendered necessary the removal of the Pilot station from off Point Pal myras to a position six or eight miles southwest of the Outer floating-light, and in from sixteen to twenty fathoms water, this latter station will be continued during the next southwest monsoon, viz: from 15th March to the 15th September. During the last southwest monsoon, no difficulty would appear to have been expe rienced by vessels passing from False Point light-house to the New Station; nor can any be felt if common attention be paid to the lead, and to the following directions pre pared by Captain Lloyd, late officiating marine surveyor general, after a careful survey o f the ground between the two points:— “ False Point light-house is in latitude 20 deg. 19J min. N., and longitude 86 deg. 47 min. E.; and that of the South Channel buoy in latitude 20 deg. 59 min. N., and longi tude 88 deg. 4 min. e . ; and bears from the former n . 61 e . true, or n . e . by e . \ e ., by compass distant 83 miles, and is laid in 12 fathoms. “ A bank of soundings extends from off Point Palmyras in a direction towards the tail of the Western Sea-reef, and the nature of the bottom (as distinguished from that of the Hooghly deposit, which is sand and mud, with shining specks) is a gravelly substance, composed of sand, shells, and small pebbles, discharged from the ‘ Kunka,’ and other rivers near Point Palmyras, the lighter material of which, being carried further out, is deposited, and forms what is called the Pilots’ Ridge, which, in crossing to the north west, shows a little less water than on either side ; coming from seaward you shoal rath er suddenly, from 28 to 23 fathoms, upon its eastern edge. It is composed of a shelly sand, or minute gravel, of a reddish or rusty brown color. “ The best guide, therefore, to enable a vessel to direct her course from False Point to the vessels at the New Station will be to run down the edge of the Pilots’ Ridge, which can readily be done by making the light-house, and bringing it to bear about w. s. w., or s. w. by w., distant by computation from 10 to 15 miles, then steering to the E. N . E., and having gradually increased the depth of water to 23 fathoms upon the east- Nautical Intelligence. 477 era edge of the Ridge, regulated the course to keep between it and 27 fathoms, when, by attention to the lead, and nature of the soundings, course, and distance, run from the light-house, it is almost impossible to miss the pilot vessels (if the above limits are kept within) either by getting too far to windward or falling to leeward; for the soundings increase so rapidly to seaward from the proposed New Station, that 28 fathoms will not be more than three or four miles to the southward of it, and 23 fathoms the same dis tance to the westward of it. “ The soundings to seaward of the ridge are, in general, a greenish or olive-colored mud, with occasionally a few bits of broken shells mixed with it.” Vessels approaching the Station during the day are required to show the usual signal for a pilot, and, by night, to give as early and as much warning as possible, by firing guns, burning blue lights, and by exhibiting two lights in a vertical position, where best seen; but commanders are recommended to avoid, as much as possible, making the Sta tion during the night. T o mark the Station, one of the pilot vessels will show, during the day, a large St. George's Jack (white, with red cross) at the maintop-gallant masthead, and a good mast head light during the night, and will burn a blue light and a maroon alternately every half hour, and fire a gun at 8 o’clock, P. M., at midnight, and at 4 o’ clock, A. M. Ves sels approaching the Station, and while there, as well as when approaching the Light and Buoy Station vessels, are warned to be careful in avoiding collision, by night or by day, and in communicating with either of the above vessels, either at anchor or hove to, when it is necessary to cross her, to pass under the stern; several instances of serious damage having occurred during the southwest monsoon, whereby the Outer floatinglight was more than once compelled to leave her station for repairs, to the great incon venience and risk o f vessels entering and quitting the river. N o t e .—The light-vessels are directed, when another vessel is approaching during the night, to show a light at the gaff end, to mark the way they are riding. A vessel will be stationed off’ False Point light-house, keeping it, according to circum stances, w. by s. to N. w. by N., in from 10 to 15 fathoms water. She will exhibit dur ing the day, when vessels are in sight, a large Danish jack at the maintop-gallant mast head, (red, with a white cross,) and, during the night, a good masthead light in the same place, and will bum a blue-light every half hour. This vessel will have no pilots on board, and is only intended generally to furnish information touching the course to the New Station, but particularly to do so to vessels which may be in ignorance of the po sition of the New Station. J a m e s C. M e l v il l e , Secretary. E a s t I n d ia H ouse , London, January 18, 1843. ROCK IN THE NORTH A TL A N TIC . In relation to the rock in the North Atlantic, recently noticed in a communication to Lloyd’s, Captain George Winslow writes the editors of the Boston Atlas as follows:— Messrs. H a y d e n & B k e w e r :— In a paper of yours dated January 31st, I noticed a communication received at Lloyd’s from Captain Roallons, of the Eagle, giving an ac count of a rock seen by him on his passage from Hamburg to Newfoundland, which, he says, lies in lat. 47 37 n ., and Ion. 28 51 w., and that it formed three distinct points; the highest, to the westward, appeared about eighty feet high. This rock is, by most mariners, considered of doubtful existence. It is laid down on the chart of the Atlantic in nearly the same position that Captain Roallons makes it, and is called the Three Chimneys. I would further state, that in 1819, on my passage in the ship Susan, from Gottenburg to Boston, I passed very near, say one-fourth of a mile from this rock, and that it formed three points: the highest and westernmost one from seventy to eighty feet, the others from thirty to forty feet above the level of the sea. There were no breakers to be seen around them. These rocks are not in the track of ships bound to and from Europe ; but those coming from the North sea, and having strong westerly winds to contend with, would be likely to gain the longitude of them by the time they reach their latitude. 478 Bank Statistics. BANK STATISTICS. MASSACHUSETTS SAVINGS BANK. As a mark of the general prosperity of Massaohusetts, and the actual results of the popular industry, we give the following returns of the Massachusetts Savings Bank, showing the number of depositors, and the total population of each tow n:— S a v d jg s B a s k of M a ssa c h u se t t s , Andover,..................... Barnstable,.................. Boston,......................... Suffolk, (Boston,)....... Cambridge,................. Canton,........................ Dedham,..................... Fairhaven,................... Fall River,.................. Greenfield,.................. Gloucester,................. Haverhill,..................... Hingham,................... Lowell,......................... Lynn,........................... Concord,..................... Nantucket,.................. New Bedford,............. Newburyport,............. Newton,....................... Plymouth,................... Roxbury,..................... Salem,......................... Salisbury,..................... Scituate,...................... Springfield,................. Taunton,..................... Charlestown,............... Braintree,..................... Worcester,................... Total,................. Amount, in 1838,.... Increase,................... 1843. No. of depositors. 282 385 15,023 1,524 315 162 874 153 1,525 162 235 643 712 2,768 447 569 271 1,427 2,266 91 1,406 515 3,691 444 517 299 1,250 1,118 194 3,327 Total population. 5,207 4,301 93,383 2,390 8,409 1,995 3,290 3,951 6,738 1,756 6,350 4,336 3,564 20,796 9,369 1,784 9,012 12,087 7,161 3,351 5,281 9,089 15,082 2,739 3,886 10,985 7,645 11,484 2,163 7,499 Amount of deposits $47,662 62 72,636 00 2,360,212 41 274,651 89 38,685 60 19,426 40 140,796 57 25,352 91 332,665 47 17,832 27 18,257 49 82,377 24 132,998 45 478,375 00 41,203 44 88,939 66 44,350 40 270,466 91 363,576 53 4,840 05 222,132 58 56,719 10 631,539 43 55,203 79 47,506 43 51,269 77 206,316 76 165,432 17 21,604 67 587,379 65 Dividends for the year. $2,125 21 3,580 38 87,125 04 9,556 72 4,258 80 733 90 5,128 22 1,382 32 20,266 26 1,139 11 699 64 3,795 73 6,198 71 16,018 60 1,957 40 2,877 78 2,159 23 16,438 40 14,391 18 42,587 284,086 $6,900,451 70 869,392 00 $282,231 18 35,772 00 $6,031,059 70 $216,469 18 10,506 2,816 30,520 2,065 2,422 2,208 10,402 6,436 951 19,138 58 12 45 04 89 47 47 05 78 67 JOINT STOCK BANKS IN ENGLAND. A parliamentary return was published early in 1840 relative to these establishments, from which it appeared that the number of joint stock banks in England on the 1st of January, 1840, was one hundred and eight, a considerable proportion of which had been instituted within the preceding ten years. The number of partners in these banks varies from fifty to one thousand two hundred, and may average about three hundred. There are half a dozen with less than fifty partners, the smallest number being seven. Fifty, eight of the banks have branches, and fifty have none. The branches, including the parent bank, are from two to sixty-seven in number. There are eight banks which have more than twenty branches. The whole number of parent banks and branches is six hundred and fifty-eight. There are, besides, about five hundred and fifty private banks in England ; that is, banks having not more than six partners. Adding these to the joint stock banks and their branches, the whole number of banking establishments will be about one thousand two hundred. Commercial Statistics. C OMME R C I A L 479 STATI STI CS. LEA TH ER TRA D E OF N E W YORK. The following table shows, at one view, the stock of leather on hand in the city of New York, and the quantity out, in process of tanning, on the 1st of January, for the last eight years; also, the quantity inspected and sold during the same period:— Sides on hand Sides inspected each year. Year. Jan. 1. 784,165 1835,........ ........ 299,063 1836,........ ........ 166,980 925,018 890,962 1837,........ ........ 86,550 749,556 1838,........ ........ 312,287 1839,........ ........ 233,523 772,255 ........ 638,112 1840, .................. 218,083 ........ 687,101 1841, .................. 162,844 886,868 1842,........ ........ 108,816 1843.......... ........ 269,821 Sides sold each year. 916,248 1,005,454 665,225 838,320 777,695 693,351 741,129 725,863 Sides in tanne. ries, Jan. 1. 730,800 914,500 887,513 697,630 600,628 472,990 379,762 591,671 480,189 N e w Y o r k C i t y I n spec tio n s o f G r e e n H ir e s . Year. Ox and Cow. Calf skins. 1842,............. 51,217 22,388 1841,............. 44,997 27,415 1840............... 41,859 18,500 1839,............. 37,948 21,468 1838,............. 40,877 11,665 1837,............. 44,495 13,996 Year. Ox and Cow. Calf skins. 54,531 38,785 1836,............. 1835............... 51,299 38,185 1834,............. 43,935 32,478 1833,............. 43,862 32,961 1832,............. 39,975 25,405 1831,*.... 27,554 25,520 The above table comprises all the inspections since the establishment of the law. IMPORT OF HIDES A T N E W YORK DURING THE Y E A R 1842. From— Africa,.................................. Angostura,............................ Bahia,..................................... Buenos Ayres,..................... ... “ “ (horse)......... Calcutta,............................... Carthagena,.......................... Carolinas,............................. Chili...................................... Central Am erica,................ Florida,................................ Georgia,............................... Honduras,........................... Laguira,................................ Mobile,................................. Mexico,................................ Hides. 21,407 56,241 5,873 132,337 1,000 33,561 3,003 13,315 35,690 9,036 3^278 1,211 1,349 14,706 2,528 29,666 From.— Montevideo,............................... Manilla,..................................... Maracaibo,................................. New Orleans,............................ Pernambuco,............................. Para,........................................... Rio Grande,............................... “ “ (horse)................... St. Domingo,............................ West Indies,............................. Unknown,.................................. To Dealers,................................ Hides. 61,292 11,000 5,221 23,790 8,383 5,519 33,438 225 1,271 1,525 3,796 79,270 Total,........ 1842,........ :.... Same time, 1841,............... “ “ 1840,................ 635,631 633,269 520,251 E xport from this port during the years— 1842,..................................... 1841,..................................... 1840,..................................... 1839...................................... 4,245 31,325 24,186 1838,........................................ 1837......................................... 1836,............................................. 25,695 99,356 109,273 * In part only, that being the year the law was passed, and went into effect. Commercial Statistics. 480 COTTON TRA D E AND MANUFACTURES OF G REAT BRITAIN. From Bums’ Commercial Glance for 1842, just published, which may be viewed in the light of a quasi-official review of the cotton trade manufacture annually, in all its branches, the following facts or figures are collected, illustrative of the operations of the past year, and as compared in general results with several former years:— O f raw cotton, the total quantity of bags taken for consumption, or burnt, during the year 1842, is given at................................................................. Deduct, destroyed in the great fire at Liverpool, 42,000 bags, less salvage, 12,000............................................................................................................. Real amount entering into consumption........................................ In 1841, the quantity taken for consumption was......................................... 1840, “ “ “ 1839, “ “ “ 1838, “ “ “ 1837, “ “ “ 1830, the quantity was on ly ...................................................................... T o 1836, the increase gradually was t o ........................................................ 1,221,693 30,000 1,191,693 1,118,717 1,274,729 1,043,511 1,265,116 1,064,931 805,250 1,031,904 For the last year (1842) it must be observed that, in consequence of the commotions in Lancashire, there was a loss of four weeks in the consumption, or only forty-eight weeks’ mill working instead of fifty-two. The quantities here enumerated comprise all that was purchased, forwarded and taken for consumption in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow during the year. The weekly average of cotton delivered from Liverpool to the manufacturers in the Lancashire and neighboring districts for consumption, is stated at 21,635 bags; but this estimate is made upon the fifty-two weeks, without allowance for the four weeks when most of the factories were at a stand. Assuming for those four weeks a corresponding rate of consumption, or 20,000 bags weekly only, the amount for 1842 should stand thus:— Quantity actually delivered for consumption..........................................bags Four weeks lost at 20,000 per week......................................................... “ Total,.................................................................................... “ The total weight of cotton yarn exported in 1842 is stated a t.............lbs. “ “ “ “ 1841 “ .... ...... “ Excess in 1842 “ 1,191,693 80,000 1,271,693 136,537,162 115,665,483 20,871,679 The increase was chiefly to the following countries :— 1842. T o Russia,..................... lbs. H olland,...........................“ Hanse Towns,.................“ India and China,............ “ Turkey and Levant,.........“ Hanover,.......................... “ 1841. 21,417,429 22,041,247 47,823,956 17,706,211 3,987,786 2,325,689 To Russia,..................... lbs. Holland,............................ “ Hanse Towns,..................“ India and China,............ “ Turkey and Levant.......... “ Hanover,.......................... “ 16,406,921 16,376,618 41,370,291 15,639,562 6,467,694 1,069,147 The total weight of yarn, in manufactured goods, exported during the past year, is stated at.......................................................................................lbs. 129,842,680 Add cotton yam exported............................................................................“ 136,537,162 Add cotton thread...................................................................................... “ 1,972,632 Total export, measured by weight of yarn,.....................“ In the year 1841 the total export was equal to.................... “ “ 1840 “ “ ........................................ “ 268,252,474 258,871,745 229,779,422 In the following flourishing years the exports were, for— 1836,....... lbs. 198,860,910 | 1837,....... lbs. 207,576,839 | 1838,....... lbs. 236,900,809 481 Commercial Statistics. The total value of goods and yarn exported were, for— 1842., 1841., 1840., .£15,068,586 17,247,080 16,578,014 1838.. 1837.. 1836.. £17,966,837 16,153,859 20,656,408 CANAD IAN COMMERCE. C om m erce of Q uebec a n d M o n t r e a l in Arrivals. 1842. With Cargoes. In Ballast. Vessels. Tons. Men. Vessels. Tons. Men.’ 270 21 97,556 8,736 3,850 236 5 6 1 2 1,323 1,934 564 745 50 66 21 23 221 166 1 4 44 5 90,437 52,815 249 1,241 12,247 1,407 3,401 2,091 9 42 422 54 1 55 119 13,421 4 673 From Great Britain,................................. “ Ireland,........................................... “ Gibraltar,......................................... “ France,............................................ “ Spain and Portugal,....... '............... “ Sicily,............................................. “ Hamburg,........................................ “ Antwerp,....................................... “ The Azores,.................................. ** British North American Colonies,. “ British West Indies,...................... “ The United States,....................... “ South America,............................. “ Foreign West Indies,................... Arrivals at Gaspe in 1842,...................... Arrivals at New Carlisle,...................... .. 12 2 16 5,519 531 2,461 196 24 129 i 427 15 40 6 41 11,398 2,138 19,574 453 89 707 * 4 42 51 1,506 3,288 5,784 54 248 316 E xports. Among the exports from Montreal and Quebec in 1842 were the following, viz:— Apples,.................... Ashes—Pots,........... 851 18,073 9,598 it 289 ....... “ 9,452 200 134 239,697 5|067 4 655 ... “ ti 660 63 310,943 ........ hf. bis. 114 ti Furs and Skins,....... ........ pkgs. Hams,....................... it Barley,...................... B eef,........................ tt it Corn, Indian,.......... “ Meal,............ Flax Seed,............... Flour,...................... it it “ ........................ it tt Oatmeal,................... Peas,.......................... tt Pork,......................... tt tt 105 271 66,783 440 302 282 76 100 7,554 68,767 3,400 42,044 1,012 Wheat,...................... it 1,800 Besides large quantities of timber, spars, deals, & c.— Montreal Times. AM ERICAN SILK TRADE AND MANUFACTURE. From the following statement of the bounties distributed by the State of Massachu setts for nearly seven years, from 1836 to October 1, 1842, it appears that the amount of silk made in that state during those years has been rapidly increasing:— 1836,........................ ............... 1837,........................ ............... 1838,........................ 1839,........................ ............... $71 37 198 00 1840, .............................. $1,233 58 1841, .............................. 2,111 42 1841—to October 1, 1842,.... 3,351 91 434 62 The employment of convicts in the manufacture of silk was commenced at the Au. burn state prison in May, 1841, since which time the results have been so encouraging, V O L . V I I I .— N O . V . 40 482 Commercial Statistics. that constant additions have been made to the machinery and the number of convicts employed. The following statement is extracted from a report recently made to the inspectors of that prison:— “ The aggregate value of the avails of the silk manufactured in sewing silks, twist, and fabric, together with the materials and products on hand, at low-rate market prices, is......................................................................... $12,762 26 The whole expense of the manufacture, exclusive of the labor employed, is..................................................................................................................... 9,766 51 Leaving the sum o f........................................................................................... $2,996 75 for the avails of the labor and interest on the capital, equal to thirty-four cents and six mills per day for the labor of each convict. This average is equal to that of the products of the labor of convicts under the contracts in mechanical departments. The sewing silk produced is pronounced, by the agent, superior to the imported article in strength and softness o f texture, and equal in smoothness and in color, and is preferred whereever bot[i have been fairly compared.” The Journal o f Commerce, in alluding to the progress of the silk culture in this coun try, says:— “ The reaction occasioned by the failure of the excessive speculation in morus multicaulis in 1839, has hitherto tended to discourage and retard the extension of silk culture in the United States; but, so far as the experiment has been tried, it has proved successful in almost every section of our widely-extended country. The testi mony of those whq have prosecuted the business, for a series of years, under those ad vantages which, with adequate knowledge, it is in the power of all to possess, establishes the fact that silk growing yields a much better profit than ordinary agricultural occupa tions. The protection afforded by the tariff, and the bounties allowed by individual states, of course contribute to this result; but, so far as we can judge, there is every probability that the business will sustain itself, even when the bounty laws are repealed.” COMMERCE OF OHIO. Exports and Imports at Sandusky during 1842. W e are indebted to J. D. Whitney, Esq., of Sandusky, Ohio, for the following ab stract of exports and imports at that port for the year 1842, as prepared by E. H. Haines, Esq., Collector of Customs at Sandusky:— E xports. Articles. Quant. Value. Wheat,................. 485,968 $379,055 H Corn,............. 41,379 12,951 P ork ,............. — bbls. 24,618 148,097 44 Flour,............ 15,472 60,859 44 Beef,.............. 1,361 5,930 44 Whiskey,.......... 1,773 11,881 Lard,...................... 927 4,951 44 Butter,................... 4,492 25,717 Ashes,.................. 1,262 30,008 44 Seed,....................... 72 720 (( 4,492 24,512 44 Fruit,....................... 164 328 44 Beans,........... 196 389 Fur,............... 46 4,600 Hides,.......... ....N o . 911 3,644 Wool 465 15,123 44 Feathers,...... 159 3,830 Rags,............. 38,100 1,143 Articles. Beeswax,.............bbls. Ginseng,.............. “ Eggs and Nuts,. . “ Oil,....................... “ Lard,.................... “ Butter,.............................. “ Pipe Staves,.........No. Tallow,.............................bbls. Sundries,............. “ Quant. 26 26 124 4 1,789 24 2,500 136 201 34 Soap & Candles,.box’s 1,000 800 Crude Plaster,.. .tons 225 Ground Plaster,.. “ 5,000 Cut Stone,........... “ 100 Cedar Posts,........ c’rds Amount exported,.. Value. $840 570 208 120 30,936 480 45 2,050 1,053 1,224 4,500 3,600 2,025 35,000 500 $816,889 483 Commercial Statistics, I m ports. Articles. Quant. Value. Articles. Value. Salt,................... ...bbls. 24,119 $30,148 Merchandise, 2,859 tons, estiPine Boards,...... ...M .ft. 1,334 12,006 mated at............................... $1,000,750 Pine Shingles,.... ....M. 1,353 2,706 984 Pine Bolts,........ 123 Amount imported,....... $1,049,384 465 2,798 Fish,................... E x p o r t s a n d I m p o r t s of H u r o n a nd M i l a n d u r in s 1842. For the following statement of the principal articles cleared and entered at the ports of Huron and Milan during the year 1842, we are indebted to the same source as above:— E xports. Description. Quant. Value. Wheat,......... bush. 418,255 $313,691 25 Flour,........... bbls. 19,163 76,652 00 Whiskey,...... <( 2,110 13,715 00 Pork,............. U 10,454 57,497 00 2,958 11,832 00 Butter & Lard, kegs Timothy seed, bush. 2,469 2,469 00 Corn,............. u 33,167 9,950 10 Flax seed,...... (( 1,200 900 00 10 1,100 00 Bacon,........... 1,000 20,000 00 Pot & P’rl Ash. bbls. 30 600 00 Grind Stones, tons 40 Tobacco,....... 3,200 00 Articles. Quant. W o o l,.............tons 15 Pipe&H.stvs., No. 456,576 3,802 Butt Staves,.... “ Oats,............... bush. 8,578 293 Beans,............ “ Apples,........... “ 650 Peaches,......... “ 500 Feathers,........ p’nds 566 100,000 Hides,............ “ 20 Beef,............... bbls. Total value..... Value. $7,375 00 11,400 00 187 00 1,715 60 195 00 585 00 750 00 212 25 4,000 00 85 00 $538,141 20 Im ports. Quant. Value. Articles. Salt,.............. bbls. 20,000 $22,000 00 U 1,050 1,312 00 Plaster,......... 3,000 1,350,000 00 Merchandise,, tons 1,010 5,555 00 Fish,.............. bbls. 1,200 00 Pine Lumber, feet 100,000 Articles. Quant. Pine Shingl’s, No. 100,000 Pine Bolts,....c’rds 150 Value. $2,000 00 1,350 00 Total value,...... .......... $1,383,417 00 CUSTOM DUTIES RECEIVED A T N E W YORK IN 1842. The following table exhibits the total amounts received at the New York custom, house from old bonds and new duties; also, in a separate column, the duties which ac tually occurred during the several months of the year 1842:— First Quarter. January,................................ February,............................. March,................................. Whole amount received. $728,506 09 899,505 73 918,532 54 Accruing duties. $1,268,986 90 1,602,912 33 1,057,863 68 $3,929,762 91 Second Quarter. April,..................................... M a y,..................................... June,...................................... 1,020,991 26 1,004,946 41 884,560 55 1,120,576 23 716,665 40 1,185,250 68 3,022,492 31 Third Quarter. July.— -i............................... August,.................................. September,........................... 1,252,571 40 1,598,436 52 1,603,336 73 341,618 73 719,616 53 831,010 92 1,892,246 18 Fourth Quarter. October,................................ November,........................... December,............................. 1,078,898 57 671,646 92 611,142 68 602,178 09 311,050 09 255,451 85 1,168,680 02 Whole am’ t received,.. Total accruing duties, $12,273,075 40 $10,013,181 42 484 Railroad and Canal Statistics. RAI LROAD AND CANAL S TATI STI CS. MASSACHUSETTS RAILROADS. The following statement shows the extent and cost of the four railroads in Massachu setts which lead from the city of Boston and give support to the business of that city, and the income and expenses of each during the year 1842. The statement of oost in cludes, in addition to the expenses of construction of road, the sums paid for lands and damages, the cost of buildings, engines, carriages, and all other appurtenances. The amount of capital stock paid in, is $8,334,000; in addition to which, the Eastern rail road has a loan of $500,000 on state stock. Length. Cost. 45 miles. $2,764,396 Boston and Worcester, double track,......................... Boston and Lowell, double track,................................... 26 “ 1,978,285 Boston and Providence, singletrack,.............................. 42 “ 1,892,431 Eastern, in Massachusetts and N. Hamp., single track, 53 “ 2,699,417 Total........................................................... 166 “ $9,334,530 The receipts from transportation of passengers, merchandise, and mail, with the cur rent expenses, including interest on loan and net income in the year 1842, were as follows:— Receipts. Expenses. Net income. Boston and Worcester,................................. $349,206 $168,509 $180,697 Boston and Providence,................................ 236,469 112,824 123,643 Boston and Lowell........................................ 278,310 131,012 147,298 Eastern,.......................................................... 269,168 144,039 125,129 Total,.................................... $1,133,151 $556,384 $570,767 The above income gives an average profit for the year of 6 9-10 per cent. PROGRESS OF CANALS IN OHIO. The Report o f the Board of Public Works in Ohio states that, at the commencement o f the next season’s business, the following works will be finished and navigable, viz :— Ohio canal, and its navigable side cuts............................................................. Miami canal,........................................................................................................ Extension of Miami canal, in part,............................................................ Warren county canal,......................................................................................... Licking feeder,...................................................................... Wabash and Erie canal, and side cuts,............................................................ Walkolding canal,.............................................................................................. Hocking canal,....... ............................................................................................. Muskingum improvements,................................................................................. Making the aggregate length of navigation,........................................ 334 miles, 65 “ 80 “ 22 “ 13 “ 91 “ 25 “ 56 “ 91 “ 767 “ These works will cost, in the aggregate, $14,627,549 79; the interest on this, at 6 per cent, is $877,000. For the coming year, the Board estimates the aggregate receipts for tolls and water rents at $600,000, which, after deducting expenses of management, &c., will leave a net revenue, applicable to interest, of $400,000. The deficiency of $477,000, to be supplied from other sources, the Board say will be diminishing from year to year; “ and the time is not far distant, as the Board verily believe, when the revenue from these works will be fully equal to, and even exceed, the interest on the cost.” Mercantile Miscellanies. MERCANTILE 485 MISCELLANIES. FIRE-PROOF SAFES— TH E SALAMANDER. T he universal destruction of safes in the great fire of 1835 undoubtedly induced a prejudice against those then in use, and, in our opinion, very justly. Since that time the Salamander Safe has been invented, and repeatedly tested ; and not a single case of the destruction of the contents of one of them has come to our knowledge, although we have made diligent inquiry. Indeed, we believe the only objection to them has been that they went to the other extreme, and injured the books and papers by dampness. This difficulty, .we are pleased to learn, has been entirely overcome by the improved Salaman der Safe, manufactured by Robertson & Rich. In order, however, to speak more understandingly of a matter of so much importance to the mercantile community, we visit ed the manufactory a short time since, and witnessed an experiment which fully satisfied us of the wonderful properties of the Salamander preparation to resist the influence of the most intense heat. A piece of the composition with which the safes are lined, about six inches square and two in thickness, was laid on a blacksmith’s forge, and the full and constant force of the bellows applied to it for the space of about ten minutes, when it was found to have resisted the fire so effectually that we laid our naked hand on it, feel ing only a gentle warmth. On turning it over, the part next to the fire did not retain heat enough to bum a card or light a paper; while a bar of iron, in the forge about half the time, was heated to whiteness. This experiment, simple as it is, must convince every one who may witness it, as it did us at the time, that a safe filled with three or four inches of this material could not be heated through at the burning of a store in any possible situation in which it might be placed. Some of our first merchants have witnessed similar experiments, and have expressed their entire confidence as to the security of this safe. With these facts in view, we cor dially commend the article to the attention of merchants and bankers, and to the state and county authorities throughout the Union, who desire to render secure the valuable papers committed to their charge. SOUTH AM ERICAN HUANO. The following description of this new article of traffic from South America, is taken from a letter from Mr. Wheelwright to the Secretary of the National Institute, at Washington:— “ The huano, of which you have specimen No. 2, has recently attracted great atten tion, no less than 40,000 tons having been shipped to England during the last fifteen months as a manure. Much discussion has arisen as to its nature, but the received opin ion at present is, that it is birds’ dung. It is found on the islands adjacent to the coast of Peru in such enormous quantities, as to induce skepticism as to its origin. In some places, it lies from eighty to one hundred feet in depth; feathers and egg-shells are fre quently found deeply buried in it. It was used as a manure by the Indians long before the conquest, and without it the valleys of Peru would be almost desolate. It is pungent in the extreme, and, if used in large quantities, burns and destroys vegetation; while in smaller quantities it vivifies, and gives extraordinary rapidity to growth. I have not its analysis before me, I am sorry to say, to forward you.” 466 Mercantile Miscellanies. FRAUDS IN BEESW AX. The Journal of Commerce says:— “ W e are informed that very extensive frauds are continually practised in this article. Nearly every cask brought into our market contains more or less impure or deceptive wax. One of our merchants, in examining recently a single cask, discovered imbedded in the centre of very handsome cakes of beeswax no less than thirty pounds of iron ore, so that none but an experienced person would have detected it. Indian meal and iron ore are not the only substances used for these frauds; grease, tallow, vegetable wax, sweet potatoes, flour, lime, rosin, and many other articles, are used. W e are informed of a large parcel stored in New York for some time past, that has been proved, by chemical test, to contain two parts rosin to one of w ax; yet, but for the intervention of a broker, one of the best judges among our merchants would have recently bought it for twenty-eight cents per pound. Buyers cannot be too cau tious, nor examine this article too closely.” COTTON IN STEAD OF LINEN. It is astonishing to what an extent the use of cotton fabrics has succeeded that of linen. W e see it stated in an English paper (the Stamford Mercury) that, twenty years ago, the consumption of linen cloth for shirting and sheeting was generally estimated to be double the quantity of linen to that of calico. Ten years ago, the quantity used for the same purposes, of each material, was about equal. Last week, a shopkeeper near Mel ton Mowbray took an account, for three days, (it being Martinmas,) of the number of yards sold of linen and of calico: the result proved that there was fourteen times the quantity of calico sold to that of linen. In manufacturing towns, probably the differ ence would be greater. In woollen goods, the reverse is taking place. During the high price of wool, many articles were substituted, some wholly, and others partly, by the admixture of cotton: now that wool is considerably reduced in price, the substitution of cotton is on the decrease. THE ILLINOIS APPRAISEM EN T LA W , Passed during the session of 1842, prohibits the sale of any real and personal property upon legal process, unless it be appraised “ at its fair and reasonable value in ordinary times,” and sell for two-thirds of the appraisement. If a sale is not effected at the first offer, no other execution is to issue for a year, except at the costs of the plaintiff. The act is declared to embrace all contracts made before the 1st of January, 1843, and all made after that time in renewal of a pre-existing debt. It embraces mortgages, where there is a clause in them allowing the mortgages to sell otherwise. In sales of real estate, the appraisement does not take away the right of the debtor to redeem under the old law. SECRETS OF TRADE. W e observe, in the report of cases tried in the Court of Common Pleas in Boston, an action brought by certain plaintiffs in New York against James Lee and others, soap manufacturers in Cambridge, to recover a sum of $115 88, payment for 4,300 pounds o f ground flint stones. The defendant resisted payment on the ground that, in his or der, he did not mention any specific quantity of the article, but only wanted a sample. It appeared in evidence, that the only effect of the ground flint upon the soap with which it was mixed was to increase its weight, by intermingling an article of consider ably less value than the soap itself. The jury rendered a verdict for the whole amount claimed. The B ook Trade. THE BOOK 487 TRADE. 1.— Incidents o f Travel in Yucatan. By J oh n L. S t e p h e n s , Author of “ Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land,” “ Incidents of Travel in Cen tral America, Chiapas, and Yucatan,” etc. Illustrated by 120 Engravings. In 2 vols. 8vo. New Y ork : Harper & Brothers. 1843. Mr. Stephens, the author of this magnificent work, was evidently impressed while preparing it with a deep sense, not only of the interest and importance belonging to the subject, but of the high expectations on the part of the public which he had to meet and answer. He seems to have felt that as the most successful author of the country, and the recipient of public favor to an extent almost without a parallel, it was incumbent on him to produce a work not only equal but superior to either o f its predecessors from his hands; and fortunately for himself as well as his readers, he found in Yucatan abundant materials with which to do himself and them this justice. Little as the fact has been known or even suspected, there is perhaps no country in the world, not excepting Greece and Egypt, where, within the same extent of territory, are congregated such a number of ruins and monuments o f ancient art, those monuments being also of so stupendous, interesting, and wonderful a character. The dense forests of that peninsula, with their rank and rapid vegetation, are in fact a great mine of architectural and antiquarian treas ures ; and wherever entrance is effected by the assistance of the strong arm and \he axe, there is almost a certainty of unveiling some shattered fragments of temples or other great edifices, around which once clustered a teeming, industrious, and ingenious popu lation. Supposing all the ruins visited by Mr. Stephens to indicate the places where cities once existed— and it is difficult to entertain any other supposition— the astonishing accounts given by the early Spanish writers of the immense multitudes whom they found swarming throughout the country, instead o f being exaggerations must have fallen far short of the reality. And these ruins, wonderful and interesting as they are, whether considered as monuments of ancient architecture or with speculative reference to the purposes for which they were constructed, and the strange rites and ceremonies of which they were the theatre— magnificent as they are even in their decay, and teeming with provocation to curiosity in the beautiful but complicated and unintelligible hieroglyphics and sculpture with which they abound— these extraordinary ruins are invested with a stronger and more enduring interest when considered with reference to the question when and by whom the edifices were constructed ; and perhaps the most valuable and important feature of Mr. Stephens’s work is the ingenious, elaborate, and, we do not hesitate to say, perfectly conclusive examination he has bestowed upon this question. Whatever doubt or dispute may have existed on the subject heretofore, we cannot con ceive it possible that any attempt can or will be made to set aside the compact body of evidence by which Mr. Stephens establishes the position which his sagacity led him early to adopt, and proofs of which he has accumulated with so much industry, intelli gence, and, we may add, good fortune; for it is not always the most diligent seeker, particularly in antiquarian matters, that is the most successful finder. W e have left ourselves but little space to speak of the hundred and twenty superb engravings with which the volumes are illustrated— some of them being very large, and exhibiting the ruins on a scale commensurate with their own extent and grandeur— or of the lively and graphic description, the quaint touches of humor, the anecdote and entertaining personal incident with which the pages are enlivened. W e can only allude to these; and perhaps no more than an allusion is necessary, for the book is one that everybody will desire to read, and its merits require no emblazoning. 488 The Book Trade. 2. — History o f the Hawaiian, or Sandwich Islands: embracing their Antiquities, M y thology, Legends; Discovery by Europeans in the Sixteenth Century; Re.discovery by Cook; with their Civil, Religious, and Political History, from the earliest tradi tionary period to the present time. By J am es J a ck son J a r v is , Member o f the Ori ental Society. 8vo. pp. 408. Boston: Tappan & Dennet. 1843. Hitherto we have only known of this little group of isles in the midst of the vast Pa cific, that they were inhabited by a less than half-civilized race of beings, that they had constituted one of the fondest objects of missionary enterprise, and that they had all been subjected to one rule and government by the talents and military genius of one great man, viz : Kamehamaha. W e supposed, with the rest of the world, that they had had no white visiters before Captain Cook, and we never dreamed that they had any history worthy of the name. It is true that a history of the Sandwich islands was published in 1839, but imperfect, defective, and such as we could not regard as authority. Mr. Jar vis has agreeably disabused us in a volume of some four hundred octavo pages, got up in a style as far ahead of the trashy publications of the day, as his performance is supe rior to them. The book contains intrinsic evidence of his qualifications for the task, in addition to the fact that he spent four years among the Hawaiian group, and devoted himself most diligently to the study of all matters connected with it. The result is truly refreshing. It appears that Cook was by no means the first navigator who visited these islands with an unpronounceable name. Others were there before him, and left colonies which incorporated with, and were swallowed up by the native population, though traces still remain of their presence in the features and complexion of their descendants. It appears, too, that previous to his advent, and for years after, the Sandwich islanders were the most thoroughly and utterly debased race, perhaps, that ever existed since the crea tion of the globe. W e know not, judging from these pages, whether their intercourse with the whites should be deemed a blessing or not. Civilization has diminished their numbers to a mere remnant; but that remnant are at last in a fair way to take rank among the nations of the earth, and the march of improvement has been by gigantic strides. Still it cannot be denied that, short of utter extermination, no people have ever been more abused. Hitherto, we have thought that the meddling of missionaries with the affairs of the native government was improper, impertinent, and injudicious; but Mr. Jarvis has set the matter in another light, and satisfied us, as he will every one who reads the book, that not to have interfered as they have done would have been wanting to their duty, not only as apostles of the cross, but as men. Whosoever wishes to be informed of the value of the Sandwich group, and its importance to the United States, had better buy the book, sure of not throwing away his money. W e never read a work that was more exactly what it should be. 3. — The Mayflower; or, Sketches o f Scenes and Characters among the Descendants o f the Pilgrims. By Mrs. H a r r ie t B eec h e r S t o w e . 18mo. pp. 324. New Y o r k : Harper & Brothers. 1843. This neatly printed volume contains fifteen tales and sketches, written by “ a young mother and housekeeper in the first years of her novitiate, amid alternate demands from an ever-dissolving ‘ kitchen cabinet,’ and from the two, three, and four occupants of her nursery.” The character of these sketches, in a moral point of view, is unexcep tionable ; and the author’s style, though homely, is pleasing and attractive. 4. — Conquest and Self-Conquest; or, Which makes the H ero? New Y ork: Harper & Brothers. 1843. The moral of this story may be learned from that proverb of inspiration— “ He that hath no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down and without walls and this lesson is illustrated in a most interesting narrative, graceful in diction, and in genious in the construction of the plot. The Book Trade . 489 5. — Speeches and Forensic Arguments. By D a n ie l W e b s t e r . Vol. 3. 8vo. pp. 563. Boston : Tappan & Dennet. 1843. The two first volumes of the present collection of the speeches, addresses, and argu ments of this distinguished statesman and lawyer, were published in 1839, embracing nearly fifty distinct speeches, & c .; commencing with the discourse delivered at Plymouth, in commemoration of the first settlement of New England, December 22,1820, and end ing with his remarks in the Senate of the United States, February 26, 1835, on the bill to regulate the deposits of the public money. The third volume, just published, contains about forty speeches, and commences with remarks made to the citizens of Bangor, Maine, August 25, 1835, and closes with his speech upon that part of the President’s Message which related to the revenue and finances, delivered in the Senate of the United States December 16 and 17, 1840. W e regard these volumes as a most valuable addition to the standard literature of the country; as deserving a place among the speeches of Pitt, Fox, Burke, Brougham, and other eminent statesmen ; as specimens of true eloquence, and among the purest mod els of our Anglo-Saxon dialect. Several of the speeches and addresses of Mr. Webster, embraced in the present collection, possessing a character of more permanent and gen eral interest, have been published in most of the languages of Europe; and, in the lan guage of one of the most eminent statesmen of England, have been “ read in that coun try with no less admiration of their eloquence, than satisfaction in the soundness and ability of their general views.” This tribute, to quote from the preface to a former vol ume, coming as it does from those who are not apt to over-estimate the intellectual power or literary taste of our country, may be regarded with an honest pride as evidence of uncommon merit. But it seems to be, on our part, a work of supererogation to speak o f the writings of one whose name and fame are household words throughout our wide spread domain, and whom all Americans, however adverse may be their political opin ions, are proud to acknowledge as their countryman. The present volume is printed and bound to conform to the two that preceded it ; and we scarcely need say it is in the beautiful and correct style of the Boston press, and particularly of the enterprising house whose name stands in the imprint. 6. — Readings in American Poetry. By R u fu s W . G r is w o l d , Editor of the “ Poets and Poetry of America,” etc. New Y ork: John C. Riker. 1843. The present volume of specimens of American poetry is designed, we are told in the preface, principally for the use of schools; but, were we to judge from the beautiful style o f typography and binding, we should suppose it equally well adapted for the “ centre table,” if that article o f furniture were fashionable now-a-days. In a literary point of view we consider the present equal, if not superior, to any collection of American poetry of its size now before the public. The poems which it contains are American in spirit and origin. The themes of many of them are from our own history: “ they relate to the grand and beautiful in our scenery, or assert the dignity and rights of man, as recognized in our theory of government.” It is just such a book as has been wanted in our schools, and will, we hope, supersede others of inferior merit. 7. — Bible Quadrupeds: the Natural History o f the Animals mentioned in Scripture. With Sixteen Engravings. Baltimore : John Murphy. The present volume forms the first of a series illustrative of the Natural History of the Bible. A similar volume on “ The Birds of Scripture,” and another on “ The Botany of the Bible,” complete the plan. It appears to have been the author’s aim to relate, in a plain and familiar style, all that is most interesting and instructive in the history of the various animals; and “ more especially, to note whatever sheds light on the passages of Scripture in which they are mentioned.” The present volume of 276 pages is neatly printed and bound, and the engravings are rather handsomely executed. 490 The Book Trade. 8. — The Critical and Miscellaneous Writings o f Theodore Parker, Minister o f the Second Church in Eoxbury. 12mo. pp. 363. Boston : James Munroe & Co. 1843. W e are glad to see these miscellanies republished, and think all who read them will enjoy their spirit even when they disagree with their doctrines. The tone of earnest conviction, the glow of feeling, the occasional beauty of expression in these pages, is very refreshing. It is a proof of the lingering spiritual tyranny among us, that these ar ticles have subjected their author to such indiscriminate censure. One wmuld think it no difficult task to separate Mr. Parker’s fallacies and exaggerations from the everlast ing truths to which he gives such eloquent utterance; and we cannot think much of the honesty or candor of critics who can overlook, in their anger at some heresies, the deep devoutness, generous hopes, and fervent indignation at social wrong which are the char acteristic elements of these writings. Mr. Parker may blame himself in part, however, for the rebukes which have been fulminated against him. He is a polemic far more than he need b e ; and exasperates, by stinging words, those whom he might convince by sharp-cutting reasoning. He is more of a rhetorician, too, than a philosopher, and sub jects himself to criticism for careless statements. Thus he has led persons, by his mode o f expression, to think him a Pantheist, while in fact he is a Theist. In his views of Christianity he has fallen into the error of understating exceedingly the importance of the life of Jesus as a great providential agency in the development of the human race, though he is probably near the truth in what he says of this religion as an illustration of the spiritual nature of all men. If the critical element of Mr. Parker’s mind was more subject to his faith, and his rationality more exalted by his devout enthusiasm, he would more truly fulfil the mission which has been assigned him. W e predict for him a con stantly increasing influence, just in the proportion in which he gives up denials and con secrates his fine powers to positive affirmations. 9. — The Miraculous Virgins. A Letter from the Earl o f Shrewsbury, descriptive o f the Estatica o f Caldara and the Addolorata o f Capriana. New Y ork: Casserly &. Sons. 1843. What shall we say of this remarkable book ? It is easy to sneer at such statements; it would be more wise and profitable to account for them. Here is a distinguished Eng lish nobleman, and a leading German philosopher, testifying solemnly to wonders which shock all our customary opinions as to the limits of human capacity for endurance, and the nature and degree o f human power over the bodily frame. T o say that these wit nesses are passing pious frauds upon the public for the sake of propping up their church, or that they were willing dupes themselves, and that the whole affair is a piece of eccle siastical legerdemain, is a most superficial and unsatisfactory explanation. Gorres is a man of more shrewdness and wisdom than such off-hand critics dream o f; and the Earl o f Shrewsbury probably is as sensitive to ridicule, and as careful of his honor, as any of his peers. For ourselves, we qre willing to confess the belief, that there is a large foun dation in fact for these surprising accounts, and for many similar accounts to be found in all ages of the world. Doubtless fable has both multiplied and magnified such mar vels ; but these miraculous (so called) events should rather be studied for the insight they give us of human nature, than scoffed at as prodigies. Few of us conjecture the power of strong feeling to cause or remove disease, to excite or subdue sensation, to strengthen or depress the vital energies. The same exaltation and enthusiasm which produced such singular sufferings in these young women, might renew a body sunk by sickness to the verge o f death. W e have yet to learn, in these days of material science, the meaning o f faith. Our spiritual power is almost w'holly denied, and is habitually forgotten. W e advise the curious to read this book; and we advise them further neither to be overcome by its miraculous appearance, nor to sneer at it, but rather to look at it calmly and sci entifically, as a very interesting illustration of the mysterious nature which exists in every The Book Trade. 491 10. — A Gallop among American Scenery; or, Sketches o f American Scenes and Military Adventure. By A u g u st u s E. S il l im a n . New York : D. Appleton & Co. This is undoubtedly, par excellence, “ the book” of the season. Nothing which has been lately published, of the kind, can equal it either in the interest of the topics, or the intense graphic power with which they are described. W e best express our idea o f it when we say that it is an eloquent book. Mr. Silliman is no mere observer, detailing, in commonplace style, his commonplace remarks upon trite and commonplace subjects. His is the mind and eye of a poet; and his is the elegance of style and copiousness o f expression, which are to be found only in connection with true genius. Mr. Silliman has not only done honor to himself in this work, but he has also rendered an essential service to the cause o f American literature, by demonstrating, in the clearest manner, what has been frequently asserted, but which has been hardly proved, that our country contains within herself the most ample materials for every department of a splendid na tional literature. W e hope that the spirit which animates this work, and the justly de served success which has attended it, will induce others to the field, and that especially it will encourage Mr. Silliman to renewed exertions. He has secured a name and fame, which is the best guarantee of the favor of the public for anything else he may see fit to produce. 11. — The Neighbors: A Story o f Every-day Life. By F r e d e r ik a B r e m e r . Trans, lated by M a r y H o w i t t . 2 vols. 12mo. Boston : James Munroe & Co. 1843. This exquisite tale we gladly welcome in a dress of becoming beauty, from the press of James Munroe & Co. With all the excitement of a Bulwer romance, this master piece o f translated fiction mingles the tenderest, holiest sentiment, the most racy and refreshing wit, the gracefulest sketches from nature, the most beautiful faith and trust, hope and love. Even through the thundercloud of its darker scenes, a light shines: in the mutter of the storm, cheering music is heard. All things in life we see really work out the greatest good, though at times by ways past our finding out. Ma chere mere seems a little overdrawn; but the Bear and his provoking, good-natured little wife, the Dahls and their divine Serena, and even Bruno and his tempestuous Hagar, interest and warm, and teach and quicken, as living realities. 12. — Outlines o f Sacred History, from the Creation o f the World to the Destruction o f Jerusalem. Philadelphia: Edward C. Biddle'. 1843. This is, we believe, the first American edition, enlarged and improved, from the Lon don edition, where it was published under the direction of the Committee of General Literature and Education, appointed by the “ Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.” The volume furnishes a summary of sacred history in a comprehensive form, and is designed for a class-book in schools, or for reading in private families; and is adapted to the wants and wishes of youth, without being unworthy the notice of per sons o f maturer age. It is highly recommended, by teachers and divines of different denominations, as one o f the best summaries of sacred history in use. It forms, alto gether, a neat and attractive volume, being illustrated with thirty-four handsomely de signed and well-executed wood engravings. 13. — Puseyism Examined. By J. H. M e r l e D ’A u e ig n e , D. D., author of the “ History o f the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century.” With an Introductory Notice of the Author. By R o b e r t B on d . New Y ork : John S. Taylor. 1843. Those who have read the great work by which D’Aubigne is known to American readers, scarcely need be told that, in this treatise, he opposes the pretensions of Pusey ism with the same philosophical division and arrangement, the same concentration of thought, the same unsyllogistic, but yet clear and caustic argument, and the same play ful wit, which are found in the “ History of the Reformation,” which has passed, and is passing, through so many editions. 492 The Book Trade. 14. —A Complete Descriptive and, Statistical Gazetteer o f the United States of America. By D a n ie l H a s k e l l , A. M., late President of the University of Vermont, and J. C. S m it h , Geographer, author of a New Map o f the United States, & c. New Y ork: Sherman & Smith. 1843. The design of this work is to exhibit the present condition of the United States—its progress in agriculture, in commerce, in manufactures, and in general improvement; and •well and truly is this design accomplished. It is, without exception, the best work of the kind extant. It contains a particular description of the states, territories, counties, districts, parishes, cities, towns and villages; mountains, rivers, lakes, canals and rail roads ; with an abstract of the census and statistics of 1840, exhibiting a view of the agricultural, commercial, manufacturing, and literary condition and resources of the coun try. Hundreds o f new counties, town3, and post-offices are described in this work which are not found in any preceding gazetteer. The best sources of information appear to have been resorted to, and the character of the learned editors is the best guarantee for the fidelity with which the work has been executed. T o the merchant and man o f busi ness, the work would seem indispensable ; and we have great pleasure in commending it to their attention. 15. — The Advancement of Religion the Claim of the Times. By A n d r e w R e e d , D. D. 12mo. pp. 310. New York : M. W . Dodd. Dr. Reed is well known in England and the United States as the author of several religious novels, a volume of travels, &c., which have all been re-published in this coun try, and attained a wide-spread popularity among the orthodox denominations. The present volume contains ten lectures, as follows:— The advancement of religion desira ble— its advancement in the person—by personal effort— in the family—by the ministry — in the church—by the church— in the nation—in the world— and the certainty and glory of the consummation. The volume is introduced to the American public by a recommendatory preface from Gardiner Spring, D. D., of New York. 16. — The Young Mechanic. By the Author of “ The Young Merchant.” New York : Saxton & Miles. 1843. The objects of this work, as stated in the preface, are to direct the attention of those who are choosing a pursuit in life, to the substantial advantages of the mechanic trades; to make mechanics more sensible, than they seem to be, of the advantages of their posi tion ; to stimulate them to increase their advantages; to show the benefits of liberal in struction for the mechanic ; to point out the means of liberal self-instruction in detail, and the importance of moral and religious culture to success in life. 17. — The Wives o f England; their Relative Duties, Domestic Influences, and Social Obligations. By M rs. E l l i s , author of the “ Women of England,” “ Daughters of England,” etc. New Y ork: D. Appleton & Co. 1843. W e have only time to say, that the enterprising house named in the title-page seem to have gone ahead of all their contemporaries in the cheapness of their publications, if we may judge from the present work, a volume of 268 pages, which is published at one shilling in paper covers, and twenty-five cents bound. W e shall take occasion to notice the fine edition, uniform with the author’s other works, as published by D. Appleton & Co., in our next number, and speak more of the work than the manner of publication. 18. — The Karen Apostle; or, Memoir o f Ko-Thali-Ryu, the First Karen Convert. With Notices concerning his Nation. By the Rev. F r a n c is M ason , Missionary to the Ka rens. First American Edition. Revised by H. J. R i p l e y , Professor in Newton Theological Seminary. Boston: Gould, Kendall, & Lincoln. This little volume will not only attract the attention of the friends of missions and the missionary spirit, but, from the fact that it contains some information touching the hab its, manners, and customs of the Karens, it will be found interesting to the general read er. It is illustrated with several maps, which add considerably to its value.
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