Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : May 1865, Vol. LII, No. V

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

THE

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEjW.
MAY,

1 8 65.

A B R A H A M LINCOLN.
B y M atthew H ale S mith .
T he past month will ever be most remarkable in our country’s history as
furnishing perhaps its brightest and darkest pages, illustrating in that short
period the two extremes ofjntense national joy and intense national grief.
The lights and shadows of the picture could not be more strongly marked.
Victory after victory had filled all hearts with gladness, until, at length, this
most formidable rebellion was left without a capital, without a govern­
ment, without a military organization, and one earnest, united, joyful halle­
lujah of a country saved re-echoed throughout the length and breadth of
the land. Then, as if to add one more drop to the full cup of happiness,
came the welcome proclamation that no further armies were needed, for
peace was at hand. W ith how light a heart each one went through his
daily duties on that fourteenth of April 1 The gray-haired man looked
younger, and the child’s laugh sounded merrier than for many a weary month
and year before, and on all sides could be heard the earnest, joyful prayer—
God bless A braham L incoln . But, before midnight, came the announcement
of the death of the very one upon whom every eye was fastened, and about
whom a nation’s hopes were clustered. Nor was it to him a peaceful fold­
ing of the hands to sleep, but an unnatural, violent, cruel end, at the hand
of a cowardly assassin. To portray the sudden grief thus brought upon
the nation is impossible. Every face showed it, every voice spoke it, and,
instead of yesterday’s rejoicing, a cloud o f profound sorrow darkened
the entire land. The head was stricken, and all the members of the na­
tional body quivered with agony.
THE DAY BEFORE THE ASSASSINATION.

Everything relating to Mr. L incoln, especially to the closing days of his
eventful life, has a mournful interest at this time. It was the privilege of
the writer to be at the executive mansion on Thursday, the day before the
YOL. LII.--- NO. V.




21

330

Abraham Lincoln.

[May,

assassination. Since the inauguration, the President has been run down with
calls of all descriptions. Before the morning mail was assorted, and some­
times before the President had breakfasted, office-seekers and their associates
would be roaming round the White House, invading the private apartments
in search of Mr. L incoln . His good nature and kindness of heart induced
him to give an audience to almost every one who sought it, till the raid on
his rooms became a positive nuisance, and hindered public business, and de­
nied to the President any moments o f leisure. If the heads of depart­
ment of the City of New York find it impossible to transact public busi­
ness unless the public are shut out, and calls limited in business hours to
those only who have business with the departments; if our leading mer­
chants, among whom are S tewart , and men o f his range of business, are
compelled to put a guard at their doors, and demand of all comers, for
what they call, that their business may be transacted— how much more should
the President of the United States be protected against that which is more
burdensome than all the duties of his office, and which, in more than one
instance, has literally worn the executive into the grave. On reaching the
White House, a few minutes before ten o’clock— the hour appointed for
public reception— a crowd was seen on the front steps awaiting the opening
of the doors. A placard hanging from the bell handle announced that
“ positively no person admitted till ten o’clock.” On the opening of the
doors a rush was made for the Chamber of Audience, resembling a rush for
dinner on board an over-crowded steamboat. The ante-chamber presented
a sight. Senators, members of Congress, governors, judges, lawyers, generals,
corporals, office-holders, office-seekers, sick soldiers and lame, colored men
and boys. There were seats for lour persons, and there were fifty persons in the
room. Men sat on the window sill, on the steps, on the wood-box, and on
a champagne basket. Some reclined on the floor, and some walked im­
patiently about. Many had been in attendance for twenty-four hours, and
some for twenty-four days. They had sent in their cards daily, and waited
for the moving of the waters, no-wise discouraged though another stepped
in before them. Every card was taken in by the gentlemanly usher, and
laid before the President, and his face glowed with satisfaction whose name
was announced with the assurance the President “ will see you, Sir.” Mem­
bers of the Cabinet were coming and going all day. They had the pre­
ference over all others, and were admitted without question or announce­
ment. While the crowd were waiting for an interview, a gentleman walked
up the stairs unattended, passed through the ante-chamber, and into the
room of the private Secretary o f the President. He seemed about fifty
years of age, tall, well built, with black hair, without whiskers or mustache.
He was genteely dressed in a black frock, pants, and satin vest. His ap­
pearance would attract attention anywhere as that of a man of mark. He
spoke to no one, no one spoke to him. With his head inclined, like one
on whom grave cares rested, he entered and closed the door of the
room adjoining that in which the President sat. It was casually remarked,
“ 't hat is A ndy J ohnson, the Vice-President.” He was not then in power.
No one supposed him of consequence enough to be spoken to. Had those
courtiers known what a day would bring forth, they would have asked the
privilege of removing the dust from Mr. J ohnson ’ s boots. Those who
were fortunate enough to obtain access to the President’s room that day
could not fail to notice his robust health, his genial spirit, and unbounded humor,




1865.]

Abraham Lincoln.

331

his hopeful tone for the future, his firm belief that the black cloud over our
national horizon would soon be rolled back, and peace be proclaimed through­
out the land. None could believe that in a few hours he would be cold in
death, and the nation mourn over him with a great lamentation.
me .

Lincoln ’ s

early life .

Mr. L incoln was born in LaRue County, in the State of Kentucky, on
the 12th of February, 1809. He came from a poor but honest parentage,
and received a good constitution and good principles as his inheritance,
lie knew toil, suffering, and hard usage. But he had a genial humor that
compensated and softened his hard lot. With his early labor as a lad—
tending cattle or driving the plow— cutting his way through the woods with
his axe— splitting rails to fence in the farm of J ohn H unter, or putting
his shoulder to the pole as a flat-boatman— he was far happier than the
pampered child of luxury. He made a pleasure of toil, and, through a long
life, cultivated that “ merry heart that doeth good like a medicine.” Mr.
L incoln was a self-made man in the best sense of that term. His educa­
tional privileges were few. Common schools were not known in the home
of his youth, and he had no means to purchase the priceless boon of learn­
ing. But, with a vigorous constitution, he had that thirst for knowledge, a
resolution to elevate himself, that prompted him to embrace every opportu­
nity to gain information— to tread all the paths o f knowledge he could find,
and to drink at every open fountain. Diligent in his calling, and indus­
trious in his aims, he gained an education that enabled him to stand among
the peers of the land, and to rule this great nation with credit and wis­
dom.
He is a good illustration o f what our noble land can do for its humblest
children. No man is so poor, or so ignorant, that a blessing may not rest
on his household. The child of the lowly and of the exile, can gain an
education free as the air, and good as that which V ictoria can give her
titled children, with the treasury of her kingdom at her command. The
sons of coal heavers and porters become millionaires. The store boy of one
generation becomes the princely merchant of the next. The glory o f a
nation is not its palaces, its luxury, its gold and silver and precious stones,
its marble halls, its statuary and paintings. It is in intelligent toil, which
is the charm of life, in its thousands workshops, in its marts of trade, in
the moral rank of mechanical labor. By these, cities rise— schools, those
hiding places of a nation’s power, abound— colleges grace the land— churches
bless the people— enduring prosperity covers all the habitations o f those
whose walls are salvation and whose gates are praise. No nation can be
tranquil, and no man blest, without employment. The nations who rule
the world are marked by intelligent industry. England is called a “ nation
of shopkeepers,” but on her domain the sun never sets. When Dr. J ohn ­
son expressed his hate of Scotland, because the men and the horses ate the
same food, it was significantly asked him where he could find better men
or better horses. Where spicy breezes blow softly over the land, and the
fruits of the earth come forth without the sweat of labor, there “ man is
vile.” The noblest men of our nation have laid the foundation of their
fame and usefulness in the early toil that made their bodies rugged and gave
them independence of soul. W ashington blest the discipline that attended
his early career as a surveyor. F ranklin educated himself at the printing-




332

Abraham Lincoln.

[May,

press, and amid the daily work o f a laborious trade. It was worth sending
a letter to France to tell the then Minister at St. Cloud, that his son, J ohn
Q uincy, was going to be a man as he rode post to Boston from Braintree
with the mail, and did it well. W ebster was never ashamed o f the log
cabin home of his mother, so far on the frontier that the smoke of no white
man’s hut stood between it and the Canadian line. He never tired of tell­
ing of his first investment of the little money earned by hard work with
which he bought o f a roving peddler a cotton handkerchief, on which was
printed the Constitution of the United States— nor how in that home, too
poor to allow a candle, he sought out the best pitch knot on the farm, and
by its light, as he lay on the hearth, he committed that wonderful instru­
ment to memory. I followed in his wake on his last eastern tour when he
sought the little town of Fryburgh, in the State of Maine, to look once
more on those “ town records ” that he, in his early days, wrote with his
own hand to eke out a scanty living. Of those memorials of his early re­
solute purpose to rise he was justly as proud as o f any speech or paper that
commands the admiration of the world. With the noble army o f selfmade men, Mr. L incoln was not ashamed to array himself. He took no
pains to hide his humble birth, or the struggles with ignorance and poverty
that attended his upward steps. In 1860, he was in New York. He visited
one of the missions at Five Points, and made an address. He detailed his
poverty and early struggles, the principles on which he had acted, how
success had attended, “ And now children,” said he, “ I am a lawyer.”
mr.

Lin c o l n ’ s p u b l ic l i f e .

It is not our purpose to write a full biography o f Mr. L incoln . His
public career is well known. His life will be a study for the generations
that are to come after us. He ate no bread of idleness. He entered any
open field, when in want of employment, that presented itself. A t one time
we find him in a small country grocery, and then tending a flouring mill.
Not succeeding as principal, he became a clerk. On the breaking out of
the Black-Hawk W ar he volunteered and was elected Captain of a com­
pany from New Salem. While his company wearied at the privations and
exposures of camp life, their Captain, cheerful, jovial, and untiring, kept up
the spirits of the party. With an ardent, active, ruling mind he became
a politician amid a community that demanded a leader. He studied law
under great difficulties, and made himself an equal among the leading
members of the bar where he practiced. He entered the Legislature of
his adopted State, became a member of Congress, and, though he failed to
gain a seat in the Senate, yet, in his contest with Senator D ouglas , the
marked ability with which he conducted the campaign, made him President
of the United States. In all his public life he has been a favorite with the
masses. He was trusted as an honest man. And the heart of the people
was with him.
MR. LINCOLN AS A STATESMAN.

If a statesman be one “ versed in the art of government, or eminent for
political abilities,” then the late President will rank high among the states­
men of the land. He came to the chair of State in a time of peril and
civil war. The Government was at sea. The nation knew not whom to
trust, nor what policy to adopt. Men who sat in Congress had joined the




1865.]

Abraham Lincoln.

333

standard o f rebellion. Men educated at the expense of the nation, and who
had sworn to protect its flag with their blood, had drawn the sword in the
cause of men who had trampled the banner of W ashington in the dust.
The air was full of treason. W e had no arms and no money. Meu-of-war, de­
stroyed by the hands of Americans, lay useless at the dock. In disguise,
the President came into his capital to escape assassination. More than once
Washington has been in danger. Parties and cliques have been orgmized
against the President. His foes have often been those of his own house.
Eminent members of the Senate sent out against him a bill of indictment.
Chairmen of prominent committees of the House pronounced him unworthy
of public confidence. Yet all these discordant elements have been harmon­
ized, and all the factions dissolved. He died, leaving a nation in tears, and
ours the strongest Government on the face of the earth. A t no time have
the various departments been more ably conducted. That Mr. S eward has
kept us out of a foreign war, while civil commotion raged in our borders—
that he has been more than a match for the astute and subtle diplomacy
of the old world— meeting promptly and ably all the new and complicated
questions that have arisen in our four years of war, is universally acknow­
ledged. The War Department is conducted with vigor. Dislike Mr. Stan ­
ton , as some do, all must admit the eminent ability— the executive force
and promptness with which he meets the gigantic labors of his department.
If any doubts this let him visit the War Department at the hour when Mr.
S tanton gives public audience to his visitors, ant see the promptness, kindness,
and ability with which he disposes of case after case,— standing up in the
center of the room, hearing all who wish to speak, and sending twenty men
away in an hour with their business completed, and manifesting infinite
patience towards the stupid and those who have no common sense. When
the present head of the navy took his department the navy had only a
name. Now our ships of war have changed the warfare of the world. Our
navy is the admiration of all governments. It shares with the army
the glory of its great conquest.
And if G rant and S herman com­
mand the admiration of all military men, who by universal consent place
them by the side of F rederick the Great, N apoleon , and W ellington ,
F arragdt and his associates will be remembered while N elson ' s name is
honored. To create such an administration in four years indicates no com­
mon talent. In his own way, but with signal ability, Mr. L incoln has met
all the great questions that have arisen during his administration. On
Wednesday evening, before his death, a party of gentlemen called on Mr3.
L incoln . In speaking on the question of reconstruction, she said it gave
her husband no concern— his mind was made up, and he delighted in any­
thing that made him a lawyer again. This was a legal matter, and he
would treat it as he would a case in court. It was a simple recreation, in
which he enjoyed himself greatly.
mr .

Lincoln ’ s

habits .

The simple, unaffected habits that he brought with him from his Western
home he maintained to the last. lie had no airs. The cares of State
never sat heavily upon him. He saw no reason why he should not enjoy
himself as well in the White House as at Springfield. If he wanted a
paper from the department, instead of sending for it he went after it, as he
would to the office of a brother lawyer—:now into the office of the Secre-




334

Abraham Lincoln.

tary of State, now into the W ar Department. He had a round that he
would run in the evening. If missed from the White House, those in the
secret knew where to find him. And if he was not in one o f these places
he was accustomed to visit, parties would track him from point to point till
he was found. He seemed never weary with the calls and demands on his
time. From ten till four the crowds daily beseiged his door for an audience.
Many of them had no business there; many of them would bore the Presi­
dent and refuse to leave when an answer was given. But his patience and
good-humor greeted the last of the throng, though weary with the visits,
as they did the early comer. Difficult as it often was to gain access t o .
Mr. L incoln , once in his presence the auditor had his attention till the close.
He could say all he had to say. Sometimes the wearied President would
ring his bell for a new comer to get rid of an intolerable annoyance, but
generally he allowed the visitor to depart in his own time. Often at the
close of the day he would give orders for all the company in waiting to
come in together. With a quiet humor he received them as each were
anxious to get the private ear, or be first heard among the company. Seated
in his chair, sometimes with one leg thrown over the other, sometimes the
leg thrown over the arm o f the chair, the President would hear patiently
what the auditor had to say— reply— hear a rejoinder— make an additional
reply, add some little incident, or make some witty remark, which usually
ended the conference. Few men had the ability or desire to respond the
second time. Some o f these mass interviews were humorous indeed, and
we;-e highly enjoyed by the President. The great point was to get an audi mce. If a case was commended to his attention, he would hear it through.
M -n beset him in his private walks, headed him off when he was on horse­
back, hid behind the trees in the public lawn to fall upon him as he passed
along, knowing that he would give them a hearing if they could but speak
to him. One day, after a fatiguing levee of many hours, the audience room
was closed at 4 P. M., with the usual announcement, “ Gentlemen, the
President will receive no more to-day.” At five the President passed from
the Mansion to the War Department. He was intercepted by a woman,
who seized him by the arm, and in impassioned tones said, “ O h ! Mr. L in ­
coln I want to speak one word to you.”
He replied that he could give
audience to no one, that he was greatly pressed, and had no time to spare.
She replied, “ Oh 1 I must see you just for one moment; for my poor old
father’s sake you will not deny my request.” Mr. L incoln had the heart of
a woman. Against this appeal he was not proof. He abandoned his visit
to the War Department— went back to his room— heard her story— granted
her request— and sent her home a happy daughter. Mr. L incoln was an
early riser. Much of his private correspondence and business was done be­
fore his breakfast. At nine, the family came together for the morning meal.
The after part of the day was devoted to domestic and social life, to rides
and company, and to intimate friends. Dinner was served at 6, and coffee
in the scarlet room, where, in the bosom o f his family, and among personal
friends, the cares of State were thrown off, and generous, genial hospitality
dispensed.
HIS TENDER AND HUMANE SPIRIT.

Mr. L incoln had the toughness and elasticity o f India-rubber. He
seemed to yield when he was the firmest. He gained his ends by keeping




1865.]

Abraham Lincoln.

335

the great point in view, and being not at all particular about the mode.
His kindness was accounted incompetency— bis tenderness imbecility. Noth­
ing could change the goodness of his heart. Not the threats of assassina­
tion— not the repeated attempts to take his life— not the bitterness of the
campaigns of ’60 and ’ 64— not the brutal treatment of our poor men in the
rebel prisons. All these could not make his heart hard, nor his spirit cruel.
As he, the second time, took his seat as Chief Magistrate of the nation, he
could do so “ with malice towards none, with charity for all.” On the day o f
his death he was the best friend the South had in the North. From him
they could have secured better terms for reconstruction than from any other
living man. He left his mansion, on the evening of the fatal 14th of April,
with a face glowing with joy — with spirits buoyant over the hope o f return­
ing tranquility— and with a heart full of compassion towards the erring
men of the South. The assassin that took his life silenced the beatings o f
a heart that was full of good-will to men. His life was full of humanity.
In him the widow and orphan found a friend. The lowly and oppressed
were never turned away without relief. He arrested the mailed hand of
military justice when he thought the blow could be averted with safety.
The tears of many a pardoned soldier will fall on his grave. Among the
cherished memories of the President, his humanity will be the most dearly
prized. On one occasion a regiment came in from a long and fatiguing
march. One of the exhausted men was put on guard. Wet, muddy, and
tired, the soldier slept on his post. He was discovered, tried, and ordered
to be shot. The President learned the circumstances, pardoned the prisoner,
and ordered him to duty. The soldier died in the swamps o f the Chickahominy. On his death-bed he said to a comrade, “ Tell President L incoln '
how I loved him, and how I prayed for him with my dying breath.” The
poor, lowly, and oppressed found in him a warm friend. Among the general
mourning of this city, nothing is more touching than the marks of grief
that hang around the homes of the humble. Well may they mourn, for
the lowly and the oppressed have indeed lost a friend, whose compassion
towards them was constant— the pleasant tones of whose voice, which had
only kind utterances for them, are silent for ever.
THE GREAT MOURNING.

The news of the assassination ran through the city like light. It sad­
dened every heart. The sound o f wailing and woe were heard on all sides.
Early in the morning, on Saturday, the porters and clerks opened the stores
as usual. Slowly and solemnly the merchants came down town. The iron
shutters were closed. Business was suspended. At noon, New York was
quiet as on the Sabbath. When P rince A lbert died, the Queen com­
manded her people to put on mourning. New York waited for no man­
date, took no council. By a common impulse the city seemed at once to
be draped in mourning. The rich and the poor met together to mourn
the death of a common friend. The fish-women in the market put black
on their baskets ; carmen hung mourning flags on their bridles— and the
hackmen tipped their whips with crape. The homes of the dissolute and
abandoned had on them marks of sorrow. On every part of the city seemed
to be written— “ How are the mighty fallen.” Mr. L incoln died in the
fullness of years and of fame. He could have found no fitter time for his
own reputation’s sake. Enmities were hushed, and the heart of the people




336

Physical Features o f the Oil Regions.

[May,

confided in bis integrity and ability. His memory is endeared by thousands
of ties. He is more beloved than any Chief Magistrate since the Father of
His Country was carried to his burial by a sorrowing nation. May the
Divine Power that has flung the blood-stained mantle of the martyred
L incoln on his successor, endow him with his spirit.

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE OIL REGIONS.
BY PROFESSOR E. W. EVANS, MARIETTA COLLEGE.
I p r o p o s e in th is a r ticle to state a fe w g e n e r a l fa cts r e s p e c t in g th e
c o n d it io n s u n d e r w h ic h p e tr o le u m has, thus far, b e e n fo u n d t o e x ist in th is
c o u n tr y .

1. In what formations found. The best oil districts yet developed lie,
geographically, within the limits, or on the outskirts, of the Appalachian
bituminous coal field. Some wells in Ohio and West Virginia derive
their supplies from the upper coal measures, others from the lower. The
largest collections of oil in Pennsylvania are found below the coal mea­
sures proper, partly in the lower group of the subcarboniferous rocks, and
partly, it is said, in the upper Devonian. The latter formation is well
known to include some oil-bearing strata, for example, the Marcellus
shales, and the sandstones o f the Chemung period; but experiments made
in boring for oil in these, in places where not overlaid by carboniferous
rocks, have not yet led to very profitable results. In Canada, a species
o f oil, supposed by some to be of animal origin, is found in the lower
Devonian, and even as far down as the Silurian ; but in the United States,
the great supplies are found associated with the abundant vegetable fossils
o f the coal formation and o f the rocks immediately subjacent to it. As a
general fact, the lower carboniferous strata have been found more pro­
ductive of oil than the upper. The most abundant supplies, thus far, have
been found on the western slope of the Alleganies, where the oil-bearing
strata have their greatest thickness.
From the fact that the quantity o f petroleum does not bear anything
like a direct ratio to the quantity of coal locally associated with it, it may
be inferred that it has not been derived from the coal, though probably
they are of similar origin.
2. In what kinds of rock. The best deposits are found in the cavities
of loose, brittle, much-fractured sandstone or conglomerate. Sometimes the
sandstone is quite argillaceous, approaching a shale in character. In some
places, the most productive oil-rock is a somewhat calciferous sandstone;
but in pure limestone rock, the cavities are usually too extensive, and
afford too free passage to running water, to hold good collections of oil
imprisoned. The corniferous limestone (which is an ancient coral reef of
the lower Devonian) contains petroleum in its minute cellules; but it has
not yet, unless in Canada, yielded any in bulk. Strata of shale and slate
often contain petroleum; but it is so generally diffused through the small
fractures, and through the substance of the rook itself, that it cannot be
obtained in large quantities. Indeed, it is a general fact that the rocks
through which oil is universally diffused, and in which it may be conceived




1865.]

Physical Features o f the Oil Regions.

337

to have had its origin, are not those which contain it in collections large
enough to be profitably pumped. Hard, compact sandstone is usually, for
want of cavities, unproductive. This kind o f rock, however, often serves
as a cover to confine the oil in a looser rock underlying it. It is a common
experience among borers to strike oil directly beneath such an impervious
layer; for example, under the “ third sandrock ” of Oil Creek.
It is known that beneath the oil-bearing sandstones, at greater or less
depths, there are different strata of bituminous shales containing vegetable
impressions. This gives plausibility to the theory that the oil had its
origin in the vegetation of the shales, and that by a slow process of distil­
lation, caused by internal heat, it has worked its way up through the
cracks and fissures, and gradually accumulated in such cavities in the
rocks above as do not admit of its escape to the surface. The most gen­
eral source of petroleum may have been the so-called black slate, which is
widely extended over the Western States, and is considered identical with
the Marcellus shales o f Few Y ork ; but on the Western Appalachian
slope, there are numerous strata of bituminous or carbonaceous shales
above this, included in the carboniferous system.
3. A t what depths. Other circumstances being equal, deep wells, as a
class, are more productive than shallow ones. To speak more explicitly,
supplies o f petroleum found at a depth o f two or three hundred feet or
more, are much more copious and lasting than those found at a less
depth. Wells not over a hundred feet in depth often give good promise,
at first; but they are soon exhausted. The best wells are, generally, not
less than five hundred feet deep. Many o f the most celebrated wells in
Pennsylvania derive their supplies from a depth of seven or eight hundred
feet, and have been producing for four or five years without complete ex­
haustion. In shallow wells, it is common to find a heavy lubricating oil,
the commercial value of which is greater than that of the light illuminat­
ing o il; but what is thus gained in quality is, as a general fact, many
times lost in quantity.
The shallow deposits have undergone more waste by evaporation and
drainage, in proportion as their communications with the surface are
more free and direct; and the more volatile oils have, of course, escaped
more rapidly than the heavy. In regions where the oil-bearing strata are
not covered by a considerable'mass o f superincumbent rock, no large col­
lections o f petroleum are likely to be found.
4. Connection with uplifts and depressions. Sandstone rocks lying
horizontally, or in their original place of deposition, have few cavities.
However general the origin o f petroleum may have been, the principal
collections of it are now found in places where there are some marks of
geological disturbance. In connection with other signs, uplifts and de­
pressions o f the strata, as indicated by an unusual degree of dip and
marked changes in the direction of it, are justly regarded as important
conditions of the existence o f large and numerous deposits o f petroleum.
In that loose, brittle class of sandstones in which petroleum most abounds,
there are numerous cavities and fissures in regions of disturbance, not
only along the anticlinal and parallel synclinal axes, but also under the
included slopes. Facts learned in boring demonstrate that oil cavities
are irregular and zigzag in shape, but generally quite narrow, and run­
ning, not along the strata, but across them. In calciferous sandstones,




338

Physical Features o f the Oil Regions.

[May,

the cavities have doubtless been enlarged by the dissolving action of
water, and its slow percolation, with carbonate of lime in solution, through
transverse crevices to the surface. The same is true o f cavities in sand­
stones containing disseminated particles o f salt, or other soluble minerals.
It seems that the looser class of sandroeks were thoroughly fractured by
the disturbing force, while the more compact and homogeneous class
interstratified with them were only bent, or slightly broken only at con­
siderable intervals, marked by oil and gas springs.
But this idea of dislocation of the rocks being evidence of oil deposits,
is subject to a very great limitation. There is an extensive system of
lines of upheaval running parallel to the Allegany mountains, on both
sides of them, as if all produced by the same force which slowly raised
the mountain folds themselves, acting in a direction nearly at right angles
to the Atlantic coast. It is important to observe that those which char­
acterize the most productive oil regions, west of the mountains, are sim­
ple flexures. The slopes are curved or polygonal, and the axial lines not
sharply defined. Open breaks and wide disruptions are unfavorable signs,
since they admit of the free escape of oil to the surface. In places where
such marks exist, no considerable deposits have been found. East of the
mountains, where there is little or no oil, and even the coal has been debituminized, the dislocations are violent, exhibiting great disruptions and
faults.
The somewhat popular idea of an oil-basin, except so far as limited to a
synclinal axis of disturbance, indicating cavities, is a delusion. It seems
to be imagined that petroleum would descend along the strata from the
sides of a natural basin toward the centre. But being lighter than water,
which is always found with it, its tendency is upward, not downward,
even through the slight transverse crevices ; and we could not eonceive of
it as running freely along the strata without supposing that it would be
rapidly washed to the surface.
5.
Metamorphism as a sign. In the uplifting and folding of the strata
which took place in the so-called period of the Appalachian revolution,
heat (followed by great cooling and contraction) must have been an im­
portant agent, as shown by the somewhat metamorphic condition o f the
rocks in those places where the disturbance was greatest. In the region
o f great uplifts and faults east of the mountains, this condition, though
not complete, is exhibited in a much more marked degree than in the
region of slight and wavy flexures west of the mountains. The absence of
petroleum, as, also, the debituminized condition of the coal and shales, east
of the mountains, is to be attributed not only to the more open fractures
and clefts in that region, admitting of its escape, but in part, also, to the
direct expulsive power of the higher degree of heat concerned in causing
those fractures. It is certain that scarcely any petroleum has been found
in regions where rocks of decidedly metamorphic character are seen. It
is certain, also, that even within the limits o f the known oil regions, those
places where the disturbance has been greatest, and the rocks approach
nearest to that crystaline condition indicating metamorphism, have not
been found rich in petroleum. Among the processes o f metamorphism
may be enumerated the change of soft and brittle sandstones into those of
a hard and crystaline character, and often from a pale color to red,— the
change of the compact and colored limestones into bleached and granular




1865.]

Physical Features o f the Oil Regions.

339

ones,— the change o f argillaceous shales into firm slates,— also, the partial
or total obliteration of fossils. Another evidence o f the heat which
attended these processes is the frequent occurrence of lodes, or transverse
veins of infiltrated metallic ores, and other substances not soluble at low
temperatures. The oil regions are characterized by loose sandstones and
conglomerates, by the soft, shaly condition of the argillaceous rocks, by
the absence of regular beds of granular limestone, by the rare occurrence
of lodes, by the abundance and perfect condition of the fossils, as well as
by the highly bituminous condition of the coal and shales.
6.
Character o f surface. Too much stress is often laid on the nature
of the surface rocks. Practically, the main question to be determined
is, what is the character o f the strata at the depths where oil may be
expected in remunerative quantities; and in order to determine this,
the geologist observes the direction and grade o f the dip, and seeks
the outcrop of the strata at a distance. But there are certain pecu­
liarities in the configuration of the surface which characterize the
Appalachian oil districts generally. The hills are abrupt and precip­
itous, the valleys narrow and deep, exhibiting in a very marked degree
the effects of the process of degradation. Originally, the face o f the coun­
try was higher than the tops of the present hills; but it has been worn
down and cut deep by erosion, or the action of water. These effects are
more marked than is common elsewhere; partly, because the rocks have
been less hardened by metamorphism, and therefore wear away and
crumble more easily. But the deep vallies o f erosion often have a signifi­
cance beyond this, and serve to define more nearly the location of oil de­
posits. Where the rocks have been most bent and crushed, the effects of
erosion are naturally greatest. Hence we find that the narrow valleys of
streams often coincide nearly with the anticlinal or synclinal axes of flexure.
It is common to select, as sites for boring, the margins of creeks and runs,
where the rocks either dip away to either side, or inward from both sides.
These are sometimes on the axes of the main flexures ; but they oftener
mark slight local disturbances occurring as waves on the sides of a larger
wave, and generally parallel with it, though sometimes running trans­
versely. The surface rock would be most loosened along the anticlinal
lines; hence these have oftenest determined the direction of narrow
streams. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see the bottom of an original
synclinal valley now crowning the top of a hill, while the original hills on
either side of it have been worn down into deep gorges. But the mere
fact of a deep valley or gorge is no proof of a line of disturbance of either
kind. It is necessary in every case to determine the inclination of the
strata in order to form an intelligent judgment. Often, the dip is in the
same direction on both sides; but this, if considerable in degree, is of itself
an evidence of dislocation and fracturing; for rocks lying in the position in
which they were originally deposited are, as a general fact, either hori­
zontal or very nearly so. Many flexures are marked only by a change in
the grade of the dip.
7.
Surface oil. In every oil district there is more or less “ surface show,”
though not always very close to the sites of producing wells. It varies so
much in quantity and quality, as well as in the circumstances under which
it appears, that some discrimination is necessary in order to judge of its
value as a sign. Considered independently of geological evidence, it affords,




340

Physical Features o f the Oil Regions.

[May,

at best, no proof that there is oil beneath, in collections large enough to be
profitably pumped; for it may come up from beds o f bituminous shale, or
other strata that do not yield it in bulk. In the most productive districts,
it is generally seen on low grounds, in a thin scum on springs and streams,
where it comes up with water through slight crevices in the underlying
rocks.
Oil coming to the surface in bulk, so often prized as a good sign, is really
nothing more than an indication of shallow supplies. In many places
where “ Seneca oil ’’ used to be collected in gallons, and even in barrels, as
it issued from the surface strata or oozed up through the sand, experiments
in boring have resulted in finding only small collections at a slight depth.
The oil, originally deep in the earth, has gradually worked its way up to­
ward the surface, through the too open cracks and fissures, and is rapidly
undergoing the process of exhaustion. If, as on Oil Creek, other oil-bearing
strata are found upon boring deeper, the kind of surface show here described
afforded, beforehand, no evidence of their existence, but only o f that which
lies near the surface, or perhaps crops out in the hillside. To find this
stratum at a good depth, it may be necessary to go off a considerable dis­
tance in the direction o f its dip. Shallow oil is also indicated by collections
of asphaltum, or a thick, tar-like oil approaching asphaltum. Owing to
near communication with the surface, the more volatile parts have escaped,
while the grosser parts remain. It is not uncommon to see thick oil, in
considerable quantity, along those axes of uplift where the rocks are tilted
up at very high angles, exhibiting too great disruptions and clefts. Some
cases are known, as in one place on Hughes River, where such clefts are
filled with a sort of solidified bitumen.
The thinnest scum of petroleum on water is bluish; a little thicker scum
exhibits the colors of the rainbow, especially when agitated. Petroleum
may also be distinguished by its dividing, when disturbed, and closing again
with a perfectly even margin ; while other scums, sometimes mistaken for it,
break into pieces which do not perfectly re-unite. That which is oftenest
mistaken for oil is a blue and somewhat iridescent scum, seen on waters
holding carbonate of iron in solution, and precipitating a red ochreous sub­
stance (peroxide o f iron) to the bottom. But it is not uncommon to find
oil floating on the same pool with it. Oil-seekers are sometimes misled,
also, by a soapy-lookirfg scum which frequently arises from decaying vege­
tation in places where there are rills producing bubbles and foam.
Two or three drops of petroleum will cover a spring of ordinary size for
half an hour with what would be recognized as fair surface show. The pre­
sent production of petroleum must be very slow if it does not exceed the
natural drainage through springs, which perhaps would require a geological
period to exhaust the supplies now in the earth. Indeed, it is not difficult
to suppose that these supplies have mainly come down from a period of
much greater heat, perhaps the close o f the carboniferous era, when the
folds and cavities now containing them were produced.
8.
Gas springs. In many places where oil appears on the streams and
springs, carburetted hydrogen gas is also seen bubbling up through the
water. Sometimes it is found issuing where no water is present. In the
so-called burning springs the bubbling is constant, so that when the gas is
set on fire it supports a steady flame; but in the common class of gas
springs the bubbles come up only at intervals. From the bottom, o f most




Physical Features o f the Oil Regions.

341

oil springs they may be stirred up in considerable quantities, and burned as
they rise to the air. Gas serves to define the location o f oil deposits more
nearly than surface oil. The latter may have been carried by the subter­
ranean streamlets, up and down, to a considerable distance from its source.
But gas, being more buoyant than oil, and not liable like oil to be borne
along in minute quantities with descending currents, by the mere mechani­
cal action o f water, is less likely to wander far before it issues. But, as
showing the quantity o f oil, gas springs, considered without reference to
other signs, are quite unreliable. They may be supplied with gas from beds
o f shale or limestone, or they may be connected with open fractures and
rifts where the supplies are shallow. It is not uncommon to find a line o f
burning springs along the anticlinal axis o f an upheaval.
The gas which comes from oil deposits is heavy carburetted hydrogen,
or, at least, contains it in considerable proportion. It may be distinguished
from light carburetted hydrogen by its burning with a brighter flame. The
latter commonly arises from decaying vegetation, and is known as marsh
gas. It sometimes comes from coal, being the same gas which, among the
miners, is called fire-damp. Heavy carburetted hydrogen may also be dis­
tinguished by its brighter flame from sulphuretted hydrogen, which is some­
times mistaken for it. The fetid odor o f the latter is another distinctive
mark.

9. Connection with mineral waters. In the best oil districts there are
numerous oil and gas springs in which the analysis of the water always re­
veals various minerals, such as common salt, chlorid of lime, carbonates of
lime, soda and iron, sulphates of soda and potash, and sometimes sulphur­
etted hydrogen. These are variously called salt licks, chalybeate springs,
sulphur springs, oil springs, and so forth, according to the mineral predomi­
nating. If, on the common springs o f pure water, whose source is usually
near the surface, oil is not seen, but only on mineral springs, it affords good
evidence that the source of supply is quite deep. It comes up through
slight cracks and fissures in the strata from depths where the water has
lain iu contact with many substances, and gathered its various mineral con­
tents. The high temperature of these oil and mineral springs, as compared
with the ordinary springs of pure water, is another fact indicating a deep
source. But decidedly thermal springs (in the Appalachian region) are
located on the axes of more violent upheavals than those which distinguish
the oil districts.
The observed connection of petroleum with various soluble minerals, con­
taining carbon and hydrogen, has led some to suppose that it is directly
formed from these minerals, by some chemical interaction not proved or ex­
plained. This connection, however, may be satisfactorily accounted for
without the aid of such an hypothesis. For, aside from the fact already
adverted to, that mineral springs, as a class, come up from a great depth,
and are thus naturally rendered the common vents of various liquids and
gases, it is evident that the same class of cavities, protected from running
water, in which petroleum lurks, are also the best adapted to harbor water
impregnated with salt and other minerals. In an article “ On the Action
of Oil-Wells,” (Journal o f Science, September, 1864,) I presented some
facts tending to show that the connection of the water in oil cavities with
free currents is slight and indirect. The same is true of deposits of salt
water, and mineral waters generally, for the simple reason that from cavities




342

Railway Accidents.

[May,

exposed to free currents the minerals must, in the progress of ages, have
been washed away. The history of salt wells presents various points of co­
incidence with that of oil wells. For example, the wells of the great Kan­
awha salines, in the neighborhood o f Burning Spring, are located on a
marked uplift. The salt water is found, according to Dr. H ildreth , in a
“ white calciferous sandstone, full of cavities and fissures.” The water is
stagnant, and contains, besides salt, various muriates and carbonates. The
same wells have yielded large quantities of petroleum with carburetted
hydrogen. Indeed, it is a general fact that the water on which collections
o f petroleum are found is either quite salt, or brackish and nauseous with
various minerals held in solution. Subterranean currents are almost always
fresh, or nearly s o ; and experience has taught, that in fissures where pure
water is found, no large deposits of oil are to be expected.

RAILWAY

ACCIDENTS.

W e find the following recent railway accidents reported in the daily
pa pers:
Od the 31st of January last, a train of cars, on the Cleveland and Toledo Railway,
wa9 thrown from the track by a defective rail, and four or five persons were injured.
On the 4th of February, a passenger train on the Marietta and Cincinnati Railway wa3
precipitated a distance of fifty feet into Leer Creek, sixty miles east o f Cincinnati, by
a defective bridge. Ten or twelve persons were killed, and a number seriously injured.
On the same day, a train on the Central Ohio Railway was thrown down an embank­
ment near Newark, Ohio, by a defective rail, and a number of persons injured thereby.
On the 8th o f February, the express train of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway met
with an accident near Oakdale Station, sixty-eight miles west of Cincinnati. Three
o f the hind-most cars in the train were thrown from the track by a defective rail.
Many of the passengers were badly injured. On the 12th of February, a freight train
on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway was thrown off the track by a defective rail, and
the fireman instantly killed. On the 13th February, a train on the Grand Trunk Rail­
way of Canada was thrown off the track, near the town of Guelph, and a car,
containing between thirty and forty passengers, was tumbled down an embankment
twenty feet high. A number of persons were seriously injured. On the 15th Febru­
ary, the milk train on the New York and New Haven Railway was thrown off the track,
near Westport, by a defective rail. A large number of persons were severely injured. On
the same day (15th) an accident, caused by a broken rail, occurred on the St. Louis and
Alton Railway. The two rear cars of the train were thrown from the track and
nearly demolished, causing the instant death of two persons, fatally wounding a third,
and bruising a number of others, one of them seriously. On the llth February, a
locomotive on the New York and Erie Railway exploded at Binghampton, killed one
fireman and seriously injured an engineer and another fireman. A large amount of
damage was also done to the adjacent property by the explosion. On the 24 th Febru­
ary, a serious accident occurred on the Long Island Railway, between Lakeland and
Islip. A passenger car plunged down an embankment, rolling over two or three times.
It was filled with passengers, nearly all of whom were considerably injured, many of
them haviDg limbs broken. Many of the passengers of the other cars also received
injuries. The attachees o f the line attribute the accident to a broken axle, but the
passengers believe it to have been occasioned by the bad condition o f the road. On
the 16th February, eleven persons were killed and a number badly injured on the St.
Louis and Chicago Railway, through an accident caused by a defective rail. On the
llt h February, two freight trains on the Chicago and New Albany Railway collided,
instantly killing one man, and completely smashing both locomotives. One of the




1865.]

Railway Accidents.

343

engineers had gone to sleep with a bottle of liquor beside him, leaving the valves of
his engine open. On the 20th February, a defective rail gave way on the Ohio Central
Railway, and a train was dragged some distance over the cross-ties, by which several
passengers were injured. On the 21st February, there was a collision on the Pennsyl­
vania and Erie Railway. Result, the death of two persons; one of whom was burned
in a most horrible manner, and the injuring of many others. On the same day, the
engine and a train on the Springfield and Albany Railway was thrown from the track
by a defective rail. Casualities not reported. On the 23d February, a collision occur­
red on the New York Central Railway, by which five or six passengers were badly
injured. On the 24th February, two persons were killed and seventeen badly wounded
by an accident on the Pennsylvania Central Railway. Particulars not reported. On
the same day, the passenger train from New York to Boston met with an accident,
caused by the breaking of an axle. Particulars not reported. On the 22d February,
a collision occurred on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railway, forty miles
west of Crestline, by which one passenger was killed and several others injured. On
the 23d February, an accident, caused by a defective rail, occurred near Petersburg, on
the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, by which one passenger was fatally and many
others seriously injured. Two passenger cars were thrown down an embankment
fifty feet high, one of them making three revolutions before reaching the bottom. The
wounded passengers were then plundered by a gang of thieves. On the '7th March,
a collision occurred on the Camden and Amboy Railway. While the express train
from Washington for New York was passing through Bristol, Pa., it ran into the rear
of a passenger train from Philadelphia for New York, which, it is stated, was about
two hours behimd time, and had no rear lights out to enable the engineer o f the
Washington train to perceive it. The shock was terrific, and the results appalling.
Many of the passengers were scalded, Borne thrown out o f the cars, and others
crushed to death, or mutilated in a horrible manner. Nine persons were instantly
killed, and over forty wounded— at least three of them fatally. Portions of both
trains were smashed to atoms, and the wreck was so extensive as to completely block
up the track for several hours. One of the cars also caught fire, thus adding to the
peril and terror of the unhappy passengers. On the 10th March, the express train on
the Ohio and Mississippi Railway was thrown off a tressle bridge four miles west o f
Vincennes, and the express, baggage, and second class cars, precipitated to the earth. .
A number o f persons were injured. No particulars reported. On the 23d March, the
express train on the New York Central Railway ran off the track eight miles west of
Utica. Five passenger cars were piled in a heap in water from three to five feet
deep. Two persons were killed outright, and thirty persons badly injured.

All these accidents, and perhaps many more which, in these busy times,
fail to find their way into print, occurred within a period of fifty days.
The occurrence of so many accidents at this time, after so much has
been said and done in former years on the subject, naturally leads to an
investigation of their cause, with a view to suggest safeguards against
their happening again.
Although the question of railway accidents involves the whole question
of railway management in detail, yet as that question of management is
itself included within the bounds o f a single principle, we shall find no
difficulty in placing our finger at the proper time upon the source of all
the blunders with which the history of railways is so plentifully filled.
In England, where the subject has received far more attention than in
this country, it has been a favorite principle with some people to attribute
railway accidents mainly to excessive speed. Lord B rougham and Lord
G eorge B entinck have especially identified themselves with this proposi­
tion. These gentlemen maintain that high speed is manifestly the cause
of nearly all railway accidents. High speed should therefore be put a
stop to, and Parliament should enact laws compelling companies to run
their trains below a certain maximum velocity. Until the celebrated re­
port of 1858 their arguments met with but little effectual opposition, but




344

Railway Accidents.

in that report the committee consisting of Messrs. B entinck , L o w e , C rossW m . H odgson, B lackburn , Lord A. V. T empest, Messrs. H ume,
F. S cott, K endall , Lord A. P aget , and Mr. J ackson , after having treated
the whole question exhaustively, came to the conclusion that legislative
interference would do more harm than good, and that Parliament, with
more chance of success, might better confine its action in the matter to a
more rigid enforcement of that contract which railway companies virtu­
ally make with the public in regard to the time of departure and arrival
of trains. W ant o f punctuality they regarded as one of the chief causes
o f accidents. Trains depart behind time, and then run at double speed
to make up for the time so lost, and thus not only disarrange the precon­
certed running of other trains, but increase the amount of destruction in
case of collision. They also recommended that time tables should be ad­
vertised to the public some time in advance of their going into effect;
that a signal rope should be used and a telegraph line connected with the
road. Any further than this they did not feel warranted in going. The
whole question of detail, including speed, etc., they justly considered to
be a matter wholly beyond their jurisdiction.* Yet, even after the publi­
cation of this report, the Anti-High-Speedites continued to iterate their de­
mands for more legislation until the celebrated debate of 1863, when they
were finally put down by Earls G ranville and H ardw icke , and by
Messrs. M ilner G ibson , and R ichard H odgson. These gentlemen proved
beyond cavil that the fastest trains and the fastest roads were not those
upon which the greatest number of accidents occurred, but, on the con­
trary, it was upon those that the fewest occurred. And singular to say,
Mr. H odgson also showed that the popular notion that accidents occurred
more frequently at curves was totally erroneous, the truth being that they
more often happened upon sections of the road whore the line was per­
fectly straight.f
Many people in this country are apt to believe railway accidents in
England to be of such rare occurrence that arguments drawn from the
railway experience of that country must be more or less defective; but
this is by no means the case. Besides the many who were injured by
railway accidents through their own carelessness, and besides those who
were employees o f railways, there were killed and injured as follow s:
let ,

passe n gers k il l e d an d injured in
years

Englan d

by

1857, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862,

r a il w a y

an d

part

accidents
op

1863,

durin g
from

the

causes

be yo n d t h e ir ow n control .^

1

............................
...................... . . .
1
............................ ...........
I860.............................

384

1861
...............................
1862
..............................
1863 (first six months).........

827
560
169

This makes a grand total o f 3,670 passengers killed and injured. The
total number of railway passengers during the period of six and a-half
years, covered by this table, was about one thousand millions. The num­
* See Report of Committees. Parliamentary Reports, vol. xix, 1857-58.
f H ansards’ Debates, vol. clxxii., p. 599.
% London Times, September 13, 1862, and Board of Trade Reports for the various

years.




1865.]

Railway Accidents.

345

ber of passengers killed and injured was therefore one in 272,479.
Doubtless the mortality and injury in this country is greater ; but we have
no means of definitely ascertaining the fact. There are no statistics. In
England the Board o f Trade takes cognizance of all railway accidents,
and sends an officer to the scene of every one o f them. This officer
makes a report which embraces the names and numbers of the injured,
and a critical account o f the disaster. Here we have nothing of the
kind. The establishment of companies to insure against accidents o f this
nature, two o f which have recently been organized in this country, will,
however, doubtless furnish us through the medium of private enterprise
with that which in England is afforded by official renorts. W e refer to
the Traveller’s Insurance Company o f Hartford, and the United States Life
and Limb Insurance Company of New York.
But it must be borne in mind that though we have single tracks where
they have double ones, though we have open crossings where they have
bridges or tunnels, and tressil work as substitutes for their magnificent
viaducts, yet that we have much less way travel, that we employ cars in
which passengers can go from one end to another while the train is in
motion, and that we use the telegraph more often: finally, that we
possess that invaluable treasure— the check rope. The want of a check
rope might have prevented one-half of the accidents on English rail­
ways. W e read of one accident from the rear cars breaking their coup­
ling and running down the train in front which had slowed up to wait
for them. This occurred on the Caledonian Bailway in 1862, and twentysix passengers were injured by it. Then we read o f accidents from em­
ploying single lines o f rail while portions of the double track were
undergoing repair: on the Edinburgh and Glasgow and the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Kailway. Then we read o f accidents from turnpike gates
being swung across a track*— from employing inexperienced drivers]-—
from using defective breaks]-— from boiler explosions];— from overhang­
ing timbers||— from bad roads§— from collisions— from falling in of tun­
nels— from animals on the track— from excursion trains being run at low
rates for advertising purposes, and so being overcrowded, and gener­
ally behind time— from defective gearing— from the wheel tyres being
bolted instead of dove-tailed— from having the break whistle too shrill
to be heard by the guard above the noise of the train— from the difficulty
of distinguishing the signal to “ down breaks,” from the warning signal
— indeed from almost every cause it is possible to conceive of.
Many of these accidents might have been prevented by the use o f the
check rope, which has been in use in this country for so many years, but
which has not yet been adopted in England. It certainly appears quite
incomprehensible in a country o f so much general intelligence and utilarianism as England, that this simple expedient should not be in use, for
without it, it is simply impossible for any person on a train o f cars in
motion to communicate with the engineer in case of accident. Nearly all*§
* Dublin and Drogheda Railroad, 1862.
f Great Northern Railroad, 1862.
t Great Western Railroad, 1862.
|| London, Brighton, and South Coast Railroad, 1862.
§ London, Chatham, and Dover Railroad, 1862.

VOL. LII.— NO. V.




22

Railway Accidents.

346

the loss of life which arises from the breaking of car couplings, from the
breaking o f axles or other running gear, and from fire, is capable of
being avoided by leaving in the hands o f the passengers the means of
immediately notifying the engineer o f the accident.
Strange as it may seem two-thirds o f the English accidents appear to
have been from collisions,1'' while the remainder were owing to trains run­
ning off the track. O f the collisions five-sixths were between a passenger
and a freight train, and one-sixth between two freight trains. Not over
one accident in twenty is attributed in any way to high speed, but to im­
perfections in the permanent way. And the very few accidents attributed
to excessive speed might all have been prevented had the running gear
and the permanent way been perfect.
This brings us to the main cause o f the railway accidents in this
country— defects in the permanent way; for, though railway trains, in the
matter of running gear, inattentive servants, etc., are probably far from
being as dangerous to travelers as stage coaches used to be, yet it is doubt­
less true that to their peculiar roadway (compelling their carriages to
travel over one or one of two lines of rails) is owing most of the de­
plorable accidents which distinguish this method of locomotion. The
greatest number o f accidents is due to the carelessness of persons work­
ing on the tracks, etc.^f but of those accidents which involve the greatest
number o f deaths and injuries, we must look to the main cause in the
defects o f the permanent way— defects in the road-bed, the rails, the
bridges, culverts, tressil work, etc., etc.J
During the past two years the mortality from accidents of this nature
* Board of Trade Report, 1857.

f The number of persona injured in life or limb, the cause of the injury, whether
passengers, persons employed, or others, and whether the persons reported as injured,
survived or died, on the—
NEW TORE CENTRAL RAILROAD, 1864.
Passengers. Em ployees.
Total.
Others.
K il’d. lnjr’d. Kil’ia. lnji’d. Kil’d. Injr’d. Kil’d. Injr’d.
Causes of the injury.
2
5
3
Fell from the ca rs................................
Jumping on or off the trains or engines
5
1
2
2
2
3
1
6
while in m otion................................
Walking, standing, lying, sitting, or
being upon the track.......................
9
.
39
48
17
17
A t -work on or near the track, or m
2
making up or detaching trains.. . .
5
5
2
Trains thrown from or running off the
«
5
1
1
5
track...................................................
3
Striking bridges, or telegraph w ire ..
1
2
2
2
21
20
2
1
3
Explosion of en gin e............................
•

.

.

.

.

.

.
.
.

.
.

.

i

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

4

28

24

7

42

18

.

70

53

% Railway men of course think differently. They put all the blame on their em­
ployees, or upon “ frosty rails,” the latter being a favorite theory with them. In order
to turn public attention from the bad condition of their roads to the alleged careless­
ness of their servants, they have recently procured a law to be passed by the Legis­
lature of Pennsylvania, making the employees criminally responsible for all accidents
clearly traceable to their neglect. This is well, as far as it goes, but we opine that it
•will not be productive o f much practical reform.




Railway Accidents.

347

has been frightful. In this State alone 347 persons in 1863, and 450 per­
sons in 1864 were killed or injured by railway accidents. These accidents
were in nearly every case traceable to the bad condition of the roads.
But wliy have the managers of the roads not found it to their interest
to keep them in good order? If the sacrifice of human life occasioned by
these accidents does not appeal to their sympathy, why does not the im ­
mense damage to their rolling stock, which attends every serious accident,
arrest their attention, and force them at least from interested motives to
adopt proper precautions? Here we come upon the gist o f the whole
question, at least so far as regards this country.
Much as it may surprise the general reader, it is but the simple truth
to state that railways, unlike almost any other species o f investment, are
not made to pay. It will be remembered that we now speak exclusively
in regard to this country. They are never commenced on a paying basis,
and rarely ever become in a paying condition. They start with an in­
sufficient capital, and buy their supplies on credit, paying in bonds ex­
tortionate prices for them to the contractor. When a portion of the road
is finished, and things come to a stand-still for want of funds, the con­
tractor is induced to go on with the work by the promise of §5,000 ad­
ditional per mile, and the issue of bonds based upon the expected income.
After a struggle the rails are all laid, a light stock o f equipment is fur­
nished, but the company is unable to save anything from the earnings,
because the road is indifferently stocked and badiy ballasted. The first
year finds it with just money enough from traffic to pay running expenses,
but saddled with a large floating debt, created by being short o f means
at the start, and subsequently promising to pay nearly double for every­
thing bought on a credit, instead o f purchased for cash.*
The road is then conducted wholly in the interest of the proprietors of
the lands through which it passes, and wholly opposed to the interests o f
the stockholders. Passengers are carried at ruinously low rates of fare,
and freight transported for a mere nothing.
But why does the public purchase railway stock if such is the usual
course of management? Because the stockholders (at least originally)
are also the property-holders ; and their interest as stockholders is much
inferior to their interest as property-holders. Yet they do not neglect
even their interest as stockholders. Dividends wholly unwarranted by
the condition of the road are declared every half year, and the public is
left to shift for itself in rieketty cars drawn by defective locomotives over
perilous roads; left to shift for itself without attendance, without proper
heat in winter or ventilation in summer, without proper conveniences for
traveling, without proper stations, without proper refreshments, and at
the mercy of a few over-worked and insolent officials. Is it any wonder
that accidents happen ?
How is a railway gotten up ? A few landed proprietors, in some out
of the way locality, meet together and propose a railway which shall strike
through the heart of their rustic regions. Mind, the wants o f the pub­
lic do not demand this railway. If they did, somebody would find it to
his interest to build it at once, and pay for it, sure o f realising immediate
profits in that plentiful patronage which would soon be bestowed upon it.




* S tow ’ s Railway Manual, 1859, p. 10.

348

Railway Accidents.

[May,

N o ; only the interests of these Ten-cents-an-acre land-owners demand the
road. W ell, they have no money. They scratch their heads and talk
and talk, and finally the men whose lands are to be mostly benefitted are
required to raise a cash subscription. If they do this, w ell; if not, the
projected road is diverted towards another direction in order that it may
strike through the lands of those men who can raise the cash. These
men all become stockholders. The road is built in the manner we have
described, and their cheap lands rise in value till they become worth
thousands of dollars per acre. The stock may fall in the market until it
becomes almost worthless, accidents may happen continuously, the road
may be bankrupted, the cars smashed to pieces by hourly collisions, and
shall we find the stockholders plunged into grief by their misfortunes ?
Not at all. W e shall find them in the best of humor, their hands in
their pockets, a smile upon their faces, and an offer upon their lips to sell
us their once worthless farms, at a smart price, for building lots.
Here, then, we come at the source o f railway accidents in the United
States. The roads are built for the land-owners; built before they are
needed; built in advance of any demand for them; built in debt through
the needs of their projectors, and kept in debt through their rapacity.
This latter point is one which we have not yet dwelt upon with suffi­
cient emphasis. Suppose a railway was owned by a single individual, who
went into the business for the sake of profit. Suppose his road had cost
him when he opened it in 1851 $24,000,000. Suppose that in 1864 its
capital account, capitalizing its leased roads, was equal to $48,000,000.
Suppose that $20,000,000 of net earnings had been applied to construc­
tion, making the total cost o f the road $68,000,000. Suppose it earned
in 1852 $3,537,766, and in 1864 $13,346,457. Suppose that it had a
very large and unmanageable floating debt, and its shares were but lately
sold at 45. W hat would be thought of this individual if with this
condition of affairs he was known to appropriate $1,832,623, or nearly 14
per cent of the entire receipts towards some other project, and charge
the same to “ dividend account?”
And yet this is precisely the condition o f one of the leading roads in
the country. But the other companies act in noways differently. They
may be in a better condition, financially, but they all practice the bad
principle of setting aside a large portion of their earnings for dividends,
while the condition of the road, as shown by the frequency of railway
accidents, loudly calls for immediate repairs.
But it is useless to compile statistics to demonstrate this point. All
the railways devote too much of their earnings to dividends, and too lit­
tle to construction. They say : “ W hy shall we conduct the business of
a road for the sake of posterity ? W hy shall we not reap profits from it
as we go along ? W hy devote our time to the promotion of an enterprise
from which only a distant generation shall reap substantial benefits?”
Ah, gentlemen, we are afraid you are forgetting the profits you have already
made, and are exhibiting a little of that quality to which some plainspoken people apply the name of rapacity. Where are your lands rendered
ten, twenty, fifty-fold more valuable by this road ? Answer 1 Is this not
enough profit for you? Are you not content with using the slave till he
drops, but must sell his body, hair, skin, and bones, to “ reap your profit as
you go along?”




1865.]

Coal Fever.

349

I f American railways were built to supply the wants o f the traveling
public, instead of in advance o f them, if they were built for the stock­
holders instead o f for the property-holders, if they were overflowing with
wealth instead of being heavily in debt, we could even then see no reason
why their rates o f fare should be limited by law, because whenever their
profits became very large an inducement would exist for the establishment
o f competing lines, and these would soon reduce their tariffs. But that
such restrictions should exist when all these conditions are reversed is only
an evidence o f that madness after inter-meddling legislation which is
the bane of all our public enterprises. W hat is the practical result o f
this tampering with affairs o f commerce and traffic. The New York
Central is restricted by the Legislature to two cents a mile for passengers. Its
published reports shows that this is its average rate o f fare even count­
ing way passengers, for it carries emigrants at one cent. Last year its
iron rails cost 122 per ton for re-rolling, its wood cost $2 25 per cord,
its car wheels $16. This year the first costs $52, the second $6, and
the third $25. Lumber, hardware, paint, labor, machinery, all these items
are doubled in price. The law does not keep its expenses down, but the
law keeps its receipts down.
W ithout inquiring into the motives which impel legislators to counte­
nance this injustice, we merely state the fact.
How then can it be asked to carry passengers at a limited rate ? It
will carry them. Oh, yes 1 Restrict the price o f razors to ten cents each,
and razors will continue to be sold still. But what kind of razors? And
what kind of traveling do we get for two cents a mile? The answer is
self-evident. But the evil does not stop here. Because the Central is re­
quired to carry first-class passengers at two cents a mile, the Erie is obliged
to do the same. The obvious consequences of this absurd inter-meddling
is bad roads, bad engines, bad cars, in short, all the conditions which are
highly favorable to the frequent occurrence o f appalling accidents and
loss of life.
When our legislators are possessed of intelligence enough to trace the
obvious cause and effect between a non-paying road and frequent acci­
dents, and do not follow the example o f British legislators by totally ab­
staining from placing legal restraints upon their management, the name
which we shall give to these deplorable occurrences will, instead o f Rail­
way Accidents, be the more deserved one of Railway Murders.

COAL

FEVER.

THE PRICE AYD PROSPECTS OF A.YTHRACITE COAL,
BY C. B. CON ANT.

/

W hy is coal so high ? A question that has been asked a few thousand
times every month for the last three years, and which, answered or
unanswered, has wrought widely and diversely on the public m ind.
W henever a great staple, nearly related to the daily wants o f mankind, is
advanced in price, an excitement prevails proportioned to its advance.




350

Coal Fever.

[May,

All classes are its consumers, and the consequence of the excitement is,
that communities are soon arrayed into two factions— the first in clamor,
and the numerically superior, being the poorer, whose only interest is to
bring the price down ; and the other, less numerous, but more powerful,
•who are not slow to see that their profit lies in keeping it up. The latter
use the enhanced article as much as the former, usually m ore; but the
added cost in their consumption is as nothing compared to the gain which
accrues, or may accrue, to them, directly or indirectly, as producers or
dealers. In almost all such cases the popular clamor increases the evil
o f which it so loudly complains ; which, if let alone, would usually soon
be equalized by the operation of the laws of trade. It is the interest of
capitalists to encourage this unreasoning outcry, because they take advan­
tage of it. Capital has no bowels or patriotism, and capitalists are in­
stinctive.
The usual degree of prejudice and ignorance has prevailed on the sub­
ject of the coal trade in this respect. Coal has advanced, to the consumer,
nearly two hundred per centum within three years— in 1862, about fifty
per cent.; in 1863, seventy-five per cent.; in 1864, seventy-five more— at
about which figure it remains, at the time of writing this article— March 1,
1865. In the same period, flour has barely doubled. There are good reasons
why the two articles cannot be judged by precisely the same standard. Flour
is so much more a staple of life than coal that it has no substitute, and its
production must engage a thousand hands where the other occupies one.
I f the coal fields had as many tillers, as many conveyers, and as many
merchants as the wheat fields, the disproportion in price would be much
more than reversed, and coal would go begging; while if the wheat fields
had as few as the other, a loaf o f white bread would be worth, to-day, a
dollar. In the next place, this very importance of bread-stuffs, involving
the employment o f so many hands, makes the trade transparent, and un­
controllable by monopolists. Men can know what is going on in grain,
without serious chance of mistake. It is a glut in the market, it is foreign
export, it is specific demand for emigration or the army, it is drought, it
is weevil, it is failure of transportation, it is the holding o f the farmers, it
is the scarcity of exchange. There are a hundred causes of the rise or
fall of breadstuffs, which are patent to all who choose to make inquiry.
The staple character o f this branch of trade, too— its absolute certainty as
to sale and consumption— tempts the investments o f that large class of
conservative capitalists, which always stands ready to use heavy sums o f
money on perfect security for small returns. This, with the fact that
comparatively little machinery is needed— warehouses, wharfs and boats
only, which are, besides, continuously and variously useful— this makes
the handling of crops comparatively easy. Money can be had by millions
at simple interest from private capitalists; banks will do this business
in preference to all other— many, indeed, being founded for this exclusive
purpose, and refusing any different trade; and the attempt of any indivi­
dual or corporation to monopolize it, is only saved from infamy by its
ridiculousness and impossibility. Every merchant knows that it is an
axiom in business, that the nearer an article o f trade is to the daily and
indispensable wants of men, and the more perishable or consumable it is,
the more difficult to limit it— consequently to make it a means of large
profit. Competition keeps prices down.




1865.]

Coal lev er.

351

The coal trade is a different matter. The entire number of master
colliers in this country, east o f the Alleghany mountains, mar be estimated
at about two hundred and forty— in which are included the four great
corporations, the Lehigh, Delaware and Hudson, Pennsylvania, and Scran­
ton companies— with forty or fifty other incorporated organizations. Of
these, about two hundred and fifteen are at work in the Anthracite fields
of Pennsylvania, and about twenty-five in the Bituminous regions of that
State and Maryland. There is no record of coal operations in the great
Bituminous area west of the Alleghanies— an important omission in our
statistics that ought to be remedied— so that both the number of miners
and quantity of products must be estimated. The coal in this region is
usually mined by individuals, and may be estimated at about one million
to one million and a-half tons. The total quantity of all kinds of coal
mined in the year 1864 was about twelve and a-half million tons, of which
ten million (in round numbers) came from Pennsylvania alone. W e will
give, a little farther on, more exact and very interesting statistics.
For our present purpose, we discard the limited and uncertain product
of the Western country— little of which comes farther east than Buffalo,
except what is sold in Canada— and confine our attention to the product
of the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia mines. It will be seen at a
glance how limited (comparatively) the field of operations is, what oppor­
tunities exist for monopoly, and how difficult it may be for those who are
outside the trade to know exactly what is going on within. These pecu­
liarities are still more apparent, when we consider the means of transpor­
tation. This is entirely in the hands of seven, and, virtually, of five cor­
porations— the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, the New Jersey
Central Railroad, the Reading Railroad, the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Company, and the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad. The Lehigh and
New Jersey Central are fed by numerous lateral roads, which they con­
trol, inasmuch as their avenues are the main outlets of the regions from
which they lead. The Reading Railroad is the great monopolist of the
Schuylkill trade, which, down to 1858, comprised one-half, and, in 1864,
more than one-third of the whole quantity o f Anthracite mined in Penn­
sylvania. True, the Schuylkill Navigation Company, which does about
one-quarter of the carrying, stands as a separate organization; but the
ownership of the two is interpenetrated, and they always work together,
to a fraction— the latter constantly following the lead of the former. In
the Lackawanna region, the Pennsylvania Company, which is the mighty
and popular rival o f the Delaware and Hudson, is still dependent upon
the former for the canal conveyance by which about half its coal reaches
market. A law-suit for a difference in tolls that amounts to a million or
more, between these two companies, has been decided, though not in the
highest court, in favor o f the Delaware; and the state of feeling is such
that the Pennsylvania will undoubtedly tend, as rapidly as possible, to
become independent. As it is, this company transports a considerable quan­
tity of coal over its railroads to Newburgh, and to New York and Jersey
City, by connection with the Erie Railroad at Lackawaxen— probably
about 300,000 tons during the past year. W e have, then:
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com pany, with its branches.
The New Jersey Central Railroad and its laterals.




352

Coal Fever.

[May,

The Reading Railroad and the Schuylkill Canal, acting as a unit.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and the Pennsylvania Coal
Co..— the latter partially dependent upon the former, but recalcitrant.
The Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad, or Scranton Co., which are
the same.
In all, five great avenues o f transit.
Between special privileges and the difficulties which exist in the way of
the creation o f collateral lines, these five or six avenues control the trade.
There is undoubtedly some ground for the complaint of monopoly; but
not so much as there will be, if the designs of certain very powerful par­
ties are carried out. There is a scheme to unite the interests of the
Reading Road and Schuylkill Canal, with those of the Scranton Company.
This latter concern is controlled by men of much capital and enterprize.
They have introduced a feature into the coal trade, which, while it has
worked like a charm for their interests, is viewed with much apprehension
by all the “ middle-men”— those who stand between the miners and
dealers, constituting a rich and powerful class— and bids fair to exert a *
controlling influence upon the coal trade o f the country. This feature,
which originated in the strong executive mind of the late President of the
Scranton Company, C hristopher R . R obert, Esq., is the plan o f selling all
the probable surplus o f the company, monthly, at auction. It was com­
menced in February, 1863, and has been continued regularly since, with
an aggregate sale o f nearly 300,000 tons per annum, or about one-third
the product of the company brought to tide-water. To the Company, the
advantages of this plan are obvious. The sale is, substantially, for cash ;
and the quantity being about 25,000 tons, places, at the average price of
the year, $200,000 in the hands of the company every month, in advance
o f shipments. Besides this, it is clear that the certain “ placing” of onethird the product of a mining corporation, monthly, in advance of produc­
tion, is a remarkably safe basis of procedure; for in case of the failure of
other regular and calculable outlets o f sale, it would not usually be diffi­
cult to curtail the scale of operations sufficiently to avoid serious loss.
A ll contracts made by mining corporations are made subject to their
ability to fulfil them— a somewhat peculiar feature o f this trade, to which
the Scranton auction sales are no exception. If the company is unable to
furnish the coal sold, by reason o f accidents, floods, strikes, or other un­
avoidable causes, it returns the money to purchasers, and annuls its con­
tracts. On the other hand, whatever may be the state of the market, the
buyer, having put up his money, has to send for his coal, or lose his
advance. He is limited to the current month. The Scranton sale has
become, as was inevitable, the thermometer o f the coal trade. Transac­
tions are virtually suspended, except those proceeding on regular con­
tracts, for the week before the sale, and the result is instantly telegraphed
to all parts of the country. There is considerable reason for believing
that this method of sale will become general, within a few years— a result
which the middle-men and small miners deprecate exceedingly. It is dif­
ficult, however, to see what substantial harm would be done, beyond the
temporary disturbance o f the trade o f these parties. Indeed, it is not im­
probable that the consumer, whose interest, after all, is the main thing,
would be eventually benefitted, for nothing can be fairer than the auction




1865.]

Coal Fever.

353

sale, or more exclusive o f monopoly. Nothing, o f course, can entirely
neutralize the advantages o f capital, which is as it should b e ; for capital
as well as labor has its privileges, is entitled to protection, and operates as
a balance in society and civil government. If all the coal was sold at
auction, the capitalist would have the same advantage, in kind, that he
now possesses, and would undoubtedly exercise it, by accumulating quan­
tities of the staple, when prices ruled low. So the vocation of the middle­
men would only be modified, and they would continue, though perhaps in
less numbers, to divide the profit with the great mining corporations.
While, however, the limited number of coal carriers and prominent
operators tends measurably to monopoly, and to keep the secret of their
movements from the ken o f outsiders, it is absurd to suppose that a busi­
ness amounting, at the ante-war figures, to nearly eight billion dollars,
and carried on by some two hundred and forty firms and companies, is
beyond the power of the laws o f trade. There may be temporary influ­
ences of an accidental or subsidiary character, o f which capitalists or cor­
porations can avail themselves; but it is certain that, in the main, the
coal trade must be governed, and is governed, by the great law of supply
and demand. Let us look into this subject, somewhat narrowly, and see
if we can discover, in a rational way, an answer to the question at the
beginning of this article. First, although not in all its details essentially
preliminary to this inquiry, yet because of general interest in the elucida­
tion of the subject, let us glance at the history and statistics of the coal
trade in this country from its beginning.
The first Anthracite brought to market was in the year 1813, when a
small quantity of flinty coal was shipped down the Lehigh River in arks,
by the firm of M iner , C ist & R obinson . Five arks were dispatched, but
only two reached Philadelphia, the appearance o f which excited about as
much astonishment as that of Noah would have done. The other three
were lost on the passage, and the only wonder to any one acquainted
with the Lehigh River, before its improvement, is, that any craft was ever
gotten safely over its rocky, roaring bed. This stream is subject, too, to
sudden and incalculable freshets— insomuch that with all the substantial
dams, locks, breakwaters and other improvements and defences o f the
present company, the last great flood, in June, 1S62, cost a million dollars
to repair, and the upper section, which was worst damaged, was abandon­
ed altogether. These little ark-loads of coal were sold at Philadelphia
for twenty-one dollars a ton, but the owners lost money and abandoned
the business. It may be of interest to state that the first Lehigh Coal
Company, and the first (it is believed) formed in this country, was organ­
ized in the year 1793. This company “ took up” from the Commonwealth
o f Pennsylvania, under warrants, about ten thousand acres of land, being,
with the addition of about two thousand more, the very same tract now
owned and worked by the “ Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.”
This original company appropriated ten pounds currency (!) to the con­
struction of a road over the property; but the stockholders, wearying of
such expensive assessments, gave up the job, and the lands lay idle till
— after one or two leases in turn abandoned— the ark-builders before
named took the matter in hand. In 1817, J osiah W hite and E rskine
H azard entered upon the field, taking o f the original company a twenty
year’s lease, for the annual rent of one ear o f corn, payable on demand,




354

Coal Fever.

[May,

and with the farther condition, that after a suitable time spent in pre­
paration, they should deliver at Philadelphia, for their own benefit, not
less than forty thousand bushels of coal, yearly. To the enterprize and
ingenuity of these gentlemen, the establishment of the present company
is due. A doubt existing in the minds of many that the coal was of any
value, two associations were first formed— the “ Lehigh Coal Company,”
and the “ Lehigh Navigation Company,” with $55,000, and $50,000
capital, respectively. These united their interests and names in 1820,
when, after great faith, perseverance and ingenuity, the first regular ship­
ments o f coal began, with a product, for that year, o f 365 tons. Its sub­
stance was found to be very different from the English bituminous coals
— the only kinds known— and, of course, an entirely new method was
needed, with new forms o f stoves and grates. It was opposed and ridi­
culed roundly, as all innovations upon established trade and usage are,
hut experiments were made, with results so successful, that 1023 tons
were brought down in the same way, the following year, and found a
market at about fifteen dollars a ton. A t this time, the fuel o f the coun­
try was almost exclusively wood— Liverpool coal being considered a
luxury of doubtful utility. The people did not understand coal, and did
not like it. The entire importation of foreign coal (bituminous) in the
year 1821 was only 22,122 tons, and it did not reach 100,000 tons until
1836, falling in 1844, from peculiar circumstances, to about 7,000 tons.
A t about the same time, the Schuylkill coal began to excite attention,
and the canal was projected and energetically prosecuted. A few speci­
mens were brought down, and found to be of the same general character
with the Lehigh, but no trade was opened until 1822, when 1480 tons
came through— the Lehigh Company bringing, the same year, 2240 tons.
In 1828, the Schuylkill began to exceed its rival in quantity, and has
ever since maintained a large excess of production. The Schuylkill
region yielded in 1864, 3,642,218 tons— the Lehigh, 1,928,706 tons.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company commenced operations in
1829, with a product of 7000 tons, rising the next year to 43,000. This
company was followed, after some lesser intermediate operations, by the
Pennsylvania Company, which began to work in the same general field in
1850, with a product of 111,014 tons. The Scranton Company followed
in 1856, beginning with 122,773 tons. The product o f these companies
in 1864 was, respectively, 852,130 tons, 759,544 tons, and 963,728 tons.
The Shamokin region began to be worked in 1839, but its operations are
comparatively inconsiderable, beginning with 11,93 0 tons, only reaching
100,000 in 1855, and 333,478 in 1864. It is' somewhat remarkable that
our bituminous coals attracted little attention, east o f the Alleghanies,
until 1842, when the Cumberland Company commenced operations on a
very small scale. The increase was comparatively slow on this kind o f
coal, though the aggregate product o f the various companies, in the year
1864, was 1,238,524 tons. To place the entire trade of the country, with
the exception of the uncertain product o f the States west o f the mountains,
before the eye, the following condensed table is presented :




1865.]

PRODUCTION OF COAL IN THE UNITED STATES

From 1820 to 1864.
L ehigh .
S chuylkill .
— L ackaw ANA AND *VVyoming.----- -------------- ,
Canal & R.R. Canal & R.R. Del.&Hud. P enn. Co. Scranton,
Other
Shamokin.
Wyoming.
N. & S.

Imported.

*1,7*08
10,082
14,890
24,653

22,122
34,523
30,433
7,228
25,645
35,665
40,257
32,302
45,393
58,136
86,509
72,978
92,432
71,626
49,989
108,432
153,450
129,083
181,551
162,867
155,394
141,521
41,163
87,073
85 776

Total.

....

1,000
43,000
54,000
84,600
111,777
43,700
90,000
103,861
115,387
78,207
122,300
148,470
192,270
205,253
227,605
251,005
273,435

47,34*6’
58,400
114,906
178,401

365
1,073
3,720
....
6,951
11,108
34,893
48,047
63,434
77,516
112,113
174,734
176,820
363,871
487,748
376,636
560,758
684,117
862,441
____
725,697
11,930
797,863
15,505
841,584
21,463
942,312
10,000 1,076,649
10,000 1,241,110
13,087 1,598,378
10,000 1,975,085

Domostic.

22,122
34,623
30,433
7,228
25,645
35,665
40,257
32,302
45,393
58,136
36,509
72,978
92,432
71,626
49,969
10S,432
153,450
129,083
181,551
162,867
155,394
143,229
51,245
101,963
110,429

355




148,211

,...
1,480
1,128
1,567
6,500
16,767
31,360
47,284
79,973
89,984
81,854
209,271
252,991
226,692
339,508
432,045
523,152
433,875
442,608
452,291
585,542
541,504
677,312
840,378
1,083,796

.-------Bitnm inous.------- *

Coal Fever.

1820.................
1821,...............
1822................
1823................
1824............
1825,...............
1826. .
1827,...............
1828,...............
1829,...........
1830................
1831,...............
1832,...............
1833.................
1834.................
1835,...............
1 8 3 6 ,............. .................
1837.................
1838................
1839,...............
1840,...............
1841,.............
1842................
1843............
1844,...............
1845.................

T otal

690,456

320,000
••••
388,203
••••
437,500
••••
454,240
.....
441,403 111,014
479,078 316,017
497,105 426,164
494,327 512,658
440,944 496,648
565,460 504,803
499,650 612,500
480,699 536,008
348,789 630,056
591,000 688,854
499,568 701,523
726,644 629,657
637,066 601,091
828,150 662,904
852,130 759,544

••••
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
133,965
187,000
305,530
490,023
683,411
829,435
1,080,227
1,104,319
1,094,315
1,223,165
1,302,457

198,389
294,864
247,696
278,670
275,406
361,072
361,231
468,746
531,921
514,248
554,901
445,873
416,074
524,947
535,583
740,730
585.969
662,721
639,456

12,572
14,904
19,356
19,650
19,921
24,899
25,846
15,500
63,500
116,117
137,406
155,806
135,893
180,753
210,108
241,451
241,642
274,936
333,478

2,284,659
2,914,852
3,027,708
3,139,342
3,250,207
4,374,716
4,833,432
5,016,484
5,769,372
6,490,296
6,720,313
6,412,491
6,460,702
7,448,253
8,119,199
7,878,667
7,401,715
8,979,854
*9,457,989

29,795
156,853
62,940
148,021
79,571
196,168
198,213
167,774
234,611
180,439
331,879
214,774
426,674
183,015
231,508
631,987
830,181
252,865
780,493
287,408
924,488
173,055
893,749
238,192
989,695
259,885
1,119,951
281,208
1,244,820 240,697
831,412
533,115
813,754 545,433
1,166,210 1,000,775
1,238,524
510,608

186,648
200,961
275,739
365,9S7
415,050
546,653
609,689
863,495
1,083,046
1,067,901
1,097,543
1,131,941
1,249,580
1,401,159
1,485,517
1,364,527
1,359,187
2,166,985
1,749,122

Coal Fever.

1,351,054

1,236,582
1,583,374
1,652,835
1,605,126
1,712,007
2,229,426
2,450,950
2,470,943
2,895,208
3,318,555
3,258,356
2,985,541
2,866,449
3,004,953
3,270,516
2,697,489
2,890,578
3,433,265
3,642,218

356

1846....................
1847,...................
1848,...................
1849,...................
1850..................... .............
1851,.................
1852,...................
1858,.................
1854,.................
1855,.................
1856...................
1857...................
1858,.................
1859,.................
1860.....................
1861...................
1862,................... .............
1863,...................
1864.....................

* This sum is short of the actual production, about 500,000 tons. There are various miscellaneous items that are not easily classified, nor
exactly attainable. Mr. B annan , the careful editor of the Miners’ Journal, published at Pottsville, who is the only regular and systematic tabu­
lator of the coal trade, makes the total, for 1864, 9,992,007 tons. But Mr. B an nan does not attempt even to estimate the Bituminous product of
the coal-fields west of the Alleghanies—fields vastly greater in area than those o f Pennsylvania, Maryland and Eastern Virginia, and which, in
the course of time, will perhaps supersede these entirely. For the Anthracite is limited, as far as known, to the Pennsylvania fields, and is by no
means inexhaustible. Every known variety of Bituminous coal is found beyond the Alleghanies, from the common, blacksmith’s coal of Pitts­
burgh, to the rich steam coal, hitherto only brought from Wales, the blocky gas coal like that of Nova Scotia, aud the fatty Cannel like the
Meehall. The West Virginia Cannels, only brought to this market in specimens, though shaped differently from the English, are quite as dense
and inflammable.

[May,




*

■

1865.]

Coal Fever.

357

W e have thus before us the statistics o f the three great Anthracite coal
fields, and it is important to understand that each is in competition with
the others, and each divided by competition in itself. This competition
extends, with the single exception of the Schuylkill, not only to the min­
ing but the transportation o f coal. As before stated, the Schuylkill trans­
porting interests are substantially in the same hands; and it is a remark­
able example o f the equalizing tendency of the laws which govern supply
and demand, and the competitive interests that are aroused by consump­
tion, that the want o f another and independent line o f transit, which
would break the Schuylkill monopoly, is the very thing that the miners
there most desire. The interests of consumers and producers are not so
far apart, after all, that they may not be subserved by the destruction of
an intermediate monopoly.
The Lehigh region is now worked b y some eighteen or twenty opera­
tors, besides the mother Company, com m only called the Old Lehigh.
These operators have a road independent o f the old com pany, and two
m ore are in process o f building. The W ilkesbarre mines (from which
com es one o f our finest family coals) had, until this year, no means o f
access to the Eastern market, except by the upper section o f the Lehigh
Canal, and that section having been destroyed by the flood of 1862 , was
not restored, because the W ilkesbarre tonnage was not worth enough to
the Lehigh Company to pay them for rebuilding it. But the W ilk e s ­
barre miners have now a road o f their own, connecting with the Pennsyl­
vania Central. Their coal, however, in quality, belongs to the Lackawana
family, rather than the Lehigh.

The Delaware and Hudson, Pennsylvania and Scranton Companies, as
already remarked, are directly in competition, because they mine in the
same general region ; and their coals, though not precisely alike, are more
readily substituted, one for the other, than almost any others. The smal­
ler miners in this region generally sell their coals to these great corpora­
tions, but the natural competition between the companies produces a
healthful state of trade, which is evinced by the fact that the Lackawana
and W yom ing coals are the lowest priced^ and the most equably priced,
in the long run, of any that come to the market. W hile the extent of
their operations, under judicious conduct, makes these companies profit­
able to stockholders, the community o f dealers and consumers finds in
their products a more trustworthy and cheaper staple o f trade than in
any other.
The relative qualities and uses of the Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Lackawana
coals are as follows : The Lehigh is the hardest and purest anthracite in
the world. When mined well and cleared o f slate, it is the best known
coal for making iron— being substantially free from sulphur. From its
density it requires a strong draught for its ignition, and consequently it
is comparatively unfitted for open grates or stoves, and is less esteemed
for steam than almost any other. But it makes at once the hottest and
most substantial inclosed fire, and is therefore a favorite for close stoves
and furnaces. The best qualities of" the Schuylkill and Malianoy coals
(the latter is an intermediate between the former and the Lehigh) approach
the Lehigh in density, but are not usually quite as hard, and are, therefore,
more generally useful for families. These coals are very much liked.
Their product, as already remarked, is about one third of the whole An­




358

Coal Fever.

[May,

thracite list, and they occupy the intermediate or average position. They
are good for iron making, good for steam— though rather hard— and ex­
cellent for family use. The Lackawana, Pittston, and Scranton coals, with
the other W yom ing grades, are o f considerably less weight and density.
O f these, the Scranton is the lightest and most easily kindled and con­
sumed. All of them will burn either in open or close grates, and are the
most easily managed coals that we have. They are not highly esteemed
for making iron, though they are used for that purpose, and largely, too,
where they are so accessible that their waste is compensated by inexpen­
sive transportation. For steam they are valued above all others, because
they are light to carry, and burn freely, without clinker— a peculiarity
that saves the grate-bars essentially.
It would certainly seem, to an unprejudiced mind, that the elements of
independent-competition exfsted between these great companies, in a suf­
ficient degree to insure,.a fair pyifie to consumers— provided, they are able
to keep their production up to the point of demand. This is the very
thing. The*main reason why coal is so high— apart from the necessary
advance on account of the depreciation o f the currency— is because the
supply for the la^three years has fallen short of the demand. It is a
simple matter, and easily demonstrable. Of the two hundred per centum
advance since the war, it isveasonable to charge one hundred to the
account of the currency. O i s had depreciated more than one-half, and
if consumption and prodamfen remained unchanged, the fact would ne­
cessarily have doubled the^price of staples. Let us recur to the table,
and in the light o f explanatory statements, see if the other hundred per
centum is not fully accounted for. The greatest increase in the produc' s commenced, was in 1863— the
The nearest approaches to this
1 and 1859, which produced, re­
spectively, 1,125,509 and 98^551 tons over the years previous. But there
is a remarkable similarity k$Scircumstances in the three cases. The three
years previous to 1851— fe£ 0 , 1849, and 1848— had gained only 334,355
tons together; though t\fb jteffr 184V had gained 630,203 tons by itself,
and the gains of 1846, 1845, 1844, and 1843, had averaged 300,000 tons
each. The three years prewous to 1859— 1858, 1857, and 1856— had
gained only 28,594 tons panther ; though the years 1855 and 1854 had
averaged 700,000’tons each. The three years previous to 1863— 1862,
1861, and 1860— had gain^cl only 46,353 tons together. Thus:
Tons.

1856 1
1857 |
[ Gained together
together.
1858 )
1859 Gained
Gained...............
1860 )
1861 [G ained together
1862 )
1863 Gained...........
In eight years an aggregate gain of.

28,594
987,551
46,353
1,578,139
2,640,637

This is an average annual gain for eight years, from 1856 to 1863, of
330,080 tons. A glance at the general table will show that the average
annual gain for the twelve years preceding 1856, including the deficient




Coal Fever.

359

years of 1850, 1849, and 1848, was fully 450,000 tons. For twelve years,
then, from 1844 to 1855, inclusive, the average annual gain was 450,000
tons; for eight years, from 1856 to 1863, inclusive, it was only 335,080
tons. It would be an insult to the intelligence of any reader o f this arti­
cle to suppose that he believes the demand for coal has diminished in this
country during the last eight years. There is, perhaps, no more convinc­
ing evidence to the contrary, than the increase of imported coals during
these eight years. Every one knows that importations, when taken by
terms of years, absolutely follow demand. In 1856 we imported 87,000
tons o f coal; in 1863, 1,000,000 tons.
Not only was the usual demand for coal undiminished during the last
eight years, but we all know that a large extra demand has arisen by rea­
son of the war. More coal was demanded by private manufacturers and
carriers engaged in making and transporting arms, munitions, and sup­
plies for Government. The Government itself became a greatly increased
consumer— using, the first year of the war, fully 200,000 tons; the sec­
ond and third 500,000 each, and the fourth, not less than a million. To
supply this demand considerably more than the usual rate o f increase
would have had to be maintained. But an incident occurred in 1862
which reduced the natural product of that year not less than 500,000
tons. This was the great freshet of June, which stopped the transporta­
tion of every Anthracite mine in the United States for a month, and o f
some— as of the Lehigh region— for three or four months.
It will be noticed, moreover, that the year 1861 closed with an actual
decrease of production as compared with 1860 of 430,514 tons. It would
thus seem, that no element of disaster to the coal consuming interest of
this country was lacking. In 1861, the first year o f the war, involving
an increased consumption of probably 350,000 tons, the supply fell off
430,514 tons. In 1862, the second year of the war, when the Govern­
ment demand alone had reached 500,000 tons, not to speak o f private
manufacturers, the flood came, cutting off half a million tons. True, the
country did not immediately feel these great deductions, on account of
the large carrying stock in the hands of dealers. This quantity probably
reached nearly 750,000 tons in the year 1861, and though a good deal
reduced by the heavy draught o f that year, was not wholly exhausted
until 1862. But during the flood o f that year it was entirely sold out,
and has never since been replenished— there has been no chance to replenish
it. The carrying stock in the United States, outside of the mining cor­
porations, is not two months supply this day, and the opening of trade in
the spring finds the yards empty. It was so last spring, and it was so in
the spring of 1863.
In view o f these facts, does it require a ghost or a prophet to account
for the high price o f coal ? It is not to be denied that more money has
been made by somebody, to the extent, probably, o f at least fifty per
centum o f the whole advance, and it is not difficult to decide into whose
pockets this profit has gone. It is divided between the miner and the
carrying companies. The Delaware and Hudson, Pennsylvania, and Scran­
ton companies are both miners and carriers, but only o f their own coal,
(with a few unimportant exceptions,) and we have no means o f discrimi­
nating the sources o f their profits, as, whether by m ining or carrying.
W e have their lists o f prices o f coals, and that is all. But the Lehigh




360

Coal Fever.

[May,

and Schuylkill avenues are open to all, and by their changes o f prices and
tolls we can tell something. In the beginning of the year 1862 the cost
of these coals was as follows :
A t the Lehigh mines......................................................................
Transportation to tide-water..........................................................

Per ton.
$1 85
1 44

At the Schuylkill mines.................................................................
Transportation to tide.....................................................................

$1 80
1 73

$3 29

$3 53

A t the close of the season in 1864 the cost was as follows
A t the Lehigh mines.......................................................................
Transportation, e t c .........................................................................

$5 60
4 26

A t the Schuylkill mines.................................................................
Transportation.................................................................................

$5 25
5 12

$9 76

$10 37

The mines in all parts of the country have been subject, during the past
two years, to a continuous succession of strikes. In some districts much
violence has prevailed, leading colliers having been even murdered in re­
peated instances. Rather an unusual proportion o f operatives have gone
from the collieries into the army, and the canals and railroads have lost
largely from same cause. The bounties offered have prevailed against the
low wages current at the opening o f the war. The consequence o f these
strikes, and this scarcity of hands, has been repeated suspensions o f min­
ing operations, uniformly followed by advances of wages. Suspensions of
mining diminish the supply o f coal, and advances of wages under such
circumstances, operate in increased proportion to advance the prices.
Another important element demands at least a reference. A colliery
of any magnitude— and none but large collieries are profitable— takes a
great amount of capital. I f a colliery, producing 300 tons a day, requires
a floating capital, in ordinary times, of $100,000 to carry on its opera­
tions, that capital, in times like these, must be fully doubled. If the col­
lier finds, in ordinary times, that a profit of fifty cents a ton is a fair com­
pensation for his risks, he will naturally calculate, that when the cost of
coal is doubled, his profit and guarantee should advance in a similar pro­
portion. This is simply common sense. It operates, indeed, against the
consumer, but it is an inflexible law of trade, so much so, that if not com­
plied with, capitalists will gradually withdraw their money and employ it
where it will give them legitimate returns. And this brings us to two
points, with the consideration o f which this article will be concluded. The
first is the influence of the small colliers upon the trade, and the price of
coal.
There are, in each of the great coal fields, but particularly in the Lehigh
and Schuylkill, many small colliers who work “ upon their own hook,”
and from hand to mouth. In the Lackawana region most o f these parties
sell their coal to the great companies near them, because there are no




1865.]

Coal Fever.

361

other facilities of transportation ; but in the Lehigh and Schuylkill they
ship directly to the market themselves. Some of them mine good coal—
some of them, very indifferent; but almost all are obliged, in order to
sell, to make concessions in price. This would seem at first glance to be
a species of competition calculated to keep down the pj-icas of the large
companies, and promote the consumers interest. So it does, but not im­
mediately. The circumstances of these small colliers create a class of
merchants in the large cities, already referred to, as “ middle-men,” who
need not be expected to pass the loaf without cutting from it as liberal a
slice as its size will allow. This business has attracted a large capital, and
the result of its operations is to keep the coals of these small colliers fully
up to the market price of the companies. The profit is made by other
men, but the result is the same. W e are not to be understood, however,
as expressing an opinion adverse to this class of dealers. They stand as
a very necessary check upon the operations o f the large companies, and add
a distinct and important competitive agency to those already existing.
There is a continual jealousy of their operations, on the part of the large
incorporations, resulting in the exhibition of a scale o f prices generally
intended to underbid them. Coal can always be bought of the companies
when they have it to sell, cheaper than of the middle-men.
The other point is the probable price of coal for the future. In the
first place let us see what increase the regular trade and consumption of
the country demand year by year. The average gain, as shown by our
table, for twelve years, from 1844 to 1855, was 450,000 tons. This evi­
dently tended to an excessive stock; for though the average gain for the
ensuing eight years, from 1856 to 1863, was only 330,080 tons, there was
a heavy glut, and coal fell in 1862 to $3 29 per ton, the lowest price ever
reached in this market. W e will assume, therefore, that 400,000 tons
gain every year will supply the regular demand. For extraordinary war
purposes and Government demand we will assume that an aggregate of
2.000. 000 tons was required for the years 1862, 1863, and 1864, and that
1.000. 000 tons will be needed for the year 1865. It thus appears that
3,200,000 tons was required in the aggregate for 1862, 1863, and 1864,
more than the rate of production of 1861. But the aggregate advance
product of these three years, at the largest figures, was only 2,145,268
tons; so that we are going into 1S65 with a deficiency of 454,632 tons,
while the year itself will require for its regular increase 400,000 tons,
and for extraordinary purposes 1,000,000 tons. The year 1865, therefore,
must advauce upon 1864 at least 1,854,632 tons, in order to keep the
market in as good a position as at present. Can this quantity be fur­
nished ?
W e have seen that the mining facilities o f the country as they stood
in 1863, were equal to the production o f 1,578,139 tons more than in
1862, and that the product of 1864— according to Mr. B annan’ s table,
which we think very nearly accurate— was 1,000,000 tons in advance of
1863. The falling off in the latter year is easily accounted for bv the
frequent suspension of mining operations by reason of strikes, which, in
the Schuylkill region alone, amounted to fully 400,000 tons from this
cause. W e think that there is reason to believe that the mini ng faoi lities
of the present year will exceed those of 1863, and that the full quantity
of 1,854,632 tons in advance of the product of 1864 will be easily supplied,
VOL. lii.— no . v.
23




362

Coal Fever.

[May,

unforeseen disasters, of course, excepted. This quantity could be sup­
plied by the unassisted facilities of the present mining and transportation
companies, f o r there is no avenue o f transportation w orked to its f u l l capa­
city, except the Reading Railroad. But there is another and important
element at work. The high price of coal has called a great number of
new companies into existence within the past year or two, many of which
are now ready for operation. A new railroad has been constructed, as
already remarked, which is bringing the products of the W yom ing Val­
ley to New York. Two new roads are building along the line of the
Lehigh, and, although the Reading interest has been strong enough
hitherto to prevent any interference with its route, the fact that it can­
not do the business of the region that it represents indicates clearly that
a competitive line will be speedily called for and built. These being facts,
the inference is unavoidable, that in case o f a considerable falling off in
the demand for coal, a proportionate reduction o f prices may be expected.
The inflation of coal stocks at the present time is a feature o f the mar­
ket that prudent men will do well to heed. W e may be sure that those
who have been conducting the coal trade for the last few years have their
eye upon it, and are taking advantage o f it. When an old collier, in
times like these, invites capitalists and others to form a company, and buy
his mines and machinery, they may depend upon it that he sees breakers
ahead. They will reflect that he has bad much experience in the busi­
ness that he kindly proposes to resign— they, none at all. There is par­
ticular cause for caution, if he who, all his life, has been a producer and
seller of coal, appears suddenly as a convert to the interests of the con­
sumer. When numerous companies, with unusual nominal capital are
springing up, and inviting attention, prudent men of small means will
look sharply to their earnings. This brings us to the exposure of a some­
what favorite fallacy of the day, with which this article will be conclu­
ded.
A class of operations have come up lately called “ Coal-at-Cost Com­
panies,” or “ Consumers-Benelit Companies.” In plain English, they are
humbugs. The ordinary “ Coal-at-Cost Company” is nothing more or
less than a small collier, or his agent, or a dealer, who, having more coal
than he can sell by his usual outlet, strikes off some hand-bills, rents a
cheap office, puts his coal down fifty cents or a dollar, and so works it
off rapidly from the boats. He keeps his new title as long as it suits his
purpose, and then dismisses it. This does no harm— it is an irregular
way of dking business, but if the coal is really sold cheaper, and the
dealer does not cheat in the weight more than the difference he pretends
to make in price, the consumer gets the benefit. There is another style,
however, that is really mischievous. This is a regularly organized com­
pany, proposing to lease or buy certain mines, and promising to give each
shareholder coal for his own consumption at actual cost. The prospectus
of such a company lies at this moment before us. It proposes to buy a
well-known and valuable mine which is now operated by an experienced
collier, its owner. W hy does he wish to sell it? W e know, or may
know, if behind the scenes, that it cost him somewhere about $300,000.
W e turn to the prospectus and find that the proposed capital is $800,000,
divided into shares o f twenty dollars each. I f the experienced owner can
run this mine at no more than a satisfactory profit, at a cost of $300,000,




1865.]

Coal Fever.

363

can the inexperienced company into whose hands he proposes to turn it,
work it at a cost of $800,000, and sell coal without profit ? And to whom
is this handsome difference of half a million going? If the old collier
gets it, it seems likely that he can well afford to sell out. But suppose
he is a man of moderate views, and has offered hi§ property (costing
$300,000) to an .ingenious Wall-Street broker for $500,000, who, in his
turn, has devised this “ Consumers-own-your-own Mines Company,” at a
capital o f $800,000. If this seems incredible to any one, let him take
the word of one who knows the wires, that it is a very pretty and prac­
ticable operation, if only there are found noodles enough to believe that
great business operations are gotten up for benevolent purposes.
One day a man came into the office of the writer— an honest, hard­
working letter carrier, who had proved his thrift by laying up from such
a slender business, a little sum of $200. He came to ask about one of
these companies— whether he would better invest his $200 in ten shares
of the stock, and so be insured an annual perpetuity o f ten tons of coal
at cost. “ W hy do you think of it ?” asked I.
“ Because you fellows are making three or four dollars a ton out of me
on coal.”
“ Speak for yourself, my friend— I have no interest in coal, though I
know others who have. But how do you know that anyone is making
three or four dollars a ton out of you ?”
“ Because everybody says so. Didn’t t h e ----------------- have an article
last night saying that coal can be bought at Mauch Chunk at $3 50, and
sent here for $3 50— making $7— and here,” (pulling out a receipt,) “ is
Anthracite and Co.’s bill for my last at $12.”
“ True, and in another column o f the same paper you find the notice
of the *Consumers-own-your-own-mines Company,’ don’ t you ?”
“ Exactly, and as I thought you knew something about it, I just came
in to ask you.”
“ Well,” I suggested, “ I don’ t know that there is any connection between
the two notices, and I’ m sure the honest editor has no suspicion of it, but
I happen to know something of the company spoken of, and advise you
to turn over in your mind as you carry round your letters, the reason, if
you can, why people are so anxious to sell their coal property, when they
are getting five dollars a ton profit on the product.”
The poor fellow scratched his head doubtfully; but suddenly a bright
idea struck him.
“ It is always the way with you fellows,” he said— determined to class
me with the capitalists— Heaven send he be a prophet! “ You are always
keeping a fellow down. You are in the trade, and you want to keep me
from getting coal cheap. I’ll put into this company and try it.”
“ But,” I replied, with missionary spirit, “ suppose a time comes when
coal is sold by all the dealers at considerably less than cost, as it will be,
if they have any stock on hand when the war ends, and gold goes down
— what then !”
“ Well, then I won’ t buy my coal of my company, but get it as cheap
as I can.”
“ But what will become o f your stock, then, in a company that was
‘ watered ’ 100 per cent, and that has to sell coal under that disadvantage
below cost ?” Scratch.




The House o f Hapsburg in America.

364

[May,

“ And then, suppose coal continues high and profitable, what is to pre­
vent your company from passing a resolution some day that they find this
supplying of subscribers at cost a losing operation, and rescinding the
whole arrangement?”
“ But they can’ t do it.”
“ Don’t trust them— that’s my advice.”
My friend gathered up his package o f letters, smiling.
“ Ah, you fellows are always down on a poor man— I believe I’ll take
the stock.”
And so he will, and the fact may be a good enough comment on the
uselessness of advising a man who has made up his mind.

THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG IN AMERICA.
B y P rofessor A ndrew T en B rook .
(Continued from page 258.)

T here has been one period in the later history o f this house which
looks so like an exception to Hapsburg bigotry as to demand a reference.
C harles VI., who reigned from 1685 to 1740, saw that a male successor
to his honors was about to fail, and secured, by the pragmatic sanction, the
succession of his only daughter M a r ia T heresa . She married F rancis ,
Duke of Lorraine, (and hence the house has since been called that of Hapsburg Lorraine,) who nominally reigned jointly with her, but really did not
interfere in the government of her Austrian dominions. She was bigoted
as any of her family, and wrote devotional books, one o f which was pubished. But her uncertain title to the throne, the fearful external pressure
upon her from F rederic the Great of Prussia, the Duke of Bavaria,
France and the Turks, drove her to a liberal internal policy to escape dis­
solution. When in immediate expectation o f the capture of Vienna, she
fled with her infant child to Presburg, and threw herself upon her Hun­
garian subjects, at a diet there assembled. They entered into her cause,
saved her throne, and ever remained her enthusiastic supporters; for she
took the coronation oath as queen o f Hungary without any reservation,
and kept it. Though she but barely tolerated other religions than her
own, her internal administration was wise and liberal. She dismissed the
Jesuits, limited the power of the clergy, introduced schools and the arts,
and so improved her finances that from the brink o f bankruptcy she raised
the revenue to a large excess over the expenditures, and left the internal
state of Austria better than it had ever been before, or has been since.
Her son and successor, J oseph II., played the great and liberal monarch.
In 1769, the year after his accession to the Empire, and ten years before
he succeeded, on his mother’s death, to the Austrian throne, he was at
Rome, traveling incognito under the name o f Count F alkenstein , and
among other places of interest he visited the Gesu, the great establish­
ment of the Jesuits. It was at the time when their suppression was immiuent, and was suspended upon the election o f a pope by the conclave
then in session. The fathers of the order thronged around him. Their




The Rouse o f Hanshuro in America.

365

Genera], R ic c i , prostrate at his feet, was about to address him, a petition
which he anticipated by asking R icci when he intended to put off the
habit of his order. He treated the matter o f the election of a Pope as
of little moment. Contrary to the rule he was introduced into the Con­
clave, which no one was allowed to enter and retire until after an election
had been effected, and, to avoid the fetes prepared for him, left Rome that
very evening. In this same pert and flippant manner he governed in
Austria on his accession. One act raised him above all the family before
and after him— the toleration edict which gave freedom of worship to the
religious sects ; but the rest of his acts— and indeed this too— were arbi­
trary. Even where they were liberal, their liberality was forced upon the
people when they were unprepared for it. He neglected all precedents
and constitutions, governed Hungary without the coronation or oath, and
acted in like manner in everything else. His life looked much like an
attempt to play F rederic the Great. He died just in time to escape the
dissolution of his Austrian dominions. His brother L eopold , Grand
Duke of Tuscany, succeeded him, and, by a master policy, restored in a
single year the system of his mother and the good will of his subjects,
and died at the opening of the French revolution, in which his sister M arie
A ntoinette played so tragic a part. He was succeeded in 1792 by his
son F rancis , who reigned— if it can be called a reign— until 183 ), em­
bracing.the whole period o f N apoleon ’ s career. He gave his daughter,
M aria L ouisa, to the French Emperor in marriage, and survived and
reigned for twenty years after the banishment of his son-in-law. He was
succeeded by his son, F erdinand V., who abdicated in 1848, and still lives
in retirement in the city of Prague. The history of the House of Hapsburg would show as narrow a range of variation in the character of its
reigning sovereigns as that o f any dynasty that ever reigned. It would
show a curious compound of benevolence with superstition. The late
Emperor is said to be so benevolent that money is even now kept out of
his hands lest he should beggar himself by bestowing it all in charity.
He had a conscientiousness, however, which did not belong to every mem­
ber of the family. He would not violate his promises to Hungary and
the other provinces of the Empire. As the counsels and policy of the
house required this, he must yield his throne to one less scrupulous. It
was in the reign o f this superstitious, conscientious man, that all the
protestants of his province of Tyrol, numbering 137 families, were banished
in 1837, and found a home in the Prussian province of Silesia. They
must sell their houses and lands, situated in the most beautiful valley of
Tyrol— the Zillerthal— and seek a home in a foreign land, because such
was the counsel of the Jesuits, who were then the teachers of the
province.
F rancis J oseph , the present Emperor, by the abdication of his uncle,
and the renunciation o f his father, came to the throne in 1848, when but
18 years of age. His dominions must first be conquered before they could
be governed, and but for Russia’s aid the Empire would have been dis­
membered. The rebellion once subdued, he annihilated all constitutions
and precedents and incorporated Hungary into the Empire as an integral
part of it. Checked, foiled, and rendered more modest, especially by
N apoleon , in 1859, he has greatly modified his policy, not, however, so
as to make the following, which we cut from a religious paper, true in its full




366

The House o f Hapshurg in America.

[May

sense : “ Within three years Austria has adopted a constitution, securing
perfect religious freedom to all, and admitting the Bible in all languages.
A place of worship has been given by the Emperor to the protestants in
Vienna.” Instead of the words “ Austria has adopted, etc.,” read, “ His
Imperial Majesty has graciously granted his people a constitution,” and
then remember that he who can give a constitution can revoke or disre­
gard it. Instead of “ perfect religions freedom to all,” read, “ religious
freedom under certain defined provisions to all existing sects” The state­
ment that the Emperor has given the protestants a place of worship in
Vienna, would.seem to imply that hitherto there had been no proteslant
worship in that capital. But there were several such before this imperial
gift. It must, however, be admitted that there has been greater progress
in Austria for three years past than in any country in Europe, and the true
American will set it down as a balance against many weaknesses of F rancis
J oseph , that he is with us in our present struggle. As a true despot, he
is opposed to all rebellions even in a republic.
But it is the Emperor’s brother on whom our interest is now concen­
trated. His Imperial Majesty was making, in 1857, a tour with the young
empress in his Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. This was characterized by
the publication of amnesties and the distribution o f largesses. His
brother, the Arch-Duke M axim ilian , now on the Mexican throne, was
in his suite. He had been married but the year before, and perhaps felt
no aversion to becoming the center of a vice-regal court at Milan. Field
Marshall R ahetsky, then in his 91st year, had asked to be relieved of the
cares of the Government, and the Emperor inclined to grant the veteran’s
request, and put his brother in the place. It may not have been their
fault that the court of this young couple was less brilliant than that which
surrounded a man of about his age, and his widow-bride, in the same city,
just 60 years before. He may not have been at fault that he failed in his
attempt to govern Lombardy and Venice, for a good government from
Austria would scarcely have been tolerated by these people. But he soon
left them and was placed over the Austrian navy. In this character he
did little that we know of, except to write a letter to Lieut. M aury — a
compliment which we value less now than we did before the latter became
a rebel.
The motives which led the French Emperor to this choice o f a sovereign,
for our neighbors on the south, were doubtless somewhat mixed. He who
is most recently from the ranks o f the vulgar, is most ready to defend the
prerogatives of the class to which he has just risen. His Majesty’s own
rank has been questioned, and he must lay by a store of merit so that
other sovereigns may feel bound to admit his divine right to their circle.
Mexico has been over forty years without a government. More than
seventy different chief executives (nearly two a year) have attempted in
turn to administer its affairs, and have failed. If M axim ilian should suc­
ceed, the world would attribute to N apoleon the singular merit of giving
a government to a land which had never been well governed, and for
forty years not at all. I f he should fail it would only be as all others had
failed before him.
And why should we be unwilling to allow that true benevolence may
play its part among the motives of this ambitious man ? In this respect
the pamphleteers and newspaper correspondents who give to the public




1865.]

The House o f Hapsburg in America.

367

the key note upon which they chant the praises and the curses of the
world’s rulers, generally commit a grave error. They admit too little in­
fluence of higher motives in those whom they rightly represent as
swayed in general by ambition or the more grovelling passions; they allow
too little of baser metal in the composition of the good, the wise, the
prudent, and the patriotic. W hy may not even N apoleon feel in his ex­
alted position some of the impulses which lead to beneficence, and yield
them a place in his plans? W hy may he not, at least, be wise enough to
perceive that the ends o f ambition would be more surely attained in the
path which leads to the world’s highest weal ? He had not failed to notice
the wretched condition of Mexico— the anarchy and violence which have
long prevailed there,— and to feel the importance to that unhappy country
and the world of some effort to introduce law and order in their stead.
W e had lost our hope, and certainly N apoleon cherished none, in the
weak and spasmodic efforts of a turbulent democracy. M ontesquieu
taught, and we firmly believe, that virtue in the people is the only security
of permanancy in a democracy. Virtue is wanting; honor, too, is want­
in g ; Mexico’s only remaining hope is in a strong and vigorous monarchy.
N apoleon has hope that by establishing such a government he may still
save Mexico and merit the world’s gratitude.
The motives which sway the imperial mind in this matter are the same
in general which rule us. He wishes to furnish a government to Mexico
just as we would like to do. The same motive leads us to desire his failure.
His own glory, and that of his dynasty, may indeed be a more immediate
motive with him than personal and family considerations are with us.
Refused admission to the circle of royalty by European sovereigns— long
denied by them the epithet o f brother— repelled in his efforts to connect
himself by marriage even with the petty, princely houses of Germany and
Italy, much more the greater ones, he must finally take up with a Spanish
princess, whose only hope o f escaping a return to the ranks of the vulgar
lay in this offer. This alone would not rank him with royalty, much less
do what he desired, raise him in the princely ranks far above a question­
able position. He must be not only o f the princes, but the lawgiver of
the order. His success at home, and his merits in the Crimea and in Italy,
were not exactly o f the kind to secure the personal favor of the mon irchs,
except that of V ictor E mmanuel, which, in the unsettled state of Italy, is
of little value. What can he do?
The success of the American revolution reacted upon Europe. This
reaction concurring with elements existing there and already in motion,
came near overthrowing the monarchies of the Old World. W hen N apoleon
was finally put down— when the sovereigns of Europe had just b*gan to
raise their heads above the receding waves o f the terrible revolution
which had well-nigh engulphed them, they saw their greatest danger in
the American movement. Reflecting on their recent peril and narrow
escape, and deeming that they saw the cause of their danger still in
vigorous action in America, they formed what has been called the Holy
Alliance, so called perhaps from the personal character of the class of men
whose sacred functions had been disturbed, their occupation imperiled,
their very existence put to so fearful a hazard, and their persons so often
forced into degrading contact with common humanity. These men are
declared everywhere to have reigned by the grace of God— a proposition




368

The House o f Hamhura in America.

■which we must in fairness admit, since there is no other way to account
for their reigning at all. The words of scripture also, “ where sin abounded
grace did much more abound,” greatly favor this claim, as every one
must perceive who reads the history o f courts. To sustain this institu­
tion in Europe, and propagate it on this continent, was the main object of
the Holy Alliance. It would restore to Spain— the land in which this
institution had attained its highest perfection— her possessions in America,
and thus spread the institution o f royalty over the whole continent. It
was Spain, and that, too, when governed by the Hapsburgs, which developed
the greatest activity of the holy office, and at home, in Spanish America,
the Netherlands and Italy reduced all to the unity of the faith. This
country had, therefore, the first claim on the services of the Holy Alliance,
but President M onroe , in his message for 1825, forbade its interference.
This compact o f sovereigns was dissolved, but now the last born and
most remarkable of that race who reign by “ the grace of God,” a man
who has passed through so many transformations that we scarcely know
where to rank him— who is slanderously said to have belonged once to a
lower but very useful order o f the ruling class— the London police, and
to have been afterwards a great patron o f the same class in New York—
this man has taken up the work o f the defunct H oly Alliance in America.
The motive which swayed this compact o f royalty has doubtless its place,
also, in this imperial mind, contemned as he had been by his royal
brethren. One would naturally suppose that after rising so far above
them all, he would scorn to descend again to their level and accept the
brotherhood which they at first denied him, much more to become its
champion. He knows that he would not have been so safe in New York
if a Bourbon or a Hapsburg had reigned over these States, and that his
predecessor, whose granddaughter he has now established on the throne
of Mexico, might have been worse off than in school-teaching, or sleeping
in hay lofts with stage drivers. He has, however, risen above the fear o f
a return of such days. Even if he feared them, he might hope that a
throne created by him would furnish him an asylum. W e may justly
attribute to him a desire to restore hereditary monarchy wherever he can
conveniently do it. The catholic church, too, may claim his services. By
the overgrown power o f the Greek church in Russia, the advance of
protestantisra in Europe and America, and the utter nothingness o f the
Spanish catholic States o f the Western Hemisphere, as well as to make
amends for the contempt which he has shown to the Holy Father, he may
feel himself called upon to do something towards the equilibrium o f the
forces and his own credit with the Roman See. What have been called the
Latin nations, too, in contradistinction to the Teutonic and Sclavonic,
have long been on the wane in regard to their influence in the family of
civilized nations. Italy, from her endless divisions and her subjection to
Austria, was either lost or was on the wrong side. N apoleon restored it
mostly in 1859 to its natural alliance with the Latin race. The effort to
regenerate Mexico is another movement in the same direction, as, also, the
augmented dignity which he had given to his own Empire of France.
This act of the Emperor falls in with those broad views of the world’ s
commerce which he has been known to cherish. In his deepest humilia­
tion, he was occupied with the scheme of cutting the Isthmus of Panam a
with a ship canal. He wrote a pamphlet setting forth its great advantage s




V

1865.J

*

\

T he H o u se o f H a p sb u rg in A m erica .

369

to the world. He signed a contract when in the prison at Ham binding
himself personally to expend 75,000,000 francs towards the carrying out
of this work. He is now actually occupied with a similar cutting of the
Isthmus of Suez. This project in Mexico has attached to it, in his own
mind, without any doubt, the long cherished one of connecting the Atlantio
and Pacific. The magnificent schemes which occupied his prison hours,
when none but himself dreamed o f the destiny which awaited him, may be
supposed still to exist, perhaps enlarged, but quite as likely made more
modest by his elevation to power. He has commenced to translate his
thoughts into acts. The results have just begun to develop themselves
before us. W e must not, however, be strict in reasoning from his known
plans to his acts; or, on the other hand, from his acts back to his long
cherished plans. The latter will never be known until the secrets o f all
hearts are revealed. Light may be shed upon them. If his purposes and
achievements differ from each other only as those of most men, they will
still remain too wide asunder to justify us in taking one as the exponent
o f the other. He has of course had, and still has, some grand life-plan
before him. Hitherto he has doubtless been much more occupied with
the revision than with the execution of this plan. Section after section,
chapter after chapter, perhaps book after book, must have been dropped
from the original draught, as events have closed vistas once open, or re­
flection has modified his estimate of objects seen through them. So, too,
new chapters must have been inscribed as events have opened new vistas.
The structure has never been demolished and a new one erected in its
stead, and yet, successively, almost every stone and stick of timber in it
may hitve been changed, while, built by the same architect, and on the
same general plan, it passes for the same old edifice. He is too wise to
attempt the execution of an old purpose, which events have shown not
feasible. He has not lived in the world so long, the sport of fortune, be­
fore he was adopted and became her favorite son, without learning the
world’s tendencies. He dare not disregard them if he would. His uncle’s
situation was very different. His great element of strength was the weak­
ness and rottenness o f the European monarchs and monarchies of his day.
He played with them as a child plays with his toys. But he failed to
notice the progress of their education under his own wonderful tuition.
It is hazardous for the master to attempt to flog the young man o f twenty,
because as a boy o f fourteen years he had patiently submitted to flogging.
About the time of the Congress of Erfurth, in 1808, N apoleon had the
continental sovereigns so schooled that, like good boys, they took their
seats at his word and quietly kept them. But five years later, he attempted
to flog the largest boy in the school, and was in turn put out. The
nephew’s case is quite different. He has not educated Europe, but Europe
and the rest of the world has educated him. No man knows better than
Louis N apoleon the elements of which the world is made up. He will
despise none of them. The general demand for religious freedom, the
progress of the great missionary enterprise, which is doing more to make
known and to improve the physical and moral condition of the world
than all other agencies combined, as well as all the liberal and progres­
sive tendencies of the age are, well known to him. He will not forfeit the
world’s gratitude by setting himself against them. The most he will
attempt will be to show that they can thrive under monarchical as well




370

The House o f Havsbura in America.

as under republican governments, and thus become foster-father to the
child that will in the end assert his paternal rights, and restore republican,
or, at least, constitutional government.
W hile N apoleon has had in mind the great commercial interests of
the world— which he will not only foster but develop to their highest
capability— he has not forgotten, and dare not despise, these beneficent
movements. He has done nothing, nor will he do anything, to promote
those great enterprises o f Christian benevolence and philanthropy, and
especially those o f free inquiry in matters of religious and civil govern­
m ent; nor will he, on the other hand, do anything to increase the power
of the papal see over the human conscience, but, on the other hand, will
ever check and limit it. He is doing more even now to humiliate and
offend the Pope than he is to restrain the freedom of protestant worship.
He is not fully characterized when called an ambitious man. His ambi­
tion is, no doubt, somewhat controlling, but it neglects no considerations
of prudence. He is the most cautious o f men. When he attempted to
free Italy from the Austrian yoke, his caution made him leave the work
unfinished. He knew that Prussia would not interfere unless he should
cross the Mincio and enter the territory o f the German Confederation, and
that all the German powers were bound to defend that territory. He left
Venetia to Austria rather than incur the risk. He has hazarded nothing
y e t ; probably he will run no hazard in America. In alliance with Eng­
land and Spain he made an effort to collect some debts in Mexico. His
allies withdrew without having effected anything. He more consistently
pursued some real end. H e saw the United States struggling with a fearful
rebellion. The effect of this was not merely to quiet his fears of interven­
tion ; he took a broader and more rational view. He would establish a
government in Mexico ; but he saw no material therefrom which its subordi­
nate agents could be made. But he foresaw, that in case the government at
Washington should succeed in quenching the rebellion, there would be
enough— and those, too, skilled in matters o f government— who would be
ready to take refuge in Mexico and subserve his purpose. If, on the other
hand, the Southern States should establish their independence, he foresaw a
relation between the new confederacy and the new empire which would still
furnish him the agents for his government. If in all this, ambition has been
his motive, it has never outrun his caution or prudence. Had there been no
movement in progress which promised to furnish the means o f sustaining a
government in Mexico, he would not have made the attempt. Rumor has
already announced the beginning of the execution of this policy by taking an
old United States Senator of Southern sympathies, and with a wife of courtly
manners, and raising him to a dukedom. This, if true, shows the direc­
tion in which he is iooking for the agents for the government, whether of
the empire bestowed upon M axim ilian , or any territory reserved to him­
self. His special motive in wishing to own a province in America, if such
is the fact, we may not be able to tell. W e can, however, conceive of
commercial advantages in such an arrangement. Some years since, when
the P erry expedition to Japan was fresh in our minds, we talked o f the
purchase of an island or islands off the Chinese coast, to be used as a naval
or commercial depot. Had the thing talked of been realized, we might
have been denounced as ambitious of gaining a foothold by which we
might in the end subjugate the Celestial and Japanese empires, or Aus-




1865.]

The House o f Hapsburg in America.

S'? 1

tralia. W e, however, should have thought o f nothing more than a pru­
dent regard to our own commercial interests. So N apoleon would find
a better name for that which we call in him ambition, just as we can do
in our own case.
In regard to M axim ilian . In choosing for this throne a respectable
member of this old Hapsburg family, N apoleon shows that his shrewd­
ness and caution have not deserted him. Mexico was a province of the
Empire of C harles V., the most renowned of M aximilian ’ s ancestors.
Perhaps this imperial majesty of France wishes to give this testimony in
favor of legitimacy. In this respect, it is true, he testifies against him­
self; but then the greatness of his service to the cause of legitimacy will
merit an exception in his favor from legitimists. But M aximilian is a
cherished brother of F rancis J oseph o f Austria. This connects him
with most of the catholic reigning houses. His wife is a daughter of the
very Nestor of European sovereigns, the King of Belgium. Her father
was husband to the lamented princess C harlotte , daughter of G eorge IV.
o f England, and she takes her name from that princess. Her father is also
uncle to the late prince consort, and is a favorite in England. The new
Empress is also grand-daughter to Louis P h ilippe , late king of the French.
N apoleon could not well have made a selection which would have com­
manded a larger support from the reigning sovereigns.
W ith much in the disorders of Mexico to repel M axim ilian , there is
also much to lure him to the acceptance of the proffered Empire. The
territory over which he is to reign, if he subjugates it, is from three to
four times as large in extent, and in all the resources o f physical wealth,
as that over which his imperial brother reigns. Mexico is, par excellence,
the land of the whole earth for luxuriance and variety of natural produc­
tiveness. There the banana, the most prolific of all fruits, is at hom e;
oranges, figs, whatever else the tropics produce, flourish there; Mexico
has all climates, from that of the tropical to that marked by everlasting
snows, and so as one rises from the low lands of the coasts, there are found
flourishing all fruits, grasses, vegetables, and cereals of the temperate and
frigid zones. Its mineral wealth— if gold and silver which have been its
curse can be called its wealth— are its prime natural distinction above the
rest of the world. The coinage of silver alone, since the conquest by
C ortez, is variously estimated at from $2,000,000,000 to $12,000,000,000.
The rest of the world together does not equal it. Precious stones are
there. The ruby, the amethyst, the opal, the topaz, the garnet, the agate,
the chalcedory, are found. As that gold-hunter from the land of goldhunters approached the imperial capital, M ontezuma in alarm sent pre­
sents to turn him back. They were, however, too rich. They suggested
too vast an idea o f the stores from which they must have been drawn.
They made the Spanish captain and all his men delirious, and the nation
has never recovered from the delirium. It could not be cured in the
presence of the exciting cause, and that cause remains to this day, and is
perhaps still, to some extent, the lure which has drawn thither M axim ilian ,
as it did the original conquerors.
The facts which ought to have caused M aximilian to pause, are but
results of this natural wealth, the curse which has naturally resulted from
the exuberance of blessing. The original delirium of the Spaniards, be­
came a chronic malady, generating a complication of physical and mental




312

The House o f Hapsburg in America.

[May,

weaknesses which must be cured, if at all, by a slow and gradual process.
The pure Spaniards, the pure Indians, and the various grades o f mixture
of the two races, make up the population, and their differences are but
the different grades o f corruption. Neither person nor property o f native
or foreigner is ever secure from seizure by bandits or government officials,
if indeed the latter should be considered as anything but bandits with
authority.
There was an unpromising state of things in our neighbor republic
which might well have caused hesitation in the minds of both N apoleon
and M aximilian , before assuming their several responsibilities in the mat­
ter. They have weighed the reasons on both sides and have acted. What
is now the duty and interest o f other powers, and especially of the U ni­
ted States ?
The world is interested that Mexico be governed. This cannot be un­
less industry is encouraged and protected in the country itself. For this
a vigorous government is necessary. W e need not further argue the
question whether the people are capable of self-government. The re­
maining questions then will b e : S h o u ld the U nited S ta tes assum e the
governm en t o f M ex ic o , eith er by conquest an d annexation , or by some kind
o f p rotectora te ; or should other pow ers be allow ed to intervene and fu r n is h
such governm ent ?

It is an unfortunate time to argue that we should have undertaken, or
should now undertake, the government of Mexico. None but rebels de­
sire that we should have had double the present extent of territory in re­
bellion, and none but those who wish to provide for future rebellions, will
desire to see an authority extended over so large a surface, most of which
must be, for generations to come, a theatre o f anarchy and disorder as
hitherto. Our government could not be vigorous there, and, consequently,
would be so nowhere else; even supposing that we could govern the
country at all. It would cost us, too, ten times as much as we should
profit by it, and we should be giving the world the benefit o f its com­
merce at our own expense. This would be true whether government were
by a protectorate, or by annexation, for a protectorate would amount to
nothing, unless it furnished a real government. Indeed it would be im­
possible for the United States to establish its authority in Mexico without
violating the fundamental principle of our own government. It could not
be governed like the rest o f our country— that is, allowed to govern it­
self— present constitutions of the people’s own make, and be received as
States by the general government. W e should have to prescribe consti­
tutions and furnish the agents and means of carrying them into execution,
and, certainly, to commence by a violation of our own principle would be
to undermine our own government.
Shall we then, like the dog in the manger, drive the oxen from the corn
which we ourselves cannot eat ? This would be bad policy if it were
good morality. The dog should have considered how much he might be
dependent upon both the corn and the cattle for a living, which he could
not at the moment realize from either. So should we consider how much
more Mexico will be worth to us, if so governed that its resources shall
be developed and opened to commerce, than if its present disorders con­
tinue.
But does the government just inaugurated in Mexico promise to bring




The House o f Hapshurq in America.

8Y3

order out of the chronic disorder and anarchy ? In reply to this ques­
tion, we may say that one o f two things is certain: either there will be
vigor enough in the new government, to reduce the chaos to order, and
keep it so, or else it will be subverted and expelled, as its more than
seventy predecessors have been within the last forty-five years. If the
former, then Mexico will be worth more to us as a neighbor than hitherto ;
if the latter, she will be worth just as much ; if the former, then we should
do nothing to check the progress o f improvement; if the latter, we may
spare ourselves the trouble and expense of doing that which will surely
be done for us. Our own interests are all against any interference in
Mexican affairs, and there is no one of those moral principles recognized
as binding upon the family o f nations, which requires interference. If
N apoleon and his European allies had without provocation attacked and
subverted an existing government, and violently put another in its place,
the case would have been different. They went to chastise a violation or
entire neglect o f international right. They found no responsible govern­
ment to chastise. The people were divided into numerous parties, some
of which were found willing to accept of a government by a member o f
a European house, and sent a deputation to offer it to M axim ilian o f
Austria. Such is the origin of the present state of affairs in Mexico.
W e have hitherto been disposed to encourage immigration, and to allow
immigrants freely to pursue the callings to which they have been educated
or inclined. This Hapsburg family has for 1,000 years past been accus­
tomed to rule, and that on a large scale. The one who has come to
Mexico is now in vigorous and active manhood— about 83 years of age—
and is one of the best o f the family. To govern is not only theoretically
but practically' his profession. Many o f his German countrymen in our
land, who have not been educated as rulers, have still been put to this
work soon after their arrival among us, and some of them have done very
well too; some have even been sent back to represent our country in the
very lands of their birth, and that, too, without experience or preparation.
W hy should we object to this man’s making trial of his talents for govern­
ing in a neighboring country?
The Monroe doctrine was good in its time, when the sovereigns o f
Europe seriously thought of extending monarchy over the world, and
perhaps with some modification ought still to hold good. It would have
been right, and perhaps duty, if an attempt had been made forcibly to
subvert an existing government on our continent and establish a monarchy
upon its ruins, to have interfered. But the case has really been much like
that of the original occupation by European powers o f the Western hem­
isphere in disregard of the rights of the Indian who owned and occupied
it ; only that the consent of the Indian tribes was not obtained, nor their
wishes consulted, while the Mexicans were consulted in regard to M a x i ­
milian ’ s government, and the majority are actually in favor o f it.
The future policy and results of the new regime in Mexico present an
inviting field of speculation. W e are not, however, skilful in foretelling
the future. In regard to policy we would fain hope that Hapsburg his­
tory would furnish no key to the future o f Mexico. There is often a great
difference between that member of a royal house who has been educated
for the throne, and those who have not had their vision thus blurred.
The late Archduke J ohn of Austria was a liberal man, and the one chosen




The Law o f Place Where Contract is Made.

3V4

[May,

by the revolutionary party of Germany in 1848 to take the lead in carry­
ing out the scheme of a United Fatherland. He was finally forbidden by
the reigning member of the house to proceed.

COMMERCIAL

LAW-NO.

21.

THE LAW OF PLACE WHERE CONTRACT IS MADE.
WHAT IS EMBRACED WITHIN THE LAW OF PLACE.

I f either of the parties to a contract was not at home, or if both were
not at the same home, when they entered into it, or if it is to be executed
abroad, or if it comes into litigation before a foreign tribunal, then the
rights and the obligations of the parties may be affected either by the law
o f the place of the contract, or by the law of the domicile or home of a
party, or by the law of the place where the thing is situated to which the
contract refers, or by the law of the tribunal before which the case islitigated. All of these are commonly included in the Latin phrase lex loci,
or, as we translate the phrase, the Law of Place.
It is obvious that this law must be of great importance wherever citi­
zens of distinct nations have much commercial intercourse with each
other. In this country it has an especial and very great importance, from
the circumstance that, while the citizens of the whole country have at
least as much business connection with each other as those of any other
nation, our country is composed o f more than thirty separate and inde­
pendent sovereignties, which are, for most commercial purposes, regarded
by the law as foreign to each other.
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF PLACE.

The general principles upon which the law of place depends are four.
First, every sovereignty can bind, by its laws, all persons and all things
within the limits of the State. Second, no law has any force or authority
of its own, beyond those limits. Third, by the comity or courtesy of
nations— aided in our case, as to the several States, by the peculiar and
close relation between the States, and for some purposes by a constitu­
tional provision— the laws of foreign states have a qualified force and in­
fluence, which it is perhaps impossible to define or describe with preci­
sion.
The fourth rule is perhaps that o f the most frequent application. It
is, that a contract which is not valid where it is made, is valid nowhere
else; and one which is valid where it is made, is valid everywhere. Thus
a contract made in Massachusetts, and there void because usurious, was
sued in New Hampshire and held to be void there, although the law of
New Hampshire would not have avoided it if it had been made there.
But it seems that courts do not take notice of foreign revenue laws, and
will enforce foreign contractsmadein violation of them. If contracts are made




1865.]

The Law o f Place Where Contract is Made.

375

only orally, where by law they should be in writing, they cannot be en­
forced elsewhere where writing is not required ; but if made orally where
writing is not required, they can be enforced in other countries where
such contracts should be in writing. The rule, that a contract which is
valid where it is made is valid everywhere, is applicable to contracts o f
marriage.
As contracts relate either to movables or immovables, or, to use the
phraseology of our own law, to personal property or to real property, the
following distinction is taken. I f the contract refers to personal property,
(which never has a fixed place, and is therefore called, in some systems of
law, movable property,) the place of the contract governs by its law the
construction and effect o f the contract. But if the contract refers to real
property, it is construed and applied by the law of the place where that
real property is situated, without reference, so far as the title is concerned,
to the law of the place of the contract. Hence, the title to land can only
be given or received as the law of the place where the land is situated re­
quires and determines. And it has been said by high authority, that the
same rule may properly apply to all other local stock or funds, although
o f a personal nature, or so made by the local law, such as bank stock,
insurance stock, manufacturing stock, railroad shares, and other incor­
poreal property, owing its existence to, or regulated by, peculiar local
laws; and therefore no effectual transfer can be made of such property,
except in the manner prescribed by the local regulations.
ITS EFFECT UPON THE CAPACITY OF PERSONS TO CONTRACT.

As to the capacity of persons to enter into contracts, it is undoubtedly
the general rule, that this is determined by the law of his dom icile; and
whatever that permits him to do, he may do anywhere. But it must be
taken, we think,— for the law on this point is not certainly settled,— with
this qualification, that a home incapacity, created entirely by a home law,
and having no cause or necessity existing in nature, would not go with
the party into another country. Thus, the law of France once fixed the
age of twenty-five as that of majority. If, then, a Frenchman, in Eng­
land or in this country, twenty-four years old, made a purchase of goods,
and gave his note for it, we have no doubt that note would be valid where
it was made. But if a woman nineteen years o f age, whose home was
in Vermont, where women are of age at eighteen, made in Massachusetts,
while only visiting there, her note for goods, we incline to think this note
could not be enforced in Massachusetts; if, however, a Massachusetts
woman of nineteen, who could not make a valid note for goods in her own
State, went for a short time from Massachusetts into Vermont, and while
there made her note, for goods bought there, we think this note could be
sued there. If it were sent back to Massachusetts, and there put in suit,
we think the note should be open to no defence in that State that could
not be urged in Vermont, where the note was made (unless it was ex­
pressly to be paid in Massachusetts ;) but it is quite possible that, as the
law of the domicile (Massachusetts) and the law of the place of the con­
tract (Vermont) were in conflict, that law of these two would prevail
which was also the law of the place of the forum, or tribunal, or court,
and therefore such a note might not be enforced by the courts in Massa­
chusetts.




316

The Law o f Place Where Contract is Made.

[May,

THE PLACE OF THE CONTRACT.

A contract is made when both parties agree to it, and not before. It is
therefore made where both parties agree to it, if this is one place. But if
the contract be made by letter, or by separate signatures to an instrument,
the contract is then made where that signature is put to it, or that letter
is written, which in fact completes the contract; thus, it has been held,
that where a proposal to purchase goods is made by letter sent to another
State, and is there assented to, the contract of sale is made in that other
State, and if it is valid by the laws of the latter State, it will be enforced
in the State whence the letter was sent, although it would have been in­
valid if made there. Where A, in America, orders goods from England,
and the English merchant executes the order, the contract is governed by
the law of England, for the contract is there consummated; and it is the
law o f this place of contract, as we have seen, which, in general, deter­
mines its construction, and its force and effect. But this rule is subject
to a very important qualification, when the contract is made in one place,
and is to be performed in another place; for then, in general, the law of
this last place must determine the force and effect of the contract, for the
obvious and strong reason, that parties who agreed that a certain thing
should be done in a certain place intended that a legal thing should be
done there, and therefore bargained with reference to the laws of the place,
not in which they stood, but in which they were to act. This principle
has been applied to an antenuptial contract, and it was held, that when
parties marry in reference to the laws o f another country as their intended
domicile, the law of the intended domicile governs the construction o f
their marriage contract as to the rights of personal property.
But, for many commercial transactions, both of these rules seem to be
in force; or rather to be blended in such a way as to give the parties an
option as to what shall be the place of the contract, and what the rule o f
law which shall apply to it. Thus, a note written in Boston, and expressly
payable in Boston, is, to all intents and purposes, a Boston note; and if
more than six per cent interest is promised, it is usurious, whatever may
be the domicile of the parties. If made in Boston, and no place of pay­
ment is expressed, it is payable and may be demanded anywhere, but
would still be a Boston note. But if expressly payable in California, (where
there are at this time no usury laws,) and promising to pay twenty per
cent interest, we are strongly of opinion that, when payment of the note
was demanded in California, the promise of interest would be held valid.
So, if the note were made in California, payable in Boston, and promising
to pay twenty per cent interest, we think it would not be usurious. In
other words, if a note is made in oue place, but is payable in another, the
parties have their option to make it bear the interest which is lawful in
either place. An interesting case occurred in Vermont, involving these
principles. It was an action on two promissory notes given in Montreal,
by persons living there, to the defendants, payable in Albany, N. Y., and
by the defendants indorsed to the plaintiffs. The notes were thus made
at Montreal, where the makers resided, and the indorsers and the plaintiffs
resided in Vermont. The lawful rate of interest in Montreal was six per
cent per annum, and in New York seven per cent. The court, after ex­
amining all the authorities, said: “ From all of which, we consider the




1865.]

The Law o f Place Where Contract is Made.

377

following rules in regard to interest on contracts made in one country, to
be executed in another, to be well settled: 1. If a contract be entered
into in one place, to be performed in another, and the rate of interest dif­
fers in the two countries, the parties may stipulate for the rate of interest
o f either country, and thus, by their own express contract, determine with
reference to the law o f which country that incident o f the contract shall
be decided. 2. If the contract so entered into stipulate for interest
generally, it shall be the rate of interest of the place of payment, unless
it appear the parties intended to contract with reference to the law of the
other place. 3. If the contract be so entered into for money, payable at
a place on a day certain, and no interest be stipulated, and payment be
delayed, interest by way o f damages shall be allowed, according to the
law of the place of payment, where the money may be supposed to have
been required by the creditor for use, and where he might be supposed to
have borrowed money to supply the deficiency thus occurring, and to have
paid the rate of interest o f that country.” If a note made in Boston and
payable in California were demanded in California and unpaid, and after­
wards put in suit in Massachusetts, and personal service made on the
promisor there, we should say that any interest which it bore should be
recovered, provided it were lawful in California. And indeed, generally,
that such a note, being made in good faith, might always bear any inter­
est lawful where it was payable. So it would be if the note were made
in Boston, and payable in New York, with seven per cent interest. But
a note made in Boston, and intended in fact to be paid in Boston, and
bearing seven per cent interest, could not escape the usury laws of Massa­
chusetts merely by being written payable in New York.
In everything relating to process and remedy, the lex fo r i (by which
Latin phrase is meant the law of the forum or court, or o f the place where
the suit is brought) prevails over every other. This is true o f arrest.
Thus, in a suit between A and B, both resident in England, on a contract
made between them in Portugal, the contract was interpreted according
to the laws of Portugal, but the remedy was taken according to the laws
o f England where the suit is brought; that is, A could arrest B in Eng­
land for a debt which accrued in Portugal, while both resided there,
although the Portuguese law does not allow o f arrest for debt. In New
York, where a seal is necessary to constitute a deed, the action peculiar
to sealed instruments will not lie on a contract to be performed in Penn­
sylvania, with a scrawl and the word seal in the place o f the seal, though,
by the law of Pennsylvania, this constitutes a seal.
The form of action relates to the remedy, and is governable by the law
o f the forum. This is also true of the statutes of limitation and o f pre­
scription. Thus, a foreigner, bringing in Massachusetts an action on a
simple contract debt more than six years after it accrued, would find his
action barred by our statutes of limitation, although the debt accrued in
his own country, where there might be a longer limitation, or none at all.
DOMICILE.

It is sometimes important, and very difficult, to determine where a per­
son has his domicile, or home. In general, it is his residence; or that
country in which he permanently resides. He may change it by a change
o f place both in fact and in intent, but not by either alone. Thus, a citivol . lii .— no . v.
24




378

The Law o f Place Where Contract is Made.

[May,

zen o f New Y ork, going to London and remaining there a long time, but
without the intention o f relinquishing his home in New Y ork, does not
lose that hom e. And if he stays in New Y ork, his intention to live and
remain abroad does not affect his domicile until he goes in fact.
H e may have his legal dom icile in one place, and yet spend a very large
part o f his time in another. But he cannot have more than one dom icile.
H is words or declarations are not the only evidence o f his intent; and
they are much stronger evidence when against his interest, than when
they are in his favor. Thus, one goes from Boston to England. If he
goes intending not merely to travel, but to change his residence perm a­
nently, and not to return to this country unless as a visitor, he changes his
dom icile from the day that he leaves this country. Let us suppose, how­
ever, that he is still regarded by our assessors as residing here, although
traveling abroad, and is heavily taxed accordingly. I f he can prove that
he has abandoned his original home, he escapes from the tax which he
must otherwise pay. N ow , his declarations that he has no longer a home
here, and that his residence is permanently fixed in England, and the like,
would be very far from conclusive in his favor, and could indeed be hardly re­
ceived as evidence at all, unless they were connected with facts and cir­
cumstances. But if it could be shown that he had constantly asserted
that he was still an American, that he had no other permanent residence,
no home but that which he had temporarily left as a traveler, such de­
clarations would be almost conclusive against him. In general, such a
question would be determined by all the words and acts, the arrangement
o f property at home, the length and the character o f the residence abroad,
and all the facts and circumstances which would indicate the actual inten­
tion and understanding o f the party.

Two cases have occurred in the city of Boston, which illustrate this
question. In one, a citizen of Boston, who had been at school in the city
of Edinburgh when a boy, and formed a predilection for that place as a
residence, and had expressed a determination to reside there if he ever
should have the means of so doing, removed with his family to that city,
in 1836, declaring, at the time o f his departure, that he intended to reside
abroad, and that if he should return to the United States he should not
live in Boston. He resided in Edinburgh and vicinity, as a housekeeper,
taking a lease o f an estate for a term o f years, and endeavored to engage
an American to enter his family for two years, as instructor of his children.
Before he left Boston, he made a contract for the sale o f his mansionhouse and furniture there, but shortly afterwards procured said contract
to be annulled, (assigning as his reason therefor, that, in case of his death
in Europe, his wife might wish to return to Boston,) and let his house and
furniture to a tenant. Held, that he had changed his domicile, and was
not liable to taxation as an inhabitant o f Boston in 1837. In the other
case, a native inhabitant of Boston, intending to reside in France, with
his family, departed for that country in June, 1836, and was followed by
his family about three months afterwards. His dwelling-house and furni­
ture were leased for a year, and he hired a house for a year in Paris. At
the time of his departure he intended to return and resume his residence
in Boston, but had not fixed on any time for his return. He returned in
about sixteen months, and his family in about nine months afterwards.
Held, that he continued to be an inhabitant o f Boston, and that he was




1865.]

379

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

rightly taxed there, during his absence, for his person and personal
property. This last case was distinguished from the former, by the dif­
ferent intent of the parties upon their departure from home.
It is a general rule, that, if one has a domicile, he retains it until he
acquires another. Thus, if a seaman, without family or property, sails
from the place of his nativity, which may be considered his domicile o f
origin, although he may return only at long intervals, or even be absent
for many years, yet, if he does not, by some actual residence or other
means, acquire a domicile elsewhere, he retains his domicile of origin.
It seems to be agreed that one may dwell for a considerable time, and
even regularly during a large part of the year, in one place, or even in
one State, and yet have his domicile in another. If one resides in Bos­
ton five months in the twelve, including the day on which residency de­
termines taxation, and the other seven months at his house in the country,
he will be taxed in Boston, and may vote there, and his domicile is there,
A woman marrying takes her husband’s domicile, and changes it with
him. A minor child has the domicile of his father, or o f his mother if
she survive his father; and the surviving parent, with whom a child lives,
by changing his or her own domicile in good faith, changes that of the
child. And even a guardian has the same power.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
LA TE VICTO RIES, ETC., NO EFFECT ON PRICE OF C O L D — LIST OF PRICES— PUBLIC DEBT OF UN ITED
STATES — CURRENCY MOVEMENT AND PRICE OF GOLD— V A L U E D RY GOODS E N TERED FOR CONSUMP­
TIO N, ETC.— SPECIE RECEIPTS AND SHIPMENTS— RATK8 OF EXCHAN GE UNITED STA TE S PAPER—
FLUCTUATIONS IN R A IL W A Y SHARES.

T he belief which we expressed last month that, “ in regard to the probability
of early recovery from the prevailing depression, the effect of whatever military
successes may yet await us has undoubtedly been already discounted,” has turned
out to be well founded. Events of the most important historical character have
since come to pass, one after another in quick succession, but none of them have
had any perceptible effect upon prices. During the past thirty days we have
seen the fall of Petersburgh and Richmond, the flight of Jefferson D avis and
his Government, the surrender of L ee’ s army, the capture of Lynchburg, Mobile,
Selma and Montgomery, the closure of the Southern ports by proclamation, and
the assassination of President L incoln, yet gold remains where it stood at our
last writing, and the prices of general merchandise, as seen from the following
table, have moved only in accordance with the downward tendency imparted to
them by the purely commercial and financial causes which we then set forth:

March 1.
Ashes, pots, 1st sort............... $11 00 a 11 25
Coffee, Rio, prime...................
21 a
21*
Cotton, mid., fair, upland. . . .
92 a
93
Flour, State, superfine...........
9 85 a 10 00
Hay, N. R. shipping................
a 1 65
Nails, cu t..................................
8 50 a
Petroleum, crude 40a4 7 gravity
43 a
Pork, prime mess, new ..........
35 00 a 35 50
Tobacco, Kentucky lugs.........
10 a
13
Leather, oak (SI.) light...........
48 a
52




March 28.
Nominal.
20*a
55 a
9 20 a 9
1 60 a
a 7
33 a
26 00 a 27
8a
47 a

April 29.

$8 00 a 8 12*
21
58
40
50
00
10
51

6
1
7
26

a
21*
a
68
90 a 7 10
00 a 1 5
00 a
39 a
40
50 a 27 60
8a
10
44 a
46

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

380

Lumber, spruce, Eastern........
Cora, -white Southern.............
Wheat, white G enessee.........
Sheetings, brown, standard.. .

23 a
27
1 93 a 2 00
2 50 a 2 65
62Ja

Nominal.
1 70 a 1 80
2 25 a 2 40
25 a

[May,
22 a
25
1 30 a 1 40
2 20 a 2 35
31 a
32-J

Thus, beyond the elation produced by military successes, and the depression
occasioned by the sudden and cruel death of the Chief Magistrate of the Repub­
lic, the daily life of the people is seen to throb with a pulse as regular as though
it were passing through the most placid and peaceful portion of its history.
There were times when events of vastly less importance shook the very founda­
tions of commercial prosperity, and produced the most violent perturbations in
the markets of the world, when the taking of a village, or the death of some
petty chief, threw all the operations of trade into confusion. But these times
are past. Communities hang no longer by single threads. The interests of
society are become so numerous and important that triumphs and catastrophies
decide little besides private fortunes and personal interests. If it were only to
learn this great lesson, it were an especial priviledge to live in these historic
times ; but the merchant and financier has other advantages to reap from his
contemporariety with the class of events which are now occurring. An immense
store of useful facts may be gleaned from almost every department of human in­
dustry, and all should avail themselves of this era of extra activity to observe
them aDd garner them up for future reference. "We want correct statistics con­
cerning prices and values, correct data concerning banking operations, paper
money, &c., and now is the time to lay the foundations for such knowledge.
A Treasury statement has been published by Secretary M c C u l l o c h , bearing
date March 31. After this, it is to be hoped that the law which makes it the duty
of the Secretary to exhibit his books to the public, at certain stated intervals*
will be rigidly regarded. Since October last, this is the first official statement
we have had. The two statements compare*as follows:
PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Official statement of the public debt, as appeared from the books, treasurer's
returns and requisitions in the Treasury Department, on October 31, 1864, and
March 31, 1865 :
DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN COIN.

Denominations.

-Amounts.O c t 31, 1864.

Mar. 31,1865.

6 per cents, December 81, 1867...............
do.
July 1, 1868............................
6
do.
January 1, 1874 ...................
5
January 1, 1 8 7 1 ...................
do.
5
6 per cents, December 31, 1880...............
June 30, 1881 .......................
do.
6
June 30, 1881 (exc. for 7-30s)
do.
6
May 1, 1867-82 (5-20 years).
do.
6
do.
Nov. 1, 1869-84 (5-20 years)
6
do.
Mar. 1,1874-1904 (10 4 0 y’rs)
5
do.
Jan. 1, 1865 (Texas Indem.).
5
July 1, 1881 (Oregon War) .
do.
6
Aug. 19 and Oct. 1, 1 8 6 4 ...
7-30 do.
do.
June 3 0 ,1SS1.........................
6

$9,415,250
8,908,342
20,000,000
7,022,000
18,415,000
50,000,000
125,801,650
510,756,900
37,781,600
81,680,000
2,052,000
1,016,000
14,145,900
74,176,150

$9,415,250
8,908,342
20,000,000
7,022,000
18,415,000
50,000,000
139,146,400
510,756,900
85,789,000
172,770,100
1,507,000
1,016,000
616,250
75,000,000

Aggregate o f debt bearing coin interest

961,170,792

1,100,361,242




Increase
or Decrease.

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

$13,344,750
48,007,400
91,090,100
545,000

....

13,530,650
823,850
139,190,450

1865.]

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

381

DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN LAWFUL MONET.

4 per cents,
do.
6
6
do.
6
do.
do.
5
6
do.
7-30 do.

temp, loan 1
f
$548,224
do.
y 10 days notice •<
1,fill,125
do.
J
(
45,989,626
certificates (one year)............ 236,373,000
one and two years n otes., . . 120,519,110
three years comp. int. notes. 102,329,480
three years treasury notes. .
76,66S,550

Aggregate of debt bearing 1. m. interest

584,039,315

$650,477
5,708,262
46,053,589
171,790,000
69,522,350
156,477,650
300,812,800

$102,253
4,097,137
103,963
64,583,000
50,996,760
54,147,970
224,144,250

751,055,128

167,015,813

DEBT ON WHICH INTEREST HAS CEASED.

349,420

7,300

400,000,000
83,160,569
20,725,871

400.000,000
33,160,569
24,254,094

8,528,223

453,886,440

457,414,663

3,528,223

Unpaid requisitions....................................
Less amount in treasury............................

37,514,900
19,868,652

114,256,549
56,481,925

76,740,649
86,613,273

Net floating debt.................................

17,646,348

57,774,624

40,128,376

Aggregate of debt not bearing interest

471,532,688

515,189,287

43,656,599

961,170,792 1,100,361,242
584,039,315
751,055,128
349,420
856,720
471,532,688
515,189,287

139,190 450
167,015,813
7,300
43,656,599

Aggregate debts o f all k in d s............... 2,017,099,515 2,366,955,077

349,855,562

Bonds and notes— aggregate....................

356,720

DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST.

United States notes ..................................
Do.
do. in red. of temp, loan,
Fractional currency.....................................

RECAPITULATION.

Debt bearing interest in c o in ...................
Do.
do.
in lawful money . .
Debt on which interest has ceased...........
Debt bearing no interest...........................

ANNUAL INTEREST.

Payable in coin......................... ..................
Payable in lawful money............................

56.646,604
28,667,002

64,016,632
38,819,899

7,370,028
10,152,897

Aggregate interest..................................
85,313,606
17,522,925
102,836,531
— not, however, including interest on the three years compound interest notes, which
is payable only at maturity.
LEGAL TENDER IN CIRCULATION.

One and two years 5 per cent notes.........
United States notes, currency .................
Three years compound interest n otes.. . .

120,519,110
433,160,569
102,329,680

69,522,359
433,160,569
156,477,650

54,147,970

Aggregate legal tender..........................

656,009,359

659,160,569

3,151,210

50,996,760

The active circulation o f the country is now as follows :
Legal Tender Paper....................................
Fractional Currency.....................................
National Bank N otes....................................
..................................................
Coppers, say




$659,160,564
24,254,094
111,634,670
110,000,000
5,000,000

S82

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

[May,

Besides the active circulation, the currency is inflated by means of several
descriptions of Government paper which pass readily from hand to hand, in large
transactions, as money—sometimes many times over,—and thus, to a certain
extent, supply the place of currency, and, of course, correspondingly inflate the
whole mass of circulation. We refer to the Certificates of Indebtedness and to
the seven-thirty bonds. These securities are paid by the Government to con­
tractors as money, are paid out by the latter as money, and as money, either at
par or at a small discount, are passed and repassed again. One of the daily
journals of this city states that some twenty millions have lately been paid out
of the Treasury in this way, “ with the promise that none of them are to be sold
or brought upon the open market under four months from the date of reception.”
Neither the amount stated, nor the supposed restriction which is said to be laid
upon their circulation, furnishes any measure of the extent to which they are usedMuch larger amounts than this, and without any restriction at all as to their
employment, are in active use every day. Of the theory of this and other inflations
of the currency, we have treated in the article entitled “ Journal of Banking,
Currency and Finance.”
On the 1st of April, the tax of one-tenth of one per cent on the currency price
of gold sales went into effect, and tended to add to the depression which other causes
had previously produced in the premium. Such measures, in regard to their
effect on prices, do not, as is generally supposed, materially discourage specula­
tion. Speculation can never be materially discouraged ; but it may be discour­
aged as to small fluctuations. The effect of such measures is, therefore, to confine
speculations to transactions where large fluctuations are looked for, and this is
what we may expect to ensue.
Currency continues to be largely employed in moving Western produce, in the
operations incidental to the usual Spring trade in the Atlantic cities, and in
Government purchases; while, with the foreign imports of general merchandise
at $16,012,373, to March 31st, against $23,667,119 for same period last year,
the demand for gold, wherewith to pay duties, is very light. These combined
causes tend to keep down the price of specie. As soon as they cease to act
specie should go up again. The Western movement must soon come to an end,
the Spring trade must decline, and quartermasters, having paid up to the 1st of
December, and purchased their supplies for the season, will furnish no more em­
ployment for currency, at least for some time. The imports, too, which had been
interrupted by the low level to which all prices have fallen, will be resumed in
order to supply a market which is now but scantily stocked. Unless checked by
some erratic operation of the Treasury, or by some unforseen public event, it
would therefore appear that we are shortly destined to witness yet another infla­
tion of prices.
But the new seven-thirty loan, and the payments of taxes, afford immense
fields for the employment of currency. So long as the Treasury is in receipt of
several millions a day, as is the case now, through the combined effect of the
seven-thirty loan and the tax laws, so long will the premium on gold rule at low
figures.
The following table shows the import of dry goods into this port for the past
month:
, -t




1865.]

383

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
VALUE OF DEV GOODS ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION IN APRIL, 1865.

1864.

1865.

April 6 ......................................................................
“
13......................................................................
“
20......................................................................
“
27......................................................................

11.037,086
932,566
1,169,467
1,134,372

$391,243
805,678
403,908
908,518

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

$4,273,441

$3,509,347

WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.

April 6 .................................. *..................................
“
13......................................................................
“
20......................................................................
“ 27 ......................................................................

$303,225
366,674
1,147.017
688,193

$350,433
571,799
107,053
427,694

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

$2,505,109

$1,457,029

$323,772
153,972
171,067
185,484

$502,891
621,472
22,016
213,980

$946,804

$1,360,359

Total entered for consumption. .
A dd withdrawn from warehouse

1864.
$4,273,441
2,505,109

1865.
$2,509,347
1,459,029

Total thrown on the market

$6,778,550

$3,966,376

Total entered for warehousing................................
A dd entered for consumption................................

$946,804
4,273,441

$1,860,359
2,509,347

Total entered at the port................................

$5,220,245

$3,969,706

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING*.

April
“
“
“

6 ....................................................................
13....................................................................
20..................................................
27.............................
Total...............................................................

The specie movement has been as follows :
SPECIE RECEIPTS, SHIPMENTS, AO.

1 8 6 4 --------- Received.
Exported.
Jan.

2 ,.........
9 ,____
16,____
23........ . . .
It
30,____ . . .
Feb. 6 ,-----“ 1 3 ,....
a
20,____
tt
27 ,-----March 4........
U
11.........
U 18........ . . .
u 2 5 ,....
April. 1........
U
8........
U
1 5 ,.... . . .
2 2 ,....
« 2 9 ,....
U

365,608
324,864

281,304

269,522

/------:-----------------1 8 6 5 .------------------------ ,

Received
from California.
$590,262 $1,147,745
1,216,204
383.519
1,985,057
511,088
1,000,000
668,747
662,616
631,760
1,219,808
264,322
325,632
448,132
531,700
794,149
629,803
465,920
431,163
83,881
273,900
168,912
345,471 1,463,437
1,002,384
632,521
3,226,000
1,271,836

The rates of exchange have ruled as follows :




Received Exported. Gold in Bank.
Foreign.
$8,171
25,517
5,125
12,605
19,952
18,739
22,900
88,696
48,317
75,993
55,221
50,000
20,978
60,769
81,945
71,229

$594,353 $20,152,892
1,046,251 21,357,608
329,833 20,211,569
997,136 18,896,085
478,777
370,753
100,882
148,536
33,393
181,648
108,157
164,440
79,308
400,735
188,900
83,922

19,682,308
20,297,346
20,682,319
20,092,388
19,830,183
20,737,838
22,256,596
22,006,524
20,584,668
20,045,976
19,533,734
19,122,288
19,049,913

384

[May

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
BATES OF EXCHANGE IN GOLD.

London, 60 days.
Paris, 60 days. Amsterdam. Frankfort.
Jan. 7 1081 a 109f- 5 .1 8 4 a 5. 15 414 a 412 414 a 414
K 14 108-1 a 109f 5 .1 8 4 a 5. 134 414 a 41$ 41 a 414
tt
21 1 0 8 $ a 1 0 9 | 5 .1 8 4 a 5. 13 f 414 a 414 414 a 41$
tt
28 108j a 109| 5 .2 0 a 5. 13| 41 a 41$ 41 a 4 1 4 '
Feb. 4 108 a 109$ 6 . 2 1 4 a 5. 15 41 a 41$ 41 a 41$
11 108$ a 109
5 .2 3 4 a 5. 15 4 0 f a 414 404 a 4 l |
“ 18 107 a'1084 5 .2 7 4 a 5. 20 404 a 41$ 404 a 41
25 108 a 108$ 5.2 74 a 5. 18| 404 a 404 404 a 41
Mch . 4 108 a 108-| 5 .2 -4 a 5.,214 40$ a 414 40$ a 40$
" 11 1074 a 1084 5 .2 7 4 a 5..224 404 a 414 404 a 40$
K
18 1094 a 1 0 9 | 5 214 a 5.-13* 41 a 41$ 41 a 41$
tt
25 109 a 1094 5 .2 0 a 5,.15 41 a 41$ 40| a 414
April 1 1094 a 109$ 5 .2 0 a 5 .15 40$ a 414 404 a 41
it
8 1 0 8 | a 1094
5.2 24 a 5 .15 4 0 f a 414 404 a 41$
tt
15 1 0 8 | a 1 0 9 J 5 .2 2 4 a 5 .164 40| a 4 l| 40$ a 41
tt
22 109J a 1 0 9 f 5 ,2 0 a 5 . 1 2 4 41 a 414 4 0 $ a 414
tt
29 109 a 1094 6 .2 0 a 5 .124 41 a 414 404 a 414

Hamburg.
36$ a 36$
364 a 364
8 6 $ a 364
86$ a 36J
36 a 36$
354 a 36$
354 a 36$
3 d| a 36$
S6| a 36$
354 a 364
36 a 36$
36 a 364
36 a 364
354 a 36$
354 a 36$
36$ a 36$
36 a 364

Berlin.
72 a 724
724 a 724
73 a 724
72 a 724
714 a 72
714 a 724
714 a 72
714 a 72
714 a 714
704 a 714
714 a 72
714 a 72
714 a 714
724 a 714
72 a 714
714 a 724
714 a 72

PRICES OF UNITED STATES PAPER.

e— 6’s, 1881.— t
Beg.
Coup.

Jan.

7 ,....

------- 5-20's.------ ,
Beg.
Coup.
100
109

2 1 ........

ill

28.........

1104

Feb. 4 , . . . .

1094

1114
1124
11 0
1094
1094

1104
1114

110$

1 02

1114

103

“
“
“

14,____

“
“
“

n .........
18.........
25.........
March 1 . . . .
“
8 ,....
“ 15,___
“ 2 2 ........
“ 29,____
April 5 , . . . .

“

1 2 , ___

“
“

19,____
26.........

1114
1124

1 02

99
9S4
994

11 0

1114

111

1 02

108$
108$
1094
109$
111$
1114

111
111
no
105
105
1064
1074
....
109

1104
1114
1 10

105
....

110$

105
105
....
1074
....
108$

....
....

100

1044
1024

...
1024

1104

109$
105
105
1074
108$
....
1084

10-40’s. 1 year certif.
96|
1 02
102$
9S
1014
974
100$
98
1014
97$
1024
984
102$
98|
98$
1024
1024
98$
98$
97$
984
97
97
914
97
914
98
92
98$
934
•. . No
• •.
994
97

Gold price.
227 a 2274
2174 a 221
1974 a 206
213$ a 220
209 a 2144
2044 a 209
204 a 205$
198$ a 1994
1994 a 2004
196$ a 1974

1744 a 1774
1564
1514
148
1454

a
a
a
a

1584
1524
1534
1464

quotations.*
1474 a 149

Indications o f a renewed inflation o f prices may be seen even in the above
table ; but they appear more decided in the following comparative prices o f rail­
way shares:
PRICES OF RAILWAY SHARES.

New York Central........
Hudson River.................
Erie...................................
Reading.........................
Mich. So. and N. I .........
Illinois Central............... .
Cleveland and Pittsburg,
Chicago and N. W ...........
Chicago and R. I .............
Fort W ayne.....................

March 29. April 3. April 27.
10 14
84
103
107
f6
1154
45
694
854
894
. •110$
50
62
74
11 2 4
1174
934
74
83$
52
314
34
214
964
854
105
764
934
103

* In consequence of the President’s death the stock and guld markets were closed.
On the 15th, immediately after the news of the assassination transpired, a few sales
of gold were made at 168 a 160, but this price was not sustained. On the 25th, gold
ran up to 152.




1865.]

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

385

Erie, which, a month ago, stood at 45, is now quoted at 85; and, though this
stock has made a greater advance than any other, prabably because of the
previous sharp fall which it had sustained, the entire list affords strong indica­
tions of an early recovery from last month’s panic.

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
SURRENDER OP LE E — T A X ON- STATE B A N K CIRCU LATION — CHANGE OP STATE BANKS TO NATIONAL
CANNOT BE MADE W ITH O U T CONSENT OP E V E R Y STOCKHOLDER— W HAT CONSTITUTES MONEY— NEW
YORK CITY BANK RETURNS— PH ILADELPH IA, BOSTON, A N D NATIONAL B A N K R ETU RN S— RETURNS OP
B A N K OP ENGLAND A N D FRANCE.

T he great event of the past month, an event which will fill an important page
in the history of our people, is the peace which will virtually follow from the
surrender of the forces under General L ee. This ends the great insurrection
which for four years past has caused so much bloodshed, and so altered the face
of commercial and banking interests in the United States. Some show of re­
sistance may yet be expected in the inaccessible regions westward of the Missis­
sippi, but the war upon a grand scale has ended. It is almost too soon to com­
mence the business of reform in the financial affairs of the country, until a defi­
nite and material diminution of the public expenditures has been effected ; but
the time is drawing nigh, and the coming fiscal year may witness an entire change
of public sentiment concerning the manner in which the Government finances are
being conducted.
Section 6 of the amendments to the Internal Revenue Act, passed by the late
Congress at the close of the session, and published in another part of this num­
ber, imposes a tax of ten per cent “ on the amount of notes of any State Bank
or State Banking Association,” paid out by any bank after the first day of July,
18C6. This is only in keeping with the general run of legislation which has
been applied to banking. Under such a stimulus, and the facilities afforded by
the other section of this act, it is not surprising that every effort is being made
to convert the State Banks into National Banks. Besides this, there exists the
further advantage of the large profits which the latter institutions are making in
their circulation alone. Such is the desire to convert, that stockholders in State
Banks who do do not feel quite so sure about the safety of having their com­
paratively free institutions trimmed down to the Procrustean standard established
by Government, meet with no patience from such of their colleagues who differ
from them, and the latter gravely demand to know why they have not the right,
if they happen to be in the majority, to vote the matter their own way.
Without saying that a change from the State to the National banking system
may not be beneficial, it is very evident that the change cannot lawfully be made
without the concurrence of every one of the stockholders. The agreement upon
which they entered into business together compels them to remain in that busi­
ness, and to do no other during its continuance. Should a majority of the
shareholders deem it to their interest to invest the funds of the institution in




386

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

[May,

pork or petroleum, or railway shares, will it be contended that they have the
right to do so ? If it be, then, why have had any agreement at all ? Why not
have let every action of the institution be decided by a majority vote ? The
agreement was clearly of no advantage to the majority, since they always possess
the power to do as they please. It was only valuable to the minority, and it is
the rights of the minority which it was designed to secure from abuse, and no
force on earth can justly deprive them of the security it was designed to confer.
Should the majority insist upon carrying out an organic change in opposition to
the wishes of the minority, the law must enforce adequate damages for the act.
Concerning the question of circulation, a popular misapprehension appears to
exist, and its practical effect is this : it governs the daily transactions of many
individuals. It being well understood that, other things being equal, an increase
of circulating money effects an increase of prices, and vice versa, it is not an un­
common thing to hear men assuming that the circulation in this country before
the war was so much, say $250,000,000, and that now it is so much, say
$1,000,000,000, or quadrupled ; consequently, that gold should be at 400, and
other prices in proportion. While admitting the corollary we regard the pro­
positions upon which it is established as entirely erroneous. The error arises
from a misconception of what constitutes money. W e have no space here to
prove the fallacy of the popular conception of what money is, but would refer
the reader to the latter volumes of T ooke, and to M cL eod, M ill , and H er­
bert S pencer. These, and the more modern French and German economists,
have frequently demonstrated that money is anything that effects exchanges of
commodities. In other words, all the laws which are applicable to what is popu­
larly known as money, (specie and bank notes,) are alike applicable to anything
that effects exchanges—to bank checks, to promissory notes, to bills of exchange,
to book credits, even to the tenpenny nails and potatoes which were used for this
purpose in some parts of the South during the past year or two. These several
kinds of money, alike in their action upon prices, only differ in their various
powers of intensity—in other words, their ratio of use—or circulation.
Thus, for instance, while a bank note is passing through fifty hands, and per­
forming an equal number of transactions, a promissory note, in case it is endorsed,
passes through but two, and in case it is not, through but one, and a book credit
the same. A legal tender note will perform twenty offices, while a note which is
not a legal tender, and possessing but a local, and consequently a slower, circu1 ation, may perform but ten, or fifteen, or nineteen. Therefore, to know how much
the circulation of any country is at any time, it is necessary to know—1st, The
amount of specie, and Government and bank notes in circulation, and their re­
spective ratios of activity; 2d, The amount of other paper or credit which is
used in commerce, and their respective ratios of activity. This, in the present
state of statistical knowledge, is impossible. Only very rough guesses can be
made. We know that promissory notes and book credits have been but com­
paratively little used in this country since the break down of 1861, and that the
use of specie has been superseded. An enormous mass of money has thu3 been
withdrawn from use. A large vacuum remained, and Government paper has
been forced in to fill it up. Meanwhile the business of the country has not sen­
sibly diminished, perhaps it has increased, and we think it has, and as this regu­




1865.]

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

387

lates the requirement of money wherewith to effect it, the demand has been as
great as it was before the vacuum was made. This accounts for the fact that
while the circulation appears to be quadrupled, the price of gold is but 150. Let
but the present amount^of Government paper remain in circulation after the re
turn of peace invites renewed confidence among men, and so effects a return to
the use of credit, and gold will soon go as high as it is believed it ought to be
to-day by the erroneous advocates of the exploded currency principle.
The following are the returns of the New York City Banks during the past
month :
NEW YORK CITr BANKS.

N ew Y

B anks .
Date.
Loans.
D e c. 24,'$203,512,093
“ 81, 199,444,969
Jan. 7, 195,044,687
«(
14, 189,686,750
U
21, 187,060,586
«
28, 169,502,630
F e b . i , 185,639,790
it
11, 185,515,904
it
18, 186,365,126
(t
25, 183,534,735
M ar. 4, 186,569,665
U
11, 188,120,890
il
18, 211,486,651
« 25, 207,677,503
A p r . 1, 204,458,355
8, 204,153,839
« 15, 206,508,095
U
22, 204,723,195
u
29, 204,277,573
o rk

(Capital, Jan., 1864, $69,494,577 ; Jan., 1865, $69,658,737.)
Clearings.
Specie. Legal tender. Circulation. Net Deposits.
$20,600,441 $ ................ $3,383,346 $153,805,909 $593,336,137
19,662,211
3,288,832 147,442,071 471,039,253
20,152,892
3,183,526 147,821,891 535,055,671
21,357,608
3,074,029 148,931,299 638,780,682
20,211,569
2,979,851 146,068,355 611,194,907
18,174,316
2,906,194 143,842,230 656,828,378
19,682,808
2,868,646 152,703,316 663,814,434
20,297,346
2,821,996 156,711,166 584,179,409
20,682,319
2,855,982 156,150,634 518,305,222
2,739,383 153,948,481 481,028,121
20,092,378
19,830,183
2,720,666 153,009,588 511,361,387
20,737,838 26,713,408 2,741,684 152,134,448 412,302,453
22,256,596 33,645,014 4,662,505 174,479,367 635,736,233
22,066,524 35,295,156 4,457,162 166,965,508 604,796,728
20,584,668 42,989,382 4,888,980 173,350,491 509,148,691
20,045,976 46,424,957 4,773,528 174,850,185 483,653,634
19,533,734 51,061,462 4,757,862 177,815,945 427,761,675
19,122,288 57,964,937 4,700,210 184,244,399 272,740,215
19,049,913 66,096,274 4,660,659 196,188,733 359,950,814

The following are the returns of the Philadelphia banks :
PHILADELPHIA BANKS.
P h i l a d e l p h i a B anks.

Date. 1865.
Jan. 2 , . . .
“
9 ,...
“
1 6 ,...
“ 2 3 ,...
“ 8 0 ,...
Feb. 6 , . . .
“ 1 3 ,...
“ 2 0 ,...
“ 2 7 ,...
Mar. 6 , . . .
“ I S ,...
“ 2 0 ,...
“ 2 7 ,...
April 4 , . . .
“ 1 1 ,...
“ 1 7 ,...
“ 2 4 ,...

Loans.
$48,059,403
49,250,629
49,833,799
49,755,716
60,056,584
60,269,473
49,511,683
48,639,386
48,992,272
49,228,540
49,297,223
48,976,280
50,265,294
50,268,729
50,225,821
50,810,519
50,819,031

( Capital, Jan., 1863, $11,740,080; 1865,$13,315,720.)
Specie.
$1,803,583
1,781,108
1,750,669
1,792,891
1.773,266
1,702,776
1,629,957
1,569,223
1,498,644
1,389,264
1,422,736
1,323,274
1,350,968
1,344,223
1,249,282
1,286,333
1,223,798

Circulation.
$2,793,468
2,978,035
3,228,785
3,606,051
4,010,192
4,393,173
4,660,697
4,866,771
5,077,436
5,446,021
6,906,791
5,609,276
5,736,660
5,893,626
6,133,397
6,232,343
6,313,889

Deposits.
$39,845,963
41,001,803
43,121,208
40,186,513
59,822,860
38,496,337
37,340,531
37,141,900
89,011,100
38,391,622
38,655,908
38,673,804
39,117,258
33,316,847
39,366,445
41,187,764
42,591,060

Legal tenders.
$14,524,175
15,297,223
17,003,905
15,939,598
15,572,893
14,000,852
14,295,547
13,922,954
15,398,502
15,200,287
15,487,335
15,796,783
16,866,146
17,087,645
17,312,697
17,991,294
19,188,676

CHANGES IN CAPITAL STOCK.

Feb. 27............................
Mar. 6 ...........................




$14,485,450 1Mar. 13............................
14,494,050 |Apr. 2 4 ............................

$14,495,550
14,682,U l)

388

Journal o f Banking. Currency, and Finance

The following are the returns of the banks of Boston, except those which have
reorganized under the National law. They make no returns. Their circulation
is, however, included in these figures. With the other National Banks, they
number about thirty institutions :
BOSTON BANKS.

B oston B anks . ( Capital, Jan., 1863, $38,231,*700 ; Jan., 1865, $22,350,000.)
Date. 1865.

January
it
((
U
«

2 .........
9 ................
16.........
2 3 .........
30.........
February C.........
((
13.........
«
20 .........
it
27.........
March
7 .........
U
14.........
it
21.........
it
28. . . .
April
3 .........
10.........
it
17.........

Loans.

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits.

$46,312,701
33,707,472
33,444,460
33,160,490
33,025,868
25,609,695
23,609,664
23,533,879
22,872,774
22,825,217
21,224,401
21,206,180
20,952,000
20,749,643
19,047,885
19,222,460

$3,484,323
2,903,469
2,862,939
2,797,093
2,659,568
2,245,510
2,087,995
2,039,669
1.932,769
1,877,323
1,700,714
1,524,401
1,426,700
1,385,954
1,258,019
1,178,336

$7,766,888
7,803,528
7,529,229
7,126,253
6,792,950
6,581,880
6,345,912
5,094,370
6,278,194
5,843,974
5,580,219
5,435,928
5,279,700
5,099,538
5,898,609
4,738,295

$23,086,775
16,772,600
15,926,720
16,058,310
16,343,192
12,641,033
11,031,733
10,621,322
9,789,000
9,961,545
9,435,578
9,393.224
8,958,800
9,264,451
9,036.604
9,185,149

The following table exhibits the aggregate National Bank circulation :
n a t io n a l

banks.

Number, capital, and circulation quarterly to the end of 1864, and periodically
to date in 1865.
Date.

Capital.

Banks.

...................
J a n u a ry, 1864...............................

April,

1864...............................
J u ly ,
1864................................
October, 1864...............................
J a n u a ry , 1865...............................
J a n u a ry 7, 1865.........................
“
21, 1865............. ...........
F e b r u a r y 4 ,1 86 5 .........................
“
18, 1865.........................
M arch
4, 1865.........................
“
18,1865.........................
April
1, 1865.........................
“
8 ,1 8 6 5 .........................
“
22, 1865.........................

94

$7,184,715
14,523,721
42,204,474
75,213,945
89,339,400
143,641,400
145,524,560
169,099,296
179,121,296
186,041,736
192,049,736
202,944,486
225,246,300
232,064,150
246,054,170

Circulation

$29,155
12,144,650
25,825,665
51,394,150
76,309,890
78,724,520
83,058,200
87,288,300
93,666,380
99,325,600
104,750,540
111,634,670
114,524,000
119,961,800

The following are the returns of the Bank of England :
THE BANK OF ENGLAND RETURNS (iN FOUNDS STERLING).

Date. IS65.

Dec. 7 , . . .
“ 1 4 ,...
“. 2 1 ,...
“
2 8 ,...
Jan. 4 , . . .
“
1 1 ,...
“
1 8 ,...
“
2 5 ,...

Circulation.

Public
Deposits.

Private
Deposits.

Securities.

20,118,116 6,468,544 12,666,764 28,726,674
19,669,832 7,161,719 12,267,474 28,301,608
19,669,007 7,694,616 12,927,807 29,326,027
19,810,455 8,601,125 13,040,643 30,708,083
21,007,215 8,500,269 13,874,977 32,832,904
21,012,778 4,445,535 16,174,166 30,957,S80
21,223,848 4,186,614 14,658,015 29,292,273
20,614,794 4,836,799 14,553,933 29,173,458




Coin and
Bullion.

Rate of
Discount.

13,840,691
14,122,711
14,307,760
14,100,974
13,933,592
14,097,390
14,168,227
14,317,215

7 per ct.
6 “
6 «
6 “
6

“

H “
5i ‘
5 “

1865.]
Feb. 1 , . . .
“
8 ,...
“
1 6 ,...
“
2 2 ,...
Mar. 1 , . . .
“
8 ,...
“
1 5 ,...
“
2 2 ,...
“
2 9 ,...
April 6 , . . .
“ 1 2 ,...

Amendment to National Currency Law.

389

20,998,478 5,541,452 14,447,994 30,040,983 14,461,224
20,743,805 6,252,892 13,814,063 29,908,102 14,511,611
20,399,763 6,572,512 13,969,659 30,007,199 14,553,871
20,101,978 6,665,364 14,140,885 29,910,491 14,600,233
20,381,080 6,854,409 14,158,331 30,424,108 14,801,367
20,281,455 7.677,728 13,904,702 30,949,096 14,758,607
20,095,563 8,348,481 13,785,825 31,204,694 14,882,258
20,028,891 10,198,989 13,551,794 32,384,622 15,308,636
20,388,744 9,839,430 13,478,242 32,271,054 15,358,999
21,352,503 9,331,615 14,172,353 32,723,269 15,255,433
21,750,643 5,826,354 15,414,509 31,226,403 14,937,379

5
5
6
4J
4i

«
it
it

U
u
tt
H tt
H ii
4i
4 “
4 tt
4 U

The alterations in the last returns are mainly owing to the payment of the
dividends, which commenced on the 8th of April.
The following are the returns of the Bank of France :
BANK OF FRANCE.

Loans.

Cash and Bullion.

Circulation.

December 8 fr.566,921,053 fr.355,640,597 fr.722,291,475
“
15
586,521,733
851,562,024
739,383,125
(4
22
561,603,376
364,008,378
721,487,475
44
29
597,157,830
359,969,767
726,212,276
January
5
690,129,259
830,071,913
790,526,625
12
677,690,909
314,771,593
806,325,675
44
19
667,121,414
318,170,064
817,443,275
“
26
642,779,237
322,119,477
808,283,925
February 2
651,375,290
318,454,492
812,425,525
44
9
636,303,905
839,240,543
805,966,575
44
16
604,140,057
354,573,163
801,601,175
44
23
684,895,098
785,025,125
871,680,673
March
2
569,812,574
881,455,854
772,377,175
44
9
410,774,986
544,367,920
773,843,825
a
16
514,175,658
424,981,230
777,523,125
44
23
509,473,256
445,364,708
774,556,625
“
SO
533,202,250
456,899,812
764,788,125
April
6
520,398,578
454,945,361
786,434,775
44
13
432,776,299
522,800,231
806,557,975

Deposits. Interest.

fr.l 78,968,028
161,270,492
153,193,515
171,821,867
190,488,131
153,188,354
142,120,960
139,123,008
143,430,627
153,039,752
139,995.788
150,235,834
192,866,298
166,985,971
153,467,097
148,899,173
158.286,600
167,028,900
130,834,687

5
5
44
4*
44

44
44
44

4
4
4
4
34
34
34
34
34
34

Up to the 6th of April an increase of sixty or seventy millions in specie, and
a decrease of some thirty millions of discounts within a month testified to a state
of depression almost alarming. The last return is the most satisfactory which
has appeared for a long while.

AMENDMENT TO NATIONAL CURRENCY LAW.
[ p u b l i c — NO.

60.]

to amend an act entitled “ An act to provide a national currency, se­
cured by a pledge of United States bonds, and to provide for the circulation
and redemption thereof.”

A n A ct

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of .the United Stales
o f America in Congress assembled, That section twenty-one of said act be so
amended that said section shall read as follows :
S e c . 21. And be it further enacted, That upon the transfer and delivery of
bonds to the Treasurer as provided in the foregoing section, the association mak­




390

The Loan A ct of March, 1865.

[May,

ing the same shall be entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the Currency
circulating notes of different denominations, in blank, registered and counter­
signed as hereinafter provided, equal in amount to ninety per centum of the cur­
rent market value of the United States bonds so transferred and delivered, but
not exceeding ninety per centum of the amount of said bonds at the par value
thereof, if bearing interest at a rate not less than five per centum per annum ;
and the amount of such circulating notes to be furnished to each association shall
be in proportion to its paid up capital as follows, and no more : To each asso­
ciation whose capital shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars, ninety per
centum of such capital; to each association whose capital exceeds five hundred
thousand dollars, but does not exceed one million dollars, eighty per centum of
such capital; to each association whose capital exceeds one million dollars, but
does not exceed three millions of dollars, seventy-five per centum of such capital;
to each association whose capital exceeds three millions of dollars, sixty per
centum of such capital. And that one hundred and fifty millions of dollars of
the entire amount of circulating notes authorized to be issued shall be apportioned
to associations in the States, in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories,
according to representative population, and the remainder shall be apportioned
by the. Secretary of the Treasury among associations formed in the several States,
in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories, having due regard to the ex­
isting banking capital, resources, and business of such State, District, and Ter­
ritory.
Approved, March 3, 1865.

THE LOAN ACT OF MARCH, 1865.
[ official.]

A n act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Treasury notes and
bonds to the amount of six hundred millions of dollars.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America, in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and
he is hereby authorized to borrow, from time to time, on the credit of the United
States, in addition to the amounts heretofore authorized, any sums not exceed­
ing in the aggregate six hundred millions of dollars, and to issue therefor bonds
or Treasury notes of the United States, in such form as he may prescribe; and
so much thereof as may be issued in bonds shall be in denominations not less than
fifty dollars, and may be made payable at any period not more than forty years
from date of issue, or may be made redeemable, at the pleasure of the Govern­
ment, at or after any period not less than five years nor more than forty years
lrom date, or may be made redeemable and payable as aforesaid, as may be ex­
pressed upon their face; and so much thereof as may be issued in Treasury notes
may be made convertible into any bonds authorized by this act, and may be of
such denominations—not less than fifty dollars—and bear such date audbemade
redeemable or payable at such periods as in the opinion of the Secretary of the




1865.]

The Loan A ct o f March, 1865.

391

Treasury may be deemed expedient. And the interest on such bonds shall be
payable semi-annually; and on Treasury notes, authorized by this act, the interest
may be made payable semi-annually or annually, or at maturity thereof; and the
principal, or interest, or both, may be made payable in coin or in lawful money,
provided that the rate of interest on any such bonds or Treasury notes, when
payable in coin, shall not exceed six per centum per annum; and when not
payable in coin, shall not exceed seven and three-tenths per centum per annum ;
and the rate and character of interest shall be expressed on all such bonds or
Treasury notes ; And provided, further, That the act entitled “ An act to provide
ways and means for the support of the Government, and for other purposes,”
approved June 30,1864, shall be so construed as to authorize the issue of bonds
of any description authorized by this act. And any Treasury notes or other
obligations bearing interest, issued under any act of Congress, may, at the dis­
cretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, and with the consent of the holder, be
converted into any description of bonds authorized by this act; and no bonds
so authorized shall be considered a part of the amount of six hundred millions
hereinbefore authorized.
S ec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury may
dispose of any of the bonds or other obligations issued under this act, either in
the United States or elsewhere, in such manner and at such rates, and under such
conditions as he may think advisable, for coin or for other lawful money of the
United States, or for any Treasury notes, certificates of indebtedness, or certify
cates of deposit, or other representatives of value which have been or may be
issued under any act of Congress; and may, at his discretion, issue bonds or
Treasury notes authorized by this act in payment for any requisitions for mate­
rials or supplies which shall have been made by the appropriate' department or
offices upon the Treasury of the United States, on receiving notice in writing
through the department or office making the requisition, that the owner of the
claim for which the requisition is issued desires to subscribe for an amount of
loan that will cover said requisition, or any part thereof; and all bonds or other
obligations issued under this act shall be exempt from taxation by or under State
or municipal authority.
S ec. 3. And be it Jurther enacted, That all the provisions of the act entitled
“ An act to provide ways and means for the support of the Government, a#d
for other purposes,” approved June 30, 1864, in relation to forms, inscriptions,
devices, and the printing, attestation, sealing, signing, and counterfeiting thereof,
with such others as are applicable, shall apply to the bonds and other obliga­
tions issued under this a ct; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be con­
strued as authorizing the issue of legal tender notes in any form ; and a sum, not
exceeding one per centum of the amount of bonds and other obligations issued
under this act, is hereby appropriated to pay the expense of preparing and issa
ing the same, and disposing thereof.




392

[May,

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
SUGAR.
SHIPMENTS FROM M AURITIUS— TOTAL IM PO RTS OF SUGAR INTO EUROPE AND TH E UNITED STA TE S,
AND STOCKS ON H AN D— TH E N E W ORLEANS CROP OF SUGAR.

W b have given above the exports of sugar from Cuba, and in connection with
those returns, the following will be of interest, showing the shipments of sugar
from Mauritius from the beginning to the end of each sugar crop :
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF SHIPMENTS OK SUGAR FROM THE MAURITIUS, FROM AUGUST 1
TO JULY 81.
United Kingdom—
London........................................
Liverpool..................................
Falm outh..................................
Plymouth....................................
G lasgow .....................................
Cowes..........................................
Greenock ...................................
Cork, for orders........................

1861-62.
lbs.

....
769,057
61,654,664

1863-64.
lbs.
41,757,691
3,691,055
6,778,679
. •••
689,775
2,076,926
« ••
63,261,043

170,709,066

118,255,069

4,387,318
20,701,779
8,669,017
1,722,989
5,767,685
,,,,
—

2,498,838
6,869,284
5,508,780
15,387,885
2,179,114
525,082

41,248,788

82,968,983

13,817,204

9,354,230

12,310,567
2,272,332
2,680,736
6,556,062
39,660,808
1,813,504
6,622,619

8,633,294
1,433,652
2,606,103
11,613,536
28,523,579
2,062,782
4,524,389

69,916,628

59,397,285

20,630,590

23,457,008

816,322,276

243,432,525

. . . .

82,718,558
France—
Havre ........................................
Marseilles...................................
B ordeau x..................................
Nantes........................................
Belle Isle....................................
St. Na zaire.................................
Cherbourg .................................
60,047,715
Cape of Good H ope.......................
Australian Colonies—
Port A delaide..........................
Hobart Town............................
Launceston................................ .
Sydney.................... ..................
Melbourne..................................
Other ports.................................
New Zealand............................
67,207,552
Sundry places.................................
Total to end o f each c ro p .. . . ...........

1862-63.
lbs.
88,851,733
7,259,903
11,531,795
642,014

220,417,237

The following table gives the total imports of sugar at the principal European
ports, the last three years, and the stock on hand December 31 of each year:




1865.]

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

893

IM P O R T S OF SUGAR AT THE PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN PORTS, FOR TEARS ENDING DECEMBER

31

AND 6TOCK ON HAND.

1864.

In Holland,*......... ton9
H avre,f....................
A n tw erp .................
Hamburg.................
B rem en...................
Trieste.....................
Genoa.......................
Leghorn...................

108,100
46,530
12,070
26,500
5,860
7,700

■Im p o r t s .— ________ % t------ S t o c k 31 st D e c e m b e r .------ ,
1862.
1863.
1862.
1864.
1863.

119,600
52,180
12,360
30 000
11,570
15,370

2 1 ,1 2 0

2 2 ,2 0 0

9,650

10,820

108,200
45,920
14,970
28,500
11,820
22,570
30,860
11,360

Continent.................
Great B ritain.........

237,530
518,570

274,100
492,970

273,700
461,990

35,330
201.890

20,970
148,060

37,400
122,800

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

756,100

767,070

735,690

236,720

169,030

160,200

10,200
15,440
1,160
3,450
1,970
1,490
1,180
440

5,500
7,210
420
1,000
___
4,450
1,600
790

7,800
9,210
2,630
5,000
1,170
6,510
3,850
1,330

Below we give the total imports o f sugar into the United States, and also all
other receipts, and the consumption for the past two yea rs:
IMPORTS AND CONSUMPTION OF FOREIGN SUGAR IN THE UNITED 8TATES.

A t New York, direct.. . .
Boston
do . . . .
Philadelphia, do . . . .
Baltimore
do . . . . ,
New Orleans, do . . . . ,
Other ports, do ........

.Tons of 2,240 lbs.
do
do
do
do
.
do
do

Total receipts........
Add stock at all the Ports, January 1, 1864..
Total supply..........
Deduct exports and shipments inland to Canada, from )
all the Ports, in 1864.................................................... J

139,127
28,135
24,140
14,401
726
7,570

164,205
28,370
27,670
16,562
214
6,116

214,099

243,137

27,967

21,735

242,066

264,872

20,920

6,597

221,146

259,276

Deduct stock at all the Ports, January 1, 1865

28,486

27,967

Total consumption of foreign in 1864 , . .

192,660

231,308

Consumption of foreign in 1864, as above.........
Consumption of foreign in 1863........

192,660
231,308

Decrease in 1864..

38,648

The amount of the receipts during the year, and consumption of sugar, from
Louisiana is estimated at 28,000 tons in 1864, and 53,000 tons in 1863, making
the total consumption in the United States during 1864, 220,660 tons, and in
1863, 284,308 tons.
The following figures show the leading ports from whence the supplies received
at New York were derived in the last two years :
* Stock in first hands alone; all others in first and second hands.
\ Exclusive of Beet-root sugar.
V O L . L I I .— N O . V,




25

394

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

[May,

IMPOETS OF SUGAR AT NEW YORK IN 1863 AND 1864.
1863.

From Cuba.......................................................................tons
Porto R ico...................................................................
Brazil............................................................................
M anilla........................................................................
Demerara.....................................................................
Jamaica and English Islands....................................
Martinique....................................................................
Total, including minor ports.............................................
Add imports from Texas, Louisiana, and other coastwise )
ports . . . ............................................................................j
Total receipts.............................................................

1864.

137,232
9,646
4,671
8,119
1,931
1,424
2,385

123,420
6,420
1,796
5,001
940
292
203

163,120
^

139,127
16 594

200,840

155,721

The total consumption of foreign and domestic sugar in the United States, the
last seven years, has been as follows :
CONSUMPTION OF FOEEIGN AND DOMESTIC IN UNITED STATES.

Tear ending

December 31, 1864........
do
1863 ___
do
1862 ___
do
1861 . . . .
do
1860 ___
do
1859 ___
do
1858 . . . .

Foreign.

Domestic.

Total.

192,660
231,308
241,411
241,420
296,950
239,034
244,758

28,000
53,000
184,600
122,399
118,331
192,150
143,634

220,660
284,308
432,411
363.819
415,281
481,184
388,492

SUGAR CROP OF LOUISIANA.

The New Orleans Price Current has prepared a statement of the quantity of
sugar made this season, on the comparatively limited number of plantations that
were put under cultivation. It seems that the whole number of plantations cul­
tivated, or rather where cultivation this season was attempted, is 174, and that
the number of hogsheads of sugar made, computing each hogshead at 1100
pounds nett, is some 6668, being an average of only about 38 hogsheads to each
plantation, while for the season of 1861-62, the average was about 356 hogsheads.
The past has been one of the worst of sugar seasons in Louisiana, and this fact,
in conjunction with other most important considerations which it is unnecessary
now to discuss, must account for the smallness of the crop. A good many plan­
ters finding their cane so inferior in quality as to not fully justify the expense of
grinding preserved the whole of it for seed, so that it is hoped there will be a
a greater breadth of land put under cultivation the approaching than there was
the past season. Still there will be a great want of seed cane, and this must
continue to be the case for many years to come, it matters not what -system may
be adopted to increase its cultivation. Ordinarily it requires one hundred acres
of cane to plant a field of three hundred acres.
To ascertain the crop of molasses, it has been the custom to allow seventy gal­
lons of molasses for every thousand pounds of sugar, but this season the propor­
tion will be considerably greater, as on a good many plantations molasses only
-was made. Possibly the production may reach to 15,000 to 16,000 barrels.
The total number of plantations under cultivation within the limits of Louisi­
ana before the war, according to Mr. C h a h p o n ie r ' s valuable work, was 1291,




1865.]

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

395

and of these the grinding on 1027 was performed by steam power, and on the
remaining 264 by horse power. Below is the statement of the product this sea­
son, on the limited number of plantations cultivated, compared with the product
for 1861-62:
CROP OF SUGAR MADE WITHIN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES OF LOUISIANA.
1864-65.

Hhds.

Parish of Orleans .
do. St. Bernard
do. Plaquemine .
do. Terrebonne
do. Assumption .
do. Lafourche
do. St. Charles .
.
■.
do. St. John the Baptist .
do. St. James
do. Ascension .
.
.
.
do. Iberville
do. Jefferson .
do. St. Mary
do. Point Coupee
do. West Baton Kouge
do. East
“
“

:

.

,

Total

1861-62.

Hhds.

26
361
2,301
426
963
118
73
43
267
1,285
429
303
61
4
35
60

1,790
6,640
22.433
28,839
37,766
29,781
19,101
18,848
34,224
30,722
41,921
11.086
48,779
22,565
24,697
10,949

6,668

389,541

The total crop of sugar in the twenty-four parishes into which the cultivation
o f the sugar cane had been extended in Louisiana was, in the season of 1861-62,
459,410 hogsheads.

TIIE L U M B E R T R A D E .
A lbany —B angor—T oledo.

ALBANY LUMBER TRADE.

T here was on hand, as estimated on January 1,1864, 30,000,000 feet of lum­
ber of the various kinds, and it was pretty well assorted. Gold then stood at
150.
By the fore part of April, gold had risen to 170, and the spring sales were
made at an advance of about 10 per cent on the closing prices of 1863.
With gold still advancing, prices by the 1st of July had reached five per cent
higher. The rise in gold on that day to 285, caused a still farther advance in
lumber, making prices an average of fully 30 per cent over the closing prices of
1863.
These prices were obtained until about the 1st of October, when, gold falling
to 190, lumber receded, and a panicky feeling began to be observed in the mar­
ket. Buyers became timid, lumber accumulated, and dealers found it impossible
to advance lumber to correspond with gold, which, with many variations, reached




396

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

[May,

230 at the close of the season. Indeed, many dealers, anxious to reduce their
stock, sold at less than the cost of production and exchange, and the market was
more or less unsettled till the close of navigation, when prices were but about
20 per cent over the corresponding time in 1863, while the advance in gold was
54 per cent.
A greater proportion than usual of the pine received in 1864 came from Canada,
the supply from southern New York having been largely decreased by the want
of snow for logging last winter, and that from Michigan by the high rates of
lake and canal freights, with the increased toll charged by the State.
The following table shows the official receipts by the canals at Albany during
the years named:
RECEIETS OF LUMBER AT ALBANY.

Tears.
1850.........................
1851...........................
1852...........................
1853...........................
1854..........................
1855...........................
1856...........................
1851...........................
1858...........................
1859...........................
1860...........................
1861...........................
1 8 6 2 . . . . ...................
1863...........................
1864...........................

Boards and
scanting,
Feet.

Shingles,
M.
84,246
84,136
31,636
27,586
24,003
57,210
36,899
71,004
31,823
48,756
41,522
31,782
82,622
21,223
24,004

Timber,
Cubic
Feet.
28,832
110,200
294,714
19,916
28,909
24,104
14,533
85,104
119,497
70,381
46,888
44,754
148,217
807,700
314,995

Staves,
Pounds.
150,515,280
115,087,299
107,961,289
118,666,750
135,805,091
140,225,285
102,548,402
153,264,629
135,011,817
114,070,503
148,785,369
143,784,500
210,212,100
146,746,300
86,789,493

The following table shows the official receipts by the canals, at tide-water, dur­
ing the years named:
RECEIPTS OF LUMBER AT TIDE-WATER.

Tears.
1850 ....................
1 8 5 1 ....................
1852 ....................
1853 ....................
1854 ....................
1855 ....................
1856 ....................
1857 ..................
1858 ....................
1859 ....................
1860 ....................
1 8 6 1 ....................
1862 ....................
1863 ....................
1864 ....................

Board and
scanting,
feet.

Shingles,
M.
1,868,100
47,900
62,800
38,200
32,800
67,600
61,800
86,900
54,600
177,000
63,400
45,200
49,800
36,100
30,832

Timber,
Cubic
feet.
1,666,300
4,237,800
4,003,900
5,234,300
3,244,300
2,494,500
2,967,600
1,801,600
1,269,400
1,454,200
1,299,800
1,190,000
2,506,800
5,560,600
4,121,000

Staves,
pounds.
202,225,000
155,304,000
145,503,700
158,163,100
178,868,000
199,018,000
162,856,000
251,783,000
202,244,000
260,926,000
282,910,000
264.228.000
357.030.000
282,478,000
286,250,000

The following table shows the prices current, at the principal yards,at the close
of the seasons of 1861 and 1864:




1865.]

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

391

PRICES OF LUMBER AT ALBANY FOR 1861 AND 1864.
D e c. 31,1861.

Pine, clear, per M ................................
Pine, fourth quality, per M .................
Pine, select box, per M.........................
Pine, good box, per M .........................
Pine, common box, per M ...................
Pine, common box, £, per M ...............
Pine, clap board strips, per M.............
Pine, tally boards, good, each.............
Pine, tally boards, 2d quality, each..
Pine, tally boards, culls, each.............
Spruce, boards, e a c h ...........................
Spruce, plank, 1 } inch, each...............
Spruce, plank, 2 ineh, each.................
Hemlock, boards, each.........................
Hemlock, joist, 3 x 4 , each.............. ..
Hemlock, jdlst, 4 x 6 , e a ch .................
Hemlock, wall strips, 2 x 4 , ea ch .. . .
Ash, good, per M ..................................
Ash, 2d quality, per M .......................
Oak, per M.............................................
Maple, per M ......................................
Black walnut, good, per M ..................
Black walnut, 2d quality, per M .. . . .
Black walnut, f , per M .......................
Cherry, good, per M .............................
Cherry, 2d quality, per M...................
Sycamore, inch, per i f .........................
Sycamore, §, per M .............................
White wood, chair plank, per M .........
White wood, inch, per M .....................
White wood, f , per M .........................
Shingles, 1st quality, shaved pine, p. M
Shingles, 2d quality, shaved pine, p, M.
Shingles, common, shaved pine, p. M.
Shiogles, 1st quality, sawed pine, p. M.
Shingles, 2d quality, sawed pine, p. M.
Shingles, common, sawed pine, p. M..
Shingles, sawed hemlock, per M .........

00
00
00
00
00
00
00
15
14
9
10}
12 }
18
8}
8
16
06
22 00
15 00
25 00
15 00
35 00
18 00
33 00
35 00
20 00
16 00
12 00
33 00
20 00
13 00
5 50
4 00
2 00
00
00
2 00
2 00

128
19
17
15
12
9
15

Dee. 31, 1864.

a $30 00
a 20 00
a 18 00
a 16 00
a 13 00
a 10 00
a 20 00
a
16
a
15
a
10
a
11
a
13
a
20
a
08
a
09
a
17
a
06}
a 25 00
a 18 00
a 30 00
a 14 00
a 38 00
a 22 00
a 38 00
a 40 00
a 30 00
a 18 00
a 15 00
a 35 00
a 22 00
a 15 00
a
5 75
a
4 50
a
3 00
a
4 00
a
3 50
a
2 25
a
2 50

$57
52
47
32
23
19
55

45
30
40
30
75
40
70
50
35

75
45
35

8
6
8
7
6
2
3

00 a $60 00
00 a 55 oo
00 a 50 00
00 a 36 00
00 a 30 00
00 a 21 00
00 a 60 00
80 a
32
27 a
29
00 a
oo
24
23 a
30
27 a
38 a
40
00 a
16
20
19 a
86 a
40
15
00 a
00 a 50 00
00 a 35 00
00 a 50 00
00 a 35 00
00 a 80 00
00 a 45 00
00 a 75 00
00 a 55 00
00 a 40 00
00
00 a
00 a
00
00 a 80 00
00 a 50 00
00 a 40 00
00 a
8 50
50 a
7 50
00 a
4 00
00 a
7 25
00 a
6 50
50 a
4 00
50 a
4 00

BANGOR LUM BER T R A D E .

The following is a statement of the amount of lumber surveyed at Bangor from
January 1 to December 1, 1864, compared with the amount surveyed during the
same period in 1862 and 1863 :
49,288,178
11,732,569
90,135,783
7,421,392

1863.
49.788,162
12,806,974
108,904,447
16,623,364

41,788,379
1 1,557,327
105,650,850
12,814,830

158,577,922

188,122,047

171,820,386

1862.

Green pine..
Dry pine. . . .
Spruce.......
Hemlock, Ac.

TOLEDO

LUM BER

1864.

TRADE.

The receipts of pine lumber, lath, and shingles by lake, at Toledo, have been
as follows for the last seven years :




398

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
RECEIPTS OF

[May,

PIN E LUMBER, ETC., B Y CANAL.

Total, 1864..............................................
“
1863..............................................
“
1862.............................
“
1861..............................................
“
1860..............................................
“
1859..................
“
1858..............................................

Lumber.

Latb.

Shingles.

55,799,200
88,833,884
85,562,113
24,426,877 '
87,368,536
22,816,963
19,614,780

15,235,000
10,765,000
9,564,750
7,150,700
9,398,712
8,659,700
5,558,359

18,149,000
23,178,000
16,653,000
18,891,925
15,861,788
12,998,000
9,950,127

The Toledo Blade gives the following as the receipts of lumber—principally
black walnut—by railroad and canal the last two years :
RECEIPTS OF BLACK WALNUT LUMBER BT CANAL.

By Michigan Southern Railroad.........
Toledo and Wabash Railway. . . .
Dayton and Michigan Railroad .,
Canal................................................

1864.
13,639,125
2,356,901
2,628,200
6,306,360

1863;
7.085.000
989,975
8.068.000
* 2,848,101

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

24,828,586

13,791,076

The shipments o f black walnut lumber by lake were—
SHIPMENTS OF BLACK WALNUT

BY LAKE*

To Buffalo......................... ............
Ogdenaburg..............................
Boston, Mass., (d ire ct)...........
New York City, (direct)........
Sandusky.................................
Kingston, C. W .......................

23,428,423
2,833,300
230.000
182.000
110,000
17,000

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

26,750,723

CUBA.— PRODUCTIONS AND TRADE.
past year has been a prosperous one for Cuba. Her sugars have com­
manded a high price, affording ample remuneration, yet still exciting but little
of that speculative feeling which in other times has proved so pernicious to that
market. The prospects the coming season are good, and it is supposed that the
yield will be equal to the last crop, although the cane in some localities suffered
by the long draught. We avail ourselves of the annual review of the trade of
the island by Mr. S . 8 . S p e n c e r of Havana, for the purpose of preparing the
following comparative statements.
The exports and destination of sugar from the principal ports of Cuba, the
last two years, have been as follows :
T he

EX PO RTS OF SUGAR FROM THE PRINCIPAL PORTS 01 CUBA.

From
H a v a n a ...................... .
M atanzas......... ..
C ard enas......................
L ag u a............................
Remedios ....................
N uevitas.....................




1863a

■Boxes.------------- 1
1864.
1,109,917
250,342
24,963
2,230

....

3

«---------- Hhcte.
1863.
10,994
55,052
57,303
61,806
22,007
13,895

1864.
16,804
52,756
52,742
69,957
30,734
15,916

1865.]

S ta tistics o f T ra d e and Commerce,

St. Jago..............
Trinidad..............
Cienfnegos...........
Total...........
DESTINATION OF SUGAR

S99

1,490
16,810
6,496

32,855
27,305
72,060

40,829
80,976
73,994

1,406,251

852,777

384,707

EXPORTED FROM CUBA.
T )____ ^

1863.

United States.. . .
Great Britain . . . .
North of Europe.,
France................
South of Europe..
Other parts.........
Total............
Total tons..,

'

160,926
622,508
58,304
242,226
288,1
162
33,525

1863.
238,361
95,256
2,866
1,350
1,384
13,560

248,735
109,149
3,028
4,724
2,626
16,445

1,406,251
267,188

852,777
217,840

884,707
237,557

1864.

1864.

EXPORTS OF SUGAR FROM CUBA.

We thus see that the total exports from Cuba of sugar, in tons, was in the—
Year.
1863...............
1864................

Tons.
461 968
504,745

We have also prepared the following table showing the exports and destina­
tion of molasses the past two years :
EXPORTS AND DESTINATION OF MOLASSES FROM PRIN CIPAL PORTS OF CUBA.

Exports.
From
Havana........
Matanzas . .
Cardenas . . ...........
Lagua........
R em edios..
Nuevitas.. .
St. J ago... .
Trinidad.. .
Cienfuegos .
Total . . . .hhds.
Total tons. .

Destination.
1863.

89,261

262,225

To
13,699 United States . .
83,950 Great Britain.. .
75,307 North of Europe
23,235 France ...............
11,344 South of Europe
10,011 Other parts . . . .
61
11,685
33,493
1864.

262,775

1863.
185,381
47,213
162
6,954
530
21,985

205,557
29,641
817
1,032
216
25,492

262,225
170,446

262,775
170,804

1864.

Below are the imports at Havana for the past ten years :
IMPORTS AT HAVANA.

Years.
1855.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
1860.
1861.
1862,
1863.
1864.

Br. proy.
46,705
62,443
41,628
62,791
47,270
40,476
42,001
82,256
28,349
82,159

A v ...

42,808




-Codfish.—Quintals.----------------- »
U. States.
Europe.
Total.
40,836
17,726
105,267
25,030
42,707
130,180
11,908
86,246
89,782
39,173
26,561
128,525
15,524
83,675
96,469
6,186
36,469
82,131
86,360
75,163
4,792
4,274
5,956
42,486
72,034
9,237
84,448
2,468
42,455
77,082
17,610

29,493

89,911

,--------- Flour.—Barrels.
Spain.
U. States.
Total.
162,593
971
163,564
159,478
6,835
166,313
191,228 22,356
218,584
243,132
6,478
249,610
200,937
1,747
202,684
194,024
2,579
196,603
247,931
40
247,971
231,10S
231,108
210,253
1,180
211,433
230,117
1,578
231,695

.,

207,080

4,376

211,466

400

1855.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
1860.
1861.
1862.
1863.
1864.

A v...

[May,

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
Jerked
beef.
S. Arner.
218,669
238,572
869,602
158,737
853,161
421,833226,802
864,177
278,891
299,268

Carolina.
102,542
84,620
79,444
86,951
89,313
98,234
47,549
675

292,621

58,933

....
....

--------Bice.—Quintals.------- -----»
Spain.
E. Indies.
Total.
99.049
41,052
242,643
70.100
77,495
232,215
70,899 140,472
290,815
73,499 129,647
290,097
39,930 123,231
252,474
60,097 210,601
877,932
52,838 261,615
862,002
94,268 331,415
426.358
57.503 198,266
255,769
105,224 819,874
425,098
72,341

184,267

1855.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1859.
1860.
1861.
1862.
1863.
1864.

Boards.
Box.
Hhds.
M. feet.
Shooks.
Shooks.
N. Amer. U. S. &N. A. U. S. & N. A.
14,743
680,148
109,742
15,732
465,747
97,358
21,567
475,683
86,674
24,084
434,983
51,908
427,061
28,567
74,253
28,375
476,256
62,269
15,747
468,247
47,436
10,551
452,903
48,330
8,152
368,075
69,659
11,185
669,080
45,552

A v...

17,870

481,813

68,318

815,541

Coals.
Tons.
E . & A.
63,718
45,989
62,798
80,473
61,422
94,291
138,872
178,679
110,759
148,884

Olive oiL
Jars.
Spain.
517,987
587,869
273,645
672,698
602,647
869,838
479,740
475,192
350,522
322,172

98,588

455,231

Lard.
Quintals.
U. States.
80,975
68,823
63,514
87,043
117,726
99,569
162,554
171,304
113,342
129,361

Wine.
Pipes.
Spain.
82,854
31,065
85,347
44,758
43,748
51,659
49,718
44,947
48,979
64,025

109,421

44,710

Coal oil. Whale oil.
Qtls.
Qtls.
U. States, U. States.
9,424
....
9,546
•. • • 11,203
.... 10,324
....
4,447
3,545
6S0
8,704
2,167
7,658
2,309
2,085
20,243
25,699
2,103
11,597

5,715

The following shows the number and tonnage of the American, Spanish,
British, and French vessels engaged in the Havana trade the last five years :
ENTRIES AT THE TORT OF HAVANA DURING FIVE TEARS.
------- 1 8 6 4 .--------,

A m erican
Spanish...
B ritish ....
French . .

-------1 8 6 3 .--------,

No.
Ton.
No.
Ton.
410 201,814 467 177,210
790 215,805 636 159,819
598 180,523 537 131,667
77 29,27'7
64 22,287

------- 1 8 6 2 .------- %

No.
Ton.
630 176,478
728 200,127
358 127,046
68 24,647

,---- 1861. -----, ,----- 1860. ----- ,
No. Ton.
No.
Ton.
919 282,600 1,175 468,210
649 161,685 724 174,471
275 98,093
161
63,666
131 45,057
58 20,359

Besides the above there have been, each year, about two hundred and twentyfive vessels under other flags engaged in this trade. Last year (1864) the total
number of other vessels was two hundred and twenty-four.

TRADE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE FOR 1864.
GREAT BRITAIN.

value of the shipments of British goods and produce during the past
three years has been as follows :
T he

EXPORTS OF BRITISH AND IRISH PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES FROM GREAT BRITAIN.

1862
1863
1864

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

£128,992,264
146,602,342
160,436,302

From the above figures it will be seen that the increase in exports during
1864, compared with 1863, amounted to £13,833,960, and with 1862 to
£36,444,038.




1865.J

401

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

The following arrangement of the exports and imports of Great Britain for
the past four years was prepared by the editor of the Journal of the Statistical
Society of London. We give in the first table the declared real value at port of
shipment of articles of British and Irish produce and manufactures exported,
and in the second table the computed real value (ex duty) at port of entry, (and,
therefore, including freight and importers profit,) of articles of foreign and
colonial merchandise imported into the United Kingdom :
VALUE OF EXPOETS OF BRITISH AND IRISH PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES.
British produce, etc.

Manufactures—Textile—
Cotton Manufactures.........................
Cotton yam ........................................
Woolen manufactures.........................
Woolen y a r n ......................................
Silk manufactures..............................
Silk yarn..............................................
Linen manufactures...........................
Linen yarn ..........................................

1864.

.
.
.
.
.

1863.

1862.

£45,760,000
9,096,000
18,566,000
5,422,000
2,018,000
297,000
8,158,000
8,010,000

£39,424,000
8,020,000
15,519,000
5,065,000
1,959,000
270,000
6,510,000
2,536,000

£30,569,000
6,203,000
13,147,000
3,854,000
2,015,000
346,000
5,131,000
1,852,000

92,327,000

79,303,000

63,117,000

2,584,000
4,787,000

2,808,000
4,362,000

2,556,000
8,592,000

7,371,000

7,170,000

6,148,000

4,159,000
4,854,000
13,214,000
3,911,000
2,786,000
4,162,000

3,827,000
4,365,000
13,111,000
4,233,000
2,863,000
8,708,000

3,346,000
4,097,000
11,302,000
2,822,000
2,729,000
3,750,000

83,086,000

82,107,000

28,047,000

2,179,000

2,090,000

1 ,8 6 8 , 0 0 0

1,823,000
328,000
148,000
142,000
281,000
508,000
917,000

1,777,000
472,000
156,000
190,000
287,000
454,000

1,594,000
379,000
127,000
226,000
321,000
511,000

8 6 8 ,0 0 0

8 8 6 ,0 0 0

4,142,000

4,204,000

4,044,000

Leather manufactures.......................
S o a p ....................................................
Plate and watches.............................
Stationery............................................

466,000
259,000
2,404,000
231,000
427,000
354,000

457,000
302,000
2,318,000
256,000
463,000
345,000

416,000
276,000
2,565,000
227,000
505,000
286,000

Remainder o f enumerated articles . . . .
Unenumerated articles...........................

4.141,000
9,648,000
7,542,000

4,141,000
8,669,000
8,805,000

4,275,000
8,839,000
7,805,000

160,486,000

146,486,000

124,138,000

Manufactures— Sewed—
Apparel................................................ .
Haberdashery and millinery.............
Metals—
Hardware............................................
Machinery...........................................
Iron......................................................
Copper and brass...............................
Lead and tin........................................ .
Coals and culm....................................
Ceramic manufactures—
Earthenware and glass.....................
Indigenous manufactures—
Beer and ale........................................
B u tter..................................................
Cheese..................................................
Candles.................................................
Salt.......................................................
Spirits .................................................
Soda.......................................................
Various manufactures—
Books, printed....................................
F u r n it u r e ...................................................

T o ta l exports




402

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

[Ma7>

VALUE OF IMPORTS OF ARTICLES OF FOREIGN AND COLONIAL MERCHANDISE.

Foreign articles imported.

1864.

1863.

1862.

£73,081,000
15,959,000
12,081,000
5,283,000
3,955,000
2,316,000

£56,278,000
12,290,000
15,248,000
4,271,000
8,451,000
2,398,000

£31,093,000
12,109,000
15,897,000
5,206,000
2,645,000
2,446,000

112,675,000

93,936,000

69,396,000

2,751,000
3,149,000
4,273,000
1,512,000
10,866,000

3,217,000
4,075,000
4,087,000
2,439,000
10,754,000

8,188,000
8,951,000
4,604,000
2,508,000
9,293,000

22,551,000

24,572,000

23,544,000

1,217,000
8,548,000

2,659,000
3,372,000

1,635,000
8,211,000

4,765,000

6,031,000

4,846,000

8,226,000
3,615,000
16,827,000
2,676,000
1,375,000
911,000
5,110,000
2,056,000

10,666,000
4,155,000
12,367,000
3,017,000
1,866,000
1,562,000
4,497,000
1,706,000

9,176,000
3,303,000
12,019,000
2,351,000
2,400,000
1,228,000
3,649,000
1,692,000

40,796,000

39,836,000

35,818,000

20,291,000
8,928,000

25,886,000
8,789,000

37,748,000
8,564,000

Remainder of enumerated articles.. . .

29,219,000
5,391,000

84,675,000
4,776,000

46,312,000
4,213,000

Total enumerated imports.............
Add for unenumerated imports (say)...

215,397,000
53,849,000

203,826,000
45,154,000

184,129,000
42,473,000

Total imports...............................

269,246,000

248,980,000

Raw materials—Textile—
Cotton w o o l..........................................
W ool (sheeps’) ......................................
S ilk ........................................................
Flax........................................................
H e m p ....................................................
Indigo....................................... ..............

Raw materials—Various—
Hides......................
O ils ....................................

Metals...........................
Tallow...............................

Timber.........................
Raw materials— Agricultural—
G uano......................................

Seeds...................................
Tropical, dsc.—Produce—
T ea...........................
Coffee........................
Sugar and molasses...
Tobacco......................
Rice...........................
Fruits........................
Wine...................... .
Spirits........................
Food—
Grain and flour...........
Provisions..................

Below are the exports of gold and silver from Great Britain.
exports of gold and silver from France in our last number :

226,602,000

W e gave the

EXPORTS OF GOLD AND SILVER, IN MILLIONS STERLING, FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Exported to

[Unit 000’s omitted—thus £8,321 — £3,821,000.]
.— --------------- Gold.--------------------* ,-----------------Silver.---------------1834.
1862.
1863.
1861. 1864.
1863.
1862. 1661.
Mins.
Mins.
Mins.
Mins. Mins.
Mins.
Mins. Mins.

France ..........................
Hanse Towns, Russia,
Holland, & Belgium .
Portugal, Spain, and
G ibraltar...................
9




£.
7,775,

£.
8,502,

£.
6,356,

£.
£.
998, 2,146,

£.
1,258,

81,

3,812,

2,146,

21, 1,001,

791.

711,

854,

1,589,

1,746,

2,464,

30,

4,

8,

8.

9,445,

9,060, 10,966,

2,056, 3,177,

2,058,

1,037,

£.
£.
850, 1,052,

1,569, 1,909.

1865.]

403

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

China (via Egypt)..................................,
..................... 1,698, 2,686, 8,806, 1,021,
India (via E gypt)................................................................. 4,610, 6,229, 6,903, 6,187,
United S tates.............
185,
40,
36, 7,297, . . . .
14, .........
84,
B ra zil...........................
927, 1,681,
409,
20, 142,
50,
43, 150,
Turkey.........................................
35, 1,124,
1 , .......................
905, -----E g y p t........................... 2,060, 3,473, 1,919,
796......................................................
A ll other countries.. . .

12,617, 14,289, 14,454, 10,170, 9,627, 10,932, 13,226, 9,422,
662, 1,012, 1,557,
68, 249,
356,
88, 151,

T o t a l................... 13,279, 15,301, 16,011, 11,238, 9,876, 11,288, 13,314, 9,573,

The following are the imports of gold and silver:
IMPORTS OF GOLD AND SILVER, IN MILLIONS STERLING, INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.

[Unit 000’s omitted—thus £6,050 = £6,050,000.]
/-------------------Gold.-------------------»
1864.
1863.
1862. 1861.
Mins.
Mins.
Mins. Mins.

£.

£.

£.

£.

,----------------- Silver.------------------ .
1864.
1863.
1862.
1861.
Mins.
Mins.
Mins.
Mins.

£.

£.

£.

£.

Australia................. 2,656, 5,995, 6,704, 6,331.........................................................
British Columbia and
British N. America.
123,
47,
61,
55,
12,
59,
19,
8,
Mexico, S. America,
and West Indies . . 5,240, 8,960, 1,631,
935, 7,002, 6,750, 6,242, 5,047,
United States........... 7,480,
7,520, 9,731,
38,
155,
626,
332,
28,
Russia .....................
50,
904,
756,
557,
8,
8,
7, . . . .
15,549, 18,426, 18,884,
574,
F ran ce..........
Hanse Towns, Hol­
land, and Belgium..
Portugal, Spain, and
Gibraltar......
133,
Malta, Turkey, and
Egypt......................
West coast of Africa
A ll other countries.

220,

80,
96,

7,916,

7,172,

6,600,

5,083,

187,

91,

2,504,

1,115,

7,443,

1,256, 2,202,

690,

816,

430,

885,

2,272,

2,062, 2,707,

524,

16,

26,

42,

92,

80,

120,

160,

115,
69,

8,
100,

51..............
78,
24,

3,
8,

13,
6,

31,
2,

16,652, 19,129, 19,539, 11,476, 10,675, 10,852, 11,648, 6,496,
245,
4,
364,
687,
157,
31,
104,
87,

T o ta l............... 16,897, 19,133, 19,903, 12,163, 10,732, 10,883, 11,752,

6,583,

The import table shows a large arrival of gold from the West Indies, caused
by the extensive shipments made from California direct to Great Britain on New
York account.
The total import of gold and silver last year was £27,621,000, against
£29,870,000 ; and the total export £23,155,000 against £26,461,000 in 1863.
The large shipments of gold to France, last year, were made, in a considerable
degree, for the purpose of buying silver for transmission to the East to pay for
cotton.. The shipments of silver from Marseilles by the steamers of the Messageries Imperiales amounted to £3,043,300, or about one million and a-half
sterling in excess of 1863; consequently, as a good proportion of this amount
was shipped on English account, the actual decrease in the export of silver to
the East for the past year shows but a moderate decrease, when compared with
the preceding twelve months. The official statement showing the export of sil­
ver from the United Kingdom to India and China shows a diminution in 1864,
as compared with 1863, of about £2,300,000.




404

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

[May,

The following table shows the increase and decrease in exports to various
countries in 1864, compared with 1863 :
EXPORTS FROM GREAT BRITAIN TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES.

Countries.
Sweden..........................................
Norway..........................................
Denmark, including Iceland.. . .

France............................................
Portugal P ro p e r.........................
Spain................................ ..
I t a ly ..............................................
Illyria, Croatia, and Dalmatio..
Turkey, European.......................
Natolia or Asia M inor...........
Syria and Palestine.................
Western Africa (foreign).............
Dutch pos. in India (Java, Ac.)..
Philppine islands.........................
China (exclusive o f Hong Kong).
Cuba and Porto Rico...................
Other foreign West Indies(including Hayti and San DomiDgo).
United States...............................
M exico.................................
New Granada...............................
Peru...............................................
C h ili..............................................
B ra zil............................................
Uruguay........................................
Argentine Confederation.............
Channel Islands...........................
Gibraltar......................... ..............
Malta and G ozo..................... .
Cape of Good H o p e ...................

1S63.
£2,695,276
606,987
556,979
1,004,904
1,917,345
568.337
10,806,092
6,324,696
2,107,332
8,673,309
2,225,777
8,608.556
6,901,112
864,736
4,427,886
1,044,668
1,026,562
4,406,295
656,407
650,424
556,863
2,416,705
2,131,087

1861
£2,854,898
731,980
771,728
1,290,609
1,136,416
689,904
13,373,131
6,895,463
2,305,521
8,200,760
2,084,073
3,088,123
6,601,345
792,280
4,872,837
1,069,853
1,365,949
6,070,221
671,306
796,582
765.764
3,093,865
2,997,720

1,365,706
15,344,392
1,678,572
1,558,188
1; 027,343
1,431,814
3,964,261
534,973
1,330,959
867,776
1,267,900
622,608
1,230,089
611,813
20,002,241
1,486,774
Singapore and Eastern
Straits...
1,075,927
1,473,222
12,498,534
British North America.................
4,813,482
Bermudas.....................................
607,443
British West India Islands.........
2,623,847
512,391

1,371,548
16,704,080
1,808,743
2,029,344
1,334,875
1,691,410
6,258,906
993,259
1,758,085
1,016,171
1,206,206
746,385
1,814,877
19,895,145
1,185,680
828,368
1,610,957
11,858,679
5,611,276
656,777
2,659,778
803,503

Decrease.

Increase.
£159,622
124,993
214,749
285,705

.........
£780,729

121,567
2,567,039
660,767
298,189
472,549
141,704
420,433
299,767
72,546
444,951
25,785
339,387
1,663,926
85,101
146,158
208,901
677,160
866,633
5,842
1,359,698
130,171
471,156
' 307,532
259,604
2,294,645
458,286
427,126
148,395
61,794
123,777
584,788
146,445
107,096
301,094
247,559
137,785
639,855
797,794
49,334
35,931
291,112

The increase and decrease inthe shipments o f various articles in 1864 thus
compares with the previous year :
EXPORTS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES FROM GREAT BRITAIN.

Articles.

Arms (small fire).........................




1863.
£866.715
2,808,968
856,009

1864.
£917,262
2,583,653
344,476

Decrease.

Increase.
£50,547
'

£225,315
511,533

1865.]

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

A rticles.

B ag9, e m p t y . . ..................................
B e e r and a le ......................................
C oals, <fec..............................................
C otton y a r n .........................................
M anufactures— P iece g ood s . .
T h r e a d ..............................................
E arth en w a re and p orcela in ..........
F ish — H e r r in g s ................................
H a b erd a sh ery and m illin e r y .. . .
H a rd w a re and c u t le r y ....................
L ea th er, w rought, b oots & shoes
L in en y a r n ..........................................
L in en m ann facthres—P iece g ood s
T h r e a d ..............................................
M achinery— S tea m en g in es..........
O ther s o r ts .....................................
M eta ls— Iron, p ig and p u d d led .
Bar, <fcc...........................................

H o o p , sheet, <fcc...........................
W r o u g h t .........................................
C op p er, u n w rou g h t...................
W r o u g h t ....................................

O il, s e e d ...............................................
P a p e r ...................................................
S ilk — T h r o w n .....................................
M a n u fa c tu r e s ................................
S p irits (B r it is h )..............................
W oo l, sh eep and la m b s ..................
W o o le n and w orsted y a r n ............
M anufactures —Cloth9, &c. . . .
F la n n e ls ......................................
B la n k e t s ...........................
C arpets and d r u g g e t s ..........
W o rs te d stuffs o f w o o l on ly, and
o f w o o l m ixed w ith oth er m at e ria ls ...............................................

405

1864.
1863.
Increase.
565,282
749,454
194,172
1,746,238
1,823,162
76,924
3,713,798
4,161,338
447,540
8,063,128
9,096,209 1,033,081
37,633,535
43,887,387 6,253,852
746,470
787,697
41,227
1,341,069
81,061
1,422,130
501,032
601,954
922
4,359,659
4,786,899
427,240
3,833,149
4,159,1()7
325.958
1,482,631
1,405,819
76,812
2,530,404
8,010,109
479,705
5,920,859
7,591,535
1,670,676
527,105
494,312
1,595,036
1,626,342
31,306
2,772,976
3,227,848
454,872
1,287,968
1,411,513
123,545
2,568,034
2.559,009
8,260,781
3,278,304
740,310
656,085
1,720,881
1,780,359
59,474
2,237,038
2,152,754
84,284
881,503
935,517
___
1,188,713
588,305
2,727,085 . 2,920,692
193,507
761,673
773,864
483,098
513,877
1,309,673
1,264,100
1,255,961
999,077
256,8S4
650,092
548,257
1,835
558,419
541,278
17,141
1,421,261
1,460,014
38,753
454,328
503,357
49,029
696,302
688,300
7,002
5,422,162
5,087,293
334,869
3,964,910
4,546,054
581,144
503,984
554,613
50,629
796,144
792,134
4,010
810,783
872,598 •
61,815
8,336,957

10,801,854

Decrease.

32,793

9,025
17,623
84,225

54 ,014
600,358
12,191
30,779
4 5 ,573

2,464,897

The annexed returns shows the increase and decrease in the real value of the
principal articles imported in 1864 compared with 1863 :
IMPORTS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES INTO GREAT BRITAIN.

Articles.
C offee, r a w .................................
"W heat..........................................
B a r le y .........................................
O a t s ..............................................
P e a s ......................................
B e a n s .........................................
In d ian corn or m a iz e . . . . . .
W h ea tm ea l and flo u r ............
C otton, r a w ................................
C otton manufac. n ot m ade u p
F l a x ..............................................




1863.

1864.

£4 ,1 5 5 ,0 2 9
12,015,006
2,823,544
2,215,676
516,957
749,074
4,042,908
3,522,931
56,277,953
1,034,904
4,271,059

£ 3 ,6 1 5 ,7 5 9
10,673,226
1,624,291
1,827,990
42 8,07 6
344,908
1,977,955
2,8 32,2 00
78,203,729
83 3,62 9
5,3 23,0 53

Increase.

£ 2 1 ,9 2 5 ,7 7 6
1,051,994

Decrease,
£ 5 3 9 ,2 7 0
1,341,780
1,199,253
387,680
88,880
404,166
2,0 64,9 53
690,731
.............
21 0,27 5
.............

406

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

Articles.
Fruit— Currants.................
Raisins...............................
Guano....................................
H e m p ....................................
Jute........................................
Hides ...................................
Metals— Copper...................
Provisions..............................
R ice........................................
Seeds—Flax and linseed.. .
Silk— Raw............................
Thrown.............................
Broadstuffs.........................
Silk or satin ribbons........
Velvet or plush...............
Spirits— R u m ......................
Brandy..............................
Sugar— Unrefined...............
Refined or sugar can dy..
T a llo w ..................................
T ea.........................................
Timber— Deals, battens, &c.
Not sawn or s p lit...........
Tobacco— U n ste m m e d ....
W ine......................................
W ool ....................................
Woolen manufactures.........

1863.
981,137
580,548
2,658,856
1,880,253
1,575,882
2,784,622
2,000,473
8,789,760
1,866,109
8,372,432
9,380,758
93,939
8,683,752
1,359,883
594,378
581,039
1,124,824
11,520,242
500.307
2,438,613
10,666,017
6,766,003
4,988,235
1,722,571
4,497,343
11,465,257
1,596,081

1864.

719,680
452,394
1,463,012
1,745,353
2,230,236
2,667,811
2,051,374
9,740,243
1,809,103
3,947,221
6,850,241
123,281
4,493,507
1,305,962
531,994
484,973
1,505,382
14,408,838
1,668,768
2,077,726
9,438,760
6,010,341
4,936,176
1,952,409
5,002,884
15,162,694
1,669,347

[May,

Increase.

654,444
50,901
950,483
574,789
29.J142
809,755

380.568
2,878,596
1,168,461
244,338
229,838
505,541
8,697,437
73,266

Decrease •

261,457
128,154
1,195,844
134,900
...........
116,811
...........
...........
57,006
...........
3,030,517
...........
...........
53,921
62,384
96,066
...........
...........
...........
860,887
1,227,257
...........
52,059
...........
...........
...........
...........

FRANCE.

T he official returns have now been made up showing the quantities and value
o f the imports and exports of France the past year. It seems that the total
value of the imports taken for consumption in the year 1864, was 2,480,214,000f. ;
in 1863, 2,426,379,000f.; in 1862, 2,198,555,000f.; and 1861, 2,442,328,000f.
The total value of the exports of French productions was, in 1864, 2,909,429,000f;
in 1863, 2,642,559,OOOf.; in 1862, 2,242,681,000f.; and in 1861,1,926,260,000^
In the imports, the principal articles were hides, skins, and furs,silk, wool, sugar
timber, cotton, coal. Of cotton, the value was 315,606,0001'. in 1864, which
was 53,000,000f. more than in 1863, and 189,000,000f. more than in 1S62. In
exports, the principal articles were silk, wool, and cotton tissues; articles in
skin and leather ; turnery, mercery, and buttons ; ready-made clothes and linen,
wines and brandies.

A s to the precious metals, which are not included in the preceding totals, the
value of them (comprising a small sum for copper and platina coin) was in im­
ports, in 1864, 733,500,OOOf.; in 1863, 532,603,000f.; 1862,536,418,OOOf.; and
1861, 491,586,OOOf.; and the exports were, in 1864, 655,406,OOOf.; in 1863,
587,818,OOOf.; 1862, 455,910,OOOf.; and 1861, 502,480,OOOf.
We gave last month (March number, 1865, page 211,)- the full returns of the
movements of the precious metals, with the countries from which the imports
came and to which the exports went. It is unnecessary to repeat those tables
now, but below will be found in detail the value of the principal imports and
exports of French production for the last three years :




1865.]

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

407

VALUE OF THE PRINCIPAL IMPORTS OF FRENCH PRODUCTION.

1864.

francs.
Horses........................... . . .
Cattle.................................
H ides................................. .
Wool................................... .
Silk.......................................
Tallow .................................
Guano and manure..........................
Rice ................................... .
Table fruits........................
Oleaginous fruits................. .
Oleaginous seeds................. .
Seeds for sowing................
Olive o i l .............................
Sugar.................................
Cocoa................................. .
Coffee...................................
Pepper............................... .
T e a ......................................
Tobacco..............................
Timber...............................
Staves.................................
Jute.....................................
Hemp .................................
F la x ............................... ...
Cotton..................................
Hops...................................
Rags...................................
C o a l....................................
Pig iron.............................
Iron..................................... .
Copper...............................
L ead..................................
Tin......................................
Zinc.....................................
Steel....................................
Indigo.................................
Linen, hemp, and jute yarn
Cotton yarn.......................
Woolen yarn.. , .................
Goats’ hair yarn................
Linen and hemp tissues . . .
Hair tissues........................
Silk tissues.........................
Woolen tissues...................
Cotton tissues......................
Machinery...........................
Needles...............................
Cutlery...............................
Corn and flour....................

25,148,000

1868.

francs.
10,293,000
77,136,000
111,038,000
223,730,000
291,905,000
44,540,000
24,264,000
12,408,000
16,768,000
19,554,000
89,976,000
16,529,000
24,549,000
147,419,000
8,270,000
79,792,000
8,427,000
1,489,000
19,203,000
104,842,000
20,233,000
4,559,000
4,110,000
60,551,000
261,836,000
4,792,000
985,000
100,014,000
17,690,000
4,194,000
89,873,000
9,505,000
9,913,000
12,996,000
1,909,000
2,005,000
7,702,000
7,631,000
10,234,000
4,348,000
12,470,000
5,411,000
4 729,000
33,373,000
8,560,000
10,551,000
1,323,000
284,000
58,020,000

1662.

francs.
9,084,000
60,983,000
69,271,000
185,134,000
286,958,000
40,134,000
16,990,000
12,796,000
17,250,000
18,281,000
49,251,000
15,519,000
32,490,000
130,922,000
6,630,000
75,974,000
4,251,000
1,520,000
16,929,000
89,411,000
23,970,000
3,780,000
5,879,000
35,808,000
126,159,000
3,839,000
3,631,000
102,167,000
22,207,000
22,889,000
34,832,000
9,285,000
11,385,000
14,172,000
2,646,000
25,035,000
5,830,000
12,942,000
7,493,000
4,933,000
13,483,000
7,236,000
4,624,000
40,961,000
14 305,000
10,770,000
1,354,000
369,000
157,509,000

VALUE OF THE PRINCIPAL EXPORTS OF :FRENCH PRODUCTION.

1864.

francs.
Silk tissues..........................
Woolen tissues....................
Cotton tissues....................
Linen and hemp tissues . . .
Woolen yarn......................
Cotton yarn ........................




1863.

1862.

francs.

francs.

370,293,000
293,583,000
98,179,000
18,952,000
15,223,000
1,881,000

363,151,000
221,691,000
63,294,000
14,467,000
12,539,000
1,694,000

408

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
1864.

francs.
Linen and hemp yarn..................
Prepared skins.............................
Felt hats.......................................
Machinery.....................................
Cutlery..........................................
Arms.............................................
Tools and other articles in metal.
Turnery, toys, buttons................
Millinery and artificial flowers...
Furniture.....................................
Ready-made clothes and linen...
Parisian articles...........................
Books, engravings, &c. . .............
Paper and pasteboard..................
Pottery and porcelain..................
Looking glasses...........................
Glass and crystal.........................
Wines...........................................
Spirits...........................................
Perfumery ...................................
Soap............................................
Refined sugar..............................
Beet-root raw sugar.....................
Copper.........................................
Coal...............................................
H ops............................................
B ags.............................................
Cotton*.........................................
Rosin.............................................
Butter...........................................
W"ool.............................................
Silk............................. ..............
Horses...........................................
Cattle...........................................
Corn and wheat...........................
Articles in leather and skin........

28,403,000
61,763,000
10,088,000
9,520,000
2,391,000
7,198,000
44,869,000
174,752,000
18,189,000
20,461,000
111,640,000
4,892,000
20,190,000
18,557,000
11,348,000
4,797,000
16,184,000
252,904,000
79,856,000
15,529,000
7,930,000
67,126,000
6,238,000
7,694,000
4.360,000
1,099,000
10,810,000
57,357,000
36,078,000
40,550,000
63,866,000
89,014,000
15,189,000
23,325,000
56,850,000
91,459,000

1863.

francs.
26,615,000
51,928,000
7,882,000
7,535,000
2,371,000
11,361,000
43,714,000
146,732,000
12,261,000
13,603,000
82,654,000
3,767,000
19,096,000
17,799,000
10,723.000
3,762,000
13,887,000
229,738,000
66,832,000
14,656,000
8,304,000
76,552,000
7,297,000
4,331,000
3,680,000
4,090,000
9,041,000
52,168,000
36,040,000
32,382,000
48,156,000
96,166,000
7,376,000
18,887,000
48,486,000
78,545,000

[May,
1862.

francs.
3,127,000
38,866,000
5,474,000
8,332,000
2,232,000
15.080,000
41,877,000
130,559,000
7,623,000
10,830,000
94,712,000
2,723,000
18,468,000
14,774,000
9,591,000
3,102,000
12,299.01)0
210,000,000
59,327,000
12,952,000
6,089,000
50,635,000
5,443,000
3,184,000
3,021,000
2,443,000
2,289,000
41,262,000
20.564,000
28,969,000
46,103,000
49,786,000
5,938,000
18,076,000
41,768,000
65,801,000

* This article is here counfed as a French production because import duty was

paid on it.

CONTENTS
ART.

OF

MAY

NUMBER.

PA G E

Biographical Sketch: A b r a h a m L i n c o l n . By Matthew Hale Smith.................................
2. Physical Features of the Oil Regions. By Professor E. W. Evans, Marietta College..........
3. .Railway Accidents...................................................................................................................
4. Coal Fever. The Price and Prospects o f Anthracite Coal. By C. B. Conant......................
5. The House of Hapsburg in America. By Professor Andrew Ten Brook..............................
6. Commercial Law.—No. 21. The Law of Place Where Contract is Made.............................
7. Commercial Chronicle and Review..........................................................................................
8. Journal of Banking, Currency, and Finance...........................................................................
9. Amendment to the National Currency Law............................................................................
10. The Loan Act of March, 1865................................ ~ ............................................................
11. Statistics of Trade and Commerce............................................................................................
1.




3x39

336
342
349
364
374
379
8S5
389
390
392