Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : November 1850, Vol. XXIII, No. V

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THE

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE,
Established July? 18399

BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

VOLUME X XIII.

N O V E M B E R , 1850.

CONTENTS

OF NO.

NUMBER V .

V ., V O L . X X I I I .

ARTICLES.
A

rt.

P

age.

I.

COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES.-No. XXII.—BOSTON.
By E . H. D e r b y , E s q ., o f Massachusetts.................................................................................... 483

II.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STATE OF NEW Y O R K : A SKETCH OF THE
RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT CONDITION OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.—No. III. By Hon. A . C. F l a g g , late Controller o f
the State o f New York................................................................................................................... 497

III. THE INTEREST OF MONEY.—No. V.

By D a v id F o s d ic k , A . M., o f Massachusetts....... 508

IV. THE NATURE AND USE OF MONEY.................................................................................... 514
V.

CURRENCY—INTEREST—PRODUCTION.—No. IV.

By J. S. R., o f Massachusetts....... 519

J O U R N A L OF M E R C A N T I L E L A W .
The Sepatate Rights o f Property of Married Women, as altered by late Legislation...................... 524
Rights of Patentees................................................................................................................................... 528

C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W :
EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL R E V IE W OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC., ILLU STRA­
TED W IT H TABLES, ETC., AS FOLLOWS I

The Stock Market—Abundance o f Money—Railroad Dividends—Demand in London for American
Stocks—Bank Capital and Profits, Boston and New York—Condition o f the New York City Banks
for Several Years—Receipts and Coinage o f California Gold at the Philadelphia Mint—Specie in
New York Banks and Treasury—Loans and Discounts—Condition o f Ohio Banks—Progress o f
Manufactures at Home and Abroad—Raw Materials Entered for Consumption in Great Britain from
1790 to 1850—Operations of the New York Assistant Treasury—Customs Port o f New York, etc.
etc................................................................................................................................................... 529—535
V O L. X X III.---- NO. V,




31

482

CONTENTS OP NO. V ., VOL. X X III.
PAG*

COMMERCIAL

STATISTICS.

Trade and Commerce o f New Orleans.................................................................................................... 536
Import and Export Trade 6f Cincinnati..................................................................... ........................... 539
Average Prices of Merchandise in Cincinnati.......................................*............................................... 543
Rates o f Freight from Cincinnati to New Orleans.................................................................................545
of Freight from Cincinnati to Pittsburg........................................... ........................................... 545
Virginia Tobacco Trade........................................................................................................................... 546
Exports of Cotton from Mobile, 1849-50................................................................................................. 547
Trade between the United States and Brazil........................................................................................ 547

JOURNAL

OF B A N K I N G

C U R R E N C Y AND F I N A N C E .

Condition of the Banks o f Ohio, August, 1850..................................................................................... 548
Boston Bank Dividends.—Baltimore City Stock Debt.......................................................................... 551
General Condition of the Banks o f the United States, January 1, 1850.............................................. 552
The Funded Debt of Maryland................................................................................................................ 553
Profits of the British Mint Moneyers...................................................................................................... 553
The Export of Gold from California.................... : ................................................................................. 554
United States Treasury Notes Outstanding.—The 44Lives” of Bank Notes........................................ 554
A New and Rapid Method of Refining Gold.—Deterioration in Gold Coins.................................... 555
Banking Houses in California........... '..................................................................................................... 555

C O M M E R C I A L RE G U L A T I O N S .
Annual Report o f the Board of Trade o f Baltimore.............................................................................. 556
Proposed Alterations in the Zollverein Tariff........................................................................................557
Law of Wisconsin in regard to Married W omen.................................................................................. 558

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
New Light-house on the Eastern Coast of Sweden.—Change in the Light at Algeciras.................... 559
Cape Carnaveral Shoals—Florida........................................................................................... ............. 560
New Channel, Mouth of Columbia River, Oregon................................................................................. 560
The Bay of San Francisco and its Improvements.................................................................................. 561

R A I L R O A D , C A N A L , A ND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S .
Railroad to the Pacific: Report of the Senate Committee...................................................................
Law o f Connecticut Relating to Taxes on Railroad S tocks................................................................
The Welland Canal..............................................................................................
Fall River R ailroad..................................................................................................................................
Hartford, New Haven, and Springfield Railroad..................................................................................
Steamboats Built at Cincinnati in 1849-50.—Railroads in Prussia to the end o f 1849......................

J OURNAL

562
565
566
567
563
569

OF M I N I N G A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S .

Cotton: and the Cotton Manufacture. By G. R. P orter , of the British Board o f Trade.............. 570
Manufactures in Africa...............................................................................................................................573
The Manufacture of Pegged Boots and Shoes.................................................................................* . . . 574
Statistics o f Cotton Manufactures in the South.—Slave Labor in Cotton Factories........................... 575
Statistics of Invention in the United States.—Manufacture of Gold and Silver Glass........................ 576
Electro Magnetism as a Motive Power................................................................................................... 577
Manufacture of Porcelain Buttons.............................................................................................................578
A Manufacturer in Distressed Circumstances.......................................................................................... 578

M RCAN T I L E M I S C E L L A N I E S .
Cultivation of Tea in South Carolina. A Letter to the Editor from J u n i u s S mith , Esq............... 579
The Philosophy o f Advertising................................................................................................................ 580
Tea-Smuggling in Russia........................................................................................................................... 583
The British Mercantile Marine Bill.—Effects of the Corn Laws on the Value o f Land.................... 584
The Glass Trade o f Great Britain in 1850............................................................................................... 584
Commercial Value o f Dramatic Literature............................................................................................. 585
Anti-Commercial Articles, or, Things that Cost Nothing.—An Iron Brig from Liverpool................ 585
Consumption o f Wine in the United Kingdom.—Consumption of Spirits in Scotland..................... 586
Curious Commercial Facts.—Progress of the Railroad from Toledo to Chicago............................... 586

T H E B OOK T R A D E .
Notices o f 31 N ew Works, or New Editions of Old Works.......................................................... 487-492




\

HUNT’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
N O VEM BER, 1 850.

Art. I— COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES.
NUMBER X X II.

CITY OF BOSTON.
B oston, the commercial center o f New England, lies at the head of
Massachusetts Bay, near the confluence o f Charles and Mystic Rivers. These
streams are navigable for a few miles only, but uniting with Neponset and
W eym outh Rivers form one o f the noblest harbors in the world. It is
land locked, accessible to ships o f the line, susceptible o f easy defense, rarely
if ever obstructed by ice. Extending fourteen miles from Point Alderton
to Medford, and in width at least eight miles from Chelsea to H ingham ; it
covers seventy-five square miles, and would hold all the shipping o f the
Union.
The entrance for large vessels is very narrow, barely sufficient for two
ships to sail abreast. It is defended by three fortresses, two o f which, situate
on Georges and Castle Islands are on the largest scale, and constructed with
all the improvements o f modern science. The third, or Citadel, on Governors*
Island, has been recently begun. These will effectually command the
entrance, and when finished may be considered impregnable.
This harbor is well adapted to commerce.
The Peninsula and Island
o f Boston are literlly fringed with wharfs and docks, while around the har­
bor, and its affluents, are clustered many cities and villages into which
Boston overflows, all o f which have piers or landing places, viz: Hingham,
Hull, W eymouth, Quincy, Milton, Dorchester, Roxbury, Brookline, Brighton,
Newton, Watertown, Cambridge, Charlestown, Chelsea, Malden, Medford
and Somerville.
The space occupied by Boston proper is small for a commercial city.
The early settlers chose for their residence, in 1630, a Peninsula. It was
connected with the main by a narrow isthmus, (occasionally overflowed by
the sea,) and divided at high tide into two islands. The entire tract con­
tained six hundred acres. It was called Shawmut, or Trimountain, and
derived its name from its springs and three lofty hills. The spot was un­




484

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S ta tes:

doubtedly selected for pure water, facilities for commerce, and security from
wolves and Indians.
Boston soon became an important seaport. A s early as 1740 she was
distinguished for her enterprise and commerce, and was particularly noted
for her ship building and fisheries. Her population was then 17,000.
After this for more than half a century, viz: until 1790, her growth was
checked by the Indian, French and English wars, and the restrictive policy
o f England. In 1790 her population was found to be but eighteen thou­
sand and thirty-eight. Before the revolution she was the first commercial
city on the coast. Her reputation was identified with the country ; and the
colonists were generally known as Bostonians among the French and Cana­
dians. But during the revolution her citizens were compelled to abandon
their fire-sides, their stores and churches were injured, or burnt by the British
troops, and their commerce literally ruined. Her sacrifices, too, for the com ­
mon cause were severe, and her recovery slow. New York and Philadelphia,
consequently, outstripped her. But since 1790 Boston has made great
advances.
She embarked largely in the trade to India and C h in a; in
voyages to the North-west coast, in the fisheries, the carrying trade, and she
opened an extensive business with Russia, China, the Indies, Mediterranean,
South America, Liverpool and the British Provinces. W h en commerce was
paralyzed by the embargo and war o f 1812, she began manufactures. These
have expanded into every variety o f form. They have fostered a large trade
both coastwise, and with the British Provinces. More recently she has taken
a deep interest in railways, and opened to herself an interior to which nature
gave her no access. To complete her railways she has used a large capital,
and paid some extra interest. Their benificent influence is, however, appa­
rent, and the future promises accessions to her commerce.
EXPANSION OE BOSTON.

A Peninsula less than one square mile in extent was soon found insufficient
for Boston ; and the State annexed to her Dorchester Point, a Peninsula
containing six hundred acres. To this she is wedded by four bridges. A t
a later period, ferries were established to Noddles Island, an area o f six hun­
dred acres, and this island now forms a ward o f the city. Some hundred
acres have also been reclaimed from the sea ; but these narrow limits, less than
two miles square, prove entirely inadequate, and have long been exceeded.
The population of Boston, outside o f her chartered limits, already equals
the population within. W e should do injustice to Boston were we to con­
fine her to such narrow bounds, or within such arbitrary lines. Her true
limits, as a commercial metropolis, are those marked out by her business
men for their stores, piers, shops and dwellings— the space occupied by
those who resort daily to her banks and warehouses, or meet at her exchange.
H ow is it with her sister cities ? Philadelphia, by the last census, embraced
within her chartered limits less than half her inhabitants ; the residue were
diffused through the extensive districts o f Spring Garden, Moyamensing and
Northern Liberties. She virtually extends, under different charters, from
Richmond, six miles down the Delaware.
New York reaches fourteen miles from Kings Bridge to the Battery.
New Orleans embraces three distinct municipalities, on the Crescent of
the Mississippi.
London, the queen o f commerce, contains but six hundred acres, and less
than one hundred and thirty thousand people in her chartered limits ; but




485

Boston.

her streets stretch eight miles on the Thames. W ithin her metropolitan
districts are eighteen square miles o f buildings, and three millions o f people.
Boston, with less scope than New York, has, like New Orleans, Ph ila­
delphia and London, over-stept her sea-girt isles. She has attached herself
to the main by one wide natural avenue, the neck, paved and planted with
trees, by one granite structure, the W estern Avenue, a mile and a half in
len gth ; by six bridges, seven railways, and three ferries, one terminating in a
railway. Seven railways branch into sixteen, and ten avenues divide into
thirty within the first nine miles from her exchange. These diverge like a
fan, and on the streets thus made is found a large population under separate
municipalities. As land rises in value, hotels, offices and blocks o f stores
usurp the place o f dwellings.
The old residents, leaving the low and
reclaimed land to foreign laborers, plant themselves in the suburbs.
There they build tasteful houses, with flower-plats and gardens ; availing o f
the frequent omnibuses, or o f special trains run almost hourly,* and com ­
muting for passage at $20 to $40 a year ; they reach their stores and offices
in the morning, and at night sleep with their wives and children in the
suburbs. N o time is lost, for they read the morning and evening journals
as they go and return. Some of the wards appropriate for stores thus rise
in value, but diminish in population. The suburbs extend, and the commer­
cial community grows in a widening semi-circle.
Dr. Lardner well remarks in his late treatise on railways : “ The popu­
lation o f a great capital is condensed into a small compass, by the difficulty
and inconvenience o f passing over long distances; hence has arisen the
densely populated state o f great cities like London and Paris. If the speed
by which persons can be transported from place to place be doubled, the
same population can, without inconvenience, be spread over four times the
area; if the speed be tripled, it may occupy nine times the area.”
Boston, the first o f our American cities to adopt improved modes o f loco­
motion,— instance her early stages, her Middlesex Canal and Quincy Railway
— is entitled to avail o f these laws o f science, and in computing her population
and wealth should embrace the surrounding districts within nine miles, or
half an hour’s distance, equivalent to a two miles’ walk, from her exchange.
The following table exhibits the population and wealth o f the metro­
politan district of Boston, by the census and valuation o f 1850 and 1840,
with the growth o f each.
This district is sixteen miles in length, by nine and a half average w idth ;
about one fourth o f it is occupied by water, marsh, or rocky hills too steep
for building.
Name o f
district.

Population Population Population
Distance by State by U. States by State
from
census,
census,
census
exchange. 1840.
1840.
1850.

Boston...................
Roxbury.......
2
Charlestown.
2
Cambridge..
3
Brookline...
3
3
Chelsea.......
Dorchester..
4

83,979
8,310
10,872
8,127
1,123
2,182
4,458

93,383
9,089
11,484
8,409
1,365
2,390
4,875

|138,788
18,316
15,933
14,825
2,353
6,151
7,578

Assessed
valuation,
1840.

Assessed
valuation,
1850.

$94,581,600 j;$179,525,000
3,257,503
13,712,800
4,033,176
8,862,250
4,479,501
11,434,458
743,963
5,382,000
696,781
3,472,650
1,691,245
7,199,750

* Two hundred and forty railway trains daily enter, or leave Boston, conveying more than 10,000
passengers dialy.
f Population o f Boston and environs in 1820, 86,696.
% The valuation of all these towns is official except Brighton, which is estimated from previous
re turns, the assessors not being ready to furnish the return for 1850.




486

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S ta tes:
Population Population
Distance by State by U. States
census,
from
census,
1840.
1840.
exchange.

Name of
district.

Malden........
Medford . . . .
Brighton.......
Somerville...
W. Camb’dge
N. Chelsea...
Melrose........
Watertown..
Winchester..
Stoneham__
Milton..........
Woburn . . . .
Quincy.........
Saugus........
Dedham . . .
Newton..
Waltham . . .
Lexington. . .
Lynn............
Total........

4
4
5
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
7
7
8
8
»»
9
9
9
9

Population
by State
census,
1850.

Assessed
valuation,
1840.

Assessed
valuation,
1850.

3,027
2,275
1,405
new
1,338
new
new
1,896
new
1.007
1,684
2,931
3 309
02
3,157
3,027
2,593
1,559
9,075

3,351
2,478
1,425
new
1,363
new
new
1,810
new
1,017
1,822
2,993
3,486
1,098
3,290
3,351
2,504
1,642
9,367

5,017
3,581
2,253
3,110
2,120
819
1,190
2,592
1,320
2,043
2,222
3,788
4,958
1,505
4,379
6,017
4,483
1,920
13,613

586,136
1,095,195
458,485
new
472,423
new
new
973,835
new
217,960
663,247
987,388
912,105
208,856
1,218,548
897,255
1,069,171
561,549
1,319,656

1,461.436
2,128,470
1,146,212
2,778,125
2,330,281
772,000
483,419
2,614,100
866,432
539,000
1,200,800
2,241,144
2,200,000
359,305
3,509,180
3,793,083
2,973,750
1,469,551
4,191,648

158,546

171,992

269,874

$120,114,574

$266,646,844

By this table, founded on data from official sources, it appears that the
assessed wealth of this metropolis amounts to $260,646,844, a sum exceed­
ing the assessed wealth o f New York. It also appears that this wealth has
increased in the last ten years, from $120,114,574 to $266,646,844, show ­
ing a ratio o f one hundred and twenty-three per cent, or more than 12 per
eent per annum.
It also appears that the population has increased from 158,546 to 269,874,
by the State census taken in 1840 and in 1850. But the State census does
not give the whole amount. It is prepared for a special purpose to district
the State for representatives, and the usage of the State is to omit prisoners,
paupers, lunatics, and also absent seamen.
The United States census, in 1840, gave an excess in this district o f
13,446, or 8J per cent for these omissions, and assuming the same result for
1850, we must add—
To amount of State census...............................................
Eight and a half per cent..................................................

269,874
22,939

And we have a population o f ...............................

292,813

This population and wealth must preserve for this metropolis her station
among the three first cities o f the Union.*
RAILW AYS AND STEAMERS.

The growth o f Boston and her environs has been more rapid during the
past ten years than in any previous decade. The South has ascribed her
progress principally to cotton mills. In common with commerce, the fish­
* The public and corporate property in Boston and its environs, not included in the above asssessments, exceeds twenty-one millions. In 1840 the assessed valuation o f the city o f New York was two
hundred and flfty-two millions one hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars. In 1849 the assessed
valuation of New York was $256,217,093; in the same year, valuation o f Brooklyn, Long-Island, was
$32,466,330. The valuation o f Williamsburgh, Long Island, was $3,678,563. The assessed valuation
o f Baitimore was $78,252,588. The assessed value of real estate in Philadelphia (exclusive o f the dis­
tricts) was $58,455,174, and the valuation o f real and personal estate in Portland, Maine, was, in 1850,
$7,500,000.




I

Boston.

487

eries and other manufactures, these have doubtless contributed to her
increase; but the cotton business grew more rapidly in the preceding ten
years, and is now less important than the manufactures o f leather.
The principal cause has undoubtedly been the construction o f railways,
and the establishment o f a semi monthly steam lines to Europe.
These
have given great facilities to her commerce, enlarged her market, attracted
merchants, stimulated every branch o f manufacture, created a demand for
houses and stores, and advanced the value of real estate.
September
30th 1839, there were but one hundred and sixty-seven miles o f railway
radiating from Boston. In August, 1850, Boston is wedded to one thou­
sand miles of railway in Massascbusetts, thirteen hundred and fifty in’ the
five other States o f New England, and six hundred and fifty more in New
York. In all, three thousand miles finished, or on the eve o f completion. In
September 1839, her Railway horizon was bounded by Salem, Bradford,
Nashua and Providence. It now encircles a web spreading over Massa­
chusetts, and extends to the Kennebec, the St. Lawrence and the Lakes.
This great system o f railways has been principally planned and directed by
her sagacity. In 1846 and 1847, its success led to some overaction, to a
few mistakes and a consequent pressure in the money market. Boston in­
vested largely in lines to the North, and in distant railways— the Michi­
gan Central, Mad River, Reading and W ilmington ; and she also ex­
pended five millions in an aqueduct, and as much more on factory cities. But
the aqueduct is in operation. The northern lines will reach the St. Lawrence'
in October. Her last investments promise to be remunerative, and will
bring with them a strong current o f trade from newly acquired territory.
Railways have become the great interest of Boston, and her investment in
them exc eeds fifty millons of dollars.
•

STEAMERS,

The Cunard line o f steamers was commenced July, 1841, and has run
nine years with unexampled success. There are also lines o f steamers to St.
Johns, the Kennebec, and Penobscot, to Nahant, and Hingham, but in this
department Boston has displayed less energy than in railways. It is true
she has now feeders and aliment for new lines o f steamers. The ocean
too, invites her action. Being one day nearer to Europe than New York,
she can by her Telegraph give one day’s earlier intelligence to the country.
ANNUAL PRODUCTIONS OF MASSACHUSETTS.

B y an official report made to the Legislature in 1845, it appeared that the
annual products o f Massachusetts were one hundred and fourteen millions of
dollars. O f these eleven millions were the produce o f agriculture and the
forests, principally hay, fruit and vegetables; twelve miliions the proceeds of
the fisheries, and ninety one-millions manufactures. The income from com­
merce, freight, and investments in State loans, railways and cost o f new
structure, were not included.
FISHERIES.

In 1849, 204,000 barrels o f whale and sperm oil, three-fifths o f the
entire fishery o f the Union, were brought into Massachusetts, also 231,856
barrels o f mackerel. A large portion o f these imports find their way to
Boston.




488

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S ta tes:

For more than a century Boston has been the chief mart for the sale o f
dried fish, and a large proportion o f the fishermen engaged in both the cod
and mackerel fishery resort to Boston for outfits and sales.
MANUFACTURES OF MASSACHUSETTS.

The principal branches in 1845 were :—
Miscellaneous...................................................
Boots, shoes, and leather.................
Cotton goods (811,473 spindles)...................................
Woolen and worsted goods...........................................
Manufactures of wood, including ships and carriages..
Manufactures of metals, tools, &c.................................
Oil, candles, and soap..................................................
Hats, caps, and bonnets...................
Paper.............................................................................
Cordage.........................................................................
Glass..............................................................................

$19,351,000
18,635,000
12,193,000
10,366,000
11,596,000
8,024,000
4,931,000
2,384,000
1,150,000
906,000
158,000

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

$91,000,000

O f these products, twenty-one millions are manufactured within the city and
suburbs, the residue are principally sent to Boston for sale or shipment. A
portion go directly to New York, but as Boston is the market o f a large
part of New England, the receipts from other States may be estimated to
supply the deficit. The raw materials, and supplies for operatives and foreign
imports, the latter amounting this year to nearly thirty millions, also pass
through this market, so that the annual home trade o f Boston may be safely
set at two hundred millions of dollars.
This estimate is sustained by the business o f the Suffolk Bank o f Boston,
which redeems at par the bills of the country hanks o f New England. Its
redemption has in a single week of July, 1850, reached four millions six
hundred and forty-five thousand dollars. Allowing for some excess, this indi­
cates a business o f two hundred millions per annum.
From the tabular statement o f manufactures, it appears the cotton manu­
facture is less than one-seventh o f the manufactures o f the State. It has
made more show than other branches because conducted by associations in
large villages, while others are more dispersed. The tariff o f 1846, has
somewhat checked its growth, and injuriously affected certain fabrics, such
as printing cloths, calicoes and fine muslins. It has also borne hard on iron
and hardware, linseed oil, and some descriptions o f woolens. But the arti­
cles thus affected do not constitute one-half o f the manufactures o f the State,
and the residue are still progessive. The manufacture o f leather, boots and
shoes, is particularly prosperous, and is now rated at twenty-five millions.*
Mouslin delain, carpets and shawls are made on a large scale, and woolens
have increased to at least fourteen millions.
The capital embarked by Boston, however, in all manufactures is much
less than her investments in railways. It is now computed not to exceed
forty millions, planted principally out o f the city. Her capital devoted to
commerce, including her investment in banks and insurance companies,
is at least fifty millions of dollars.
Her investments in State and city loans may be set at $15,000,000; in
New York mortgages (a favorite investment) $4,000,000.
* Hides, skins and leather are now imported into Boston, in large quamtities, from England and
France, and nearly all parts of the world, to be manufactured into boots and shoes.




489

Boston.
SHIPPING OF BOSTON.---- TONNAGE.
Years.

1842................................
1843................................
1844................................
1845................................
1846................................
1847................................
1848................................
1849................................
1850................................
1821................................

Registered.

Enrolled.

36,385
37,116
35,554
37,290
42,185
44,038
45,100
45,123
42,482
FOREIGN COMMERCE.

Total.

193,502
202,599
210,885
228,103
235,064
254,812
277,869
292,459
313,192
only 127,124

■

W ithin the last ten years the foreign commerce o f Boston has gradually
increased, although it has not kept pace with the coasting trade, which has of
late been swelled by the accession o f Texas and California.
Subjoined is a table giving the foreign arrivals, the exports, imports, and
duties for a series o f years :—
Years.
1842 .......................................
1843 .......................................
1844 .......................................
1845 .......................................
1846 .......................................
1847 .......................................
1848 .......................................
1849 ........................................
1850, for 1st half only..........
1821, on ly..............................

For. arrivals.

Imports.
$12,633,713
20,662,567
22,141,788
21,591,877
21,284,800
28,279,651
23,388,475
24,117,175
16,329,501

Exports.
$7,226,104
7,265,712
8,294,726
9,370,851
8,245,524
12,118,587
10,001,819
8,843,974
4,426,216

Duties.
$2,780,186
3,491,019
5,934,945
5,249,634
4,872,570
5,448,362
4,908,872
5,031,995
3,126,472

In foreign arrivals, imports and duties, Boston stands next to New York.
Her excess o f imports over her exports is paid for by the earnings o f her
vessels on foreign voyages, and by her coastwise shipments o f granite, mar­
ble, ice, manufactures and other merchandise to the exporting cities o f the
South.
LOCAL AND COASTWISE TRADE.

Boston enjoys a large local and coastwise trade. The population o f Mas­
sachusetts has risen from 718,592, by the State, and 737,700, by the United
States Census in 1840, to 973,715, by the State Census o f 1850. This gives
one hundred and thirty-nine inhabitants to the square mile. For her area is'
but seven thousand square miles.
W ithin her borders are two cities with over 30,000 people each ; ten
with 10,000 to 20 ,000 ; ten towns with 6,000 to 10 ,000 ; twenty with
4,000 to 6,000.* Between these and the metropolis an active commerce
exists. The whole State draws but $10,000,000 o f produce from agricul­
ture, half o f which is hay, and o f course depends on other States for food
and raw material. Boston is the principal mart, and by her iron arms she
reaches, through a populous interior, to the lakes and borders o f the St.
Lawrence.
The following table exhibits the principal coastwise importations o f Boston
for several years.
* The country around Boston and its suburbs is very populous. A strip o f land only six miles wide
surrounding the metropolitan districts contains over 70,000 people.




490

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States :
COASTWISE IMPORTATIONS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES INTO BOSTON.

1849.
269,813
262,632
*987,988
3,002,593
621,513
38,199
663,530
156,556
200,560

Cotton.................................................bales
Anthracite coal..................................... tons
Flour.................................................... bbls.
Corn.................................................... bush.
Oats, rye, and shorts.............................. ....
Turpentine............................................bbls.
Leather............................................... sides
Pork ...................................................bbls.
Lead......................................................pigs

1840.
138,709
73,847
550,359
1,834,861
577,359
20,740

1821.
17,126
. . . . .

259,030
641,680
160,871
8,392

Large importations are also made, particularly from New Orleans, o f beef,
hemp, sugar, molasses', tobacco, and many other articles.
COASTERS.

Vessels o f all sizes from 50 to 1,000 tons, are engaged in the coasting
trade. The following table exhibits for a term o f years the arrival o f all
vessels coastwise, excepting sloops and schooners transporting wood, sand,
and stone, which amount to some thousands annually, and do not report to
the custom-house.
COASTWISE ARRIVALS.

1842....................... .
1843.........................
1844....................... .
1845....................... .
1846.........................

1847
..............................
1848 .......................................
1849 .......................................
1850, 1sthalf only.................
1821, o n ly .............................

7,004
6,002
fe.ioo
3,462
2,013

FREIGHT BY RAILW AYS.

Freight earnings of the four railways terminating in Boston in 1839
“
seven “
“
“
1 8 4 9 ....
Tons transported by same in 1849............................................................

$287,310
1,238,122
1,167,129

CATTLE TRADE.

Large sales o f live stock are made weekly at Brighton near Boston,
brought principally from other States by railway. Many horses are also
brought by the same conveyance. Cattle are killed in the environs.
SALES AT BRIGHTON FOR

Beef cattle
Store cattle
Sheep........
Swine........

1849.

46,465 Amount of sales
«
«(
20,085
«
«
148,965
tl
(«
80,120

Total value.....................................................................................

$1,765,670
482,040
297,910
430,645
$2,976,265

Another large market for cattle and other live stock is now held weekly
at Cambridge.! Large quantities o f pork in bulk are in the winter conveyed
by railway to Boston from the interior of New York. In the year ending
September 1, 1850, 37,778 whole hogs were thus transported. The Fitch­
burg Railway brings in annually about 100,000 tons o f ice. The Old Col­
ony Railway, in addition, transports the city offal to Quincy.*
* In the year ending September 1, 1850, the whole exportation o f flour from the United States to
Great Britain was392,742 barrels; of corn, 4,813,373 bushels,
f In 1727 the arrivals in London were foreign, 2,052 ; coastwise, 6,837.
X The live stock offered for sale for the past year at the new market at Cambridge has been as fol­
io w s 56,144 cattle, 168,224 sheep, 7,678 swine, and 1,245 horses.




Boston.

491

TRADE WITH THE SOUTH AND WEST.

Vast quantities of imported and manufactured goods are sold annually by
Boston to the South and West, which are sent off both by railways and
packets, Lines o f packets run to all the great cities of the sea-coast. To
illustrate the magnitude o f this business;— a single packet, the President,
which sailed from Boston during the current month o f August for New
Orleans, took 15,651 packages, principally boots, shoes, and other domestic
goods, consigned to 332 different consignees, and valued at 1390,000.
CALIFORNIA TRADE.

Boston has devoted a large amount o f shipping to the California trade,
and has sent some thousand colonists to the Golden Gates. The vessels
selected are principally o f the oldest class, least adapted to the'European or
India trade, and the amount realized from their outward freight, averaging
thirty dollars per ton, approaches their actual value.
From January, 1849, to August, 1850, nearly 1,300 vessels have sailed
ora our Atlantic ports for California. O f these nearly one-fourtli have
leared from the port o f Boston. The parties who have shipped by them
have met with varying success. For instance, on the early shipments of
lumber a profit o f 1,000 per cent was realized; on the late shipments,
expenses have frequently absorbed the whole. It often happens, however,
that one paying article makes up for the loss on many others. Many ves­
sels have found good employment at San Francisco.
BANKING CAPITAL.

Capital of banks in Boston proper..........................................................
In metropolitan districts...........................................................................
Estimated increase since January..........................................................

$19,280,000
1,450,000
1,000,000

Total.................................. '................................. ......................

121,730,000

Average dividends for 1849 and 1850 over 7 per cent.
SAVINGS BANKS.
Am’ t deposited.

Provident Institution for Savings, Boston..................................................
Suffolk Savings Bank, Boston....................................................................
East Boston Savings Bank........................................................................

$3,200,382
771,809
5,608

Aggregate in city proper, 1849......................................................
In other metropolitan districts........................................................

$3,977,799
961,530

Aggregate deposited by 29,799 depositors.............’ .........

$4,939,329

W h ole amount deposited in Massachusetts’ savings banks, in 1849,
$12,111,553 64. The average dividends o f savings banks in Boston have
been for five years 8 per cent.
CAPITAL OP INSURANCE COMPANIES.

Stock Capital o f Boston Companies, $5,483,000. There are also in the city
and environs sixteen mutual companies and several foreign agencies.
AQUEDUCT.

As Boston grew in population and manufactures, the natural spring
which gave it the Indian name o f Shawmut gradually failed, and the wate
deteriorated. The citizens were obliged to deepen the ancient wells from
year to year, and the wells on land reclaimed from the sea proved brackish




492

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S ta tes:
/
and unwholesome. It was at length necessary to resort to a foreign supply.
In 1195 wooden pipes were laid by a private company from Jamaica Pond,
a beautiful sheet of water five miles from the exchange, and as the demand
increased, a ten inch pipe of iron was substituted. Three thousand tenants
were thus furnished with a partial supply, and the enterprise was found very
remunerative. Jamaica Pond having proved insufficient, Boston, in 1846,
selected Cochituate Lake, in Framingham, twenty miles from the exchange,
and constructed a new aqueduct to supply the city. This was commenced
in August, 1846, and opened for use in October, 1848.
The mean elevation o f the lake is 128 feet above the marsh level. The
water is carried 14f- miles by a brick conduit o f an elliptic form, measuring
six feet four inches, by five feet, with a regular descent of 3£ inches to the mile,
to a large reservoir in Brookline. Here a pond o f 22 acres, holding
100.000. 000 o f gallons, has been formed by closing the outlet o f a valley.
This reservoir is 123 feet above the level o f the sea. The conduit on its
way passes through two tunnels, one o f which is half a mile in length, driven
through solid rock. A break occurs at Charles River, which the water
crosses by two parallel pipes o f thirty inches diameter. From the Brookline
Reservoir it is carried in large iron pipes five miles to a granite reservoir in
the city on the summit o f Beacon Hill, holding 2,500,000 gallons. Also
to another large reservoir on Dorchester Heights, South Boston, holding
6.000.
000 o f gallons. These are elevated 120 feet above the sea. From
these the water is distributed by 70 miles o f pipes through all the streets o f
Boston proper, and has generally been introduced into the dwellings and
stores at the expense o f the city. The head is sufficient to throw a three
inch jet 92 feet high from the fountain on the Common, and to carry the
water to the chambers of all the inhabitants. The aqueduct is competent to
deliver 14,000,000 o f gallons daily, and the source supplies 10,000,000, and
this quantity 'may be increased to 14,000,000 by other feeders within two
miles distance. The authorities are now engaged in conducting a pipe by
bridges across the Charles and Mystic Rivers, four miles further to East
Boston, passing under several deep and navigable channels by syphons.
The cost o f this enterprise will amount to $5,000,000, which has been
principally borrowed on short loans, and funded in 5 per cent stock, issued
at par, or at a small discount.
The amount o f water rents the present year, from January to July, have
been $90,000. A large part o f the inhabitants are supplied at five dollars
per tenement; hotels, railways, and manufacturing establishments at higher
rates. The income promises to be progressive.
The city proper now is, and the suburbs soon will be, lighted with gas.
PUBLIC EDIFICES.

The principal public buildings in Boston and its vicinity are the Quincy
Market, a granite structure 500 feet by 38. The State House, a large and
commodious edifice, erected nearly fifty years since by the State. It occu­
pies an elevated position overlooking the Common, and is embellished by
two iron fountains. Faneuil Hall, an ancient brick edifice, the basement of
which rents for $7,000. The Massachusetts General Hospital, a large
stone structure at W est B oston ; the old State H ouse; the Massachusetts
Eye and Ear Infirmary; the Institute for the Blind at South B oston ; the
Orphan A sylum ; the Farm S ch ool; the City Hall, and Suffolk Court
House, large buildings o f granite; the Registry o f D eed s; the Merchants’




Boston.

493

Exchange, o f granite also; the Athenmum, a large and beautiful building of
free-stone, costing $1 85 ,0 00 ; an elegant granite Custom-house; a Club­
house o f free-stone, in the Italian style, costing $4 5,00 0; twenty-three large
school-houses, that have cost $7 03 ,0 00 ; forty-one primary school-houses,
costing $2 46,000; three theatres; a museum, and two large buildings o f
granite, used for concerts and lectures. Boston is also erecting an extensive
jail o f Quincy granite, estimated to cost $480,000, and a spacious Alms­
house, to accomodate 1,500 paupers and emigrants, at Deer Island, to cost
$150,000. A t Rainsford’s Island she has also a Quarantine Hospital, and
buildings hitherto used for jails and alms-houses at W est and South Boston.
In the environs are two large and elegant Court-houses at Dedham and
Cambridge; a Town-hall at Quincy, of granite; a Collegiate building at
Newton, and ten College halls, an Observatory, and an Insane Hospital at
Cambridge.
DONATIONS TO PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, AND FOR CHARITABLE PURPOSES.

The citizens of Boston have rarely been wanting in the cause o f beneficence,
and many o f their institutions are richly endowed. Previous to 1845, a
single institution, the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Asylum,
had received $640,942, and the entire amount of donations to such public
objects was ascertained by the Hon. S. A . Eliot, late mayor o f the city, to
have been, prior to 1846, $4,992,659.
PUBLIC CEMETERIES.

Very few interments are now made in the ancient burial grounds o f
Boston. Several of them have been planted with trees and shrubs, and
contribute to the ornament o f the city. In 1831 an association o f gentle­
men purchased Mount Auburn, in Cambridge, a spot remarkable for its
natural beauties, and devoted 118 acres to a rural cemetery. “ This is
probably the first instance in America o f a large tract having been chosen
for its natural beauties, and improved by landscape gardening to prepare it
for the reception o f the dead.” It has been extensively copied in other parts
o f the Union. During the past eighteen years, 1,756 lots have been sold,
realizing not iar from $175,000. Roads and paths have been opened, a
granite gateway and chapel have been built, and more than half a mile of
iron paling constructed. Many tasteful monuments o f marble have been
erected, and it has become a place o f frequent resort both for the living and
the dead. A t Forest Hill, Roxbury, is another beautiful cemetery. Others
are in progress at Brighton and at W oodlawn, a very picturesque spot in
Malden.
CITY DEBT AND RESOURCES.

The city debt had been reduced by a cautious policy from $1,698,232 56
in 1840, to $1,058,016 66, in 1846. Since that period the aqueduct and
other public improvements have carried the amount to $7,000,000. A strong
desire now pervades the community to prevent its future growth. The debt,
however, is not large when compared with the income, wealth, and resources
of the city, and may be eventually met by the income and sales o f the city
property. The aqueduct is already productive, and may be made to supply
the environs as well as the city proper.
Boston possesses also, the Common, a beautiful park o f forty-eight acres,
encircled by an iron fence; the Public Garden, containing fourteen acres,




494

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S ta tes:

and several public squares and areas embellished by fountains. These are
all devoted to health and recreation. She owns also a- large amount o f
valuable property which may be sold : this includes most of the vacant land
in Boston proper, v iz: 4,500,000 feet o f land and flats at South B oston;
5,000,000 feet o f land and flats on the Neck, and east o f the Harrison
Avenue, together, worth $3,400,000; the City Wharf, valued at $6 00,000;
Quincy Market, $500,000; Leverett-street Estate, 47,000 feet, $1 00 ,0 00 ;
Old State House, $100,000 ; Bonds and Mortgages, $271,000 ; other real
estate, exclusive of aqueduct and public buildings, $100,000 ; making a total
o f $5,071,000. The use and sale o f part o f this property, and the income
o f the residue, will provide eventually for the debt. The revenue the city
proper now derives from rents, interest, water, and other sources besides
taxes, exceeds $300,000 yearly, being nearly equal to the interest of the
debt.*
,

CITY TAXES.

The amount assessed for taxes has been as follows
Years.

1840 ...........................
1841 ...........................
1842 .........
1843 ...........
1844 ..........................
1845 ..........................
1846 ..........................
1847 ..........................
1848 ..........................
'1849.............................
1850.............................

Amount of tax assessed. Rate on $1,000.

$546,742
616,412
637,779
712,379
744,210
811,338
931,998
1,014,674
1,131,821
1,174,715
.............

$5 50
6 00
5 70
6 20
6 00
5 70
6 90
6 00
6 50
6 50
.......

Property assessed.

$94,581,600
98,006,600
105,723,700
110,056,000
118,450,300
135,948,700
148,839,600
162,360,400
167,728,000
174,180,200
179,525,000

The large sums thus realized have been expended for great public objects
— such as the school system, improvement o f streets, an efficient police and
fire department, the public health, and relief of the distressed. In the year
ending April 30th, 1848, for instance, the chief municipal expenditures
w ere:—
For schools and school-houses.............................
Streets—widening, lighting, and paving.....................
Watch department. ....................................................
County expenses—courts, & c ..........................
Fire department...........................................................
Alien passengers..........................................................
House of Correction....................................................
House of Industry.......................................................
Health and quarantine department.............................
Police and ward meetings...........................................
Salaries............................................

$348,887
400,728
60,076
44,584
81,935
17,336
34,194
55,558
59,113
29,292
25,599

40
16
65
01
17
96
78
30
76
68
66

CANALS.

In noticing the public works to which Boston has contributed one has
been omitted, the Middlesex Canal, from the bend o f the Merrimack River,
near Lowell, to Boston, a distance of thirty miles. This enterprise was com­
menced soon after the Revolution, to turn the trade of the Merrimack from Newburyport, its natural outlet, to Boston. It required more than twenty years
to raise the requisite funds, $600,000, and complete it, but it effectually
* See Auditor’s Report on Ways and Means for 1848, and Report on Water and Water Rents.




495

Boston.

turned the masts, spars, and ship timber of New Hampshire to Boston. It
became profitable after Lowell was founded, but is now almost superseded
by the Boston and Lowell Railway. This canal was one of the earliest
steps in the cause o f public improvements in the United States.
VIADUCTS, BRIDGES, AND W HARVES.

Some of the artificial structures which connect Boston with the main
deserve notice. The Western avenue, 7,000 feet long, leads from the old
Peninsula to Brookline, Roxbury, and Brighton. It is a solid structure of
granite, tilled in with earth, costing $700,000. Beside forming a wide
carriage road it creates a large water power, and has redeemed many acres
from the harbor. W est Boston Bridge and Causeway, 6,190 feet long,
costing $76,667, connects Boston with Cambridge. Canal Bridge is 2,796
feet lon g: Warren Bridge, 1,390 feet; Long W harf, 1,800 feet long and
200 w ide; Central Wharf, 1,379 feet long and 150 w ide; India Wharf,
980 long. Along these wharves are continuous blocks o f brick warehouses,
four to five stories high, and fifty to eighty feet deep. Granite, Commercial,
and Lewis’s Wharves are o f similar size, but have ranges o f large stone
warehouses.
BUILDING MATERIALS.

The quantity o f lumber inspected in Boston in 1849 w as;—
Pine, spruce, and hemlock....................................... feet
Southern pine................................................................
Hard wood........... ..........................
Pine timber............................................................. tons
Hard wood timber........................................................
Mahogany................................................................ feet
Cedar.............................................................................
Aggregate landed in Boston proper......................

67,241,681
2,843,512
2,982,713
4,725
3,460
1,088,110
406,650
78,683,538

The quantity sent by railway into the country without inspection is con­
sidered equal to that inspected twice. The Inspector General estimates the
quantity o f lumber landed in the metropolitan district around Boston quite
equal to that landed in the city proper. From 50,000 to 100,000 tons of
granite are annually quarried at Quincy. This gives employment to a large
amount o f shipping.
MODERN WAREHOUSES.

W ith increased trade and manufactures a demand has arisen in Boston
for enlarged warehouses, and many have lately been erected o f massive
granite, in long blocks, and 60 to 100 feet deep. The name o f the estate
is frequently inscribed on these in block letters o f granite below the cornice.
LITERARY INSTITUTIONS.

The schools o f Boston have been adverted to already. Their number and
excellence have, with her liberal patronage o f literature, given to Boston the
title o f Literary Emporium, and their merit and importance cannot be over­
rated. August 1, 1845, she had 125 primary schools with 7,892 scholars,
and 19 grammar schools with 8,115 scholars. In 1850 she has 178
primary schools with 11,376 scholars, and 22 large grammar schools with
9,154 scholars, and other schools with 471. The teachers o f the primary
schools receive $300, and the masters o f the grammar schools $1,500 per




496

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States.

annum. Boston also has a Latin and H igh School, in which the higher
branches are taught with signal ability. They are surpassed by no private
schools in New England. A ll these schools are open to all classes free of
charge. W ithout the chartered limits are Harvard University with its Law
and Theological schools, a Baptist College, and many excellent schools and
academies.*
LIBRARIES.

There are several public libraries in the city and environs. The Athenaeum
Library, the Boston and Mercantile Libraries, the Law Library, the State,
and the several libraries o f Harvard University, contain together, more than
150,000 volumes.
NEWSPAPERS.

There are eighty newspapers established in Boston proper, several of
which are worked by steam presses, and have a wide circulation. The price
varies from one cent per number to eight dollars per annum. There are
also six published in the suburbs.
RELIGIOUS AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

Boston and her suburbs contain over two hundred churches and places o f
worship. They have also a General Hospital, two Insane Hospitals, an
Asylum for the Blind, an Eye and Ear Infirmary, a Lying-in Hospital, an
Asylum for Orphan girls, and a Farm School for boys. Most o f these are
liberally endowed.
UNITED STATES PROPERTY.

The United States have expended large sums in and around Boston, on
their fortresses and arsenal, extensive navy yard, dry dock, and rope
walks, and stores o f cannon, arms, and materials, a custom-house, and
hospitals for sick and infirm seamen. A ll these are situated on Boston
harbor, and the present value o f the investment is at least $8,000,000. The
navy yard is second only to that o f Norfolk.
GROWTH OF BOSTON.

Should the growth o f Boston and her suburbs continue for twenty-five
years in its present ratio, her population will exceed 1,000,000, and her
assessed property rise to $1,500,000,000. She is entering upon the future
with encouraging prospects and enlarged resources, and has surmounted the
principal obstacles to her progress.
CONCLUSION.

If we would seek for a solution o f the growth o f Boston in commerce,
wealth, and population, we may trace it not only to her central position and
admirable harbor, but to the enterprise, intelligence, and frugality o f her
people. Her enterprise descends lineally from those bold ancestors who
planted an empire in the wilderness. She has inherited alike their spirit
and their love for letters. These have guided her enterprise. But it is one
thing to acquire and another to retain. The frugality which characterizes
the old Bay State is the great secret o f accumulation. Here every artisan
In 1850 Roxbury alone has at her public schools 2,743 scholars.




Internal Improvements in the Stale o f H ew YorJc.

497

aspires to own his house, and to leave a patrimony to his children. Having
secured his dwelling, he buys a single share in a bank, railway, or factory,
and gradually becomes a capitalist.
A nd large are the acquisitions of
adventurous, frugal, and well-directed industry. Floods, tempests and fire,
embargoes, and repeals o f tariffs, may sweep over and injure but cannot
destroy it. In its strong and enduring vitality, like the shell-fish, it clings
to, and thrives upon, its barren rock.
e. h . d.

Art. II.— INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN T1IE STATE OF NEAV YORK.
A SKETCH OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT CONDITION OF INTERNAL
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
NUMBER III.

W ith all the advantages o f the Virginia route, so strongly stated by
Washington and Jefferson, ten or fifteen years before the commencement of
the present century, and which were again enforced in an address by Chief
Justice Marshall in 1832, why is it that the State o f New York has been
enabled to construct a canal, uniting the waters of the Atlantic and the
Lakes, which has furnished a sufficient amount o f revenue for its own main­
tenance, and to reimburse in twenty years the principal borrowed for its
construction with interest thereon, whilst the route which, in the judgment
o f the eminent men before named, possessed decided advantages over that
o f New York, has not progressed so far as to form a connection with the
waters which fall into the Ohio ?
Joshua Forman, the author o f the Legislative resolution o f 1808, in favor
o f a canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie, states, that when he called the
attention o f Mr. Jefferson to the subject in the following year, the President
replied, “ it is a very fine project, and may be executed a century hence.”
In a letter to Governor Clinton, dated in December, 1822, Mr. Jefferson
says he does not recollect the conversation, but has no doubt the statement
made is correct, “ for that, I know, was m y opinion; and many, I dare say,
still think with me, that New York has anticipated, by a full century, the
ordinary progress of improvement.” A nd he adds: “ This great work
suggests a question, both curious and difficult, as to the comparative capa­
bility o f nations to execute great enterprises. It is not from greater surplus
o f produce, after supplying their own wants, for in this New York is not be­
yond some other States; is it from other sources o f industry additional to
her produce ? This may b e ;— or is it a moral superiority ?— a sounder
calculating mind, as to the most profitable employment o f surplus, by im­
provement o f capital, instead of useless consumption? I should lean to this
latter hypothesis, were I disposed to puzzle myself with such investigations;
but at the age o f eighty, it would be an idle labor, which I leave to the
generation which is to see and feel its effects.”
Since Mr. Jefferson’s letter was written, the new State o f Ohio, and the
old State o f Massachusetts, have furnished abundant proofs o f the same
energy and “ capability to execute great enterprises,” which excited his
wonder and admiration in regard to the Erie Canal. The young State o f
VOL. X X II.-----NO.




V.

32

498

'

,

,

The R ise Progress and Present Condition o f

Ohio, commencing with a population o f about 750,000 in 1825, has con­
structed 800 miles o f canals, at an aggregate cost o f nearly $20,000,000,
and from 300 to 400 miles of railroads, at a cost o f $5,000,000 to
$6,000,000; while the people o f Massachusetts, numbering 603,000 in
1830, have, since that time, constructed 1,000 miles o f railroads, at a cost
o f $50,000,000.
The expenditure o f $6,000,000 or $7,000,000 for uniting the Lakes and
the Ocean, was not regarded by the canal commissioners o f New York, in
their report o f 1812, as a matter o f very serious consideration to a million
o f people, possessed o f the fertile lands, and enjoying the fine climate o f
New York. And in the mere matter o f creating debt and making expendi­
tures in the prosecution of internal improvements, other States have exhibited
much more boldness than New York. But in furnishing the earliest, safest,
and cheapest channel o f communication with that “ rising world ” beyond
the mountains and the lakes, to which General Washington looked with so
much solicitude, the timely efforts o f this State, and the importance o f the
Erie Canal, can scarcely he overrated. It at once opened facilities to the
person seeking a new home, which were equivalent to bringing the fertile
lands o f “ the territory north-west o f the Ohio ” into “ the Genesee country,”
and offering them to him at ten shillings an acre. The influence o f this
great highway, in peopling the'W est and increasing its productive power,
can hardly be subjected to computation. Some estimate o f the effect o f this
emigration on the trade of the Erie Canal, may be made from the increase
o f tolls and tonnage at its western termination. The sum paid for toll at
Buffalo and Black Kock, including the contributions from Erie and Chatauque
counties, for the first three years after the canal was navigable, averaged
$32,823 99, for each year. The average for the last three years, is
$1,034,674, for each year. The quantity o f tonnage coming from States
and territories west o f Buffalo, has increased from nothing in 1825, to
36,273 tons in 1836, and 396,512 in 1846, to 535,086 tons in 1849, ex­
clusive o f 233,583 tons coming from the Western States and Canada, in the
latter year, by way o f Oswego. In twenty-three years, a trade has grown
up between New York and the western country, which brought to the Erie
and Oswego Canals, in the navigation season o f 1849, 768,669 tons o f
products, valued at $26,713,796.
The success o f the Erie Canal, in attracting the trade o f the W est, and in
accumulating revenue, has been unprecedented. Its great natural rivals,
the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, with all the improvements which have
been made in their navigation by steamboats, locks, and otherwise, have not,
to any considerable extent, diverted the trade from any portion of the region
around the Lakes, which in the original estimates was counted on to seek a
market through the Erie Canal— while every new channel o f transportation
communicating with the basin o f the great lakes, has had the effect o f
increasing its tonnage and its revenue.
W h en the State o f Ohio, in 18 3 2 -3 , completed a canal o f 309 miles, ex­
tending from Cleveland, at the mouth o f the Cuyahoga, to the Ohio R iver;
and when subsequently the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal was made, con­
necting Pittsburg with the first named canal at Akron, (the latter route
being 300 miles less to Philadelphia than to New York, and open six weeks
earlier,) it was anticipated that a large portion o f the products o f Ohio would
be diverted from the Erie Canal, and pass down to New Orleans, or
through the Pennsylvania improvements to Philadelphia. These anticipa-




Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Y ork.

499

tions may have been partially realized, but not to such an extent as to have
made any impression on the Erie Canal. It is only necessary to refer to
the transportation of wheat and flour, to show the effect o f the Ohio Canal
on the trade of Lake Erie. O f the wheat and flour transported on the Ohio
Canal for six years preceeding 1843,* Cleveland, on Lake Erie, received of
wheat, 8,325,022 bushels: Portsmouth, on the Ohio River, 4,193 bushels;
Cleveland received of flour, 2,199,542 barrels ; Portsmouth, 149,645 barrels.
Calling five bushels o f wheat equal to a barrel of flour, and the compari­
son will show 3,864,546 barrels o f flour brought to the lake, against
150,483 taken to the Ohio River. In the year 1847, there arrived at
Cleveland, on the Ohio Canal, 187,601 tons o f products, and at Portsmouth
27,054 tons; o f wheat and flour, there came to Cleveland 89,886 tons, and
to the Ohio River, at Portsmouth, 4,426 tons. The proportion o f wheat and
flour is as twenty to one.
A t the same time, the opening of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Canals to
Lake Erie has brought to its shores the iron manufactures o f Pittsburg,
and sugar, molasses, coffee, and some other kinds of merchandise from New
Orleans, which before came from New York. The Canal Board, in July,
1845, reduced the toll on all these articles from 18 to 10 mills on a ton per
mile, going from tide-water. These reductions were made, as much because
it was considered just and expedient to discriminate between the rates on
heavy and light merchandise, as to counteract, if practicable, the effects o f
this competition with the trade o f New York.
Since the opening o f the Ohio Canals, the extension o f the Indiana Canal
to the grain growing valley o f the Wabash, and the connection o f Lake
Michigan with the Illinois River, the contributions to the Erie Canal, in the
products o f the forest and o f agriculture, have been vastly increased. The
single article o f corn, brought from other States by way o f Buffalo, Black
Rock, and Oswego, has increased from 33,000 bushels in .1845, to 3,581,674
bushels in 1849.
The improvements in the navigation o f the St. Lawrence have been per­
fected, and afford the most ample facilities to the navigation of that river.
A nd yet, instead o f drawing the Western trade to Montreal, the people of
Upper Canada are availing themselves of drawback laws, enacted by the
Congress o f the United States in 1845 and 1846, to pass through our
canals with merchandise imported in original packages by way o f New
York, or from Canada to be exported from the Atlantic ports, and Congress
has been applied’ to in their behalf for such a modification o f the tariff as
will enable them to make New York the port for the shipment of their pro­
duce, as well as for the entry and export o f their merchandise. Thus using
the New York canals instead o f the St. Lawrence and its improvements.
A ll these.facts lead to the conclusion that the route o f the Erie Canal
possesses some peculiar advantage over all the rival routes, natural and arti­
ficial, from the lakes to the Atlantic. The State o f Pennsylvania, at a cost,
double that of the Erie Canal, completed her main line o f improvements to
Pittsburg, connecting at that point with the trade of the valley o f the Ohio
for 800 miles, by steamboat navigation, and with Lake Erie at Toledo,
Cleveland, and Erie, by canal boats, and yet the tolls paid, and the tonnage
cleared on the canal at Pittsburg, falls far below the canal business at
Buffalo. Philadelphia is several hundred miles nearer the center o f Ohio




* Merchants’ M agazine, V o l. V III., page 449.

500

The Rise, Progress, and Present Condition o f

than New York, yet tire wheat, and flour, and corn, all heavy products, take
the circuitous route to market. W h y is this? Is it not because the Erie
Canal furnishes the easiest, the safest, and in all respects, the best route to
market ?
The natural formation o f the route occupied by the Erie Canal, gives it a
controlling advantage over all the projects for connecting the Atlantic ports
east o f the Alleghany Mountains, with the waters west o f them. In esti­
mating the advantages and disadvantages o f the several routes, more promi­
nence has usually been given to the length o f the route, than to the elevations
to be overcome. Sufficient weight has not been given to the facts, that
while the routes o f Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, cross the Alleghany
Mountains at an average rise and fall o f more than 2,500 feet; on the route
o f the Hudson River, nature has broken through this formidable barrier, and
brought it down to the level o f the tides o f the Atlantic. A nd the residue
o f the New York route, from the head o f tide at Troy to Buffalo, is more
favorable by 1,500 feet rise and fall, than the Pennsylvania route, excluding
the portage over the mountains.
This peculiar formation was noticed by Mr. Colles in his publication in
1185. IJe says:— “ The Alleghany Mountains, which pass through all the
States, seem to die away as they approach the Mohawk.”
The Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Vol. X V III., p. 261, in alluding to the
valley o f the Mohawk, says :— “ The Mohawk carries a chasm in the continent,
rising in no place to 426 feet above mid-tide level in the Hudson. The
table land between the Mohawk and the Oneida Lake is the lowest depres­
sion in the Appalachian system, and at right angles to its chains, from the
south-western termination o f the system to the St. Lawrence, near the con­
fluence o f that great stream and the Ottawas. To this, the still deeper
depression o f the Hudson and Lake Champlain route is no exception, as the
latter extends evidently along, and not at right angles to the mountain
vallies.”
Gen. Peter B . Porter, in a very elaborate and able speech in Congress in
1810, on the subject of an appropriation o f lands for internal inproveraents,
thus alludes to the advantages o f the New York route:— “ The Alleghany
Mountains have a uniform elevation o f about 3,000 feet above the level o f
the tide. Their bases, together with those o f their parallel ridges, occupy a
distance, transversely, o f about 100 miles.” “ The only practicable route
for an ascending navigation to the lakes, is by the way o f the Hudson and
the Mohawk, in the State of New Y ork ; the Hudson being the only river
whose tide-waters flow above the Blue Ridge or eastern chain o f mountains.
The Mohawk rises in the level lands of the western country, takes an easterly
direction for about 140 miles, where it passes around the northern extremity
o f the western chain o f the Alleghany Mountains, and falls into the Hudson.
From thence, the two rivers united, take a southerly course, and breaking
through the eastern chain o f mountains, commonly called the Blue Ridge,
at W est Point, fall into the Atlantic at New Y ork.”
Mr. Clinton noticed this important feature in the route through New York
in his memorial to the Legislature in 1816, as follows:— “ Some o f the
waters o f this State which pass into Lake Ontario approach the Mohawk ;
but our Hudson has decided advantages. It affords a tide navigation for
vessels of eighty tons to Albany and Troy, 160 miles above New Y ork: and
this peculiarity distinguishes it from all the other bays and rivers in the
United States, v iz.: The tide in no other ascends higher than the Granite




Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Y ork.

501

R idge, or within thirty miles o f the Blue Ridge, or eastern chain o f moun­
tains. I n the Hudson it breaks through the Blue Ridge and ascends above
the eastern termination o f the Catskill, or great western chain ; and there
are no interposing mountains to prevent a communication between it and the
great western lakes."
Passing southwest for a distance o f 25 or 30 miles from the Erie Canal at
Utica, the rise is over 700 feet to the summit of the Chenango Canal: and
passing north-east from the Erie Canal at Rome for a distance of 25 mites,
the rise is 093 feet, requiring 70 locks to reach the Boonville summit of the
Black River Canal. The canal of only eight miles in length, from the Seneca
the Crooked Lake, has 27 locks: and the Genesee Valley Canal rises so
rapidly from Mount Morris as to require 47 locks in a distance o f about four
miles, and this elevation reaches 700 or 800 feet in a distance o f 25 or 30
miles.
The Erie Canal, through portions o f the counties o f Oneida, Madison,
Onondaga, Cayuga, W ayne, &c., was located along the low lands between
the elevated ground north and south o f the line, as indicated by the surveys
o f the Chenango and Black River Canals; and through the marshes created
by the outlets o f the Cayuga, Seneca, Canandaigua, and other lakes. The
original surveys o f the line from Rome west for a hundred miles, was to a
great extent through low lands from which the timber had not been removed,
and large tracts of which were not susceptible of being converted to agricul­
tural purposes, without an expenditure in drainage too great to be encoun­
tered by individuals at that time.* But the formation o f the country
was peculiarly favorable for a canal. The commissioners, in their report
o f 1819, after alluding to the necessity o f reservoirs and the difficulty o f
obtaining and controlling waters for canals in Europe, sa y :— “ In making
our canal, we are much more anxious to divert and waste those waters which
are superfluous. W ith a country o f from fifteen to sixty miles wide,
stretching its whole length, and abounding with lakes and streams, which
all seek their natural discharge by crossing it, no deficiency o f water can
ever be apprehended.”
From the head of tide navigation in the Hudson River to Lake Erie, 363
miles, the rise and fall is given by the Canal Commissioners, in their annual
report o f 1817, at 661
feet, requiring 77 locks on the direct line. The
original profile, o f the Erie Canal, published in 1825, shows 83 locks, count­
ing one o f the tiers at Lockport, and a rise and fall equal to 687 feet. In
enlarging the canal, seven locks were dispensed with between Albany and
Utica— two by cutting down the Jordan level— and three by an aqueduct
across the Seneca River and Montezuma marshes.f The number between
Albany and Utica is diminished by adding to the lift o f some of.th e locks.
The five locks dispensed with at the west, it is supposed, diminish the lock­
age 47 feet, leaving the rise and fall for the whole distance from Lake Erie
to the Hudson at 640 feet, and the number o f locks, omitting the double
locks, at 71, equal to an average o f a fraction less than one lock for each five
miles of canal. On the Chenango Canal there are nineteen locks more than
one to a mile— on the Black River a little more than two to a mile— on the
* The Commissioners in 1817, describing the middle section of 77 miles, s a y “ As a great part o f
the route of this section lies through low lands, where the timber is very heavy, with large roots, the
estimate for grubbing and clearing it is at the rate of $1,500 a mile.” This is the line from Rome,
through the present city of Syracuse, to Montezuma.
f See Annual Reports of Commissioners, 1838, 1839, and 1850.




502

,

,

The R ise Progress and Present Condition o f

Crooked Lake a little more than three to a mile— the Chemung Canal has
53 locks on 39 miles o f canal— the Glenn’s Falls’ feeder about one lock to
a mile. The rise and fall on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal would require
321 locks o f 10 feet lift on a line o f 341 miles, a little less on the average than
one to a mile. The Pennsylvania Canal route requires 451 locks o f 10 feet
lift each, being 10 locks more than one to a mile. Even the Ohio Canal,
from Cleveland to the Ohio River, averages more than one lock to each two
miles o f canal.
The Erie Canal, as originally constructed, had one level o f 69 miles,
another o f 64, and a third of 30, and others of 8, 10, and 12 miles. The
long level from Frankfort to Syracuse, has been altered in enlarging the
canal, by placing a lock o f three feet lift at Utica.
The route for the transportation o f products from Lake Erie to New
York, possesses natural advantages which are not found on any other route
between the western waters and the Atlantic, in the extensive mountain
range from the Highlands on the Hudson to Alabama. By a timely and
judicious improvement of these great natural advantages, the State o f New
York has been enabled to counteract the disadvantages o f a rigorous climate,
which closes the canal five months in a year, and to compete successfully
with shorter routes, passing through milder climates.
The State of Pennsylvania has constructed a work across the Alleghany
Mountains, which evinces the highest degree o f enterprise and perseverance.
The spirit with which this great work was undertaken and executed, deserves
success, if it does not command it. A railroad crosses the range o f moun­
tains by a tunnel 900 feet in length, and an ascent and descent of 2,570 feet
in a distance of 36 m iles; and this formidable obstacle is overcome by ten
inclined planes, operated by as many stationary engines. In the whole dis­
tance from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, by way of the Columbia Railroad and
canal, 394 miles, the ascent and descent is 5,220 feet; and by the Schuylkill,
Union, and Pennsylvania Canals, 441 miles, the ascent and descent is 4,514
feet; 1,944 by locks, and 2,570 by inclined planes.* The disadvantages in
crossing the mountains by stationary power, and other embarrassments in
the mode o f transit, have led to the determination to complete a continuous
railroad from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, which shall dispense with the
inclined planes. But the tonnage must still ascend and descend- the
Alleghanies, by the most formidable grades which can be surmounted by a
locomotive engine.
On the Virginia route, as stated by Mr. Ellet, the Engineer who surveyed
it, a line has been found where the mountains can be crossed at 500 feet
less elevation than in Pennsylvania. H e also states that the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal, to surmount the same impediment, requires nearly 3,250 feet
o f lockage,f and a tunnel more than four miles in length. ‘‘ W hile on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad the system o f abrupt grades is resorted to, and
the line is sustained on the sides o f the mountains at great expense and
difficulty.”
In the early discussions in regard to the character o f the several routes
for the accommodation o f the trade o f the W est, Cleveland, or the mouth o f
Cuyahoga, on Lake Erie, was selected as the point from which the distance
to market was computed. Since the opening o f the Ohio Canal, the point
* Report of Mr. Stewart to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Convention in 1834.
t Mr. Stewart gives the lockage from tide water at Washington to Pittsburg, 341 miles, at 3,215
feet.




Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Yortc.

o f comparison has been removed to Portsmouth, on the Ohio River, which
is more than 1,000 miles from the city of New York, exceeding the other
routes to market by 270, 300, 400, and 500 miles. In view o f all the
advantages of the Virginia route, which connects with the Ohio 276 miles
below Pittsburg, having better navigation on the Ohio than Pennsylvania
or Maryland, and 500 miles less distance to market than New York, Mr.
Ellet says:— “ I do not regard the rivalry o f New Y o r k ; for the least inves­
tigation o f the facts will show that New York can reach the trade o f the Ohio
only through the Pennsylvania and Virginia lines.” H e adds, however, in
a note, that, “ the superiority of the New York market will cause the trade
o f the States' of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, to divide near the water shed of
that territory, leaving to New York about one-third o f the territory o f Ohio
and Indiana, and the north part of Illinois.” It might be claimed, on the
part o f New York, that the comparison between the routes should be made
from a point equi-distant from the Ohio River and Lake Erie. But as a new
channel is now in operation from Lake Erie to Cincinnati, it is proposed to
compare the routes from the latter place.
The Virginia route, from the mildness of the climate, the shortness o f the
distance, and its favorable connection with the Ohio River, possesses peculiar
advantages for the accommodation o f the trade o f the valley o f the Ohio.
A nd Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, each have, in the article o f coal,
the means o f supplying an inexhaustible quantity o f tonnage; a resource
denied to New York, except so far as it can be drawn from Other States. It
is estimated by Mr. Ellet, that the improvement which traverses the State o f
Pennsylvania, is now inoperative, by drought or ice, at least five months o f
the year. The navigation o f the Erie Canal, for the last ten years, has
averaged 2214 days, being 6 i days more than seven months o f navigation in
each year. For about five months in a year, then, both the Pennsylvania and
New York routes are not in good order for the transportation o f products.
The other causes which materially affect the choice o f route for the trans­
portation of commodities are— distance from market; the rise and fall on
the route to be overcome by locks or inclined planes ; the character o f the
work in affording security in the mode o f transit; certainty in reaching the
market at a fixed period; and the character o f the market.
In the following table the distance is computed from Cincinnati, on the
Ohio River, to the Atlantic city where the products are sent to market. The
table shows:—
1. The number o f miles from Cincinnati to the shipping port.
2. The distance from the shipping port to the ocean.
3. The distance from Cincinnati to the ocean by the route designated.
4. The rise and fall in feet, to be overcome by locks or inclined planes,
from Cincinnati to tide-water, on each route.

From Cincinnati.

To Richmond, by the Ohio, Kanawha, and James
rivers,..............................................................
To Georgetown, by Ohio River, and Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal,..............................................
To Baltimore, by Ohio River to Wheeling, and
railroad............................................................
To Philadelphia, by Ohio River, canals, and Co­
lumbia railroad,..............................................




Dist. to
shipping
port,
miles.

688

From
shipping
From Lockage,
port to
Cinc’nati or rise
ocean, to ocean, and fall,
miles.
miles.
feet.

135

823

3,300

808

177

985

3,215

741

200

941

3,215

862

105

967

5,220

T >
I

504

The R ise, Progress, and Present Condition o f
*■

From Cincinnati.

To .Philadelphia, by Ohio River, and canals,.,.
To JNew York, b y Miami Canal to Lake, and
Erie Canal,......................................................
To New Orleans, by Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,

From
From Lockage,
Dist. to shipping
shipping port to Cincinnati on rise
ocean,
to ocean, and fall,
port,
feet.
miles.
miles.
miles.

941

105

1,046

4,514

1,010
1,511

20
100

1,030
1,611

*1,239

There is a route from Cleveland to Philadelphia, by way o f Akron, on the
Ohio Canal, and Beaverton, to Pittsburg and the Pennsylvania Canals. The
distance is 610 miles. But this route will ydd 900 feet to the lockage, and
93 locks to the canal route, making the total rise and fall from Cleveland to
Philadelphia 5,414 feet, requiring 541 locks o f 10 feet lift each, in a distance
o f 610 miles. It is 704 miles from Cleveland to New York, with 640 feet
o f lockage and 71 locks.
The route down the St. Lawrence is not brought into comparison with the
other routes in the preceding table, for the reason that, so far as New Y ork
is concerned, the battle for the Western trade with her Canadian neighbor
must be decided on the lakes.
I f those who are engaged in transporting a million and a quarter o f tons
to tide-water on the Erie Canal, were required to elevate this vast amount
o f tonnage to a perpendicular height o f 2,500 feet, and again to let it down
the same number o f feet, this ascent and descent would be regarded as an
insurmountable obstacle to the transmission o f commodities, and the trade
would inevitably pass into other channels w'here the obstacles were less for­
midable. B y means o f lift locks on canals, planes with stationary engines,
and heavy grades with locomotive engines, on railroads, the science o f the
engineer has rendered it possible to overcome a rise and fall even o f 5,000
feet. But to effect this there must be an outlay in the construction of
machinery, and an application o f power for raising and letting down the
tonnage, corresponding with the elevation to be overcome.
A lift lock, acting by the power o f water, is probably the most economical
mode oL raising and lowering the heavy products o f the forest, the mines,
and o f agriculture. B y the agency o f a lock o f ten feet lift, eighty tons may
be elevated ten feet in ten minutes, in the boats used on the present canal;
and this can be continued, on an average, for the whole season o f navigation.f The cost o f the locks on the old Erie Canal was $1,000 per foot lift,
or $10,000 dollars for a lock o f ten feet lift. Pive hundred and forty-one
locks, the required number to overcome the vise and fall from Cleveland to
Philadelphia, would amount to $5,410,000. The annual expense for tend­
ing, repairing, and furnishing oil for the locks on the Erie Canal before they
were doubled, was about $50,000, for 80 single locks. A t this rate, 541
locks would cost annually $338,000. A dd to this the interest at 6 per
cent on the cost of the locks, $324,000, and it makes the total annual
expense of the structures to overcome a rise and fall of 5,410 feet, equal to
$662,000. Take the rise and fall on the Erie Canal as requiring 71 single*
* This includes 599 feet of lockage on the canal from Manhattan, Lake Erie, to Cincinnati, a distance
ol 250 miles, viz.: 70 Wabash and Erie to Junction, 114 Miami Extension, and 66 Miami Canal, from
Dayton to the Ohio river.
f The number of lockages at Alexander’s Lock, a few miles west o f Schenectady, in the 219 days
o f navigation in 1849, was 36,918, averaging one boat for 8.66 minutes for the whole period, being 168£
boats for each 24 hours. Canal Commissioner’s Report, 1850, p. 100. In 1847 the lockages averaged
205 for each 24 hours, being one in each seven minutes, o f the whole season. Single locks, in 1847, by
being double manned, passed a boat every five minutes for twenty-four hours in succession.




\

Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Y ork.

505

locks at $10,000 each, and it gives a capital o f $ ’710,000, the interest of
which is $4 2,60 0; add this to the cost o f tending, repairs, &c., $50,000, and
it makes the annual expenditure $92,600. The difference between the
ascents and descents on the Pennsylvania and New York lines, when
reduced to dollars and cents, is equivalent to an annual expenditure o f
$569,400, which is about 5 per cent on the cost o f the main line of
the public works o f Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. This
o f itself is sufficient to account for the success which has attended the efforts
o f New York, in the competition with Pennsylvania, for the trade o f the
western lakes. But in addition to the annual cost o f overcoming the rise
and fall, the transporters o f property are subjected to delay, expense, and
inconvenience, proportioned to the obstacles to be overcome. New York is
in all respects equal, and in some particulars a more desirable shipping port
than Philadelphia.
In a comparison between New Orleans and New York, from Cincinnati,
although there is a difference o f 500 miles in favor o f New York, yet on the
untaxed waters of the Ohio and Mississippi, a barrel of flour is carried 1,500
miles in a flat-boat for fifty cents, being less than the toll charged by the
States o f Ohio and New York on 613 miles o f canals, besides the sum
required to remunerate the person for transporting the barrel o f flour 1,010
miles, and the inconvenience and delay occasioned by 1,239 feet o f lockage.
The charge o f transit on the Ohio Kiver, by steamboats, is about half cent
per ton per mile.
There are causes, however, which operate against the route to New
Orleans. These are set forth by Mr. Cabell, in an able defence o f the canal
policy of the James Kiver and Kanawha Canal Company, and published in
1846, as follows:— “ 1. the danger o f the navigation of the Mississippi on
account o f snags, and the higher rates o f insurance in consequence of these
hazards. 2. The storms and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, incident to a
W est India climate. 3. The climate o f New Orleans, and injury to articles
liable to damage from heat. Persons connected with five mercantile houses
o f established character in Richmond, engaged in the trade to which they
refer, certify that the articles o f tobacco, flour, pork, bacon, lard, butter,
cheese, &c., would pay two cents per ton per mile from the Ohio River to
Richmond, and net the grower more than if taken to New Orleans free of
charge, for the following reasons:— “ These articles are all materially
injured by passing through a warm and humid clim ate; at New Orleans
they have to pay exorbitant rates o f drayage, storage, fire insurance, and
commission, and when shipped from thence to other markets are subject to a
rate o f freight at times 50 per cent higher than fiom James River. Gen.
Steenbergen, who resides on the borders of the Ohio, says :— “ Every avenue
from the Ohio to the eastern cities at all practicable is used and sought now
in preference to the New Orleans route. It will always be the case. The
climate and dangers o f the one, against the certainty, and even high prices
o f the other, will make the inland passage the favorite one.”
Heavy expenditures have been made by the British Government for im ­
proving the channels o f communication between the great lakes and the
ocean, through the St. Lawrence River. The interior route, which is com­
pleted only to Lake Ontario, might serve an important purpose in case o f
war, by keeping up intercourse with the upper lakes, independent o f the
navigation o f the St. Lawrence along the borders o f the United States.
But as a channel for the accommodation o f vessels in a peaceful contest for




506

,

,

The R ise Progress and Present Condition o f

the trade o f the lakes, it is entirely superceded by the superior navigation
afforded on the direct route down the St. Lawrence.
The interior route leaves the St. Lawrence at the mouth o f the Ottawa
River, 61^ miles above Montreal, and follows the Ottawa 58^ miles, where
the connection is made with the Rideau Canal. The whole distance, by this
route, from Montreal to Kingston, is 248 miles, with 63 locks and 5 6 4 i feet
o f lockage. From Kingston by Bay o f Qunite to the mouth o f the River
Trent is 70 miles. From this point, by way of Rice Lake and Octonabex
River, to the summit of Balsam Lake, 1661 miles, the rise is 584 feet, re­
quiring 61 locks. In descending by Talbot River to Lake Simcoe, 161
miles, 12 locks are required for 108.4 feet o f lockage. From Lake Simcoe
by the river Severn to Gloster Bay, Lake Huron, 52 miles, the descent is
110 feet, requiring 10 locks. From Montreal to Gloster Bay, Lake Huron,
the total distance by this route is 5531 miles, with 1,367 feet rise and fall,
requiring 146 locks.
The direct route by the improvement o f the St. Lawrence is as follows :—
From Montreal to Kingston, 176 miles, 204.3 feet o f lockage and 23 locks.
From Kingston to Port Dalhousie by Lake Ontario 163 miles. Ascending
to Lake Erie by the W elland Canal, 329 feet o f lockage and 26 locks, in a
distance o f 28 miles. From Port Colborne, Lake Erie, to River Detroit 218
miles. Ascending River Detroit, Lake St. Clair, and River St. Clair to Lake
Huron, 85 miles. Total, 670 miles, 533.3 feet o f lockage, and 49 locks.
This route saves 97 locks and 833 feet, nine inches o f rise and fall, compared
with the inland route. The English Engineers give the elevations o f the
lakes above the level o f the sea at the termination o f tide-water at Three
Rivers, 90 miles below Montreal, as follow s:— Lake Huron, 594 feet; Lake
Erie, 564 feet; Lake Ontario, 234 feet.
The distance from Toledo to New Y ork is 760 miles, and to Montreal
585 miles. To the ocean from Montreal is 800 miles, and from New York
only 20. The totals are 780 by New York, against 1,385 to the ocean by
way o f Montreal and Quebec. The New York route has 640 feet of lockage,
and 71 locks, while that by Montreal has 533.3 feet o f lockage and 49 locks.
The difference in the lockage is not so material as the fact that by the recent
improvements o f the W elland Canal, and on the direct route down the St.
Lawrence, a vessel o f 500 tons burthen can take in a cargo at Toledo,
and so far as physical obstacles are concerned, can pass down the St.
Lawrence and into the Atlantic without breaking bulk. W h en the naviga­
tion o f the St. Lawrence is made free, and a vessel can clear from Toledo or
Chicago to a port in Europe, this route will have all the advantages o f the
Mississippi route from Cincinnati in saving the cost and trouble o f tranship­
ment. By the present regulations a cargo must g o to sea from Montreal in
a British vessel.
The outlet o f the St. Lawrence River into the ocean is not less than 1,000
miles to the north-east o f Lake Ontario, about 7 00 miles of the line consist­
ing o f the river itself, and 300 miles o f the Gulf o f the St. Lawrence, into
which it falls. This line o f navigation has been accurately described by Mr.
Stevenson, who visited and carefully examined it in 1838, and made a report
to the British Government in reference to the enlarged canals around the
rapids o f the St. Lawrence. H e describes the navigation o f the Gulf, as
follow s;—
“ The navigation o f the Gulf o f St. Lawrence, through which the river
discharges itself into the Atlantic, is very hazardous. In addition to the




Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew York.

507

dangers arising from the. masses o f ice which are constantly to be met with
floating on its surface, for nearly one-lialf the year, it is subject to dense and
impenetrable fogs, and its rocky shores and desolate islands afford neither
comfort nor shelter to the shipwrecked mariner. One o f the most desolate
and dangerous o f the islands in the Gulf, is Anticosti, which lies exactly
opposite the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and is surrounded by reefs of rocks
and shoal water. Two light-houses have been erected on it, and also four
houses o f shelter, containing large stores o f provisions, for the use o f those
who have the misfortune to be shipwrecked on its inhospitable shores.”
New York, as stated in Mr. Clinton’s memorial, “ is placed in a happy
medium between the insalubrious heat o f the Mississippi, and the severe Gold
o f the St. Lawrence; and has preeminent advantages as to the goodness and
extensiveness o f her market.” W ill the commerce o f the lakes turn away
from this favorite shipping port, and the safe channel to it by the Erie Canal
and the Hudson, and expose itself to the hazardous navigation o f the Gulf
o f the St. Lawrence ?
This may take place to some extent. A t the same time the attractions
o f the New York market may draw trade even from Lower Canada through
Lake Champlain and the Northern Canal. The vallies o f the Hudson, of
Lake Champlain, and of the St. Lawrence, are nearly on the same level.
Lake Champlain is only 87 feet above the tide o f the Hudson, and from
Albany to Whitehall, the rise and fall is only 204 feet in a distance o f 72
miles. It is stated by the Canal Commissioners in their report o f 1817,
that three locks at Fort Edward, (from whence the Hudson was originally
used as a part o f the canal,) o f 7.779 feet lift each, would attain the summit
level between the river and lake. Gordon, in his Gazetteer o f New York,
says :— “ The most remarkable feature of the Hudson and Champlain valley,
is its great and uniform depth. The highest part of its bottom, between the
river and the lake, is only 147 feet above the tide o f the Hudson, and 54
above the surface o f the lake. Hence, an obstruction in the channel t>f the
Hudson, at the entrance o f the Highlands near Newburgh, o f only 150 feet
in hight, would turn the current of the river northward, and cause it to
descend by Lake Champlain and its outle.t to the G ulf o f the St. Lawrence.”
The formation o f the country, for uniting the Hudson with Lake Cham­
plain, was as favorable as that for connecting it with the great western lakes;
and as soon as the Northern Canal was completed, the lumber and other
articles which formerly were transported from the shores o f Lake Champlain
to Montreal and Quebec, took the route of the canal to the Hudson.
The Northern Railroad, which is intended to tap the western trade at
Ogdensburgh, on the St. Lawrence, is brought on an easy grade, and enters
the Champlain valley about one hundred miles north o f Whitehall, at
Rouse’s Point, where the Company desires to bridge the lake, and connect
the road with those leading to Boston, through Vermont. W ill this trade
g o over the mountains to Boston, or pass through the Champlain and
Hudson valley to New York ? The engineer who surveyed the route for
the Northern Railroad, states, that “ the amount o f elevation to be overcome
from Burlington to Boston, exceeds, by 3,000 feet, that to be surmounted
by a train in passing from Burlington to Albany. But adopting this excess
at 2,500 feet only, and it would, so far as the transportation o f freight is
concerned, be equivalent to an additional distance, on a level railway, o f 125
m iles; which, being added to the 86 miles excess in the measured distance,
gives an excess o f 211 miles in the equated distance o f Boston from Burling­




508

Interest o f M oney.

ton over that o f Albany from Burlington. And it cannot be doubted, that
with this difference in favor o f Albany, and 67 miles in favor o f New York,
when compared to the distance to Boston, a large portion o f the business
which passes the bridge at Rouse’s Point, must take the route to the Hudson
River valley.”
During the season o f navigation, the present accommodations for trade
and travel are o f the best character, and when the railroad connections are
completed, the grades o f the respective lines will decide in favor o f the route
through the Champlain and Hudson valley, at all seasons.

Art. III.— T IIB I N T E R E S T OF M O N E Y .
NUMBER V I.

I t will be admitted that legal restrictions upon the natural course o f
trade can be justified only by the strongest reasons o f policy. A ny injury
therefore to particular interests should, at least, be more than counterbal­
anced by addition to the general good. But what if should appear, as I
believe is the case, that usury laws are prejudicial to the interests o f both
the lender and the borrower, and are, besides, otherwise injurious to the
community at large ?
In the first place, usury laws, so far as they are effectual, do gross injus­
tice to the capitalist. W h y should not he, as well as other men, be per­
mitted to reap the reward o f his industry and foresight, by receiving the
full market price of the commodity that he holds 2 There is no reason for
the distinction which is made. Impartiality must condemn it. W h y should
not the fluctuations o f business, and all the particular circumstances of the
case be suffered to adjust the demand made by the capitalist to his prop­
erty, as well as that made by other men for-theirs ? W h y is there so much
tenderness o f feeling in favor o f the borrower, and so little in favor of the
lender 2 H igh interest is far from being always undue interest. In times
when rates are most enormous, and the general cry is, extortion! it very
frequently happens that, on the whole, the lender does not reap unusual
profit. The loss of both interest and principal in one case, often exhausts
the gain derived from high interest in many others. Every one knows that
this is true, and that the rates of interest are influenced in what are called
hard times by the necessity o f guarding against eventual loss. Men who
were denouncing certain capitalists as extortioners, have ever been known to
comfort themselves by remarking, with singular inconsistency, that these
capitalists would not gain anything in the long run at such times, even
though they did exact so enormous rates. Is it not plain, that if, with such
rates, monied men can derive no profit, without them they must be on the
road to ruin ?
,
It is worthy o f remark, that among wealthy individuals, those who most
deserve the countenance and respect of the connnunitjq invariably suffer
under the operation o f usury laws more seriously than less worthy citizens
o f their class ; for only men o f severe integrity will be so conscientious as
to pay nice regard to the intent, as well as the letter, of legal restrictions on
interest. Nearly all the inconvenience that results to capitalists from a pro­




Interest o f M oney.

5 09

hibition o f that freedom o f action which is so important to the mutual inter­
ests of intelligent contracting parties, fells upon the wealthy portion o f a
class o f citizens (I mean the sternly virtuous) whose rights of welfare the
law should certainly regard with special tenderness, if it be true, which no
one probably will dispute, that a good citizen merits more from his country
than a bad one. A man o f ordinary mold feels no hesitation at evading,
even if he do not flatly transgress, the laws in question; and hence their
tendency to personal injury is, at least to a great extent, avoided by the ma­
jority o f capitalists, and confined to the inflexible few.
Having thus glanced at the injustice which the lender of money experi­
ences from legal limitations of interest, (and it should be borne in mind that
the poor widow may be a lender o f money as well as the rich capitalist,) let
us look for a moment at the effect which they produce on the condition o f
the borrower. It is my belief that usury laws, oppressive as they are to all
classes o f the community, are in reality more oppressive to the borrower than
to the lender. Although this position may seem extreme to many, I think
it will be abundantly verified by what follows.
I remark, first, some men are so conscientious, that they will not know­
ingly be parties to the violation or evasion o f law in any manner. They
regard a prohibition o f the receipt of interest beyond a certain rate as having
an obligatory bearing upon borrowers as well as lenders. In what are call­
ed hard times such men frequently prefer to make ruinous sacrifices o f their
property, rather than procure money, as they easily might, at illegal rates
o f interest. D id not law interdict high interest, they could sustain them­
selves by paying a comparatively trifling premium for the temporary use o f
m on ey ; but as such a step is interdicted, they regard it as involving a stain
on their probity, and therefore shrink from taking it. In more prosperous
times, too, when large profits accrue from business, the men whom I have
described are disabled from pushing their operations to such an extent as
they might with safety and success ; for money is worth more than the lavv
allows to ba paid, and conscience forbids them to infringe either the letter „
or the spirit o f the statutes by which they are hampered.
It may be that the individuals whom I have just mentioned are in reality too
fastidious. A t least the general course o f opinion and conduct does not
countenance their scruples.
Further, men whose conscience does not forbid them to borrow from those
who are willing to lend, even at rates prohibited by law, suffer severely from
the unnatural enhancement o f rates. Such enhancement arises from three
several causes. The first is, the diminution of competition on the part of
lenders. The scrupulously honest class of lenders, as has been stated, retire
from the market. As the price o f everything, the use o f money included,
is regulated by the proportion o f the supply to the demand, the conse­
quence is, o f course, an unnatural elevation o f the rates of interest. This
remark requires, I suppose, no further illustration.
The second o f the causes to which I have referred is, the risk involved in
violation o f an usury law. Just in proportion to the greatness o f this risk,
i. e., just in proportion to the severity of the penalties that attend known
violations of the law, and to the inducement held out for information con­
cerning those violations, will the lender, o f course, aggravate his dem and;
for the greater the risk set before him, the greater must be the temptation
to encounter it. I am speaking now o f lenders who possess common hon­
esty, and are not disposed to take what is regarded as undue advantage on




510

Interest o f M oney.

account o f peculiar circumstances; and I say that even such men must,
from the nature o f the case, elevate their demands in proportion to the
probability of their incurring the penalties annexed. If the law is intended
to be kept, there must, of course, be a penalty assigned therein for its in­
fraction, and there is ordinarily another penalty annexed by public opinion.
The lender must perceive sufficient inducement to risk, not only the possi­
bility that he may incur the penalty which the statute appoints in regard to
his property or his person, but also the penalty o f infamy often consequent
on the discovery o f what are termed usurious transactions.
Moreover, in the third place, borrowers are placed by usury laws very
much at the mercy o f knavery. The most conscientious lenders are exclu­
ded from the market, which is thus mainly abandoned to the disposal of
men who possess a very moderate degree o f good principle, if any whatso­
ever. Those who have the least scruple about violating usury laws, are the
very men who will have the least about extorting the highest rates o f inter­
est. They are the men who will put in requisition every possible pretence
to give a color o f fairness to their unjust demands, or perhaps will unblush■jngly abandon every pretence, and avow that they fatten on the necessities
o f their victims. Men o f the latter character have existed, and continue to
exist, and it is to their hands that the interests o f borrowers are in a great
measure committed by the tendency o f usury laws.
I trust that what has been said is sufficient to sustain the accuracy o f m y
position, that usury laws are in truth more injurious to the borrower than
to the lender. The latter can invest his capital otherwise, if he be forbidden
to obtain its full value from loans ; but to what remedy for the evils which
menace him, can the borrower have recourse ? There is none for him, while
the law exists. H e must have money, upon some terms or other, and, as
men will not lend upon terms adequate to the risk, o f whatever nature,
which they perceive it necessary to undergo, and many, who violate law,
will feel no hesitation to violate all right principle, the hapless borrower must
generally submit, with as good grace as he may, to be fleeced to the quick
through the legitimate, or at least natural, operation o f statutes against
usury.
It is in what are called hard times that restrictions on interest, though
designed to alleviate suffering, are in reality o f worst effect. The value o f
money is then much greater than in ordinary times, and there is, therefore,
much less probability that any will lend it at the legal rates. Consequently
more capital in conscientious hands is withdrawn from competition. In
such times, too, usuers can most readily find pretences for exacting uncon­
scionable interest under cover o f the necessary secrecy attending illegal
transactions. It appears, then, that just in proportion with the severity o f
demand to which borrowers are subjected by the course o f business, do
usury laws enlarge their agency in aggravating that severity. Must not
restrictions which manifest a tendency o f this nature be very far from jvromoting the advantage o f the borrower ?
There is one further point, o f much consequence, on which I cannot afford
space to dwell in proportion to its importance. I mean the influence o f
usury laws upon popular morality. This is o f a very injurious character. In
an active, thriving community, such laws will always, by general consent,
be at least evaded. Evasions, skulking transactions, must invariably soil
moral purity, humble self-respect, diminish moral strength. W h o can esti­
mate the effect thus produced upon the general tone o f principle in society ?




Interest o f M oney.

511

' Moreover, usury laws set fortli inducement, not always resisted, to the viola­
tion o f what are denominated usurious contracts, fairly made, so far as per­
sonal honor is concerned. They bribe men to break engagements, to evince
ingratitude for what they certainly at the time regarded as kindness, and
what, in many cases, really was so. Can it be advisable to tempt men to
the commission o f such crimes as bad faith, ingratitude, the rendering of
evil for good ? Must not public morality suffer sorely from the existence of
such temptation ? Shall the law proffer it ?
, W h at has been said has sufficiently evinced m y opinion, that rates o f in­
terest should not be restricted, except by the mutual agreement o f parties.
The discussions into which I have entered, respecting the history of interest,
its theory, its reasonableness, and the practical operation o f usury laws, have,
in the view which I take of them, constituted a defense o f entire freedom o f
contract in regard to money, such as exists in regard to other commodities.
It remains only that I should reply to certain objections which have been
urged against the repeal o f usury laws, and offer a few further suggestions
for which I have foynd, as yet no appropriate place.
The objections to which I refer are, indeed, of a very trivial and sometimes
even ridiculous character; but as they are the most important which I have
been able to find, formally stated, they may be entitled to a slight consid­
eration.
It has been said, that the high interest consequent on a repeal o f all
usury laws would induce foreigners to question the security o f loans, and
would therefore repel capital from this country instead o f attracting it hither.
But, I would ask, how is it apparent that loans are made any more secure by
usury laws than they would otherwise be ? The security depends entirely
on the competence and honesty of the borrower or the guarantee. If, in
order to more complete assurance o f security, the lender prefer to affix a
low rate o f interest, it is at his discretion to do so, as much when no usury
law exists as when there is one. Besides, it remains to be proved that a
repeal o f usury laws would induce such a general elevation o f the rates o f
interest as is assumed in the objection.
In direct contrariety to the objection just considered, it is said by some,
that a repeal of usury laws would reduce interest through competition, and
that this reduction would send away capital which legal rates o f interest
have attracted from abroad, and must thereby narrow our resources. If
there were the supposed force in this objection, it would follow, that the
higher the rates of interest the better, because the more capital -would be
sent to us from abroad to reap the benefit o f those rates. Are any prepared
to take such a position ? The higher the price o f any foreign commodity,
whatever, in our market, the greater the quantity o f that commodity sent to
us for consumption; or, in the language o f the objection, the greater our
resources; but, does it thence result, that the higher the price the better ?
It may be that a reduction o f the general rate o f interest in these United
States would occasion a diminution o f the foreign capital at our command ;
but it by no means follows that this reduction would be hurtful to the nation.
The injury or benefit resulting from the reduction would depend almost
wholly, if not wholly, on other circumstances ; just as the injury or benefit
resulting from a reduction o f the price o f other commodities, than money,
would not depend principally on the question whether more or less o f those
commodities were imported than before. The higher the rates o f interest
which are paid, the greater the contribution which is levied upon us for the




512

Interest o f M oney.

benefit o f those foreigners who choose to intrust us temporarily with a por­
tion o f their capital; and, though the use o f this capital may be o f great
advantage to us, it does not follow that we should do all we can to force the
rates o f interest upward in order to secure that advantage. W h at a sin­
gular obliquity o f argument it is, to defend usury laws on the ground that
they maintain rates o f interest at an unnatural degree o f elevation!
The truth is, however, that a repeal o f usury laws in the United States
would not bo likely to produce much effect of any kind upon the rates of inter­
est paid for the use of foreign capital. These rates are now generally beneath
the legal limitations, because foreign capital is worth less at home than here,
and because, moreover, it is invested here only in modes which are
considered by the lender undoubtedly secure. Foreigners, on account o f
their distance from the scene o f operations, will not ordinarily trust their
money on loan among us, except in public stocks, or some other well known
and accredited form of investment; and as it is not from the operation o f our
usury laws upon loans in public stocks, or similar depositories of capital, so
much as from their operation or more private, but yet more generally prevalent
contracts, that the impolicy o f such laws is to be perceived, so the effect o f
their repeal must be confined chiefly to the mutual dealings o f individuals in
our own land.
It is sometimes objected as a suspicious circumstance, that money-lenders
are, as a class, in favor o f a repeal of the usury laws. The circumstance,
however, is very natural. N o man is pleased to be subjected to special
restraint in his dealings. Money-lenders frequently can receive the full value
o f their money only by means o f evasion or secrecy, which are in themselves
revolting to most persons, even to those whose disposition is not particularly
honorable.
Usury laws array disgrace and other penalties against the
capitalist. Is it strange that he should desire the removal of these penalties?
Capitalists who possess too nice a conscience to violate or evade the law, are
indignant at its injustice. W e may even admit, that many who scruple
not to trample on the law, and perhaps practice the grossest extortion from
necessitous persons, do not anticipate that a repeal o f the usury laws will
occasion any injury to their interests, but rather suppose that when they are
repealed their is exactions may be prosecuted with greater impunity. It does
not follow, however, that their expectations must be well founded. Can we
not, moreover, summon sufficient charity to allow that some capitalists may
be actuated by a regard to the advantage o f the community in general,
without exclusive attention to their own ? From these several considerations,
the circumstance that honest capitalists favor a rej>eal o f usury laws may be
accounted for, I think, so as to make it unnecessary that we should impute
to it any very suspicious character.
Some other objections to the repeal in question have come within my
knowledge, which I had intended to answer expressly; but, upon maturer
reflection, they appear to me o f so flimsy a texture that I am really ashamed
to waste time even in a statement o f them.
One further argument which I have seen adduced in print, from a sup­
posed practical experience, may be worth a moments thought. It ife said
that on occasion of a diminution o f forfeiting in a conviction for usury,
under the laws o f one o f the United States, men who for years had aban­
doned the business o f usury, resumed it, and it was commenced by many
who had nev^r before engaged in it. “ So much,” says the writer, “ for the
actual effect of usury laws, in spite o f modern theorists.” The argument is




Interest o f M oney.

513

idle. It is not to be supposed that money would be parted with at legal
interest, while it was worth considerably more ; and thus, if the men referred
to declined to lend before the lessening o f forfeitures took place, the greater
was the harvest reaped by those who would lend, and the more grinding,
probably, was the extortion which was practiced. A n increase of the num­
ber o f lenders in the market cannot but have a tendency to diminish the
rates o f interest through competition. The argument in question proceeds
upon the false notion, that a prohibition to take interest beyond a certain rate
operates as a compulsion to lend money at that rate. On the contrary, as
has been before shown, it tends to withdraw capital from the market, and to
diminish the resources o f borrowers whenever their demands are especially
urgent. The condition o f borrowers, in respect to extortion, is ameliorated
(other things being equal) just in proportion as, through the lessening or
removal o f forfeitures, more capitalists than formerly are induced to enter
the list.
Thus much in refutation o f certain special objections made to a repeal
o f usury laws. Let us now turn our attention to some more general
considerations.
The value o f money varies greatly according to circumstances. There
are three cases in which it is especially valuable : (1.) when the use o f
money in business produces large profits ; (2.) when, even though profits
are small, there is little money in the m arket; and (3.) when, whether
profits are large or small, and there is little or much money in the market,
the hazard o f lending is great.
Sometimes two o f these cases, and
even all o f them, are combined in the circumstances o f one loan. Can it,
then, be proper to fix the same arbitrary rate for every instance o f loan ?
Is not entire freedom o f contract concerning interest the only state o f things
consistent with justice and kindness to all parties ? For example, why
should not the interest o f money be treated as valuable in proportion to the
proceeds o f the business which it enables a man to prosecute ? W ith any
fixed rate o f interest this cannot be the case. Some men, from superiority
in point o f intelligence, or from accidental relations in business, or from other
peculiar circumstances, make the use o f money more profitable to themselves
than it is to other people, and can well pay a higher price for it than can be
afforded by others. Ought they to be precluded from the exercise o f their
discretion in obtaining it from capitalists upon terms agreeable to both
parties ? Must the indviduals most interested possess less sagacity than a
statute book in determining what is the highest rate o f interest which they
can pay consistently with prudence.
Let us consider a case or two which will, perhaps, serve to illustrate the
topic in question. Suppose one individual able to reap a profit o f only 10
per cent on his capital, in such business as he can command, while to another
all the capital which he employs yields a profit o f 15 per cent. Clearly it
might be for the mutual advantage o f these individuals, that the former
should lend his capital to the latter, instead o f employing it in business for
himself. W h at shall we say, then, o f the prevention o f such a law by an
enactment limiting the rate of interest below the point at which the parties
might meet with mutual satisfaction ? Can we call it wise ?
Take another ease, which is not only supposable, but has actually occurred
within my knowledge. A certain individual is doing business on a very
extensive scale, and makes large profit, but the circumstances o f the times
lead him into pressing want o f money. A neighboring individual has convol.

xxni.— sc. v.




33

514

The N ature and Use o f M oney.

v

tented himself with a narrow circle o f business, and, consequently, smaller
profits, and this cautious procedure gives him ready command o f all the
money he requires for his own use, and, furthermore, o f a surplus which he
is willing to lend upon equitable terms to his more necessitous neighbor.
Now, is it not reasonable that in this condition o f things the possessor o f the
surplus should receive more than the ordinary rate o f interrest on parting
with it ? But a moments thought is needed, one would think, to prompt an
affirmative answer to this question, and yet the fiat o f the statute-book
replies in the negative.
In conclusion o f this series o f essays, I will merely observe, that, on the
whole, it appeare to me, the common policy o f nations concerning what is
called usury is a glaring instance of the many ways in which the world is
too mnch governed It is to be hoped that such a reform will take place, ere
long, in our country, as will institute a system o f freedom concerning rates o f
interest, under which money may, as it does not always now, fall into the
hands of those who can make the best use o f i t ; and that this reform will
rapidly be extended throughout the civilized world. Capital seeks employ­
ment,1^industry seeks capital; that policy is the best which leaves both
capital and industry unrestrained in their mutual course o f reciprocal
benefit.

Art. IV.— TIIE NATURE AND USE OF MONEY.*
A volume on the Nature and Use o f Money, containing two hundred and
seventy-seven pages, comes before the public with an offer o f one hundred
English guineas, which will be paid to any person who can refute its con­
tents. A t the same time it is stated that twelve hundred copies have been
distributed gratuitously to the most distinguished individuals in England,
including every member o f parliament. These attractions are surely o f a
novel kind ; and they are sufficient at least to enlist the attention o f many
who may believe the subject to be already worn thread-bare. The author
is Mr. John Gray, o f Edinburgh, and the work consists o f a series o f lectures
delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution. It is written with
much vigor, and energy o f style, and presents its views with clearness and
- force.
Its merits are amply sufficient to demand for it an attentive
perusal.
our object to discuss the principles which are set forth by the
It is :
author, or even to question their correctness ; but we shall confine ourselves
to a statement o f the contents, brief, yet sufficiently ample to acquaint the
reader with their nature, and with the kind o f task that will be before him
if he should undertake to refute them, and thus secure the prize o f a hundred
guineas.
“ Production, naturally the cause o f demand, shall be so practically,” is
the motto and also the idea o f the work. In other words, the author com­
mences by examining the principles o f political economy upon which supply
* Lectures on the Nature and Use of Money; delivered before the members of the “ Edinburgh
Philosophical Institution” during the months of February and March, 1848. By John Gray : Author
of u The Social System,” A Treatise on the Principle of Exchange.




The N ature and Use o f M oney.

51 5

and demand is based, and maintains that “ supply is the natural cause of
demand.” H e then asserts that this principle is annihilated by the present
monetary system by which values are exchanged, and proceeds to present a
view o f a monetary system by the operation o f which this principle would
be preserved in full force. His words, in one place, are:— “ The very sum and
substance o f everyhing I insist on is, nam ely: that if we increase goods
faster than money, prices will f a l l and production must stop ; whilst if we
increase money as fast as we increase goods, prices will notfall, and, therefore,
proportionate protection may go on increasing until the end o f time. And
although the multiplied productions would certainly not go on commanding
in exchange for them as much gold or silver as they did in the first instance,
when they were comparatively scarce, yet would the productions themselves
— which is all we have to care for— be no less valuable in the popular
meaning o f that term than those which preceded them. The newly built
houses, for example, would be as comfortable as the old ones, and possibly a
little bettter drained and ventilated : the additional food would be as nutri­
tive, the clothing as warm, and the furniture as convenient, even though
each and all o f these should be multiplied a thousand fold. Here, then, is
the plain question before us— shall we retain our fictitious standard o f value,
— gold, and thus keep the productive resources o f the country in bondage ?
or, shall we resort to the natural standard o f value— labor, and thereby set
our productive resources fr e e ?”
But let us take up our author at the beginning, as our readers will
thereby more readily apprehend his views than by a chance quotation
from the body of the work. Asserting that there is something anomalous
and bad in the present state o f society, and yet which is o f such a nature
that it cannot be accounted for, either by the existence o f irreligion, im mo­
rality, idleness, improvidence, or any other of the causes to which mankind
are so very apt to attribute the miseries o f human life: he proceeds to
inquire into its nature, and illustrates, by an example, the position, or
principle, that, according to the difficulty, or facility o f production, should
man be ill or well supplied with the necessaries, comforts and luxuries o f
life, or more shortly, should he be poor or rich ? Have then the masses o f
mankind realized this principle ? As facility o f production has progressively
increased in Manchester, Leeds, and other manufacturing towns, have the
inhabitants o f Manchester, Leeds, and other manufacturing towns risen in
the scale o f comfortable existence in the like proportion ? Are the working
men of the present day better off, better supplyed with the necessaries, con­
veniences and comforts o f life than the like description o f operatives, ten,
twenty, or fifty years ago, by just so much as the aggregate facility o f pro­
duction has advanced during the same period ? A nd has the condition of
the other classes o f society risen in the same proportion ? Does the English
nation really create and enjoy all the wealth, that as a nation it has the
power or inclination to create ? I f not, then there is something wrong in
the nature o f the public institutions. W h at is it ? “ A ll I shall contend
for,” says the author, “ is, that man collectively should know no limit to his
physical means o f enjoyment, save those o f the exhaustion either o f his indus­
try, or o f his productive powers— whilst we, by the adoption o f a monetary
system, false in principle, and destructive in practice, have consented to
restrict the amount o f our physical means o f enjoyment to that precise quan­
tity which can be profitably exchanged for a commodity, one o f the least
capable o f multiplication by the exercise o f human industry o f any upon the
face o f the earth.”




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The N ature and Use o f M oney.

It is next maintained that, in a perfectly free commercial society, uninflu­
enced by the existence o f any monetary system whatever, production will be
the never-failing cause o f demand. In the aggregate, it would be as easy to
sell goods as it is to buy them, and that ad infinitum ; -and the words
supply and demand would be just two names for the selfsame thing. It is
true that McCulloch, and other writers on political economy, assert that pro­
duction is the cause o f dem and; but in this they have, acoording to our
author, fallen into an error. Production is not now the cause o f demand,
though the truth is that it should be so. Abjuring, then, all monetary con­
siderations whatever, suppose any number o f individuals, each acting solely
and singly for his own benefit, should become producer o f some marketable
commodity, and that each and all should meet together in a public place
bringing the fruits o f their respective labors— it is quite clear that all
would go there equally to buy and to sell. Each one might have a different
artifcle; but it is certain no one would bring anything to market without a
pre-determination to take quite as large a quantity fr o m market. In these
circumstances, however, no man would propose to give a greater proportion
o f his own goods than should be required from him in exchange for those
which he himself should desire to obtain. On the contrary, his demand
would ever be equal to his supply. H e would give, or rather sell, not for
the mere pleasure o f giving or selling, but in order that he himself might
obtain a portion o f the merchandise o f other men. Then, as the person or
party with whom he should deal would be sure to act upon precisely the
same principle, their demand and supply would be respectively just two
names for the same thing. The goods thus brought to market in due pro­
portion to each other— that is, consisting o f a suitable variety o f articles, and
no such thing as money being as yet supposed to exist at all— are at once
and eqally, supply and demand, demand and supply; and no conceivable
quantity o f them could, for a moment, disturb this state o f things, provided
the due proportion was strictly observed. The same position is still further
entorced by extracts from Mills’s Elements o f Political E conom y; yet it is
asserted that these extracts if taken with reference to the existing monetary
system o f society, do not contain one word o f truth ; but if taken without
reference to any monetary system whatever, the wit o f man is powerless to
detect any fallacy in the reasoning. These extracts close with the following
w ords:— “ It appeal's, therefore, by accumulated proof, that production can
never be too rapid for demand. Production is the cause and the sole cause
o f demand. It never furnishes supply without furnishing demand, both at
the same time, and both to an equal extent.” To which our author replies:
— “ If this be true, there must surely be some counteracting principle at
work among us ; for, practically speaking, I deny that production is at
present the cause o f demand. I deny that supply and demand are convert­
ible terms. I deny that it is now impossible to increase the one without
increasing the other, both at the same time, and' both to an equal extent.”
* * * “ Then comes the great question now before us. If our existing mon­
etary system were to be discarded, and if what I call a sound one were to
be established in its stead, would production really and practically become
the cause o f demand ? or, in other words, would it, speaking always o f aggre­
gates, be precisely as easy to sell goods at a reasonable profit as it now is
to buy them at a reasonable price, and that ad infinitum ? Most assuredly
it w ou ld ; and I challenge the critical acumen o f the three kingdoms to
gainsay the assertion, or to adduce any, save the most puerile and absurd
arguments, in refutation o f this most important doctrine.”




The N ature and Use o f M oney.

51 7

W e have dwelt rather at length on this portion o f Mr. Gray’s work,
because it is fundamental to all that follows. If production is naturally the
cause o f demand, but now, practically, its influence is annihilated, or, it is
rendered the effect o f demand ; then wliat has occasioned this error in prac­
tical political economy ? Granting the position, perhaps various causes o f
its existence could be assigned. Our author, however, ascribes it to the ope­
rations o f the existing monetary system, and proceeds to show that the
co-equality o f production and demand must be restored ere it can be possible
for mankind to prosper.
Thee great objection to the present monetary system is stated to be
its dearness; and the cost of it to the English nation is estimated at not less
than one hundred millions o f pounds sterling per annum. The income of
the nation is at present five hundred millions. Under a monetary system
connected with which proportionate production would really become the
uniform and never-failing cause o f demand— when it would be as easy
to sell goods at a fair price as it is now to buy them— and the whole produc­
tive powers o f the nation were brought into full and vigorous operation, the
author estimates the annual income to be increased in the ratio o f five
to six. Admitting this, it follows that the cost o f the present monetary
system is at least one hundred millions per annum. The manner in which
the system operates is thus e x p la in e d W h e n e v e r the demand for any
commodity increases, the money price o f that commodity rises, as compared
with other things ; unless the commodity itself be o f such a kind that it can
be brought to market without any increased rate o f cost in sufficient quan­
tities to supply the extra demand, in which case it will not necessarily
advance in price. Now, take any commodity not actually multipliable ad
libitum by the exercise o f human labor, and let it become the measure of
value. Such a measure o f value, and the principle o f production the cause
o f demand, cannot by any possibility co-exist for one week in any nation
upon the earth. A nd why ? Simply because to the existence o f any mer­
cantile system in which production shall be the uniform cause o f demand,
money— the modes o f using it remaining the same— must increase just
exactly and precisely as fast as all other marketable commodities put toge­
ther ; for if it do not do this, every commodity ‘ multipliable by the exercise
o f human industry faster than money itself— although costing no diminished
labor to produce it— will fall in money-prices ; and from that instant the
principle o f production, the cause o f demand, is expelled from the commer­
cial system.
The inherent fluctuations in the legal measure o f value are very forcibly
insisted upon by Mr. Gray. I f gold were in reality a measure o f value, an
ounce of it would, under all ordinary circumstances, be obtainable by the
exercise o f equal quantities o f capital, skill, and labor usefully employed.
But this truth is at present entirely unknown in practice. The general posi­
tion laid down is, that no increase o f well-proportioned produce, however
great, however inconceivably enormous, which produce should continue to
cost the same amount o f labor per yard, per pound, or per foot, to create it,
could give occasion to the fall o f one farthing in its money-price, had we in
practical existence any such thing as an accurate measure of value— any
more than weight, measure, or number can become less, per equal quantity
in consequence o f its immensity ; and neither, by any possibility, could wellproportioned production in these circumstances ever overtake demand.
It should be stated by us that all the incidental questions arising from the




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The N ature and Use o f M oney.

principles maintained in this work are fully noticed and explained by the
author. Having thus briefly sketched a faint outline o f what is so fully
expressed and illustrated in this book, let us hasten to notice the monetary
system which it proposes; though it should also be stated that the author
is not strenuous for his particular system so long as the evils are realized and
effective remedies are adopted— in other words, he declares the true principle
o f exchange, and will leave to others to devise the precise machinery
by which the system shall be worked. Two things are required to remedj
the present evils : first, a system o f banking, by the operation o f which the
natural relationship of supply and demand would be restored; second, a true
measure o f value in place of the existing fiction so miscalled.
A standard bank should be established in each o f the three principal
cities o f Great Britain, with one or more branches in every town o f import­
ance throughout the kingdom. A ll wholesale dealers, o f every kind, except
those who trafficked in certain perishable articles, should become standard
merchants, or manufacturers, and keep accounts at these banks. Every such
merchant, upon opening an account, must name the maximum amount
o f money that he is ever to be indebted to the bank at any one time ; and
he must give security for the repayment o f any final balance that may be
found against him ; and every banker should have also a declared minimum
amount o f annual transactions, below which, it should not be any part o f his
business to descend. The merchant must then make a stock-book with a
duplicate, in which his goods are estimated at the selling price. The bank
instantly upon the receipt o f one o f these books enters the amount to the
credit o f the merchant in the bank books, which sum o f money he is imme­
diately at liberty to draw to the last shilling from the bank. The merchant
is next to sell his goods for standard money, which is paid into the bank
day by day as the goods are sold, and thus the bank advance is repaid in
full. Under this system, standard bank notes would be merely so many
transferable certificates o f the existence in the standard market o f equivalent
produce, actually for sale in exchange for standard notes, and for no other
money or thing whatever. And, as not merely the estimated, but the actual
value o f all the property in the standard market would ever be precisely
equal to the amount o f standard money in the hands o f the public, it follows,
o f necessity, that production must ever be equalled by demand. Aggregate
production will become the unfailing cause o f co-equal demands whenever
we may think proper to establish the monetary system o f the country upon
the basis o f transferable voucher, and from that day forth disproportionate
production will be the one and only cause o f a superfluity o f anything.
It is impossible, at this time, to follow our author further into the details
o f the operation o f this system. It is treated in the most ample and com­
plete manner in his b o o k ; and without expressing, in this brief article, any
opinion o f the correctness or pertinency o f his views, we do not hesitate to
say that, such as they are, the author is a master of them in all their details.
The work is well calculated to awaken thought in the minds o f those
who are familiar with the science o f political econ om y ; or, o f those
who reflect with pain upon the miseries o f a large portion o f the human
family.




Currency— Interest— Production.

51 9

Art. V.— CURRENCY— INTEREST— PRODUCTION.
NUMBER IV .

F reeman H unt, E sq., E d it o r

o f the M ercha nts’ M ag azine, etc.

S ir :— The subject o f banking has been so complicated with other ques­

tions, particularly that o f currency, that many are disposed to regard it as a
mere slough of despond, not a whit the less unfathomable for the many cart­
loads o f essays and treatises, good and bad, which have been bestowed upon
it. Y et when divested o f needless complication, it appears simple enough.
The business o f banking comprises four things: the receiving, (or collect­
ing,) safe keeping, paying out and lending o f money. Money is such a
concentrated form o f value as to require peculiar care in guarding i t : and to
pay and receive it in large sums consumes much time and labor. There is,
therefore, an obvious economy in concentrating large deposits o f money
here and there in such places as banks, where it can be safely received, and
left, paid out or transferred for the owners. As a remuneration for this
expense, responsibility and trouble, the banker is allowed to lend as he
pleases the money deposited with him, on condition o f being always
prepared to repay it. On the other hand, the depositor is expected to keep
some amount o f money in the banker’s hands, so long as he enjoys the
convenience o f the bank. This money the banker may lend on interest; but
as his business would ordinarily be neither remunerating to himself nor safe
for others, if based on the funds o f his depositors alone, he finds it necessary
to add to these a positive capital o f his own, in order to guarantee his
solvency and enlarge his operations. By employing this combined capital
prudently in discounting business paper, he obtains his remuneration; in
addition to which he may undertake for a per centage the collection and
payment o f debts in distant places ; in other words he may deal in exchange,
which, well managed, are often extremely profitable.
The banker is thus a merchant, dealing exclusively in money ; which he
buys, sells, receives on deposit, and delivers on demand. In Europe this
branch o f business is often carried on by an individual or a firm o f a few
partners. In this country, where money is less abundant, and less concen­
trated, banks are usually joint-stock corporations, the capital o f which is
contributed by many stock-holders. This is an agreeable feature in our
social system— proving that we have few individuals o f large, but many of
small capital; few overgrown, but many moderate fortunes.
It is evident that if all bank receipts and payments were made in specie,
the labor o f counting it would be enormous. This difficulty has been expe­
rienced everywhere, and is admitted by the most strenuous advocates o f a
“ hard currency.” In Europe it has usually been obviated by the establish­
ment o f national banks, managed, or at least controlled, by the the govern­
ment. The notes o f these banks have generally been made redeemable in
specie, so long as each government has been able and willing to redeem
them. The history o f our own national bank is too recent to need recapitu­
lation ; and while it existed it undoubtedly furnished the best paper currency
the country has ever known. But as its revival is neither possible nor desi­
rable, we need not now waste time in reviewing the many good and evil
results produced by it. It is sufficient to remark that specie is now the only
currency recognized by our national government.




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Currency— Interest— Production.

H ow then are its inconveniences to be avoided ? N ot certainly by State
currencies, which are expressly prohibited by the Constitution o f the United
States, in words too familiar to need repetition. The remedy adopted, as we
all know, has been to permit banks to issue promissory notes, payable on
demand in specie. As might have been foreseen, in a country where money
is scarce, and credit universal, the result has been practically to withdraw
specie from general circulation, and to substitute bank-notes, which, accordingly, do in part form the bulk o f our currency, or “ circulation,” and in ordi­
nary times fulfil their functions for the most part satisfactorily.
Such a currency is, however, liable to grave objections. As it possesses
none o f the essential characteristics o f money, it cannot answer its purpose
without being exchangeable at will for that which does, i. e., for specie. So
lon g as this is the case, it is at least safe, though it may happen to be
exceedingly inconvenient, as when a discredited Mississippi bank-bill is held
by a resident of New England. Supposing this condition secured, the prin­
cipal objections to such a currency appear to be two, v iz :—
1. To me it seems, in spirit at least, to be unconstitutional. If bank bills
are bills o f credit, (and virtually they are so,) and a State cannot lawfully issue
bills o f credit, it is difficult to understand how it can confer on banks a power
not possessed by itself. To say that the prohibitory clause o f the Constitu­
tion applies only to the direct action o f the State government, seems a mere
evasion.
The clause was evidently intended to secure for the General
' Government the entire control o f the currency o f the country ; and it cannot
be denied that the several States, by chartering banks, have greatly infringed
upon this control, if they have not practically betrayed it altogether. They
ought not, however, to be censured for this. The neglect o f the General
Government to provide a currency has compelled the State governments to
do what they could towards supplying a deficiency which the exigencies o f a
commercial people would not permit to remain unsupplied.
2. A far graver objection to this currency is its intrinsic worthlessness, and
consequent dependence on credit, and liability to fluctuation at the most
inconvenient and dangerous periods. Mr. Kellogg’s numerous instances o f
the bad working o f our banking system may all be shown to be at least
greatly aggravated by the character o f our paper currency. W h en specula­
tion is rife, and confidence unimpaired, merchants and traders, and particu­
larly banks, enjoy an almost unlimited credit. The individual pays high
prices and contracts dangerous liabilities— the corporation lends its notes in
all directions— and both parties are apt to forget that pay day must come.
B y and by a reaction takes place; money tightens— prices fall— the mer­
chant, crippled by losses and bad debts, looks more than ever to the bank
for aid. But the bank is in no condition to help h im ; like him it has
heavy liabilities to redeem : and perhaps for weeks or months after the
scarcity has commenced, all that the most solvent bank can do is to redeem
in specie the notes o f which it was lately so lavish. Now, it is plain that
while in the first instance the ease with which these notes are circulated in
times o f abundance is a great and dangerous provocative o f speculation ; on
the other hand the necessity o f redeeming them in specie, or its equivalent,
is a great and most trying draw-back to the ability o f banks to assist the
commercial community in time o f scarcity. In 1837, as we all know, their
only resource was to cease redeeming their notes, and thus, by their own
insolvency, to prevent that o f the whole mercantile public.
For this evil the remedy is a simple one, and it is strange that it has been




Currency— Interest— Production.

521

so long deferred. L et currency and banicing be separated and kept distinct.
The former is the business o f the General Government, and o f it alone— the
latter is a legitimate branch o f private industry. The advantages o f such a
separation are great and palpable.
1. It ensures, so far as it can be ensured, an invariable equivalence o f
paper and specie. O f the multitude o f banks in our country, some will gene­
rally be unsound, and the notes o f the most undoubted and specie-paying
must be at a discount in distant States, especially where the balance o f trade
is against them. During a commercial panic, such a currency is liable to
become quite unmanageable. But no one doubts- that the notes o f the
United States Treasurer, redeemable in specie at some or all o f his principal
offices, would be, at least, as readily taken all over the country as specie
itself.
2. As shown above, it would relieve banks from the demand for specie,
which in times o f pressure so cripples their resources and diminishes their
ability to aid the commercial public. N ot having any notes to redeem,
every dollar as it comes in would be available for loans; and their own con­
dition being proportionally sounder, would give greater confidence to their
depositors, and diminish the chance o f their being “ run upon.”
3. There would be less temptation to banks to extend their loans impru­
dently in times o f plenty, because the paper material o f those loans would
be much less easily obtained than now.
4. 'As specie would seldom be wanted except for export, it would o f course
accumulate in the United States treasuries, and might, if desired, be
employed in extinguishing the national debt. But this is rather a doubtful
advantage, and would require extreme caution in its application.
In behalf o f this system o f currency I would further urge the opinion o f
Hamilton and many o f our most distinguished statesmen— if I mistake not,
o f Daniel Webster himself;— the triumphant success o f the change recently
effected in the Bank o f England, by which the currency and banking depart­
ments have been made entirely distinct; and the example, so far as I know,
o f the other principal nations o f Europe, by which the prerogative o f issuing
bank-notes is strictly reserved to the crown. I may add, that as some paper
currency must exist, I see no other way o f honestly fulfilling the letter and
spirit o f Sec. x., 1. o f the Constitution o f the United States.
The advocates o f an unmitigated “ hard currency” will o f course object to
this scheme ; but on examination it will be difficult to see the force o f their
arguments. To a United States Bank there are doubtless grave objections
— which, indeed, have by this time extinguished the hopes o f its warmest
partisans. W e all know that such an institution, at its best estate, is a dan­
gerous political, social and commercial en gin e; that it may be made the
agent o f intolerable abuse; and that at any rate it is a planet o f too power­
ful a gravitation to be safely admitted into our nicely balanced system. But
what imaginable harm can a United States Treasurer do by exchanging a
bag o f specie for a thousand dollar note, or vice versa ? Or how can either
slave or free States take umbrage, whether the notes be redeemed at New
York or New Orleans, at Savannah or Boston.
On the other hand, the bank-stockholder may complain that I diminish
his profits by stopping his “ circulation.” I would ask in reply, what busi­
ness has he to any profits on fictitious capital ? But again, is he certain that
this same “ circulation” does not do him more harm than good ? W h en
money is abundant, he is glad to lend his notes at 3 or 4 per cen t; but




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Currency— Interest— Production.

when a pressure comes, those notes must be redeemed with good money,
which otherwise might be loaned at 6 or V per cent, and probably much
more. But this is not the only penalty paid for “ circulation” — in other
words, for the privilege o f currency. In Massachusetts, banks are not per­
mitted by law to owe more than double their capital; and for the whole of
these liabilities the stockholders are responsible— i. e. they may have all
their capital stock and as muck more. In New York, under the free bank­
ing law, they can issue no notes which are not guaranteed by the deposit o f
certain securities with the State Controller; and I could name at least one
o f the first banks in New York City which has long ceased to avail itself of
the privilege o f issuing notes at all. W h y are these special precautions
taken with banks, and with banks alone ? Evidently because the State con­
siders the soundness of its currency a matter o f prime importance, and is
determined to protect it. Let the banks relinquish this privilege, and no
special restrictions or liabilities need be imposed upon them.
Having said so much in recommendation o f a national paper currency, I
would add that it must o f course be based chiefly, if not altogether, upon
actual deposits o f specie. But were the payments o f the United States
Treasury made in specie or paper, at the option o f the receiver, the accumu­
lation o f specie in the treasury would soon become so enormous that
the public debt would be extinguished as it became due, and probably with­
out sensibly diminishing that accumulation, and without the necessity o f
incurring any fuither loan. The result would be to change the present public
debt, drawing interest, and held largely by foreigners, to a debt drawing no
interest, and held chiefly or wholly by the mass o f the people at home. The
surplus o f specie in the treasury would probably still increase from year to
year, and be amply sufficient to meet any possible foreign demand caused by
an unfavorable balance o f trade. In Great Britain it is found safe to have a
paper currency o f about seventy millions o f dollars based solely upon the
public credit, and as much more based upon specie. In a country so large
and so comparatively poor as ours, a much larger quantity— perhaps a
hundred millions— not based on specie, might be financially safe— but
it would be economically excessive— and there is at present little danger of
any such excess being tolerated by the nation.
Having endeavored thus to disentangle the subject o f banking from that
o f currency, I must bestow a few words upon the subject o f interest in
connection with banks.
O f course the banker must lend his money on interest, for that is his sole
compensation. A s before remarked, he is a money-merchant, and it is not
easy to see why he has not, like any other merchant, the right to buy and
sell his merchandise at any price he choses to pay or is able to obtain. So
long, indeed, as banks are permitted virtually to create a currency, it may be
right to restrict them in the use o f it like all other monopolists. But it is
surely better for all parties to put an end to both monopoly and restriction
together. And were the question fairly put to our bank stockholders, they
would probably consent at once to relinquish their circulation, if by the
repeal o f the usury law's they could be allowed a fair competition with
private capitalists.
In m y last number I endeavored to show that the usury laws are an
absurdity in principle. Let us briefly inquire whether they are entitled
to an exception in the case of banks.
1. Such laws are a sheer injustice.
W h at is usury? In England




Currency— Interest— Production.

523

the legal rate o f interest is 5 per cent— in Massachusetts 6— in New York
J. Then there are bank-rates : in England (usually) 3 per cent err less—
in Russia 4— and so on. Now, what right has any government to fix
on any one o f these rates, and make it compulsory ?— especially when, with
singular unanimity, both borrowers and lenders protest against the law,
unscrupulously evade it, and openly violate it. Indeed, in many cases, no
honest man _could do otherwise. '
2. In my last number I pointed out the bad policy o f these laws, showing
that by creating a partial and dangerous cheapness o f money, they really
increased its scarcity. This fact is no where more evident and more perni­
cious than in the case o f banks; for the larger the capital, the greater the
harm it may de, if ill regulated. W h en profits are large, rates o f interest
will o f course be high ; for men can afford to pay high interest out o f large
profits. W h y should a bank be prevented from sharing in the benefits
which capitalists derive from such a state o f things ? Is it better that the
widows and orphans who own so much of their stock, should have their
pittance enhanced by it, or that the grasping capitalist shall pocket the
whole ?
But high interest is sometimes the result o f pressure, scarcity and ruin.
Shall the bank then charge double rates to the present tradesman who even
now can hardly struggle along ? Certainly it should. Charity is the prero­
gative o f the individual; justice the duty of a corporation. A nd how shall
the bank fix on the deserving subject o f 6 per cent loans ? Many who
borrow at 6, loan again at 12, or employ the money in hard cash bargains.
In short, there will always be an unhealthy state o f things while banks are
loaning money at 6 per cent, and brokers at 12, 18, or 24. It injures
those who do not get the bank loans— but it injures still more perhaps those
who do. They loan to depend on their good luck at the bank; and should
it fail them, as among the multitude o f competitors there is always danger
that it may, they are helpless, perhaps insolvent. H ow much better than
this is a steady, healthy pressure, checking speculation, but never leaving
destitute the really needy, who must borrow, and are willing to pay in
proportion. Under such a system, our commercial navies might indeed
have occasional hard gales and high seas to contend with— but there would
be comparatively little danger o f those tremendous hurricanes which have so
often swept them from the seas and strewed the shore with wrecks.
I have been arguing on the supposition that usuiy laws are observed by
banks. But how notoriously are they evaded under pretext o f “ exchange.”
On this subject I shall not enlarge. But when law is evaded for the benefit
o f equity, there must surely be something wrong in the law.
Some think that the usury laws are our only defence against a combina­
tion o f the banks to extort excessive interest. But such a combination
is impossible. It would be o f no use unless it included private capitalists;
and to combine the whole would take as much machinery as the Post-office
department,— and if established, it could not last a week. It would work
against the interest o f every one o f them— or they would think so, and relin­
quish it. The history o f our railroad and manufacturing corporations show
that there is no danger on such a score ; and experience proves that the
larger a man’s capital is, the more ready he is to lend it on reasonable
terms. Lenders can do nothing without borrowers ; and if the latter cease
borrowing, the former are soon entirely at their mercy.
I do not, o f course, object to a legal rate o f interest. It is a proper and
necessary provision; but it should not be compulsory.




524

Journal o f Mercantile Law .

W ere the usury laws repealed, the minimum rate o f interest would
probably be determined, from time to time, by a committee of bank-officers,
as is done by the Bank o f England and (in rates o f Insurance) by a commit­
tee o f underwriters among ourselves. This would leave both banks and
private capitalists free to proportion their rates (above the minimum) to the
state and prospects o f the money-market; but on good security the rates
would probably, on the whole, be much more uniform than they now really
are even at the bank.
I have left myself no space to review Mr. Kellegg’s curious propositions
about banks and banking. These I propose to consider in m y next
number.
j. s. r .

JOURNAL OF M E R C A N TILE LA W .
THE SEPARATE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY OF MARRIED WOMEN, AS ALTERED BY LATE
LEGISLATION*

The standard treatise on the law o f husband and wife hitherto was Roper, the
last English edition o f which was published in 1826. This date alone is enough
to show any reader, professional or not, at least in America, that a new work was
needed on the subject. Not only have very many new cases and decisions in
England and United States modified the law judicially, generally in the direction
o f reform and relaxation o f the strict rules o f the common law, which bore hard
on women, and which, in making man and wife one, generally merged and extin­
guished the wife in the husband; but legislation in America has taken hold o f
this matter, (of what other has it not ?) and introduced many changes, some re­
forms, all going to the root.
These changes have an obvious mercantile bearing, and we deem it our duty
to avail ourselves o f Mr. Lockwood’s learned labors, as editor o f this fine edition
o f the latest English treatise on husband and wife, and to lay before our readers
a sketch o f late American legislation on this subject.
The credit o f a merchant is based upon his real or supposed resources. When
the law gave the husband a right to all his wife’s personal property, or a right to
make it his by taking possession, when it made her personal property liable to
execution for his debts, his credit was o f course strengthened by the amount o f
their joint resources. Moreover, the estate by courtesy, which is a life estate in
the wife’s real property, after her death, leaving children, and a possibility o f such
an estate, during her life, is no unimportant element o f a married merchant’s re­
sources. Any laws altering or abolishing these rights, and making or tending to
make the wife’ an independent person as respects property, are o f great mercan­
tile interest, not only because they alter the relations o f business men, but tend
to create a new mercantile class— business women.
Mr. Lockwood, in the notes at the end o f this fine edition, has a learned essay
on the late statutes o f the State o f New York for the protection o f the property
o f married women, and he has also collected together the late enactments o f the
States o f the Union on the subject o f the property o f married women.
W e proceed to lay before our readers an abstract o f these statutes, beginning
with—
N e w Y ork . “ The legislation o f our States,” says Mr. Lockwood, “ has, in a
good degree, adopted the policy o f the Roman and French law in constituting
* A Treatise on the Law of Husband and Wife, as Respects Property, partly founded upon Roper’s
Treatise, and comprising Jacob’s Notes and Additions thereto. By John Edward Bright, Esq., of the
Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. With copious notes and refferences to the American decisions. By
Ralph Lockwood, Counseller at Law. In two volumes. New York: Banks, Gould & Co. Albany:
Gould, Banks & Gould.




t

Journal o f Mercantile Law .

525

the wife a fe m e sole as to the property owned by her at the time o f her marriage,
and that given or devised to her during coverture.” This may be taken as a pretty
accurate general statement o f the tendency o f the whole movement in all the
States. The legislation o f New York is contained in the act o f April 7, 1848,
and the act o f April 11, 1849, amending the former.
Previous to the acts, however, the Legislature had taken a first step in this di­
rection, by allowing a married woman to insure the life of her husband in her
favor, or the husband to insure his own life in her favor, and exempting the amount
from any o f his liabilities.
The act o f April 11, 1849, first amends the previous act so that the third sec­
tion o f that act reads as follows :—
S ec. 3. Any married female may take, by inheritance or by gift, grant, devise,
or bequest, from any persen other than her husband, and hold to her sole and
separate use, and convey and devise real and personal property, and any interest
or estate therein, and the rents, issues, and profits thereof, in the same manner
and with like effect as if she were unmarried, and the same shall not be subject
to the disposal of her husband, nor be liable for his debts.
S ec. 2. Any person who may hold or who may hereafter hold, as trustees for
any married woman, any real or personal estate or other property under any deed
o f conveyance or otherwise, on the written request o f sucli married woman, ac­
companied by a certificate o f a justice o f the Supreme Court that he has exam­
ined the condition and situation o f the property, and made due inquiry into the
capacity o f such married women to manage and control the same, may convey to
such married women, by deed or otherwise, all or any portion o f sucli property,
or the rents, issues, or profits thereof, for her sole and separate use and benefit.
S ec. 3. All contracts made between persons in contemplation o f marriage shall
remain in full force after such marriage takes place.
It is obvious that some very important questions may come up under this act,
with reference to its effect on existing or vested rights. Is the husband’s right
to reduce his wife’s personalty into possession such an one as, existing prior to
the statute, cannot be diverted by it ? Is the right to courtesy an estate pending
the wife’s life ? These questions are considered at length in Mr. Lockwood’s
notes.
M aine . Act o f August 2, 1847, authorizes any married woman to “ become
seized or possessed o f any property, real or personal, by direct bequest, devise,
gift, purchase, or distribution, in her own name, and as o f her own property, ex­
empt from the debts or contracts o f her husband,” unless it shall appear that
such property was purchased with the property o f her husband. An act o f Au­
gust 10, 1848, gives her the remedies appropriated to the defense o f those rights.
N e w H ampshire . Act o f June 27, 1845, enables a married woman, o f twentyone years or upwards, to devise her real estate, saving the husband’s rights, “ ac­
quired in any estate so devised by virtue o f the marriage contract.”
Act o f July 10, 1846, allows ante-nuptial contracts or conveyances, reserving
to the wife all or a part o f her real and personal estate, which, when relating to
real estate, must be recorded in the registry o f deeds.
V ermont. Act o f November 2, 1846, makes the wife o f any man confined in
the State prison, a fe m e sole as to rights o f action arising since his sentence.
Act o f November 15, 1847, exempts the rents and profits o f wife’s real estate,
acquired before or d u r in g coverture, from execution for her husband’s sole debts,
and enables married women to devise.
M assachusetts . The Revised Statutes authorize any married woman o f age,
abandoned and not maintained by her husband, on petition, to sell her real and
personal property; to make contracts, and to sue and be sued.
Act o f March 2, 1842, enables any married woman of age to dispose o f her
separate property, real a nd perso nal, by last will, and to revoke the same.
Act o f March 1 1 , 1844, allows insurance in favor o f a married woman on the
life o f any third person in her behalf.
Act o f March 25, 1845, authorizes ante-nuptial contracts, reserving to the wife
her real and personal estate; requires such property to be invested in certain
stocks, and prohibits its employment in trade.




52 6

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

Act o f April 9, 1846, allows the payment to a married woman o f any wages
earned by her own labor, by any individual or savings bank, on her own receipt.
R hode Island . Laws o f 1848, (pp. 715, 716,) allow insurance for the benefit
o f a married woman, with the usual exemptions from the husband’s liabilities.
C onnecticut. The Revised Statutes o f 1849, (Tit. 7, Ch. 1, Sec. 7,) exempt
the interest o f a married woman in real estate, owned before or acquired in any
way after coverture, from execution against the husband, during her life or that
o f their children, saving all contracts prior to July 1, 1845.
S ec. 8 allows payment o f her wages to a married woman, and makes receipt
to her valid.

Married women are enabled to dispose o f their property, real and personal, by
will, “ in the same manner as other persons.”
P ennsylvania . The act o f this State on the subject is that o f April 11, 1848.
Its title is worth copying as a delightful specimen o f log-rolling, securing all sorts
o f votes for a bill by incorporating all sorts o f measures in it.
It is a “ supplement to an act entitled ‘ an act relative to the Le Raysville Pha­
lanx, passed March, Anno Domini, 1847, and relative to obligors and obligees, to
secure the right o f married women, in relation to defalcation, and to extend the
BOUNDARIES OF THE BOROUGH OF L i GONIEr ! ’ ”

S ec. 6 provides that every species o f property, real, personal, or mixed, be­
longing to a woman before, or accruing in any way after marriage, shall be owned
as her separate property; shall be exempt from execution for her husband’s lia­
bilities, and shall not be conveyed or mortgaged without her consent, provided
the husband shall not be liable for her debts, contracted before marriage, and
provided that her property shall be liable for her debts, and on judgment against
him for her torts.
S ec. 7 enables any married woman to dispose o f any property, by will, with
tw o witnesses, neither o f whom is her husband.
S ec. 10 specially exempts the husband’s right by courtesy.
O hio. Act o f February 28, 1846, exempts the interest of a husband in his wife’s

real estate from execution for his debts during her life or the lives of their issue.
S ec. 3 exempts from execution a husband’s right to any chosis in action, de­
mand, or legacy o f the wife, unless reduced to possession.
K entucky exempts the property, real, personal, or mixed, o f any married w o­
man abandoned by her husband, and living separate from him, acquired by her
labor or otherwise, from his debts; enables her to hold it, and to be party to any
action or suit necessary to her rights.

Act o f February 23, 1846, makes the slaves o f a married woman real estate,
so far as respects liability for the husband’s debts.
S ec. 3 exempts her real estate, acquired in any way before or after marriage,
from liability for his debts.
T annessee. Act o f October 18, 1825, makes it unlawful for an officer to levy

on any property acquired by the labor o f the wife, or devised or given to her,
where her husband has abandoned her, or she lives separate from him in conse­
quence o f ill-treatment.
This, we think, is the pioneer act on the subject, and Tennessee must have the
honor o f being the first to take a step in the right direction, as respects the rights
o f property o f married women.
I ndiana. Act o f January 23, 1847, exempts all real estate, acquired before or
after marriage, o f a married woman from liability for the husband’s debts, but the
same and its profits are declared to be her separate property, saving debts previ­
ously contracted by her.
Act o f January 26, 1847, enables married women to devise their real estate.
I llinois. The Revised Statutes o f 1844-5 (p. 534) allow married women to
dispose o f their separate estate, real and personal, by will.
M ichigan. The Revised Statutes o f 1846 (p. 276) authorize any married w o­
man to dispose o f any property held by her by will.
C hap . 85 makes similar provisions to those o f Massachusetts for sale o f wife’s
property in case o f abandonment, and for power to contract and sue.




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

527

S ec. 25 provides that any property, real or personal, of a married women, ac­
quired before or after marriage, shall be and continue her real and personal es­
tate “ to the same extent as before marriage. R. S., p. 339.
M issouri. Act of March 5, 1849, exempts from execution, for debts contracted
before marriage, property o f a married woman owned before or acquired after
marriage; and also exempts the husband's property from the wife's prior debts.
S ec. 3 specially exempts the wife’s property from debts incurred by the hus­
band as SECURITY.
A rkansas . Revised Statutes, Chap. 60, Sec. 19, in like manner exempt a mar­

ried woman’s property for debts contracted before marriage.
Act o f December 8, 1846, enables a married woman to take and hold real and
personal property; and places slaves on the same footing as respects a married
woman’s interest.
S ec. 7 requires a schedule o f her separate property, verified by her husband,
herself, and some other reputable person, to be filed in the recorder’s office o f the
county where such property lies, and also o f the county where they live.

No married woman can make a will unless she has power under a marriage
settlement, or written authority from her husband before marriage. English’s
Digest, pp. 987-989.
W isconsin. The real estate o f any female now married, and the real and per­
sonal property o f any female hereafter married, or acquired after marriage, is
made her sole and separate property, “ as if she were a single female.”
V irginia . “ This State,” says Mr. Lockwood, “ has no special legislation for
the protection o f the property o f married women; and the rights o f the wife re­
main as at common law, and under the English Equity Jurisprudence.”
N orth C arolina . Act of January 29, 1849, provides that after the passage of
the act all real estate o f a feme covert, thereafter married, owned before or ac­
quired after marriage in any way, shall not be sold or leased by the husband ex­
cept by her consent; and exempt his interest from execution.
F lorida . Rights o f property and the privilege o f husband and wife, held and
acquired under the Spanish laws o f Florida, remain as under the laws o f Spain.
S ec. 2. By act o f March 6, 1845, the title o f any female, hereafter marrying,
to her real and personal property, shall continue separate, independent, and be­
yond the control of her husband, and shall not be taken in execution for his debts,
and (Sec. 3.) married women are allowed to take and hold real and personal pro­
perty. Thompson’s Digest, 1847, p. 221.
A labam a . Act o f February 4, 1846, enables a married woman, entitled to a
legacy, or other right o f personal property, or an interest in lands by descent or
devise, to have the same secured for her separate use by Bill in Chancery, in
which it must be made to appear that it is likely to be lost if it goes into the hus­
band’s hands.
M ississippi. Act o f February 15, 1839, enables a married woman (Sec. 1.) to
take and hold real and personal property in her own name, provided the same
does not come from her husband during coverture.
And the property o f a woman in slaves (Sec. 2.) continues to her after mar­
riage, and slaves acquired by her during coverture, remain her separate property.
Act of February 28, 1846, (Sec. 1.) makes the rents and profits o f real estate,
owned before or acquired after marriage, secure to the sole use and benefit o f a
married woman.
S ec. 3 provides that when any married woman shall own in her own right a
plantation and slaves, she may acquire and hold exempt from liabilities for her
husband’s debts all stock and farming utensils necessary for planting.
S ec. 6 makes it competent for a married woman, by deed executed jointly with
her husband, to convey her real estate as effectually as if she were unmarried.
S ec. 7 requires a schedule o f the wife’s separate property to be recorded.
S ec. 8 exempts the husband from liability for wife’s prior debts, until her sep­
arate estate is exhausted.
,
L ouisiana. The rights o f married women are as under the civil law as modi­
fied by the Code o f Louisiana, published at New Orleans, with annotations by

Upton and Jennings in 1838.




528

Journal o f Mercantile Law .

T exas . Act o f March 13, 1848, provides that every female marrying under
twenty-one shall, from the time o f marriage, he deemed o f full age.
S ec. 2 makes all the property, real and personal, o f the husband owned be­
fore or acquired after marriage by gift, devise, or descent, his separate property!
and makes an analogous provision in favor o f the w ife; “ provided, that, during
the marriage, the husband shall have the sole management o f all such property.
S ec. 3 makes all property acquired by either after marriage, except by gift, de­
vise, or descent, their common property, with remainder to the survivor, if there
be no children, and one-half to each if there be a child.

By section four husband and wife are suable jointly for necessaries furnished
herself or children.
EIGHTS OF PATENTEES.

In the Circuit Court o f the United States for the Northern District o f New YorkJuly Term, 1830. Before his Honor, Judge Conklin.
Peter A. Burden vs. Erastus Corning and John F. Winslow.— This was an
action brought for the violation, by the defendants, o f patent granted to Henry
Burden, o f Troy, on the 10th o f December, 1840. The trial commenced on
Monday, the 1st o f July 1850, and closed on Friday o f the same week.
The defendants set up three grounds o f defence.
1st. That the patent was void for multiplicity o f claim.
2d. That it was void for want o f novelty.
3d. That the defendants had not infringed.
T o sustain the second ground o f defence the defendants introduced a patent
for a machine for making bullets by pressure, granted to Thomas Bruff, in 1813,
and proved its use in Washington city in 1811, and also introduced reciprocating
and rotary machines for milling the edges o f buttons, used in Waterbury, Con­
necticut, as early as 1832, and also reciprocating and rotary machines for milling
the edges of coin, used in the Mint o f the United States at Philadelphia as early
as 1833. The Bruff machine rolled bullets of lead between a revolving cylinder
and a stationary curved segmental trough, the surface o f the trough gradually
approaching the surface o f the cylinder, and the preripheries o f both being
grooved.
Upon the objection that the patent was void for multiplicity o f claim, the judge
ruled in favor o f the plaintiff. Upon the other points raised by the defendants,
the court charged the jury as follows, and under those instructions the jury
rendered a verdict for the plaintiff o f $100 :—
1. That the patent is for a new process, mode, or method o f converting
puddler’s balls into blooms by continuous pressure and rotation o f the ball
between converging surfaces, thereby dispensing with the hammer, alligator jaws,
and rollers accompanied with manual labor, previously in use to accomplish the
same purpose, and that the patent secures to the patentee the exclusive right to
construct, use, and vend any machine adapted to accomplish the objects o f his
invention as above specified, by the process, mode, or method above mentioned.
2. That the machines for milling buttons, milling coin, and rolling shot, do not
show a want o f novelty in the invention o f the patentee as above specified,
because the process used in them, the purpose for which it was used, and the
objects accomplished by them, were substantially different from those o f Burden’s
patent.
3. That the machine used by the defendants is an infringement on the plain­
tiff’s patent if it converts puddler’s balls into blooms by the continuous pressure
and rotation o f the balls between converging surfaces, although its mechanical
construction and action may be different from the machine used by the plaintiff;
and under these instructions, the jury, without retiring, rendered a verdict for the
plaintiff for $100. (Which amount was previously agreed on by the counsel for
the respective parties, the plaintiff having been the owner o f the patent but a few
days when the suit was brought.)
The defendant’s counsel excepted to the charge o f the learned judge.




529

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

COMM ERCIAL CHRONICLE AND R E V IE W ,
T H E STOCK M ARK ET— ABUNDANCE OF MONEY— R AILRO AD DIVIDENDS— DEMAND IN LONDON FOR AM ERI­
CAN STOCKS— BANK CAPITAL AND PRO FITS, BOSTON AND NEW YORK— CONDITION OF TH E NEW YORK
CITY BANKS FOR SE VERAL YEARS— R E C E IS T S AND COINAGE OF CALIFORNIA GOLD A T THE PHILADEL­
PHIA M INT— SPECIE IN NEW Y O R K BANKS AND T R E A S U R Y — LOANS AND DISCOUNTS— CONDITION OF
OHIO BANKS— PROGRESS OF MANUFACTURES A T HOME AND AB R O A D — R A W M ATERIALS ENTERED FOR
CONSUMPTION IN G R E A T BRITAIN FROM 1790 TO 1850— OPERATIONS OF THE NEW Y O RK ASSISTANT
T R E A S U R Y — CUSTOMS, PORT OF NEW Y O R K , E T C ., ETC.

T he stock market, which, for a long time, has remained dormant, has, under
the continued abundance o f money, and progressive prosperity o f most lines of
communication based upon the large internal trade o f the country, given, for the
first time in many years, signs o f advancing speculation. It is an undeniable fact
that capital in the United States has, for a long time, been rapidly accumulating,
and in a ratio which has sensibly diminished the rate o f profit which it pays.
The general industry, and its productive character has greatly increased the
national wealth, more particularly in respect o f the California operations, but it is
also the case that the growing credit o f the country is causing capital to equalise
in value between London, and Paris, and New York. At the same time that this
tendency o f capital to command lower rates o f dividends manifests itself, the
corporate companies, as well railroads and canals as banks and insurance compa­
nies, become more prosperous, and declare larger profits. In the State o f New
York, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and the Utica and Schenectady Railroad,
are examples o f the two first-mentioned classes. The canal pays a dividend of
10 per cent per annum, and has issued proposals to issue $1,200,000 o f new stock
to extend its operation. The old stock being at 45 per cent premium, the offer
is gladly accepted. The railroad is restrained by law from declaring more than
10 per cent dividends, but it adds the surplus earnings to its capital, and divides
the stock among the holders at the rate o f 15 per cent. The operation is to
induce capitalists to invest their money in good works while they earn rates
which promise'larger dividends permanently than capital is likely to earn any
other way in the face o f its rapid accumulation. The amount o f money invested
in the government loans for the Mexican war reached nearly $60,000,000, alj
procured on this side, and since then some $30,000,000 o f stock and coupons
have gone abroad, drawing a corresponding amount of money into the country,
or rather, releasing as much American capital for other investments, and almost
all branches o f enterprise have felt the influence o f these additional means upon
the market.
All railroad stocks are gaining favor in the country. The great success which
this year attends their operations, not only stimulates capital to profit by such
enterprises, but also prompts all holders o f property in cities to improve their
interests by extending railroad connections. Three Western railroads show
returns as follow s:—
1849.
Increase.
1850.
Michigan Central, ten months to October...........
§401,400
$594,383
$92,988
Ohio, Mad River, three months to October..........
92,082
150,732
66,650
Illinois, Galena & Chicago, ten months to October
10,758
73,706
62,948

Total..............................................................
Erie Railroad, ten months to October..........
VOL. XXII.----NO.




V.

34

§504,240
526,639

$818,821
1,139,595

$212,581
612,956

530

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

The Mad River road runs from Cincinnati, 134 miles, connecting Sandusky
with that city. The Michigan road pays 8 per cent dividend. The Galena road
has been extended 30 miles this year. All these figures show the great prosperity
o f inland railroads.
The corporation o f Cincinnati put to popular vote the
question o f lending the credit o f the city to four roads, and the result was in
favor, as follows, on the 8th instant:—
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad.................................
Belvre and Cincinnati Railroad...............................
Easton and Hamilton Railroad.....................
Covington and Lexington Railroad..........................

For.

Against.

7,318
7,812
7,829
7,511

1,217
987
985
1,014

It will he seen that there was a large majority in favor o f all the loans. The
multiplication o f means o f communication opens new sources of wealth, and,
therefore, markets for goods; and every increase in the revenue o f a western
road is an index o f the swelling prosperity o f New York commerce. It is not
only the distant railroads, the business o f which indicates the opening o f new
business to the general commerce, hut also those o f the neighborhood, and while
all conspire to increase the amount of floating capital, they stimulate the tendency
to speculation, which is now become so marked.
The demand for American stocks was good in London at the close o f Septem­
ber, at the following rates:—

-

_

United States 5’s, 1853 _
93 a 94 Massachusetts 5’s, 1868 . . .
“
6 ’s,
1862
103a104
Canada 6 ’s, 1875 ................
“
6 ’s,
1868 ------ 109
Boston
a109|5’s...........................
Pennsylvania 5’s ..............
82 a 82£ New York 5’s, 1865...........
Ohio 6 ’s, 1870..................... 105 a 106 Maryland 5’s ....................

105 a
101-J a
91^ a
105 a
91 a

106
102^
92^106
...

Money continues very easy, as well at Philadelphia and Boston, as in New
.York city. In Boston the panic resulting from the failures has subsided, and fair
names were done at 8 and 9 per cent, prime notes at 7. Loans on call here are
done at 4 and 5 per cent on government stocks, and 5 and 6 on “ trash.” Good
paper 5 and 7. The depreciated auction paper, arising from large issues o f paper
to manufacturers with the understanding that they should protect it, goes at 1£ to
3 per cent per month, according to the endorsement. Other auction paper is 6
and 7 per cent. The hanks are discounting freely, and the demand in the street
for good paper far exceeds the supply. The discounts in New York never before
reached a figure so high as at present, and notwithstanding the great increase
which has taken place in hanking capital, the dividends continue very high. A
comparison o f the bank capitakand its dividends in New York and Boston, results
as follow s:—
BANK CAPITAL AND PROFITS, BOSTON AND NEW YORK.

Years.
1 8 4 5 ...
1846. ..
1 8 4 7 ...
1 8 4 8 ...
1 8 4 9 ...
1 8 5 0 ...

Capital.
$17,480,000
18,180,000
18,180,000
18,920,000
19,280,600
20,710,000

Boston.
Dividends.

$1,112,100
1,196,000
1,281,300
1,428,350
1,477,350
1,534,000

P. cent.
6.36
6.57
7.00
7.55
7.66
7.68

Capital.
$23,084,100
23,084,100
23,084,100
23,284,100
24,457,890
27,440,070

New ><ork.
Dividends.

$1,433,901
1,536,312
1,572,158
1,883,971
1,982,998
2,278,967

P. cent.
6.21
6.62
7.09
8.10
8.10
8.70

In Boston, the Bank of Commerce, capital $750,000, being new, the dividends
are on $18,960,000.
In New York, deducting new capital, there remains
$26,190,070 as the hanking capital, which has paid 8.7 per cent, the increase




531

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

being 40 per cent over that o f 1845. The high rate o f dividends lias been sus­
tained by the enlarged circle o f discounts. The following returns give the lead­
ing features o f the institutions for several quarters:—
BANKS OF N E W YO RK CITY.

September 30, 1848....... . .
December 31, 1848.......
February
9, 1849.......
June
30, 1849.......
September 22,1849.......
December 29, 1849.......
March
30,1850.......
June
29, 1850.......
September 28,1850.......

Loans.

Specie.

$40,097,890
41.031,247
43,521,441
48,515,471
49,922,265
53,360,050
56,420,647
59,888,176
62,466,800

$4,740,847
5,850,424
4,523,775
9,586,308
8,022,246
7,169,016
6,861,501
10,650,290
9,902,587

Circulation.

Deposits.

$5,726,891
$20,353,365
21,443,148
5,783,498
5,460,399
22,928,554
5,539,572
27,227,134
28,482,228
5,990,100
28,868,488
6,013,349
6,725,688 .
32,067,937
5,918,786
35,861,139
37,203,202
6,571,153

In two years the loans and discounts at this point have gone on to increase
regularly. Each successive quarter shows an increase over that o f the former,
until the aggregate o f September, 1850, is more than 50 per cent in excess o f
that o f September, 1848. In the same period the deposits and specie have
increased nearly 100 per cent. The multiplication o f credits has been uninter­
rupted and very large, but it probably has not exceeded the growth o f the regular
business o f the city; yet every prudent merchant must look forward to the mo­
ment when a turn in the market must be reached. The same proportion o f
increase can scarcely be expected to continue through the next two, or even one
year, even admitting the continuous large receipts o f gold from California. The
following table, compiled from official returns, shows the amount o f gold bullion
received from California at the Philadelphia mint, and the proportions coined, as
also the amount held at each period by the Assistant Treasury in New York and
the banks.
RECEIPTS AND COINAGE OF CALIFORNIA GOLD AT THE PHILADELPHIA MINT.

Received.

Coined.

1848...............................................
1849, to August 81 ......................
1849, to December 31...................
1850, first quarter..........................
1850, second quarter....................
1850, third quarter........................

$44,177
1,740,620
3,740,810
4,270,714
6,920,496
9,250,000

$44,177
1,740,620
3,740,810
4,048.865
6,058,766
6,272,240

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

$25,966,807

$21,903,478

Specie in N. York
banks & treasury.

$7,209,00
10,360,240
9,614,311
11,403,400
13,429,104
15,202,000

Throughout the whole period o f eight quarters it appears that the banks have
loaned more money than they have received on matured notes. This excess
o f loans o f repayments has averaged $1,000,000 per month for 22 months. This
has been a large amount o f money poured with steady hand upon the market.
The deposits have kept pace with this supply it is true, but the bank returns do
not enable the inspector to distinguish between what is actually a deposite o f
additional money brought into the market through the operations o f trade, and
those deposits which are but another name for loans. Thus a California mer­
chant ships thither a cargo o f produce, and receives back $20,000 in gold dust;
this, when coined and deposited, forms a direct addition to the money capital o f
the city and country. Another merchant goes to the bank and procures discounts '
o f notes, say for $10,000, which is destined to take up notes shortly to mature at
hat or some other city bank. When these notes are discounted the amount is




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

532

passed to his credit, and becomes “ loans ” on one ledger account, and “ deposits ”
without there being any actual addition to the money deposited. The amount is
generally checked out in favor of the bank when the note to be provided for falls
due; the check is received and returned to the bank against which it is drawn, in
1 exchange of balance between the banks, and no money will have existed in the
transaction at all. In this manner, the mere operation o f discounts, which is sup­
posed to be a lending o f deposits, will apparently increase the amount o f the
latter. Thus the loans o f the banks have increased over $22,000,000 in two
years, at the same time the deposits have increased $17,000,000, and the specie
$5,200,000, and the circulation $800,000. The increase o f the specie would
seem to be all the actual increase o f money by deposits. The mercantile com­
munity now owe the banks paper which, averaging 45 days’ time, makes the pay­
ments into banks average $1,388,000 per day, against $900,000 per day in 1848,
an increase of, say in round numbers, $500,000 per day, which must be derived
by bank dealers from their business to make good their obligations. They have
sold, it is true, a much larger amount o f goods, and on the debts thus credited in
their favor depends their ability to meet their obligations, and thus far, the aspect
o f the whole country is such as to warrant their operations. The crops are mag­
nificent, with the exception o f cotton, which promises small, but that staple is of
such imperative necessity to the commercial world, that its money value must
rise in greater proportion than its diminution o f quantity, leaving, perhaps, a
greater profit to growers. All farm produce is in great abundance, and o f good
quality, and can be delivered on the sea-board at the average prices o f the past
year at better profit to growers, while the average prices throughout Europe must
inevitably be higher, thus throwing a larger trade into United States hands, and
by improving the finances o f the consumers o f goods, support the credits which
have accumulated in supplying them. The western banks are extending in about
the same ratio as those o f New York. The Ohio returns are as follow s:—
BANKS OF OHIO.
Y e a rs .

April,
1S39.
January, 1844.
February, 1846.
May,
1847.
August,
1847.
February, 1848.
May,
1848.
August, 1848.
February, 1849.
May,
1849.
August, 1850.

Loans.
>. b’ks. Capital.
Specie.
Circulation. Deposits.
33 $10,153,806 $16,520,360 $2,616,814 $8,157,871 $2,680,604
2,567,176
8
2,845,315
778,348 2,234,420
602,377
7,791,789 1,374,593 4,505,891 2,682,221
3,848,919
31
5,078,229 10,936,661 2,026,551 7,281,029 3,356,837
39
6,430,176 12,130,286 2,323,639 7,771,769 4,170,824
41
48
6,056,357 12,452,665 2,664,547 8,647,327 4,545,081
6,214,386 12,724,030 2,681,474 8,005,212 4,767,803
48
48
6,424,055 12,128,312 2,732,338 7,931,366 4,199,429
6,584,220 14,912,665 3,155.362 9,491,037 4,567,783
54
6,914,943 14,981,133 3,026,374 9,251,259 4,330,233
56
56
7,225,171 15,598,040 2,742,186 10,367,852 4,730,186

The consumption o f goods is undoubtedly larger in the United States now
than at any former period; but the seat o f manufactures seems to be in a state
o f transition. The struggle is between localities possessing natural advantages,
and those whose capital has heretofore located operations.
The consumption o f the four great materials, wool, silk, flax, and cotton, for
textile fabrics, has reached an enormous figure in the present year, as compared
with the amount taken in the first year o f the present century. The rapidity With
which demand has increased in the last forty years, is well illustrated in the
English entries for consumption. England, at the beginning o f the present cen.




53 3

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

tury, was the manufacturer for the world, as well as for her own consumption.
Since the peace of 1815, she has been exposed to the active and growing compe­
tition o f all other nations in her own markets. The result o f this has been, not
as was anticipated, a diminished demand for raw materials, on the part o f Eng­
land, but a most astonishing increase. The figures are as follow s:—
QUANTITY OF R A W MATERIALS ENTERED F O R CONSUMPTION IN GREAT BRITAIN.

W ool, lbs.

1790 ..........
1800..........
1810..........
1820..........
1830..........
1836........ .
1840..........
1844..........
1846..........
1847..........
1848..........
1849..........
1850,7 mo’s

3,245,352
8,615,284
10,936,224
10,043,746
32,313,059
60,366,415
52,862,020
69,493,355
65,255,462
64,592,598
70,521,957
76,756,183
42,830,452

Silk, lbs.

1,253,445
1,167,335
1,796,106
2,641,866
4,318,181
5,533,445
4,756,171
6,207,678
5,639,417
5,545,253
6,443,464
6,881,861
4,501,746

Flax, cwts.

257,222
416,120
511,970
381,821
944,096
1,511,438
1,338,217
1,595,839
1,147,092
1,052,089
1,462,007
1,806,786
737,282

Hemp, cwts.

592,306
556,419
955,890
418,509
506,771
567,892
612,515
911,747
882,894
811,565
832,212
1,061,273
374,630

Cotton, lbs.

30,574,374
53,814,207
126,018,487
141,912,267
255,426,476
363,684,232
437,099,631
558,016,248
469,944,900
476,826,800
715,735,125
758,841,650
410,382,300

Such has been the growth o f the demand for raw materials, by the manufac­
turing power o f England, shice it came into competition with that o f the rest o f
the world. The woolen manufacture was always an object o f care to the British
government, which compelled the growers o f wool to sell only at certain corpo­
rate towns, and prohibited the manufacture of cloth, except in those towns. In
1760, it was supposed that it was necessary to prohibit the export of British
wool, because o f its superior long staple it was adapted to manufactures, and to
prevent other nations from getting hold o f it, was an object of national policy.
A t about the same time the manufacturers petition William III. to stop the linen
manufacture in Ireland, because it interfered with wool. He refused to do so,
but prohibited the wool manufacture in Ireland. The prohibition on the export
o f British wool continued down to 1826, a period o f 165 years. In all which
time the English manufacturer made little or no progress. As soon as the
French obtained the English long wool, a superior style o f cloth was produced.
This stimulated the English ingenuity, and they soon rivalled France in Merino
and other stuffs. But the English have failed to keep up with France and Bel­
gium in the production o f cloths. Since about the year 1825, when wool was
allowed to be exported, and soon after also machinery, the dye and finish o f
the continent was very superior. Very recently a reverse has taken place, and
Belgium machines have been taken to England and improved upon, until now
again England promises to resume her superiority. For 165 years, under the
monopoly system, no progress was made; as soon, however, as the Continental
wars were ended, and the immense debt of England put her under bonds to keep
the peace, the attention o f the continent was turned to manufactures, and con­
stant improvement have reduced price and raised qualities. In this country re­
cent scientific researches have shown conclusively that finer and better wool can
be produced here than in any other country. Thus Spanish sheep, producing
say wool of a fineness o f 2,000 to the inch, degenerated in England to 900 to
the inch, and in this country recovered to 2,100 to the inch, exceeding the original
fineness. The great success of our manufactures in Mouselin des Lanes and
shawls is partly owing to this superiority in quality o f wool, and the time is now
rapidly approaching when our superiority in cloths will be manifest.




534

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

The silk manufacture was introduced into Europe in 1530, by two monks, who
concealed a few eggs in a stick, and into England in 1622. It required 1100
years in those dark ages for the manufacture to travel from the Hellespont to the
Thames. It received a great impulse from the settlement o f French refugees
from the edict o f Nantes in Spitalfield, and subsequently by the importation of
models stolen from Italy in 1718. The English silk weavers were special objects
o f protection down to 1822, but were always in great distress. In that year the
protection was removed, and the duty on raw silk reduced from 6d. to 3d. per
pound. Since then the business has continued to flourish. It required 125 years
to raise the manufacture to 1,296,106 lhs. in 1810. Since then, or in 40 years, it
has increased 5,000,000 lbs., or 300 per cent. Flax was one o f the earliest man­
ufactures o f England, but was never encouraged until the close o f the 17th cen­
tury. A bounty on the export o f linen was granted and continued until 1830.
The increasing demand for food in England prevented the appropriation o f land
to flax. The free importation of food permits new attention being given to that
article; and as recent improvements have enabled it to be spun by machinery)
hopes are entertained that it may become a substitute for cotton. This last has
been the prominent material for the present century. Under the important in­
vention o f Watt’s steam-engine, Arkwright’s spinning-jenny, Cartwright’s powerloom, Whitney’s gin, Whitaker’s card-machine, Perkins’s die, and a host of other
extraordinary inventions, the production o f cotton and its adaptation to number­
less uses has been rapid. The manufacture has been constantly in a transitive
state. Like water seeking its level, it has shown a constant effort to flow toward
that point where the greatest natural advantages shall combine to produce the
best article at the lowest price. National and sectional greediness has been con­
stantly exerting itself to hedge in the manufacture, and confine it to its own lo­
cality ; but these efforts being opposed to the natural law, serve only to retard its
gravitation toward that point where it can be produced in such a manner that
labor retaining the greatest share o f the profits will turn it out cheaper and bet­
ter than it can be done in any other locality. This locality is o f course that
where all the materials o f the manufacture are at hand, and of food and support
o f the operatives, without cost o f transportation. At such a point the fabrics
can be produced better and cheaper than elsewhere, and the only transportation
that will enter into the cost o f the goods will be that according to distance in a
direct line from producer to consumer. In our western valleys all these advan­
tages are combined; and the gravitation, so to speak, o f the manufacture, is thith­
erward, and that as well o f wool as cotton. The wool-bearing sheep as well as
the “ wool-bearing trees ” are there in close proximity to coal, iron, wood, watertransportation, and all that enters into industrial production, while the whole is in
the center o f a region surrounded by a race o f extraordinary vigor and increasing
in density o f settlements in a ratio which will give 100,000,000 o f people at the
close o f the century.
The operations o f the Independent Treasury in the city o f New York have
been very large since January, requiring an extraordinary amount of specie to be
kept in motion. The receipts and payments have been monthly, as follow s:—




535

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
OPERATIONS OF THE NEW YORK ASSISTANT TREASC RY.

J anuary........
February . . . . ,
March............
A pril.............
M ay...............
June...............
July..............
August...........
September___

On hand.

Receipts.

Interest.

Total payments.

On hand.

$2,445,295
2,831,511
3,902,550
4,501,899
4,565,867
3,829,632
2,089,147
4,959,060
7,075,584

$3,079,443
2,172,311
2,028,266
2,296,203
2,332,753
1,559,131
4,367,303
3,574,790
2,576,045

$1,013,331
54,916
37,372

$2,690,337
1,104,272
1,488,916
2,272,325
3,118,992
3,290,609
1,477,390
1,458,266
4,122,084

$2,831,511
3,902,550
4,504,899
4,565,867
3,829,632
2,089,147
4,959,060
7,075,584
5,529,545

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

1,135,484
140,537
59,650

$21,033,091

$24,106,333

This is an enormous sum o f money to be received and paid out in specie in
nine months in this city. O f the amount, customs have furnished the following
proportions:—
CUSTOMS, PORT OF NEW YORK.

1847.
January.....................
February ................. ............
March....................... . ..........
A pril....................... ............
May..........................
J une......................... ............

July...................

August.................... ............
September............... . . . . . . .
Total................

1,495,716
1,652,092
2,101,404
1,460,017
3,337,341
2,096,604

1848.

1849.

1850.

$2,357,347
2,416,497
1,563,003
1,686,506
1,312,036
1,143,497
1,194,236
2,532,273
2,119,571

$1,914,465
2,070,547
2,010,895
1,497,445
1,452,617
1,347,893
1,994,360
3,461,511
1,583,713

$3,010,297
2,028,694
2,045,906
2,242,442
2,329,868
1,481,217
4,216,379
3,492,799
2,502,934

$16,914,936

$17,363,851

$23,350,596

For the three months o f fall business it appears the duties have been
$10,600,000, against $7,030,000 in the same period o f 1849; showing an increase
o f 45 per cent in the dutiable imports for the fall trade. The accumulation o f
capital is such as to prevent, even in the most busy season, any rise in the rate of
interest for commercial purposes above the legal rate; and the chances are that,
with the present absence o f severe restrictions, there will be no such accumulation
o f obligations on the part o f the commercial community as will, checking the
sale o f goods, create a demand for money above the regular supply, more partic­
ularly that the prolific yield o f California continues to exercise an influence.
On going to press, it was announced that Earl Grey had, on the part o f the
British government, manifested its intention to aid in the construction o f a rail­
road from Halifax to Portland. This we regard as a most important fact. It is,
we believe, the first time that the English government has ever lent its aid to
works o f such a nature, even in Ireland, and its desire to do so now has, doubt­
less, an important bearing upon the state o f public opinion in the provinces in'
relation to annexation. It is undoubtedly the case that the government will
attempt a connection with the Pacific by railroad, making Halifax the great point
o f connection with Europe.




536

Commercial Statistics,

COM M ERCIAL STATISTICS.
TRADE AND COMMERCE OF NEW ORLEANS.

The N e w Orleans P r ic e C u rre n t , Com m ercial Intelligencer, an d M erchants' T r a n s script , of September 2, 1850, contains its usual complete and correct annual review
and tabular statements of the trade and commerce of New Orleans for the past and
previous years. From these statements we condense the subjoined statistical view, in
continuation of similar accounts of the commerce of that city from 1831 to the pres­
ent time :*■—
A TABLE SHOWING THE RECEIPTS OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTICLES AT N EW ORLEANS FROM THE
INTERIOR, DURING THE YEAR ENDING

31ST

AUGUST,

1850,

W ITH THEIR ESTIMATED AVER­

AGE AND TOTAL VALUE.

Articles.

Amount.

Apples...............................
BacoD, assorted...
«
«
“
hams . . . .
“
in bulk . . .
Bagging................
Bale rope............
Beans..................
................. bbls.
Butter.................
<(
Beeswax..............
Beef.....................
«
“ dried............
Buffalo robes.......
Cotton..................
Corn m eal............
..................bbls.
“ in ear ..........
“ shelled........
Cheese................
Candles................
Cider....................
Coal, western . . . .
Dried apples and peaches...
Feathers...............
Flaxseed.. . . . . . . .
Flour ....................
Furs..................... , . .hhds, bundles & boxes
H e m p ...................

................... No.

Hides.....................
Hay.....................
Iron, pig...............
L a rd ....................
“ ................
“ ................
Leather.................
Lime, western___

Lead . ..................
“ b a r .................

37,244
38,336
28,941
19,335
209,045
58,321
86,104
9,307
51,058
1.772
367
49,473
15,798
48,219
358
837,723
5,187
42,719
1,114,897
62,809
55,300
903
600,000
2,999
5,900
217
691,986

Average.

$3
40
20
45
14
8
3
4
20
40
9
15
65
50
2
1
3
6
3
3
30
10
5

00
00
00
00
05
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
06
00
00
75
90
40
00
00
00
45
00
00
00
75

444

34,792
43,542
56,258
20
215
228,019
302,366
5,233
32,060
415,400
631

20
1
4
25
60
18
3
25

00
25
00
00
00
00
00
00
90
3 00
18 00

Value.

$111,732
1,533,440
578,820
870,075
10,452
816,494
688,832
27,921
204,232
35,440
14,680
445,257
236,970
2,893
23,270
41,886,150
14,264
38,447
1,560,855
188,427
331,836
2,709
270,000
8,997
177,000
2,170
3,403,919
400,000
695,840
54,427
225,032
500
12,900
4,104,342 •
907,098
130,825
28,854
1,246,200
11,358

* For similar statements for each year from 1831 to 1849, see Merchants’ Magazine, vol. ii., p. 349
▼ol. v., p. 471; vol. vii., p. 390; vol. ix., p. 568; vol. xi., p. 415; vol. xiii., p. 369; vol. x v ., p. 404
vol. X Y ii., p. 412; vol. xix,, p. 511; and vol. xxi., p. 553, &c.




*

Commercial Statistics.

Articles.
Molasses, (estimated crop,)
Oats...................................
Onions............................... ..................bbls.
Oil, linseed.......................
“ castor .........................
“ lard..............................
Potatoes............................
Pork...................................
<«
U
“ in W k .......................
Porter and ale................... ................. bbls.
Packing yarn.....................
Skins, deer.........................
“ bear .......................
Shot....................................
Soap....................................
Staves ...............................
Sugar, (estimated crop,) ..
Spanish moss................... .
Tallow................................
Tobacco, leaf.......................
“
strips...................
“
stems...................
“
chewing................
Twine................................. bundles A boxes
Vinegar.............................. ..................bbls.
Whisky...............................
Window glass...................
W heat................................
Other various articles, estimated a t.................
Total value..............
“ 1848-9............
“ 1847-8............

537

Amount.

325,795
13,024
1,098
2,091
14,712
166,003
643,694
15,695
13,968
15,862,431
804
4,131
1,375
37
4,435
9,930
6 ,0 0 0

247,923
4,337
4,862
79,404
9,400
8 ,0 0 0
2 ,0 2 1

2,118
180
117,753
4,887
57,508

Value.
2,400,000
325,795
26,048
32,940
146,370
353,088
332,006
5,165,093
313,900
658,720
594,841
6,132
24,786
34,375
555
88,700
29,790

Average.

1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

20
1 00
2 00

30 00
70 0 0
24 00
2 00

9 50
20 00

40 00
03J
8 00
6 00

25 00
15 00
20 00

3 00
35 00
50 00

2 1 0 ,0 0 0

12,396,150
26,022
97,240
7,940,400
1,316,000
60,000
40,420
25,416
900
1,059,777
24,435
115,016
5,000,000
$96,897,873
81,989,692
79,779,151

6 00
20 00
100 00

140 00
20 00
20 00
12 0 0

5 00
9 00
5 00
2 00

EXPORTS OF COTTON AND TOBACCO FROM NEW ORLEANS FOR THE T EAR, COMMENCING ON THE
1ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1 8 4 9 , AND ENDING ON THE 3 1 S T OF AUGUST, 1 8 5 0 .

Cotton, Tobac’o,
bales.
hhds.

Exported to

Exported to

Cotton, Tobac’o,
bales. hhds.

Liverpool.................
378,155 6,662 Spain and Gibraltar... . . 46,296 4,726
London............................
1,367 6,723 Havana, Mexico, A c ...
2,292
Glasgow and Greenock. . 10,857
1 Genoa, Trieste, A c. . . . ..
36,362 5,874
Cowes, Falmouth, <fcc. . . .
3,741 3,435 China............................
Cork, Belfast, <fcc............
3,069
Other foreign ports. . . . ,
6,496 1,375
Havre.............................. 112,159
718 New York................... ... 84,891 11,305
Bordeaux .......................
1,006
579 Boston........................... . 109,089 1,169
Marseilles.......................
3,618
759 Providence, R. I ...........
Nantz, Cette & Rouen. . .
630
Philadelphia.................. .. 15,616 1,291
__ Baltimore....................... . 4,017 277
Amsterdam......................
Rotterdam and Ghent. . .
572
824 Portsmouth...................
Bremen............................
1,801 7,719 Other coastwise ports...
230
337
Antwerp, & c .................... 11,994 2,244 Western States............
Hamburg ........................
112
573
Gottenburg......................
5,021 1,365 !
Total..................... . 838,591 57,955
TOTAL EXPORTS OF COTTON FROM NEW ORLEANS FOR TEN YEARS, COMMENCING 1ST SEPTEM­
BER AND ENDING 3 1 ST OF AUGUST IN EACH YEAR.

Great Britain.................
France..........................
North of Europe..........
S. of Europe & China..
Coastwise......................
Total.................




1849-50.

1848-9.

1847-8.

1846-7.

397,189
117,413
25,196
84,950
213,843
888,591

645,018
154,647
61,062
100,765
205,811
1,167,303

1845-6.

654,083
140,968
50,056
104,751
252,039
1,201,897

385,368
95,719
26,297
57,623
159,501
724,508

562,320
159,528
28,841
84,086
220,082
1,054,857

538

Commercial Statistics.

Great Britain.................
France .........................
North of Europe..........
S. of Europe & China..
Coastwise......................
Total..................

1844-5.

1841-4.

1842-1.

1841-2.

1840-1.

5 8 5 .8 8 8

5 2 7 ,6 1 5

6 7 9 ,4 3 8

4 2 1 ,4 5 0

4 3 0 ,3 1 0

1 2 5 ,0 2 0

1 1 9 ,9 8 0

1 8 0 ,8 7 5

1 8 3 ,2 7 2

1 8 3 ,9 3 1

3 3 ,0 3 5

1 7 ,9 0 7

5 0 ,8 8 2

2 1 ,2 0 7

9 ,8 3 6

9 2 ,4 5 8

5 2 ,8 5 5

4 3 ,5 4 3

2 3 ,5 0 6

3 6 ;3 6 4

1 4 8 ,2 1 5

1 7 6 ,9 5 8

1 3 4 ,1 3 2

9 9 ,8 3 2

1 6 0 ,8 4 7

9 8 4 ,6 1 6

8 9 5 ,3 7 5

1 ,0 8 8 , 8 7 0

7 4 9 ,2 6 7

8 2 1 ,2 8 8

TOTAL EXPORTS OF TOBACCO FROM NEW ORLEANS FOR TEN TEARS, COMMENCING 1ST OF SEPTEMBER AND ENDING 3 1 S T OF AUGUST IN EACH YEAR.

Great Britain..........................
France.....................................
North of Europe....................
South of Europe <fc China___
Coastwise................................
Total...........................
Great Britain..........................
France.....................................
Nortli of Europe....................
South of Europe & China. . . .
Coastwise...............................
Total...........................

1849-50.

1848-9.

1847-8.

1846-7.

1845-6.

16,820
2,056
12,725
11,975
14,379

14,017
10,640
7,039
10,347
10,853

19,867
4,954
10,475
12,079
12,989

9,695
3,497
8,018
17,849
11,317

24,505
4,288
13,301
12,516
7,435

57,955

52,896

60,364

50,376

62,045

1849-50.

1848-9.

1847-8.

1846-7.

1845-6.

12,553
9,013
19,051
11,029
17,033

22,523
11,104
20,175
14,349
13,098

27,437
11,645
21,618
7,536
21,655

20,969
6,974
20,252
9,053
10,810

20,665
6,812
8,040
5,645
13,505

68,679

81,249

89,891

68,058

54,667

EXPORTS OF SUGAR AND MOLASSES FROM NEW ORLEANS FOR FIVE YEARS., ( u p t h e R IV E R EX CEPTED,) FROM 1ST OF SEPTEMBER , 1849, t o 31st o f a u g u s t , 1850.

Molasses.
Bbls.
Hhds.

Sugar.

Whither exported.

Hhds.

New York...................................
Philadelphia................................
Charleston, South Carolina.........
Savannah....................................
Providence and Bristol, Rhode Island. . .
Boston..........................................
Baltimore......................................
Norfolk, Richmond & Petersburg, Va . . .
Alexandria, District of Columbia.
Mobile..........................................
Apalachicola and Pensacola___ _
Other ports..................................

Bbls.

42,523
28,344
5,014
1,981

2,229
3,074
683
300

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

92,720

3,929
8,101
6,600 i
649 i
2,876
1,830
873

961
2,225
882

30

1,526
460
1,602

805

42,776
114,636
10,531
4,279
37
2,792
13,432
6,134
600
8,850
5.370
3,237

13,942

2,742

112,674

2,078
82
247

EXPORTS OF FLOUR, PORK, BACON, LARD, BEEF, LEAD, W H ISK Y , AND CORN FROM NEW OR­
LEANS, FOR THE YE AR FROM 1ST SEPTEMBER, 1 8 4 9 , TO 31S T AUGUST, 1 8 5 0 .

Ports.

Flour,
bbls.

Pork,
bbls.

New Y o rk ........
8,625 202,708
Boston............... 65,694 157,380
Philadelphia.. . .
500 17,188
Baltimore..........
202
34,036
Charleston........
2,034
4,059
Oth. coastw. p’ts. 107,264 20,395
Cuba.................. ■ 366
1,260
Oth. foreign ports 27,065 33,213

Bacon,
hhds.

28,031
8,142
5,256
4,895
4,246
10,423
1,359
2,577

Lard,
kegs.

Beef,
bbls.

Lead,
pigs.

Whisky ,
bbls.

Corn,
sacks.

372,451 8,464 259,536 1,104
9,327
698 41,558
306,689 17,003 92,067
56,766
171
80,087
1,279
72,290 3,391
1,501
2,098
162 8.057
229
24,975 5,151
164 33,289 65,023
108,524
10
306 338,648
586,733 21,654
1,451

Total.............. 211,750 470,237 64,929 1,554,849 55,842 410,146 44,904 456,057
In the above, the exports to Mobile, <Stc, via the Pontchartrain Railroad and Hew
Canal, are included.




539

Commercial Statistics.

MONTHLY ARRIVALS OF SHIPS, BARKS, BRIGS, SCHOONERS, AND STEAMBOATS FOR TWO YEARS,
FROM 1 s t SEPTEMBER TO 3 1 ST AUGUST.
ib is

t

02

P

•S’

3*
CD

MONTHS.

W
f

CO
S'
B
3
c£

CO
o
ST
o
o
B

September.. .
October....... .
November .. .
December.. .
January . . . . .
February . . . .
March...........
April........... .
M a y ............ .
June............. .
J u ly ............ .
August......... .
Total. . .

W

tr

.

00

*5"
00

H
o

CO
o
p
3
o*
p

CD
B*
1*

a

ca

p

l
0

d5‘
CD

S"

n

“

CO
S*

H
o
S

p

1
o*
p
So

§

1
'5 ’
CO

?

X
CO
S’

21

20

io

29

i2

*99

109

21

9

11

32

*1

86

96

26

22

29

15

188

184

45

23

24

33

13

138

164
215

108

43

41

52

14

258

243

96

41

44

31

14

238

288

60

60

48

54

9

223

334

81

51

60

45

10

259

381

18

56

46

83

13

216

352

11

62

41

50

11

241

325

32

40

61

11

202

311

101

62

39

39

10

251

313

42

44

19

13

244

318

10

61

53

54

15

253

321

16

31

45

82

11

245

238

132

56

34

53

11

286

251

22

20

23

51

13

135

239

14

32

19

43

15

183

191

38

12

19

51

10

130

111

40

22

25

31

8

126

153

52

10

14

11

40

13

94

152

12

19

10

21

12

14

135

21

14

1

43

13

98

133

2

12

9

18

10

51

130

654

363

362

666

1 4 1 2 ,1 9 2 2 , 1 8 4

151

462

315

456

1 3 6 2 ,1 8 6 2 ,8 1 3

PRICES OF FLOUR, CORN, SUGAR, MOLASSES, MIDDLING TO FAIR COTTON, AT N EW ORLEANS ON
THE 1ST OF EACH MONTH FROM SEPTEMBER, 1 8 4 9 , TO AUGUST, 1 8 5 0 .

Sugar.

Cotton.
Cents.

September..........
October..............
November...........
December..........
Januarv...............
February.............
March.................
£ p n l .................
May.....................
J une...................
July....................
August................

Cents.
a 20
a 20
24 a 241
201 a 30f
11 a 191
15 a 201
12 a 211
1 0 a 21
10 a 23
2 1 a 21
25 a 33
20 a 33

3 a 51
4 a 61
3 a6
3 a6
2 ja 5
2f a 5
21 a 5
21 a 5
2|a5
3 f a 5}
4 a6
41 a 6 §

9 | a ll

Flour.
Dollars.
41 a 5f
5 a 5f
41 a 51
5 a 51
5 a 5f
51 a 51
5£ a 6
5f a 6£
5 f a 61
61 a 1 1
51 a 11
4 a 61

Molasses.

Cents.

91 a I l f

10
10

Com.
Cents.
35 a 46
42 a 48
50 a 55
46 a 52
.. a 41
45 a 50
50 a 51
50 a 56
16 a 83
64 a 10
15 a 85
15 a 85

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF MESS AND PRIME POR K, ON 1ST OF EACH MONTH FOR TWO YEARS.

1849-50.
Mess.

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

101

a

11

1848-9.

Prime.

$84 a
8§ a
81a
81a
8 a
If a
If a
If a
If a
81a
91a
.. a

$8 f
81
81
81
n

ii
n
8

81
..
9f

Mess.

Prime.

$111 a $111
121a
101 a io f
10 a 101
11 a H I
101 a H i
101 a 10f
10 a 1 0 1

9f a
9f a
101a
9f a

91
91
101
101

$9 a . .
104 a
9 f a $10
9 a
91
91a
H
91 a 1 0
9 a
91
9 a
8fa
81a
81
81 a
8}
8f a
81

IM PORT AND EXPO RT TRADE OF CINCINNATI.

From the annual statements of the C in c in n a ti P ric e C u rre n t, Com m ercial I n t e lli­
gencer, a n d M erchants’ T ra n s c rip t, we compile the subjoined tabular statement of the
imports and exports of Cincinnati for the two years commencing September 1 , and
ending August 31, in each year. For similar statements of the five years commencing




Commercial Statistics.

540

in 1844, and ending in 1848, our readers are referred to the
October, 1849, vol. xxi. p p . 444 to 446, inclusive:—

M erchants' M agazine

for

IMPORTS AT CINCINNATI FOR TWO TEARS, COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 1ST AND ENDING AUGUST
3 1 st,

U

■
I ra
■
Ha
■
1

Lead...........
Lard...........
Lard...........
Leather. . . . bundles
Lemons . . . .
Lim e.......... . . .bbls.

1

6,445
801
15
324
137,925
5,565
3,674
7,487
2,546
49,075
718
649,227
3,688
453
97
165,940
8,551
67,170
464
201,711
2,041
231,859
3,432
14,527
1,290
11,802
1,169
34,945
25,712
12,062
30,280
14,181
14,452
3,546
60^902
799
186,832
55,168
2,019
49,179
34,173
63,327
9,620
4,183
56,482

■
■
■

HI

5,802
4,476
Liquors . hhds. <Sspps.
Merchandise. •pkgs.
68,582 308,523
<«
4,540
. .tons
837
54,003
Molasses. . . . . .bbls.
52,591
41,982
29,910
M alt............ . .bush.
83,073
55,893
N ails..........
5,049
7,426
Oil.................
6,819
Oranges.. bxs. & . bbls.
4,317
1,799
Oakum........
1,423
O ats............ . .bush. 185,723 191,924
27,870
Oil cake........
1,767,421
6,178
7,564
Pork & bacon . .hhds.
U
2,358
465
. . tres.
«
43,227
..bbls.
44,267
Pork in bulk. . . .lbs. 9,249,380 1,325,756
3,898
17,269
Potatoes___ . .bbls.
17,211
15,612
Pig metal. . .
2,558
Pimento pep'r.bags
1,257
22,233
23,397
Rye .....................
12,349
3,298
Rosin, (fee... . .bbls.
11,936
Raisins.........
14,927
3,061
3,950
Rope, twine, <tc.......
3,556
3,365
R ice ............
26.760
22,685
Sugar..........
“
.................... . . bbls.
13,005
7,575
“
2.467
1,847
15,570
22,859
Seed, flax... . .bbls.
4,432
5,920
314
“
hem p..
510
Salt..............
76,985 110,650
«<
76,496 114,107
818
1,447
Shot.............
9,802
7,412
T ea........... packages
2,213
3,471
«
1,311
887
17,772
“
.bxs. <Sskegs
12,463
1,225
Tallow......... . .bbls.
1,829
6,874
Wines .bbls. & f csks.
2,663
4,296
“
. . bkts. <fe bxs.
2 ,1 0 1
Wheat..........
385,388 322,699
1 ,6 8 6
Wool.............
1,277
Whisky........
165,419 186,678
5,562
3,494
Yarn, cotton. •pkgs.
U
...bbls. 262,893 174,885

EXPORTS AT CINCINNATI FOR FIVE YEARS, COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 1ST AND ENDING AUGUST
3 1 st,

Rj
■
■

1848-9. 1849—50.

o

Glassware .packages
Hemp.. b’dles <fe bales
Hides...........
Hides, green . . . .lbs.
Hay............
Herring . . . .
H ogs..........
Hops..........
Iron ifc steel. .pieces
“
bundles

22,109
348
27
2,094
87,460
3,067
7,721
7,999
9,519
21,995
414
344,810
5,504
4,346
281
143,265
9,058
74,961
515
147,352
4,504
447,844
4,908
18,145
1,059
38,317
878
33,868
19^209
11,161
23,766
22,774
12,751
2,960
52476
238
187,864
29,889
1,768
45,544
28,514
48,187
6,975
4,181
61,278

in e a c h y e a r .

F
—1

Apples........ .. .bbls.
Beef............
B e e f..........
Bagging....
Barley.........
Beans.........
Butter........
Butter... .firk. & kegs
Blooms . . . .
Bran, <lc . . .
Candles . . . .
Corn...........
Corn meal...
Cider..........
Cheese___
Cheese........
Cotton........
Coffee........
Codfish . . . .
Cooperage.. . .pieces
Eggs . .boxes & bbls.
Flour...........
Feathers....
Fish............
Fish . . . .kegs <fe kits
Fruit, dried. . .bush.
Grease......... . . .bbls.

GO

1848-9.

•

Apples.......
Alcohol___
Beef...........

. . . .bbls.

Beans..........
Brooms.......
Butter.........

. . . .bbls.

/




in e a c h y e a r

.

1845—6.

1846-7.

1847-8. 1848-9. 1849-50.

3,920
1,615
8,896
11,301
2,048
1.514
1,624

14,444
1,943
10,367
7,970
3,782
5,108
1,348

8,512
1,771
14,811
3,615
1,097
3,760
2,937

5,824
3,022
12,523
9,332
1,685
3,333
1,272

3,519
3,302
7,558
6,625
2,496
7,265
964

«

Commercial Statistics.

1845-6.
Butter .............. firkins and kegs
Bran, &c .............
Bagging...........
Corn...................
Corn meal........
Cheese..............
it

Candles.............
Cattle..............
Cotton...............
Coffee................
Cooperage.......
E g g s................
Flour...............
Feathers............
Fruit, dried........
Grease..............
Grass seed . . . .
Horses..............
Hay...................
Hemp...............
Hides..............
((
Iron..................
((
“ .
Lard.................
it

........bbls.

Pork..................




19/716
1,258
60-1
35,459
3/757
168
....
18,388
4,787
194,700
29
684
370
643
654

..........lbs.
..........No.

........bbls.

........bbls.
Lard oil.............
Linseed oil . . . .
Molasses...........
Oil cake.............
Oats..................
........bbls.
Potatoes...........
Pork and bacon.
“
«
Pork, in bulk...
Rope, cfcc..........
Soap.................
Sheep..............
Sugar.................
Salt ...............
“ ..................
Seed, flax..........
Sundry merchandise . packages
“
“
“
liquors .
........bbls.
w manufactures . . . .pieces
“
products
Starch ..............
Tallow.............
Tobacco............ .casks and boxes
it
. . . . hhds.
“
............
Vinegar............
........bbls.
Whisky............
Wool................
«
........kegs
"White lead . . .
Castings..........
a

20,390

2,937
....
1,238
22,747
135,008
1,650
455
....
2,792
17,944
14,956
15,287
3,874
29,302
404,426
13,037
2,708
100

....
....
....
138
23,603
2,196
353
7,975
1,085
2,499
3,452
1,473
8,803
204
133,220
....
....
....

1846-7.

541

1847-8. 1S48-9. 1849-50.

31,194
28,315
3,842
3,761
12,632
8,867
258,198
53,021
88,882
19,999
1,132
30
59,374
. 70,104
16,622
29,189
733
*
872
6,123
6,019
18,587
13,037
41,121
36,924
10,308
9,450
581,920 2 0 1 ,0 1 1
4,000
3,736
5,074
16,077
694
4,268
2,431
3,967
2,026
1,268
94
327
8,733
5,659
164,930
60,880
12,444
9,024
68,905 127,193
17,351
9,339
6,646
6,916
49,878
81,679
150,828 208,696
6,199
8,277
6,032
3,878
9,046
18,332
5,246
4,397
140,067
41,675
34,130
15,687
31,538
37,162
7,894
8,862
137,218 196,186
3,478,850 759,188
8,723
5,556
10,080
11,095
726
1,400
4,998
11,559
65,346
39,656
4,416
5,057
291
2,785
224,957 341,363
18,179
16,849
9,364
7,193
22,251
42,412
28,822
17,879
5,820
8,177
4,543
5,682
9,718
9,352
6 ,0 1 1
3,812
273
123
3,814
2,753
183,928 186,509
2,452
2,298
36,710
7,037
....
....
....

24,398
233
15,910
7,176
3,660
122

55,134
39,640
97
4,009
18,909
55,617
5,229
267,420
3,824
8,317
6,922
2,387
378
1,040
2,198
73,029
7,731
43,025
7,081
6,270
37,521
130,509
9,550
3,020
17,750
2,274
212

7,073
39,470
10,930
186,192
924,256
4,369
11,303
522
8,443
39,960
5,403
808
210,049
21,466
10,913
94,934
17,609
7,904
4,975
7,497
3,309
126
1,288
136,911
1,109
10,230
....
....

24,393
4,322
9,353
57,248
1,179
106
86,902
67,447
30
1,896
22,030
73,637
4,246
98,908
5,380
1,850
7,597
2,528
468
564
1,164
62,865.
11,225
54,065
36,245
5,767
39,192
170,167
16,984
4,879
25,878
743
5,023
5,283
23,529
22,497
193,581
2,310,699
3,151
17,443
9,650
29,509
8,301
333
615,641
11,109
11,798
56,810
10,337
9,491
4,311
6,904
4,847
77
2,404
179,540
2,156
16,841
40,294
54,399
2,385
1,443

542

Commercial Statistics.

VALUE OF SPECIFIC ARTICLES IMPORTED INTO CINCINNATI FROM SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1 8 4 9 , TO
AUGUST 3 1 s t , 1 8 5 0 , AND THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR.

*
Apples.........
Beef.............
Barley . . . . .
Butter.........
«
Blooms . . . . ,
Corn.............
Cheese........
Cotton........ .
Coffee...........
Flour...........
H em p..........
Hogs...........
Lead.............
Lard............

....... kegs

........P‘gs
........bbls.

U

Molasses.. . .
Oats..............
Bacon...........
“ ...........
Pork............
“ ............ .
Pig metal . . .
Rice..............
Sugar...........

........bbls.

........ bbls.
......... lbs.

U
a

Wheat...........
Whisky.......

Amount.
6,445
801
137,925
3,674
7,487
2,545
649,227
165,940
8,551
67,173
231,859
12,062
410,000
49,179
34,113
63,327
54,003
191,924
7,563
2,358
43,237
13,257,506
17,211
3,556
26,760
13,005
2,467
332,699
186,678

1850.
Av. price.
$1 75
9 00
75
27 0 0
8 00
00

60

38
2 40
45 00
21 00

4 75
14 00
6 00

3 40
13 00
» 2 40
11 0 0

30
33 00
12 00
8 82

03$
26
24
51
15
24

00

00
00
00
00
91
9 00

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

Value.
$11,278
7,209
103,443
99,198
59,869
152,700
246,706
398,206
384,795
1,310,622
1,101,329
168,868
2,460,000
167,208
444,246
151,984
594,033
57,577
249,579
28,296
381,350
497,156
447,486
S5.344
1,364,760
195,015
57,208
302,756
1,680,102

1849.
Value.
$49,730
3,132
56,849
189,994
60,000
571,140
96,574
347,834
317,030
839,563
1,690,850
168,526
3,075,000
143,495
399,196
90,228
553,783
46,430
247,120
5,812
354,403
462,469
405,912
80,760
992,468
113,625
22,167
289,041
1,111,615

$12,668,319

$12,423,117

DESTINATION OF SPECIFIED ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM THE PORT OF CINCINNATI DURING THE
LAST THREE YEARS, COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 1ST, AND ENDING AUGUST 3 1S T , EACH YEAR.

To New Orleans.

Beef......... . .bbls.
“

.

Butter.. . . .bbls.
“
.firk . &kegs
Corn.........
Cheese . . .
Candles...
Cotton___
Coffee.......
Flour....... .
Iron...........
«
«

.

Lard.......... ..bbls.
«
“ oil...
Linseed oil.
Molasses...
Pork..........
ii
it
ii

. bbls.
.. lbs.

Soap..........
Sugar........ .hhds.
Whisky.. . . . .bbls.




1 8 4 7 -8 .

1 8 4 8 -9 . 1 8 4 9 -5 0 .

13,242
3,396
2,064
23,533
14,995
38,110
13,257

11,628
9,012
806
21,711
6,759
31,185
19,040
10

16,423
6,578
762
22,445
42,119
44,388
41,007

84,910
10,084
586
1,334
74,511
174,215
4,271
1,513

150,525
2,482
492
656
30,112
120,104
6,018
1,419

44,290
1,456
1,932
89
34,809
110,635
9,977
2,540

29,415
2,884
170,817
2,960
4,703

26,172
8,606
171,776
82,300
5,646

16,009
11,902
172,624
21,500
7,083

75,985

64,258

96,712

.......

To other down river ports.

’4 7 -8 .

’4 8 -9 .

’ 4 9 -5 0 .

Up.

’4 7 -8 .

84
298
173
55
200
340
259
177
1,588
1,982
1,582
431
2,300
9,070
9,600
16,866 20,972 38,551
279
8,325 11,582 13,197
5,099
39
20
9
2,491
1,049
1,214
2,807
6,000
14,724 22,033 25,767
10,738
81,226 22,757 26,035
2,637
6,745
5,009 18,676
428
1,040
1,304
777
1,239
66
321
113
3,007
1,905
2,527
2,390
10,525
754
1,049
927
2,053
691
964
736
929
333
538
1,404
10,866
380
679
397
11,631
83
84
251
941
1,551
1,082
188
5,688
1,380
446
2,560 2,609,970
1,167
5,397
1,534
4,835
307
347
494
5,516
29,905 22,214 42,528
22,129

Commercial Statistics.
To up river ports.

Via

1848-9. ’49-50.

’ 47-8.

305
Beef.... . .bbls.
172
«
20
47
Butter..., .bbls.
1
4
“ firk:.<fckgs.
100
....
Com. . . .
231
3,420
Cheese...
704
1,516
Candles .
3,121
7,466
Cotton... . bales
977
2,047
Coffee .. . sacks
4,800
4,165
Flour...,
12,191
8,360
Iron . . . .
2,823
1,146
u
141
. bdls.
2,580
“ . .,.
255
415
1,341
Lard.. . . ..bbls.
1,871
«
3,911
11,704
“ o il.. ..bbls.
1,802
2 ,2 2 1
Linseed oil__ _
385
782
Molasses
9,733
7,710
Pork___
9,010
6,086
“ .. ..
1,624
6,096
“ ___ . .bbls.
5,229
4,492
((
...lbs. 501,805 228,400
Soap . . .
3,234
3,093
Sugar. .. . hhds.
2,244
2,382
Whisky.... bbls.
5,661
21,945

543

canals and railways.

By flat-boats.

’48-9.

’49-50.

’48-9.

’49-50.

352
176
....
....
109
318
469
1,737
186
18,950
1,178
573
5,702
2,457
3,033
1,932
2,307 13,538
17,609
8,635
33,240 16,634
4,581
1,439
3,364
4,255
4,603
4,883
265
4,367
1,108
1,677
252
1,150
7,198
7,479
3,542
2,821
1
493
1,982
2,377
306,011 99,705
316
542
5,736
5,814
3,185
3,074

574

254
300
94
476

82
....

2
66

22

310

2,642
1,123 - 1,090
4,782
255
....
910
....
14,423
3,743
74,036
....
23,761
....
13,057
....
4,490
1,494
614
16,850
3,702
3,843
821
16,764
380
788
2,396
123
7,958
4,728
1,620,319 240,000
575
347
6,912
2,731
31,739

1,326
995
....
16,748
....
.....
1,435
28,588
16

1,657
832
8,319
437,920
695
15,624

AVERAGE PRICES OF MERCHANDISE IN CINCINNATI,
AVERAGE PRICES OF PRIM E LARD AND BACON HAMS FOR EACH MONTH DURING THE LAST
THREE TEARS.

'

Prime lard.
September.............. ..............
October.....................
November................. ............
December.................. ...........
January ................... ..........
February..............................
March....................... ............
April......................... ...........
May........................ ............
June.........................
J u ly .........................
August................... .............

’47-8.
104

’88-9.
8
7i

8

6f

H

H

Sf

6£
6f
6
6
6
64
64
6|

6t
H

5i
54
n

’49-50.
6
54
54
64
5f
5f
54
54
64
64
6f
64

’47-8.
84
84

Plain hams.
’48-9. ’ 49-50.

64
64
of

8

6f
5

64
64

4f

H

5

44
44
4f
54

Sf
64
74
84

6
54
6
5f
64
6f
6f
6
64
6f
64

AVERAGE PRICES OF FLOUR AND W HEAT FOR EACH MONTH DURING THE LAST THREE TEARS.

Flour.

September................ ..........
October.......................
November.................. ..........
December...................
January .....................
February.................... .........
March........ .................
April......................... .
May.......................... ..........
June.........................
July............................
August........................




$4

12

73
4 75
08
78
4 474
424
45
4 32
85
90
63

$4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
5

84
85
4
4
77
79
4
85
4
4
804
70
4
424
4
63
5
76
5
60
4
29
3
00

Wheat.

93
87
64
48
82
76
83
84
224

52
30
80

$ 0 774
0 90
0 86
1 03
0 944
0 84
0 90
0 90
0 85
0 704
0 65
0 66

?0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

75
74
75
75
75
75
75
69
714
77
80
97

80 864
0 834
0 704
0 80
0 904
0 92
0 924
0 93
0 98
1 10
0 98
0 75

Commercial Statistics.

544

AVERAGE PRICES OF COKN AND MESS PORK FOR EACH MONTH DURING THE LAST THREE TEARS.

Corn.
•
S ep tem b er . . . .
O c t o b e r ................
N o v e m b e r ..........
D e c e m b e r ...........
J a n u a r y ..............
F e b r u a r y .............
M a r c h ...................
A p r i l ......................
M a y , ......................
J u n e ......................
J u l y .......................
A u g u s t ..................

1 8 4 7 -8 .

184 8 -9 .

$0 284
0 28
0 284
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................

Of 3 2 4
0 31#
0 25
0 254

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

0

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

261

0 30

0 29
0 28
0 26
0 25
0 26

0 264
0 30
0 34
0 36

Mess pork.
184 9 -5 0. 1 8 4 7 -8 .
$0 40
$ 1 3 62
0 34
9 69
1 0 25
0 27
10
81
0 30
0 31
7 52
0 32
7 65
0 354
7 77
0 384
7 82
0 46
7 60
0 50
8 19
0 48
8 56
0 50
9 00

1 8 4 8 -9 . 1849-50.
$8 4 0
62
7 93
87
624
7 82
56
8 20
10 064 8 5 0
8 65
1 0 09
8 65
9 40
8 454
9 03
9 124
9 30
9 1 2 4 10 31
9 03
10 124
9 28
10 00

$9
9
9
9

AVERAGE PRICES OF RIO COFFEE AND NEW ORLEANS SUGAR FOR EACH MONTH DURING THE
LAST THREE YEARS.
S e p t e m b e r ____
O c t o b e r ................
N o v e m b e r .......... ...........................
December......... ...........................
January............ ...........................
February......... ...........................

March..............
April................
May.................
June...............
July .......................
August................

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

0
0

08
08#
0 07f
0 074

0
0
0
0

07f
074
074
07#

R io
$0
o
0
0

coffee.
074
074
074
07
06#

0
0 064
0 07
o 074

0
0
0

074
07f

o

074

074

$0 084
0 074
o 114
0 12#
0 134
0 151
0 15
0 Ilf
0 09f
0 09f
0 10#
0 11

N ew Orleans sugar.
074
$ 0 0 4 4 $0
0 04#
0
074
0
05f
0 044
0
04f
0 04#
0
04f
0 04
0
04f
0 044
044
0 044
0
0
04f
0 04#
044
0 044
0
0 04#
0
04#
0 04#
0
044
044
0
0 05#

$0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

06
06
054
05#
044
04#
044
04#
04#
05#
064
06#

AVERAGE PRICES OF N E W ORLEANS MOLASSES AND WESTERN RESERVE CHEESE FOR EACH
MONTH DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS.

New Orleans molasses.

September____
October................
November..........
December........
January...............
February.........
March..............
April...............
May.................
June................
July.................
August..................

$0

264
0 274

0

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

0 264
0 234
0 24#

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

0
0
0
0

26
25#
26
27

274
25
24#
254
25
254
23
0 22
0 23
0 24

0
0
0
0
0
0

$0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

244
244
244
24
244
24
244
244
26
29f
33
33

Western Reserve cheese.

$0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

06#
064
064
064
07
06#
07
084
064
06
0 05#
0 05#

$0 05# $0
0
0 06
0 064 0
0 064 0
0 06# 0
0
0 06
0 06# 0
0 06# 0
0 064 0
0 06
0
0 06
0
0 06# 0

06#
06#
06#
06
06#
06#
074
074
064
05#
06
06

AVERAGE PRICES OF BACON, SIDES AND SHOULDERS, FOR EACH MONTH DURING THE LAST
THREE YEARS.

Sides.

September____ ...........................
October................ ...........................
November..........
December.. . . . . ...........................
January ............. ...........................
February ........... ...........................
March................................................
April................. ...........................
May.................. ..........................
June.................. ..........................
J u ly ............... .............................
August........................................




$ 0 08
0 07f
0
0
0
0
0
0

05
044
04#
03#
03#
034

0 034
0 03|
0 04

SO 0 4 4
0 044
0 04#

0

05
0 05
0 04#
o 044
0 05
0 05
0 05
0 054

Shoulders.
§0
0
0
..

04f
044
044
..

o
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

044
044
044
044
04#
044
04f
044

$0
0
0

06#
064
06

0 024

04
$0 044
03#
0 03#
034
0 04
..
....
..
0 03#
04
0 034
04
0 034
0 034 0 034
0 04
0 034
0 04#
0 044

0 03

0 044

0 04

0 034

0 04#

0 04

o 034
0 034
0 03
0 02#
o 024
0 024

$0
0
0
..
..
0
0

t

~

.

\

Com m ercial Statistics.

545

AVERAGE PRICES OF HOGS AND BEEF CATTLE FOR EACH MONTH, FROM OCTOBER 20TH TO
MARCH 1ST, FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS.
B eef cattle.
O c t o b e r .............................................
N o v e m b e r ........................................
D e c e m b e r .........................................
J a n u a r y .............................................
F e b r u a r y ..........................................

’ 4 7 -8 .
$1 6 2
3 66
3 30
3 00
4 00

Hogs.

’ 4 8 -9 .
’ 49.50.
..............................
$3 62
$ 3 75
3 93
3 48
4 15
3 62
4 28
4 25

4 7 -8 .
$ 4 35
3 94
2 89
2 60
2 70

’ 4 8 -9 .
_____
$ 3 27
3 37
3 42
3 22

’ 4 9 -5 0 .
...

ii

$ 2 65
2 80
3 21
....

YEARLY AVERAGE PRICES OF THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIED ARTICLES, FROM SEPTEMBER 1ST,
1 8 4 7 , t o Au g u s t 3 1 st , 1 8 5 0 .
1 8 4 7 -8 .
F l o u r ..................................................
W h e a t ...............................................
C o r n (in b u l k ) .............................
M e s s p o r k ........................................
P r im e l a r d .....................................
H o g s , p e r 1 0 0 n e t ........... ■____
B e e f c a t t le ......................................
R i o c o f f e e ........................................
N e w O r le a n s s u g a r ...................
N e w O r le a n s m o la s s e s ............
B a c o n h a m s (p la in ).....................

r

Bacon sides...........................
Bacon shoulders...................
Western Reserve cheese___

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

3 19
3 64*
0 07f

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

0 27*

...........

0 03*

1 8 4 8 -9 .
$3 78
0 75*
0 28
9 46
0 06*
3 34
4 00
0 07
0 04f
0 24f
0 06*
0 04*
0 04*
0 06*

1 8 4 9 -5 0 .
$ 4 75
0 79f
0 38*
8 83
0 05*
2 90*
3 70
0 12*
0 05
0 26
0 06*
0 04*

>

0 03*

0

06*

RATES OF FREIGHT FROM CINCINNATI TO NEW ORLEANS.
i

BATES OF FREIGHT FOR FLOUR, PORK, AND WHISKY, FROM CINCINNATI TO NEW ORLEANS, A T
THE CLOSE OF EACH MONTH DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS.

Flour, per bbl.

Pork, per bbl.

Whisky, per bbl.

48-9. ’49-50. ’48-9. ’49-50. ’48-9. ’49-50.
September...........................
October..................................
November.. . . ....................
December..............................
January ...........................................
February..........................................
March................................................
April...................................................
May......................................
June . . . . .....................................

. .

....
1 25
0 35
0 50
0 40
0 35
0 28
0 25
0 40
_____

75
45
55
40
33
40
30
50

62
75
50
40
50
40
62

. .
87*
40
75
62
40
35
30
25
,.

..
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

..
50
25
75
87
62
45
62
56
J5

1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

00
45
87*
65
50
40
40
65

RATES OF FREIGHT FROM CINCINNATI TO PITTSBURG.
RATES OF FREIGHT FOR WHISKY AND OTHER MERCHANDISE FROM CINCINNATI TO PITTSBURG
AT THE CLOSE OF EACH MONTH DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS.

Vt hisky, per bbl. Pound freight, per 100 lbs.

September..........................
October................ ............................
November.............................
December............................
January................................
February.............................
March...................................
April..................................................
May ....................................................
J u n e ..................................................
July......................................
August .............................................
VOL. X X III. ----- NO. V.
V

1848-9. ’49-50. ’47-8. ’48-9. ’49-50.

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

_____

0 35

_____

35

1 60

✓

35

35

15
12*
12*
15
15
15

12
12
12
15
12*
12

50
45
12
12
15
15
12*
12*
10
25
25
55

..

i

1
1
in

25

1

12* '
12*
12*
10

1
1

1
0
10

10
20
20

1

1
1
1

|

1

1'

\




1

54 6

Commercial Statistics.
VIRGINIA TOBACCO TRADE.
FURNISHED BY A CORRESPONDENT OF THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE IN RICHMOND.

Stock on hand, October 1, 1849...........................................hhds.
Inspected, year ending September 30, 1850...............................

11,500
41,950
-------10,560

Exported to foreign ports............................................................
Stock on hand, October 1, 1850.................................
13,600
850
Afloat, cleared for Bordeaux, October 2.....................
--------

53,450

14,450
-------

25,010

Manufactured and shipped coastwise....................................................

28,440

There are 40,000 to 50,000 boxes or other packages of tobacco, equal to 4,000 to
5,000 hhds., manufactured in the Valley of Roanoke, chiefly from uninspected leaf, and
there is probably as much more of the same description brought to other markets in
Virginia— a portion of which only is packed in hhds. and inspected.
PARTICULARS OF INSPECTION.

Sept. 30

Richmond......................
Petersburg....................
Farmville......................

1849.
18,803
9,058
10,465
3,163

Sept. 30.
1850.
17,086 Clarksville...........
9,521 All other..............
7,968
3,413
Total hhds . .

1849.

1850.

2,908
507

3,570
392

44,904

41,950

Manufactured,
tierces.
1,056

Stems,
hhds.

PARTICULARS OF EXPORT.

Hhds.
1,472
1,562
339
932
1,682
1,736
918
459
703
80

London .......................
Liverpool.....................
Bristol.........................
Scotland.............. .
H avre........ ................
Vanice...........................
Rotterdam....................
Antwerp.........................
Bremen.........................
Gibraltar.......................
Total.....................
1,314 half hhds. equal to.. .
Total.................
Years.
1841.......................
1842.......................
1843.......................
1844.......................
1845.......................
1846.......................
1847.......................
1848.......................
1849........................
1850.......................

Half hhds.
___
1,232
___
142
___
___
___
____
____
___

9,873
1,374
687
10,560
Inspection.
Export.
56,146
34,445
52,156
32,765
56,788
36,236
45,883
20,496
51,126
17,471
42,679
21,200
51,726
16,560
13,256
36,725
19,643
44,904
41,950
10,560

....
»- ...
240
•. . .
1,296

Stock.
8,719
11,100
13,420
14,363
21,873
19,110
18,127
15,959
11,500
13,600

50
181
4,270
4,501

Stems exported.
6,074
3,245 ■

2,000
2,687
2,182
3,220
5,488
4,030
3,430
4,501

INSPECTION OF FLOUR AT RICHMOND.

1846............................... .bbls.
1847...............................
1848...............................

289,500
159,100
180,100

1849..................... .......... bbls.
1850....................

276,900
336,420

To which should be added 20 to 25 per cent of inspections at Scottsvilie and Lynch­
burg, which is brought to the Richmond market.
The quantity of flour exported from Richmond to Brazil for the year ending Sep­
tember 30, 1848, was '74,425 barrels ; 1849, 128,880 barrels; 1850, 65,280 barrels.




547

Commercial Statistics.
EXPORTS OF COTTON FROM MOBILE, 1 S 4 9 -5 0.

We give below a tabular statement of the exports of cotton from Mobile, Alabama)
for the year commencing on the 1st of September, 1849, and ending on the 31st of
August, 1850. For a similar table of exports of cotton for each of the years from 1844
to 1849 inclusive, see M erchants' M ag azine for October, 1849, vol. xxi., pages 442-443.
This table is compiled from the M o bile J o u r n a l o f Commerce Le tte r Sheet P r ic e
C urrent.
EXPORT OF COTTON FROM MOBILE IN

1849-50.

1849-50.
Liverpool...............................
Glasgow and Greenock.........
Total to Great Britain...........
Havre.....................................
Gibraltar and Barcelona........
Havana, Ac............................
Genoa, Trieste, Ac..................
Total to other foreign ports..

1849-50.

151,637 New York...................... . . . .
10,552 Boston........................... . . . .
Philadelphia.................. .......
152,189 Baltimore....................... ......
New Orleans.................. ___
39,973
Other ports.................... .......
8,007
998 Total Coastwise............ .......
2,922

42,290
25,648
2,380
3,191
22,254
1,087
111,452
325 541

11,927
RECAPITULATION.

Great Britain................................................................................................
France..........................................................................................................
Other foreign ports.......................................................................................

162,189
39,973
11,927

Total foreign.................................................................................................
Total United States......................................................................................

214,089
111,452

Grand total....................................................................................................

325,541

EXPOETS OF COTTON FROM THE POET OF MOBILE TO FOREIGN POETS FOE THE YEAR ENDING
AUGUST 3 0 t b . 1 8 5 0 .

bales.

pounds.

Great Britain, in American vessels......
Great Britain, in British vessels...........

6 0 ,3 0 7
1 0 1 ,8 8 2

3 0 ,8 3 9 ,8 3 4
6 0 ,5 8 4 ,2 3 0

value.
3 ,5 2 4 ,8 0 0 31
5 ,7 6 5 ,0 3 5 0 3

Total to Great Britain.........................

1 6 2 ,1 8 9

8 1 ,4 2 4 ,0 6 4

9 ,2 8 9 ,8 3 5 3 4

France, in American vessels................

3 9 ,9 7 3

2 0 ,3 9 1 ,4 6 3

2 ,1 5 3 ,8 8 7 18

1 ,3 4 8
7 ,6 5 7
2 ,9 2 2

6 7 0 ,1 1 4
3 ,6 0 6 ,0 4 8
1 ,4 7 9 ,9 2 3

7 5 ,2 8 3 6 4
4 4 5 ,0 3 2 16
1 4 9 ,8 9 6 8 4

1 1 ,9 2 6

5 ,7 5 6 ,0 8 5

6 7 0 ,2 1 2 6 4

2 1 4 ,0 8 9

1 0 7 ,5 7 1 ,6 1 2

$ 1 2 ,1 1 8 ,9 3 5 16

Other foreign ports, American vessels..
“
“
Spanish vessels... .
“
“
Sardinian vessels..
Total to other foreign ports.................
Grand total............................................

TRADE BETW EEN THE UNITED STATES AND BRAZIL,
PROGRESS OF THE TRADE BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE UNITED STATES, ACCORDING TO AMERICAN
REPORTS.

Imports..................
Exports...................
Coffee....... ............. ........... lbs.
Cocoa .....................
Sugar.....................
Flour ................... ..........bbls.
Cotton goods..........




1820 to 1829.

1810 to 1819.

1840 to 1849.

$17,388,197
16,876,524
45,135,209
2,289,576
36,625,719
1,277,141
$623,076

$44,838,268
24,047,059
302,695,963
6,411,552
84,491,247
1,551,556
$2,431,056

$54,469,427
28,636,423
818,289,090
6,151,078
63,343,438
2,529,410
$5,515,188

54 8

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

JOURNAL OF B A N KIN G, CU RRENCY, AND FINANCE.
CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF OHIO, AUGUST, 1850.
STATEMENT OF THE CONDITION OF THE SEVERAL BANKS IN THE STATE OF OHIO, COMPILED
FOR THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE FROM RETURNS MADE TO JOHN WOODS, ESQ., AUDITOR OF
THAT STATE.*

RESOURCES.

Independent banks.
Bank of Geauga...
Can! B’k of Cl’vel’d
City B’k of Cl’vel'd
City B’k of Col’mb’s
City B’k of Cincin’ti
Com. B’k, Cincinn’ti
Dayton Bank.........
Franklin B’k, Zan’le
Sandusky City B’nk
Seneca County B’nk
"West'n Res’ve B’nk

Notes and bills
Eastern
discounted.
Specie
deposits.
§94,895 85 $18,845 60 $34,672 69
81,132 82
9,118 13
14,280 24
104,063 35
28,037 76
59,381 08
398,366. 96
44,082 57
25,994 05
50,113 30
22,399 46
16,977 26
434,399 46
26,403 38
50,714 04
293,448 91
85,244 10
8,287 38
30,238 14
168,277 30
84,805 71
178,633 90
9,389 89
12,132 07
84,382 85
12,048 54
22,522 96
269,243 57
49,619 24
14,322 54

with State
Treasurer.
$91,631 03
57.803 00
115,000 00
218,841 05
75,000 00
54,000 00
183,592 88
162,405 16
53,066 00
90,000 00
189,158 44

Total
resources.
$268,642 47
183,782 28
355,452 67
996.919 09
263,299 80
657,505 50
621,983 86
488,726 45
338,448 80
242,471 44
553,967 44

Total..................2 ,157,557 77 $335,426 81 $294,090 02 1,290,498 16 4,876,199
Safety Fund
at credill of
Branches of State Bank
Board of Control.
Athens.................. 172,059 12 $38,305 62 $13,581 07 $14,000 00 $258,417
Akron................... 244,391 46
41,636 25
35,016 85
20,000 00
377,659
Belmont____
203,893 14 40,895 92 . .41,307 17
20,000 00
344,863
Cbillicothe............ 498,665 41
94,625 35 145,881 84
41,250 00
809,551
Com’rcial, Clevela’d 431,159 88
94,743 96
76,361 77
31,250 80
738,195
Com’rcial, Toledo.. 337,625 77
47,156 43
55,177 45
27,500 00
531,797
Dayton.................. 322,004 89
69,798 99
36,983 74
30,599 00
522,884
Delaware County.. 180,323 60
62,828 46 ’ 31,826 75
18,400 00
330,388
Exchange.............. 208,980 78
66,534 03
60,078 66
23,750 00
382,801
Farmers’, Ashtab’la 219,826 92
48,540 47
18,647 84
21,100 00
322,964
Farmers’, Mansfield 177,063 46
14,690 50 ’ 33,283 05
15,400 00
263,306
Farmers’, Ripley... 172,103 59
44,474 92
58,560 41
20,000 00
317,196
Farmers’,Salem ... 236,617 28
44,429 66
32,125 30
20,000 00
380,467
Franklin, Columbus 331,302 21
80,928 05
87,266 36
31,250 00
543.280
Franklin, Cincinnati 424,784 93
55,111 34
14,781 13
30,000 00
632,080
Guernsey.............. 156,240 85
52.805 68
21,556 88
18,000 00
294,922
Harrison County.. 230,659 07
32,655 67
27,565 10
20,000 00
323,737
Hocking Valley. . . 241,035 46
43,971 21
18,242 37
20,000 00
350,601
Jefferson............... 290,610 63
51,206 52
11,279 18
20,323 60
421,289
Knox County........ 243,033 62
51,960 35
10,782 21
20,000 00
338,244
Licking County... 180,045 20
46,324 49
12,022 57
18,640 00
288,248
Logan.................... 146,817 71
29,598 96
16,217 49
14,200 00
220,347
40,902 47
Lorain................... 115.994 84
48,330 76
14,624 00
233,211
46,699 27
Mad lliver Valley. 268,012 63
41,848 46
20,000 00
398,751
Marietta................ 105,579 09
38,900 91
30,919 S6
20,000 00
359,904
Mech’nics & Trad’rs’ 157,179 32
37,445 51
29,857 64
17,000 00
433,358
Merchants’ ............ 301,274 25
61,983 16
16,649 56
43,264 40
480.594
38,595 64
Miami County___ 144,135 69
17,881 97
15.891 00
248.524
55,301 00
Mt. Pleasant.......... 205,051 79
11,950 79
20,000 00
333,700

80

75
92
75
05
14
18
30
28
12
42
10
74
40
40
55
36
63
80
55
56
04
20
98
86
00
10
68
15
84

* For similar statements of the condition o f the several banks in Ohio on the first Monday in Noyem bir, 1849, and on the first Monday in February, 1850, see Merchants? Magazine for February
1830, vol. xxii., pages 222-225; and June, 1850, same volume, pages 650-652.




549

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
Notes and bills
Branches of State Bank,. discounted.
Muskingum.......... 192,914 50
Norwalk................ 287,969 23
Piqua ................... 178,673 93
Portage County. . . 207,842 58
Portsmouth.......... 278,188 39
Preble County.. . . 173,841 54
Ross County........ 317,318 39
Summit County... 192,029 42
Toledo.................. 218,170 30
Union.................... 307,688 12
Wayne County.... 123,426 84
Xenia.................... 261,254 71

Specie.
40,378 12
41,509 16
47,610 17
44,711 17
40,166 93
67,244 67
55,710 71
41,490 70
72,272 24
54,922 27
40,023 64
60,466 47

Eastern
at credit of
deposits. Board of Control,
30,138 18
18,940 00
13,844 94
23.067 40
11,754 40
17,-996 93
58,974 21
20,450 00
20,000 00
24,747 16
37,165 14
20,000 00
77,944 52
27,500 00
1,974 70
20,000 00
24,575 00
27,500 00
71,159 15
16,819 82
12,000 00
27,500 00
36,525 27

Total
resources.
339,356 23
405,409 95
296,007 15
353,286 46
390,307 27
316,251 23
523,382 51
311,435 42
494,692 63
549,409 09
219,274 15
441,634 37

>,885,881 44 2,069,801 87 1.,447,392 69 $905,972 13 16,121,743 31
Old banks.

Bank of Circleville. 264,148
Clint’n B’k, Colum’s 579,553
Lafaye’te B'k, Cin’ti: .,010,318
Bank of Massillon. 455,342
Ohio Life Insurance

73
71
94
26

.,247,238 67

$63,995
110,174
75,491
87,799

63 :$165,111 07
97
79,471 90
70
9,715 16
34 134,893 22

$554,309
1,000,544
$52,952 76 1,417,786
720,573

8,498 19

77
76
01
64

1,619,344 55

1,556,602 31 $345,959 92 ■$389,191 35

$52,952 76 5,312,558 73

LIABILITIES.

Independent banks.

Capital stock
paid in.

Circulation.

Bank of Geauga... §40,000 00 § 86,212 00
Can’l B’k of Cl’vel’d 50,000 00
57,185 00
City B’k of Clevel’d 50,h00 00
89,199 00
City B’k of Colum’a 145,330 00 203,655 00
City B’k of Cincin’ti 51,800 00
74,999 00
Com. B’k, Cincinn’ti 50,000 00
22,055 00
Davton Bank........
91,850 00 175,298 00
Franklin B'k, Zan’le 100,000 00 139,607 00
Sandusky City B’k. 57,500 00
48,548 00
Seneca County B’k. 30,000 00
88,013 00
”West’nRes’ve B’nk 60,000 00 173,000 00

Safety Fund Due to depos­
itors.
stock.

§91,631 03
21,803 00
100,000 00
167,046 63
75,000 00
54,000 00
183,592 88
162,405 76
53,066 00
90,000 00
189,158 44

Total
liabilities.

§19,198 82 1268,642 47
2,564 96
183,782 28
4,462 43
355,452 67
65,026 25
906,919 09
263,299 80
11,377 29
58,691 30
657,505 50
2,003 42
621,983 86
6,216 82
488,726 45
4,266 27
333,448 80
3,965 12
242,471 44
26,906 11
553,967 44

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

726,480 00 1.,158,271 00 1,187,703 74 $204,678 79 4,876,199 80

Branches of State Bank.

Safety Fund
at credit; of
Board of Control.

Athens..................
Akron...................
Belmont.................
Chillicothe............
Com,rciaI, Clevel’nd
Com’rcial, Toledo .
Dayton..................
Delaware County..
Exchange..............
Farmers’, Ashtab’la
Farmers’, Mansfield
Farmers’, Ripley...
Farmers’, Salem ..
Franklin, Columb’s.
Franklin, Cincinnati
Guernsey..............
Harrison County ..
Hocking Valley...
Jefferson................




$70,000 o o
100,000 00
100,000 00
250,000 00
175,000 00
150,000 00
198,010 00
93,484 93
125,000 00
100,000 00
82,980 00
100,000 00
100,000 00
175,000 00
169,000 00
97,670 00
100,000 00
100,000 00
100,000 00

:$130,355

00
198,650 00
185,484 00
867,184 00
276,851 00
244,158 00
198,662 00
168,143 00
181,785 00
194,078 00
135,673 00
173,975 00
198,721 00
270,345 00
152,600 00
180.000 00
178,836 00
195,315 00
195,349 00

$3,000 00 $13,463 10 $258,417 75
700 00
13,486 62
377,659 92
415 00
1,272 75
344,863 75
9,988 65
809,651 05
23,363 56
738,195 14
3,148 20
10,523 92
531,797 18
372 00
5,195 10
552,884 30
20
330,388 28
1,137
7,309 99
382,801 12
..
796 11
322,964 42
4,865 13
2,200 00
263,306 10
2,749 49
317,196 74
2,352 43
380,467 40
200 00
5,586 65
543,280 40
54,253 64
632,080 55
681 41
1,700 00
294,922 36
200 00
914 67
323,737 63
200 00
2,122 74
350,607 80
600 00
10 18
421,289 55

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

550

Branches o f State Bank.
K n o x County,.......

Licking County.. . .
Lbgan ..................
Lorain..................
Mad River Valley.
Marietta..............
Mech’nics Trad’rs’
Merchants’.............
Miami County... . .
Mt. Pleasant..........
Muskingum..........
Norwalk...............
Piqua.....................
Portage County...
Portsmouth..........
Preble County. . .
Ross County........
Summit County...
Toledo...................
Union....................
Wayne County . . .
Xenia....................
Total..

Capital stock
paid in

at credit of Due to deposiCirculation. Board of Control.
tors.

100,000 00
93,000 00
71,570 00
75,985 00
100,000 00
100,000 00
100,000 00
125,000 00
82,709 00
100,000 00
100,000 00
120,450 00
89,107 00
103,000 00
100,000 00
100,000 00
150,000 00
100,000 00
130,500 00
150,000 00
60,000 00
150,000 00

191,830 00
159,504 00
138,454 00
116,136 00
192,098 00191,541 00
127,293 00
232,871 00
136,336 00
192,643 00
175,358 00
210,863 00
164,064 00
203,844 00
173,520 00
171,902 00
264,461 00
195,867 00
228,210 00 '
267,000 00
115,289 00
231,225 00

1,687,465 93 7,906,473 00

4,640 00
2,400 00
2,624 00
6,341 00
1,000 00
4,100 00
67
1,500 00
1,215 00
2,017 40
... ...

2,325 00
800 00
1,620 00

6,000
5,037
280
847
5,889
7,126
54,261
9,215
3,837
2,353
3,132
4,056
3,352
1,104
12,269

26
20
25
06
14
89
07
68
24
83
06
34
67
27
08

8,374
193
2,553
4.931
3,069
271

20
11
61
19
64
43

200,000
300,000
700,000
200,000

00 $249,738 00
00 535,624 00
00 154,966 00
00 357,250 00

611,226 00
Total.,

4,450 00

’,011,226 00 1,302,028 00

56
04
20
98
86
00
10
68
15
84
23
95
15
46
27
23
51
42
63
09
15
37

$43,318 27 $297,229 56 16,121,743 31

Old banks,

Bank of Circlevillc.
Clint’n B’k, Co] urn’s
Lafaye’te B’k, Cin’ti
Bank of Massillon.
Ohio Life Insurance

Total
liabilities.

338,244
288,248
220,347
233,211
398,751
359,904
433,358
480,594
248,524
333,700
339,356
405,409
296,007
353,286
390,307
316,251
523,382
311,435
494,692
549,409
219,274
441,634

10 $554,309 77
75 1,000,544 76
81 1,417,786 01
720,573 64
24

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

$14,285
24,184
80,029
29,104

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

587,465 33 1,619,344 55

..............$735,069

23 5,312,558 73

TOTAL KESOUKCES.

Specie................................. .......................
Notes of other banks, & c ...........................
Due from other banks and bankers...........
Eastern deposits.........................................
Checks and other cash items.....................
Bonds deposited with State Treasurer.. . .
Real estate and personal property............
Other resources.........................................
Total resources.

Independent
banks.
$2,157,557
335,426
318,422
279,572
294,090
66,637
1,290,498
74,217
59,777
$4,876,199

Branches
of State Bank.
$9,885,881
2,069,801
860,463
514,487
1,447.392
47,518
905,972
203,841
181,744

Old banks.
$3,556,602
345,959
380,430
181,077
389,191
21,693
52,952
152,833
232,017

$16,121,743

$5,312,568

$726,480
1,158,271
1,187,703
204,678
1,322,316
86,779
131,213
50,439
1,828
6,489

$4,687,465
7,906,473
43,318
297,229
2,504,729
291,474
97,396
197,863
3,503
92,288

$2,011,226
1,302,028

$4,876,199

$16,121,743

$5,312,558

LITIES.

Capital stock paid i n .................................
Circulation..................................................
Safety Fund stock.....................................
Due to banks and bankers.........................
Due to individual depositors......................
Surplus or conting’t fund & undivided profits
Bills payable and time drafts.....................
Discounts, interest, &c................................
Dividends unpaid.......................................
Other liabilities...........................................
Total liabilities....................................




735,069
903,141
301,641
18,627
16,196
23,046
1,582

551

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
BOSTON BANK DIVIDENDS.

The subjoined table exhibits the capital of the several banks in the city of Boston,
together with the dividends as declared, and to be paid on Monday, the 7th of Octo­
ber, 1850. In the M ercha nt s’ M ag azine for April, 1850, (vol.xxii., page 446,) we pub-,
lished a tabular statement of the annual dividends of the banks in Boston for each of
the last ten years. For a table of the dividends for the half-year ending April, 1850,
see M ercha nts’ M ag azine for May, 1850, (vol. xxii., page SIS.)
Banks.

Atlantic..........
Atlas...............
Boston.............
Boylston..........
Citv..................
Cochituate . . . .
Columbian. . . .
Eagle........ ..
Exchange.........
Freeman’s .......
Globe...............
Granite............

Div.

Capital, p. cent. Amount.

$500,000
600,000
900,000
200,000
1,000,000
150,000
500,000
500,000
500,000
250,000
1,000,000
500,000
9f»o non
Hamilton........
500,000
Market............
560,000
Massachusetts .
800,000
Mechanics’, S. B.
150,000
Merchants’.__ _ 8,000,000

Banks.

Div.

Capital, p. cent. Amount.

$40,000
4
$20,000 New England . £1,000,000 4
17,500 North..............
26,200
750,000 Si
Si
4
36,000 Shawmut........
20,000
500,000 4
9,000 Sh’e & Lea. D’rs’
30,000
750,000 4
4i
35,000 State .............. 1.800,000 31
63,000
Si
50,000
4
6,000 Suffolk............. 1,000,000 5
20,000
17,500 Tremont..........
500,000 4
Si
17,500 Traders’ ..........
16,000
400,000 4
Si
4
20,000 Union............... ( 1,000,000
11,250
32,000
On o ld ........ ■1 800,000 4
4i
4
Int. on new . ( 200,000 1
40,000
17,500 Washington. . .
500,000 3
15,000
Si
4
i o nnn
$767,950
17^500
Total............ $20,710,000
Si
5
28,000
Amount last ApriL........
766,050
3
24,000
1,900
4
6,000
Excess over April..........
4
120,000

Bank of Commerce, capital $750,000, went into operation August 1; no dividend.
The Union Bank has increased its capital $200,000 since the last dividend.
The Mechanics’ Bank, S. B., also increased its capital in May last $30,000, and paid
an extra dividend of $20,000.
BALTIMORE CITY STOCK DEBT.

The Baltimore A m e ric a n condenses from an extended tabular statement submitted
to the City Council the following account of the present condition of the city stock
debt:—
SIX P E R CENT STOCK.

Six per cent pleasure stock.................................................................
Six per cent, irredeemable before the 1st July, 1860..........................
“
redeemable after the 1st July, 1870...............................
“
“
“ year 1870.....................................
«
“
“
“ 1890.....................................
“
“
“ 1st July, 1890.............................
Total remaining unchanged since 1st January, 1850..............

$193,208
169,901
228,000
626,940
342,042
2.896,619

46
80
00
89
16
81

$4,456,713 12

FIVE PER CENT STOCK.

Five per cent stock redeemable after 1st July, 1838.........................
“
“■
“
“ 1840........................................
“
“
“
“ 1845........................................
“
“
“
“ 1860........................................
“
“
“
“ 1870........................................
“
“
irredeemable..........................................................
Total........................................................................................
Court-house stock, payable after 1st July, 1858 and 1 8 6 0 ....
The total amount of the debt as shown by the above is $5,454,389 17.




$39,256
8,590
329,457
266,118
250,000
12,000

00
00
72
12
00
00

$905,421 84
92,254 21

652 '

GENERAL CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF THE UNITED STATES, JANUARY 1, 1850.

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




Loans
Real estate and Due by other Notes of other
Capital.
and discounts.
Stocks, other investm’ts. banks.
banks.
Specie funds.
$3,098,000 $5,275,170
$118,060 $711,894 $711,894
2,186,500
3,956,881
47,601
421,853
79,109
1,826,9*75
3,613,227
$40,998
90,230
648,421
151,049
34,630,011 56,599,309
1,126,161 4,472,950 3,737,150
250,318
11,212,406 14,822,500
484,918
443,445
155,479
8,928,264 14,043,096
196,268
275,904
333,532 1,470,853
$58,337
45,541,*7 08 93,063,599 11,755,700 4,653,712 10,193,737 2,611,608 8,001,639
3,565,288
304,109 1,100,162
383,008
6,377,034
45,200
1*7,182,174 34,927,479 1,684,099 3,625,996 3,023,601 2,802,118 2,315,383
940,000
1,653,595
85,024
218,341
72,992
1,925
17,727
404,442 1,068,577
790,605
59,789
8,704,711 13,767,558
966,080
9,731,370 18,163,300
372,442
879,312 1,813,048
433,848
3,407,300
150,000
142,687
790,026
7,664
5,169,077
402,517
239,278
726,074 2,850,942
715,093
13,139,571 20,601,137 1,849,463
12,595,010
6,953,166 1,690,378 7,891,879 1,753,467
325,515
359,325
2,116,591
71,018 1,381,802
1,500,000
928,290
16,029
14,257,520 18,602,649
5,399,877 8,879,996
492,667
9,008,699
624,081
512,605
888,786
496,656
7,026,987
7,030,900 11,637,207
546,000
700,054
902,557 1,601,403
308,148
1,208,751
3,265,270
28,820
36,820
237,215
2,082,910
3,912,796
580,375
749,863
101,970
2,361,122 2,315,810 1,581,329
50,192
7,129,227 15,594,139
392,530
57,094
1,224
1,080,664
306,051
140,777
166,187

Specie.
Circulation.
$339,231 $2,252,764
159,125
1,776,921
120,798
2,322,962
2,749,917 15,700,935
291,295
2,525.649
575,656
4,511,570
8,066,313 24,165,980
620,689
2,548,351
3,828,754 11,405,455
147,612.
651,121
2,468,235
3,091,408
2,709,055
8,944,752
1,410,254
3,415,788
8,741,765
1,711,902
1,547,626
4,118,419
1,307,392
2,558,868
6,979,772
5,069,867
143,919
3,913,491
2,683,378
6,682,524
1,902,986
2,594,790
1,285,406
3,304,260
3,242,925 10,444,555
107,210
624,431

Deposits.
$1,094,098
481,114
380,195
9,875,317
4,311,110
1,831,291
41,613,744
1,894,273
15,710,150
290,556
5,183,609
4,238,875
720,778
3,322,132
1,697,099
1,216,319
8,210,705
1,320,959
2,209,035
1,377,288
663,462
4,657,111
266,412

685 139 217,317,211 364,204,078 20,606,759 32,531,714 41,631,855 16,303,289 11,603,245 45,379,345 131,366,526 109,586,595

Journal o f B anking, Currency, and Finance.

BranST A T E S.
B’ks. ches.
Maine................
32
New Hampshire.
23
Vermont...........
24
Massachusetts . . 119
Rhode Island__
61
Connecticut.......
2
36
New Y ork ........ 185
2
.New Jersey. . . .
24
Pennsylvania. . .
5
47
Delaware..........
4
3
Maryland...........
21
2
Virginia............
6 30
North Carolina..
4 15
South Carolina..
12
2
Georgia..............
11
7
Alabama............
1
Louisiana...........
6 22
Tennessee...........
4 18
Kentucky..........
3 13
Missouri..............
1
5
Indiana..............
1 12
O h io ...................
56 , .
Michigan...........
1
4

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

553

THE FUNDED DEBT OF MARYLAND.

It appears by an advertisement of the Treasurer of Maryland, published in the State
papers, that 50 p e r cent of the outstanding balance of the Funded Arrears Stock of the
State will be redeemed at the Loan Office in, Baltimore, on the 1st of October, 1850.
“ We are happy to learn, from a reliable source,” says the B a ltim o re A m e ric a n , “ that
the remainder will probably be paid before half of the ensuing year shall have elapsed.
After the small remainder shall have been paid, the State will pay $50,000 less in
annual interest than she did in the years 1848 and 1849, being more than the net in­
terest’ which she pays, (State tax of J of 1 per cent on the valuation of 85 cents de­
ducted) on $1,000,000 of 5 per cent stock. The State will also have a new fund for
redeeming or purchasing the remaining debt, which will be about equal to one-half of
the net interest on the sinking fund two years ago.
It will thus be seen that a continuance of the present taxes for a few years longer
will enable the State to redeem, entirely, that portion of her debt now over-due, leaving
the provision for interest on the stock, which has a long time to run, the only charge
upon the treasury. The stamp tax, as well as other temporary taxes, which are so se­
verely felt by the citizens of all parts of the State, may then safely be removed, as
they will, of course, be no longer necessary. This last claim on the treasury, will, it is
confidently believed, be redeemed within less than fifteen years, by the sure operation
of the sinking fund, as well as by the purchase and cancelling of the stock, with the sur­
plus revenue of the State.
This is certainly a very flattering condition of the financial affairs of the State, and
one of which eveiy Marylander may well feel proud. On the 1st of October, 1849, the
original funded debt of the State had been reduced to $864,826 21; and when the 50
per cent is paid on the 1st of next month, it will only amount to $133,112 82. The
following table will show its gradual extinguishment since 1849, when the first pay­
ment was made:—
The original funded debt was...............................
Redeemed by Treasurer prior to October 1, 1849

$818,'737 45
13,911 24

One-fourth paid 1st October, 1849

864,826 21
216,206 55

Redeemed by Treasurer prior to May 1, 1850

648,619 66
113,768 39

One-half paid 1st May, 1850

534,851 27
267,425 63

One-half to be paid 1st October, 1850........

267,425 64
133,712 82

Leaving outstanding, after October 1, 1850

$133,112 82

PROFITS OF THE BRITISH MINT M 0N EYERS.

It appeared in evidence before the British parliamentary commission that the moneyers,
who are a company in the Mint, have been in the receipt of enormous profits. From the
year 1842 to 1847, the profits, on their own acknowledgement (they refused to pro­
duce their books,) amounted to the almost incredible sum of £105,187 12s. 1Id., divided
among five persons. Though for several years previous to 1842, their profits were not
so large as during the five years we have named, yet they were enormous, and far
above what they ought to have been. Indeed, most of the subordinate officers of the
Mint, appear to make profits on a scale quite incommensurate with all notions of
fitness or justice. The profits of the melter, for instance, who is the clerk of the Mas­
ter of the Mint, amounted from 1828 to 1847, to £49,650 7s. lid., or to more than




554

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

£2,600 a year. Our readers may ask, who are the five moneyers, who, for several
years, have been receiving an income of more than £25,000 a year ? The moneyers
are, as they allege, (but this is denied by the Master of the Mint and by the AttorneyGeneral, who has given an opinion in a contrary sense,) a corporation. They have
existed in their present capacity, for three or four centuries. The Master of the Mint
contracts with them for the coinage, and the contract entered into in the year 1770, 80
years ago, subsists to the present day. The great profits of the moneyers have arisen
from a contract made with the Master of the Mint, which the Premier has the power
of terminating at three months’ notice, but no master of the Mint ever directed his
attention to this abuse, till Mr Sheil was appointed to his oflice in 1846.
THE EXPORT OF GOLD FROM CALIFORNIA,

The foHowing table, showing the number of passengers and the amount of gold dust
shipped on board the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s steamers, from April 11,1849,
to June 1, 1850, has been furnished for publication by Bissell & Meredith, brokers, of
Philadelphia. It is believed to be nearly correct:—
Date.

April
11.
May
1.
June
20.
July
2.
August
2.
September 1.
October
1.
.November 1 .
November 15.
December 1 .

Passengers.

75
54
74
55
110

353
281
212

258
157

Amount.

$66,656
340,653
345,820
263,164
523,362
575,830
273,891
413,017
429,062
768,294

Date.

07
25
24
44
93
70
60
09
00
88

January
January
February
March
April
April
May
June
Total.

Passengers.

1.
15.
1.
1.
1.

218
257

20.

110

1.
1.

88
246

202

248
229

___
..

3,173

Amount.

$897,463
353,306
658,932
1,138,700
1,450,634
568,886
1,386,495
2,344,384

57
93
00
76
42
56
03
04

$13,329,388 62

UNITED STATES TREASU RY NOTES OUTSTANDING.

T reasury D epartment, R egister ’s Offic e , October 1,1850,
The following is the number of Treasury Notes oustanding, October 1, 1850:—
Amount outstanding of the several issues prior to the act of 22d July,
1846, as per records of this office........................................................
139,489 31
Amount outstanding of the issue of 22d July, 1846, as per records of
this office .............................................................................................
26,890 00
Amount outstanding of the issue of 28th of January, 1847, as per records
of this office........................................................................................
100,700 00
1266,989 31
Deduct cancelled notes in the hands of the accounting officers, of the
several issues prior to 22d of July, 1846.............................................

150 00

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

$266,839 31

THE “ LIVES”

OF BANK NOTES.

The average period which each denomination of London notes remains in circulation
has been calculated, and is shown by the following “ account of the number of days a
bank note issued in London, remains in Circulation:”—£5, 72.7 days; £10, 77.0;
£20, 57.4; £30, 18.9; £40, 13.7; £50, 38.8 ; £100, 28.4; £200, 12,7 ; £300, 10.6;
£500, 11.8 ; £1,000, 11.1. The exception to these averages are few, and therefore re­
markable. The time during which some notes remain unpresented is reckoned by the
century. On the 27th of September, 1846, a £50 was presented, bearing date 20th
of January, 1743. Another, for £10, issued on the 19th of November, 1762, was not
paid till the 20th of April, 1845. There is a legend extant of the eccentric possessor
of £1,000 note, who kept it framed and glazed for a series of years, preferring to feast
his eyes upon it, to putting the amount it represented out at interest. It was converted
into gold, however, without a day’s loss of time by his heirs on his demise. Stolen and
lost notes are generally long absentees. The former usually make their appearance




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

555

soon after a great horse-race, or other sporting event, altered or disguised, so as to
deceive bankers, to whom the Bank of England furnishes a list of the numbers and
dates of stolen notes. Carelessness gives the bank enormous profits/against which the
loss of a mere £30,000 is but a trifle. Bank notes have been known to light pipes, to
wrap up snuff, to be used as curl papers; and British tars, mad with rum and prizemoney, have not, unfrequently, in the time of war, made sandwiches of them, and
eaten them between bread and butter. In the forty years between l'T92 and 1812,
there were outstanding notes (presumed to have been lost or destroyed) amounting to
one million three hundred and thirty odd thousand pounds, every shilling of which was
clear profit to the bank.— H ouseho ld W o rd s,
A NEW AND RAPID METHOD OF REFINING GOLD.

Professor Richard S. McCulloch, who fills the chair of Natural Philosophy at Prince­
ton College, and who previously held the ofiice of Melter and Refiner at the United
States Mint, has addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, in which he states
that he has discovered a new, quick, and economical method of refining argentiferous
and other gold bullion, whereby the work may be done in one-half the present time,
and with a large saving in interest upon the amount which is currently refined, and
withdrawn for that purpose from the use of the depositor, or from the treasury, by ad­
vances for his accommodation. The writer adds, that “ in labor and materials this
new method would also save about one-half of the cost required by the process now
used in the Mint of the United States; so that the charge to depositors for refining,
which now is, as by law directed, fixed at the actual cost thereof, may be considerably
reduced. The apparatus required is less costly and more coihpact than that used in
either of the methods now employed. The advantages in respect to space are such
that probably five times as much work as at present may be done in the same build­
ing. In the Mint at Philadelphia ten millions of dollars per month may be refined,
and the sum of one thousand dollars would, I believe, cover the cost of the alterations
and apparatus required.”
DETERIORATION IN GOLD COINS.

The deterioration in our gold coins has caused considerable conversation of late, says
the B oston J o u r n a l, in our banking institutions.
It is ascertained that the coinage of
only a few years date is quite deficient in weight; so much so, that most parcels of
§5,000, or less, fall short several dollars. According to the standard, Eagles, Half
Eagles, etc., are a legal tender, at a certain specified weight, and if they do not weigh
the requisite amount, can they be received at the count ? The difference in weight of
a single piece, is very trifling, but in the agregate there is quite a deficiency. This
process of deterioration is going on from day to day, and the coins, which, at this time,
are of full weight, will, in a few months, perhaps, according to the wear, be designated
as light coin. We understand the banks in Boston, have decided to receive gold only
at weight, which decision, we think, is according to law.
Gold, being more ductile than any other metals of which coins are composed, and
more valuable, more care is necessary; and. we think the time will come when the
same course will be pursued here as in England. There, a Sovereign is received at its
weight, and American money must be received in the same manner.
BANKING HOUSES IN CALIFORNIA.

The S a n Fra n c isc o H e r a ld enumerates eight large banking establishments in that
city, which are connected with the principal capitalists of London, Paris, New York,
Philadelphia, Boston, New Orleans, etc., and adds, that there are also many houses
which sell drafts on most of the principal cities of the United States, and make and
issue remittances of gold dust. Among the European houses, for which the large
establishments act, we notice those of Baring and Brothers, the Rothschilds, and
Hottinguer and Co. The H e ra ld remarks :—
“ There is, perhaps, nothing which exhibits, in a more striking point of view, the ex­
tent and reach of the business of San Francisco, than the number of banking houses it
contains. Every eminent capitalist in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and South
America, has its representative in this city; and the fact, that most of those branches
are doing a very flourishing business, is the strongest proof of the immense resources
of this city.”




556

Commercial Regulations.

COM M ERCIAL REGULATIONS.
ANNUAL R EPO RT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE OF BALTIMORE.
READ AT THE GENERAL MEETING, HELD OCTOBER

*7, 1850.

Pursuant to the 3d of the Articles of Association of the Board of Trade of the city
of Baltimore, the Board of Directors elected for the year commencing October, 1849,
and ending October 7th, 1850, present their report of proceedings during that
period:—
The Articles of Association, By-Laws adopted, and names of Directors composing
the Standing Committees, were printed in pamphlet form and distributed to every
subscriber ; the names of the Committee on Arbitration, monthly, have been published
in the newspapers and at the Exchange Reading Rooms.
During the year, a number of important subjects have engaged the consideration of
the Board, having been referred to the appropriate committees and reported upon.
What appeared suitable action in regard thereto, was promptly taken. Among them
may be enumerated the following :—
The propositions made to the Secretary of the Navy and Congress, to change the
P r im e M e rid ia n from Greenwich, England, to a point in the United States, was re­
ported upon unfavorably, and a copy of the report sent to the Secretary of the Navy,
as indicative of the opinion entertained by the Board.
The importance of a revision and alteration of the law existing in this State, in
reference to special o r lim ite d pa rtn e rsh ip s, was earnestly considered, and, in view of
the increasing population and commerce .of this community, met the warm concurrence
of the Board. A special committee appointed for the purpose, caused to be prepared
a supplementary act, which was passed by the Legislature at its last session; and it is
believed that the laws of Maryland, on this subject, will now compare favorably with
those of any other State—offering inducements to the capitalist to embark a portion of
his means in business operation, under the active direction of those who bring industry
and intelligence to the common stock, while every possible care has been taken to
prevent fraud.
A memorial was forwarded to Congress, praying that body to pass a bill lim itin g
the lia b ilitie s o f ship-owners, in cases where merchandise on board of vessels should be
destroyed or damaged by fire, without connivance or power of prevention on the part
of the owners.
The memorial of the dry goods merchants and others, complaining of the frequent
practice of deception i n m a rk in g cotton, woolen, a n d other d r y goods met due atten­
tion. A bill was prepared and passed by the Legislature, making the same a fineable
offence, and it is hoped this grievance will be materially checked.
The propriety of an alteration in the present mode of proving, gauging, and marking
all domestic distilled liquors, in this city, was concurred in, and a bill to alter the ex­
isting custom, accompanied by a memorial setting forth the advantages to be derived
from the change, was forwarded to AnuapoHs, but the Legislature did not take action
thereon.
*
In consideration of the very imperfect statistics heretofore published, relative to the
trade o f B a ltim o re , the Legislature was memorialized, asking the enactment of such
laws as would secure the rendering of monthly returns, under oath, of the kinds and
quantities of aU articles and products of domestic growth or manufacture, which are
required to be measured, weighed, or inspected in this city. No action in the premises,
however, was obtained.
The Legislature was likewise memorialized, in regard to the dilapidated condition of
that portion of the N a tio n a l R o a d , passing through the State of Maryland, it being
such as to impair, seriously, its usefulness as an avenue of travel and transportion;
whereas the cessation of the road by Congress to Pensylvania, Maryland, and
Virginia, with all the emoluments arising therefrom, was accompanied by the single
requirement that each State should keep that portion of the road within its bounda­
ries in good order and repair.
The serious attention of the Board was given to an inquiry made by a Committee of
the Senate of the United States, viz: “ What will be the effect upon the interests of
navigation and commerce, if the acts governing and regulating seamen in the merchant




557

Commercial Regulations.
I

service be so amended as to forbid the employment of corporal punishment on board
vessels of commerce *” The following answer was returned to this interrogatory: “ It
is the belief of the Board that corporal punishment is indispensable to the maintenance
of prrtper discipline in the merchant service, and it is, therefore, adverse to a change in
the present laws in reference thereto.”
In reference to cheap postage, a committee waited on his honor, the mayor, who
readily consented to call a town meeting to adopt such measures as might be most
likely to bring about this most desirable object. The meeting having been held and
addressed in a yery clear and able manner by Mr. Barnabas Bates, of New York, a
memorial to Congress was prepared and forwarded to our Representative for presenta­
tion and advocacy. It bore the signatures of twenty-six hundred firms and individuals.
A correspondence was opened in June last with his honor, the mayor, relative to the
condition of the ship channel in the lowev or outer harbor of the city, and also in the
Patapsco River, beyond the city limits, representing that by accumulations of mud and
sand, said channel was much obstructed, so that ships of large draught frequently en­
counter difficulty and detention in arriving at, or sailing from Baltimore, and asking
whether the two cents tonnage duty appropriated by Congress to the use of the city,
could not be applied towards dredging the ship channel between Fort McHenry and
the Chesapeake Bay. His Honor stated in reply that the funds derived from that
source, (increasing from $5,212.81 in 1840, to $7,038.30 in 1849,) with the $25,000
appropriated by the Councils, was scarcely sufficient lor necessary expenses within the
Port Warden’s line, and recommended resort to the General Government for aid in
accomplishing this praiseworthy object.
It is known that in the River and Harbor bill before Congress, which did not pass, a
sum of twenty thousand dollars was reported for- the improvement of the harbor of
Baltimore below the Port Warden’s line to the mouth of the River Patapsco. It is to
be hoped that this bill will receive the early attention of Congress at its ensuing
session. This sum judiciously expended, the great evil complained of will be partially
remedied, but, in the opinion of the Board, it will require a much larger appropriation
to open a free path from Baltimore to the ocean, such as her large and increasing com­
merce demands.
The construction of a P la n k R o a d from Cumberland, Md., to West Newton, Pa.,
thence to connect with Pittsburg by the River Youghiogeny, was brought to the atten­
tion of the Board by a deputation from Cumberland seeking subscriptions to the
contemplated work, and having been referred to the Committee on Internal Improve­
ments, a very favorable report was made in reference thereto.
Other topics of inferior interest have occupied the time and consideration of the
Board, but it is not thought essential to recapitulate them in this report, which may
already be regarded as too prolix, and reference therefore is made to the record of pro­
ceedings kept by the Secretary.
As regards the condition of the finances of the Association, the accompanying state­
ment of the Treasurer shows that he has in cash $478.32.
There have been likewise transferred by James Wilson, Esq., President of the former
Board of Trade, 18 shares of United States Bank stuck, and 17 shares of Merchants’
Bank of Baltimore stock.
All of which is respectfully submitted,
By order of the Board of Directors,
JOHN C. BRUNE, President.
B a ltim o re , O ct .

5, 1850.

PROPOSED ALTERATIONS IN THE ZOLLVEREIN TARIFF.

The following particulars relative to the proposed alterations in the Zollverein Tariff
will be found highly useful to our readers:—
In the conference of delegates called to consider the alterations proposed by Prussia
in the Tariff of the Zollverein. all the propositions of the Government have been agreed
to. They commenced with the duties on the importation of corn and cattle, under the
general head of provisions, or articles of consumption. The Prussian Government
proposes to reduce the import duty on rye, barley, oat-, and buckwheat, from 5 silver
groschen per bushel (6d.) to 6 pfennige (|d.) A proposition was made to retain the
present scale of duty on the frontier against Poland and Russia, but it fell to the
ground. The Government proposes to reduce the import duty on butter from 3 thalers
20 silver groschen (8s.) per cwt. to 2 thalers (6s.) A part of the Conference const
dered this reduction as insufficient, and proposed a reduction of 1 thaler the cwt. The
proposition of the Government was, however, supported by the majority.




/

Commercial Regulations.

55 8

On rice the Government proposes to reduce the import duty from 2 thalers (6s.) per
cwt. for shelled rice to 1 thaler 10 silver groschen (4s.) and to 20 silver groschen (2s.)
for rice in the husk. In this item the opinion of the Conference was for a still further
reduction. It was considered that the duty proposed by the Government was still too
high; that it would keep a great article of consumption out of the reach of a large
number of the population. The duty on rice in the husk in particular might be safely
still farther reduced, as preparing it for food would give employment to home industry.
The proposition to reduce the duty on unshelled rice to 1 thaler only was supported
by a majority of the delegates, but not that of a further reduction upon rice
unshelled.
The import duties on cattle the Government proposes to reduce to one half of the
present amount. The scale suggested is, for—
Oxen and breeding cattle from 5 thalers to 2 thalers 15 silver groschen.
Cows from S thalers to 1 thaler 15 silver groschen.
Young cattle from 2 thalers to 1 thaler.
Calves from 5 silver groschen to 2 silver groschen 6 pfennige.
Lean swine from 20 silver groschen to 7 silver groschen 6 pfennige.
Many of the delegates considered this reduction as not sufficient, but no amendment
on the Government proposition was carried ; even a motion for preserving the present
scale of duties on the frontiers of Russia and Poland was rejected
The delegates made no objections whatever to the proposed abolition of import duty
on dyestuffs, minerals, woods, chemicals, ivory, and other articles that come under the
head" of the raw materials of manufacture. The abolition of the import duty on flax,
tow, and hemp was also approved. The Government proposed to reduce the import
duty from two thalers to one thaler per centner. A part of the delegates considered
this amount of protection unnecessary for the Silesian mining interest: others held it
to be still necessary for the Rhine district, and a proposal to reduce it still lower was
negatived.
The import duty on linen yarn, raw and unbleached, is increased from 2 thalers to 4
thalers per cwt. Bleached or colored yarns and twists are increased from 4 thalers to
6 thalers per cwt. The duty on common packing and sail cloths remain the same.
Rough unglazed linens, twills, and drills are increased from 4 thalers to 6 thalers.
Bleached, colored, or glazed yarns, or stuff woven from glazed yarn, increased from 20
and 30 thalers per cwt., are modified to an equal duty of 25 thalers. Baptiste, gauze,
towelling, lace, and embroidery from 30 thaler3 and 60 thalers to 75 thalers per cwt.
The import duty on cotton wadding is reduced from 3 thalers to 2 thalers per cwt.
Cotton yam, unbleached, one and two thread, is increased from three thalers to 4
thalers per cwt. On all other yarns the duty remains the same.
On silk goeds the duties are generally increased: on raw and bleached silk, the duty
is raised from 15 silver groschen to 3 thalers; colored silk from 8 thalers to 10 thalers ;
sewing silks, silk twist, &e., from 11 thalers to 16 thalers; silk for dresses, stockings,
silk articles of all kinds, from 110 thalers to 150 thalers per cw t; silk shawls, or silk
mixed with wool, from 55 thalers to 100 thalers per cwt. Other silks mixed with
wool, cotton, linen, hair, <fec., from 86 thalers to 75 thalers. The duty on ready-made
clothes is increased from 100 thalers to 150 thalers per cwt.
LAW OF WISC0NSLV I ff REGARD TO MARRIED W OMEff,

The following is a correct copy of an act passed during the session of the last Legis­
lature in Wisconsin, and approved by the Governor of that State February 1st., 1850.
A similar law was passed by the Legislature of New York in March, 1848 :—

S ection 1. The real estate, and the rents, issues, and profits thereof, of any female
now married, shall not be subject to the disposal of her husband, but shall be her sole
and separate property, as if she were a single female.
S ec. 2. The real and personal property of any female who may hereafter marry,
and which she shall own at the time of marriage, and the rents, issues, and profits
thereof, shall not be subject to the disposal of her husband, nor be liable for his debts,
and shall continue her sole and separate property.
S ec. 3. Any married female may receive by inheritance, or by gift, grant, devise, or
bequest, from any person other than her husband, and hold it to her sole separate use,
and convey and devise, real and personal property, and any interest or estate therein,
and the rents, issues, and profits, in the same manner ana with like effect, as if she
were unmarried, and the same shall not be subject to the disposal of her husband, nor
be liable for his debts.




N au tical Intelliyi'ence.

5 ." 9

N AU TICAL IN TE LL IG E N C E .
NEW LIGHT-HOUSE ON THE EASTERN COAST OF SWEDEN.
D e p a r t m e n t o f S t a t e , W a s h i n g t o n , October 8 i/i, 18 5 0 .
F reeman H unt, E sq., E d it o r o f the M e rc h a n t s’ M a g a zin e , N e w Yo rk .
■ S ir :—The enclosed information concerning a new light-house erected by the Swedish

Government on the eastern coast of Sweden, near the mouths of the Gulfs of Bothnia
and Finland, has been lately received at this Department, and is transmitted to you
for publication in your valuable Magazine, should you deem it of sufficient importance
to your readers. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. S. DERRICK, A ctin g

Secretary.

The Royal Administration of Maritime Affairs makes known to mariners, that a
lighted beacon, with a star lamp and concave glasses, burning with a steady and
stationary light, the reflection of which is sharply contrasted with the darkness towards
N. J E. of the compass, has been erected during the present summer on the rock
Naskubben, situated north latitude, 59° 52' 40", and longitude, east of Greenwich,
19° 5', within Simpmes point, not far from Simpnses village, about 3,200 Swedish
yards, or about J of a sea mile, S. f W. within Simpnses Beacon. This light-house, which
rises 22 feet above the surface of the water, should, during a dark but clear night, be
seen at a distance of two geographical or sea miles, from all points of the compass,
from N. J E. and East, to near S. by W .; but with the exception of N. f E. at Alandsea,
where the light is intercepted by Simpnses Club, which is precipitous on the left side,
is left on the larboard at a distance of about 150 Swedish yards. The beacon on
simpnses Club is distinguished even during a dark night. The same course must be
held for about 1,000 Swedish yards, or half the distance between Simpmes Club and
Bokubben, when it must be slightly altered to full South, so that the lighted beacon
be visible on the starboard, by which course the vessel goes clear of the shoals of
Bokubben, which are on the starboard at least 150 Swedish yards, and the parts of the
shoals “ Geflehaesten,” on the larboard at a still greater distance. When the vessel
comes under the light-house, the latter must be left about 100 Swedish yards to star­
board, and the first course, S. J W., again adopted, after that, the sailing must continue
about 200 Swedish yards from the light-house, when the part on Simpnses cove must
be left to starboard at a like distance, and the course changed to South by West.
Anchorage may then be sought at R u m s h a m n , about 5,000 Swedish yards from^the
beacon, on approaching which the course must be bent more to the westward, and
anchorage sought for by the lead, about a cable’s length from the north point of
Rumshamn’s cove. As a general rule, and independent of the compass, while sailing
towards the beacon light, it must be mentioned, that the mariner should endeavor to
Bteer his course towards the boundary line which divides the strong light from the
darkness which suddenly appears when danger of running on shore at Bokubben
occurs: this it is particularly important to guard against, while passing through the
scarcely 300 Swedish yards wide passage between the often named Bokubben and
the shoal Geflehaesten. To incline too much to the east of said boundary line, wiU
cause danger from the last named shoal.
The light-house on Naskubben will be lighted for the first time on the 15th of
September, 1850, and like the rest of the beacons of the kingdom, will be kept lighted
according to the regulations of sec. 42 of Jlis Majesty’s gracious statute concerning
pilots and beacons in the kingdom, of the 16th of May, 1847.
S tockholm, A u g u s t 23d, 1850.
CHANGE IN THE LIGHT AT ALGECIEAS.
T h e follow in g ch an ge has b een m ad e hi the ligh t usu a lly exh ibited at A lg e c ir a s .:__

The fixed light hitherto situated on the beach at Algeciras, has been removed to
Green Island, bearing S. S. E., about one mile from its former position, where it will
be lighted after the 15th instant. It is at an elevation of 46 feet from the level of the
sea, and from the S. E. quarter the full light will be seen; from the H. E. and S. W.
only the half light; and from the H. to W. the light is invisible.




v

560

Nautical Intelligence.

CAPE CARNAVERAL SHOALS— FLORIDA,

We publish below a report from Lieut. Rodgers, upon a reconnoissance of Carnaveral
Shoals, Florida, made to the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, and
communicated by that officer to the Secretary of the Treasury, for the information of
navigators:—
TJ. S. C o a s t S u r v e y O f f ic e , W

a s h in g t o n ,

August 9th, 1850.

S ir :— I have the honor to report that, in obedience to your instructions, I have made

a reconnoissance of Cape Carnaveral Shoals.
Bearing from the light-house by compass N. E. by N., and distant from it 11j- nauti­
cal miles, there is a shoal with fifteen feet water on it at low tide; and there is one
with eight feet water on it at low tide, 11£ miles from the light-house, and bearing
from it N. N. E. J E.
These shoals, distant from one another J-J miles, and bearing from each other E. by
S. and N. by W., are the extremities of a bank with three, four, and five fathoms wa­
ter on it.
"With the eye elevated twenty-six feet above the sea, the lan.d could not be seen
from them in a clear day, and the fight-house was only faintly visible.
These shoals are the more dangerous, because deep water surrounds the bank on
which they lie.
In bad weather, breakers point out their place; but with a smooth sea, no indication
of their existence is given.
A shoal runs out from the light house very nearly fire miles in a S. E. -J E. direction.
Separated from this, by a channel one mile wide and four fathoms deep, is a small
shoal with eleven feet of water on it at low tide. It bears S. E. by E. -J- E. from the
fight-house, and is 6J miles distant from it.
Between the light-house and S. E. shoal is a beach channel with six feet water in it
at low tide.
Though there are deep channels between the outer shoals and the light-house, there
are numerous shoal spots, which render the navigation through them dangerous to
large vessels.
Vessels wishing to fie under the cape in northerly or westerly winds, should bring
the fight-house to bear N. E., and anchor in fifteen or seventeen feet water, about onethird of a mile from the beach.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE BEACH CHANNEL.

Bring the light-house to bear AV. S. W., and run for it. Keep the south end of the
stable roof in a range with the middle of the light-house, until within one hundred and
fifty yards of the beach; then steer south and pass the cape.
At low tide, the depth of water in this channel is six feet. Especial care must be
taken to guard against the current, which was found to set strongly to the northward.
The light-house and stable are so close together that the range must be closely watched.
Very respectfully your obedient servant,
JOHN RODGER'S
Lieut. Commanding Assistant Coast Survey.
A . D. BACHE, LL. D., Superintendent o f United States Coast Survey.

NEW CHANNEL, MOUTH OF COLUMBIA R IV E R , OREGON.

"We publish below a copy of a letter from "Washington A. Bartlett, Lieutenant U. S.
N., Assistant U. S. Coast Survey, addressed to George Gibbs, Esq., Deputy Collector
for the District of Oregon, on the navigation of the bar of the Columbia River, Oregon:—

U . S. S urveying S chooner E wing,

)

1850. )
gIa;__In reply to your inquiries as to the character of the “ New South Channel”
into the Columbia River, and its practical use by vessels, either by sail or steam, as
observed by the party of the United States Coast Survey, now engaged here, I have
to state, in the absence of Lieut. Commanding McArthur, Chief of the Hydrographical
Party, that the United States schooner Ewing crossed the bar of the “ New South
Channel” under charge of Captain White, the discoverer of the channel, on the 19th of
April last; and so perfectly plain and accessible did this new route appear, that we
could scarcely believe that we had really “ beat in” to the Columbia River, or over its




M o u th o f the Colum bia, Ju n e 25th,

Nautical Intelligence.

56 1

bar, so famous, for the last half century, for difficulty and delay, as to be a place of
terror to all seamen and underwriters.
Since the date referred to, now over two months, I have witnessed the almost daily
passage of the bar of the “ New South Channel” by vessels of all classes trading into
the Columbia River, crossing at pleasure, with or without pilots, without delay or
danger.
Since Mr. White left duty at the bar, (I hope, however, only temporarily,) five sail
have crossed the bar without pilots, viz :■—the brig “ Seguin,” bark “ Ann Smith,” and
“ Eliza,” and the United States Schooner Ewing, under my direction, twice. So that
I can state, of my own knowledge, that any observing seaman can cross in or out over
this bar safely, and certainly without an hour’s delay, after having once crossed, in
order to observe the ranges, which are well defined, and certain to lead over in good
water.
We have not yet sufficiently surveyed the bar to state how much water there is at
all stages of the tide; but the least water I had in crossing with the Ewing yesterday,
with two careful leadsmen, was sixteen feet at half tide, (flood,) running in on a straight
range of Pillar Hill Tree, a very remarkable landmark, just shut on over Point Adams,
till I deepened into five fathoms inside the point of breakers, on north side of channel,
and hauled up for the “ beacon” on Sand Island, (wind N. W. £ N.,) having from six
and seven to nine fathoms up to Sand Island “ Beacon,” two miles inside the bar.
Time from five fathoms outside to Sand Island “ Beacon,” twenty minutes.
A vessel goes out from the anchorage at Sand Island into open ocean in from thirty
to fifty minutes.
There is abundant room for any vessel to work in or out, with the wind from any
point of the compass; and, as the tide sits fair through the channel in the best water,
it greatly facilitates both ingress and egress.
The ranges for turning Clatsop Spit, are, by my own verification, Point “ Ellice,”
with Pillar Hill just shut in behind it, and Point Adams in one with the highest “ pap”
of the mountains to the eastward. In eight fathoms, a vessel passes clear, either in
coming in or going out. As that leading “ pap” has no name, I propose to distinguish
it as the “ Ewing Peak.” We have built a beacon on Sand Island, on which is a white
flag, eighty feet above the island, and eighty-five feet above high water mark. Around
the base of the flag-staff is a block-house, thirty-five feet high and fifteen feet square ;
it can be seen plainly, in good weather, twelve miles at sea. By bringing the beacon
flag directly under the center of the highest peak westward of Chinook Point, and
Point Adams just open south of Pillar Hill Tree, a vessel will be in twelve and a half
fathoms, in a fair way to the bar, with bar range on, viz:—Point Adams and Pillar
Hill And the usual wind at N. W., or anywhere in the western board, is fair for
crossing. Vessels cross the bar of the new channel under all steering sails, or beat up
channel, as the wind may be. It is not necessary to tack ship on the bar in any wind.
A sailing vessel can run to sea from Sand Island, or come in in less time than she
can run to Baker’s Bay; after which, if in Baker’s Bay, she must take her chance for
wind and tide to get to sea.
The anchorages at Astoria, Tansy Point, (east end of Clatsop Beach,) and Sand
Island, are good, with abundant room for getting under weigh at any stage of the tide. As soon as practicable, I will designate all the points of range for which the new
beacon on Sand Island can be made available. It is a superior position for a beacon
light.
Very respectfully your obedient servant,
WASHINGTON A. BARTLETT,
Lieut. U. S. JVavy, Assist. U. S. Coast Survey.
To G e o r g e G ib b s , E s q ., Deputy Collector Port o f Astoria.

THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO AND ITS IMPROVEMENTS.

The following improvements, says the A l t a C a lifo rn ia News, so necessary to the safe
navigation of our bay, have been completed under the superintendence of Commander
Cadwallader Ringgold, U. S. Navy, who has kindly furnished an account of them to us
for publication:—
T onquin P oint S hoal.—Making out from North Bay has been surveyed, and a black
spar buoy moored on the N. W. end, in 15 feet low water. Vessels coming in from
sea are directed to pass the buoy on the starboard bow, two cables length distance.
B lossom R ock.—This rock has a large black buoy moored upon it, in fifteen feet
VOL. XX11I.-----NO.




V.

36

56 2

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

low water, terminating in a cone of three feet. The point of the rock lies twenty
feet N. E. of the buoy, having only six feet upon it at low water. The tides sweep
over and towards this dangc rous rock with irregularity and great velocity; vessels
must avoid approaching it too near, particularly in light winds.
S outhampton M iddle G rounds.—This extensive shoal, extending north and south,
lies to the eastward of Angel Isle. On the south extreme there is moored a black
spar buoy, in fifteen feet low water. On the center a red spar buoy, and on the north
extreme a black and white spar buoy, both in fifteen feet low water. The soundings
off the west side of this extensive shoal decrease abruptly from five fathoms blue mud
to hard sand in three fathoms.
I nvincible R ock.—A dangerous shoal near the Straits of San Pablo, situated four
hundred yards southwardly from the “ Two Brothers,”—is marked by a black spar
buoy, fifteen feet low water.
R incon P oint R ocks.—A ledge of rocks lying off this point, with a channel inside,
has a black spar buoy moored upon it, in six feet low water.
Complete examinations and surveys of the bay, together with the approach to the
harbor from the sea, have been made, including the survey of the intermediate bays
and Sacramento River, with a view to publication at the earliest moment, for the ad­
vantage of the public.
In connection with the above, we are enabled to state that experienced pilots for
the outer bar and port of San Francisco, and Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, have
been duly appointed, under the superintendence of the Board of Pilot Commissioners,
in conformity with the recent State laws, and in whom the commercial community may
place full confidence.

RA ILR O A D , CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS,
RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC.
REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE.

We regret exceedingly that Congress did not take time to act upon this very im­
portant subject, and we believe the people throughout our whole country feel this
same deep regret.
The necessity for this work is becoming more and more apparent every day. With­
out it we cannot expect to retain our Pacific possessions; all their products, excepting
gold, being the same as those of this side of the Rocky Mountains, they cannot come to
us for a market, or through us to Europe for a market. The different parallels on that
side must produce for, and exchange with, each other, and with Asia. Their position must
soon develope these facts, which will show their interests to be separate and distinct from
ours; and without a railroad directly across the continent, with tolls on transport so
low as will force the commerce of Europe with Asia over it, and make the Pacific side
and the Atlantic side its depots, thereby binding the two slopes together as one, they
must separate from us, and form an independent nation.
This is a subject which should not be put off, or delayed from session to session as it
has beta; the people everywhere are prepared for, and urging it upon Congress. The
impracticability, and even impossibility, of having it undertaken as a government work,
is generally seen, and admitted by both political parties of the country; and know­
ing, as we do, that the o n ly possible source of means for its accomplishment is being
appropriated to other purposes, we must view these delays with alarm, lest we may
be obliged to relinquish this great prize, now within our grasp.
Though Congress, as a body, did not find time to act, still we are pleased to see that
the committees on roads and canals of both houses have thoroughly examined the
whole subject, and reported a bill, in each house, to carry into effect this stupendous
enterprise, and the bill was accompanied, in both houses, with a full, clear, and states­
manlike report. We now have before us the very able report of the Senate’s com­
mittee ; Mr. Bright, its chairman, well known for his sound, practical, and statesman­
like views, has made the whole subject, as vast as it is, perfectly .plain.
He commences by saying, that, after having duly examined all the plans before the
committee, “ Your committee have come to the conclusion that the plan submitted by
Mr. Asa Whitney, of New York, is the one which ought to be adopted,” and that “ the




Railroad, Canal, an d Steamboat Statistics.

563

committee were fully supported by the resolutions adopted, generally by the unani­
mous vote of the two branches of the Legislatures, of eighteen or more States, expressly
urging the adoption of this plan, as the only possible one, besides the same unanimous
expressions from public meetings throughout the country in our populous cities, and
even since the two large conventions held last fall, the one at St. Louis and the other
at Memphis, public meetings, numerously and most respectably attended, at Cincinnati,
at Louisville, at Indianapolis, at Dayton, at Columbus, and at Zanesville, have unani­
mously urged this as the o n ly p la n that would not involve constitutional and other
difficulties sure to defeat it: the committee, therefore, believe the opinion of the
country is almost universally concentrated on this plan.”
Then we have an examination of the other plans, (of which there are three,) as com­
pared with Mr. Whitney’s :—
1st. As a government work directly.
2d. The loan of the government credit to a company to be incorporated for the
object.
3d. The setting apart a specific portion of the national treasury, leaving the work
still in the hands of the government,
All of these plans the committee, (justly, as we think,) pronounce to be unconstitu­
tional and impracticable; but the insurmountable difficulties presented in these three
plans are superseded by substituting the p r in c ip le o f p riva te enterprise a n d p riv a te
responsibility , as proposed by Mr. Whitney’s plan. And as there are no plans before
Congress or the people, except that of Mr. Whitney, which do not depend upon the public
treasury, either directly or indirectly, for means, which Congress would not sanction,
nor would the committee recommend their adoption, Mr. Whitney’s plan must be
adopted, or the work abandoned.
This plan has been so often placed before the public, through the press and other­
wise, that we need not now go fully into its details. We have taken much pains to
place it before our readers from its first introduction to the public, and have repeatedly
urged its adoption, as the most important event of this or any other age. The plan,
though grand and sublime in the extreme, in the results which its accomplishment
must produce upon the industry and prosperity of our whole country, but especially
upon the settlement and civilization of the waste wilderness of 2 000 miles from the
Lake to the Pacific, as well as upon the intercourse and commercial exchanges of the
entire human family, is, nevertheless, very simple. The lands to the extent of sixty
miles wide from Lake Michigan to the Pacific, in all about 78,000,000 of acres, are to
be set apart, and sold to Mr. Whitney at ten cents per acre, good, bad, and indifferent,
and he takes upon himself the risk of making them furnish the means to reimburse his
outlay for the construction of the road, as well as for the sum to be paid into the
treasury for the lands. As he advances through the first 800 miles, where the lands
are all good, he is allowed to take but one-half of the lands, the alternate five miles
by sixty, the other half is held as a fund to continue the road through the poor lands,
After having completed this 800 miles, then he will build a section of ten miles of
road, and if the entire ten miles by sixty of land will not sell for enough to reimburse
for this outlay for this ten miles of road, then he would be permitted to sell from the
reserved lands sufficient only for that purpose, and so on to the completion of the road,
when, if he shall have been able to make all the lands thus set apart reimburse for his
outlay, then the road is to be free, except tolls sufficient only for its expenses of opera­
tion and repairs, to be under the control of Congress. And should he at any time fail
to fulfill the conditions of the bill, Congress may give its management to another party.
His only chance of gain would be in the enhanced value which the work itself would
give to the lands on its line—a creation from his own efforts and means—a positive
creation , and a positive g a in to the nation.
The road built after this plan, subjecting transportation to no tolls except only for
its expenses of operation, would accomplish all the great objects aimed at. Our
manufactures, as well as our products of the Mississippi valley, could then be taken to
all Asia, and exchanged for their products and manufactures. And it would be loaded
with every species of merchandise going to and fro between the Atlantic and Pacific
ports of the United States, as well as between Europe and all Asia, in a word, between
a population of 250,000,000 in Europe, across o ur bosom, and 500,000,000 in Asia.
The committee believe that a road to the Pacific, if obliged to charge tolls on trans­
portation to earn the interest on its cost of construction, could not be sustained, the
necessarily high tolls would exclude business, and say, “ Your committee are, there­
fore, of opinion that this road can never be built and sustained, except by c apital created
by it s s lf as in the plan proposed, and that it would be doomed to failure, if attempted




56 4

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

by the government or the government credit, as the people would never submit to
perpetual taxation for the interest on its cost, but the cheap transport to be obtained
by the plan proposed involves the only principle on which this road can be made a suc­
cessful enterprise, and the more satisfactory because it would not cost the government
or people a single dollar.”
It is, then, shown that it would be difficult and enormously expensive, if not impos­
sible, to construct this road through a now entire wilderness, on any plan for means
unless settlement can keep pace with the work, and that this plan, as it connects the
sale and the settlement of the lands with the work itself, is the o n ly sure plan of
means, and by it the work would advance as rapidly, or more so, than on any
other plan; “ besides, these lands, with this greathighway through their centre, could
not, in the opinion of the committee, fail to command any amount of money required
for the progress of the work, as their daily increasing value would render them the
most safe and the most profitable investment for capital.”
The committee believe that the bill provides for, and secures all the rights and
interests of, the people, and also guarantees the accomplishment of the work. To pro­
vide against land monopoly, the lands will not go into Mr. Whitney’s possession at all;
the titles are to be given by the government to the actual purchasers and settlers, and
no lands to remain unsold longer than ten years after the ten miles section of road has
been completed through them.
“ The committee believe that, by the provisions of the bill, it is not possible for the
government or the people to lose or risk anything. And in the execution of this stu­
pendous work, the nation will realize all the energy and effect of private enterprise,
without risk and without expense, and will have, in the end, a public work costing
some $60,00U,000, with about $8,000,000 in the treasury for the lands, which without
the road would never produce to the government $10,000,000. And besides, the same
work done by the government, would probably cost some $200,000,000, leaving a
public debt of 190,000,000, for the interest on which, would be required a perpetual
tax on the property and industry of the nation.”
The report is full and clear on the subject of means, which is connected with the
route. The committee were clearly of the opinion that there is no other reliable
source for means than by the plans of Mr. Whitney, and as the sale of the lands to
him is a direct sale, he must decide upon the route, because the lands for any route
can be made available for means only by constructing the road through them, and
lands sufficient for this work, with natural facilities to commence and carry on the
work, and to accommodate settlement with it, do not exist on any other route. An
attempt to decide any of these points by Congress might, and probably would, defeat
the whole plan. Were the question of route subject to the action of Congress, with so
many local and sectional interests as would be involved, it would become a subject of
excitement and controversy, and end in defeat; but this plan obviates all these diffi­
culties Besides, it is shown that Mr. Whitney’s proposed route is the shortest and
most accessible from all the Atlantic cities to the Pacific. The only route where all
the streams can be bridged so as to give an uninterrupted intercourse without tran­
shipment or ferriage from ocean to ocean, and owing to the sphere of the globe is the
shortest route from Europe to Asia across our continent.
“ To wait for further surveys and explorations, as has been proposed, would, in the
opinion of your committee, be the defeat and abandonment of this plan forever ; and,
besides, the authorization of surveys for a railroad to the Pacific, would justly be con­
sidered as sanctioning the commencement of a government work, which your committee
would not recommend. Neither does this plan require any delay for further surveys.
The rivers have been examined by Mr. Whitney himself to ascertain at what points
they can be bridged. From the lake to the Mississippi it is well known that there are
no difficulties-; from the Mississippi to his point on the Missouri his route is without
obstacles; and thence to the South Pass it is a well known fact that impediments do
not exist. While these three sections are being constructed, the route thence to the
Pacific can be explored, surveyed, and fixed upon. The committee urge the immediate
adoption of this plan because the lands on the first part of the route are being so
rapidly disposed of for other purposes, that any delays for surveys or other causes,
would defeat this great work forever.”
In speaking of the importance of the work the committee say, “ That its execution
on the plan proposed, will effect a complete revolution in the commercial world, and its
social and political influences cannot fail to be equally important. That it will bring
the great bulk of the trade of the world on this line, and make our country the grea^




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

565

of the commercial transactions of all nations—making the heart of our country
the centre of the world, its banking house, and its great exchange.”
And it is worthy of remark, that this belt around embraces, and that this route
would accommodate nearly the entire population of the globe, that is, the enterprising
and industrious part. The committee sum up the report by stating, “ that it has been
shown,—
1st. The great importance and necessity of this work—that the people have decided
upon its necessity, and on the plan proposed.
2d. That to attempt it on any other plan would be impracticable, or if possible, the
necessarily high tolls to provide for the interest on its cost, with the expenses of opera­
tion, would exclude business, the work could not be sustained, and would fail to
accomplish the great objects aimed at. But—
3d. The committee believe it has been shown that the plan proposed creates its own
means, requires no tolls for interest on its cost, imposes no tax or debt on the people
or nation, involves no constitutional or sectional question, or difficulty, and if executed
will, as your committee believe, accomplish the ends and objects aimed at.”
And we join with the committee in urging its immediate adoption. We hope our
readers, and the public generally, will arouse to speedy action on this vastly important
subject. We believe it to be idle to think that such a work, however important it may
be, can ever be accomplished by the government. Any attempt at placing it under
the government management, and dependent on the public treasury, would at once
throw it into the vortex of party strife ; it would ruin any party or any man sanctioning
it. Should this bill not be made a law at the coming session of Congress, this plan
must then be abandoned forever, as the lands will no longer be available for means,
the soldiers’ bounty bill, with other appropriations, and with the rapid settlement, is
rendering the execution of this work on the o n ly possible plan, the more difficult every
day. We hope, therefore, to see the whole country aroused on this great subject; so
much so, as to prevent any further delays in Congress.
pro g ress.

focus

LAW OF CONNECTICUT RELATING TO TAXES ON RAILROAD STOCKS.

We publish below a correct copy of an act passed at the May (1850) session of the
Legislature of Connecticut, touching the assessment and collection of taxes on railroads
in that State:—
AX ACT FOR THE ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES ON RAILROADS.

S ec . 1.

B e i t enacted by the Senate a n d House o f Representatives i n G eneral Assem ­
b ly convened, That the clerks or secretaries of the several railroad companies, which

have been, or may be hereafter, incorporated in this State shall, on or before the twen­
tieth day of July in each year, make out and render to the Controller of Public Ac­
counts, a true and attested list of the number of shares of stock in their .respective
companies; the true market value of each share on the first day of July in each year;
the whole length of their road, and the length of that portion of the same, whether
the whole or part, lying within this State. And it shall be the duty of the board of
equalization, now established by law, to examine, and amend or correct such lists, in
such manner as they may deem just and equitable. And a true copy of each list, as
amended, corrected, or approved, shall be returned by said board of equalization, to
each respective clerk or secretary, by mail or otherwise; and the decision of said
board shall be final.
S ec . 2. It shall be the duty of the said railroad companies to pay, or cause to be
paid, to the Treasurer of this State, for the use of the State, on or before the first day
of September, in each year, a sum equal to one-third of 1 per cent of the value so re­
turned, and corrected of the stock of their respective companies, whether owned by
persons residing within this State, or elsewhere ; which amount or tax shall take the
place of all other taxes on railroad stock in this State, from the passage of this act.
But when a railroad lies partly within this State and partly within some adjoining
State or States, the company shall pay such proportion of one-third of 1 per cent of
said returned value, as the length of that portion of the road which lies within this
State, bears to the whole length of said road : and each of said companies shall have a
lien upon the stock of each stockholder for the reimbursement of the sum so required
to be paid on his stock.
S ec. 3. If any clerk or secretary of a railroad company shall fail to comply with the
requirements of this Act, he shall forfeit to the Treasurer of this State, for the use of




56 6

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

the State, one hundred dollars, for each case of neglect, to be recovered in the name of
the Treasurer,-by action on this statute ; and if any railroad company shall fail to
comply with the requirements of this Act,, such company shall forfeit to the State the
sum of ten thousand dollars, for each case of neglect, to be in like manner recovered,
in the name of the State Treasurer, by action on this statute.
Si;o. 4. If the secretary or clerk of any railroad company shall not make the returns
required by this Act, the said board of equalization shall ascertain the market value of
the stock of such company, and assess the same accordingly.
Sec. 5. All laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
THE WELLAND CANAL,

In 1849 the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, IC. T., Governor-General of British North
America, offered a prize of £50 “ for. the best treatise on the bearing of the St. Law­
rence and Welland Canals on the interests of Canada as an agricultural country.”
Competitors for the prize were requested to send in their treatises on or before the
first day of February, 1850, to the office of the Governor’s Secretary. Ten essays
were sent in within the prescribed time, and submitted to John Young, H. Ruttan, and
E. W. Thomson, Esqs., who acted as judges on the occasion. The prize was awarded
to T homas C. K eefer , Civil Engineer, to whom we are indebted for a copy. It,is en­
titled ‘‘ The Canals of Canada: their Prospects and Influence.” The subject of the
essay, in its more extended sense, embraces the consideration of the influence of com­
merce upop agriculture—an influence which can neither be mistaken nor denied, and is
clearly traceable upon the pages of history, from the earliest ages to the present. The
essay is at once able and interesting, and embodies a vast amount of valuable infor­
mation. We shall take occasion to refer to it in future numbers of the M ercha nts’
M agazine. A single extract, touching the history, <Ssc., of the Welland Canal, is all
that we can find room for in the present number:—
Upper Canada, shortly after the termination of the late American war, turned her
attention to the improvement of the St. Lawrence, her position and the disputes be­
tween the two Provinces—respecting the apportionment of the duties on imports by
sea—naturally promoting a desire to break herway out to the seaboard. Between 1818
and 1824, the Legislature granted £4,000 for a survey of the obstructed portions of
the St. Lawrence within her jurisdiction, and in the latter year the Welland Canal
Company was chartered.
This famous undertaking was originated in 1818 by a few inhabitants of the Niagara
district, who leveled the ridge which divides the waters emptying into the St. Law­
rence above and below the Falls of Niagara. There were then present no high official
personages, no celebrated engineers—distinguished commercial or political leaders ;
all but one were inhabitants of the township of Thorold, farmers and country traders
—the recent comrades of the gallant Brock. They had before them no successful pre­
cedent ;—a people four times as numerous, and commanding the trade of that Atlantic
which scarce one of these Canadian schemers had ever seen, were just commencing
the Erie Canal. There was then but one steamer upon Lake Erie;—Huron and Mi­
chigan were known only to the Indian and fur-trader ;■—-Buffalo, a city of 40,000 souls,
was then a village, and Chicago and Milwaukie were yet “ in the womb of time.” The
whole commerce above Niagara, upon 50,000 square miles of water with 3,000 miles
of coast, employed but forty sail, two only of which exceeded one hundred tons. Yet
in that feeble and unostentatious commencement we trace the origin of that policy
which has since broken down the barriers interposed by nature between the commer'
cial intercourse of central North America and the world: and the unassuming actors
have lived to see hundreds of floating palaces propelled by steam, and five hundred
sail ploughing “ the world of waters” in the West. They have seen the tonnage of
1818 increased a thousand fold—the population round the lakes thrice doubled—and
an emigration of gold seekers sailing in a lake-built brig, two-thirds the circuit of the
globe—to colonize the old conquests of Spain.
In 1833, after having extended the navigation of the St. Lawrence nearly 1,000
miles into the interior by the opening of tire Welland Canal, Upper Canada voted
£10,000 for the improvement of the river between Prescott and the eastern boundary




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

56 7

of the Province; this being an object “ highly important to the agricultural and com­
mercial interests of this Province,” as stated in the preamble to the act; and in 1834
the Legislature authorized a loan of the munificent sum of £350,000 for this purpose,
and dictated the grand dimensions of 200 feet by 55 feet breadth for the locks, with
not less than nine feet of water. In 1837 the canal mania reached its bight in the
Upper Province; £245,000 additional stock was authorized for the permanent com­
pletion of the Welland Canal, the wooden locks of which were rapidly giving way;—
and in the session of that year the enormous sum of £930,000 was voted by tipper,
Canada for internal improvements. These magnificent “ resolves ” were rendered in a
great measure nugatory by the political crisis which followed shortly after.
Upon the union of the Provinces in 1841, at the first session, £1,319,182 sterling
was voted for the St. Lawrence and Welland Canals, Burlington Bay Canal, and har­
bors upon the lakes, and upward of £350,000 sterling for other internal improvements.
The favorable report of the committee—in which the grant for the improvement of
the St, Lawrence was contained—was secured by the leader of that party who, upon
the Thorold ridge upward of twenty years before, had projected the commercial ob­
literation of the Falls of Niagara. The grant for the continuation of the St. Lawrence
Canals had been left out of the above appropriation, and the fate of that navigation
then hung upon a single vote and that at first was adverse; although the journals pre­
sent no record of the struggle, a battle was fought in committee over prostrate Cana­
dian commerce with varying success, and was eventually won after more than one re­
pulse, by that same indomitable energy, patience, and perseverance, which carried to
successful completion the Welland Canal. The resolutions offered, rejected, amended,
and re-offered, in that committe were the “ resolutions of 1841,” although not those to
which only political training has directed the public mind to the exclusion of more
practical subjects; and which, however excellent in themselves, give stones where the
people want bread—more government instead of facilities of intercourse—political fic­
tions instead of matter of fact markets. That great measure which was to connect
Cleveland with California was then, and has been since, apparently a matter of less
moment than the political gladiatorship of rival lawyers, who can shelve their differ­
ences nowhere but upon the millenial bench; for, while the contents of the Provincial
treasury have been poured out like water for “ political considerations,” the completion
of our canals has, by rival administrations, been unnecessarily and criminally postponed
from year to year.
FALL R IV E R RAILROAD.

This is one of the best managed railroads in the country, and we are glad to learn
that it is in contemplation to extend the line to Boston, and thus sever the connection
that now necessarily exists with the Old Colony Railroad, which is universally, we be­
lieve. admitted to be one of the worst managed, and, consequently, most unproductive
roads in New England.
The annexed statements exhibit the gross earnings of the Fall River Railroad for
ten months of the financial jrear commencing December 1, 1849, as compared with the
previous year:—
1849—§0.
Increase.
1848-9.
December...........................
$11,907 97
$1,695 13
January ............................. .......................
9,564 21
11,571 35
2,007 14
February ...........................
12,590 65
2,888 23
March.................................
13,541 86
1.555 28
April..................................
15,872 93
970 27
M a y ...................................
15,985 72
1,246 40
June....................................
17,090 02
2,724 75
J u ly ...................................
21,187 85
3,828 11
August................................
25,621 00
5,239 64
September..........................
23,772 00
4,154 08
Total........................... .......................

$141,832 36

$169,141 38 $27,309 20

The earnings for October and November, 1849, were $18,972 05 and $15,746 57,
which, added to the above, will make the gross earnings for the present financial year,
ending December 1, 1850, over $200,000, on a capital of $1,050,000. The entire bal­
ance of indebtedness of the company, December 1, 1849, was about $102,000, which
the directors wisely determined to liquidate, as far as possible, from the net earnings
of the current year.




568

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
9

HARTFORD, H EW HAVEN, AND SPRINGFIELD RAILROAD.

Tliis road, extending from New Haven to Springfield, was opened in 1845. It is
sixty-two miles in length, and, connecting with the New York and New Haven Rail­
road at the last-named place, and the Western, and the Boston and Worcester, it forms
part of a continuous line of railroad between New York and Boston. The following
table gives the places, distances, and fares between New Haven and Springfield:—
Places.

Miles.

New Haven............
North Haven..........
Wallingford............
Meriden...................
Berlin.......................
Newington..............
Hartford..................

Fares.

$0
0
0
0
0
1

20
30
50
75
90
00

Places.

Miles.

Windsor.......................
Windsor Locks...........
Warehouse Point........
Enfield Bridge............
Thompsonville............
Long Meadow............
Springfield..................

,,

43
49
51
54
62

Fares.

$1
1
1
1
1
1
1

15
35
40
45
50
65
75

The last annual report of the Directors of this road exhibits the affairs of the com­
pany as in a very satisfactory condition. The income for the year ending August 81,
1850, was as follows:—
From passengers...........................................................
Freight................................................................
Rents, wharfage, steamboats, mails, & expresses.
The expenditures for the same period, for operating and
repairs of road, and incidental expenses, were........
Repairs of equipment, including the sum of $20,000
paid for new engines and cars........................ . . . .
Interest paid on bonds and loans.................................
Balance and net receipts

$303,038 92
147,118 76
40,173 77
----------------$490,931 45
147,039 87
49,415 03
38,020 90
$256,455 65

The receipts of the road from freight and passengers, show a very large and constantly progressive increase during each year which has elapsed since the completion
of its extension to Springfield.
For year ending September,
“
“
“
“
“
“

1847, the receipts amounted to. $267,814 32
Increase.
1848
344,762 87 $76,948 55
1849
373,970 04 29,207 17
1850
450,757 68 76,787 67

The whole number of passengers transported on the road the current year was
386,876, being an increase over the last year of 66,129. This large passenger traffiek
has been transacted with entire exemption from casualty. The total number of miles
run by the passenger and freight trains is 216,300.
The Bum of $187,251 has been expended in the construction of the Branch Road to
Middletown. Of this amount, $100,000 were subscribed by the citizens of that place.
So far as completed it was opened in March last, and the amount of business contrib­
uted by it to the main line has been satisfactory.
The Directors have declared a semi-annual dividend of 5 per cent, payable on the
1st of October, 1850; and a vote was passed by the stockholders, declaring it expe­
dient that The Directors should, within the ensuing six months, declare an extra divi­
dend of not less than 5 per cent to be paid in cash or stock, at their discretion.
The following gentlemen were chosen Directors for the ensuing year:—
Charles F. Pond and Charles Boswell, Hartford; Elisha Peck and Cornelius Van­
derbilt, New York; Chester W. Chapin, Springfield ; James S. Brooks, Meriden ; Fred­
erick R. Griffin, Guilford; Ezra 0. Read, New Haven; and Ebenezer Jackson, Middletown.




,

,

R ailroad Canal and Steam boat Statistics.

56 9

STEAMBOATS BUILT AT CINCINNATI IN 1 8 4 9 -5 0 .*

From the discouraging prospects for the boating business that were exhibited at
the commencement of the year, and which did not improve materially as the season
advanced, we were prepared to find a great falling off in the steamboat building at
this point; and when we learned that only eleven boats had been built at the port
during the year, we were nbt disappointed. Within the last few months, however,
business has greatly revived, and there is at this time about twenty-five boats on the
stocks, all or nearly all of which will be completed in season for the fall business.
The following is a list of the boats and barges registered during the year ending Au­
gust 31st, 1850:—
Tonnage.

Name.

520
149
348
204
194

Value.

Natchez, No. 2 ......................... ...............
Trustee...................................... ................
Ohio............... ............................ ................
Barge Eliza............................... ................
“
Transport....................... ................
“
Buckeye...........................
D elta......................................... ................
Jack Hays................................. ................
Gulnare.....................................
Wisconsin, No. 2 ....................... ................
Pochahontes..............................
Ironton.......................................
Barge Temple........................... ....... ........
R. H.Lee................................... ...............
Crescent..................................... ................
Barge Uncle Sam..................... ................

198
158
548
260

$33,000
8,500
25,000
2,800
2,700
2,400
27,000
12,000
24,000
27,000
27,000
10,000
2,300
9,000
28,000
4,000

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

4,560

$245,100

396
189
297

When built.

October, 1849.
«
«
it

“
Nov’m’r, 1849.
“
DecemT, 1849.
“
«
tt

January, 1850.
March, 1850.
May,
1850.
June,

1850.

The number and tonnage of the boats built during the previous four years, were as
follows:—
Years.
1848-9................... ___
1847-8................... ___

No.
23
29

Tons. |
1 Years.
7,281 1846-7................. .........
10,233 1845-6................. .........

No.
32
25

Tons.
8,268
5,657

It is proper to remark here that the building business at points above this place, in­
cluding Pittsburg, do not show that deficiency that we have to record, but on the con­
trary, there is, (so far as we are able to judge from appearances and partial reports,)
an increase in the aggregate; and tonnage already afloat, and to be put afloat, on the
western waters this fall, will be fully adequate to any demand that may be experi­
enced.— C in c in n a ti P r ic e C u rre n t.
RAILROADS IN PRUSSIA TO THE END OF 1849.

We are enabled to state, from an official document, the exact progress made in
Prussia with railroads to the close of 1849. The total length of lines at that time
opened for traffic, or actually forming, amounted to 485} German miles, to form which
required a capital of 189,003,621 reichsthalers, or 389,300 per mile.
In this estimate, however, there is included 46 miles of lines already opened, which
enter the territories of other German powers, and 3 } miles of the Aix-la-Chapelle and
Manstrich line not yet completed, which belongs to the kingdom of the Netherlands ;
so that, including 4 } miles of foreign lines included in the Prussian system of manage­
ment, there are in the Prussian dominions 440} miles of railroad. This does not
include the 4 } miles of the line from Cottbus to Schwielochsse, which is worked by
horses.
* For a similar statement of steamboats built at Cincinnati during the year ending September 1st
1849, see Merchants' Magazine for October, 1849, vol. xxi., page 469.




57 0

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures,

At the close of 1849, excluding the lines running into foreign states, there were 34I f
miles of line opened for traffic, and including them, 887f, of which about 80 miles were
provided with double rails.
The greater part of the railways of Prussia are constructed by companies, and the
capital is raised in shares, with the assistance of the State. At the cost of the State
exclusively, hitherto only the following lines have been completed:—The East Rail*
way, from the crossing of the stargard and Posen line, by Bromberg and Dirschau to
Konigsberg, with a branch line from Dirschau to Dantzic; the Westphalian line, by
Haneda Paderborn, Lippstadt, and Hamm ; and the Saarbruck line, which unites the
Palatinate (Pflaz) line with the line by Metz to Paris. These three lines, formed by
the State, amount together to 85f miles.
Of the whole cost above-mentioned of 189,003,621 thalers, about 19,000,000, are
required for the line out of Prussia, but under Prussian management; so that about
170,080,000 thalers is required for the lines in Prussia itself.
To the end of 1849 there was actually expended on the lines 148,000,000 thalers,
and of this sum 130,500,000 had been expended on the lines in the Prussian territory.
There is yet to be raised, therefore, on the whole 41,000,000 thalers; and of this sum
for the lines in Prussia 39,500,000 are required.
Of the total capital the private companies have undertaken for 141,085,500 thalers,
of which 131,540,000 have been paid up, and 9,545,000 are yet to be paid.
The Prussian Government has contributed to the formation of railroads in four modes,
as follow:— 1. By taking to itself a number of shares of the capital of the different
companies.—2. Taking the whole expense of making the line on itself.—3. By giving a
guarantee of 3£ per cent interest on some undertakings, or by lending money to the
company.— 4. By allowing interest on priority claims, from 3 to 3-£ per cent, to the
shareholders of such private rails as the state is interested in by being the holder of
shares. Taking the German mile at 4£ English miles, the length of railroads in
Prussia will be in English miles about 2,306 ; and taking the thaler at 3s.—it is a frac­
tion less—the expense will be about £28,353,543, or about £12,294 per mile.

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.
COTTON: AND THE COTTON MANUFACTURE.

The following paper was recently read by G. R. P oeter , Esq., one o f the Secretaries
o f the Board o f Trade, before the British Association at Edinburg:—
The fear of being dependent upon foreign countries for the supply of any article of
first necessity has often influenced the mind of the public, although the cases can be
but very few in which that fear can have any just foundation. It must be evident,
upon the slightest reflection, that if the industry and capital of any country have been
applied to the production of any article, the market for which is habitually found in
some other country, it must be at least as disastrous for the producing country to be
deprived of its market as it could possibly be for the consuming country to have its
supplies cut off. In point of fact, both countries would necessarily be placed by the
interruption in the same condition of distress, since, to be in a condition to deal to­
gether, both must be producing and consuming countries.
There are circumstances, however, under which it may be unwise for a country to
be willingly dependent upon another for the means of setting its industry in motion;
namely, when the causes of the interruption that will operate injuriously are beyond
the control of the country of supply; and such a case actually exists in respect of the,
to us, all-important article, cotton. Great Britain now is, and for many years has been,
dependent not at all upon the good-will of the citizens of the United States to sell
their produce to us, but very much upon the influence of seasons, for the means' of
setting to work that large proportion of its population which depends upon the cotton
manufacture for the feeding themselves and their families. In the present condition
of our cotton trade any serious falling off in the amount of the cotton crop in the Uni­
ted States necessarily abridges the means of laboring among our Lancashire and Lan­
arkshire spinners and weavers. Such a falling off is in any year likely to occur; wre
have felt its influence twice within the last few years, are at this time suffering under
it, and are threatened with another adverse season, the effect of which must be, to de­
prive of employment a large proportion of those spinners and weavers whose labor is




Journal o f M ining and M anufactures

.

571

bestowed on the preparation of coarse goods, it being in that class of manufactures
that the price of the raw material first and principally shows its effects.
There is a growing opinion that now, and for some few years past, we have reached
the maximum supply of cotton from the United States, a fact which, should it prove
correct, makes it a matter of absolute necessity either to seek for further supplies of
the article from other sources, or to find some efficient substitute that shall provide the
means of employment for our constantly growing numbers.
Our supply of cotton has hitherto been drawn in very fluctuating proportions from
British India, Brazil, Egypt, our West India Colonies, and the United States of Amer­
ica. From this last-named country the quantities were for a long series of years in a
continual condition of increase. From Brazil our importations have sensibly lessened
without any reasonable prospect of future increase. From Egypt the quantities fluc­
tuate violently, and depend greatly upon causes not falling within ordinary commercial
considerations. In the British West Indies the cultivation of cotton has for some time
eeased to form a regular branch of industry, and it is hardly to be expected that, having
thus ceased to be profitable when prices in Europe were uniformly at a higher level
than they have been now for a long series of years, the cultivation of cotton to any
important extent will be resumed in these colonies. From British India the quantities
received depend upon a different set of circumstances, but of such a nature as to for­
bid any very sanguine hope of great and permanent increase in the shipments. That
cotton can be, and, indeed, that it is produced at a low cost in British India, is well
known, and that its quality, when carefully collected and free from dirt, is sufficiently
good for many, if not for most purposes of manufacture, is true also; that its price in
the markets of Europe is uniformly lower than that of the more ordinary kinds of
American cotton is owing mainly, if not wholly, to want of care or of honesty in those
by whom it is packed for shipment, and who manage to forward with it to Europe a
large per centage of dirt and rubbish. This is an evil which is manifestly within the
power of the Indian dealers to remedy, and it is difficult to understand that a view to
their own interest has not long ago led them to reform their practices in this particular.
A want of practicable roads has been alleged as one chief reason why the cotton
planters of India cannot compete successfully with those of the United States; but
this evil can hardly be said to exist as regards the greater part of the East India cot­
ton which hitherto has been exported to Europe, since it is produced within a very short
distance of the sea, from shipping ports to which the access is easy. Dr. Forbes Royle,
who has deeply investigated all the circumstances attendant upon the supply of cotton
from India, and than whom there cannot be a better authority, is of opinion that by
bringing the native cultivator in India into nearer connection with the consumer through
the personal intervention of Europeans, who would purchase of him direct and ship
the produce to Europe, thus rendering unnecessary the intermediate speculators and
dealers who now engage in the trade, and who will seek either fairly or unfairly to re­
alize profits from their dealings, he (the cultivator) might receive a better price for his
cotton, and would thus be induced to bestow greater care in picking and keeping it
clean, and would be willing to devote a greater proportion than now of his land and
liis industry for the production of an article which he could then be certain to convert
into the means of support for himself and his family, a result which, under the existing
system, is very far from being the case, so that, as a measure of the commonest pru­
dence, or, more correctly speaking, through necessity, he is forced to devote a large
part of his land to the production of grain for the consumption of his household.
To realize the benefit thus suggested by Dr. Royle, there needs to be introduced
into practice in India a new system, and no one who has any acquaintance with the
habits of the people of that country needs to be told how difficult a matter it must be
to accomplish this, or, indeed, any change among them. While the price of cotton is
high, through a partial failure of the crop in America, the consumers in Lancashire
might be willing to give encouragement to any properly qualified persons who should
proceed to India with a view to the purchase and exportation thence of cotton in an
improved condition, but the arrangements necessary for carrying out such a plan of
operations would absorb much time, and before any result could be attained, the whole
state of things might be changed through the gathering of an abundant crop in the
United States, and the means that would thus be presented of obtaining thence a
sufficiency of the raw material at a moderate price. It must prove, therefore, more
or less a hazardous speculation for any one to establish himself in Guzerat with the
object of supplying to any extent the markets of this country with cotton. By degrees
the desired result may possibly be realized; but if the cotton manufacture of England
is to continue its usual rate of progress, the pace at which such a reform must proceed




57 2

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

•would be far too slow for it to exercise any sensible effect upon the condition of our
manufacturing population.
Any direct encouragement to increased cultivation on the part of the government,
by means of bounties or differential duties, is, of course, quite out of the question.
According to the accounts hitherto received from the United States the crop of the
season 1849-50 will fall short of that of the preceding season by about 700,000 bags,
but will then be full 600,000 bags greater than the average crop of the five years,
1834-5 to 1838-9, while it will be fully equal to the average of the following five
years, and only 270,000 bags less than the average of the five years from 1844-5 to
1848-9.
The growth of the cotton manufacture in this country will be shown by the following
statement of the weight of the raw material used in different years of the present'
century, namely:—
The increased consumption of our Gotton mills in each decennary period of this
century is thus seen to have been as follows :—

1800
Iucrease t o ............1810.
Further increase to.1820.
“
1830.
“
1840.
“
1849.
Consumption in . . . 1849.

.lbs.

56,010,732
76,478,203
19,183,720
42,287,797
328,626,548
182.981.008
775.468.008

It is by no means improbable that the consumption during the last nine years would
have gone forward at a constantly accelerated pace, so that it would by this time have
gone beyond 1,000,000,000 pounds in the year, but for the check given to it in 1847
and in the present year, through insufficiency in the supply of the raw material. Hotwithstanding this check, the growth of the cotton manufacture of England has been
great beyond all precedent in analogous cases, and beyond all reasonable calculation,
showing the astonishing increase in half a century of 1284 per cent. This increase
has been concurrent with, and mainly caused by, a continual reduction in the price of
cotton, which of late years has not been more than from one-fifth to one-fourth of the
price at the beginning of the century. On the other hand, the continual fall in price
has acted as a stimulus on the producers, who have hitherto made up, in general, by
the extent of their cultivation for the diminished price of their crops. To this result
there must, of course, be a limit, and it is more than probable that such limit, if not
already reached, will be so, sooner than the desire of mankind for cheap clothing can
be satisfied. Cheap as cotton fabrics have of late years become, there can be no
doubt that any further sensible diminution of their cost would create a new and very
large circle of consumers among those who have hitherto been unable fully to gratify
their wants in respect to the use of decent clothing.
To those who reflect seriously upon these facts, it must appear a matter of grave
importance how any continued failure of cotton crops is to be met, and not only so,
but also how a substitute is to be found for the hitherto constantly increasing amount
of those crops, for it will not be enough to provide the same amount of employment
as before for our continually growing numbers in a branch of industry which, by its
ordinary operations, necessarily brings forward those increased numbers. The uneasi­
ness which it is natural to feel under the circumstances here described, has led to the
inquiry, as dilligently and as carefully as opportunity has allowed, whether some sub­
stitute or auxiliary may not be called into action which shall meet the evil that threatens
us, and this, it is suggested, may be found in a kindred branch of manufacture—that
of flax.
A very few years ago, when first anxiety began to arise concerning the prospects of
our cotton manufacture, the resource which has just been named did not present itself.
At that time our linen manufacture had made the progress by which it is at present
marked—a progress proportionally equal to any that has been made at any time in
the cotton manufacture.
Hitherto we have, in this kingdom, been greatly dependent upon our foreign impor­
tations for supplies of flax, and while the law imposed restrictions upon the importa­
tion of human food, there existed a kind of moral impediment in the way of increasing
our home growth of articles for any purpose not of equal primary necessity. That
impediment is now removed, and there can be no reason given why our fields should
not be henceforth used for the production of any article that promises an adequate
profit to the farmer. It is especially desirable so to apply the productive power of the




Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

513

soil for the supply of articles as indispensable to the support of millions of people as
corn itself, and an additional inducement to the growth of flax beyond that offered by
other articles, may be found in the fact, that to bring it to the same condition as that
in which it is usually imported from foreign countries, calls for the employment of a
considerable amount of human labor. There is no part of the United Kingdom in
which the flax plant cannot successfully be cultivated, and there is hardly any country
where it might not be brought to supply our deficiencies, should such arise.
It should not in any degree interfere with the prosperity of the present race of cot­
ton manufacturers if flax were to be substituted in part for the material now employed
by them. Some changes are doubtless necessary in order to adopt their present ma­
chinery for the spinning of flax, but not to any important extent; and the expense to
which the proprietors might thus be subjected would be well compensated during the
first year of short supply of cotton that might arise, by the security that they would
feel in the future regularity of their operations; assured as they then would be against
the irregularity of the seasons, or those disturbances which have arisen, and which
always may arise, to disarrange their operations and to interfere with the regular em­
ployment of their hands. It would not appear difficult so to order the arrangement
of a spinning-mill or a weaving-shed, that both flax and cotton might be included
within its operations, and that the preponderance in these operations might be given
from time to time, either to the one or to the other, according to the capabilities of the
markets of supply on the one hand, and the requirements of the markets of consump­
tion on the other.
It must not be for a moment imagined that this subject is brought before the section
with any desire of fostering or encouraging one branch of manufacture at the expense
of any other. The object in view is, in fact, the very opposite of such a desire, and
springs from the wish to preserve in its condition of prosperity and progress, one of
the chief sources of employment for our continually growing numbers, without in any
way interfering with any other branch of industry. It is hoped that the means here
indicated may be found efficacious for meeting the difficulties that now threaten to ob­
struct the course of the cotton manufacture, and without interfering with or creating
difficulties for the linen manufacture, by transferring in part the labor now bestowed
upon one material to the conversion of the other. The adoption of flax as an auxiliary
by our cotton manufacturers could not work any injury to the linen trade, since it would
only make good the deficiency of, and as it should otherwise arise in, the production of
cotton fabrics.
MANUFTCTURES IN AFRICA,

All the travelers and visitors of the frontier and interior towns of Africa with whom
we have had intercourse, either personally, by letter, or by published accounts, coin­
cide, without exception, in one important particular, namely, that the natives of that
vast continent exhibit a remarkable degree of genius, aud display in their numerous
manufactured articles, such a knowledge of mechanics as to agreeably surprise all
who have heard of, or been privileged to behold, their handiwork.
By a statement of the Rev. Dr. Walker, Missionary of the American Board, C. F.
M., ai the Gaboon, a large town just below the equator—and who has lately given to
the public a brief description of his recent visit to the neighboring kings, and their sub­
jects—it appears that the Africans, although long debased by the blighting effects of
heathenism, and the evils and atrocities of the accursed slave trade, are susceptible of
a change to the truth, by the powerful examples of Christianity and civilization.
This fact lias been, and now is being, fully verified by their improved condition in
every respect, especially of the native tribes in the Republic of Liberia, and by thou­
sands of others not yet under its jurisdiction, but to whom a good influence has gone
forth. Very many of the original Africans are daily relinquishing their former modes
of life, and are becoming more and more accustomed to the means of civilization, and
are rapidly and axiously following in the paths indicated by |the Christian light set
upon a hill, as it were, by the citizens of that young nation.
If our readers have any desire to follow out these thoughts, by examining some of
the products of these rude, untutored people, they will meet with a kind reception on
calling at the Colonization rooms, Walnut street, above Sixth, where, in addition to nu­
merous specimens of art and skill, may be seen various objects of natural history from
Africa, and a large collection of portraits, engravings, Ac.
ron ore is found in Africa in immense quantities, and from it are made, by the un­
taught natives, various ornamental and useful articles, such as spears, arrows, knives,




Journal 'of M ining and M anufactures.

514:

armlets, leglets, bracelets, Ac. A small but regular amount of this important mate­
rial, made into a peculiar shape, is called a “ bar,” and appears to be the standard of
value by which their currency is regulated. They are exceedingly skillful in the tan­
ning and manufacture of leather.
Their armulet cases, spear and dagger sheaths, whips, bridles, pouches, powder
flasks, sandals, Ac., are made of this material with remarkable neatness. They also
manufacture their own cotton cloths, and dye with indigo and other vegetable dyes,
and have the art of permanently fixing the colors they employ. In addition to these
may be named, as evidences of their industry, their war-liQrns, made from the tusks of
elephants and other animals, their musical instruments—the strings of the “ banjo” be­
ing formed from the fibres of trees. Their mats for table use, bags for carrying vari­
ous materials, and baskets of all sizes and descriptions, are wrought with great sym­
metry and beauty from sea-grass, and the leaves of their innumerable and useful trees,
plants, Ac. The palm-tree, says a traveller, “ is applied by them to three hundred and
sixty-five uses. Huts are thatched with palm leaves, its fibres are used for fishing
tackle, a rough cloth is made from the inner bark; the fruit is roasted, and is excel­
lent ; the oil serves for butter; the palm wine is a favorite drink.”
The native African, it is to be understood, is naturally indolent, and although the
various articles of labor here mentioned would perhaps convey the impression that
they are an industrious people, yet the contrary is the fact.
What a market is here opened for the sale of our manufactures! Who can rightly
calculate the amount of employment it would afford the operatives and workmen of
our own land to clothe her 160,000,000 of inhabitants, and the enormous trade which
she could afford us in the luxuries, and what we consider the necessaries of life, from
her prolific tropical soil?
Well might the poet, speaking of Africa, exclaim:—
“ Regions immense, unsearchable, unknown,
Bask in the splendors of the solar zone;
A world of wonders—where creation seems
No more the work of nature, but her dreams.”
THE MANUFACTURE OF PEGGED BOOTS AND SHOES.

A late number of “ T h e P lo u g h , the L o o m , a nd the A n v i l ,” contains a short article
on “ the trade in Pegged Boots and Shoes—its history, and its connection with Agri­
culture,” from which we derive the following interesting history of the origin and
progress of that branch of industry:—
Some days since, in a store in New York, chance threw in our way a little printed
“ Report” by J. R. Pitkin, 68 Broadway, David Stevens, and John IT. Cornell, “ Com­
m i s s i o n e r s of the American Union Company,” formed for what does the reader sup­
pose? Why, for manufacturing “ Staple, or Pegged Boots and Shoes!” Well, the
curious facts disclosed in this Report are, among others, that in December of last year,
Joseph Walker, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, “ who made the first pair of pegged
shoes ever seen in this or any other country,” was still alive; and that he had gone on,
making his pegged boots and shoes, for more than ten years, without competition; after
which, while he was (as we hope he is) still living, the trade in the article had increased in
his State, to the amount of $18,000,000, annually, giving, as stated in this report,
“ constant, honorable, and profitable employment to 60,000 inhabitants of Massachusetts,
and yet, say the commissioners, the demand for the manufacture exceeds the supply;
which they urge, should now be met by the proposed Union manufactory in the city
of New York, with branches in the surrounding country.
Now to a contemplative mind, how various and impressive are the reflections that
arise on a view of facts coming thus casually under one’s notice. The first impulse is,
to acknowledge the benefit to society, from this simple invention of an unpretending
individual; now affording, as it does, employment and sustenance to so many
thousands of his fellow-citizens; and then one is led to marvel at the perversion of
political justice, which continues to be practiced all around us, in this boasted age of
reason and of progress ! For if, instead of inventing a process in shoe making, which
secures to the State a business amounting to $18,000,000, and giving employment, and
clothing, and sustenance, and education to 60,000 men and women, Joseph Walker had
invented a rifle or torpedo, that would economically destroy 60,000 in a day, no honor
would be deemed too high—no reward too great—for the inventor of the death-dealing




Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

575

implement. Whereas, who cares for—who, beyond the village of Hopkinton, will ever
hear of Joseph Walker, the inventor^of pegged boots and shoes?
On men, some of them, be it admitted, true patriots in the true sense of the word ;
some-of tberh cosmopolitan vagabonds, without country or principle, and too lazy to
work at any honest trade—men who volunteer or enlist to march and carry death and
destruction among distant and unoffending people—on all such men, besides their pay
and rations, governments are ever ready to bestow rank and honors, lands and pen­
sions. And yet, could the rising generations be schooled and^educated, as they should
be, in the true spirit of Christian civilization, and in anything approaching to a just
appreciation of the public welfare, (as they would be educated if the cultivators of the
soil would compel the establishment of agricultural as well as military schools through­
out the land,) we should then see public lands and public honors meted out in some­
thing like a just and politic reference to the tendency of men’s lives and actions to
promote the p u b lic happiness.
STATISTICS OF COTTON MANUFACTURES IN THE SOUTH.

A correspondent of the M o bile T rib u n e has constructed from the best and most re-'
liable data at hand the following table of the cotton manufactures in the States of
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee:—
No. of
spindles.

South Carolina
Georgia..........
Alabama........
Tennessee___

36,500
51,140
20,000
36,000

No. o f
looms.
700

1,100
550
500

Lbs. cotton
consumed.

Capital.

6,000,000
10,840,000
4,400,000
5,000,000

$1,000,000
1,000,000
640,000
800,000

No. o f
No. o f
operatives, factories.

16,000
2,240
900
1,200

16
36
10
30

Another writer estimates that 20,000 bales are consumed in thirty mills in North
Carolina, and the entire consumption of cotton in South Carolina, North Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and on the Ohio, for the year ending September 1,1850,
is estimated at 107,500 bales. The writer in the T r ib u n e says:—
“ I am indebted to the Treasury report for the basis of these statistics, and have
taken the liberty, as I suppose, to correct them; at least in some places to alter them,
and in some instances to add items not named in the tables given. The report from
South Carolina seemed to be the most full, and as one of the oldest, if not quite the
oldest, in the business, I thought the statistics were likely to be most accurate.
“ The report from her is 36,500 spindles; capital invested, $1,000,000. while from
Georgia the spindles are 51,140, and the investments only $121,600. Again, the spin­
dles in Tennessee are set down at 36,000, and the capital employed at $100,000.
These discrepancies are too great to be accounted for solely by local circumstances,
mode of putting up, Ac., and to my mind must be the result of error somewhere.
Again, in hands and looms the tables were deficient in statements, and I have added
looms and hands on the basis of the South Carolina table, with some moderate deduc­
tions, and in my statement have included the Autaugaville and Mobile mills in the
table of Alabama, but not Mr. Bloodgood’s ; and on this basis, find the aggregate em­
ployed in the cotton manufacturing business in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Tennessee, to be as b e l o w —
Spindles.

Mills.

Looms.

Lbs. cotton consumed.

Capital.

No. operatives.

143,040

94

2,850

26,240,000

$3,690,000

5,900

SLAVE LABOR IN COTTON FACTORIES.

We had the gratification recently of visiting a factory, situated on the Saluda
River, near Columbia, (S. C.,) and of inspecting its operations. It is on the slave labor,
or anti-free soil system—no operators in the establishment but blacks. The superin­
tendent and overseers are white, and of great experience in manufacturing. They are
principally from the manufacturing districts of the North, and though strongly preju­
diced, on "their first arrival at the establishment, against African labor, from observa­
tion and more experience, they all testify to their equal efficiency, and great superi­
ority, in many respects. So as not to act precipitately, the experiment of African
labor was first tested in the spinning department. Since which, the older spinners
have been transferred to the weaving room. They commenced in that department on
the 1st of July, and are now turning out as many yards to the loom as was performed




Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

57 6

under the older system. A -weaver from Lowell has charge of this department; and
she reports that, while there is full as much work done by the blacks, they are much
more attentive to the condition of their looms. They all appear pleased with the
manipulations on which they are employed, and are thus affording to the South the
best evidence, that when the channels of agriculture are choaked, the manufacturing
of oUr own productions will open new channels of profitable employment for our slaves.
The resources of the South are great; and it should be gratifying to all who view
these facts with the eye of a statesman and philanthropist, that the sources of profit­
able employment and support to our rapidly increasing African labor, are illimitable,
and must remove all motives for emigration to other countries. By an enlightened
system of internal improvements, making all parts of our State accessible, and by a
judicious distribution of our labor, South Carolina may more than double her produc­
tive slave labor, and not suffer from too dense a population.— Charleston (S . C .) M e r ­
cury.
STATISTICS OF INVENTION IN THE UNITED STATES.

It appears that the total number of patents taken out by States, from 1790 to 1850,
inclusive, as ascertained by statistics furnished by the Patent Office, is as follows:—
FREE STATES.

Maine............................... .........
New Hampshire.............. ..........
Vermont.........................
Massachusetts.................. ..........
Rhode Island.................. .........
..........
New York....................... ..........
Pennsylvania.................. .........
New Jersey............... .... ..........
Ohio................................. .........
Michigan.........................
Indiana...........................
Illinois............................. ..........
Wisconsin....................... .........
Iow a...............................
Total....................

SLAVE STATES.

416 Delaware......................... ..........
403 Maryland....................... ..........
Virginia.......................... .........
2,372 North Carolina................ .........
253 South Carolina................ ........
..........
1,252
5^245 Florida........................... .........
2,422 Missouri........................... ..........
511 Kentucky....................... .........
990 Tennessee....................... ..........
Alabama.........................
Mississippi.......................
94 Arkansas......................... ..........
7 Louisiana....................... ..........
Texas............................... ..........

65
736
568
145
131
85
2
51
208
129
1
86
4

Total....................
14,540

Grand total.............................................................................................
16,296
Tire patents issued to the District of Columbia, from 1790 to 1850, w ere..
235
Foreign................................................................................................... 212
At large................................................................................................
14
In connection with the above, there are now in the Patent Office 15,117 models,
classified as follows :—
Of patents issued...............................................................................................
7,180
for designs.......................................................................................
257
for additional improvements.................
92
Whole number in office for patents granted.....................................................
number of models for applications suspended......................................
number of models for applications rejected.........................................

7,529
642
6,946

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

15,117

MANUFACTURE OF GOLD AND SILVER GLASS.

A new method of manufacturing ornamental glass has lately been discovered, which
presents the brilliant appearance of highly polished gold and silver. This mode of
“ silvering” glass is a new invention, which is now being carried out bv a company in
London. The various articles are blown of two separate thicknesses of glass through­
out, and the silver is deposited upon the two interior surfaces of the double hollow glass




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

577

vessel. The silver is deposited from a solution of that metal by the reducing agency
of saccharine solutions; in short, the process is entirely a chemical one. The double
hollow vessels are hermetically sealed, and thus the silver deposit is protected from
wear, and from atmospheric influences. The brilliant silver deposit being seen through
the colored glass, communicates to that substance, in a curiously illusive manner, the
appearance of being entirely formed of gold or silver itself. When the glass is cut,
the brilliancy of the silver is heightened; and, on the other hand, when the glass is
ground, the effect of frosted silver is produced. By staining, and the employment of
variously colored glasses, the effect is modified in a variety of ways; thus, with certain
yellow glasses, the effect of gold is produced; with deep green and ruby glass, colored
metallic lustres, equal in effect to the plumage of birds, are obtained. As every form
into which glass can be blown is silvered with facility, the extent to which this beau­
tiful invention can be carried is perfectly unlimited. The new process extends to
flower vases, chimney ornaments, and, in fact, to every ornament usually made of glass.
For ornaments it presents all the lustrous brilliancy of highly polished gold and silver,
at a great reduction in cost; and for imitation jewelry and illuminations, it will far sur­
pass anything known. In fact, the invention is at present quite in its infancy, and
promises soon to fill the houses of the middle classes, usually destitute of brilliant or­
naments, with cheap articles, presenting all the appearance of costly plate, <fec. The
Lad ies' N ew spaper lately gave several' engravings of vases, <fcc., made on this new
principle.
ELECTRO MAGNETISM AS A MOTIVE POW ER.

The London Philosophical Magazine, for July, announces that at a recent meeting of
the Society of Arts, Mr. Robert Hunt, a brother, we believe, of Leigh Hunt, called at­
tention to the numerous attempts which have been made to apply electro magnetism
as a power for moving machines, and referred to the apparatus employed by several
distinguished experimenters. Since, notwithstanding the talent which has been devo­
ted to this interesting subject, and the large amount of money which has been spent in
the construction of machines, the public are not in possession of any electro magnetic
machine which is capable of exerting any power economically; and finding that not­
withstanding the aid given to Jacobi by the Russian Government, that able experi­
mentalist has abandoned his experimental trials. Mr. Hunt has been induced to give
much attention to the examination of the first principles by which the power is regu­
lated, with the hope of being enabled to set the entire question on a satisfactory basis.
The phenomenon of electro magnetic induction was explained, and illustrations given
of the magnetization of soft iron by means of a voltaic current passing around it. The
power of electro magnets was given, and the author stated his belief that this power
could be increased almost without limitation. He stated that it had been proved by
Mr. Joule, and most satisfactorily confirmed by him, that one horse power is obtain­
able in the electro magnetic engine, the most favorably constructed to prevent loss of
power, by the consumption of 45 lbs. of zinc, in a Grove’s battery in 24 hours; while
75 lbs. are consumed in the same time to produce the same power in Daniell’s battery.
It wa3 stated that one grain of coal consumed in the furnace of a Cornish engine,
lifted 143 lbs. one foot high, whereas one grain of zinc consumed in the battery lifted
only 80 lbs. The cost of one hundred of coal is under ninepence, the cost of one hun­
dred of zinc is above two hundred and sixteen pence. Therefore, under the most per­
fect conditions, magnetic power must be nearly twenty-five times more exptnsive
than steam power. But the author proceeded to show that it was almost proved to
be an impossibility ever to reach even this condition, owing to various circumstances
which were stated. Mr. Hunt is finally disposed to regard electro magnetic power as
impracticable, on account of its cost, which must necessarily be, he* conceives under
the best conditions, fifty times more expensive than steam power.
The chairman agreed with Mr. Hunt in his conclusion of the improbability of any
result being obtained from electro magnetism which could enable it to compete with
steam as a motive power. He thought the study of electro chem istry was a more
promising field, and one from which, at a future day, might be developed, a power
which should supersede even steam.
We have made the above extracts preparatory to introducing some of the results of
a long series of experiments by Prof. Page, of Washington, in regard to electro mag­
netism as a motive power. All the information that we possess as yet upon the sub­
ject, is obtained from the columns of the National Intelligencer.
VOL. XXII.----NO. V.




37

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

578

Congress at the last session made an appropriation of $20,000 to enable Prof. P. to
carry out his experiments—and it now appears that he has arrived at very different
conclusions from those of the European savans The N a tio n a l Intelligencer, of Au­
gust 10th, 1850, says:—
“ Professor Page, in the lectures which he is now delivering before the Smithsonian
Institution, states that there is no longer any doubt of the application of this power as
a substitute for steam. He exhibited the most imposing experiments ever witnessed
in this branch of science. An immense bar of iron, weighing one hundred and sixty
pounds, was made to spring up by magnetic action, and to move rapidly up and down.
The force operating upon this bar he stated to average three hundred pounds through
ten inches of its motion. He said he could raise this bar one hundred feet as readily
as through ten inches, and he expected no difficulty in doing the same with a bar
weighing one ton, or a hundred tons. He could make a pile driver, or a forge ham­
mer, with great simplicity, and could make an engine with a stroke of six, twelve,
twenty, or any number of feet.
“ The most beautiful experiments we ever witnessed was the loud sound and brilliant
flash from the galvanic spark, when produced near a certain point in his great mag­
net. Each snap was as loud as a pistol; and when he produced the same spark at a
little distance from this point, it made no noise at all. This recent discovery he sta­
ted to have a practical bearing upon the construction of an electro magnetic engine.
“ He then exhibited his engine, of between four and five horse power, operated by a
battery contained within a space of three cubic feet. It looked very unlike a mag­
netic machine. It was a reciprocating engine of two feet stroke, and the whole en­
gine and battery weighed about one ton. When the power was thrown on by the mo­
tion of a lever, the engine started off magnificently, making 114 strokes per minute ;
though when it drove a circular saw ten inches in diameter, sawing up boards an inch
and a quarter thick into laths, the engine made but about eighty strokes per minute.
“ The force operating upon this magnetic cylinder throughout the whole motion of
two feet, was stated to be 600 pounds when the engine was moving very slowly, but
he had not been ablfe to ascertain what the force was when the engine was running at
a working speed, though it was considerably less. The most important and interest­
ing point, however, is the expense of the power. Professor Page stated that he had
reduced the cost so far that it was less than steam under many and most conditions,
though not so low as the cheapest steam engines. With all the imperfections of the
engine, the consumption of three pounds of zinc per day would produce one horse
power. The larger his engine (contrary to what has been known before) the greater
the economy. Professor Page was himself surprised at the result. There were yet
practical difficulties to be overcome; the battery had yet to be improved; and it re­
mained yet to try the experiment on a grander scale, to make a power of one h undred
horse , or more.”
It seems from the above, that Prof. Page has made great advances in regard to the
construction and operation of electro magnetic engines. He is able by the consump­
tion of three pounds of zinc to do as much as former experimenters have with from 45
to 75 lbs., whereby he renders this power nearly, or under some circumstances quite,
as cheap as steam. It is not wholly improbable, therefore, that ere long the steam
engine will have to give place to the electro magnetic.
MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN BUTTONS.

“ The manufacture of porcelain buttons,” says the Staffordshire A dvertiser, “ has of
late years become an important branch of manufacturing industry in England and large
quantities have been made not only for home consumption, but also for exportation.
By a recent improvement, the porcelain, instead of being used in a dry and powdered
state, is saturated with water, and, while wet, rolled out into sheets of the required
thickness, so that it can be subjected to the action of a machine fitted with a large
number of top and bottom dies. A large number of buttons are thus made at one ope­
ration, while the cost is materially reduced.”
A MANUFACTURER IN DISTRESSED CIRCUMSTANCES.

“ We often find,” says the L o n d o n Tim es, “ That men who have accumulated large
fortunes from small beginnings, when they have passed the middle age of life, imagine
themselves in poverty. A singular case has lately occurred, for the truth of which we
.can vouch:—A large manufacturer residing in the wilds of Yorkshire, one day called




Mercantile Miscellanies,

579

on the relieving officei of the district and asked relief. Appreciating instantly the state
of mind in which the well-known applicant was, the officer replied, “ Certainly Mr.
------ ; call to-morrow, and you shall have it.” Satisfied, the applicant retired, and the
officer hastened to the gentleman’s son, stated the case, and expressed his opinion that
the relief demanded should be given. “ Give it,” said the son, “ and we’ll return you
the money.” Accordingly, this wealthy manufacturer next day received relief, and for
many weeks regularly applied for his five shillings per week; until at last the halluci­
nation vanished and his mind was completely restored. It is possible that this little
anecdote contains a valuable hint as to the proper treatment of monomaniacs.”

M E R C A N TILE M ISCELLANIES.
CULTIVATION OF TEA IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
G o l d e n G r o v e T ea . P l a n t a t io n , G r e e n v i l l e , S. C., Sept . 18,1850.
F reeman H unt, E sq., E d ito r o f the M erchants' M agazine.
D ear S ir :— I have delayed writing to you until my supply of tea plants and tea

nuts expected this season were received, and the advanced season of the year would
enable me to give you a brief sketch of the state and condition of tea cultivation at
this place at the present time. The past summer has been remarkable for heat and a
plentiful supply of rain—the two great elements of vegetation—both favorable for the
growth and maturity of the tea plant. In May I received in Hew York, and here the
first week in June, from the Northern district of China the first case of tea plants,
which have come to hand from Asia in a living con d ition a ll of previous importation
perished. This case was packed with peculiar care and science, and looked as fresh
when received, after a six months’ voyage and home carriage, as they did when
packed. These plants are all of the finest quality of green tea, and I do not suppose
there are any equal to them out of China. The plants were very small, and planted
out the first week in June. A good proportion of them took root and have grown
well during the summer. The growth of the tea plant is generally slow, but I have
one out of that lot which has grown nine inches since it was planted. These fine
plants are a great acquisition to my plantation, and I trust will ultimately prove of
signal benefit to the country. I began planting tea nuts on the 5th of June. Some
of the nuts germinated remarkably early, and were two or three inches above ground
the first week in the present month. These are all of the black tea species. They
are exceedingly beautiful to my eye, and look very shy and cunning, as if surprised
and amazed to find themselves so far from home, in a foreign land, cherished with
such devoted care by an alien hand.
I received my last liberal supply of tea nuts from China and India on the 3d of
September, in the finest condition, and have been constantly occupied in planting since
they came to hand. I shall complete the planting to-day, and commit the germination
and growth to that Providence whose servant I am.
My plantation, of about 300 acres, realizes my expectations, and I do not know that
I could, in this State, select a plantation combining so many and various advantages.
The field now under cultivation is a valley running north and south, gradually sloping
from the east and west. I have excavated a trench in the center of the valley 1,300
to 1,500 feet in length, with a descent of about 15 to 20 feet from the northern to the
southern reservoir. This affords an ample supply of water, and convenient for dis­
tribution and irrigation. My seed beds, 132 feet in length, run parallel with the main
trench, and the footpaths between them intercept the surface water from the rising
ground above. The soil is rich and mellow, with yellow subsoil, clay generally. I
plough, harrow, and spade the whole deep, a system of cultivation unknown in this
part of the country. My laborers prepare the land, and under my direction form the
seed beds. It is my duty and my amusement to put out every plant, and every nut
is planted by myself. If this large supply of nuts vegetate and appear in the spring,
or early in the summer, with tolerable success, my tea plantation, through which the
Charleston and Greenville Railroad, now constructing, runs, will prove, by its extent
and novelty, an interesting object to the curious traveler—among that number I shall
certainly expect to see your face. Our Northern friends have no idea of the beauty,
salubrity, and magnificence of this Alpine region. The climate is delightful, and the




58 0

Mercantile Miscellanies.

mountain breeze, always sweet and refreshing, gives no encouragement to dishonorable
indolence. I know full well that my Northern friends, when I took up my march for
the South, not knowing where I should pitch my tent, gave me up as “ lost to the
things that be.” But a kind and overruling Providence guided me by a way I knew
not, preserved to me the enjoyment of uninterrupted health, a large share of physical
force, and the remains of just such portion of intellectual energy, with which it pleased
Him to endow me.
I have now little to do. Indeed, the plants are so well established, and during the
past summer have made such rapid advances to full maturity, that they require but
little attention from me. A laboring man can keep the weeds under, which is all that
is required.
Tours truly,
JUNIUS SMITH.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ADVERTISING.

Mr. y . B. Palmer keeps what he terms the “ A m e ric a n N ew spaper A d v e rtis in g
A g e n c y ,” with offices established in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The object
of this agency is to “ afford every facility for the transaction of business with the best
and most widely circulated journals of all the cities and principal towns in the United
States, British Provinces, <tc.” Mr. Palmer also publishes a little annual, of some sixty
pages, entitled the “ Business-Men’s Almanac.” The number of that work for 1851,
published in advance of the year, as almanacs usually are, contains an essay on adver­
tising—the prize essay—for which Mr. Palmer offered “ a silver cup.” The committee
selected by Mr. Palmer to decide on the merits of the essays offered, awarded the cup
to the Hon. H orace G reeley , the distinguished editor of the “ T rib u n e ,” at the same
time recommending the publication of most of the articles submitted for the prize, “ as
many of them,” say the committee, “ take broad and correct views of the important
subject of which they treat.” As the essay of Mr. Greely is designed to promote the
interests of our friends, the merchants, as weU as the journalists, and as it is, on the
whole, a sensible, well-written essay on a subject purely commercial, we have conclud­
ed to lay it before our readers, for the benefit of all whom it may concern. The fact
that Mr. Greeley is one of the proprietors of the Trib u n e , a journal of a large and
wide circulation, (and of course an exceUent medium of advertising,) and that Mr.
Palmer is the general agent of nearly all the newspapers in the United States, will
not, we presume, impair the force of Mr. Greeley’s arguments and illustrations in sup­
port of a liberal system of advertising. There is certainiy more “ philosophy ” than
poetry in the theme of the essay.
“ Man, they say, is a trading animal—the only one. The wants of each individual
are more numerous and varied than his faculties and capacities devoted to supplying
them. Each producer of necessaries or comforts naturally produces a superabundance
of whatever he grows or fabricates, and exchanges it for a competence of other wares
or staples adapted to his wants. The grain-grower has a large surplus of grain, but
requires nearly everything else; the pin-maker consumes perhaps a dollar's worth per
year of his own products, and four hundred and ninety-nine dollars’ worth of other
people’s, obtained by the sale of his own. And as man rises in the scale of civiliza­
tion his wants are increased and diversified. He labors more, produces more, exchanges
far more. The lowest savage may produce or gather a hundred dollars’ worth per an­
num, and exchange ten dollars’ worth of it for other necessaries or comforts; while the
population of the United States or Great Britain produce at least five hundred dollars'
worth to each able-bodied man, whereof two-thirds at least is exchanged by the pro­
ducers with each other, and with the producers of foreign lands. And, as man shaU
continue to rise in the scale of intelligence, industry, efficiency, and comfort, not merely
the amount but the proportion of each man's products exchanged for those of others
must continue to increase. The aggregate of exchanges of property is probably now
expanding throughout the world at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, though the an­
nual increase of population is less than 3 per cent.
“ But while the aggregate of exchanges is rapidly increasing, the profits of the ex­
changes tend steadily to diminish. It is the interest of the producers of all classes




Mercantile Miscellanies.

581

and climes to effect their exchanges with each other as directly and simply—at all
events as cheaply—as possible. It matters little to the producers as a whole whether
prices be low or high if they be justly proportioned. If A, being a farmer in 1815,
received a dollar per bushel for his corn and bought the broadcloth for his coat at five
dollars per yard, and now can get just such broadcloth for two dollars and a half,
while his corn will bring but fifty cents per bushel, he is neither better nor worse for
the change, all other things being equal. But if in 1815 he paid five bushels of corn
for a yard of broadcloth, while the maker of the cloth received but four bushels, and
now he gives the like five bushels per yard, but the maker receives four bushels and
three pecks of corn or their full equivalent for every yard of cloth he turns off, then
there has been a real improvement in the condition of the producers of cloth, if not of
corn also. And, as intelligence is diffused and knowledge is brought to bear upon the
most intimate and homely relations of life, the cost of making exchanges—in other
words, the charges and profits of non-producing traders—must and do increase con­
tinually.
“ But this by no means proves that trade is poorer, nor that traders as a class do
worse than formerly. It only proves that the number of traders cannot and does not
increase in proportion with the increase of trade, without subjecting them to the ne­
cessity of taking smaller and still smaller profits. Every year the number of producers
and of consumers of others’ products increase, as also the aggregate of products ex­
changed. Every year the construction of canals, railroads, harbors, steamships, and
other facilities of transportation and traffick, impels greater and., still greater produc­
tion, with a still larger extension of commercial exchanges. The neighborhood in the
Ohio Valley, which was clad in homespun, and did not pay ten dollars to each person
for all its purchases from others half a century since, now wears the fabrics of Old and
New England, and is a liberal patron of the spice-growers of both the Indies, the tea
of China, the coffee of Brazil, and the fish of Newfoundland—probably paying thirty
dollars per head for the products of other industry than its own, although the average
range of prices is about half what it was in 1800. Trade has greatly increased, is in­
creasing, and is bound to increase even more rapidly than it has ever yet done.
“ It is idle, therefore, to say that commerce is ruined, prostrate, because overdone.
It is only the possibility of making fortunes by trade, with no decided capacity for the
vocation that is vanishing. The time is at hand, if not already upon us, when the
mercantile is to take rank with the most intellectual and arduous of the liberal pro­
fessions. The merchant of the next age must be a genius—a financier—a man born
to be an efficient and beneficent distributor of the bounties of nature, of the products
of human labor. If he lack these essential characteristics, let him aspire to be any­
thing else rather than a merchant, for his own sake and for that of others. An incom­
petent doctor may live though his patients should not; a poor lawyer may damage
his clients, yet pocket their fees; a thick-headed merchant must inevitably ruin both
himself and his trusting friends. The chances that he may blunder on and dodge bank­
ruptcy for years have grown less and less until they are very nearly extinguished.
“ Iff is idle and mischievous to hope for large profits henceforth, save in rare, excep­
tional instances. The general diffusion of intelligence and the improvement of the fa­
cilities for direct exchanges between producer and consumer render extensive and reg­
ular trade on the old basis of small sales and large profits impossible. If the flourdealers of New England, the coal-dealers of New York, the shoe-dealers of Ohio, will
not supply their customers at moderate prices, they provoke competitors to supplant
and destroy them; or, this failing, they incite consumers to combine and buy at whole­
sale a cargo of flour, of coal, of shoes, for themselves. Any serious attempt to restore
the old system of sales on long credits to customers of doubtful solvency, but at such
high prices as to compensate for the risk and delay of payment, would only serve to
impel the consuming classes to withdraw more and more of their custom from traders
as a class, and effect more and more of their exchanges by agencies and arrangements
of their own. The practical choice of the mercantile class lies not between large and
small per centages on their sales, but between small ones and none.
“ But small advances on cost do not imply small profits. On the contrary, there
never was a time when larger profits were realized than may be now. Let us suppose,
for example, that New England consumes annually ten thousand tons of western bacon,
and that the quantity so consumed is annually increasing. Now, if any Boston mer­
chant at home can manage to become the channel of interchange between the pro­
ducers and consumers of half those hams, at an average net profit of 2 per cent, as­
suming the hams to be worth one hundred and fifty dollars per ton, that merchant or




582

Mercantile Miscellanies.

house would clear fifteen thousand dollars annually on bacon alone. So with flour,
groceries, and everything else.
“ These then, are the essential bases of a profitable and safe trade in the future—first,
ability to supply the public demand on as favorable terms as any one else can offer;
secondly, universal knowledge of the fact, and assurance that it may be relied on. Let
a Boston dealer in flour, or meats, or cloths, or anything else, be able to supply all
New England with whatever he deals in at the lowest possible rate, and let all New
England be assured of the fact that he can and w ill do so, and his fortune is made. No
matter though his average net profit should range even below 1 per cent, his annual
income must exceed his necessary expenses by thousands of dollars.
“ The merchant, therefore, who aims to succeed in business must aim at these two
points—first, to be sure that he can satisfy a wide demand for the articles he deals in
on the lowest practical terms; secondly, that everybody within the proper scope of his
business is made aware of his ability and confident of his disposition to do so. These
points attained, he has only to do his business properly as it comes in upon him, and
nis fortune is secure.
“ To the merchant or dealer who is sure of his ability to fill orders on the most fa­
vorable terms, the attainment of an adequate publicity is the matter of primary con­
cern. If his circle of trade is properly the county in which he lives, then he should
take effectual measures to let every family in that county know what he sells and on
what conditions. It is idle to speak of the cost as an impediment—he might as well
object to the cost of sheltering his goods from bad weather, protecting them from
thieves, or dealing them out to customers. All the other cost of his business is in­
curred without adequate motive or return so long as the essential element of his busi­
ness is neglected or scrimped. If his location and his stock only entitle him to expect
the custom of his own township or neighborhood, then he should incur the expense of fully
i nfarming that locality. Just so with the wholesale merchant who aspires to a custom
co-extensive with his State, his section, or the whole Union. If he is prepared to sat­
isfy so wide a demand on favorable terms, the expense of apprising those whom he
desires for customers of the nature of his business, the character of his stock, the range
of his prices, and the reasons why he should be dealt with, is one which he cannot re­
fuse to incur without gross incompetency, and ruinous prodigality. By thus refusing,
he increases his expenses for rent, lights and fuel, clerk-hire, &c., from per cent to 3,
5, and in some cases 10 per cent on his aggregate sales, and renders it morally impos­
sible that he should sell at a profit, and at the same time sell as cheaply as his more
enterprising and capable rivals. In effect, he confesses defeat and incapacity, and re­
treats to the rear-rank of his vocation.
“ Some men who know enough to advertise are yet so narrow as to confine their adtisements to journals of their own creed or party. If they do not choose to trade with
any but men of like faith, this is wise; but if they desire to have the whole public for
customers, it is otherwise.
“ There is a large class who delight to shine in newspapers and placards as wits and
poets, and announce their wares in second-hand jokes, or in doggerel fit to set the teeth
of a dull saw on edge. If their object is notoriety or a laugh, this is the way to at­
tain it; but if it be business, it would seem better to use the language of business.
Leave clowns’ jests to the circus, and let sober men speak as they act, with directness
and decision. The fewest words that will convey the advertiser’s ideas are the right
ones.
4<}Men of business are hardly aware of the immense change which a few years have
wrought in the power of the public press. A few years since a circulation of three
thousand copies was a very large one for a daily paper; now there are journals issuing
forty to fifty thousand copies daily, while lists of ten to twenty thousand are frequent­
ly and rapidly increasing. As a general rule an advertisement in a paper now will
meet the eyes of four to ten times as many persons as a like announcement would
have done twenty years ago. It is easy to place one where it will meet the eyes of
one hundred thousand persons within two days, or by using half a dozen papers, to
challenge the attention of half a million of persons. When it is practicable to attain
such publicity at the cost of a few dollars, and when some actually do obtain it, how
can those who neglect it expect to build up a new business? An old one may subsist,
until its customers gradually drop off by death or removal; but he who would build
up a business now must ‘ be like the time,’ and improve the advantages it offers. Fore­
most among these is the facility now so cheaply afforded for general advertising. To
neglect it, is like resolving never to travel by steam nor communicate by telegraph. It




Mercantile Miscellanies.

583

is to close one’s eyes to the light, and insist upon living in perpetual darkness. An
individual may do this at his own cost; but a community, a class, will never act so in­
sanely ; and he who neglects the advantages of advertising not only robs himself of
his fair advantages, but bestows the spoils on his wiser rivals.”
TEA-SMUGGLING IN RUSSIA.

The history of smuggling in all countries abounds in curiosities, of which but few
ever reach the eye of the public, the parties generally preferring to keep their adven­
tures to themselves. There often exist, however, along frontier lines, the traditions of
thrilling exploits or amusing tricks, recounted by old smugglers from the recollections
of their own youthful days, or the narratives of their predecessors. Perhaps no frontier
is so rich in these tales as that between Spain and France, where the mountainous
recesses of the Pyrenees offer secure retreats to the half-robber who drives the contra­
band trade, as well as safe routes for the transportation of his merchandise. On the
line between the Russian Empire and Germany the trade is greater in amount than
elsewhere, but is devoid of the romantic features which it possesses in other countries
There, owing to the universal corruption of the servants of the Russian Government, the
smuggler and the custom-house officer are on the best terms with each other, and often
are partners in business. Dr. Griswold has translated from a late number of the
Deutsche R e fo rm , a journal of Berlin, for the In te rn a tio n a l M is c e lla n y, the following
interesting illustration of the extent and manner in which these frauds on the Russian
Government are carried on:—
“ The great annual tea-burning .has just taken place at Suwalki: 25,000 pounds
were destroyed at it. This curious proceeding is thus explained. Of all contraband
articles that on the exclusion of which the most weight is laid, is the tea which is
brought in from Prussia. In no country is the consumptiou of tea so great as in
Poland and Russia. That smuggled in from Prussia, being imported from China by
ship, can be sold ten times cheaper than the so-called caravan-tea, which is brought
directly overland by Russian merchants. This overland trade is one of the chief
branches of Russian commerce, and suffers serious injury from the introduction of the
smuggled article. Accordingly, the government pays in cash the extraordinary pre­
mium of fifty cents per pound for all that is seized, a reward which is the more
attractive to the officers on the frontiers, for the reason that it is paid down and withcondition that the buyer should carry it over the frontier; Russian officers were apout any discount. Formerly the confiscated tea was sold at public auction, on the
pointed to take charge of it and deilver it in some Prussian frontier town in order to
be sure of its being carried out of the country. The consequence was that the tea was
regularly carried back again into Poland the following night, most frequently by the
Russian officers themselves. In order to apply a radical cure to this evil, destruction
by fire was decreed as the fate of all tea that should be seized thereafter. Thus it is
that from 20,000 to 40,000 pounds are yearly destroyed in the chief city of the province.
About this the official story is, that it is tea smuggled from Prussia, while the truth is
that it is usually nothing but brown paper or damaged tea that is consumed by the fire. In
the first place, the Russian officials are too rational to burn up good tea, when by chance a
real confiscation of that article has taken place; in such a case the gentlemen take the tea,
and put upon the burning pile an equal weight of brown paper or rags done up to
resemble genuine packages. In the second place, it is mostly damaged or useless tea
that is seized. The premium for seizures being so high, the custom-house officers theim
selves cause Polish Jews to buy up quantities of worthless stuff and bring it over the
lines for the express purpose of being seized. The time and place for smuggling it are
agreed upon. The officer lies in wrait with a third person whom he takes with him.
The Jew comes with the goods, is hailed by the officer, and takes to flight. The officer
pursues the fugitive, but cannot reach him, and fires his musket after him. Hereupon
the Jew drops the package, which the officer takes and carries to the office, where he
gets his reward. The witness whom he has with him—by accident, of course—testifies
to the zeal of his exertions, fruitless though they were, for the seizure of the unknown:
smuggler. The smuggler afterward receives from the officer the stipulated portion ofV




584

Mercantile Miscellanies.

the reward. This trick is constantly practiced along the frontier, and to meet the
demand the Prussian dealers keep stocks of good-for-nothing tea, which they sell
generally at five silver groschen (12-£ cents) a pound.”
THE BRITISH MERCANTILE MARINE BILL.

The L iv e rp o o l C hronicle says :—“ The shipowners of the United Kingdom recently
arrayed themselves in all the strength of combination against a legislative measure
termed the Mercantile Marine Bill. The object of this bill, as declared in its preamble,
and disclosed in every clause of its enactments, was to improve the condition of masters,
mates, and seamen, and to maintain generally in the merchant service a better disci­
pline than was known to exist. It was not easy, on the face of the subject, to discover
any reasonable motive of opposition on the part of the shipowners to a measure which
aimed solely at the amelioration of the instruments by which their business was con- ducted. To enact that ships should be more expensively built than formerly, or that
they should be subjected to a more searching inspection at Lloyd’s, might naturally
have been a somewhat unpopular proceeding; but to declare that their crews should
be thenceforward more competent, and be under more stringent obligations for the dis­
charge of their duties, was surely not an offensive or ill considered step. Nevertheless,
partly from apprehensions of expense, partly from a general suspicion of Government
interference, and partly from a repugnance to the power of control lodged in certain
independent boards, the shipowners took alarm, and raised an outcry which was little
more reasonable than would be that of a landlord against the improvement of his
tenants. It was true that the projected amelioration of the merchant service might
compel some few better arrangements in the interior of ships, and possibly a somewhat
higher rate of wages, but against these nominal charges would be set off a general in­
crease of security for property and life, which would repay the investment a hundred­
fold. Fortunately, time was allowed for the good sense of the English merchants to
operate; by the judicious and conciliatory demeanor of Mr. Labouchere the opposition
was convinced rather than defeated, and the measure became law. On the 1st of Ja­
nuary, 1851, its provisions will take effect.”
EFFECTS OF THE CORN LAWS ON THE VALUE OF LAND,

The London D a i l y N ews says:—“ One of the direst of the many dire calamities which
were foretold as the result of the repeal of the Corn-laws, was the depreciation in the
value of land, which was not only certain but was to be immediate. The sinister vaticinatibn, however, has been as literally fulfilled as were the predictions of the sages,
who held that the ruin of British commerce would be the necessary result of the inde­
pendence of the American colonies, and that the monarchy would not be worth ten
years’ purchase after the passing of the Reform Bill. It was in vain that it was urged
that the value of the land would be maintained and more than maintained by an im­
proved agriculture, by the introduction of more capital into the business of cultivation,
and by the establishment of a better system of tenure. No device could adequately
supply the place of the menaced Corn-laws, and the value of land in Great Britain was
only to be upheld by the people continuing to pay a war price for food in a time of
profound peace. The Corn-laws have been now virtually extinct for the last four years,
and what has been the result ? Is the fee simple of land in Great Britain materially
lower in value than it was in 1840 ? It is notorious that it is not so, although but little
aditional capital has yet been applied to its culture, and although but few, if any, im­
provements have been introduced into our system of tenure. Had these things taken
place as they might have done, and as they yet must do, the value of land instead of
being maintained, would have considerably increased within the last four years. With­
out them it cannot be said to have diminished, a triumphant fact in favor of the free
importation of food.”
THE GLASS TRADE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN 1850.

A return has been published relative to the export and import trade in foreign and
Tritish glass, from which it appears that in the year endinng January, 1850, the follow­
ing quantities of foreign glass were imported:—Of window glass, white or of one color,
roi exceeding one-ninth of an inch in thickness, 25,555 cwt., of which '7,6'71 were
retained for home consumption, producing £ 1,208 duty, at the rate of 3s. 6d. per cwt.;




Mercantile Miscellanies.

585

of all glass exceeding one-ninth of an inch in thickness, silvered or polished, 68,106
square feet, of which 61,946 were retained for home consumption, producing £1,224
duty ; of glass painted or otherwise ornamented, 2,701 square fe6t, of which 841 were
retained for home consumptiqn, producing £31 duty, at 9d. per square foot; of white
flint glass bottles, not cut, 47,896 lbs., of which 33,326 were retained for home consump­
tion, producing £48, duty -Jd. per lb.; of all other white flint glass goods, not cut or or­
namented, 71,502 lbs., of which 27,805 were retained for home consumption, producing
£114 duty, at the rate of Id. per lb.: of cut colored or ornamented glass of all kinds,
733,717 lbs., of which 571,336 were retained for home consumption, producing £4,752
duty, at the rate of 2d. per lb.; of other glass, not otherwise described, 188 cwt., the
quantity retained for home consumption being 134 cwt., producing £22, at the rate of
3s. 6d. per cwt. The quantities of British glass exported during the same period have
been as follows:—Flint glass, 18,184 cwt.; window glass, 17,386 cwt.; plate glass,
50,920 square feet; common glass bottles, 233,108 cwt.; looking glasses and mirrors,
to the value of £6,527.
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF DRAMATIC LITERATURE.

The L o n d o n A t la s says, that the value of dramatic literature varies with different
managers, different authors, different theaters. Mr. Webster is very liberal, and will,
perhaps, pay from £300 to £500 for a good and successful original play ; fifty pounds,
forty pounds, and twenty pounds for a farce. Sometimes, when the continued prosperity
for a piece is rather uncertain, the q u id p r o quo takes the form of a nightly payment
up to a certain sum. The Keeleys used to pay £150 for a good burlesque ; or, three
pounds per night up to £150, which the authors consider very generous. But the re­
muneration does not stop the London pay. A good metropolitan reputation will en­
sure a frequent provincial performance and subsequent revivals, and if the author pre­
serves his interest in the copyright he may derive a perpetual income from the fre­
quency of performance. Sir E. Buhver Lytton is said to receive ten pounds for every
performance of the “ Lady of Lyons.” This, however, is a rare exception to the aver­
age rate of remuneration. From two pounds to ten shillings per night is the price or­
dinarily paid. After all’s said and done, however, play-writing is a poor and precarious
trade. The best authors have their failures; and there are thousands (we speak ad­
visedly) who never get their productions paid. Too often they are never read by the
managers to whom they are sent.
ANTI-COMMERCIAL ARTICLES, OR, THINGS TH A T COST NOTHING.

Sunrise and sunset cost us nothing, all glorious as they are. Colors that are only
to be seen in the heavens, and brightness beyond description, are profusely spread,
and we have sight to behold them, pulses to throb, hearts to beat, and minds to con­
template with wonder, thankfulness and joy. Rising and setting suns are common­
place exhibitions, when, were there only one such exhibition to be witnessed in a cen­
tury, multiplied millions, nay, almost half the population of the globe, would behold it
with rapture.
We give money and time and labor for many things of little value, but we never
give either the one or the other for the cheerful sunbeam and the grateful shower;
the gray of the morning, the twilight of evening, the broad blaze of noonday, and the
deep silence and darkness of the midnight hour 1 The poorest of the poor have these,
and they have them for nothing 1
AN IRON BRIG FROM LIVERPOOL.

The editor of the New Orleans P ic a y u n e recently visited the iron brig, Josephine,
Captain Charles Worliam, 278 tons register, which was built in Liverpool, and whose
hull is entirely constructed of iron, about one-third of an inch thick. “ The sheets of
iron are laid over each other, and riveted inside on a strip or bar of iron, so that the
outside has the appearance of being one piece. She has three separate holds, divided
by sheets of iron, so that if one part of her become injured the vessel would still be
safe. The compasses of the vessel are protected by magnets, so arranged as to pro
duce a magnetic current, which prevents the attraction of the needle by the iron. She
is in every respect a beautiful craft, and as she now sails under Yankee colors, we have
no doubt improvements will be made on her.”




586

Mercantile Miscellanies.
CONSUMPTION OF WINE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

It appears, by official returns, made to the British Parliament, that the total quan­
tity of wine consumed in the United Kingdom, in the year 1787, was 4,521,941 gallons.
In the following year the consumption increased to 6,650,644 gallons, and continued to
increase till 1795, when it had risen to 8,238,438 gallons. In 1797 the consumption
suddenly declined to 3,569,261 gallons, but rallied in the two succeeding years, until,
m 1800, it was 7,294,752. The consumption during the next quarter of a centuiy,
from 1800 to 1824, was steady at an average of 5,000,000 gallons, but in the following
year a large increase took place, the quantity entered for home consumption in 1825
being 8,009,542 gallons. The increase, however, was not maintained, the consumption
having fallen in the following year to 6,058,442 gallons. The consumption since 1827
to the present time seems to have remained very steady, at an average of 6,3000,000
gallons per annum. In the year 1843 the consumption was less than it had been since
1822, only 4,815,233 gallons having been cleared from the custom-house. The con­
sumption during the last four years has been as follows:—1846, 6,740,316 gallons;
1847, 6,053,847 ; 1848, 6,130,547 ; and 1849, 6,251,662 gallons. The imports generally
exceed the consumption by about 1,125,000 gallons. In the years 1786 and 1813 all
the custom-house records calculated to throw light on the imports and consumption in
those periods were accidentally destroyed by fire. During the last ten years there has
been a total decrease in the amount of duty received of £63,198. The amount collected,
by the revenue as duty on foreign wine averages £1*700,000 per annum.
CONSUMPTION OF SPIRITS IN SCOTLAND.

A Parliamentary paper was recently issued giving the following return “ of the num­
ber of gallons of British spirits, at proof, on which duty was paid, for consumption in
Scotland for the last ten years, ending the 5th day of January, 1850, distinguishing the
quantity in each year”
1841, 6,180,138 gallons; 1842, 5,989,905; 1843,6,595,186 ;
1844,5,593,798; 1845,5,922,948; 1846, 6,441,011; 1847, 6,975,091; 1848, 6,193,249 ;
1849, 6,548,190; 1850, 6,635,003. From another return, moved for by Alexander
Hastie, (Glasgow,) and issued same time, it appears that the number of gallons of
British and colonial spirits, at proof, on which duty was paid, for home consumption in
the United Kingdom, was 24,372,297 in 1840 ; 22,920,303 in 1841; 20,939,637 in
1842; 20,968,047 in 1843; 22,807,117 in 1844; 25,591,723 in 1845; 26,790,398 in
1846; 23,969,474 in 1847; 25,189,797 in 1848; and 26,002,354 in 1849. Scotland,
with her scanty population, consumes annually at the rate of upwards of two gallons
and a half of home-made spirits per head; and when from this comparison the women
and children are deducted, the average rises to upwards of eleven gallons per man.
Ireland, with her eight millions, consumes but little more than Scotland with her two
millions and a half; whilst England, with her swarming population of perhaps eighteen
millions, consumes less than one third more of the deleterious compounds than barleypeopled Scotland, or poverty-stricken Ireland.
CURIOUS COMMERCIAL FACTS.

One of the most curious historical reminiscences on record is the fact that for centu­
ries before the Christian era, the principle, not only of modern warehouses, but of the
Cunard and Collins’ steamers, was recommended by Xenophon, in his “ Revenue o f the
State o f A th e n s.” “ And if we build shops, warehouses, and exchanges,” says lie, “ for
common retailers, the rents of the houses would be a great addition to our public
revenues, and the magnificence of the buildings would be an ornament to the city.
“ As the public builds galleys for war, so it might likewise be for the advantage of
the state to make a new experim ent , and build m erchant ships f o r trade , which might
be fa r m e d out , like the other branches of our revenue, upon good security; for, if this
design were found practicable, it would form a considerable article in the increase of
our public revenue.”
PROGRESS OF THE RAILROAD FROM TOLEDO TO CHICAGO.

This road it appears is making rapid progress westward. The Toledo R e p u b lica n
states, on the authority of a gentleman connected with the board of directors, that the
Great Western Railroad w ill be completed from Toledo to Sturges Prairy, one hundred
a n d sixteen m iles , and the cars running over that distance this fall, and to Coldwater
in all of September.




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587

THE BOOK TRADE.
1.

— T h e H is to r y o f the U n ite d States o f A m e ric a . F r o m the D isco very o f the C o n­
tinent to the O rg a n iza tio n o f the Governm ent under the Fed eral Constitution. By

3 vols., 8vo. New York: Harper Brothers.
We regard this great historical work, to which it is understood that Mr. Hildreth
has devoted many years of assiduous preparation, as a most successful specimen of
historical composition, and an honor to the literature of our country. We are now able
to express an intelligent opinion with regard to the value of Mr. Hildreth’s perform­
ance. It everywhere exhibits the proofs of a faithful and profound study of the origi­
nal sources. The author has gone to the fountain-head for his facts, and is never be­
trayed into a servile imitation of his predecessors. He has evidently sifted his mate­
rials with singular care, subjected his witnesses to a severe cross-examination, and ad­
mitted nothing into his narrative which does not bear the scrutiny of a rigid historical
criticism. Hence, his work has the primary merit of authenticity. We may rely on
its statements with more than ordinary confidence. It will furnish a standard of refer­
ence which cannot easily be called in question. Mr. Hildreth’s narrative is constructed
with remarkable compactness, brevity, and clearness. He never indulges in fanciful
speculation or ill-timed moralizing. His distinct perception of facts is never disturbed
by the clouds of enthusiasm. He presents his figures upon the scene in the bare and
unadorned reality of life, and you have the assurance that they are no creatures of the
imagination, but the actual, breathing, mortals of flesh and blood, subject to all the
weaknesses and errors of humanity. At the same time, his style is free from anything
like dullness or monotony. It is bold, spirited, various, and often enlivened by touches
of picturesque grace. We heartily commend these volumes to those whose first ob­
ject in reading is to gain accurate and lucid information. It will serve as a trusty and
invaluable guide through the labyrinth of American history. With the grand panor­
amic view of the whole ground, which Mr. Hildreth presents in a few strong and broad
touches, the reader will be prepared for a correct appreciation of the masculine and
well-proportioned sketches of Sparks, and the brilliant and exquisite finish of the
masterly portraits of Bancroft.
R ichard H ildreth.

2. — T h e
po raries.

A u to -B io g r a p h y o f L e ig h H u n t , w ith Remeniscences o f F rie n d s an d Contem­
2 vols., 12mo., pp. 299 and 322. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This is one of the most agreeable books of the season. The fine taste, the genial
and liberal spirit, and the frankness and candor of Leigh Hunt, impregnates every
page and paragraph of the work. It introduces us to the social nature and the inner
life of the man, and makes us familiar with his thoughts and motives, his trials and
his triumphs, furnishing a lesson to the reader as interesting as it is instructive.. We can
rarely find time to do more than glance at the books that find their way to our sanctum,
and, therefore, when we say that we have read consecutively every page of these de­
lightful volumes, we pay, as we think, a high tribute to its almost unsurpassed interest.
3‘— H e a lth , Disease , a n d

Rem edy , F a m i l ia r l y a n d P r a c tic a lly Considered , i n a fe w
o f th e ir R e la tio n s to the B lood. By G eorge M oore , M. D., Member of the Royal
College of Physicians. 12mo., pp. 320. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This book is rather a running comment on a few prominent truths in medical science,
viewed according to the writer’s own experience, and on the principles of common
sense. The object of the author appears to have been to assist the unprofessional
reader to form a sober estimate of physic, and enable him to second the physician’s
efforts to promote health; and throughout, there is manifest a desire that the professed
medical student might, if he looked, find in the volume a few hints of some value to
himself. The work is written in a very pleasant and agreeable style, and is worthy of
more attention than its modest claims may readily secure for it.
4.— T h e H is to r y o f the D e cline a n d F a l l o f the R o m a n E m p ir e . By E dward G ibbon*
With Notes by Milman. A new edition, to which is added a complete index of the
whole work. Yols. 5th. and 6th. 12mo., pp. 623. New York: Harper & Brothers
These two volumes complete the cheap edition of this work by the Harpers. It is
unsurpassed as an historical work. It is published at a price low enough to place it
within the reach of every one, and no person of intelligence or education should let
pass this favorable opportunity to obtain a handsome copy.




588

5.

The Book Trade.

— A n n a ls o f the Queens o f S p a in , f r o m the P e r io d o f the Conquest o f the Goths,
down to the R e ig n o f her present M ajesty, A c. By A n i t a G e o r g e . V o l . 2 , 1 2 r n o .,

pp. 3 1 2 . New York : Baker Scribner.
This volume, which is the second of the series, contains the life of Isabella of Arragon,
by whose marriage with Ferdinand, the crowns of Castile and Arragon were united.
She is one of the most noted of the female sovereigns of Spain, and she, in part, wielded
the sceptre during the golden age of her country. The author of this work has en­
deavored to present us with a faithful portrait of her character, even although she has,
thereby, been compelled to remove the curtain from some dark and cruel scenes. This
whole work aims to give as faithful and minute an account of the Spanish Queens as
the materials extant will permit, and, at the same time, to present a compendium of the
history of Spain. The author has entered upon her task evidently after much prepara­
tion, and with an abundance of materials for its successful accomplishment. It is con­
ducted with a spirit of candor and justice, as well as enthusiastic admiration of the
ancient glory of the Spanish nation. It is written in a vigorous, rich, and flowing
style. The series will prove a valuable addition to the too meager details of Spanish
history which we at present possess.
6. — In d : a an d the H in do o s ; B e in g a P o p u la r V iew o f the G eo grap hy, H is to r y , G o v ­
ernment, M anners, Customs, Lite ra tu re , a n d R e lig io n o f that A n c ie n t People, w ith
a n A c c o u n t o f the C h ris tia n M issio ns am ong Th em . By T. D e W. "Ward . 12mo.,
pp. 314. New York: Baker Scribner.
The Author of this work was for ten years connected with the Mission in Southern
India, and traveled through a large portion of that country, and took notes of what he
saw and heard, which are presented to us in this volume. The leading aim of the
work is to bring before us, “ India as it was, and as it is ” With this view, the volume
contains delineations of such customs and manners as struck most forcibly the
author’s mind. It is written in a serious and grave style, and contains much that will
be new and interesting in relation to that ancient people. The work is embellished
with a map and several lithographic plates.
tJ .— G raha m e ; o r Y o u th a n d M anhood. A Rom ance. By the Author of Talbot and
Vernon. 12mo., pp. 385. New York: Baker & Scribner.
This is one of those tales which abound in developments of character and in active
incidents. It is written with much vigor and energy of style, and with a strength of
thought which is more than ordinary. It will be read with interest, and contribute im­
provement to all.
8 . — A Descriptive G eograp hy an d B r i e f H is to ric a l Sketch o f Palestine. By R abbi
J oseph Schwarz , for sixteen years a resident in the Holy Land. Translated by
I saac L eeser . Illustrated with Maps, cfec.,pp. 518. Philadelphia: A. Hart.
The author of this work was a resident of Jerusalem, and it may be viewed as a
commentary on the geographical passages of the Bible, and by no means as a descrip­
tion of a journey of three or four months’ duration, but as the result of investigations
and discoveries continued for many years with the greatest care, with many sacrifices,
and not rarely with much personal danger. The author has undertaken his work
with the enthusiasm of one whose whole heart is devoted to it, and the result has been
an incomparable production on the subject of the Holy Land. By his familiarity with
Hebrew literature he has been enabled to discover nearly a hundred names of ancient
places which had recently been changed, and which continue to exist. The volume is
printed in very handsome style, and abounds in well-engraved-cuts. On the whole it
appears to be one of the most valuable books in relation to Palestine which has of
late been issued from the press.
9. — M em oirs o f the L i f e o f A n n e B o le yn , Queen o f H e n r y V I I I . By Miss B enger .
From the third London Edition, with a Memoir of the Author. By Miss A ikin,
12mo., pp. 342, Philadelphia: A. Hart.
This queen is probably the only woman who has ever been permitted to effect a
change in the national and political institutions of England by introducing and estab­
lishing a better system of things, whose effects have altered the whole fabric of so­
ciety. It was her influence that led to the abolition of the papal supremacy in Eng­
land, and on this single circumstance is, perhaps, founded the diversity of opinion which
to this day prevails so extensively respecting her moral qualities. In this volume the
author has sought to be guided only by candor and an unaffected love of truth. It is
written in a very pleasant style, and is particularly interesting for the persoual details
which it contains.




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589

10. — Christm as Novelties. The illustrated works which are about to be issued from
the press for Christmas and New Year’s gifts are unusually rich and splendid. Of
these, the Appletons are about to publish a number, which are unsurpassed in beauty
and elegance by anything we have seen. Upon their list are several, the illustrations
of which aie the work of the most distinguished painters and engravers in England,
France, and this country; while the printing and binding are in the highest style of
execution. The volume entitled “ O u r S a vio ur, w ith P rophets a n d A p o s tle s " is one of
the finest in their list. It is edited by the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, and has papers from
the pens of Drs. Adams, S. R. Johnson, N. L. Frothingham, J. 0. Choles, &c., and Rev.
Henry W. Bellows, C. A. Bartol, J. L. Watson, &c. The volume is of the imperial
octavo size, and most superbly bound in various styles. “ T h e Queens o f E n g la n d ” is
another splendid volume. It consists of portraits of the most eminent and beautiful
of the English queens from the earliest period to that of Victoria. Of these portraits,
each is accompanied with a biographical sketch from the pen of Agnes Strickland.
The volume is of the imperial octavo size, with various elegant bindings. “ Sacred
Scenes ; or, Passages f r o m the L if e o f o u r S a v io u r ,” is a duodecimo volume, with six­
teen steel engravings of remarkable scenes in his life. Some of them are' designed
with exquisite taste, and possess much fineness of execution. Each is accompanied by
a brief yet excellent narrative of the incidents of the scenes from the works of emi­
nent English writers. “ T h e P a th w a ys a n d A b id in g Places o f o u r L o r d " is a rich
quarto volume. It contains twenty-five steel engravings of the routes in Palestine
which were most frequently trod by His feet, and of places to which He usually re­
tired. The narrative is from the pen of Pr. J. M. Wainwright, and contains sketches
of these places as seen by him during his recent tour in Palestine. In the order of
gift-books, we find a charming one which has been prepared by Miss M. J. McIntosh.
It is entitled the-“ C hristm as Q u e st; or, E ve n in g s at D o n a ld so n M a n o r." It is of the
octavo size, illustrated with several steel engravings, and very handsomely bound.
No one, familiar with her pen, need to be told of the excellence of its contents. There
is, likewise, a beautiful juvenile work which should go with it. This is called “ M id ­
summer F a y s ; or, the H o lid a ys at Woodleigh. By Susan Pindar, author of “ Fireside
Fairies.” The Appletons have also forthcoming a volume entitled “ T h e Boo/c o f the
P a s s io n s " embellished with sixteen highly-finished engravings. It is an elegant oc­
tavo, bound in beautiful style, and from the pen of G. P. R. James.
11. — L if e o f J o h n R a n d o lp h . By H ugh G arland. 2 vols., Svo. New York: D.
Appleton Co.
The author of this work possessed unusual facilities for the successful execution of
hi9 task. Having been himself many years in public life, and familiar with all the
great subjects to which a large part of Mr. Randolph’s life was devoted, he was like­
wise a resident of almost the same neighborhood, and familiar with the kindred and
friends of Mr. Randolph. Into his hands were placed all the letters and private papers
and memoranda of that distinguished man, whose memoir he was about to prepare.
The result of his labors has been the two splendid volumes before us. Herein we
see Mr. Randolph as a man, as a citizen, and as a patriot statesman. We peruse his
letters, unfolding his most sacred feelings, and we behold the motives and the impulses
that actuated that remarkable man. Thus beheld, John Randolph rises up before us
one of the most consistent, purest, and noble men that America has produced. The
veil that has hitherto concealed his true character is in part drawn aside, and we see
him inspired by the truest, highest, and most delicate feelings of our nature ; we detect
the reason of his surprising and almost unaccountable peculiarities, and hasten to de­
clare that his character has not heretofore been understood, and that his country has
never yet done justice to his great merits. The work i9 written in an admirable style,
and will prove to be one of the most valuable offerings to the public which has, for a
long season, been issued from the press.
12. — T h e Conspirator. By Miss A. E. Dufuv. 12mo., pp. 299. New York; D. Appleton & Co.
This romance is written with remarkable spirit and power. It is uncommonly rich
in the developement of character, and in the liveliness and attractiveness of its scenes.
It describes the plot supposed to have been formed by one of the early Vice Presidents
of the United States, for the establishment of a Southern Republic, which should le
composed of a portion of the United States and of Mexico. The scenes are laid chiefly
in the south-west, and all the energy of character peculiar to the inhabitants of that
section is portrayed with such consummate skill and spirit, as to render it an exceed­
ingly interesting book.
\




59 0

The Booh Trade.

13.

'— T h e B ritis h C o lon ies; th e ir H is to r y , E x te n t, C o n d itio n a n d Resources. Illu s ­
trated w ith M a p s o f each Possession, a n d P o rtra its o f the most Celebrated P r o m o ­
ters a nd Defenders o f o u r C o lo n ia l E m p i r e ; adapted f o r the Use o f Statesmen,
M erchants, M anufacturers, a n d E m ig r a n t s ; co ntaining the best A u th enticated
Statements re la tin g to the G eography, Geology, Clim ate, A n im a l a n d Vegetable K i n g ­
doms, Character, Customs and, S o civl State, R e lig io n , E d u c a tio n an d C rim e, A g r i ­
culture, M anufactures, M ines an d Fisheries, the most Recent Official D e ta ils con­
cerning the P o p u la tio n , Governm ent, T a x a tio n and E xp e n d itu re , Im p o rts a nd E x ­
p o rts, Customs, D uties, S h ip p in g , M i l i t a r y Defences, S taple P roducts, L iv e Stock,
C ultivated a nd Waste L a n d s , B ank s, Coins, P a p e r-M o n e y , W eights a n d Measures,
Wages, d 'c.; w ith a Copious C o lon ial Gazetteer. By R. M ontgomery M artin . Nos.

16, 17, 18, 19. London and New Y ork: John Tallis <&Co.
This superb work on the British Colonies has reached its nineteenth number. It is
printed on excellent paper, in a large and clear type, and abounds in beautiful embel­
lishments. It is but justice to state that the execution of the work amply sustains the
expectations which might be raised by its title-page. Probably it will be unrivaled by
any work that may at any time be published on the subject of the British Colonies.
14. — T h e

Complete W o rk s o f Shakspeare ; R evised f r o m the O r ig in a l E d itio n s , w ith
H is to r ic a l In tro du ctio ns a nd Notes E x p la n a to r y a n d C ritic a l, d'c. By J ames Or­

chard H alliwell , F. R. S.
With Engravings on Steel by most Eminent Artists.
Part 5. New York and London: Tallis, Willoughby & Co.
This is a very handsome edition of Shakspeare’s works, and it is illustrated by some
beautiful and well-executed designs. It is under the charge of persons who possess
an intimate acquaintance with Shakspearian literature, and it will probably be unsur* passed by few other editions. The present number contains a large part of the play
“ Measure for Measure,” with a valuable collection of notes on the “ Merry Wives of
Windsor.”

15. — Adventures o f D o n Quixote. Translated by C harles J arvis , and embellished
with nearly Eight hundred Engravings by T ony J ohannot. 8vo. edition. New
Y ork: Tallis, Willoughby <&Co.
The work is published in parts, eleven of which have already been issued. It
abounds in cuts, some of which are well designed, and it is printed on good paper with
clear and fair type, and sold at a low price.
16. — T h e

P o e tic a l W o rk s o f L o r d B y r o n , w ith Notes by L o r d Jeffrey, Th o m a s M oore,
a n d others. Illu s tra te d w ith N u m e ro u s E n g ra v in g s . N o s. 23, 24, 25, 26. London

and New York: George Virtue.
This is a very beautiful edition of Byron’s poems. The typography is in large and
clear letters, the paper is excellent, and the plates are prepared witli great taste and
skill. The price is twenty-five cents per number, and when completed this will be one
of the handsomest and cheapest editions of Byron which has been issued.
17. — H is to r y

o f P ro p e lle rs an d Steam N a v ig a tio n .
the E a r l y Inventors. By R obert M ac F arlane, C. E.

W ith B io g ra p h ic a l Sketches o f

12mo. pp. 144. New York :
George P. Putnam.
The object of this history is to arrange and describe many of the devices which have
been invented to propel vessels, in order to prevent ingenious men from wasting their
time, talents, and money on such projects; and also to present an interesting history of
steam navigation, especially so far as relates to the attempts of the early inventors in
this department of mechanics. The author has evidently enjoyed unusual advantages
for obtaining a familiar knowledge of the subject which he has undertaken to describe,
and his book will be found worthy of perusal by all who feel any interest in steam
navigation.
18. — Th e L a s t o f the M o h ic a n s ; or, Volum e Tw o o f the Leather-stocking Tales. By
J. F knnimore Cooper. Revised and Corrected, with a new Introduction, by the
Author. 12mo., pp. 443. New Y ork: George P. Putnam.
The series of Cooper’s novels which are in course of republication by Mr. Putnam,
are admirably adapted to meet the acceptance of the public. They are issued in an
excellent style, and are fresh from the critical examination of the author. Surely no
commendation is necessary to be bestowed upon the works of Cooper— they are al­
ready well known and highly valued.




The Book Trade.

591

19. — T h e

F o o t -P r in t s o f the C re a to r; or, the Asterolepis o f Stromness. By H ugh
Author of the “ Old Red Sandstone," &c. From the Third London Edition,
■with a Memoir of the Author by Louis A gassiz. 12mo., pp. 337. Boston: Gould,
Kendall it Lincoln.
This is one of those rare works which make their appearance only at intervals, and
which are destined to make a permanent impression npon the public mind. This vol­
ume is confined to the scientific truths of geology. It is divided into fifteen chapters,
in which the author treats of the fossil geology of the Orkney Isles, as exhibited in the
vicinity of Stromness; of the development, hypothesis, and its consequences; of the
history and structure of that remarkable fish, the Asterolepis; of the fishes of the
upper and lower Silurian rocks; of the progress of degradation, and its history ; of
the Lamarckian hypothesis of the origin of plants and its consequenees; of the ma­
rine and terrestrial floras; and of final causes and their bearing on geological history.
There is a freshness of conception, a power of argumentation, a depth of thought, and
purity of feeling, rarely met with in works of this class, which are well calculated to
call forth sympathy, and to increase the popularity of geological science.
20. — T r u t h S tra n ge r th an F ic tio n . A N a rra tiv e o f Recent Transactions In v o lv in g
M il l e r ,

In q u ir ie s i n R e g a rd to the P r in c ip le s o f H o n o r, T r u 'h , a n d Justice, w h ich obtain in
a D istin g u is h e d A m e ric a n U n iv e rs ity . By C atharine E. B eecher . 12mo., pp. 296.

Boston: Phillips, Sampson it Co.
The upshot of this book is, that a young lady was not married by a young gentle­
man, and the ill feelings that ensued brought the matter before a theological court, in
which the officers of Yale College sustained the honor of the gentleman, while the lady
was permitted to withdraw her complaint, as in this country the ladies too generally
are. Whereupon the present appeal is made to the public for their sympathies and
their just indignation.
21. — M a rg a ret P e rc iv a l in A m e ric a . A tale edited by a New England minister, A. BBeing a sequel to Margaret Percival. A tale edited by Rev, ¥m. Sewell. 12mo.,
pp. 284. Boston: Phillips, Sampson h Co.
The object of this tale is to represent the heroine of the former one, in a country
where sectarian usages are comparatively disregarded, and where a generous spirit
exists among Christians of ditferent names. It was probably occasioned by the strictly
sectarian character of the former work. It possesses much spirit and vigor of style,
and will afford a very agreeable entertainment to those who may desire to see a victim
of sectarianism in a land of comparative liberty.
22. — Transactions an d Collections o f the A m e ric a n A n t iq u a r ia n Society. V o l. I I I . ,
P a r t I . Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co.
This volume of the society's transactions and collections is devoted to the records of
the Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England, as contained in the first volume
of the Archieves of the State. A better “ portraiture of the time ” could not well be
presented ; and the aim has been to exhibit as minute and literal a copy of the original
as could intelligibly be maintained in print. It comprises one of the most important
chapters in the history of American colonization, and is far from being a matter of
merely local interest.
23. — Shakspearc's D ra m a tic W orks, w ith In tro d u c to ry R em ark s a n d Notes, O r ig in a l
a n d Selected. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co.
The twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth numbers of this beautiful edition, comprising the
“ Third Part of Henry VI.,” and “ Richard III.,” have been received. They contain
fine engravings of “ Lady Grey ” and “ Lady Anne.” The letter-press is an elegant
specimen of the typographic art.
24. — T h e F a rm e r's G uid e to Scientific an d P r a c tic a l A g r ic u ltu re ; d etailing the L a b o rs
o f the F a r m e r in a ll th eir V a rie ty, a n d A d a p tin g them to a ll Seasons o f the Yea r.

By H enry S tephens, F. R. S. E., assisted by J ohn N orton. Part 10. New York:
Leonard Scott & Co.
This work, which is now issued in a series of parts, abounds in facts and information
relating to the practical details of agriculture. Such is the abundance and fullness
of its suggestions, that while no individual could find time to execute the whole, yet
all can derive information and advantage from them. So far as we can judge, the
work is of a strictly practical character, and the methods which it proposes for the
cultivation of land and the improvement of stock, are such as are worthy of the con­
fidence and approbation of the public. When completed it will contain all the leading
information, both scientific and practical, which we possess on agriculture.




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The Book Trade.

25. — Th e

G a lle ry o f Illu s trio u s A m e r ic a n s : C o n ta in in g the P o r tr a its and_ B io g r a p h i­
cal Sketches o f Tw e n ty f o u r o f the most eminent Citizens o f the R e p u b lic since the
D e a th o f W ashington.
Daguerreotypes by B r a d y : Engraved by D'A vignon .

Edited by 0. E dwards L ester, assisted by an Association of Literary Men.
This splendid work is of the folio style, and is published in semi-monthly numbers.
Numbers 9 and 10 contain portraits of General Scott and President Fillmore, which
are very finely executed. The letter press is admirable, and the biographical sketches
are succinct and eloquent, as might be expected from the pen of the distinguished
Author. We know of no publication so well adapted to please the taste and strike the
fancy of Americans, and no one that can at all compare with it, or which is worthy of
so general a patronage as this one. Number 10 contains, likewise, a large and hand­
some portrait of Jenny Lind by Brady.
26. — T h e L if e o f S ila s Talbot, a Commodore in the N a v y o f the U n ite d States. B y
H enry T. T uckerman. 18mo., pp. 137. New York: J. C. Riker.
The sketch contained in this little volume was intended for the series of American
biography edited by President Sparks, but owing to the suspension of that work, it
appears in its present form. The scenes of Talbot’s life occurred during our Revolu­
tionary war, and they possess the usual interest which belongs to every event of that
period. They are related in a very eloquent style, by the accomplished pen of the
writer,
27. — B io g ra p h ic a l Essays. By T homas D e Q uincey, Author of Confessions of an
English Opium Eater. 12mo., pp. 284. Boston: Ticknor, Reed Fields.
This is the second volume of De Quincey’s writings, which are in course of publica­
tion. It consists of biographical sketches of Shakspeare, Pope, Charles Lamb, Goethe,
and Schiller. They are written in a charming style, and manifest a richness of thought
and refinement of sentiment which entitle the author to a commendable place in the
rank of English-literary characters. A third volume is yet to be added to the series,
which will contain some of the most interesting papers contributed by the author to
the English magazines.
28. — T h e Illu s tra te d Dom estic B ib le . By the Rev. I ngram C obbin, M. A. New York:
Samuel Hueston.
This addition appears to be very highly commended, especially for the brief notes
and reflections which its learned and accomplished editor has appended at the foot of
each page. The typography is of good size, and the cuts, with which it is illustrated,
relate chiefly to scenes and places described in the text. It forms a very cheap and
handsome edition for a family Bible. Eight numbers have thus far been issued, the
last of which contains a part of the second book of “ Chronicles.”
29. — Echoes o f the U n iv e rs e : f r o m the w o rld o f m atter a n d the w o rld o f spirits. B y
Rev. H enry C hristmas, M. A., F. R. S. 12mo., pp. 268. Philadelphia: A. Hart.
In this volume the author has undertaken to show the connection which exists be­
tween natural and spiritual truths; and by the contemplation of the developements of
physical science, he would lead the mind to recognize the higher and nobler truths of
revelation. It is prepared with considerable vigor and strength of thought, from ma­
terials, the outlines of which were delivered, in the form of lectures, to the South
London Branch of the Church of England Society for promoting missions at home and
abroad.
30. — L a d y W illo u g h b y ; o r Passages f r o m the D i a r y o f a W ife a n d M o th e r in the
Seventeenth C entury. 12mo., pp. 192. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co.
This work purports to have been written at the time of the stirring scenes of the
English Revolution, and by a lady who was elevated above the sphere of common life.
It abounds in natural, simple feeling, refined taste, pure piety, and the unaffected,
womanly thoughts of a daughter, wife, and mother, and will be highly valued by all
who can appreciate such sentiments.
31. — A Review o f the R ev, Moses Stuart's P a m p h le t on Slavery, entitled “ Conscience
a n d the C o nstitu tion .” By R ufuds W. Clarke , A. M. Boston: C. C. Moody.
This pamphlet contains 103 pages, and consists of a series of articles which originally
appeared in the B oston A tla s , in rely to Professor Stuart’s pamphlet on the slavery
question. It is written with much vigor and energy of thought, and pithiness of ex­
pression, and is now published in the present form for the purpose of gratuitous dis­
tribution.