Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : November 1862, Vol. XLVII, No. V

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

T HE

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
NOVEMBER,

18 62.

OU R C I T I E S I N 1 8 6 2 A N D 1 9 6 2 .
C H IC A G O

AND

TOLEDO.

BY J. W. S.
T he cities o f this country have become what they are, chiefly, within
the last fifty years and, almost entirely, within the past century. The
sum total of the population of all o f them, in 1762, was less than Chicago
now possesses. With pride and exultation we look back on the growth
of our cities, through the last century; with lively hope we anticipate a
more glorious expansion during the century before us. In 1762, how
imperfect were the instrumentalities of commerce, manufactures, and ag­
riculture compared with those now in use. W ill ours be so rude in the
eyes of our successors o f 1962 ? It is difficult to imagine so great an
advance; and yet reason tells us it will be almost immeasurably greater.
Who, in 1762, would have believed that the twenty thousand inhabitants
of New York would grow to upwards of a million in 1862 ? W ho, in
1762, would have been thought sane had he predicted the existence, in
1862, of a city on lake Michigan o f over one hundred thousand inhabi­
tants ? Far more apparently incredible changes, in city growth, will be
witnessed during the hundred years to come. China, with her inferior
race of men and her greatly inferior instruments of production, has built
up cities over her rich plains and valleys that embrace numbers nearly,
if not quite, equal to all the other cities of the world. Our territory is
scarcely less productive of the elements for the support of a great pop­
ulation than that of China. The natural productive powers o f our con­
tinent of North America center about our great western lakes, and thither
is flowing the migrating current o f people more strongly than to any
other part ®f the world. On the borders of these inland seas, therefore,
we may expect a great concentration, in cities. The western extremities
of lakes Erie, Michigan, and Superior are, evidently, the commanding
commercial positions for the concentration of the commerce of the chain
VOL. x l v i i .— n o . v.
26




402

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962.

[November,

of lakes from all quarters o f tbe -world. To these points, as they offer the
best water way to the Atlantic and the best centers of distribution around
the lake borders, will be directed the commerce of the North Pacific
Ocean, in its passage across the continent. The productions of Eastern
Asia and tbe North Pacific Islands, transported by the Pacific railway to
the navigable waters of the Missouri, may reach these lake ports on
steam propelled boats or steam drawn cars, and, there, meet and be ex­
changed for products brought from the shores of the Atlantic, in large
steamers and by railroad. At present, and until a much larger capital
is accumulated in the lake cities, this commerce of ocean with ocean will
be carried on, chiefly, at New York. By the time the Pacific railroad is
completed, there will be a great change in the ability o f the lake cities
to participate in the new commeree which it will create.
If the ocean commerce were alone considered, New York would be
their best emporium. Foreign commerce is of great importance, but our
domestic commerce is, almost immeasurably, more important.
This
can be carried on to better advantage in central positions of the conti­
nent than on its borders. The more central the position to the home
productions to be interchanged, other advantages being equal, the better
the location for domestic commerce. The center o f population o f the
United States, and also of the U. S. embracing the Canadas, is in south­
eastern Ohio. It is moving every year, in a line considerably north-of-west,
about four miles, in the direction o f the west end o f lake Erie. The
center of the productive capabilites of the continent, when well improved,
will be as far in the interior as Chicago; probably many miles north­
westward of that city. But as our commerce with the Atlantic borders,
on both sides of the ocean, will, for a long time to come— probably for
all time to come— be greater than with the countries on the Pacific, the
center of industrial power will always be eastward of the center of pop­
ulation of our country. It will be quite within the limits of truth to
assert that the home commerce of the continent is ten times greater than
its commerce with all the world besides. The best position for the con­
centration of this home commerce, other things being equal, will, then,
be worth ten times as much as the best position for external commerce.
For the concentration o f interior or home commerce, the best location
will be the city nearest the center of industrial power, provided it has
adequate channels for transport and other facilities for the healthful sup­
port of a large commerce and a large population.
Such are the posi­
tions of Toledo and Chicago.
Is it reasonable to anticipate for these
young cities a very high destiny ? W ill it seem absurd to expect one or
both to come up to the stature of great capitals, such as New York, Lon­
don, and Paris, by the year 1962 ? W e submit some facts wThich look in
that direction. The tendency of the commerce o f the great North Ameri­
can plain to center in the lake cities has been manifest from their com­
mencement, and especially during the last fifteen years. The increase of
population from 1850 to 1860 was—
In Chicago.............................................................................
In Toledo...............................................................................
In our 10largest lake cities...............................................
“
“
river cities...............................................
“
“
exterior tide-water cities......................




265 per cent.
260
“
133
“
65
“
53
“

1862.]

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962.

403

Twenty years ago it was generally believed that our largest interior
cities would grow up on the great interior rivers. Experience lias since
demonstrated that our interior commerce prefers to concentrate on the
borders of our great lakes. It can no longer be doubted, by well informed
persons, that these lakes will draw to their waters and concentrate in their
cities a greater commerce than will the great interior rivers. The supe­
rior growth of the commerce and population of the chief cities of the
lakes, from 1850 to 1860, proves this to have become the rule o f the
pa3t. The increase o f population o f the ten largest lake cities, as the
foregoing table shows, was more than twice as rapid as that of the ten
largest river cities. The proportionate increase o f their commerce was
much greater. O f the ten largest lake cities, Chicago and Toledo exhibit
much the most rapid growth in commerce and population— the former
having gained 265 per cent and the latter 260 per cent.
These cities
having the most commanding positions are to be the future rivals for
leadership. Each has great and peculiar claims to become, one day, !he
great city of the lakes.
It will, probably, be long before it is settled
which has the best position for concentrating a great commerce. Toledo
has, at present, not more than one-seventh the number o f inhabitants in
Chicago. This places her at great disadvantage in the start. Can it be
overcome ? Philadelphia was, once, much more populous and wealthy
than New York. Business and wealth change the field of their opera­
tions, in our day, more readily than many years ago.
People change
their places of residence with much more ease and less reluctance than
formerly. The whole human race is becoming mobile. W e may, there­
fore, put less stress on the advantage of greater size. The best natural
position for be -oming the great city o f the lakes, within the next hun­
dred years, is believed to belong to Toledo. Artificial channels of trade,
alreaiy in use, are not wanting, and it is but reasonable to expect they
will be multiplied to meet the exigencies of its growing commerce. Has
Toledo the better natural position ? Let us, with candor, enumerate the
peculiar advantages of each. Toledo is nearer to the British provinces
north and northeast of the lakes and much more convenient for the ex­
change of the exportable products o f these provinces, transported by
water or by land, for the exportable products of the interior States west
and southwest of Toledo and Chicago.
These provinces now contain
some three millions and-a-half o f people, and increase nearly as fast as
the Northwestern States. Their numbers increasing at the same rate as
that of all the States of our Union, since 1V90, would become upwards
of seventy millions in one hundred years.
Whether incorporated with
us or constituted an independent nation, these provinces will form an im­
portant part of our commercial world. The natural resources of this ex­
tensive region are very great and will be developed into immense wealth
by the intelligent and active race who are filling it with people.
Proximity, facility of access in time and cost, other things being equal,
will determine the preference o f one commercial position over another.
The British provinces of the North constitute but a small portion of the
commercial world that is nearer to Toledo than to Chicago, and, so should
prefer it, as a place of resort, for the interchange of its commodities. By
drawing, on the map, a line o f equal distance between the two cities it
will be seen that, eastward of that line, there exists, and for a long time
there must continue to exist, a great preponderance o f population and




404

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962 .

[November,

wealth over the region westward o f that line. This dividing line will
give Toledo the lower portions of lakes Superior and Michigan, and, in
its course southward, will pass through South Bend and Indianapolis,
west of Louisville, and meet the gulf near Pensacola. If the commerce
of North America be alone considered, there is scarcely room for doubt
that Toledo is the more favorable point for its present concentration.
There is not only much more population east o f the line, but it possesses,
in proportion to numbers, much greater wealth-producing power. How
will the balance stand when half the century, allowed for the race be­
tween these cities, shall have passed ? The United States and British
provinces will then contain over one hundred millions o f people. W ill
the center of their commercial power then be nearer Chicago than To­
ledo 2 Clearly not. The probability is that the greater portion of the
hundred millions will live east of the line of equal distance; and there
cannot be a doubt that the preponderance of wealth and resources, in
proportion to numbers, will be on the Toledo side. The available chan­
nels of commerce o f both cities are now ample for the present condition
of the country; and it may be safely assumed that they will be improved
and increased as rapidly on the Toledo as on the Chicago side of the line.
W ill the center of commercial power of the continent, before the end of
a century, be west of the line of equal distance between Chicago and
Toledo ? It is probable that the center of population will reach that
line, and quite possible that it may, in its westward movement, reach and
pass Chicago. But, the center of population and the center of commer­
cial power are quite distinct and, often, distant from each other. Our
calculations, intended to show the future center o f the commercial power
o f our continent, must embrace the whole commercial world. W e must
also estimate, approximately, as well as we can, the relative commercial
value of the different populations in North America and beyond it. This
value will depend, chiefly, on proximity, industry, capital, and enterprise.
Proximity, near neighborhood, has much to do with the number and
amount of commercial transactions of every community. Persons of
different occupations, in a city, within a few doors of each other, on the
same block, on the same side o f the street, on the same street, in the
same quarter of the city make more exchanges, buy and sell more with
each other, other things being equal, than with people more remote or
more difficult of access. Whatever can be procured in the city of one’s
residence will be bought there rather than in the next c ity ; and the city
near at hand will be called on to supply what the city of our residence
cannot so well furnish, in preference to a city more distant. It is proba­
ble that the people o f the city of New York, with its immediate depend­
encies, numbering a million and-a-quarter, carry on more commerce with
each other and with the rest of the world, in number o f transactions and
in amount of values, than any five millions in the valley o f the Missis­
sippi. The advantages o f easy co-operation in industrial pursuits, which
proximity confers, constitute an essential element in the growth of cities
which prosper by virtue of natural advantages. Toledo therefore, being
nearer the chief centers of industrial power of North America and the
world, may be expected to have more commercial transactions, other ad­
vantages being equal, than Chicago.
The numerical preponderance of the country nearer Toledo does not
fully represent its comptarative industrial ability. The industry of the




1862.]

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962.

405

Northern Atlantic and the Eastern Lake States is much more developed
and varied, and, in consequence, more productive o f articles which sus­
tain commerce than is the industry of the country nearer Chicago.
Accumulated capital is an important element in any calculation for fix­
ing the center of commercial power. A t present, most of the available
capital of the world is on the Toledo side of the line. Northwestern
Europe and the eastern portion of our Republic are the chief points of
accumulation from which it flows along the large channels of trade to­
wards the most promising seats of western commerce. Much of the sur­
plus capital on the other side of the Atlantic, beyond what is wanted for
home use, is, with more or less constancy, brought to the United States
and provinces north o f us for investment. In its westward course, after
supplying the cities east of the lakes, it flows over, in smaller streams,
into our lake and river cities. The western cities first reached, other
things being equal, will have the preference for its lodgement. It has
had an important agencv in the building up of Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland,
Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and other lake
and river cities. Much of this capital has come in the pockets of immi­
grants, who have also added to the growth o f these cities by their labor
and skill even more than by their money. The accretions to the lake
cities from this source naturally fall,in largest measure, into those nearest
the source of supply. New York being the principal place o f debarka­
tion, most of the immigrants, in their progress westward, take the New
York channels— canals and railroads. To be situated on the principal
route of a large immigration is now, as it ever has been, a great advan­
tage to cities. Witness the growth of cities along the Erie Canal, when
that was the principal thoroughfare of our migrating people westward.
Trace the line of immigration through Bremen, Havre, and Liverpool,
New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Mil­
waukee, and thence westward, and you will not fail to perceive how fruc­
tifying are the constant accretions, by the way, which this steady current
of migration produces. This swelling tide of human beings has been
checked for a season only, to break over its barriers and flow in a larger
and fuller current in the future. This will be hastened and heightened
by the effect of the late law of Congress donating land to settlers on the
public domain. A fair estimate of the industrial character of the inhab­
itants about these cities may be predicated on the character of the coun­
try in which they are located respectively. Toledo is surrounded, to a
large extent, by a timbered region of such great fertility as to be inviting
only to the most healthy and resolute agriculturists as settlers. Lazy or
irresolute pioneers will not encounter the labor needed to subdue the
dense forest. Only bold hearts and strong arms are equal to the task of
converting the forest into smiling meadows, wheat fields, and orchards.
But, when the forest is subdued, not only will these fields be more certain
of a profitable return, in large crops; but the strong hearts and arms
will be there to add good houses and barns, orchards and roads, and to
do whatever else is needful to build up a civilized society. This resolute
population will be just in the place where the best returns for the most
various cultivation may be expected to result. It is, in climate, the best
fruit-growing section o f the great interior plain; and, in adaptation of
soil, it is equal to the best. A dense as well as an industrious population
will result, giving a decided advantage to Toledo.




406

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962.

[November,

Chicago is bounded, on the south side, for many miles, by a flat prairie,
not adapted to fruit growing, and very bleak and uninviting to the small
farmer. W ell drained, it will produce good crops o f corn, oats, and
grass when the season is not very wet or very dry. For winter wheat
and for grass it is quite inferior to land o f like fertility cleared from the
forest, and less certain in unfavorable seasons to produce good summer
crops. These objections apply, chiefly, to the flat prairies near C hicago;
but, with less force, they are applicable also to the rolling prairies at a
greater distance. The advantages to the former, of timber land, cannot
be duly appreciated without experience of their privation. Fuel, fences,
buildings, repairs of tools, protection from the wintry blasts and summer
heats— these come up in the mind of the settler with great force. But,
the superiority of the wooded region, and especially that about the west
end of lake Erie, for fruit growing, should give it an unhesitating pre­
ference over the prairie countries by every intelligent seeker for the best
place for cultivating fruit. There are but small portions of the settled
parts of our extensive country in which a crop of the best fruits of a
temperate climate can be relied on with reasonable certainty from year
to year. Among these may be unhesitatingly placed the southwestern
borders of lake Erie. In spring, the cool winds from the thawing ice
keep back vegetation so as, usually, to save fruit buds from killing frosts.
The autumn frosts are likewise delayed, near the lake waters, giving time
for late-ripening fruits to mature, and for wood and fruit buds to mature
so as to perfect their growth and round out the year of vegetable life.
An improvement, long contemplated as a possible exploit of a future
generation, may have the effect to give to Toledo commercial advantages
above and beyond those o f Chicago. A large canal across the base o f
the peninsula of Michigan, to connect the navigable waters of lakes Erie
and Michigan, is among the possible achievments of the future. Sur­
veys have proved its practicability. The only summit level is less than
four hundred feet above the lakes. Such canal carried westward down
the Hankakee or Calumet valley, to connect with the enlarged Illinois
Canal, would give the best practicable water channel of commerce be­
tween Lake Erie and the center of commerce of the Mississippi valley,
at St. Louis. The distance by this route, as compared with that by way
o f Chicago, lakes Michigan, Huron, and St. Clair, would be shortened
about four hundred and fifty miles, avoiding much risk and some delay.
Early in Spring and late in Autumn, it would be likely to take the place
o f the lake routes, to a great extent. On articles o f high value in pro­
portion to weight, the saving of insurance would be equal to a fair freight
charge. If, in addition to the improvement of the Illinois River, as re­
commended to Congress, fitting it for the passage of river and lake steamers,
a short canal of equal capacity to the contemplated enlarged Illinois
Canal were constructed, to connect its navigation with that o f the upper
Mississippi, at the mouth of Rock River, a great extension o f easy com ­
mercial intercourse, by water, between the Mississippi basin and the lake
basin, would be effected. Commercially, the Mississippi at Rock Island,
would be turned from its natural course and flow eastward into the great
lakes at Chicago and Toledo. By the improvement of the Illinois River
to the entrance of the canals, from the East, the Missouri River will be
turned, commercially, northeastward into the same channel. The instru­
mentalities to be used in the navigation of the canals, rivers, and lakes,




1862.]

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962.

407

will certainly be much superior to those now in use. Whether it shall
be a greatly improved steam engine that shall furnish the motive power,
or some new instrument to supersede, by its.superiority, this instrument,
we can only conjecture. That canals are again to be in fashion, that a
counter revolution in their favor is now in progress, seems evident. Such
canals, too, we may anticipate, will be constructed as shall be adapted to
the increased power of man to overcome the opposing forces of nature.
Our central plain especially invites the introduction o f canals to connect
the great water highway o f commerce given it, in the chain of great
lakes and the Missouri-Mississippi family o f rivers. In their flow, these
great channels approach each other near their central portions, only to
discharge their waters at widely divergent points, on different sides of
the continent; one pointing the way towards the central commerce of
Europe; and the oilier, in the direction of the central sea of America,
where the commerce of the tropics— the west coast of America and the
east coast of Asia— naturally meets. Enterprising man is here offered a
great reward for the exercise of his best powers to unite into one these
two great national highroads of commerce, by canals, adequate to the ac­
commodation of the best vessels adapted to the navigation of the lakes
and the rivers; such adaptation, ultimately, perhaps, to be made to em­
brace ocean navigation also. The great national railway from the cential plain to the Pacific, wdl have much efficiency added to its commer­
cial power, by meeting, in the middle of the continent, cheap water trans­
portation eastward. Is it objected that canals adapted to large vessels
and the use of steam power, made to connect the waters of lakes Erie
and Michigan with those of the Mississippi-Missouri, is a work requiring
immense labor and must cost many millions of dollars? All the more
should we covet the glory and reward for overcoming these obstacles; all
the more shall we strengthen ourselves, by the exertions called for, to
accomplish the great work. Holland, with much less means, made her­
self great and strong by the construction and use of her immense works
of excavation and embankment; her canals and sea walls.
Without the construction of these navigable channels between the
great lakes and the great interior rivers, the connection of our continental
commerce is but partial, unfinished, incomplete. It seems probable that
Toledo would derive more benefit from the construction of such canals
than Chicago. The enlargement of the Miami and Erie Canal, between
Toledo and Cincinnati, and o f the Wabash and Erie westward of itsjunction with the large canal above mentioned, would enure to the special
benefit of Toledo, while the great lines westward from the head of the
lakes, on which they are situated, would probably be equally beneficial to
both cities. Chicago has the great advantage o f a present population
seven or eight times as numerous as that of Toledo. The causes of this
superiority have nearly spent their force, so that, from 1850 to 1860, the
percentage of increases, as has been shown, was nearly identical. A city
of 120,000 has great resources, in itself, not possessed by one o f 16,000.
It is a start in the race, the benefit of which will probably be lasting and
difficult to balance by others less positive of the smaller competitor.
Chicago has a more extended and complete system o f railroads radiating
from it. This advantage is but temporary. It has the advantage of be­
ing nearer and more accessible to the central point of the interior river
system of navigation. This advantage may be overcome and perhaps be




408

Our Cities in 1862 and 1962.

[November,

turned against it by a ship canal from Toledo to the Illinois Canal, such
as is advocated in this article. But such ship canal will, probably, only
come after many years of enjoyment, by Chicago, o f a large canal con­
necting the navigation of the lakes with the Mississippi waters. In facili­
ties for the manufacture and distribution of articles, to be needed and
used by a great surrounding population industrious, intelligent, and pro­
gressive, the two cities seem to possess nearly equal advantages. Both
will be supplied with raw materials of manufacture, such as crude iron,
copper, and other useful metals, wool, cotton, hemp, flax, &c., at a small
advance of price above the cost of production. Both will be supplied
with coal in like manner; each being near the inexhaustible'coal beds of
Michigan and Illinois. In water power and cheap timber Toledo has the
advantage, and may, therefore, claim to lead in the manufacture of articles
chiefly made of wood: vessels, boats, furniture, wagons, &c. For the con­
struction of quays, houses, &c., o f wood, Toledo is the best place ; but, for
buildings of stone, brick, iron, the advantages are nearly balanced, both
having ample resources for that object. The cost of living will not be
materially different. The dweller in Chicago will buy his meat at less
cost, but he will have to give more for fruits and most foreign products.
Also for the best products of the dairy. The cost of the water supply
will probably be less in Toledo, as it now stands ready for use in the large
canal forty-nine feet higher than the water of the harbor; the source of
supply being little less than the entire flow of the Maumee River. Artesian
wells of about one hundred feet in depth offer excellent water, above and
near the surface, all over the city and surrounding country. Toledo has
special merits not possessed by C hicago: 1st, In the shape and elevation
of the ground on which it is being built. The average elevation o f its
site within the corporate limits is not less than forty-tive feet above the
harbor. Its surface is varied, rising from ten feet above high water to
upwards of fifty feet, thus affording facilities for good drainage. 2d, In
the breadth, capacity, and easy access o f its harbor. This tnay be de­
scribed as five miles long by nearly half a mile wide, having two sides of
a diamond shaped parallelogram, and having a depth of from fifteen to
thirty-five feet. It is formed by the estuary of the Maumee River, one of
the largest streams flowing into the lakes, having a drainage of about
8,000 square miles. The entrance of the harbor, through the bay o f the
same name, is easy and safe in all kinds of weather. 3d, In the concen­
tration of all the railroads and canals at one place near the center o f the
city, and in such a manner as in no way to interfere with the use of
streets. The railways nowhere cross a city street on grade, and the canals
and other navigable channels do not interfere, necessarily, but in one or
two places with the uninterrupted use o f streets. An unnecessary and
useless side canal, passing through a portion of the city and standing al­
most unused, will probably be filled up soon, and thus free the streets
which it crosses from its obstruction.
These special merits of Toledo contrast with the low, level site; the
narrow, long, and crooked harbor of difficult entrance in a storm ; the
numerous impediments in the streets, caused by ferries and draw-bridges ;
the railway tracks on grade; and the scattered termini of railroads of
Chicago. The superiority of Toledo for good drainage, and the strong
current o f a large river favorable to a speedy removal of filth thrown into
it by the sewers, may be relied on, to some extent, to make it more healthy
than Chicago.




1862.]

Our Cities in 18 62 and 1962.

409

One hundred years! W hat may not we hope o f development on our
continent, in our country, within this period ; long, if measured by the
ordinary duration of human life, short, compared with the life of nations,
and very short in comparison with the life of the human race. Looking
back one hundred years, we find that some four millions, at the com­
mencement of the century, inhabiting the then British colonies of North
America, have increased to upwards of thirty-five millions. The city of
New York was, then, about the present size of Toledo, with a commerce
less than one-fifth of that now centering in this recent city. All the cities
of the colonies, then, aggregated a less population than is embraced in
the new city of Chicago. The general population has increased nearly
ten-fold, and the city population more than thirty-fold. Our wealth and
resources have increased in a still larger proportion than our cities. One
hundred years to come, with the command of steam, electricity, and we
know not what other and superior agencies for wonder working, can
scarcely fail to produce results of a magnitude and variety far beyond and
above the conceptions of the most gifted and the best instructed immaginaticn of our time. The cities o f Western Europe and Eastern Asia are
grand productions o f human society, but they will be deemed rude and
small, in comparison with the vast capitals which, in the period of one
hundred years, will grow up on our continent.

TR AD E AND COM MERCE OF S IC IL Y ,

Attention has been recently called to the productive powers of the beau­
tiful island of Sicily by the publication— ordered by the House of Com­
mons— of the report of the British consul there, from which weglean some
instructive statistics respecting that new appanage of the crown of Italy.
The population is stated to be two millions and a half. In 1860 the com­
merce of Sicily was a little more than £5,000,000, and in the following
year it increased to upwards of £6,000,000. It appears, nevertheless, that
while the trade between France and Sicily has increased, there has been a
decrease in the trade with England and America; that with France hav­
ing risen from £920,000 to £1,360,000, while British trade has declined
from £2,270,000 to £1,700,000, and the trade with America has slightly
fallen off. Mr. G oodwin shows that the American trade with the island in
1860 represented £540,000, and in 1861 £514,000, not a serious decrease,
considering the present position of transatlantic affairs. The consul winds
up his report respecting the resources of this celebrated island in the follow­
ing glowing terms : “ The King of Italy possesses, in the position of Sicily,
the fertility of its soil, and the richness of its veins, a permanent source of
wealth which, wisely administered, would not fail to raise Sicily shortly to
unexampled prosperity. It rests with V ictor E mmanuel to make Sicily
the greatest exporter in Southern Europe of raw and prepared produce, by
carrying out the already adopted principles of free trade to their full ex­
tent in all branches o f industry.”
When Italy becomes settled the devel­
opment of Sicily will commence— an event in all probability not far dis­
tant.




The Cotton Question.

410

[November,

THE COTTON QUESTION— TIIE SUPPLY— A SUBSTITUTE.
T h e great distress experienced in the manufacturing districts o f England
and France may be said now to have reached a point from which improve­
ment and gradual relief can be anticipated. W e would not be under­
stood to say that there is soon to be an abundance of cotton again on
the market, but only that the worst phase of the present crisis is passed.
Proof of this will be found in these two facts: 1. That the consumption
has been so reduced as to be less than the supply, and we may therefore
look for an increase of stock. 2. Every month must increase the productability of the new sources of supply now in course of development.
As to the supply, the following table of the movement of the stock at
Liverpool since July 1st, with the corresponding periods o f 1860 and 1861,
is of interest in this connection, showing, as it does, that there is even now
a rally in the amount on hand :

Stock,
July 4 ...............
“ l l ...............
“ 1 8 ...............
“ 2 5 ...............
Auff. 2 ...............
“ 9 ...............
“ 16 ...............
“ 2 3 ...............
“ 3 0 ...............
Sept. 5 ...............
“ 12

bales
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___

1862.
184,940
156,980
155,490
171,430
161,500
158,750
125,310
82,420
62,980
58,150
92,330

1861.
1,108,300
1,101,730
1,053,710
1,001,090
1,019,100
989,940
944,360
912,130
887,120
886,680
868,260

1860.
1,298,490
1,227,990
1,287,520
1,283,230
1,241,370
1,203,740
1,157,590
1,128,210
1,093,200
1,022,370
941,810

In addition to this amount now on hand, it is estimated that from
500,000 to 600,000 bales are expected to come to hand before the close of
the year. At the same time, the consumption in Great Britain has been
reduced to a weekly average of from 20,000 to 25,000 bales, as compared
with a weekly average of 46,240 bales last year, while the export has been
reduced to 8,740 bales per week.* Hence, if these estimates hold good,
and they are made by the best authorities, there must be an increase of
* This reduction in exports did not take place till September. Prior to that date
the amount was wonderfully large considering the high price. The following table
shows the weekly export for the first eight months of 1862, compared with 1859,1860,
and 1861:
Weekly home
consumi tion.

1859
......................................................... bales
1860 ............................................................................
1 8 6 1 ......................................................... ...............
First eight months of 1S62......................................




44,000
50,600
43,300
28,200

W eekly
export.

8,400
11,700
13.000
12.000

The Cotton Question.

411

stock at Liverpool the next three months. W e trust, therefore, that we
have seen the worst of this cotton famine.
As to the efforts now being made to find a substitute for this remarkable
staple, we have but little faith in their success, and yet such an event of
course is not impossible. England is at the present time agitating this ques­
tion earnestly, and if a will can always find a way, we may be hopeful.
W e do not propose at this time to discuss these various new undertakings,
but merely to call attention to the following, showing the nature of the most
of them :
1. It may be remembered that some years since, Chevalier Clatjssen—who we regret to learn is now in a lunatic asylum— patented a number of
schemes for improving the preparation and bleaching of (lax, among which
was one for cutting up the fiber into fitting lengths for manufacture on cot­
ton machinery. The material, thus prepared, was tried by several manu­
facturers, but it never succeeded in making its way into general consump­
tion, or even into general publicity. Whether, however, its failure was ow­
ing to its inherent unsuitability for the purpose intended, or to the fact that,
as cotton was then tolerably abundant, it could not compete with it in price,
we are unable to state positively. Probably the former; for even during
the recent scarcity of cotton we have heard of no attempts to revive the
Chevalier’s invention.
2. Flax waste, however— the short fibers of that article which are un'
fitted for the linen manufacturer, and which are separated from the longer
ones in the early processes— is capable of being mixed with either Orleans
or Surat cotton in the proportion of one-fourth or one-third; and as far as
it goes has been, and is now being, used for this purpose with advantage
and without impairing the value of the fabric. But as the quantity avail­
able is of course only limited, any general demand for it would so raise the
price as to make it no longer profitable. It is a resource for individual
manufacturers, therefore, but scarcely for the trade generally.
3. Jute— a species of hemp, which already goes to England in great
quantities, and the growth of which in India might be increased to almost
any extent, and which could be supplied at a reasonable rate— is looked to
with muclj hope by many, and Mr. T hompson has recently effected and
registered in England some improvements in the preparation of it, which it
is hoped may render it capable of manipulation on cotton machinery. The
article produced is promising, but at present it is long and somewhat coarse
in fiber, and appears more similar to, and more fit for mixing with, wool
than cotton. It may possibly in time be adapted for cotton machinery, but
is not so yet.
4. In the United States there is a patent in operation for making flax
fiber at once into a substitute for cotton ; but it is, we believe, a rude sub­
stance and not superior, for practical use, to the waste flax already mentioned.
It needs, moreover, thirty or forty per cent o f American cotton to work
with it.
5. A Frenchman has invented or discovered a very neat article, which is
reported to be promising. He has forwarded samples to Manchester, on
the faith of which a large order was sent him, which, however, he declined
to execute. It seems probable, therefore, that the article is not one which,
at present at least, can be furnished in adequate quantities. Moreover, he




412

The Cotton Question.

[November,

declines to tell b :s secret without very handsome preliminary remuneration.
6.
China grass is said also to offer a very promising substitute, not un­
like Manilla hemp, but its working qualities have not yet been experiment­
ally ascertained. Like all the other fibrous materials yet proposed, it can,
we understand, only be worked in conjunction with a large proportion of
real cotton. Moreover, this and all the other materials yet suggested, flax
included, are woody fibre, and as such essentially and incurably different in
nature from cotton, and devoid both of the elasticity and the smoothness
which render it so valuable. They may, therefore, cheapen linen or woolen
goods, but can scarcely supersede or supplement cotton.
V. The latter part of September a gentleman of the name of H a r d e n
explained to a party of competent manufacturers in Manchester his plan for
meeting the want of cotton. This consisted o f the adaptation to machinery
of the fibres of a sea plant called Zostera Marina, found in large quanti­
ties on the coast in many parts of the Kingdom. In fact it is a very com­
mon ribin-like substance, usually regarded as a sort of sea weed, though
said to belong to a different class botanically.. It is said to have been al­
ready applied with some success to the manufacture o f paper. The speci­
mens of the article, however, which Mr. H arben submitted to the commit­
tee of investigation were so exceedingly scanty and inadequate, that it was
impossible for those who examined them to form any opinion from them of
the suitability or availability of the material; nor had Mr. H arben made
any experiments with it to ascertain whether it could be made fit for spin­
ning on cotton machinery ; nor was he prepared with any calculations of
the cost at which it could be furnished in a workable state. Under these
circumstances, of course, it would be premature either to pronounce re­
specting it, or, we fear, to hope much from it.
8. A client o f the Messrs, P hilips o f London announce the invention of
a substitute, as stated in the last number o f the Merchants' Magazine;
but the nature o f it has not yet been made public.

9. A plant called the conserva bullosa, or craw silk, has also been pro­
posed. In L ighitoot’ s Flora Scotica the following account is given of
the uses of the conserva bullosa: “ It is of soft substance, and in pure water,
where the threads grow long, resembles tow. But in muddy water, where
they are short, it is not unlike cotton ; which, being carefully collected and
dried, turns wliitish, and has (according to D illenius, W eiss, H aller,
B omare, W ithering, aud other authorities,) been used instead of cotton.”
It may be met with in great abundance in almost every ditch and pool, es­
pecially old clay pits and slow streams. In cold weather it is always below
the surface of the water, and forms a mas3 of yellowish green fibers, very
fine, and interlacing each other in every direction. In summer it rises to
the surface in large fleece-like masses, commonly o f a deep green color, and
a spongy texture.
If raked out of the water, and exposed for a few' days
to the sun, it loses its green color and becomes bleached.
The above embrace about all the substitutes as yet proposed. Time alone
can determine their value. This list forms an important part of the com­
mercial history of the times.




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

1862.]

413

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.
1. A uctioneer — C ontract with B id d e r — IIow far A uctioneer is bound to accept a l l
B ids indiscriminately. 2. T ransfer of P roperty in a S hip . 3. W hat is sufficient E v i ­
dence of the Cause of D amage to Cargo . 4. T he P etroleum O il A ct of E ngland.

AUCTION EER— CONTRACT W IT H B ID D E R — HOW F A R AU CTION EER IS BOUND TO
ACCEPT A LL BIDS IN DISCRIM IN ATELY.

W e find reported in the Law Journal o f Canada the case of H older
vs. J ackson, in which the court holds that an auctioneer is not hound to
accept all bids, as a matter o f course, from persons present at his auction ;
and ihat, therefore, an action will not lie for refusing to accept such bids
unless by reason of some special conditions or terms of the sale.
The facts of the case, and opinion of the court, were in substance as
follows:
The action was brought by the bidder for damages. The declaration
charged the defendant with wrongfully, maliciously, and without reason­
able or just cause refusing to accept plaintiff’s biddings at an auction for
articles offered for sale, when the plaintiff had already been the highest
bidder for, and had certain other articles knocked down to him as the
purchaser thereof. The inducement laid was that plaintiff was in the
habit of buying at auction for himself and on commission for other per­
sons, (not averring notice thereof to defendant.) That defendant, as an
auctioneer* was holding a sale at public auction on the following condi­
tions: every article to be taken as it may turn out to be good, bad, or
indifferent; any lot in dispute at the time of being adjudged to be resold
to the highest bidder.
Terms o f payment, cash, prior to the goods
being removed or delivered, which was to take place after the sale was
closed. Any articles remaining unsettled for agreeably to the terms o f
sale to be resold on account and risk o f the purchaser. Persons purchas­
ing to the extent of £50 or upwards, can have a credit of three months,
by furnishing approved endorsed notes. Plaintiff did not assert that he
was the highest bidder for any article which was not adjudged to him,
but that the refusal o f his bids prevented his becoming the highest bid­
der. Nor did he aver that he purchased some articles with intent to buy
others, enough together to amount to £50 ; so that defendant’s refusal to
accept subsequent bids prevented this, whereby he was obliged to pay
cash for what he did buy. This, we say, the plaintiff did not state ; but
his claim rested on the assumption that an auctioneer at a public sale
must receive the bidding or offer o f any and every person present, and
does a wrong to any person whose bidding or offer he declines to notice
and receive.
The judge said that he could understand that possibly an auctioneer
may do a wrong to a seller by refusing bids.
As he is agent for the
seller oh initio he has the right to settle not merely the terms o f sale, but
to regulate the biddings; as for example, to say he will not receive any
bid which does not advance a given sum upon the last preceding bid.
He is under no contract with the intending purchasers, unless it arises




414

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

[November,

from the expressed terms or conditions of sale, until by accepting their
bids he becomes bound to complete the sale according to those conditions.
As, in case his conditions state the sale to be without reserve, he is bound
by a contract to sell to the highest bidder who is not the owner or agent
for the owner. A bid, therefore, by or on behalf of his principal is con­
trary to the contract to sell without reserve, and the auctioneer cannot
receive it to the prejudice o f the last preceding bidder. W arlow vs.
H arrison, (5 Jur. N. S. 313, and 6 Jur. N. S. 66.)
But in a sale such as it is stated in this count, I do not understand on
what ground any person can claim as a right to be allowed to bid— to
offer to become a purchaser. It will be going beyond any authority I
have seen to hold, that by holding an auction under such circumstances
there is an implied duty or contract to deal with any person who presents
himself, and that the auctioneer, with due regard to his responsibilities
to his principals has not a right to refuse to deal with any particular per­
son. The principal might refuse from mere caprice to sell to A, B, or
C, and might direct the auctioneer to refuse to sell to certain parties, and
I can see no reason why the auctioneer (the agent) is bound by law to
accept offers or bids, any more than his principal would be. There are
no special circumstances shown to prevent his exercising a discretion,
which may be very necessary under circumstances easy to imagine.
The court, therefore, gave judgment for defendant.

T R A N SF E R OF P R O P E R T Y IN A S H IP ,

The Statute of Registration provides, that, “ in every case o f sale or
transfer, there shall be some instrument in writing, in the nature of a bill
of sale, which shall recite at length the said certificate; otherwise the said
ship or vessel shall be incapable of being registered anew.” It follows, there­
fore, that a merely oral transfer, althougli for valuable consideration, and
followed by possession, gives the transferee no right to claim a new register
setting forth his ownership. But this is all. There is nothing in this statute
to prevent the property from passing to and vesting in such transferee. It
is, however, unquestionably a principle of the maritime law generally, that
property in a ship should pass by a written instrument. And as this prin­
ciple seems to be adopted by the statute, the courts have sometimes almost
denied the validity o f a merely parol transfer. The weight of authority and
of reason is, however, undoubtedly in favor of the conclusion stated by
Judge Story, that “ the registry acts have not, in any degree, changed the
common law as to the manner of transferring this species of property.” It
would follow, therefore, that such transfer would be valid, and would pass the
property.
The English registry act provides, that “ when the property in any ship,
or in any part thereof, shall, after registry, be sold, the same shall be trans­
ferred by bill of sale, or other instrument in writing, containing a recital of
the certificate of registry, or the principal contents thereof; otherwise, such
transfer shall not be valid or effectual for any purpose whatever, either in
law or in equity.” Our registry act contained no such provision. Perhaps
this important omission arose from a doubt whether legislating concerning
the transfer of ships at home, as property, could be considered as a regula­
tion of commerce; for if not, it was not within their constitutional power.




1862.]

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

415

In 1850, Congress, however, passed an act, “ to provide for recording the
conveyances of vessels, and for other purposes.” By this statute it was
provided “ that no bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or conveyance of
any vessel or part of any vessel of the United States, shall be valid against
any person other than the grantor or mortgagor, his heirs and devisees, and
persons having actual notice thereof; unless such bill of sale, mortgage,
hypothecation, or conveyance be recorded in the office of the collector of
the customs where such vessel is registered or enrolled.” Then follows an
exception in favor of liens by bottomry, and in subsequent sections are pro­
visions for recording by the collector, and giving certificates, &c.
This statute has no effect, that we perceive, upon oral transfers, excepting
that, as they cannot be recorded, their operation is limited to the grantors
and those who have actual notice. Where the transfer is by bill o f sale,
the record of this, under the late statute, is, perhaps, notice to all the world.
But in most of our States there are already provisions for the record of
mortgages of personal property, and it may be a difficult question how
these are affected by this statute of the United States. For example, if
there be such a record as is required by the State law, is this sufficient,
without a custom-house record, either because it is a public notice, which
is the equivalent of actual notice to everybody, or because the State has
the right to regulate this matter; or, if there be a record in the custom­
house and none which conforms to the State requirements, is this sufficient
against all the world ? If we suppose this statute to be constitutional, of
which we do not, however, feel certain, we should say that it controlled and
superseded the State statute, so as to make that unnecessary and ineffectual;
and therefore a record in the custom-house only would be sufficient, and a
record under the State law would affect only those who had actual know­
ledge of it.
As a ship is a chattel, a transfer of it should be accompanied by a de­
livery of possession. Actual delivery is sometimes impossible where a ship
is at sea; and perhaps the statute of 1850 makes the record of the transfer
equivalent to change of possession. If there be no record, possession should
be taken as soon as possible; and prudence would still require the same
course, we think, in case of transfer by writing and record.
There have been cases which have been supposed to intimate that, as
between two innocent purchasers, he that gets actual possession first com­
pletes his title as against the other. W e doubt the correctness of this in
all cases. W e say rather, that if A becomes in good faith the purchaser
of a vessel, and has taken constructive possession, (as by having a bill of
sale indorsed on the register and recorded in the custom-house, and taking
an order to the master or other person in possession to deliver her up,) he
has no right to delay unnecessarily the taking actual possession, for this
may deceive and injure other persons. And if B, a second purchaser, in
ignorance of the first purchase, during such delay or neglect gets actual
possession, he would hold the vessel; unless, indeed, prevented by the re­
cord. But if B gets actual possession before A, but while A was so pre­
vented that his want of actual possession cannot be imputed to him as neg­
lect, A will get a better title than B, if he (A ) takes actual possession as
soon as he can.
By the word “ ship,” and still more by the phrase “ ship and her appur­
tenances,” or “ apparel,” or “ furniture,” everything would pass which was
distinctly connected with the ship, and is on board of her, and fastened to




416

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

[November,

her if that be usual, and needed for her navigation or for her safety.
Kentledge, a valuable kind of permanent ballast, has been held to pass with
the ship; so have a rudder and cordage prepared for a vessel, but not yet
attached to her, and not quite finished; and so would a boat, anchors, &c.,
generally. But the answer to the question, W hat is part of the ship?
must always depend sometvhat upon the words of the instrument, and upon
the circumstances of the case and the intention of the parties.
Sometimes, when a ship is built, she is paid for in instalments. If these
are regulated by the progress in building, so that, when so much is done,
a sum deemed equivalent to the labor and materials used shall be paid, and
when more is done, another sum in due proportion, and so on, it is held
that each payment purchases the ship as she lies; and if she be lost after
any such payments, the loss is the loss of the purchaser. But if paid for,
so much down, and so much at a certain time, so much at another, &c.,
without reference to the state of the ship at these times, these are only pay­
ments on account, and the ship does not belong to the purchaser until com­
pleted and delivered.
A sale by the decree o f any regular court o f admiralty, with due notice
to all parties, and with proper precautions to protect the interests o f all, and
guard against fraud or precipitancy, would undoubtedly be acknowledged
by courts o f admiralty o f every other nation as transferring the property
effectually.— (Laws o f Business fo r Business Men, page 273.)

WHAT IS SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE OF THE CAUSE OF DAMAGE TO CARGO.

T he Mercantile Gazette o f San Francisco says :
“ A decision of some importance has recently been made in the United
States District Court in the case of L ocke and Montague vs. ship Blondel.
A libel was tiled to recover damages for injuries by rust to a lot of iron con­
signed to plaintiff’s by said vessel. It was contended on the part of the
owners of the ship that she experienced rough weather in coming around
Cape Horn, labored and strained very much, and leaked through her water­
way seams, and that the damage was excepted against in the bill of lading.
On the other hand, it was proven that the damage to the iron was caused
by fresh and not by salt water. It is stated that the effect of the latter is
to cause corrosion of the surface o f the iron, and its action on the metal
continues even after it has been dried and cleaned. The reverse is the case
where the injury has been occasioned by fresli water. There is even some
conflict of opinion as to the cause of the damage in this case. But the pre­
ponderance of evidence is decidedly in favor o f the theory o f the libelants,
that the injury was caused by fresh water.
The Court says:
‘“ The mere circumstance that the vessel, in coming around the Horn,
encountered heavy weather, is not enough, for such proof can almost always
be adduced. He should go further and show, by the condition of the ves­
sel on her arrival, the nature and extent of her leaks, etc., that their natural
and necessary effect was to cause the damage that has occurred. In this
case no such proofs have been offered, with the single exception of an obser­
vation of one of the officers, that one of the leaks was above the coal or
so situated as to cause some of the damage. Nor has the ship excluded




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

1862.]

41V

the conclusion of negligence, by showing that the stowage was good, for it
is not shown that the coal, among which the iron was stowed, when put on
board, was dry. One fact, which is admitted by the officers, would seem
inconsistent with the notion that the damage was caused by straining and
consequent leakage.
“ ‘ It appears that none of the cargo on the between decks were injured,
with the exception of one or two packages. If the vessel strained and
leaked so badly, as alleged, it is strange that the iron in the lower hold was
the only part of the cargo that suffered.
“ ‘ If, to these considerations, we add the fact that ir, the opinion of the
majority of the witnesses, the injury was caused by fresh and not by salt
water, the conclusion is, I think clear, that the carrier has not established
that the injury was caused by one of the excepted points. He is therefore
li <ble. A decree must be entered for 8400, the amount o f damages settled
by stipulation.’ ”

THE PETROLEUM OIL ACT OF ENGLAND,

In the August number o f the Merchants' Magazine, (vol.47, page 127.)
we referred to a bill which was about being acted upon by Parliament
for the regulation of the safe keeping of petroleum. The act after being
modified was passed, and the following digest of it we take from the
London Ironmonger:
The enactment is entitled, “ An A ct for the safe keeping of Petroleum.”
It states that it is expedient to provide for the safe keeping of petroleum
and certain products that are dangerous to life and property from their
properties of giving off inflammable vapors at low temperatures.
It defines “ petroleum ” fo r the purposes o f this act, as any product
thereof that gives off inflammable vapors at less than 100 degrees of
Fahrenheit’s thermometer.
It enacts that after the 1st o f October in this present year, 1862, not
more than forty gallons o f such petroleum shall be kept within forty yards
of a dwelling-bouke or any building in which goods are stored, except by
virtue of a license, granted by the local authorities. This regulation to
be enforced by a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds a day for each day
during which it is so kept.
The local authorities empowered to grant licenses to store more than
forty gallons of inflammable petroleum are as follows:
In the city of London, the Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen :
In the metropolis, except the city of London, the Metropolitan Board
of W ork s:
In any borough in England or Ireland, the mayor, aldermen, and bur­
gesses :
In any place in England or Ireland, within the jurisdiction o f any trus­
tees or improvement commissioners, appointed under the provisions of
any act of Parliament, the trustees or commissioners:
In any burgh or place in Scotland, not subject to the jurisdiction of
police commissioners or trustees, the town council; but in any burgh or
place in Scotland, within the jurisdiction of police commissioners, then
the police commissioners:
Y O L . X L Y I I . -----N O . V .




27

41 8

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

[November,

In any harbor within the jurisdiction of a harbor authority, the harbor
authority, to the exclusion o f any other local authority:
In any place in England or Ireland in which there is no local authority,
the justices in petty sessions, and in Scotland any two justices of the
peace for the county.
Licenses in pursuance o f this act may be granted for a limited time,
and there may be annexed thereto any conditions as to renewal or other­
wise which the local authority thinks necessary for diminishing the risk
of damage from explosion or fire; and any licensee violating any of the
conditions of his license shall be deemed to be an unlicensed person.
If, on any application for a license under this act, the local authority
refuses the license, or grants the same only on conditions with which the
applicant is dissatisfied, he may memorialize the Secretary of State,
and it shall be lawful for the Secretary of State, on consideration of such
memorial, after due inquiry, to grant the license prayed for, or to alter
or modify the conditions imposed by the local authority.
Any forfeiture or penalty for an offence against this act may be en­
forced in England and Ireland upon summary conviction before any two
justices; and one-half of the penalty shall belong to her Majesty, and
the other to the informer, unless the informer is a servant of the person
informed against.
Any forfeiture or penalty for an offence against this act may be en­
forced in Scotland upon summary conviction, and the offender may be
sentenced to imprisonment, until such penalty and the expenses are paid,
for a period not exceeding three months.
Petroleum may be searched for in the same manner, and subject to the
same conditions under which gunpowder may be searched for.
All powers given by this act shall be deemed to be in addition to any
other powers conferred on any local authority by act of Parliament, law,
or custom ; and nothing in this act shall exempt any person from any
penalty to which he would otherwise be subject in respect of a nuisance.
It will be seen that this act does not apply, in any way, to oils that re­
quire to be heated above 100 degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer before
they give off inflammable vapor; all good burning oils are of this charac­
ter, hence the retailer of mineral oils has only to satisfy himself that they
are above this proof standard, and he may keep any quantity in stock
without requiring a license. It is obvious, however, that the lighter oils
sold as mineral turps are below this standard. W e have purposely ex­
amined two samples, and find that both give off inflammable vapor be­
low 10 degrees Fahrenheit; hence a vendor, wholesale or retail, keeping
above forty gallons in stock, would require a license, or be subjected to
the heavy penalties named in the act.
From the loose wording of the act we cannot decide whether it applies
to other liquids than “ Petroleum and certain products thereof.” If these
terms are taken in their usual signification, the act would not apply to
paraffine obtained from the distillation of coal, or to its products, such
as benzole, etc., however dangerous; but we should feel inclined to think
that the operation o f the act would be extended to all hydrocarbon oils,
however obtained.




1862.]

419

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
PRO G RES8

OF

PA PE R — GOVERNMENT

M O V E M E N T — T H E O R IE S
ADVANCE

IN

OF

PAPER

P R IC E 8 — LO S8E 8

E M BARRASSM EN TS— A P P R E C IA T IO N
CURRENCY— ALLE D G ED

CAUSES

O F CONTRACTORS— GOVERN M EN T

OF

OF

G O L D — S P E C U L A T IV E

A P P R E C IA T IO N — G E N E R A L

R E M IT T A N C E S — W A R

EXPEN SES—

U L T I M A T E D I S C R E D I T — E V IL S OF C O N T R A C T I O N — I N T E R F E R E N C E — L A R G E R I M P O R T A T I O N S — IM P O R T S
— V A L U A T I O N S — COST

OF

G OO DS— E XPO RT S— RATES OF

E X C H A N G E — R A P ID

R IS E

IN

B IL L S — G O L D

M O V E M E N T — IN C R E A S E D E X P O R T S OF G O L D — S M A L L C U R R E N C Y — T A X L A W .

T he operations of the past month have been distinguished for a very
rapid development of the inevitable tendency of the paper system o f the
government, and for its disturbing effects upon the course of business,
the values of securities, and the finances of the government. The most
prominent indication o f the course o f events has been the apparent rise
in the premium on gold, caused by the depreciation of the government
paper used as a currency, aided by the operations o f those who seek to
profit by the course of events. It is hardly worth while to allude to the
various theories put forth to account for the phenomena o f the markets,
by those who refuse to admit the unsoundness of the paper system, and
the depreciation which inevitably attends all inconvertible promises,
whether emitted by government or individuals. The rise in gold, it is
alleged, is purely speculative, which may be stopped by decisions of the
banks, votes of the board of brokers, or decrees o f the government;
the advance in exchange, it is said, has a similar origin ; the rise in stocks,
it is averred, is due to their great prosperity and intrinsic value; but the
whole list of commodities embraced in the prices current show the same
results. The rise was about ten per cent all round, and for each improve­
ment an especial reason is assigned, in order to avoid recognizing the
only universal cause, viz : the depreciation of the paper in comparison
with all commodities and securities. There is no doubt but that numbers
of persons knowing that paper will inevitably depreciate as compared
with gold, hold gold, and for the same reason others hold other commod­
ities. They do not make the depreciation; they only avail themselves
of it. Meantime numbers realize fortunes in the apparent advance, and
others are ruined. The government is embarrassed in its remittances to
its diplomatic and other agents by the high price of exchange, by which
fifty per cent is added to the expense ; contractors who agreed to furnish
supplies of goods and provisions at certain rates find themselves ruined
in the rise, and new appropriations must be made by Congress to cover
the deficits.
This is one form in which the war expenses are increased.
The expenses of the war increase in proportion to the depreciation of
the paper, involving the necessity of further issues, which, in their turn,
accelerate the depreciation. When the Secretary o f the Treasury entered
upon this course of finance he commenced a system which has no turn­
ing, but which rolls on with accelerated force, until the paper becomes
entirely discredited. The moment of distress is not while prices are
rising and the majority’ o f people profit by the rise, which, o f itself, is
but an indication of the eagerness of holders of paper to get some­
thing of value in exchange for it ; but it is when distrust having become
general, holders of commodities refuse to part with them except for gold,
and that at very low prices as compared with the apparent paper values.
The government itself having inaugurated the rise, cannot retrace its




420

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

[November,

steps, first, because it has not the means to recall its paper, and, second,
because it could not withstand the clamor caused by contracting prices
and falling values generally, which would make taxes doubly onerous.
The attempt to interfere with the movement of gold or the freedom of
individual action would only precipitate the loss of that confidence on
which the whole system now hangs. The apparent prosperity which the
rising prices have caused has induced large importations of goods, and
caused a heavy balance against the country, although the changing me­
dium of value has imparted a deceptive appearance to the official returns.
The imports at the port of New York for the month have been as follows:
IM P O R T S, P O R T

January...................
February.................
M a rch .'..................
A p ril........................
M ay.........................
J u n e ........................
Ju ly................
A u gu st...................
September...............
Total, 9 months..
“
1861.........

OF

NEW

YORK.

Specie.

.---------- Entered for---------- ,
Free goods. Consumption. Warehouse.

Total.

$168,658
62,007
89,327
26,152
110,383
61,023
219,001
92,713
121,318

$2,552,050 $6,668,896 $3,141,725
3,381,473
7,058,174 3,370,486
3,476,004 10,312,689 4,841,846
2,232,315
7,141,197 3,853,218
1,146,093
8,091,120 4,600,920
1,122,092
7,278,953 2,874,127
1,831,932 13,799,606 4,502,764
982.992 10,289,427 2 939,721
1,784,804 11,890,711 4,351,084

$12 620,829
13,672,140
IS,719,866
13,252,882
12,948,516
12,336,195
20,353,202
14,304,843
18,147,917

$945,577 $18,809,755 $82,625,172 $35,475,891 $137,856,395
35,186,780 23,651,574 41,657,913 34,492,899 134,989,116

The quantity of goods imported has been very considerable, and they
are valued in the foreign or specie currency.
Thus, by law, the British
goods are valued at the customdiouse at $4 84 the £ sterling; but the
amount that the importer is required to pay is very much larger. For the
month of September the rate of exchange for duties was thirty per cent,
or twenty per cent above par, and gold was sixteen per cent. There hav­
ing been in round numbers $14,000,000 entered for consumption in Sep­
tember, and the duties paid being $5,239,045, the cost to the importer
was, extra exchange $2,800,000, premium for notes for duties $838,000—
total $3,638,000, which, added to the imports, makes $17,638,000. This
amount was paid to holders of gold notes, and to exchange dealers to
enable importers to remit $14,000,000. The prices of goods rose to some
extent, but not sufficiently to cover this increase of cost. On the other
hand, the exports have been as follows :
EXPORTS, PORT

Specie.

OF

NEW

YORK.

,---------Foreign.--------- ,
Free.
Dutiable.

Domestic.

Total.

Janu ary.................
F eb ru a ry...............
M arch.....................
A p ril.'.....................
M a y.........................
J u n e ........................
J u ly .........................
August....................
September..............

$2,668,374 $27,193 $149,493 $12,053,477 $14,948,437
3,776,919
49,066
208,757
10,078,101 14,112.843
2,471,233
65,388
458.917
8,985,176 11,980,714
4,037,675
56,350
607,678
8,002,094 12,703,797
5,164,536
76,971
752,797
9,837,693 15,342,097
9,867,614
43,358
372,561
10,048,832 20,332,375
8,067,337 1,117,193 449,948
14,060,437 23,684,915
3,713,532
417,100
256,680
13,046,389 17,833,701
3,085,919
572,572
667,987
14,734,993 19,061,471

Total, 9 months.
“ 1861...........

$42,843,139 2,520,616 $3,829,403 $100,837,192 $150,030,350
3,279,814 1,976,632 4,140,079
90,660,488
99,956,963




1862.]

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

421

The exports are apparently large, but the valuation of these articles
are the paper market prices, and are therefore more than their actual
values abroad by the rate of exchange. Thus, the domestic produce ex­
ported in September was $14,734,993, against $9,877,000 same month
last year; but this year the exchange, which represents the paper inflation,
was twenty five per cent more than last year, hence the actual sum to be
realized from the export is $11,334,993, or $7,000,000 less than the
amount of goods to be paid for there. Thus, although the returns show
imports $18,000,000 and exports $19,000,000, or what is called $1,000,000
in favor of the country, the actual state of affairs is— imports $18,000,000
and exports $14,500,000, or $3,500,000 adverse balance. It is not, there­
fore, a matter o f surprise that the outflow o f gold continues, even inde­
pendently of the sums to be remitted on account of the amount o f stocks
sent here to sell. The course o f exchange runs as follow s:
KATES

London.
D ec. 1, 109 a 1091
“ 15, 1101 a 11 Of
Jan. 1, 1101 a 113
•* 15, 1131 a 114
Feb. 1, 113 a 1131
“ 15, 115 a 1151
Mar 1, 112 a 113
(t 15, 1121 a 1121
“ 22
111 a 1121
“ 2 9 , 111 a 112
A p r . 5, 1111 a 1121
“ 12, 1 1 1 4 a 1121
19, m l a 1121
u 26, 1111 a 112-1
May 2, 1121 a 1131
(t 10, 113 a 114
«(
17, 113 a 114
“ 24, 1141 a 115
“ 31, 114 a 1144
Ju ne 7, 114 a 115
“ 14, 1 1 7} a 118
“ 20, 1201 a 121
July 5, 120 a 122
12, 127 a 129
“ 19, 1281 a 131
27, 126 a 129
A u g . 2, 125 a 127
9, 124 a 126
U 16, 1261 a 1271
“ 23, 1 2 6 f a 128
it 30, 126| a
1274
Sept ■ 6, 1284 a 130
13, 1261 a 131
« 20, 1281 a 1291
“ 27, 1281 a 1291
Oct. 4, 1341 a 1351
“ 11, 1371 a 1421
M
13, 14S a 152
(( 25, 143 a 1481

OF

Paris.
5 .2 5 a 5 .1 5
5 .1 5 a 5 . 1 0
5 .1 2 1 a 5 .0 5
5 05 a 4 . 9 0
5 . 1 0 a 4 95
4 971 a 4 . 9 0
5 .0 5 a 5 .0 0
5 . 0 7 1 a 5 .0 3 4
5 . 0 8 4 a 5 .0 0 4
5 . 1 0 a 5 05
5 . 0 7 1 a 5 .0 2 1
5 . 1 0 a 5.0 31
5 . 1 0 a 5 .0 3 4
5.021 a 5.071
4 971 a 5 .0 2 1
4 . 9 1 1 a 5 .0 2 1
4 .9 6 1 a ».0 0
4 . 9 2 1 a 5 00
4 .9 5 1 a 4 .9 1 1
4 95 a 4 .9 1
4 75 a 4 .8 2
4 .7 0 a 4.66
4 . 7 0 a 4 621
4 . 3 3 1 a 4 .3 1 1
4 . 3 7 1 a 4 .8 2 1
4 .4 5 a 4 .3 5
4.52 a 4.55
4.6 5 a 4 .4 7 }
4 .4 5 a 4 . 4 0
4 .4 5 a 4 . 4 0
4 .4 5 a 4 .4 0
4 .3 6 1 a 4 .3 2 1
4 .3 6 1 a 4 . 3 0
4 . 4 2 a 4 .3 5
4 40 a 4 .8 2
4 .2 0 a 4 .1 5
4.12 a 4.0 0
4 . 9 0 a 3 .9 0
3 . 9 0 a 3 85

EXCHANGE.

Amsterdam.
40} a 40f
411 a 41f
42 a 421
421 a 431
421 a 431
4 2 } a 481
421 a 43
421 a 43
42 a 421
42 a 42 1
421 a 4 2 }
42 a 421
41} a 42}
421 a 421
42} a 42}
4 2 } a 43
4 2 } a 43
4 2 } a 43
42} a 43}
43 a 4 3 }
4 3 } a 44}
4 4 } a 45
5 5 } a 45}
48 a 49
4 8 } a 49
4 7 } a 48}
4 7 } a 48}
47 a 4 7 }
47} a 47}
4 7 } a 47}
4 7 } a 47}
4 8 } a 49
4 8 } a 49}
48} a 48}
4 8 } a 49
50} a 51}
5 1 } a 53
53 a 52
5 4 } a 55

Frankfort.
41 a 4 1 }
4 1 } a 42
4 2 } a 43
4 3 }a 43}
43} a 43}
4 3 } a 44
4 2 } a 43
42} a 43}
4 2 } a 42}
42} a 42}
4 2 } a 42}
4 2 }a 42}
4 2 }a 42}
42} a 4 2 }
42} a 47}
42} a 43}
42} a 43}
43 a 4 3 }
4 3 } a 43}
43} a 43}
4 4 } a 45
45 a 4 5 }
45 a 4 5 }
48 a 49
4 8 } a 49
48 a 4 8 }
4 7 } a 48}
47} a 47}
4 7 } a 48
4 7 } a 48
4 7 } a 48
4 8 } a 49}
49 a 4 9 }
48} a 48}
4 8 } a 49
50} a 51
62} a 53}
52 a 53
5 4 } a 55

Hamburg.
8 6 } a 36
8 6 } a 87
3 7 } a 38
3 7 } a 38 }
37 a 3 8 }
8 7 } a 38 }
37 a 3 7 }
3 6 } a 37}
3 6 } a 37}
3 6 } a 37}
3 6 } a 37 }
86} a 87}
3 6 } a 37}
36} a 37}
37 a 87 }
3 7 } a 37}
3 7 } a 38
3 7 } a 38
37} a 38}
8 7 } a 38}
39 a 3 9 }
40 a 4 0 }
45 a 4 5 }
4 2 } a 43}
43 a 44
4 1 } a 42}
4 1 } a 42
41 a 42
42 a 4 2 }
41} a 41}
42 a 42 }
4 2 } a 43
42} a 43}
42} a 42}
42 } a 43
4 4 } a 45
46 a 47
46 a 47
48 a 4 7 }

Berlin.
7 3 } a 74
74 a 7 4 }
7 4 } a 75
7 6 } a 76}
7 5 } a 76
76 } a 77
7 5 } a 75}
74 } a 75
74 a 7 4 }
74 a 7 4 }
1 4 } a 75
74} a 71}
74 a 7 4 }
74} a 74}
74} a 7 4 }
75 a 7 5 }
75 a 7 5 f
75} a 75}
7 5 } a 76
75} a 76
76} a 77}
78 a 7 8 }
79 a 7 9 }
8 4 } a 85}
86} a 8 7 }
85} a 86}
82 a 83
82 a 8 2 }
83 a 8 8 }
8 2 } a 83}
8 3 } a 84
85 a 8 5 }
85} a 86}
85 a 8 5 }
8 5 } a 86
88 a 89
92 a 94
91 a 93
96} a 9 6 }

In the three weeks ending with October 18, bills rose twenty per cent,
or rather faster than the price of gold, showing that the demand for re­
mittance was active, and also that the bankers drew with great reluctance,




422

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

[November,

in the uncertain state of the gold market. W ith the rise of bills pro­
duce also advanced rapidly, because the choice of remittance lay between
gold and grain or. provision.
The state of the harvests abroad is now
ascertained to be such that, with the large stocks of grain on hand, the
wants of England will not be large, and therefore prices are falling. The
gold movement has been as follows:
S P E C IE

---------- IS 6 1 .----------*

Received.

Jan. 4.. ......................
“ 11.. . $1,445,385
“ 18.. . 1,446,219
“ 25.. . 1,246,029
Feb. 1.. . 1,514,154
“
9.. . 1,052,313
“ 15.. . 1,056,426
“ 22.. . . . . . . . . .
March 1.
855,755
...............
“ 8..
“ 15..
815,524
“ 22..
“ 29..
699,597
April 5..
996,445
“ 12..
1,110,231
...............
“ 19..
“ 26..
844,577
May 2.. .....................
“
9..
868,600
“ 17..
755,102
“ 24..
1,913,355
- 31..
2,282,137
June 7..
1,618,876
617,361
“ 14..
986,143
“ 21.“ 28.- ............. ....
811,268
...............
“ 12’ .
1,244,000
“ 19'.
...............
“ 27-.
2,128,240
Aue[. 2-.
“ w 9*.
941,081
“ 16..
1,176,434
“ 23..
757,629
“ SO..
1,100,693
Sept. 6..
...............
“ 13..
953,340
20..
. . . .........
“ 27..
937,776
Oct. 4..
...........
“ 11..
1,011,707
“ 18..
1,026,332
u 25..
Total. .

34,206,229

Exported.

AND

P R IC E

Received.

$885,923
$22,855
289,669
115,698
117,101
187,263
176,161
123,316
91,161
6,088
628,708
828,906
328,127
1,000
800
27,695

627,707
854,000
614.146
759,247
741,109
679,075
677,058
490,368
581,292
617,279
635,546
410,804
484,019
604,682
604,682
224,911
558,035
352,391
612,461
393,212

500
650
18,976
222,546
2,070
2,200
1,688
641,451
1,750
441,179
4,000
1,382 G olden Gate lost
....
964,422
700
1,040 1,089,111
9,280
5,120
807,563
69,869
11,150
934,415
758,286
7,100
2,011
807,616
3,921
32,006
768,121
8,263,447

OF

GOLD.

Exporled.

$442,147
1,035,025
£47,703
322,918
310,484
976,235
1,156,154
734,512
510,774
585,236
477,335
540,968
779,564
673,826
1,505,728
693,432
1,151,300
712,275
1,574,166
1,093,031
938,032
881,452
1,647,299
1,990.327
3,156,988
3,094,101
2,647.060
2,424,916
1,846,023
784,537
748,523
890,552
700,431
919,825
1,137,644
551,097
1,042,835
490,895
996,892
713,075
2,255,513
1,714,551
2,024,380

-1 8G 2.------

Gold in bank.

Price of gold.

$23,983,878 2 a 4 prem.
“
25,373,070 4 a 5
26,120,859 4 a 4$ “
26,698,728 2 a 3 f
27,479,533 3£ a 8£
<
28,196,666 3$ a 3 f 4
28,114,148 4 a 4 f
28,875,992 3 a 3$
29,826,959 2 a 2 f (4
30,436,644 I f a 2 f “
30,773,050 2 a 1$ (t
32,023,890 1$ a I f “
32,841,862 1$ a 1$ ((
33,764,382 I f a 1
34,594,668 I f a 2f
34,671,528 2 a l i “
85,297,944 l i a I f “
35,175,828 2 f a 3 f
32,239,868 31 a 3 i U
30,280,697 8 a 3|- “
30,672,760 31 a 31
31,397,284 Si a 3 f
31,284,882 3 f a 4$
31,162,048 41 a 61
31,047,945 6 a 6£ “
30,832,626 7 a 9 f
31,790,519 9 a 10
32,098,174 9 f a 17
31,926,609 17 a 20 M
33,064,575 16i a 17
34,022,490 14$ a 16
34,611,069 12i a 13 «(
35,301,778 14i a 15
35,538,486 15 a 1 5 i
35,640,984 IS a 16$
36,138,928 16$ a 18f <«
87,125,245 19 a 19$
37,863,037 17 a 17$ “
37,592,552 16 a 16$ «
38.325,587 22$ a 22f ((
39,263,086 23f a 24
38,759,256 331 a 37$ “
37,453,531 27 a 31$ “

9,639,688 49,967,624

The receipts of gold from California continue to be small as compared
with last year, and naturally so, since gold leaves the scene of paper
curreney rather than seeks it. In California the government paper has
not been adopted as a currency. Gold continues to be the medium, and
the government paper is quoted at a discount, greater or less proportioned




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

1862.]

423

to the supply that there is upon the market. The export of the gold has
been renewed in October with much vigor, on account of the increased
imports of goods and the diminished value of the national exports in the
foreign markets to be drawn against. In other words, the balance to be
drawn against has been much diminished. By an inspection of the above
specie tables, it will be observed that while the exports of specie have
been large since April 1, when the issues of paper began, that the amount
of specie in bank has, notwithstanding, constantly increased up to Octo­
ber 11, when these institutions held $9,000,000 more than on the 17th
May. The rise in the price o f gold in New York drained thither all that
was available in the interior, and it accumulated in the banks. In the
last two weeks the amount declined for the first time $2,000,000— an in­
dication that the interior supply is exhausted.
Hence the more rapid
rise in the price, which, in the week ending October 18, produced a sort
of panic, and induced the Secretary of the Treasury to send an agent to
the Board of Brokers to request them not to deal in gold, on the pre­
tence that those dealing helped the rise. The brokers had the weakness
to comply with the Secretary request, thus endorsing the folly of the de­
partment. The price of gold and gold notes used for the payment of
duties has, as compared with the price of government securities, been as
follows since the issues of paper commenced:
P R IC E S

August
«
“
U

2..........
9 ,......... .
16...........

23...........
3 0 ...........

Sept.
t«
u
«

6 ...........
13...........

u
<(

i t ...........

2 0 ...........
2 6 ...........
October 4 ............

if

1 8 ...........

25...........

U N IT E D S T A T E S P A P E R .

,---- 6’s, 1861.-----,
Reg.
Coup.
98£
98£
99
100
100*
100*
101
101
1011
101*
99*
99*
99*
9n
102
102
101*
1011
104*
104*
104
104
104
104
103
103

5’s, 1874.
85£
85*
90
90
90

88*
88*
90
90*
94
92*
92*
93

7 3-10, 6 p. c. certif.
1 year.
3 years.
98*
102*
100
103*
100
100
104
99*
100
104*
103*
99
98*
103
99
104*
104*
99*
94
105*
99*
105
99*
106
105
99

August
<lemand
Gold. notes.
15
5*

191
15

5*
7*

15*
16*

8

8*

18*

8

19*
17

12*

20*

16*

19*
32

22*
23*
29

31

27

27*

8*

The amount of gold and gold notes, which are the medium for the pay­
ment of duties and remittance at present, has been much reduced in the
period here embraced. The number of notes emitted and receivable for
duties was $60,000,000, and the amount of gold in banks and otherwise
available for duties was, in March last, supposed to be $100,000,000.
This stock of “ customs currency” was then as follows:
Demand notes..............................................
Gold................................................................
Notes since paid for duties.
Gold sent South for cotton
Gold not exported.............

Present supply for duties.




$47,000,000
10,000,000
27,000,000
----- -— ------

$60,000,000
100,000,000
------------------$160,000,000

84,000,000
$76,000,000

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

424

[November,

The stock has thus been reduced than one half.
The amount of
notes outstanding is about $15,000,o00, and is absorbed at the rate of
$1,000,000 per week, while the gold has left the country in the last six
months at the same rate.
A t the same time a large proportion of the
$50,000,000 now held by the banks is owned by speculators. By the
first of January the notes will probably all be drawn in and the stock of
gold be diminished $15,000,000 by export, when, in addition to the pre­
sent demand of $1,000,000 per week for export, there will be an imper­
ceptible daily demand for $200,000 from the importers with which to pay
duties. In other words, $2,000,000 per week in gold will be required to
be supplied from the diminished stock held by speculators, or those who
prefer gold to paper. It follows that the importers being “ cornered,”
there is no limit to the premium they may be compelled to pay if Con­
gress persists in two currencies— one for the people, paper, and another,
gold, for government duties and interest. It is said that the government
pays out the gold again ; but that does not help the market—-it only ben­
efits the stock holder, who, receiving it for interest, sells it for the pre­
mium to the brokers or to the government to pay its dividends. The
government is itself the most powerful agent in causing a rise in the price
of gold as measured in its own depreciated promises.
In our last number we mentioned that the Treasury department, in
order to supply itself with gold to pay the accruing interest, had received
gold on deposit, to be returned in gold, and allowing four per cent interest.
The effect of this was to make the gold lodged with the banks a source of
profit to them, and they were more disposed to lend on gold at lower
margins. Some of them, it is said, loaned as high as 125 per cent. They
could thus, by lending on the gold, get seven per cent for their notes and
then lend the gold to the government at four per cent, make eleven per
cent for the use o f inconvertible promises, and the government be respon­
sible for the returnof the gold. It was hardly a matter of surprise that a
gold speculation should, under such circumstances, have been added to
the national appreciation of the metal for paper; nor that those banks
which held largely of the “ demand gold notes,” which rose step by step
with gold, should encourage the movement until they had disposed of
those notes, and perhaps their gold to speculators, at very large profits.
It was reported that one bank held $1,200,000 of those notes, and real­
ized $300,000 profit on this movement. Its stock sells very high in the
market. With the culmination of this movement a reaction was to be
looked for, and gold, which had risen twenty per cent in three weeks,
fell back nearer to its actual value as measured in the depreciation of gov­
ernment issues. The depreciation apparent in the above table is as fol­
lows :
•

Prifte U. S. six per
“
“

In paper.

In gold. Price of gold.

cent, May 1 7 . . . . 105 102
104£
n
Oct. 1 8 ___

103
130

Thus the price of the stock interest payable in gold fell twentyfive per cent. A person living in England may, to-day, buy them at a
rate which gives him eight per cent in gold ; but, under the circumstances,
they are no temptation. The one-year certificates of the government pay
six per cent in gold, which gives the holder here nine per cent interest,
yet they are at a discount even for paper. The rise in prices really indi­
cates the dissipation o f the national capital, which has been devoted to




1862.]

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

425

the war to the exclusion o f other employments.
With the return of
peace capital, never superabundant in this country for the employment of
industry, will be dearer than ever, and few persons will be able to let it
lie in government'securities. For the same reason the government will
be compelled to follow for a time the dangerous path of paper money on
which it has entered, and its currency will be more depreciated than ever
as compared with gold. The gold which it received on deposit in Sep­
tember, with the obligation to return it at a future time, was worth sev­
enteen per cent in the market. It subsequently rose to thirty-eight per
cent, involving a loss to the government of $800,000 on $4,000,000 so
borrowed. Certainly this was a very dear mode of borrowing.
The taxes when paid in paper will be found sufficiently vexatious to a
people unused to taxes, and if demanded in gold will become still more
irksome. That the depreciation of the paper is now no greater than it is,
is due partly to the fact that the mechanical difficulties in the way o f
issuing it are so great that the government cannot meet the demands upon
it. The loudest complaints in relation to the arrearages o f the army are
made in many quarters, and although Congress has now been adjourned
three months the public have not been able to obtain the small currency
in any adequate amounts as substitutes for “ postage stamps,” which have
afforded a miserable shift, in place of the silver coin they helped to drive
out. On the days on which the small currency is doled out to the public
the neighborhood of the Assistant Treasury in all the cities is thronged
to procure some of the paper change— a fact which indicates the severity
of the distress which the public undergoes. It is to be borne in mind
that although the Treasury is authorized to issue $300,000,000 of paper
demand notes, there is no limit on the amount of paper fractions o f the
dollar that raav be put afloat, nor is there any limit on the amount of
one-year certificates, bearing six per cent payable in gold, that may be
uttered. There was authorized $500,000,000 of 5 -20 stock in which to
fund them, but there was no limit made to the amount that might be
issued. Hence the continued low price, even in paper, of those certificates,
of which some $80,000,000 are outstanding.
The resources of the government that may be developed bv the opera­
tion of the new tax law are not yet very manifest, and there seems to be
less confidence in its effectiveness than when it was issued. The state of
the market for capital is such that it is very apparent that the govern­
ment cannot retrace it steps in regard to paper, since it would have but
two alternatives, viz : to collect the whole of its revenue within the year
in gold, to meet an expenditure of $1,000,000,000 per annum— a mani­
fest impossibility. Its six per cent stocks are now twenty-three per cent
discount for paper, and to come into the market now to borrow large
amounts in gold would be equally impossible. There remains, then, to col­
lect a nominal revenue in paper, which will involve prompt action on the
part of the coming Congress to authorize the reissue of the notes after De­
cember, and probably7 to extend the amount.
The last official statement of the expenditure was for the quarter end­
ing June 30,1862, or the first quarter after the issue of the paper money.
It will show the progress o f expenditure, and the mode o f raising the
means:




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

426

[November,

R E C E IP T S .

From customs..............................................................................................
Direct tax...............................................................................................
Sales of public lands...................................................................................
Miscellaneous................................................................................................
Three years bonds at 7 8-10th per cent..................................................
Five twenty years’ bonds, act of Feb. 25, 1862.....................................
Stock for Washington andOregonWar debt..............................................
U. S. notes per act of July 17 and August 5, 1861..............................
U. S. notes per act of Feb. 25, 1862........................................................
Certificates of indebtedness, acts 1st and 17th August, 1861...............
Temporary loans, act of Feb. 26,1862.....................................................

$18,980,000
1,795,000
49,000
259,000
13.825,000
13,990,000
198,000
30.000
98,000,000
44,252,000
46,187,000

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

$238,000,000

E X P E N D IT U R E S .

Civil, foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous..........................................
Interior— Pensions and Indians.................................................................
W ar.................................................................................................................
N avy..............................................................
Interest on public debt, including Treasury notes..................................
Pay of Treasury notes issued by act of Dec. 3, 1857............................
Pay o f Treasury notes issued by act o f March 2, 1861 .......................
Redemption of United States notes, issued by act of July 17. 1861.
Reimbursement of temporary loan, acts Feb. 25, and March 17, 1862
Deduct excess of repayments above expenses for pay of Treasury
notes, per act o f December 17, 1860................................................
Total......................................................................................................

$6,028,000
700,026
160,034,000
14,800,018
3,969,000
101,000
792,000
5S1',000
7,137,000
33,000
$194,000,000

The customs were, very large, it will be observed, and there was raised
$1,795,000 from the direct tax. The whole amount of means raised was
$238,000,000 for the quarter; of this $46,187,000 was deposits received
at the Treasury at five per cent, $98,000,000 was from paper money issues,
$13,825,000 from 7.30 bonds paid out, $44,252,000 from one-year certi­
ficates paid out mostly at a discount, and only $13,990,000 from conver­
sions of the paper money into 5 -2 0 bonds. Of this amouut, $11,291,000
was in the month of June, when stocks had risen.
There was, it ap­
pears, no direct borrowing on the part of the government, which could
with difficulty float its six percent year bonds, although gold rose during
the quarter from l £ to 9 per cent premium.
The expenditure for the
quarter was, it appears, apart from the debt, $182,000,000, or at the rate
of $728,000,000 per annum before the rise in prices and before the call
for 600,000 men.
The W ar ^Department cost $160,000,000, or just
double what it cost in the quarter ending Deo. 31, 1861, and $100,000,000
more than it cost in the quarter Sept. 30, 1861. The number of men
has now doubled and the prices have risen, hence the expenses cannot be
less than at the rate of $1,500,000,000 per annum.
The expenses for
the year to June 1, 1862, increased as follows: Quarter to September 30,
1861,198,239,733; December 31, 1861, $144,946,133 ; March 31 1862,
$171,248,180; June 30, 1862, $194,000,000— total, $608,000,000; and
the debt reported by the Secretary, July 1, 1862, was $561,901,000, con­
sisting of $150,000,00') of paper money, $60,000,000 year bonds,
$55,000,000 deposits due on demand, and the remainder funded debt.
The year bonds will be payable in the spring, and thus swell the demands
upon the government, at the same time the high rates of gold and ex­
change diminish the imports and will affect duties. Under these circum­
stances, the financial question will be a very grave one for the whole com­
munity on the meeting of Congress.




1862.]

427

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
1. T rade op Cincinnati. 2. T he Coffee T rade
T rade in N ew Orleans. 4. T he H op T rade.
liioa G rowing in tiie H a w aiian I slands.

B razil . 3. C otton, T obacco, and Sugar
5. Salt T rade of P oland . 6. S uccessful

op

T R A D E OF CINCINNATI,

The following, which we have prepared from tables in the Cincinnati
Price Current, show the trade o f Cincinnati for the years ending August
31, 1861 and 1862 :
VALUE OF PRINCIPAL IMPORTS.
m
Articles.
Apples, green................. ..........
$19,606
Ale, Beer, and Porter.. ..........
21,444
Buffalo R o b e s .............. ..........
106,782
B e e f .................................
B a gg in g .......................... ..........
19,455
Barley.............................. ..........
178,136
Beans............................... ..........
78,520
Butter.............................. ..........
233,569
B room s............................ ..........
27,020
Boots and Shoes........... .........
1,048,649
Bran, Middlings, etc.. . ..........
113,464
Crockery ware, etc. . . . ..........
83,700
Candles............................ .........
54,924
Corn................................. ..........
529,576
Corn M e a l..................... ..........
3,356
C id e r ............................... ..........
3,715
C h eese............................ .........
250,666
Cotton.............................. ..........
4,750,720
Coffee............................... ..........
3,744,904
Codtish............................. ..........
20,580
C oop era g e..................... ..........
142,762
Cattle............................... .........
2,160,528
26,100
Cement and P la s te r .. . ..........
E g g s................................. .........
105,858
Flour ............................... .........
2,490,039
Feathers.......................... .........
194,880
Fish, su n d rie s.............. ..........
125,617
Fruits, dried................... .........
159,605
246,312
Grease.............................. .........
G la s s ............................... ..........
73,932
149,067
G la ssw a re .................... ..........
H em p ............................. .........
550.600
H id es............. •.............. .........
631,445
1,240,470
Hardware........................ .........
H a y ................................ .........
157,113
H e r r in g s ..................................
17,338




1861.
$152,576
22,207
135,641
20,437
2,924
300,317
25,304
537,875
33,300
1,453,005
114,819
162,050
21,870
455.834
3.324
9,695
431,002
7,137,390
3,374,343
72,128
121,169
2,475,685
30,800
235,790
2,256,847
167,220
214,391
114,605
121,712
93,866
158,195
148,900
763,135
732,620
91,556
3,028

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

428

Articles.
IlogS.........................................
H o p s ........................................
Horses......................................
Iron and Steel........................
Iron— P ig................................
Lead..........................................
Lard..........................................
L eather...................................
L em on s...................................
Lime.........................................
Liquors......................................
Merchandise and Sundries. ..
Merchandise.............................
Molasses...................................
Malt..........................................
N a ils ......... ..............................
O i ls ..........................................
Oranges...................................
Oakum.....................................
O ats..........................................
Oil Cake...................................
O nions.....................................
Pork and Bacon.....................
Potatoes...................................
P itc h .......................................
Pimento, Pepper, etc.............
E v e ..........................................
Eosin.........................................
Eaisins and F ig s ....................
Eope, Twine, etc......................
E ice..........................................
Sugar........................................
Seed— Flax..............................
“
Grass and Clover. . . .
“
Hemp...........................
Salt............................................
Shot..........................................
Starch .....................................
Sheep........................................
Stearine...................................
Tea............................................
Tobacco....................................
T allow .....................................
Tar.............................................
Turpentine...............................
Wines.......................................
W h e a t.....................................
W ool.........................................
W hisky....................................
Yarns— C o tto n ......................
Oil— Coal.................................




P62.
3,643,212
77,740
5,174,620
815,492
663,656
234,156
1,976,008
472.396
55,860
44,200
148,010
37,415.000
6.555.880
349,840
76,548
411,186
480,500
53,948
66,024
401,685
1,375
6,533
2,452,740
137.187
2,061
55,200
98.874
6,525
35,137
76.968
408.870
3,993,445
62,601
136,542
6.540
529,557
72,696
119 516
54.906
24,224
886,745
7.169.288
175.230
9,120
51,090
247,350
1,770.434
208,746
3,437,088
8,040
127,812

[November,

-Value.--------------»
P6I.
6,396,672
70,680
1,234,700
937,606
590,800
297,229
1,169.189
296,820
14.864
72,429
221,400
34,230,000
3,174.400
860,376
56,122
398,316
870,980
51.636
34.336
226,381
13 560
15,838
2,616 783
127,292
1,751
37.008
78 754
19.140
67.607
79.056
148.995
3,559.270
63,617
242,749
4,299
247.594
47,120
56,540
49,592
18,853
672.375
2,372,690
145,640
11,388
89,320
204.562
1,129,007
1 19,680
2,233.313
23,546

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

1862.]
Articles.

429

/----------------- Value.-

Oil— Petroleum ........................
L u m b e r ......................................
Coal..............................................
Shingles......................................
Coopers’ stuff, wood and stone

1862.
39,463
687,500
480.000
87,500
521,0 0

800.000
882,000
93.000
525,000

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

103,292,893

90,198,136

1861.

VALUE OF PRINCIPAL EXPORTS.
Articles.
Apples, green.............................
A lcoh ol.......................................
Ale, Beer, and P o r te r............
Buffalo R ob es...........................
B e e f .............................................
B a g g in g ......................................
B a r le y ........................................
B eans..........................................
B r o o m s ......................................
B u t t e r ........................................
Bran, Shorts, e t c .....................
Boots and Shoes.......................
Crockeryware, e tc ...................
C h a ir s ........................................
C a n d le s......................................
C o rn .............................................
Corn Meal...................................
C heese.........................................
C o t to n ........................................
C offee..........................................
C o o p e ra g e .................................
Cattle..........................................
Cement and Plaster................
E g g s.............................................
F lou r...........................................
Feathers.....................................
Fish, sundry...............................
Fruit, dried ................................
F u rn itu re...................................
G r e a s e ........................................
G lass............................................
Glassware...................................
H e m p ..........................................
H id e s ..........................................
H ardw are...................................
H a y ..............................................
H o g s ..........................................
H o p s ...........................................
H o r s e s ........................................
Iron and S teel..........................




1862.
$52,245
944,280
79,480
100,940
320,013
2,605
31,539
76.776
13,932
66,155
36 481
260,211
34.788
86 144
1,598.980
135,504
5,214
59.528
4,317 600
3,528 256
227.874
1,361,086
7,274
44 051
1,879,141
294.960
80.515
94.262
507,964
124 832
23,740
25,080
434,160
608,857
102,760
105,834
60,550
19,180
5,783,280
1,274,252

1861.
$78,206
651,915
80,640
151,330
184,684
2,540
41,255
28,377
29.035
283,957
51,994
516,107
66,606
130.416
829,404
139,993
4,323
155,019
6.874.075
2,294,502
121,370
1,171,098
7,100
100,690
2,026,468
218.348
97,691
50,052
3,372.106
40,562
31,551
18,515
6 i,625
648,050
312,900
28.604
2 2 8 ,s88
29,240
1,395,900
1,262,971

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

430
Articles.

[November,

«----------------- Value.

Lard.........................................
L eath er...................................
L im e .......................................
Molasses...................................
M a lt.........................................
N a ils .......................................
O il.............................................
O ats..........................................
Oil Cake...................................
O nions.....................................
Pork and Bacon.....................
Potatoes...................................
R y e...........................................
Rope, Twine, etc.....................
Sugar.......................................
Seed— Flax..............................
“
Grass and C lov er.. . .
Soap..........................................
Salt............................................
Starch......................................
Sheep.......................................
Stearine....................................
Sundry— Merchandise...........
“
L iqu ors..................
“
Manufactures.........
Spices.......................................
T ob a cco ...................................
Tallow......................................
Vinegar....................................
W in es......................................
W heat.......................................
W o o l........................................
W hisky....................................
W hite Lead............................
Castings...................................

R62,
2,033,528
548,298
3,597
456,944
93,789
238.824
1,929,345
135,255
16,150
3.393
5,218,250
13,882
37,774
56,712
2,643,930
7,409
66,948
341.061
256,712
166,875
14,866
99,314
23,372,840
744,380
167,005
11,407
7,321,890
257,920
43,228
361.836
1,102,564
264,925
1,906,528
97,231
134,882

1861.
2,450,947
411,468
5,199
673.088
124,693
272.244
1,883,105
40,-93
44,975
10,745
6,700,187
88.871
33,156
90,975
2,343,510
2,484
195,975
209,508
160.027
93,130
13,200
89,080
20,904,640
296,370
69,652
6,820
2,434,296
148,680
30,240
48,204
525,065
159.453
1,813.143
102,942
543,482

T o t a l ................... '. ..........

$76,449,862

$67,023,126

T H E COFFEE T R A D E OF BRAZIL.

A correspondent of the Journal o f Commerce, under date Eio de
Janeiro, September 8, 1862, gives a very interesting account o f the coffee
trade of Brazil. He says :
I have recently been led, by higher duties, amidst the coffee plantations
of Brazil, and have recorded some of my observations, a few of which
may not be out o f place at this time, when the question is beginning to
be raised, “ Where shall the world obtain its future supply of coffee?” I
do not intend to trace its history from its mountain home in Abyssinia,
neither its first naturalization in Arabia aud Persia, nor its second transfer,




1862.]

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

431

which made it in 1699 one o f the rarities o f Batavia, whence it traveled
to conservatories of kings in Europe. I shall only hint at its introduc­
tion into the new world, before giving an account of its statistics, culture,
and prospects in Brazil. The statistics will be valuable for future refer­
ence.
In 1710 the grand Louis o f France received from the botanical gardens
of Amsterdam a small coffee plant, the child of those trees which in
eleven years had begun to flourish so well at Batavia. Louis X IV gave
the little stranger a passing notice and then ordered it to be placed in
the Jardin des Plantes, not imagining the great destiny which awaited the
diminutive exotic. Several attempts were made to convey slips from this
plant to the French West Indies. In 1720 the attempt was successful,
for in that year A ntoine d e J ussieu, the great naturalist, confided to a
Captain D eclieux three plants, which it was hoped would not share the
fate of previous lots. Two of the plants died, and the survivor owed its
existence to the self-sacrificing captain, who, when short o f water, divided
his ration with the coffee tree. It reached Martinique, thrived, and be­
came the parent of the coffee plantations in the West Indies, and in the
Spanish main.
There is some uncertainty as to the means by which the coffee plant
was introduced into Brazil. Some say that a few plants were given to
the Portuguese Viceroy by a Dutch admiral who was on his way from
Java to Holland, and stopped to refresh at Rio de Janeiro. Others be­
lieve that the vast plantations o f this Empire bad their origin in De
Jussieu’s little plant sent to Martinique; others that it went from Java to
Surinam, from Surinam to Cayenne, and from Cayenne to Para, on the
Amazon. However this may be, there is no uncertainty as to whom be­
longs the honor of planting the first coffee tree in Brazil. A Franciscan
friar named V illoso in 1754 placed a small tree in the garden of the San
Antonio Convent in the city of Rio de Janeiro. While trees were planted
here and there on almost every plantation devoted to sugar, corn, mandioca, etc., etc., there was no definite culture, there was no one who made
it a specialty. It was cultivated in quantities only sufficient to furnish
the family with coffee, and early travelers to Brazil in this century spoke
of the coffee tree as holding a very insignificant place on the plantations.
H enry M artyn, the lamented missionary to Persia, who touched at Bahia
on his way to the East Indies in 1805, gives account of pepper planta­
tions, but only incidentally mentions coffee as a tree planted occasionally,
but not for producing a large article of export. It was near the begin­
ning of this century that a Mr. L escene, owing to the troubles in Havti,
came to Brazil, and he was the first person to engage seriously in the cul­
ture o f a staple which to-day far surpasses every other in this Empire.
In 1808 the Carta Regia of Don John V I threw open the ports of Brazil
to the commerce of the world. Coffee production had increased so that
in 1808 30,000 sacks (160 pounds each) of the coveted beverage berry
were exported to the rest of the world. Previous to 1825, Java, Cuba,
and the English colonies in the East and West Indies were the principal
producers of coffee. Since that time Brazil has distanced them all. For
a number of years she has produced for exportation nearly half the coffee
of the world, and some years she even exported more than half. I have
made, with considerable trouble and care, the following comparisons and
calculations from Brazilian State papers, and for the last three years from




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

432

[November,

Messrs. M a x w e l l , W r i g h t & Co’s, circular. The “ crop yea r” differs
but little from the Brazilian financial year, and extends from the 1st of
July to the 30th of June following. A single glance will show what a con­
trast there is between 1809, when 30,000 bags were exported, and 1851-55
(the most productive year recorded) when 2,605,424 were sent to the
four quarters of the globe. The millreis may be estimated at 54 cents,
though it has been, on account of difference of exchange, much higher:
TH E

ANNUAL

AVERAGE

1840-41-42-43..............
1843- 44-45-46...........
1844- 47-48-49...........
1849-50-51-52..............
1852-53-54-55..............
1855-56-57-58..............
1858-59-60-61..............
1861-62...........................

E X P O R T A T IO N S

1,101,473
1,245,855
1,860,393
1,708.593
2,109,969
2,293,145
2,245,479
1,633,114

FOR

P E R IO D S

bags, which sold at Rio
bags, which sold at Rio
bags, which sold at Rio
bags, which sold at Rio
bags, which sold at Rio
bags, which sold at Rio
bags.
bags.

OF

TH RE E

YEARS.

for 17,804,000 milreisfor 18,933,600 milreisfor 22,881,000 milreisfor 29,465,300 milreis.
for 39,277,300 milreis.
for 48,540,600 milreis.

The year 1860 was a very prosperous year, the exportation being no
less than 2,557,179 bags, while in 1861-62• the coffee disease became
fully apparent, when the exportation fell off, in a single twelvemonth, to
1,633.114, or in other words, fully one-third. I shall again refer to this
disease, which has been so disastrous upon the chief production of this
empire.
It will be observed in the above column o f figures how the price of
coffee became enhanced between 1846 and 1852— i. e. the annual average
for the first three years was 22,881,000 milreis for the annual average
crop of 1,860,393 bags, against 28,465,300 milreis for a smaller annual
crop of 1,708,593 bags. This contrast is still more striking when we
compare particular years. The crop exported in the year 1848-49 con­
sisted of 1,720,006 bags, which sold for 21,513,000 milreis. The expor­
tation of the year 1853-54, was 1,739,607 bags, which brought 35,444,000
milreis. The crop of 1861-62 is the smallest since 1845-46. The live
largest exportations were in the following years:
1 8 5 0 -5 1 ............................................................ sacks
1 8 5 4 - 55...................................................................
185 5 - 56...................................................................
1 8 5 6 - 57...................................................................
1858-59......................................................................
1860-61......................................................................

2,029,653
2,605,424
2,330,361
2,605,239
2,422,000
2,557,179

The African slave trade was effectually put down in 1850. The price
of slaves increased and the number o f slaves decreased most perceptibly
from 1851 to 1852. But taking the annual average o f nine years after
1852, and comparing them with the annual average of the nine years after
1842-43, we find the increase in production between 25 and 30 per cent.
It is believed that slavery has decreased throughout the Empire 30 per
cent, and in the coffee region perhaps half that rate, yet we see the main
staple of Brazil really increasing, so that the crop o f 1860-61 lacks little
less than 50,000 sacks o f being the largest ever gathered. Fears had
been entertained that Brazil would lose her supremacy, and indeed effec­
tiveness as a coffee growing country, when the African slave trade was
put down ; but the above facts and figures demonstrate the contrary. The
exportations of 1858-59 were large from every coffee producing country,




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

1862.]

433

and in order to show the position which Brazil maintains I give the follow­
ing tables, which are o f value to the general reader, and are worth filing
by those- engaged in this commerce. In the crop year o f 1858-5 9 there
was produced in :
Brazil.................sacks
J a v a ...........................
Ceylon.........................
Hayti...........................
Cuba and Porto Rico
Sumatra.....................
V enezuela.................
Singapore and Malaca
M ocha........................

2,422,000 English
possessions
915,000
other than Ceylon.
490,000 Manilla........................
350,000 French, Dutch, and
140,000
other possessions in
140,000
the Westlndiesand
140,000
South America___
70.000
70.000
Total..................
35.000

35,000
21,000
•
14,000
4,872,000

The consumption in non-producing countries during the same year was
greater than the importation, doubtless owing to large stocks on hand.
The next table will show that if Brazil is the first producer, the United
States (in time o f peace) is the greatest consumer. In 1858-59 the c o n ­
sumption of coffee was as follow s:
The United States............................................................ sacks
Prussia, Hamburg, and British portions of Germany..........
Austria and the remainder o f Germany.................................
Belgium and Holland.................................................................
Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and Switzerland..................
France...........................................................................................
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia.................................
England........................................................................................
Australia and other parts o f the world...................................

1,575,000
810,000
525,000
665,000
525,000
420,000
350,000
280,000
140,000

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

5,320,000

Sadly instructive are the figures for 1861-62 in Messrs. M axwell &
W r i g h t ’ s last circular, which exhibits the exportation to Europe and the
United States during the last three years.
EXPORTED

FROM

R IO

D E J A N E IR O .

1859—CO.

1860-61.

•------------------------ Sacks

To the United States....................
To E u rop e.............. .......................

832,012
869,811

o f coffee.

1,204,936'
1,309,280

1861-62.
■

------------ N

509,646
1,072,792

According to the just proportion, the United States should have im­
ported at least 900,000 bags during this year, but the troubles of our
country have caused an extraordinary falling off. This is more perceptible
in the bags sent to our chief ports. New York imported from Rio de
Janeiro in 1860-61, 446,145 sacks; in 1861-62, 181,704 sacks; Balti­
more in 1860-61, 203,231 sacks; 1861—62, 47,454 sacks; New Orleans,
1860-61, 285,079 sacks; 1861-62, 6,185 sacks.
The most remarkable “ ports in the United States” (I .quote from the
circular) are the following, to which were exported the number of sacks
opposite their names: Brazil, 9,000; Havana, 51,550; St. Thomas,
84,705 ; Matamoras, 6,952.
V O L. xlvii .— no. v.
28




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

434

[November,

COTTON, TOBACCO, AND SUGAR TRADE IN NEW ORLEANS.

The New Orleans Price Current of September 1, contains a statement
of the business of New Orleans for the fiscal year ending September 1,
from which we take the following :
ST O C K

OF

COTTON",

20lH

AUGUST,

1862.

Southern press...............................
Sundry pickeries...........................
ON

1
225

226

S H IP B O A R D .

Ship Undaunted..........................

126

Stock on hand August 2 0 ..........

352

STATE M EN T O F

CO TT O N ,

august

2 0 th,

1862.

Stock on hand September 1, 1861....................bales
Arrived since April 25th...................... ....
4,056
Arrived previously...................................
34,974
Additional bales made from waste and damaged cot­
ton, samples, <fcc.........................................................

38,730
1,000
49,848

Total..................................... .
Exported since April 2 5 .........
Exported previously................
Supposed to have been shipped
which we have no record of
Burnt in presses and on ship­
board April 24, about........

10,118

5,725
14,873
6,698

27,296
22,200

Stock on hand and on shipboard, August 20
STATE M EN T O F T O B A C C O , A U G U S T

49,496
352

20, 1862.

Stock on hand September, 1861.
Arrived previously........................

15,121
1,063

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

16,184

Exported since April 2 5 .........
Exported previously................
Broken up for baling, city consumption, & e........................

2,037
2,037
1,249

Stock on hand and on shipboard August 20.............

3,286
12,898

The statistics o f the sugar crop of Louisiana are as follow s:
The actual yield is estimated to have comprised 459,410 hogsheads,
averaging 1,150 pounds, and making an aggregate weight of 528.321,500
pounds. This embraced 389,264 hogsheads o f brown sugar, made by the
old process, and 70,146 refined, clarified, <fcc., including cistern bottoms,
the whole being the product of 1,291 sugar houses, of which 1,027 were
worked by steam and 264 by horse power. The crop o f the preceding
year amounted to 228,753 hogsheads, weighing 263,065,000 pounds,




435

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

1862.]

showing an increase for the last year of 230,657 hogsheads, or 265,266,500
pounds.
According to our calculations the price o f the entire crop has averaged
4 f against 5|- c. last year. At this average, and taking the estimate of
of 1,150 pounds to the hogshead, the aggregate value of the crop o f
459,410 hogsheads is $25,095,271 against $14,468,627, the product of
228,753 hogsheads last year; or an increase of $10,626,644. The re­
ceipts at the levee since the 1st of September have been 225,356 hogs­
heads and 7,907 tierces and barrels, against 174,637 hogsheads and 5,976
tierces and barrels last year.
The stock now on hand in this State is estimated at 170,000 hogsheads.
The yield of molasses from the last year’s cane crop is estimated at
seventy gallons for each 1,000 pounds o f sugar, against the same for the
previous year, or an aggregate of 36,982,505 gallons against 18,414,550
the year previous, showing an increase o f 18,567,955 gallons, or more
than as much again. The arrivals at the levee during the season have
been 401,404 barrels against 313,260 last year, showing an increase o f
88,944 barrels.
The total value o f the product, estimated at an average o f 18£ cents
per gallon, sums up $6,703,079 against $4,235,346 last year, showing an
increase o f $2,467,733.
W e have prepared the following tables which will be found o f interest
in connection with the above :
TO T A L

CO TTON

CROP

IN

T H E U N ITE D

Bales.

1 8 6 0 -1 ..
1859-60.
1 8 5 8 -9 ..
1 8 5 7 -8 ..
1 8 5 6 -7 ..
1 8 5 5 -6 ..
1 8 5 4 -5 ..
1 8 5 3 -4 ..
1 8 5 2 -3 ..
1 8 5 1 -2 ..
1 8 5 0 -1 ..
1849-50.

TH E

1 8 4 8 -9 ..
1 8 4 7 -8 ..
1 8 4 6 .7 ..
1 8 4 5 -6 ..
1 8 4 4 -5 ..
1 8 4 3 -4 ..
1 8 4 2 -3 ..
1 8 4 1 -2 ..
1 8 4 0 -1 ..
1839-40.
1 8 3 8 -9 ..
1 8 3 7 -8 ..
AM OUNT

E X PO RT ED

1847-8..bales
1848-9..........
1849-50.......
1850-1..........
1851-2..........
1852-3..........
1853-4..........

1825

CON SU M ED

FROM

U nited
States.

F oreign
export.

1,731,590
2,086,111
1,483,208
1,869,643
2,315,426
2,459,157
2,192,791

1847

TO

TO

1861.
Bales.

2,728,596
2,347,634
1,778,651
2,100,537
2,394,503
2,030,409
2,378,875
1,683,574
1,634,945
2,177,835
1,360,532
1,801,497

616,044
642,485
613,498
485,614
699,603
803,725
737,236




FROM

Bales.

3,656,086
4,669,770
3,851,481
3,113,962
2,939,519
3.527,845
2,847,339
2,930,027
3,262,882
3,015,029
2,355,257
2,096,706

STATEM ENT S H O W IN G

ST A TE S

IN

1836-7-•
1 8 3 5 -6 ..
1 8 3 4 -5 ..
1 8 3 3 -4 ..
1 8 3 2 -3 ..
1 8 3 1 -2 ..
1 8 3 0 -1 ..
1829-30.
1 8 2 8 -9 ..
1 8 2 7 -8 ..
1 8 2 6 -7 ..
1 8 2 5 -6 ..

1,422,930
1,360,725
1,254,328
1,205,394
1,070,438
987,477
1,038,848
976,845
870,415
727,593
957,281
720,027

TH E U N ITE D STATE S A N D

1861.

1854-5..bales
1855-6..........
1856-7..........
1857-8..........
1858-9..........
1859-60........
1860-1..........

U nited
States.

F oreign
export.

706,412
770,739
819,936
595,562
927,651
972,043
843,740

2,140,927
2,757,106
2,119,583
2,518,400
2,923,830
3,677,727
2,812,346

436

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

[November,

THE HOP TRADE.

The following in relation to the hop trade is from the trade circular o f
Messrs. W oolloton & S o n :
The 15th of September, 1862, dates the freedom o f English hops from
excise impost, and the abolition o f customs duties upon foreign hops. Time
alone can show the effect so serious a change will have on the average prices
of a produce of increasing importance throughout the world. Our opinion
is, that under perfect freedom o f trade hops will vary in price in each dis­
trict of production, only in proportion to their quality and the cost of trans­
port; and that consumers will find prices more uniformly even than has
hitherto been known, since the simultaneous failure in the crop at home and
abroad is beyond the range of probability. With regard to the present
season we remark, that the unfavorable weather of part of the summer has
had its influence upon the English crop. From the Worcester district but
a very small produce will be received, and scarcely any o f fine quality.
Many of the best Mid Kent and a few East Kent parishes have been much
affected with mould and red rust. The Farnham crop is but moderate;
the Country Farnhams, Weald of Kent, and Sussex plantations, produce a
very large crop of fine quality. On the continent of Europe the result is
very variable. Bohemia and Bavaria do not grow so many hops as last
year, but the quality of their crop is most superior. This circumstance will
tend to compensate for the injury which has affected some of our best par­
ishes at home. The other districts of Germany have a very large produce,
but it is, as usual, deficient in flavor and strength. It is within the expe­
rience of some brewers to have bought these hops at low prices, under the
name of Bavarians, and when too late to have discovered the difference.
From the western provinces of France, where the crop is very large, we shall
receive considerable consignments, of exquisite flavor and condition, culti­
vated and cured with extreme care. The Belgian crop is not so abundant
as last year, but there will be no lack of samples of beautiful color and con­
dition. A few plantations are attacked with mould, a malady hitherto un­
known in that country. The American crop is large, and the circumstances
of that country will lead to important consignments to England. In no
single district of production is there a total failure, and in by far the largest
portions of plantations at home and abroad the crop is abundant. In our
judgment, therefore, the prices asked for new hops are not at present suffi­
ciently reasonable to induce brewers to go largely into stock.

SALT TRADE OF POLAND.

The salt trade in Poland is a government monopoly, which has existed
since the last partition of Poland. Formerly the Duchy of Warsaw re­
ceived one-half o f the income produced by the salt mines at Wielicztia,
near Cracow; but these mines having been ceded to Austria, a monopoly
of the salt trade of the kingdom was granted to the Polish treasury as a
compensation for the revenue abandoned to Austria.
This source of revenue was farmed for some years, and produced on an
average, from the year 1816 to 1821, an annual sum o f 820,000 roubles.
In the year 1821, the government purchased about 10,000 tons of
English salt from the Prussian Government, paying at the rate of 22.10
roubles per ton ; and English salt continued to be imported into the king­




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

1862.]

43 7

dom at the rate o f about 3,000 tons per annum, till the year 1834, the
price having been reduced to 18.36 roubles per ton. Since that date, the
purchase of English salt has entirely ceased, except during the year 1855,
when, in consequence o f the blockade of the Russian ports, salt was ad­
mitted exceptionally into the empire by the Polish frontier.
The Polish treasury, in virtue of a contract with the Austrian Govern­
ment, which expired in March last, purchased annually from the latter
government 650,000 Vienna centners of rock salt, which, including 12
per cent on the weight allowed by the Austrian Government to cover
losses, makes, in Polish measure, 2,471,600 poods; the price being 15£
kopecks per pood.
The government salt works within the kingdom, at Ciechocinek, which
are now farmed by the Polish Bank, produced, in the year 1860, 319,000
poods of salt, for which the government paid the bank at the rate of 30
kopecks per pood.
The market price o f salt, within the kingdom, is 90 kopecks per pood
for first quality, and 80 kopecks for inferior, and it is sold exclusively in
government depots, and by government officials, the number o f depots for
the sale being fortv. The entire quantity sold during the year 1860
amounted to 2,836 551 poods, the value being 2 503,000 roubles.
In addition to this the imperial treasury paid, in 1860, in accordance
with an agreement entered into with the Polish Government in the year
1851, when the Polish customs duties were abandoned, and as compensa­
tion for the loss to the treasury on the reduction of the price o f salt from
the then existing price to the present rate, the sum of 2,199,373 roubles,
which, added to the above value of 2 510,000 roubles, makes the total
value o f 4,709,373 roubles, the receipts of this monopoly.
The expenses of purchase and transport are stated in the Polish budget
at 1,953,000 roubles, which, deducted from the above, makes a clear gain
to the treasury of 2,746,373 roubles.— Grocer o f London.
SUCCESSFUL RICE GROWING IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

The Honolulu Commercial Advertiser says that “ Messrs. J udd and
have just hai vested their first crop o f rice, and shipped it on
board the Comet for San Francisco. Having heard that the yield was
very large, we have requested the particulars, from these gentlemen, who
have kindly supplied them. Their land is situated at Waiahole on the
windward side of Oahu, in the Koolau district, and embraced 83 taro
patches, which have been accurately surveyed, showing an area o f 15
acres and 802 feet. The yield o f this land was carefully weighed as it
was put on board the Comet, and turns out 89,200 pounds or 5,935|
pounds per acre. Extraordinary as this yield may appear, it would have
been much greater had not the grain on five acres been badly beaten down
and rotted by a severe rain storm, causing a loss on that tract of about
one-half its yield. Had not this casuality occurred, the produce of the
15 acres would have exceeded one hundred thousand pounds. There can
be no mistake in this statement, and the experience o f other rice grower*
in that vicinity will attest it. W e congratulate Messrs. J. and W . on this
result of their first attempt in rice growing, and doubt not this new
branch of industry will prove, in favorable localities, and under foreign
management, the most remunerative crop that can be grown.”
W il d e r




438

Railway, Canal, and Telegraph Statistics.

[November^

RAILWAY, CANAL, AND TELEGRAPH STATISTICS.

1

A R ailway through
R ailroads. 4. Steel
A

the
for

P yrenees. 2. T he I talian R ailw ay Conract.
R ailway B ars. 5. T he N ew Y ork C anals.

8. T olls

on

RAILWAY THROUGH THE PYRENEES.

T he successful completion o f a Spanish railway across the Pyrenees, and
the first which has actually passed over either of the two greatest of the
mountainous ranges of Western Europe, may perhaps be deemed of suf­
ficient interest in several respects to deserve a passing notice.
On the 21st of August, 1862, the first railway train, drawn by locomo­
tive engines, crossed the chain o f the Cantabrian Pyrenees, over the north­
ern division of the Tudela and Bilbao Railway, from the seaport o f Bilbao
to the town of Miranda on the Ebro. On the 22d the Minister of Public
Works for Spain made his inspection from Miranda to Bilbao, returning
on the 23d, the passage across the mountains being made by trains run­
ning also in both directions each day.
The distance from Bilbao to Mi­
randa is about sixty-six English miles, of which more than forty miles are
in ascending from the coast to the summit, which is 2,163 feet above the
sea, being the lowest pass in the whole range of the Pyrenees. The north­
ern slopes are almost invariably steep.
Here the difficulties to be over­
come are concentrated. In the present case they have been surmounted by
winding along the shoulders of the mountains, with heavy works of excava­
tion, tunneling, and embankments, until the railway resembles a turnpike
road more than such a line as is usually considered should be made to en­
able a locomotive engine to travel over it with speed and safety, and drag­
ging heavy loads. The average rate of ascent from the sea is 54 feet per
mile; the maximum is 76 feet. The predominant curvature has a radius
of 300 yards only, and the curves are constantly reverting. There are two
points on the line at the entrance of the Concha, or Basin of Ordima (the
ancient capital of the province of Biscay,) distant only 600 yards apart
measured horizontally across the neck or gorge of the basin, which are dis­
tant fully eight and a half miles from each other in travelling along the
line, and which differ 456 feet in level.
A technical description of the
railway would be out of place here, and it would occupy pages to paint in
words the grandeur of the mountain scenery, seen as it was seen, in full
perfection, under the beautiful sunny sky which beamed over each day’s
passage of the trains.
The changes of view were almost as rapid as the
motion of the locomotive engineyowing to the tortuous character of the
course, forced upon the engineer by the rugged country traversed. The
last glimpse of the northern landscape which the passengers had was over
the Gujuli waterfall, and down to a depth of 400 feet to the bottom o f the
ravine into which it fell; after which the carriages rushed into the summit
tunnel to emerge into a wide meadow with a gently falling stream ; for
the descent on the southern side is very gradual, the average rate from the
summit to the Ebro being less than 24 feet to a mile. The valley being




1862.]

Railway , Canal, and Telegraph Statistics.

439

wide the curves are also much easier. The most remarkable point in the de­
scent is the pass or gorge of the Techas, through which flows the river
Bazas at the village of Subijana Morillos, where Wellington had his head­
quarters a night before the battle of Vittoria, in the summer of 1813.
The time occupied by trains between Bilbao and Miranda is two hours
and three-quarters. To the powerful locomotives of this railway the sharp
reversing curves and steep gradients in ascending from the north to the
summit appear to make no difference with trains of seven or eight car­
riages.
On the occasion of the crossing of the mountains on the 2 2d of August,
there was the usual cortege of authorities and officials meeting the Minister
of Public Works and the gentlemen of his party. The usual breakfast was
set out, but there were no toasts and no speeches. Upon arriving in Bilbao
a small steamer took the distinguished group down to the mouth of the
river (Nervion) where a good view was obtained o f the deep Bay of Bil­
bao, where it is proposed to construct a breakwater more than a mile in
length, within which nearly 1,000 acres of sheltered anchorage will be
attainable— in fact, a safety harbor, so much required at the extremity of
the Bay of Biscay.
The southern division of the Tudela and Bilbao Railway (which is to be
completed by the early part of the year 1863) proceeds eastward from
Miranda for nearly ninety miles, always on the right or south bank of the
Ebro, for strategic though not for engineering reasons.
The amount expended and to be expended on the 155 miles o f the Tu­
dela and Bilbao Railway is about £2,500,000 sterling.
The sixty-six
miles from Bilbao to Miranda (including twenty miles o f the most difficult
of railway works known, principally through the Pyrenees) have cost merely
for construction more than $1,000,000; the eighty-nine miles along the
Ebro have been made for four-fifths of that sum. The rest of the money
has been spent on stations, rolling stock, management, &c. The total with
all paid and capital account closed is £16,000 per English mile, and is
within the capital of the company.
The whole of this capital is Spanish
money, mostly subscribed by Bilbao and its commercial connections. Not
a share is held out of Spain or the colonies of Spain. No bonds have been
issued, nor any mortgages given.
The credit of the company and o f its
directors stood high enough to procure them all the financial aid they
wanted; and they were spared the necessity o f having to issue their ob­
ligations at the ruinous discount common to other railway companies on the
Continent. There is a government subvention equivalent to 30 per cent
of the capital.
It may be mentioned that this line joins the Northern Railway of Spain at
Miranda on the Ebro, which railway is opened from Madrid to the southern
slope of the Pyrenees, near Alzazua, about 25 miles N. E. of Vittoria, with
the exception of a gap of 30 or 40 miles, including the Guadarama Moun­
tains. By this route the Minister of Public Works (Marquis A rmigo de
V e g a ) , returned from Bilbao to Madrid in 18 hours, o f which only 12
were by railway. When the above gap is closed as it will be next year,
the journey from Bilbao to Madrid will be performed in 14 hours. It will
perhaps be some years longer before the Northern Railway of Spain will
be completely connected with the French lines at the frontier; but towards
the end of next year (1863) there will only remain a portion unfinished
equal to four or five hours’ travelling by diligence across the Pyrenees, form­




440

Railway , Canal, and Telegraph Statistics.

[November,

ing the only exception as to a through route by railway from Paris to Madrid;
and, indeed, the distance between these two capitals may then be traversed
in thirty-six hours, notwithstanding the above drawback.
In the engineering court at the International Exhibition there is to be
seen a very fine and accurate model on a large scale of the Passage of the
Tudela and Bilbao Railway across the Pyrenees. It has been pronounced
by competent judges to be the most perfect topographical and geological
model yet exhibited. An inspection will give a better idea of the character
of the railway than any description by words. The engineer-in-chief of
the railway, as well as of the proposed breakwater, is Mr. V ignoles, F. R. S.
The contractor who executed the works through the Pyrenees, and from
Bilbao to Miranda,is the celebrated Mr. B rassey. The iron for the railway,
the engines, and the vehicles were made in England, as were also nearly all
the materials for the station except the mere shell of the building. The
chairman of the company is Senor D on P ablo de E palza, who may be
considered as holding the highest rank as a Spanish merchant. The man­
aging director is Senor M ontesino, formerly Director General of Public
Works in Spain. He is a member of the Cortes, and one of the commis­
sioners for Spain at the International Exhibition.
On the completion of the Tudela and Bilbao Railway, it will become the
great channel through which the corn, wine, and oil of Castile, and the
rich agricultural provinces west of Burgos and Valladolid as far as Leon,
will find their way for exportation at Bilbao.— London Times.

THE ITALIAN RAILWAY CONTRACT.

The contract for the great Italian railway undertaking has been awarded
to Count B astogi. W e give below an abstract of the exact provisions of
the law. The terms of the concession to Count B astogi, favorable as they
are, are far more economical for the Italian Government than any of the
competing tenders.
By a law of August 21, 1862, the Italian Government, with the previous
sanction of Parliament, granted the construction of a large extent of rail­
ways in Southern Italy and in Lombardy to Count B astogi, the ex-finance
minister of the Cavour and R icasoli administrations. The concession in­
cludes, according to the text o f the law, the following lines:
1. A main trunk which, starting from Ancona, runs along the shore of
the Adriatic by Pescara, Termoli, Foggia, Barletta, Bari, Brindisi, and Lecce
to Otranto, with a branch from Bari to Taranto on the Ionian Sea— a length
together of about 750 kilometres, or 463 English miles.
2. A branch line from Foggia by Ascoli, Conza, and Eboli to Salerno,
(where it meets the line already existing to Naples,) about 181 kilometres,
or 111 English miles long.
3. A branch from Ceprano (where it falls into the line already construc­
ted from Rome to Naples) by Sora, Celano, Sulmona, and Popoli to Pescara,
of about 231 kilometres, or 145 English miles.
4. A branch of 28 kilometres, or 20 English miles, from Voghera to
Pavia: and—




1862.]

Railway , Canal, and Telegraph Statistics.

441

5.
Another branch, 167 kilometres, or 101 English miles long, from the
latter place to Brescia by Cremona. With regard to this latter branch, how­
ever, the Lombardo and Central Italian Railway Company are reserved the
right of preference, to which they are entitled by a former concession, for
its construction.
Altogether, 1,357 kilometres, or about 840 English miles of railways,
The concession is for 99 years, (to begin from the 1st of January, 1868,
by which time the whole of them is to be finally constructed,) for all of
them except that from Voghera to Pavia and Brescia, for which it is only
for 90 years, dating from the 1st o f January, 1885, when they are to be
opened for traffic.
By the concession the grantee is bound to form, within one month from
its date, a Limited Company ( Societa Anonima) under the denomination
of the Italian Southern Railway Company ( Societa Italiana per le Strade
Torrate Meridionali,) with a capital of 100,000,000 of francs, (£4,000,000)
in shares, and power of raising, when required, 200,000,000 (£3,000.000)
more by issuing debentures; altogether 300,000,000 of francs (£ 12,000.000.)
But as the government grants a subsidy of 20,000,000 of francs, (£800,000,)
of which 10,000,000 are in works already executed, and the other
10,000,000 in public lands, the capital which the company may eventually
have to supply will be 280,000,000 o f francs (£11,200,000.)
The government guarantees a gross return of 20,000 francs (£800) per
kilometre on the lines from Voghera to Pavia and Brescia, and of 29,000
francs (£1,160) per kilometre on all the Southern lines, during the whole
term of the concession.
From Salerno to Naples it is at the option of the grantee either to con­
struct an entirely new line round the E. and N. E. basis of Vesuvius, or to
purchase the line already existing through Vietri, Cava, Nocera, and Torra
Annonziata, upon which, in case of purchase, the same government guaranty
of 29,000 francs per kilometre will be granted as on the lines of new con­
struction.
With regard to the branch from Pescara to Ceprano, which, having to
cross the main ridge of the Apennines, offers much greater engineering
difficulties than any of the others, it is provided that the government will
have to reimburse the grantee any sum exceeding 250,000 francs (£10,000)
per kilometre for its construction.
A right is reserved to the State of taking possession, within three years
from the date o f the concession, of the short branch from Voghera to Pavia
by refunding to the company the cost o f its construction and the interest of
the capital invested in it.
Such are the principal provisions of the law above mentioned. If we are
rightly informed, the formation of the company was accomplished by a deed
executed before a public notary at Turin, on Thursday, the 18th instant, and
the first instalment of 30,000,000 of francs (£1,200,000) on the shares
has already been paid up by the shareholders, among whom there are many
of the best known bankers and landed proprietors in Italy.

TOLLS

oar

RAILROADS.

T H B P E O P L E O F T H E S T A T E OF N E W Y O R K V S . T H E N E W Y O R K C E N T R A L R A I L R O A D .

W e referred to this case and the decision of the Supreme Court, in the




442

Railway, Canal, and Telegraph Statistics.

[November,

October number of the Merchants’ Magazine, for 1861, (vol. 45, page 851.)
The facts we then stated to be as follows :
The defendants are a corporation formed under the act of April, 1853.
Previous to their organization under this act, they existed (as is well known)
as several separate companies, each under its own charter. Part o f these
companies, by their charters, were required to pay tolls on all property
transported by them, and others were required to pay toll only during
canal navigation, and others not at all. The act of 1853, under which
they were all consolidated, made the defendants subject to all the liabilities
o f the several companies, and also subject to the liabilities imposed by the
general railroad act of 1850, one section of which act required all corpora­
tions formed under it, and whose roads were parallel to and within thirty
miles of any State canal, to pay tolls on freight. On the 10th of July,
1851, however, an act was passed abolishing tolls on railroads after Decem­
ber 31st, 1851, and repealing all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with
that act.
This provision the defendants set up as their defense to this ac­
tion. The plaintiffs, on the contrary, insist that the act of 1851 was un­
constitutional and void, because these tolls formed “ part o f the revenues of
the State canals,” and that by the constitution the Legislature is prohibited
from selling, leasing, or otherwise disposing o f the canals, or their freight,
or their revenue. The point, therefore, at issue is, whether or not this act
of the Legislature abolishing tolls is unconstitutional. Or, in other words,
the plaintiff must make out, before his claim can be considered established,
first, that these railroad tolls are a part of the “ revenues o f the State ca­
nals,” and second, that the constitution forbids the impairing of these rev­
enues.
On these facts the Supreme Court held that this act of 1851 is not un­
constitutional, and that the defendants, therefore, are not liable to pay tolls.
The case was then taken on appeal to the Court of Appeals, and argued at
the last April term, and wenow have the decision of that court affirming
the judgment of the Supreme Court.
Thus this question, which should
never have been raised on behalf o f the State, may be considered settled.

STEEL FOR RAILWAY BARS.

From the consideration which the manufacture of iron, semi-steel, and
steel, by various new processes is receiving, it is not at all improbable
that we shall before long see companies laying down something for rails
besides ordinary wrought or rolled bars. Rails have been made from steel
by the Bessemer process for §112 per ton, which are claimed to be so
tough and hard that no amount o f wear will destroy them. The hom o­
geneous metal from Bessemer’s process is said to be fifty per cent stronger
than the best iron in the English market. In the manufacture of rails,
one object has been to increase the hardness of the wearing surface, and
thus to prolong their life. This has been done by rolling a steel bar
along with the iron bars of the rail pile so as to make the head or wear­
ing surface of the rail. Another mode of accomplishing the same result
is casehardening the upper surface of the rail. Neither of these processes
have been thus far able to prevent the lamination of the lower part of
the rail. The Bessemer process ought, it strikes us, to give a uniform




1862.]

Railway , Canal, and Telegraph Statistics.

44 3

rail, which, although expensive compared with the ordinary iron bar,
would be admirably suited for railway work. In making rails by the
above method, an ingot o f steel was cast nine inches square and twentysix inches lo n g ; this was hammered to six inches square and five feet
long, an afterwards rolled to the usual form and length. Rails made
thus show no tendency to laminate; are extremely tough, and exceed in
strength the best quality o f iron; the tensile strength being as high as
forty tons per square inch. There appears to be no reason why cast steel
should not thus be applied for railway bars. Care should be taken, how­
ever, to use an elastic chair, and to have the track laid in the best man­
ner, that the full advantage of the more refined material may be ob­
tained.— The American Railway Times.

THE NEW YORK CANALS.

The Albany Evening Journal states that the gross canal tolls for the
fiscal year $4,810,476, to which we may add $40,000 for miscellaneous
receipts, and we have a round sum of $4,850,000, which is an increase
over any former year of $1,150,000. The net revenue for the year, de­
ducting the charges for collection, superintendence, and repairs, will stand
at $4,050,000, very nearly. The constitutional charges upon the canal
revenues the next fiscal year, which this sum will meet, amount to
$3,366,242, and among these charges are $550,000 to the general fund,
to pay the interest on the general fund debt and for the support of govern­
ment; very nearly $1,400,000 to the sinking funds, to extinguish the prin­
cipal of the canal debt, and the residue to pay the accruing interest for
the year on the canal stock debt. Aside from these charges, which are
appropriated, there will be an overplus of about $630,000, to appropriate
to such purposes as may be designated. In January and June last, the
State paid off $2,200,000 of its canal debt, and will now pay more, not
due, if the holders will take it at a fair premium.
In 1858 and 1859 the gross receipts o f the canals were only
$3,931,084 51, and the net revenue, $1,955,326 64. A t that time the
average cost of maintenance was 51 per cent of the tolls, at present it is
less than 17 per cent. Commercially speaking, the Mississippi River now
runs through the lakes and empties into the Hudson at Albany.




Statistics o f Agriculture.

444

STATISTICS

OF

[November,

AGRICULTURE.

1. T he Consumption op M ilk . 2. T he W heat C rop for 1862. 8. P roductions of A gricul­
ture for 1850 and 1860.
4. A gricultural Statistics for I reland in 1862. 5. T ea in
China . 6. W heat G rowing in Can ada . 7. C omposition of M ilk at D ifferent T imes of
D ay.

THE CONSUMPTION OF MILK.
T A B L E S H O W IN G T H E P R O D U C E O F M I L K I N T H IR T E E N STA TE S F O R

80, I860,

THE

YEAR

E N D IN G JU N E

A N D A L S O T H E Q U A N T IT Y U S E D A S FO O D A N D T H E AM O U N T M A N U F A C T U R E D IN T O

BU TTER AN D CH EESE FO R EA C H STATE.

States.

Milch cows.
Number.

Total produce.
Quarts.

Maine................
147,884 266,165.200
N. Hampshire
94,880
170,784,000
Vermont.___
171,698
309,056,400
Massachusetts 144,492
260,085,600
Rhode Island.
19,700
35,460,000
Connecticut..
98,877
177,978,600
New Y o r k ... 1,123,623 2,022,521,400
Pennsylvania.
673,547 1,212,384,600
New Jersey..
138,818
249,872,400
D e la w a re ...
22,595
40,671,000
M a ry la n d ...
94,463
170,033,400
W isconsin...
193,996
349,192,800
V ir g in ia ....
830,627
595,128,600
Total......... 3,254,630

5,858,334,000

Used as food.
Quarts.
112,013,085
75,052,328
81.288,157
135,555,626
21,570,272
63,585,989
543,030,641
553,828,525
109,868,653
22,763,870
96,286,486
174,214,114
405,561,119
1,394,618,865

Manf. butter. Manuf cheese.
Quarts.
Quarts.
146,097,262
7,054,853
86,959,550
8,772,122
196,022,925
81,745,318
103,724,200
20,805,774
13,193,128
696,600
99,071,856
15,320,755
1,288.695,987 190,794,772
648,697,450
9,858,625
139,287,811
715,936
17,881,275
25,855
73,714,130
32,784
170,638,162
4,340,624
188,463,968
1,103,513
3,172,447,704

291,267,431

According to the above statistics fifty-four per cent of the entire produce
of milk is made into butter. The manufacture of this indispensable arti­
cle of food has received the attention of our best chemists as well as our
most skill manufacturers, and is now made in a very perfect manner. It is
exported in large quantities and found in almost every port in a perfectly
sweet condition. It is also kept fit for table use many months.
The dairy of the United States also produces an excellent quality of
cheese, to the methods of the manufacture and care of which nothing need
be added to the previous reports of the agricultural bureau. One point,
however, cannot escape notice.
In the thirteen above named States the
milk used in the manufacture of cheese is only about one-twentieth of the
annual produce of milk, it being only five per cent. The cheese crop con­
sumes only about one-eleventh as much as the butter crop. Its value is
only about one-tenth as much.
W e find also from the above table that forty-one per cent o f the annual
produce of milk is consumed as food. A large proportion of this milk is
consumed within a few hours after milking, but a much larger proportion,
especially that for transportation, is kept for a considerable time. A much
greater quantity would be sold could it be preserved a sufficient length of
time to get it to market.
TH E V A L U E O F TH E M ILK C R O P .

The value of the milk crop may he fairly estimated from the value of
milk used in the manufacture of butter. Fifty-four per cent of the entire




1862 .]

Satisfies o f Agriculture.

445

crop in the thirteen States before-named is made into butter; hence, the
value of butter form a very correct basis for ascertaining the true value of
milk. In the following table the prices of milk given for each State have
been derived by taking the average prices given for the cost value o! butter
at the places where it is made, and extended over a period o f twelve years.
The localities were selected from various sections of each State.
This
method was pursued with all the States except Wisconsin, which extended
over a period of only three years.
1 am aware that these values, with the exception of Delaware, fall below
the generally estimated value of milk; yet I am confident that if there is
any variation from the true value it is that I have overestimated them.
The value o f milk in the United States will average less than one cent and
five mills per quart.
The following is a correct statement of the value of milk per quart, the
total value of the crop, together with the amount consumed in each o f the
named States.
States.

M aine..........................
New Hampshire.........
Vermont.......................
Massachusetts...............
Rhode Island...............
Connecticut..................
New' Y ork ....................
Pennsylvania...............
New Jersey...................
Delaware.......................
Maryland......................
Wisconsin....................
V irgin ia......................
Total..................

P rice per qt.
CeDts.

___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
-----

1.44
1.28
1.68
1.64
1.60
1.36
1.28
1.76
2.00
1.20
1.48
1.12

V alue consum ed.

$1,523,377
1,080,753
1,040,488
2,277,334
353,752
1,017,375
7,385,216
7,089,005
1,933,688
455,277
1,155,437
2,578,368
4,542,284

96
52
41
52
46
82
72
12
29
40
83
89
53

$32,432,361 47

T otal value.

$3,606,246
2,459,289
3,955,921
4,369,438
518,544
2,847,657
27,506,291
15,518,522
4,396,754
813,420
2,040,400
5,160,053
6,665,440

72
60
92
08
00
60
04
88
24
00
80
44
32

$79,857,980 64

Milk is worth the most in Delaware and the least in Virginia. The small
extent of the territory of Delaware, and its proximity to market, will readily
account for the high price of its milk crop.
New York produces as much milk in value as the six New England States,
together with New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.
New York and Pennsylvania produce more milk than the eleven remainnig States, and nearly one-third the entire crop of the United States.
It is remarkable that Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut,
New Jersey, and Maryland consume about the same amount in value.
Pennsylvania consumes nearly as much as New York, although she pro­
duces but little more than half in value.
The value of milk seems to be determined by its proximity to market.
It cannot be transported under the present treatment like many other arti­
cles of produce.
With the above tables as a basis, it is estimated that the entire milk crop
of the United States for the year 1860 exceeded $160,000,000.




Statistics o f Agriculture.

44 6

[November,

Amount consumed as food..................................................
Amount manufactured into butter....................................
Amount manufactured into cheese....................................

$90,000,000
65,000,000
5,000,000

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

$160,000,000

The above is the cost of the milk. The additional value produced by
the manufacture and transportation of butter and cheese will make the value
of the dairy of the United States for the year 1860 exceed $200,000,000.
This estimate is made on the value of milk at 1.48 cent per quart.
Should the common estimate of two cents per quart be adopted, the value
of the dairy will be upwards of $260,000,000.
This estimate is also made on assuming the average produce of each cow
to be 1,800 quarts of milk. Should the annual average produce of cows
be raided to 2,200 each, as it ought to be, the value of the dairy products
of tlie country would be about $320,000,000.— Patent Office Report.
THE WHEAT CROP FOR 1862.

In our last issue we gave our usual statement o f the export of breadstuffs for the year ending September 30, 1862. Considering the condi­
tion of our country, (the total suspension o f the cotton trade,) the proba­
ble export of these articles the coming year is a question of vital impor­
tance.
As to the present crop in the United States, there is but one voice— it
is unusually abundant. Our overflowing granaries would almost feed the
world.
In Europe they have not been thus favored— England’s crop is proba­
bly much below the average; France is better off, but not enough so to
supply her own wants, while Eussia will be able to spare less than usual.
The following, from the Gardners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette,
will give a fair idea of England’s position:
“ There can be no doubt that the wheat harvest crop of 1862 is
one of the worst we have had for many years. There has always hitherto,
on the occasion of these annual returns, been, among two hundred cor­
respondents, a considerable proportion who have declared the crop to be
over average, even where the preponderance of opinion and the ultimate
experience lay all the other way. W e have never before had to report
that of one hundred and eight-eight reporters there is only one who speaks
o f the crop in his neighborhod as being ‘ very g ood ;’ and he from an Irish
county, whose wheat crop has no great influence on the general supply of
the year. And it is a still worse report o f the information which has
reached us that, out of 188, there are no fewer than 150 who declare the
crop to be inferior; only 37 who anticipate an ordinary return. Storms
of wind, causing the plant to be roots fallen before the seed was fully
formed— ‘ red gum ’ and ‘ mildew,’ the consequence of an unkindly sum­
mer, have produced their natural result— a deficient harvest. A corres­
pondent, who very properly adopted the signature o f ‘ Common Sense,’
fairly describes our position in the following paragraph:
“ ‘ I have often, in former years, observed the curious unwillingness
shown by the public, (that is, the newspapers,) to acknowledge the un­
pleasant fact of a deficient harvest.




Statistics o f Agriculture.

1862.]

447

‘“ Our summer throughout England has been cold and wet. The con­
sequence— namely, a deficient harvest— is as certain as that two and two
make fou r; yet I observe the newspapers persist in inserting nonsensical
paragraphs as to the probability of an average produce, which one should
think the slightest consideration would show to be nowr impossible.’
The following is the tabular epitome of the returns, and it entirely
hears out the above prediction of ‘ Common Sense
Crops.

Over av’ge.

W heat........................ No.
Barley.....................................
Oats.........................................
Beans.......................................
Peas.........................................

Average. Under av’ge. Total rep'ts.

1
26
37
42
10

37
108
108
80
73

160
53
55
13
23

188
187
200
135
106

It results from these figures that the wheat crop is very inferior, that
barley is barely an average crop, that oats are a fair average, that beans
are generally good, and peas on the whole a fair crop.”
The Mark Lane Express, (the best of authority,) o f the last o f August,
says: “ The better we become acquainted with the wheat crop the less
satisfactory does it appear. Beyond the long reported blight, there is
much mildew, which is a lasting hindrance to full maturity, and the yield
proves below the expectations o f those who were most in favor of a good
crop. As to the early Talavera, it is a generally admitted failure, and
the white qualities have seriously suffered.”
The London Economist tells pretty much the same story.
But we think the best evidence o f a short crop in Europe will be found
in the following table from the London Economist of September 2 7 :
W EEKLY

REPORT

O P SA LE S

OF

W HEAT.

Quarters.

Sold last week.............................................................
Corresponding week in 1861.................................
“
“
“
1860.................................
“
“
1859..................................
“
“
1858..................................

86,447
144,079
53,655
131,574
135,381

W eekly average, September 20 ............................
“
“
“
1 3 ............................
“
“
“
6 ............................
“
“
August 3 0 ..............................
“
“
“
23
“
“
“
1 6 ..............................

54 s. 9 d.
55 10
58 4
58 4
57
9
57
4

Six weeks’ average................................................
Same time last year..............................................

57
52

1
9

It will here he seen (and the report for each preceding week is to the
same effect,) that, although the price of wheat in London is higher now
than at the same time last year, the sales have been only about one half
the amount, showing, evidently, that in the opinion of the holders there
is a short crop, and that they are holding on and waiting for higher prices.




Statistics o f Agriculture.

448

[November.

PRODUCTIONS OF AGRICULTURE FOR 1860 AND I860.

W e find in tbe Report of tbe Eighth Census many interesting statistics
showing the growth of the United States during the ten years in agricul­
ture and agricultural productions, from which we have prepared the fol­
lowing.
The table below gives the amount of land under cultivation in 1850
and 1860 in each State and Territory, with the aggregate amounts:
LANDS

IM P R O V E D

IN

1850

AND

1860.
■Acres.-

1850.

1810.

A labam a...............................
Arkansas...............................
California...............................
Connecticut..........................
Delaware...............................
Florida...................................
Georgia..................................
Illinois........ ...........................
Indiana...................................
Iow a.......................................

4,435,614
781,530
32,454
1,768,178
580,862
349,049
6,378,479
5,039,545
5,046,543
824,682

Kentucky..............................
Louisiana...............................
Maine.....................................
Maryland..............................
Massachusetts......................
Michigan...............................
Minnesota.............................
Mississippi............................
Missouri.................................
New Hampshire...................
New Jersey...........................
New Y o r k ............................
North Carolina.....................
O hio.......................................
Oregon...................................
Pennsylvania........................
Rhode Island........................
South C arolin a....................
Tennessee...............................
Texas......................................
Vermont................................
Virginia.................................
Wisconsin..............................

5,968,270
1,590,025
2,039,596
2,797,905
2,133,436
1,929,110
5,035
3,444,358
2,938,425
2,251,488
1,767,991
12,408,964
5,453,975
9,851,493
132,857
8,623,619
356,487
4,072,551
5,175,173
643.976
2,601,409
10,360.135
1,045,499

6,462,987
1,933,036
2,430,882
1,830,808
637,065
676,464
8,062,758
13,251.473
8,161,717
3,780,253
372,835
7,644,217
2,734,901
2,677,216
3,002,269
2,155,512
3,419,861
554,397
5,150,008
6,246,871
2,367,039
1,944,445
14,376,397
6,517,284
12,665,587
895,375
10,463,306
329,884
4,572,060
6,897,974
2,649,207
2,758,443
11,435,954
3,746,036

Total States..................

112,833,813

162,804,521

16,267

11,474
2,115
122,582
149,415

Territories.

Columbia, District e f...........
Dakota...................................
Nebraska..............................
New Mexico..........................




166,201

449

Statistics o f Agriculture.

1862.]

-Acres.-

1850.
16,333

1860.
82,260
83,022

198,801

456,868

113,032,614

163,261,389

U ta h ............................
W ashington...............
Total Territories,
A gg reg ate......................

The total cash value o f farms and live stock at the time o f each cen­
sus was as follow s:
F arm s............. value
Live stock.................

18§ 0 .

1860.

$3,271,575,426
544,180,516

$6,660,872,507
1,107,490,216

In the last (October) number o f the Merchants' Magazine, will be found
tables showing the production o f breadstuffs in 1840, 1850, and 1860.
W e give below the production o f tobacco, ginned cotton, and w o o l:
P R O D U C T IO N

OP T O B A C C O

I860.
States.

AND

G IN N E D

■Tobacco.-

*--------- G inned cotton .--------- *

1860.

Pounds.

Pounds.

221,284
Alabam a..................
164,990
Arkansas..................
218,936
999,757
3,150
California.................
1,000
6,000,133
Connecticut.............
1,267,624
9,699
Delaware..........................................
758,015
F lo rid a ....................
998,614
Georgia....................
423,924
919,316
7,014,230
841,394
Illinois......................
7,246,132
Indiana.....................
1,044,620
I o w a ........................
6,041
312,919
Kansas..............................................
16,978
K entucky................
55,501,196 108,102,433
40,610
Louisiana..................
26,878
1,583
Maine.................................................
Maryland.................. 21,407,497 38,410,965
3,233,198
Massachusetts..........
138,246
120,621
Michigan..................
1,245
38,510
Minnesota.........................................
127,736
Mississippi..............
49,960
Missouri....................
17,113,784 25,086,196
21,281
New Hampshire.. . .
50
149,485
New Jersey...............
310
5,764,582
New York.................
83,189
North C a r o lin a ....
11,984,786 32,853,250
Ohio........................... 10,454,449 25,528,972
215
O re g o n ....................
325
3,181,586
Pennsylvania...........
912,651
705
Rhode Island...................................
104,412
South Carolina........
74,285
* O f 400 pounds each.
VOL. XLVII.----NO. V.




29

COTTON.

1850.

I860.

♦Bales

♦Bales.

564,429
65,344

997,978
367,485

45,131
499,091

63,322
701,840
6

14

758
178,737

4,092
722,218

484,292

1,195,699
100

50,545

145,514
• • ••l •

300,901

353,413

Statistics o f Agriculture.

45 0

[November,

-T obacco.----------------- *

Tennessee.................
Texas............... ..
Vermont...................
Virginia....................
Wisconsin.................
Total................

,--------- G inned co tto n .---------*

1850.
20,148,932
66,897

I860.
38,931,277
98,016
12,153
56,803,227 123,967,757
87,595
1,268

1850.
191,532
58,072

1860.
227,450
405,100

3,947

12,727

199,736,318 429,364,751

2,445,793

5,196,944

Territories.

Columbia, District of
N ebraska................
New Mexico.............
Utah..........................
W ashington............
Total................
A ggregate.__

7,800
8,467
70

16,337

15,200
3,801
6,999
10
10

P R O D U C T IO N

1,133

26,020

199,752,655 429,390,771

States.

• • ••

1,133
2,445,793

OF W OO L.
,------------------- Pounds.

1850.
A labam a...........................
Arkansas...........................
California..........................
Connecticut......................
Delaware..........................
Florida...............................
Georgia..............................
Illinois...............................
Indiana...............................
Iow a...................................
Kansas..............................
Kentucky..........................
Louisiana..........................
Muine.................................
Maryland..........................
Massachusetts....................
Michigan............................
M innesota........................
Mississippi..........................
Missouri.............................
New H am pshire.............
New Jersey.......................
New Y ork .........................
North Carolina.................
O hio...................................
Oregon...............................
Pennsylvania....................
*




*5,198,077

657,118
5,520
497,454
57,768
990,019
2,150,113
2,610,287
373,898

109,897
1,364,034
477,438
2,043,283
559,619
1,627,164
1,108,476
375,396
10,071,301
970,738
10,196,371
29,686

* See Afer chants' Alagazine , vol. 4*7, page 358.

1S60.
681,404
410,285
2,681,922
335,986
50,201
58,594
946,229
2,477,563
2,466,264
653,036
22,593
2,325,124
296,187
1,495,063
491,511
377,267
4,062,858
22,740
637,729
2,069,778
1,160,212
349,250
9,454,473
883,473
10,648,161
208,943
4,752,523

Statistics o f Agriculture.

1862.]
States.

451

,----------— Pounds..

I860.

1850
Rhode Island........................
South C arolin a....................
T ennessee.............................
Texas.......................................
V e rm o n t...............................
Virginia.................................
W iscon sin .............................

129,692
487,233
1,364,378
131,917
3,400,717
2,860,765
253,963

90,699
427,102
1,400,508
1,497,748
2,975,544
2,509,443
1,011,915

Total States..................

52,474,311

59,932,328

525

100
3,312
479,245
75,638
20,720

Territories.

Columbia, District o f...........
N ebraska...............................
New Mexico...........................
Utah.......................................
Washington..........................

32,901
9,222
—

Total Territories..........

42,648

579,015

A ggregate....................

52,516,959

60,511,343

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS OF IRELAND IN 18G2.

The general abstracts showing the acreage under the several crops and
the number of live stock in each county and province o f Ireland for the
present year, taken under the direction o f Mr. D o n n e l l y , the Registrar
General, have been printed. They have been compiled from the sum­
maries made by 4,000 enumerators, selected from the constabulary and
the metropolitan police, who have been everywhere readily assisted by
the landed proprietors, the clergy o f all denominations, and the tenant
farmers. The inquiries commenced on the 2d of June, and terminated in
the middle of July, during which period the particulars of the acreage
under crops and the number of live stock on nearly 600,000 holdings are
enumerated.
Comparing the returns o f this year with last, there is a considerable
decrease both in the quantity of land under tillage and in the number of
live stock. The total number of acres under cereal crops in 1861 was
2,624,957 ; in 1862 it is 2,552,223, showing a decrease o f 72,734 acres.
The decrease has occurred chiefly in wheat and oats— in the former,
amounting to 43,427, and in the latter, 24,423 acres. There is an in­
crease of 1,000 acres in peas and beans. The net decrease in cereals, com ­
paring 1862 to 1861, is 28 per cent.
There is a decrease to about the same extent in green crops— that is,
74,785 acres. There is an increase in turnips o f 43,045 acres; in man­
gold and beet, of 296 acres; in cabbage, of 491 acres; carrots, parsnips,
vetches, and rape have decreased. The most serious matter is the decrease
of land under potatoes, which amounts to 116,187 acres. Meadow and
clover covered 1,552,829 acres in 1862, being an increase of 6,623 acres
above the extent in 1861. W e have about 150,000 acres under flax,




452

Statistics o f Agriculture.

[November,

which is 2,000 more than last year. The total decrease o f land under
crops in 1862 is 138,841 acres.
O f this area Mr. D onnelly says 117,832 would seem to have merged
into grass, 1,066 were returned as under woods and plantations, and 870
went to increase the fallow, leaving 19,000 acres of pasture land unstocked.
The quantity which is returned as “ bog and waste ” is confined entirely
to Connaught.' The distress which prevailed in some districts last spring
prevented the small holders in many instances from putting in their crops
as usual. The dearness o f labor has probably operated in other districts
in lessening the quantity of tillage.
The same unfavorable influences have tended to diminish the number
o f live stock. The small farmers were obliged to sell their horses, cows,
sheep, and pigs in order to get food. The falling off is the result of a
temporary pressure, which caused the cultivators of the soil to live upon
their capital. Since last year horses have diminished by 9,787, cattle by
221,292, sheep by 100,169; pigs have increased by 49,743. The total
number of live stock in Ireland is worth £1,849,153, and is less valuable
than the total number last year to the amount of £1,564,710, consequently
the farmers are so much the poorer. Stock to the amount of a million
and-a-half sterling have gone since last year to pay their rents and sup­
port their families. In this estimate horses are valued at £8 each ; cattle,
£ 6 10 s.; sheep, 22s.; pigs, 25s.

TEA

IK

CHINA.

There are few subjects connected with the vegetable kingdom which
have attracted such a large share o f public notice as the tea-plant of
China. Its cultivation on the Chinese hills, the particular species or
variety which produces the black and green teas o f commerce, and the
method of preparing the leaves have always been objects of peculiar in ­
terest. The jealousy o f the Chinese Government, in former times, pre­
vented foreigners from visiting any of the districts where tea is cultivated ;
and the information derived from the Chinese merchants, even scanty as
it was, was not to be depended upon. And hence we find our English
authors contradicting each oth er; some asserting that the black and
green teas are produced by the same variety, and that the difference in
color is the result of a different mode of preparation ; while others say that
the black teas are produced from the plant calld by botanists Thea Bohm,
and the green from Thea veridis, both o f which we have had for many
years in our gardens in England. During my travels in China since the
last war, I have had frequent opportunities of inspecting some extensive
tea districts in the black and green tea countries o f Canton, Fokien, and
Chekiang: the result of these observations is now laid before the reader.
It will prove that even those who have had the best means of judging
have been deceived, and that the greater part of the black and green teas
which are brought yearly from China to Europe and America are ob­
tained from the same species or variety, namely from the Thea veridis.
Dried specimens of this plant were prepared in the districts I named, by
and are now in the harbarium of the Horticultural Society of myself
London, so that there can be no longer any doubt upon the subject. In the
various parts of the Canton provinces where I had an opportunity of see­




1862.]

Statistics o f Agriculture.

453

ing tea cultivated, the species proved to be the Thea Bohea, or what is
commonly called the black tea plant. In the green tea districts of the
north— I allude more particularly to the province of Chekiang— I never
met with a single plant of this species which is so common in the fields
and gardens near Canton. All the plants in the green tea country near
Ningpo, on the islands of the Chusan Archipelago, and in every part of
the province which I have had an opportunity of visiting, proved, with­
out exception, to be the Thea viridis. Two hundred miles further to the
northwest, in the province of King-nan, and only a short distance from
the tea hills in that quarter, I also found in gardens this species of tea.
Thus far my actual observations exactly verified the opinions I had
formed on the subject before I left England, viz., that the black teas were
prepared from the Thea Bohea, and the green from Thea viridis. When
I left the north, on my way to the city o f Foochow, on the river Min, in
the province of Fokien, I had no doubt that I should find the tea hills
there covered with the other species, Thea Bohea, from which we gene­
rally suppose the black teas are made; and this was the more likely to
be the case as this species actually derives its specific name from the
Bohea hills in this province. Great was my surprise to find all the
plants on the tea hills near Foochow exactly the same as those in the
green tea districts of the North. Here were, then, green tea plantations
on the black tea hills, and not a single plant o f the Thea Bohea to be
seen. Moreover, at the time of my visit, the natives were busily em­
ployed in the manufacture o f black teas. Although the specific differ­
ences of the tea-plant were well known to me, I was so much surprised,
and may say amused, at this discovery, that I procured a set of specimens
for the herbarium, and also dug up a living plant, which I took north­
ward to Chekiang. On comparing it with those which grow on the
green tea hills, no difference whatever was observed. It appears, there­
fore, that the black and green teas o f the Northern districts of China
(those districts in which the greater part o f the teas for the foreign mar­
kets are made) are both produced from the same variety, and that that
variety is the Thea viridis, or what is commonly called the green teaplant. On the other hand, those black and green teas which are manu­
factured in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Canton, are obtained
from the Thea Bohea, or black tea.
In the green tea districts of Chikiang, near Ningpo, the first crop o f
leaves is generally gathered about the middle of April. This consists of
the young leaf buds just as they begin to unfold, and forms a fine and de­
licate kind of young hyson, which is held in high estimation by the
natives, and is generally sent about in small quantities as presents to
their friends. It is a scarce and expensive article, and the picking off the
leaves in such a young state does considerable injury to the tea planta­
tion. The summer rains, however, which fall copiously about this season,
moisten the earth and a ir; and if the plants are young and vigorous,
they soon push out fresh leaves. In a fortnight or three weeks from the
time of the first picking, the shrubs are again covered with fresh leaves,
and are ready for the second gathering, which is the most important of
the season. The third and last gathering, which takes place as soon as
new leaves are formed, produces a very inferior kind of tea, which is
rarely sent out of the district. The mode o f gathering and preparing the
leaves of the tea-plant is very simple. W e have been so long accus­




454

Statistics o f Agriculture.

[November,

tomed to magnify and mystify everything relating to the Chinese, that
in all their arts and manufactures, we expect to find some peculiar prac­
tice, when the fact is, that many operations in China are more simple in
their character than in most other parts of the world. To rightly under­
stand the process o f rolling and drying the leaves, which I am about to
describe, it must be borne in mind that the grand object is to expel the
moisture, and at the same time to retain as much as possible of the aro­
matic and other desirable secretions of the species. The system adopted
to attain this end is as simple as it is efficacious. In the harvest seasons
the natives are seen in little family groups on the side o f every hill, when
the weather is dry, engaged in gathering the tea leaves. They do not
seem so particular as I imagined they would have been in this operation,
but strip the leaves off rapidly and promiscuously, and throw them all
into round baskets, made for the purpose out of split bamboo or ratan.
In the beginning of May, when the principal gathering takes place, the
young seed-vessels are about as large as peas. These are also stripped
off and mixed with the leaves ; it is these seed-vessels which we often see
in our tea, and which has some slight resemblance to young capers.
When a sufficient quantity of leaves are gathered, they are carried home
to the cottage or barn, where the operation o f drying is performed.
This is minutely described, and the author continues:—
I have stated that the plants grown in the district of Chekiang produce
green teas, but it must not be supposed that they are the green teas which
are exported to England. The leaf has a much more natural color, and has
little or none of what we call the “ beautiful bloom” upon it, which is so
much admired in Europe and America. There is now no doubt that all
these “ bloom ing” green teas which are manufactured at Canton are dyed
with Prussian blue and gypsora, to suit the taste o f the foreign “ barba­
rians ;” indeed, the process may be seen any day during the season, by
those who give themselves the trouble to seek after it. It is very likely
that the same ingredients are also used in dying the northern green teas
for the foreign market; o f this, however, I am not quite certain. There
is a vegetable dye obtained from Isatis indigotica much used in the
northern districts, and called Teinseng; and it is not unlikely that it
may be the substance which is employed. The Chinese never use these
dyed teas themselves, and I certainly think their taste in this respect is
more correct than ours. It is not to be supposed that the' dye used can
produce any very bad effects upon the consumer, for, had this been the
case, it would have been discovered before now ; but if entirely harmless
or inert, its being so must be ascribed to the very small quantity which
is employed in the manufacture.
In short, the black and green teas which are generally exported to
England and the United States from the northern provinces o f China,
are made from the same species; and the difference of color, flavor, &c., is
solely the result of the different inodes of preparation.— F o r t u n e ’ s
Wanderings in China.

WHEAT GROWING IN CANADA.

The Montreal Witness says: “ An analysis o f our recent census returns
shows that every county in Upper Canada, with but one exception, raises




Statistics o f Agriculture.

1862.]

456

more wheat than is required for the consumption o f its own population,
assuming that each man, woman, and child consumes on an average five
bushels of wheat, or about a barrel of flour per annum. The county of
Prescott alone, on the extreme eastern boundary of the Upper Province,
fails to exceed the growth of five bushels per head of the population.
“ The amount of wheat in Upper Canada, in 1860, was— of fall wheat,
7,537,651 bushels; of spring, 17,082,774 bushels; total, 24,620,425 bush­
els. The total production in 1851 o f both varieties, according to the census
of 1852, was 12,682,550 bushels. While the population had increased 46
per cent, the production of wheat had increased nearly 100 per cent.
“ The county of Huron occupies the first place as regards the actual quan­
tity of wheat produced. But the first place, as a wheat-growing county,
belongs to Peel, if we take the amount raised in proportion to the popula­
tion, which is the fairest method of determining what districts have been
contributing most to the wealth o f Canada, so far as the production of this,
its grand agricultural staple, is concerned. W e have made calculations from
the census returns of the quantity of wheat raised by each county in 1860,
in proportion to its population, and the following are the results: The
county o f Peel raised 034,139 bushels, or 34]- bushels per head of its pop­
ulation; the county of Huron raised almost 34 per head; Perth, 32 : Vic­
toria, 31 ; Simcoe, 3 0 ; Waterloo, 29; Durham, Ontario, each 2 8 ; W el­
lington, 2 7 ; Ilalton, 26 ; Brant, 24 ; Bruce, 23 ; Oxford, 23 ; Middlesex,
23 (if the population of London be included, 19;) York, 23 (if the pop­
ulation of Toronto be included, 1 3 ;) Grey, 2 0 ; Northumberland, 1 7 ;
Wentworth, 17 (if the population of Hamilton be included, 1 1 ); Norfolk,
16 ; Carlton, 15, (if the population o f Ottawa be included, 10 ;) Haldimand,
Peterborough, each 15 ; Lambton, 1 4 ; Dundas, Leeds, each 13 ; Frontenac, 12 (if the population o f Kingston be included, 8) ; Elgin, Lennox and
Addington, Lanark, each 12 ; Grenville, 11 ; Prince Edward, Renfrew,
Stormont, each 10 ; Kent, 9 ; Hastings, Welland, each 8 ; Glengary, Lin­
coln, each 7 ; Essex, Russell, each 6 ; and Prescott, only 4 bushels per head
of its population.”

COMPOSITION OF MILK AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF DAY.

The Edinburgh Medical Journal says that Prof. B oedecker has ana­
lyzed the milk of a healthy cow, at various times o f the day, with the
view of determining the changes in the relative amount o f its constituents.
He found that the solids o f the evening’s milk (13 per cent) exceeded
those of the morning’s milk, (10 per cent,) while the water contained in
the fluid was diminished from 89 per cent to 86 per cent. The fatty mat­
ters gradually increase as the day progresses. In the morning they amount
to 2.17 per cent, at noon 2.63 per cent, and in the evening 5.42 per cent.
This fact is important in a practical point of view— for while 16 ounces
of morning’s milk will yield nearly half an ounce o f butter, about double
this quantity can be obtained from the evening’s milk. The casein is also
increased in the evening’s milk from 2. 24 to 2.70 per cent, but the albu­
men is diminished from 0.44 per cent to 0.31 per cent. Sugar is least
abundant at midnight (4.19 per cent) and most plenty at noon (4.72 per
cent.




456

Journal o f Mining , Manufactures, and Art.

[November,

JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART.
1.

T he G old Minks of N ova S cotia .

2.

T he P reparation of Iron Plates .

3.

Paper and

C loth made of I ndian Corn H u s k s .

THE GOLD MINES OF NOVA SCOTIA.
T he

Boston Commercial Advertiser gives the following extract:

From a letter written by a gentleman at Goldenville, Sberbrook, St.
Mary’s, N. S., September, 1862, the writer states that he endeavors to
give his own observations and experience o f the Nova Scotia gold fields,
how they have been worked, and how they may be worked to better ad­
vantage, with some other information :
“ The gold found in Nova Scotia is in the ‘ ore ’ (or quartz rock) laying
in strata with the whin and slate as they were originally formed, with
the other primary rocks, and occupy (or are found along) the whole ex­
tent of the southern side o f Nova Scotia, from Yarmouth toCanseau, and
in many places in the interior. The strata o f rock dips nearly perpen­
dicular the strike ; from East and West to E. S. E. and W . S. W . ; there
are detached pieces or parts lying in different directions or positions, such
as at Country Harbor diggings, where the strike is nearly north and south.
“ The principal washings are from fractured portions o f the rock and
quartz that have decayed or dissolved (forming earth) where .they fell at
the time o f the eruption, that gave them all their present position, when
thrown bodily from the interior of the earth, and are (as all ‘ boulders ’
or detatched pieces of the different rock, such as granite, whin, slate, and
quartz are also found here) south of their main body or ledge. The
quartz lay in veins through those different rocks in all directions, most
of them, particularly the largest, are parallel with its strata, and are from
a vertical to horizontal position, many at right angles.
“ The principal gold bearing loads or loads are each from one-fourth of
an inch to a foot or more in thickness, o f an undulated form commonly
called ‘ barrel formation,’ and yield from one pennyweight to twelve
ounces per to n ; parts of some leads are eight to ten feet thick, as the
gold lays in veins or branches through the quartz, and also in ‘ invisible ’
particles, it is very uncertain what lead or part o f it is gold bearing, and
many good leads may be condemned by the return from the crusher or
not being fairly tested. Quartz are raised from one shaft yielding five to
seven ounces, and an adjoining shaft or at a greater or less depth in the
same one that will not pay for crushing.
“ The work has, as yet, been carried on by parties inexperienced in
quartz mining, in companies o f from four to sixteen, with but small capi­
tal. Shares in some o f these companies have been sold at all prices up
to $600 per share; one three-fourth acre lot was disposed of for $8,000,
principally for the rich earth washing on the surface. The large number
o f those claims are prospected by trenching for leads which may be
missed, or, if found, do not realise as much as pay for crushing, many




1862.]

Journal o f Mining , Manufactures, and A rt.

457

strike the gold— and from the way the mine has been opened, and the
difficulty with surface water, they have to abandon them for want of capi­
tal. It is now pretty generally allowed that they can only be worked by
abundance of capital.
“ It is not yet twelve months since gold was discovered in Goldenville
(or Northwest Arm) diggings; up to that time, and during last winter,
it was inhabited by the moose and other wild animals— it can, therefore,
be only partially explored and not yet proved. Those mines cover a sur­
face of about three miles long and three-fourths broad; there is a good
road through to the wharf, which is within ten miles of the Atlantic.
Vessels drawing twelve feet o f water come up the river to the wharf;
supplies, provisions, &c., are had at nearly Halifax prices. I have thus
given a rough sketch of Goldenville. W est of here there is Tangier,
Nine Mile River, Renfrew, Laidlaws, Lawrence Town, Gold River, and
Lunenburg; east are W ine Harbor, Country Harbor, and Isaacs Harbor,
all in much the same position as to gold and the operations; there is no
doubt abundance o f room for spare capital to be laid out to advantage.”

THE PREPARATION OF IRON PLATES.

Mr. Mattison, an artisan in the Devonport dockyard, England, has in­
vented a mode of preparing iron plates for ships’ sides, which it is expec­
ted will very much facilitate that difficult work. It is thus described :
The first process, taking the mould for the curve o f the plate, is effec­
ted by what is termed an “ Ordnance box ”— that is, a wide piece of iron
standing on its edge through which a number o f movable bolts are
placed. On the points o f the bolts being fitted against the side of a ship
they are pressed home into the hollows of the curve until the exact shape
is obtained. They are then fastened by screws and thus rendered im­
movable. In connection with taking the mould is another instrument
for obtaining the levels and curved edges of the ship’s side. It is made
of slight polished iron, exceedingly flexible, so that it readily conforms
itself to the curve when by movable pieces o f iron crossways and length­
ways the levels are taken. The instrument on being removed returns im­
mediately to its original flattened shape, the edges only retaining the
peculiar form given to it by the ship’s side. This instrument is for the
levels only, the curve o f the ship’s side being obtained by the other. The
mould being thus taken is transferred to the machine that actually makes
the curve, which consists o f a kind o f iron box filled with what are termed
“ peppots ”— that is, a number o f pieces of iron about an inch square and
ten inches long. These, by screws in the bottom, can also be lowered or
raised, and the mould being placed on the top of these movable pieces of
iron, the exact shape of the curve is secured, and the “ peppots” are
screwed into their proper position. Another framework, containing similar
pieces of iron in a converse position, is suspended over the one already
described. When the plate to be curved has to be laid on, the lower
framework is to be drawn out on a kind o f ra il; the plate, after being
heated, is laid on the top o f the “ peppots ” and drawn into its former
position, when by means of a lever, the upper “ peppots” are brought




458

Journal o f Mining , Manufactures, and A rt.

[November,

down with such power as to secure the required shape. The model is 20
inches wide, 30 long, and 42 high. The plan is said to possess great ad­
vantages over the one now in use for taking the curves by means o f wooden
moulds, which are usually 3^ feet wide and 4|- feet thick and about 15
feet long. These moulds are cumbersome and costly. Mr. M attison’ s
plan has been submitted to Rear-Admiral Sir T homas P aslev, superin­
tendent, and other officers of the Devonport and Key ham yards, who are
understood to have expressed their approval of the invention. The model
is to be sent to Woolwich to be tested.

PAPER AM) CLOTH MADE OF I.YDIAV COR.V HUSKS.

The United States Patent Office has received an application from Vienna,
Austria, for a patent on “ improved methods of manufacturing the products
of the maize plant.” The inventor, Dr. A lois R itter A uer V on W elsbach , is a distinguished scientific man. He forwards samples o f fiber, yarn,
linen cloth, and paper of five varieties, in its natural color and bleached.
The Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette has examined these
samples, and writes concerning them as follows;
“ The corn husk paper is remarkably good. Some o f the qualities for­
warded are fine tracing paper, which, though exceedingly thin, has never­
theless a firm, solid body and an excellent surface. From that the qualities
range down to the coarsest wrapping papers, which certainly seem much
stouter and tougher than corresponding grades of straw wrapping papers,
and, it is claimed, can be produced at greatly reduced cost. Some o f the
sheets are an excellent article of book printing paper; others would almost
pass for parchment. The inventor’s own account of the various steps
toward his discovery, is printed handsomely on a large sheet of the corn
husk paper, in a style which it would puzzle our printers, with their best
presses and papers, to surpass.
“ The corn husk yarn and cloth are not nearly as good in their way as
the specimens o f paper. The yarn, however, is about equal to some of the
old-fashioned tow yarn with which our grandmothers in this country were
familiar; and the cloth is a tnfle coarser and less firmly woven than the
coarsest tow cloth. For many purposes for which coarse linen fabrics are
now used, the corn husk cloth, as already manufactured, is well adapted.
If the process of manufacture can be so improved, as the inventor claims, as
to make finer qualities equally well, the importance o f this new process can
hardly be overrated. In this country, especially, where the raw material is
already produced in the utmost abundance, the discovery of these new
qualities will be like the creation of a new article o f manufacture, that shall
cost nothing in the outset, and be capable o f supplying some of our most
costly wants.”




Nautical Intelligence.

1862.]

459

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
1. F oreign Navy Y ards. 2. Navy
4. Notice to M ariners .

of the

United States . 3. E ngland’ s I ron-Cased F leet .

FOREIGN NAVY YARDS.

I n a former number of the Merchants' Magazine, we gave a list of the
English and French navies built and building. W e find some interesting
and fuller statements, as well as later information on the same subject, in a
communication to the Boston Commercial Bulletin, by D o n a l McK ay, Esq.,
(the best of authority,) he having made a personal inspection o f the
foreign navy yards:
IK O N -C A S E D

S H IP S.

The French possess in addition to 10 iron-cased floating batteries, con­
structed during and shortly after the Crimean war, the following ironcased vessels afloat:
1. Two floating batteries, Peiho and Saigon, of 14 guns each, 150 horse­
power, destined for harbor and coast defence. Their speed is 6^- knots
per hour, considered to be perfectly sufficient for the purpose. They are
coated with 4-J- inch plates.
2. Four iron-cased frigates of the Gloire class: Gloire, Normandie,
Invincible, and Couronne. They are armed with 36 rifled 30-pounders,
and have engines o f 900 horse-power. Their speed is 13^ knots per
hour, they rather pitch a good deal in heavy weather, but their rolling
motions are remarkably easy. These ships are plated from stem to stern,
from 6|- feet below the load line to the upper deck, with plates of 4-J inches
in thickness. The captain directs the movements from an iron-cased
tower, placed behind the mainmast. This tower also contains the steer­
ing wheel. The officers rooms are all under a large, roomy poop-deck,
well ventilated with large windows. This poop is not provided with a
casing, and of course will be given up to destruction in case of a fight.
Their length is 25V feet; breadth 56 feet; depth 2V feet. With the ex­
ception of the Couronne, which is built o f iron, these ships are construc­
ted of timber.
3. Two iron-cased ramships, Solferino and Magenta, o f 52 guns and
1,000 horse-power. Both ships are built of timber. The iron casing up
to the main-deck extends from stem to stern, but the two batteries are
only cased amidships, covering 13 guns in each battery or each deck. The
batteries are continued (outside o f an iron-cased bulkhead) to stem and
stern, similar to the Warrior, and left to destruction in case of a fight.
The stem inclines from the load line upwards in a graceful hollow line
backwards, and is on the upper part ornamented with an eagle. About
three feet below the load line, attached to the stem and forepart of the
vessel, is a heavy wrought-iron spar of 16 tons weight for running down
other vessels.
The decks of all these before-mentioned vessels are plated under the
deck-plank with three-eighths inch iron. The speed o f these two ram­
ships is even higher than that of the Gloire, viz.: 13|- knots per hour.




460

Nautical Intelligence.

[November,

On the stocks tbe French have the following iron-cased vessels :
1. Two iron-cased floating batteries, Paixhans and Palestro, (the 'first
of these has been a few days since launched,) of the Peiho-class, of 14
guns and 150 horse-power, built like them of timber. They have no rud­
der, and will be steered by large fins or leeboards, experience having
shown that the common rudders are entirely insufficient for steering these
ships.
2. Seven smaller iron-cased floating batteries for harbor defence, built
of iron. Three of them, the Arrogante, Implacable, and Opiniatre, are
building at Nantes in the private establishment of Messrs. G ouin & G a i bert.
The four others, Embuscade, Imprenable, Protective, and Refuge,
are building at Bordeaux in the yard of Mr. A rman. A ll these batteries
are not destined for sea-service, but merely planned for the protection of
the harbors. Of course they also would be of great service in the
bombardment of forts.
The seven just named batteries have engines of 150 horse-power, and
are armed with eight heavy guns. They are shorter and broader than
those of the Peiho-class, and have yet less draught of water.
They will be completed for sea by Autumn of next year.
3. Ten iron-cased frigates, on a similar plan as tbe Gloire, but with a
little greater length and more height of battery. W hile the Gloire and
her sister ships have only six feet height of battery, the new frigates will
have their ports
feet above the water. Nine of these frigates, viz.,
the Provence, Savoie, Revaneke, Flandre, Gauloise, Magnanime,VaIeureuse,
Surveillante, and Guvenne, are built of timber; only one, the Heroine,is
building of iron at L ’Orient.
If peace should continue it will take about five years to complete these
frigates, but if circumstances should dictate, every one of them could be
ready for sea by end of next year.
Completed, the English have only the follow ing: Warrior and Black
Prince, of 40 guns and 1,250 horse-power; and the Defence and Resis­
tance, of 18 guns and 600 horse-power. These four ships are armed with
long 68 pounder solid shot guns, and 100 pounder rifled Armstrong’s.
The Warrior and Black Prince are, undoubtedly, most powerful and fast
vessels, far superior to any other iron-cased ships afloat, and the only ob­
jection that I see against them is that they are built o f iron. Iron for
tbe construction of the bottom of men-of-war ships is a most objection­
able material, (notwithstanding ail the advantages of strength, lightness,
etc., which it may offer,) on account of the inevitable fouling of the bot­
tom and consequent loss o f speed. The French have well weighed this
question, and, therefore, with only two exceptions, have constructed their
whole iron-cased fleet of timber. Iron bottoms do very well for mailboats that keep almost continually in quick motion, and by the consequent
great friction of the water clean their bottom ; but the case with men-ofw’ar ships is entirely different, they only go, in exceptional cases with full
speed, and have frequently to lay still for several months and even for
years. All the preparations for painting the bottoms of iron ships to
prevent them from fouling have entirely failed to attain the object for
which they were invented, and are now recognised to be only so many
humbugs. To show you the bad effects o f iron bottoms for men-of-war
ships, let me give you some facts.
The trial speed of the Warrior, with all her stores on board, was 14.354




1862.]

Nautical Intelligence.

461

knots per hour. Her mean speed at sea, at her first cruise, was 12^- knots.
After having been six months at sea, her trial speed is now 12-J- knots,
and her mean speed at sea not more than 10 knots. The ship having lost
in this short time fully two knots of her true speed (due to her shape and
power) merely on account o f fouling o f the bottom. The Black Prince,
her sister ship, in all respects alike to her, her engines built by the same
firm, J ohn P enn— only six weeks had elapsed since the vessel left the
dry dock, but yet her bottom was so foul, that notwithstanding the most
favorable weather and a smooth sea, she only realised a mean trial speed
of 12.209 knots, fully 2.145 knots less than the speed o f the Warrior.
The ship was brought now again into the dry dock, got her bottom cleaned,
and in her last trial trip she attained a speed o f 13.317 knots. Though
fully one knot less than the Warrior, yet showing that the ship had lost
in her previous trial fully 1.008 knots on account o f fouling of her bot­
tom in the short time of six weeks.
The trial speed of the Resistance, with a clean bottom, all stores on
board, has been proved to be 11.356 knots; what it probably will be now
after the ship has been laying only eight weeks in the Medway, you may
judge from the following official account:
“ The Resistance, 18 guns screw iron frigate, was placed in dock at
Portsmouth on the 9th September instant, and her bottom found to be
in an extraordinary state for a ship on the home station, bearing more
the appearance of having gone through a long commission on the coast
of Africa. The entire bottom of the ship was covered with weeds and
long grass of every kind and color, with huge patches and mussels here
and there on the port side, together with a good sprinkling o f barnacles.
On the starboard side, however, the barnacles extended from stem to stern,
with an immense quantity of weeds and long grass ; the latter in some
places, as under the quarter, full three feet in length. Large mussels, too,
extended fore and aft in clusters, hanging in places as large as conks.
From the stem to abreast the forechains on this side, about three feet be­
low the waterline, a belt of mussels adhered to the ship’s bow of from two
to five inches in thickness, and from one to two feet broad. The whole
of the composition which had been laid on to protect the iron on this
side appears to have been destroyed, and patches o f rust, more particu­
larly under the quarter, have eaten their way through.”
The following are the English iron-cased ships now building :
1st. Ships built of iron.
The Achilles, building at Chatham, a sister ship to the Warrior, with
some slight alterations in the shape o f her bottom, which is a little fuller
in the bilge. In the plating of the ship some new features, indeed great
improvements, will be introduced. She will be cased from stem to stern
in the vicinity of the load-line ; but her battery will be iron-cased only
to the same extent as that of the W arrior; and, like her, the cased part
will be guarded by two strong iron-cased bulkheads running across the
main deck. Her power and armament will be like that of the Warrior,
on which ship she will be a great improvement. Her speed is estimated
at 14.10 knots. It will take fully two years to finish her, because the
government finds the greatest difficulty in procuring iron which will stand
the test of strength applied to it. Hundreds of tons o f angle-iron and




462

Nautical Intelligence.

[November,

plate-iron have been condemned there already on this account. Another
great reason against the adoption o f iron ships. The government test
for iron is 22 tons with the grain, and 19 tons across the grait). In the
private yards where no control o f that kind is exercised, o f course good
and had plates are worked in, and we see in that one of the reasons why
so many ships break up in such a fearful manner whenever they strike
the bottom.
The Hector and Valiant, of 32 guns, 4,063 tons and 800 horse-power,
are building. The first, at Glasgow; the second, at Newcastle. Their
estimated speed is 11.75 knots. Nothing has been decided yet how these
ships are to be plated.
The Egincourt, Minotaur, and Northumberland, of 50 guns, 6,621 tons
and 1,350 horse-power, are building respectively at Birkenhead, Blackwall, and Millwall. They will be cased from stem to stern with 5^- inch
iron plates on a wooden backing of 10 inches, at least that was the origi­
nal plan ; if it will be carried out thus is yet doubtful, for the latest ex­
periments have already proved that 4^- inch iron on 22 inch timber back­
ing (like the Warrior) offer much better security against the effects of
shot, than 5|- inch iron backed by 10 inches of timber.
The armament of these ships will consist all in 68-pounder solid shot­
guns, and 100 and 110-pounder Armstrong guns. Their trial speed has
been estimated and calculated at 14.30 knots, and without any doubt they
are, or will be, most formidable vessels.
The Prince Albert, of 12 guns, 2,529 tons and 500 horse power, is
building at Millwall. She is to be provided with six cupolas or turrets
on Captain C oles’ plan. She is to be plated with 5^ inch iron, but even
that has not been decided yet. The opinion o f ali practical men is de­
cidedly against these sbieldships.
I come now to the wooden iron-cased ships in progress o f construction,
of which so far four classes have been adopted.
The first and by far the most formidable class are the frigates o f 34
guns, converted from the 91 screw line-of-battle ships, laid down in 1859.
These ships were cut down two decks, lengthened amidships, the shape of
the stem altered to make the ships fit for acting as rams, and the stern
altered to a somewhat similar shape as the Gloire, yet presenting a much
lighter and handsomer appearance than that ship. The ships thus con­
verted are the Ocean and Prince Consort, each o f 1,000 horse-power and
34 guns; and the Caledonia, Royal Oak, and Royal Alfred, each of 800
horse-power and 34 guns.
The speed expected to be realized by the two first ships is 12.40 knots
per hour; the speed of the three latter ships is estimated at 11 50 knots
per hour.
The Prince Consort and the Royal Oak have been lately launched.
They are partly plated and will be ready for service in the course of this
year. The dimensions of these ships are: length between the perpendic­
ulars, 273 feet; breadth, extreme, 58 feet five inches; breadth, moulded,
56 feet 4 inches; depth of hold, 19 feet 10 inches; burthen in tons,
4,045 26-94. The ships are built in the most substantial manner and of
the best materials.
Their frames have at the height of the load line a
thickness of about 14 inches, their wales are 8 inches thick, and the ceil­
ing 6 to 8 inches. All the wales are coaged to the timbers. The iron
plates with which the ships are cased from five feet below the load line




Nautical Intelliaence.

463

to the upper deck are 4£ inches in thickness, tapering to 3 inches at the
stem and stern. The upper deck beams are of iron, and the deck is iron
plated with inch to f- inch plates under the deck plank. A great many
ingenious and highly practical details are introduced in the fastening and
working of the armor plates (impossible to describe without detailed
sketches) that will render the iron armor of these ships more effectual
than that of any other class of ships constructed either in England, France,
or America. The interior arrangements and fittings are admirably plan­
ned, the ventilation perfect throughout, the arrangements for freeing the
ships of water are of the most complete kin d; and on the whole, this
class of ships give the highest credit to its designers and to those officers
who were charged with the execution of the plans. I have not the slight­
est doubt that this class of ships will prove to be the most effectual and
useful in future naval warfare, and that we ought to have in the United
States ready at least a dozen of similar frigates, with modifications in
their shape and dimensions to adapt them to our requirements.
Seve­
ral of the other 91 gunships, yet on the stocks, will be converted into
iron cased frigates on precisely the same plan. The armament of these
ships will consist in 68 pounder solid shot guns, and in Armstrong 100
and 150-pounder rifled guns, 34 in all. Their masts are all o f iron and
of immense strength.
The Royal Sovereign, formerly a screw line-of-battle ship of 131 guns,
is at present being transformed into a shield-ship, on Captain C oles plan.
Her dimensions before the conversion were : length between perpendicu­
lars, 240 feet 6 inches; breadth, extreme, 60 feet. The length remains
unaltered, but her breadth will be increased by 2 feet 1 inch, making her
tonnage 3,765 tons.
The ship lias been cut down to her main deck,
which has been raised 18 inches at the side and 26 inches in the middle,
to form a kind of glacis, allowing the guns in theturrets to be considera­
bly depressed. The ship will carry four turrets, each one o f which will
contain two 150 or even 300 pounder Armstrong guns. The stern o f the
Bhip has been very much altered, and the counter lowered about 10 feet,
so that the rudder-post may enter the ship below the load line, and the
rudder head be entirely protected.
The top sides of the vessel have been strengthened with two thicknesses
of diagonal plank, o f respectively 3 and 4 inches, crossing each other
at an angle of 45 degrees, and the armor plates of 5^- inches in thickness
will be applied on these. The ship will have no masts and sails, and only
will be moved by steam. Her engines have a power o f 800 horses, and
her actual speed is 12-25 knots per hour. Though the vessel will carry
a powerful armament, it is conceded by all parties that vessels of her
kind, like all the rest o f the Monitor family, are only good for harbor de­
fences, but not fit for fighting at sea.
There are two other classes of ships building, on plans of Mr. R eed,
naval architect, who got a temporary appointment in the navy. The
characteristics of these ships are that they are only plated a little above
and below the load-line and the midship part of the vessel containing the
guns. The object o f the design is to relieve the ends of his vessel of
weight, and so far his plans agree with those I proposed to our Navy De­
partment eighteen months ago— but in vain.
Here the plan has found
great favor with the admiralty, and a great number of 36 gun frigates
are to be transformed into iron-cased sloops on thiB plan.




464

Nautical Intelligence.

[November,

A small vessel on this plan— the Enterprise— is building at Deptford
dockyard. She has a length of 180 feet, breadth of 66 feet, and a draught
of water of 15 feet. Her engines will be of 160 horse-power, and her
speed is estimated at 9.50 knots. She will carry an armament of 4 Arm­
strong 100-pounders.
The larger class, of which the Favorite, converting in Deptford, is a
sample, has 400 horse-power and a speed of about 11 knots. The Enter­
prise will be finished this year; the Favorite in the course of the next.
The experiments with regard to the resistance o f iron armor plates
against shot and shell are continued at Shoeburyness and Portsmouth,
and the following are the results o f experince gained thereby.
O f all
the systems proposed for armor plating ships that adopted for the W ar­
rior (and in France for the Gloire) have given decidedly the best results,
and it has been proved, with no chance of contradiction, that a strong
wooden backing is absolutely necessary to make the armor plates resist
the impact o f shot, and that all attempts to reduce the wood-backing in
thickness and increase the thickness o f the armor plates by a quantity
equal in weight to the withdrawn wood-backing have entirely failed.
The target representing a portion of the sides of the W arrior has suc­
cessfully and entirely withstood the battering o f 68-pounder cast and
wrought iron shot, as well as the 100, 110 and 150-pounder wrought and
cast iron shot thrown from the Armstrong rifled guns, and it only was at
last penetrated by shot from the 300-pounder Armstrong gun. The War­
rior target is plated with 4-j: inch iron plates and 18 inches of wood­
backing.
The target representing the side o f the Minotaur being plated with 5$
inch iron, on a wood-backing of 9 inches, was penetrated by the 150
pound Armstrong shot, and badly shattered by the 68 pound solid shot.
Three other targets have been erected after plans furnished by Mr.
F airbairn , Samuda, and Scott B ussell, where armor plates of increased
thickness were applied directly on the iron skin of the vessel, but they
entirely broke down, and were in a short while totally destroyed by the
fire of the 68-pounder smooth bore gun. Thus showing that it is abso­
lutely necessary to back the iron casing with a great thickness of wood.
The entire thickness of iron (armor plates and skin of the vessel) to be
penetrated was, in the case o f F airbairn’ s target, 6^ inches ; Samuda’ s,
7 inches; Scott B ussell’ s 81- inches.
The rivets fastening the armor
plates to the skin of the vessel were in the two former targets entirely
jarred to pieces, so that the armor plates might have dropped off the
sides. In Scott B ussell’ s target the armor plates had no fastenings in
them, but they were united to the skin o f the vessel by wedge-shaped
angle irons, and the plates hung vertical instead of horizontal.
This
way of fastening seemed to be well devised, but it did not prevent the
plates from being penetrated by the 150-pounder shot, which made a
clean hole through the target.
Targets made on a similar principle as the Monitor casing, composed
o f a great number o f successive layers o f thin plates of iron riveted
together, have been penetrated with the greatest facility by 68-pounder
solid shot. It was even proved by the experiments that eight single
thicknesses of one-inch plates riveted together will not offer more resistance
to shot than a single well hammered, solid three-inch plate.
A further experience gained is that plates hammered o f well selected




1862.]

Nautical Intelligence.

465

iron offer more resistance to shot than rolled plates o f the same thickness.
W e thus see, as a conclusion to the above, that the Frenchman have
by the end of next year a fleet of sixteen iron-cased frigates fit for foreign
service, and the English can muster in a year and-a-half sixteen ironcased frigates and two iron-cased corvettes, all fit for foreign service and
for an aggressive warfare.

NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.

The N avy Register for 1862 is out. It is dated up to 1st September,
but having been at press some time it is slightly inaccurate. Annexed is
a brief analysis of i t :

1862 . -------- ,

Officers.

Rear Admirals..............................................
Commodores................................................
Captains.......................................................
Commanders................................................
Lieutenant Commanders.............................
Lieutenants..................................................
Surgeons .......................................................
Assistant Surgeons.......................................
Passed
“
.......................................
Paymasters................. ..................................
Assistant Paymasters..................................
Chaplains.......................................................
Professors of Mathematics........................
Masters in line of promotion.....................
Masters not in line o f promotion.............
Passed Midshipmen.....................................
Midshipmen..................................................
Boatswains....................................................
Gunners.........................................................
Carpenters.....................................................
Sailmakers.....................................................
Acting Lieutenants.....................................
“
Volunteer Lieutenants..................
“
Masters.............................................
“
Ensigns............................................
“
Master’s Mates................................
“
Assistant Surgeons.........................
“
“
Paymasters and Clerks.
“
Engineers.........................................
Total.....................................................
Increase in 1862.............................

/-------A ctive.

4
18
40
91
114
90
80
118
2
62
31
16
12
..
..

R etired.

4
17
32
19

..

22
26
,.
,,
9
..
7
..
1
6
2

328
54
93
60
46
15
29
586
60
511
94
141
370
3.095
1.095

151

1861. -

,-------A c tiv e .

...
78
114
..•
321
69
36
43
64
...
34
12
36
...
299
43
47
45
40

2,081

R etired.

...
15
13
...
30

9
2

70

There were no admirals or commodores, properly so called in 1861’
but captains in command of squadrons were named flag officers.
V O L . x l v i i . — n o . iv.
30




Nautical Intelligence.

466

[November,

The vessels built and building up to September 1st, are as follows:
13
40
103
80
6
4
6
21

Guns.

Tonnage.

iron-clad gunb’ts 125
“
building 136
side-wheel stmrs 559
screw steamers . 340
ships of the line 504
steam frigates.. 180
frigates............... 292
ships................... 228

11,701
51,478
72,611
41,793
16,199
13,266
13,846
17,784

25
18
24
20
12
4
8

Guns.

Tonnage.

screw sloops. . . 282
sloops................. 230
barks.................. 103
m’ rtar schooners
56
25
rams and gunb’ts
brigs...................
20
12
schooners...........

33,722
13,508
9,637
4,68 5
8,000
999
1,154

ENGLAND’ S IRON-CASED FLEET.

W e find in the European Times the following list of all England’s ironcased ships and floating batteries, building or afloat:
IR O N BU ILT.-—

Achilles.............
Agincourt..........
Minotaur............
N orthumberland
Hector................
Valiant......................
Prince Albert. .

Building.
in knots.

1,250
1,350
1,350
1,350
800
800
500

14.1
14.3
14.3
14.3
11.75
11.75
11.4

AFLOAT.

Black P rince. . .
W a r r io r ...........
Defence ....................
Resistance .............

W O O D BU ILT.

Speed

Horse
pow er.

Caledonia........ ...
Ocean.................
Royal A lfre d . . .
Royal Oak.........
Favourite...........
Enterprise.............

Speed

D orse
pow er.

in knots.

1,000
1,000
800
800
400
160

12.4
12.4
11.5
11.5
10.87
9.50

C O N V E R T IN G .

12.25
800
14.3
AFLOAT.
14.354
12.4
1,000
11.356 Prince Consort.
12.231
F L O A T IN G B A T T E R IE S.
Royal Sovereign

1,250
1,250
600
600

F L O A T IN G B A TT E R IE S.

Erebus .......................
T error................
Thunderbolt... .

— Building.

200
200
200

^Etna..........................
about 5.5 Glatton.............
(t
T hunder...........
U
Trusty................

200
150
150
150

about 6.0
about 5.5
U
u

Of the iron-built vessels, the Prince Albert and the three floating bat­
teries are, or are to be, wholly cased with armor plating, the rest partial­
l y ; of the wood-built, the Favourite and Enterprise are to be partially
cased, the rest wholly. Only the Prince Albert and the Royal Sovereign
are to be fitted with C oles ’ cupolas; the rest with masts.

NOTICE TO MARINERS.

C urrents n e a r A b a c o , B a h a m a B a n k s , )
B u r e a u o f N a v ig a t io n , October 4th, 1862.
j

The following information has been communicated to the Bureau by
Acting Lieut. J am es P a r k e r , U. S. N., who states that the writer is an




Nautical Intelligence.

1862.]

467

intelligent person, and that his experience subsequent to the wreck o f the
U. S. steamer Adirondack fully confirms the statements. It is made pub­
lic for the benefit of navigators.
J. M. G i l l is s , Act. Com. o f the Bureau.
(Copy)

“ I sland A daco, Lat. 26° 31' N. Lon. 76° 51' W .

“ The current among our islands are little understood, and are often
erroneously stated by writers.
This I know from thirteen years’ strict
investigation and experience. Here, with the waning moon, the current
invariably sets from the southward toward the west, taking the curve of
the Elbow Reef (as it is called) at the rate of three knots per hour in
summer, and sometimes as much as five in winter, being subject to the
variations caused by the wind and the ebb and flow o f the tide, which
sets in strong among the Cays surrounding the main Island o f Abaco.
“ Two or three days after the change of the moon the current changes
in the opposite direction, inclining a little more to the east with a much
less velocity, say from 1 to
knots per hour, subject, as before stated,
to the ebb and flow of the tide, &c. There is a large sheet of navigable
water between the main island and the Cays, hence the strong set o f the
tide at various openings in the reef. This tide has considerable effect on
vessels nearing them, as the number of wrecks in the immediate vicinity
attest. Opposite the Man O’W ar Key, (where the ship went ashore,) the
land is very low and the reef stretches out farthest to the north, with a
wide opening, where no land can be seen except in a very clear night.
This same place has been counted one of the best wrecking grounds in
the Bahamas.

SHIPPING INTEREST OF GREAT BRITAIN.

The annexed table shows the proportions of British and foreign tonnage
entered and cleared at ports of the United Kingdom during the last eighteen
years:
Years.
1 8 4 1 ,...
1845........
1846____
1847........
1848........
1849____
18 50____
1851____
1852____




British. Foreign. Years.
7 1 .9
28.1 1853 . . . .
7 0 .9
29 1 1854........
2 9 .3 1855........
7 0 .7
6 3 .8
31 .2 1856........
7 1 .2
2 8 .8 1 8 5 7 ____
7 0 .9
29 1 1858____
6 6 .8
3 3 .2 1 8 5 9 . . . . .......................
6 3 .3
3 6 .7 I 8 6 0 ____
6 4 .1
3 5 .9 1861____

British. Foreign.
4 1 .1
3 9 .9
4 0 .1
3 8 .7
39 .1
4 0 .2
60 .1
3 9 .9
4 3 .6
4 2 .0

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

468

[N ov em b er,

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.

1. C ity W eekly B ank R eturns—N ew Y ork B anks, P hiladelphia B anks, B oston B a n ks »
P rovidence Banks. 2. W eekly Statement B ank of E ngland . 3. B ank o f F rance. 4.
F rench B udget of 1863. 5 Banks of W isconsin. 6. F inances of V ermont. 7. B anks
of I llinois . 8. D ebt of Mexico. 9. T axation of G overnment S ecurities. 10. T he B a l ­
ance of T rade . 11. B ank of E ngland —A ccess to their B ullion R oom.

CITY
N

ew

Y

ork

B a n ks .

Date.
J an u a ry

U

11,----1 8 ,....
25,
F e b r u a r y 1 ,----U
8........
««
1 5 ,....
«
22........
M arch
1 ,....
M
8 ,....
u
15........
((
22........
«(
2 9 ,....
5 ,...,
A p r il
1 2 ,...,
ft
1 9 ,...,
“
2 6 ,___
May
3 ,...
“
1 0 ;...
■it
1 7 ,----“
24........
tt
3 1 ,....
June
7 ,...,
“
14........
“
2 1 ,___
“
28........
5 ........
J u ly
tt
1 2 ,....
((
1 9 ,....
“
26 ,___
2 ,-----A u gu st
9 ,-----“
16,-----it
2 3 ,-----(t
3 0 ,....
6,. . . .
S ept.
1 3 ,....
20.........
“
27.........
4 ,____
O c t.
“
11.........
“
18.........
“
2 5 ------

..

U
it

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.




WEEKLY

BANK

RETURNS,

( Capital, Jan., 1862, $69,493,577 ; Jan., 1861, $69,890,475.)

Loans.
$154,415,826
152,088,012
149,081,433
145,767,680
144,675,778
143,803,890
141,994,192
139,950,958
137,674,238
133,055,148
130,622,776
127,615,306
125,021,630
124,477,484
123,412,491
123,070.263
125,086,825
133,406,418
138.948,211
142,290,782
142,950,149
142,671,414
142,318,381
144,014.350
146,839.762
148,346,422
148,643,718
147,997,436
148,827,428
149,768,293
160,517,844
151,190,203
152,828,731
154,855,704
158,278,552
158,435,859
157,828,513
158,299,288
160,161,046
165,057,113
169,675,009
172,512,085
174,879,816

Specie.
$23,983,878
25,373,070
26,120,859
26,698728
27,479,583
28,196,666
28,114,148
28,875,992
29,826,959
30,436,644
30,773,050
32,023,390
32,841,802
83,764,382
34,594,668
34,671,528
35,297,944
35,175,828
82,239,868
30,280,697
30,672,760
31,397,284
31,248,882
31,162,04S
31,047,945
30,832,626
31,790,519
32,098,174
31,926,609
33,064,575
84,022,490
34,611,069
35,301,778
35,688,486
35.640,982
36,138,928
37,125,245
37,863,037
37,592,551
38,325,587
89,263,086
38,759,256
37,453,531

Circulation.
$8,586,186
8,121,512
7,369,028
6,828,017
6,404,951
6,077,417
6,762,506
5,489,496
5,363,944
5,869,206
5,904,866
6,260,309
6,758,313
7,699,641
8,004,843
8,064,663
8,118,571
8,482,782
8,830,321
8,727,328
8,592,676
8,535,149
8.813,603
8,814,322
8,849,183
8,910,344
9,270,815
9,212,397
9,156,301
9,244,958
9,311,868
9,221,504
9,237,206
9,856,635
9,454,806
9,645,965
9,719,126
9,789,060
9,800,723
9,900,112
9,880,050
9,907,529
9,878,240

Net Deposits.
$111,789,233
113,889,762
113,327,160
110,874,786
112,057,003
110,637,557
110,430,475
109,079,076
107,974,499
103,715,728
100,296,704
97,601,279
94,428,071
94,082.625
93,759,063
95,179,340
101,897,435
109,634,535
115,559,206
120,003,929
122,602,864
125,434,755
125,566,961
125,643,375
126.684,422
127,860,708
127,496,534
127,538,055
129,485,977
182,427,178
137,112,937
139,544,680
142,034,051
143,347,341
141,971,741
142,663,036
144,991,062
148,680,453
153,291,851
157,944,771
162,965,264
164,337,458
164,497,972

Weekly
Clearings.
$100,642,429
105,634,811
107,732,780
100,001,959
93,791,629
113,216,297
105,102,177
111,346,066
109,854,828
113,512,576
118,957,978
116,376,381
106,973,432
111,386,384
114,738,013
113,529,377
124,396,733
140,952,471
181,113,537
167,390,055
142,828,565
136,893,373
148,123,103
165,521,464
168,059,995
154,890,447
149,748,923
167,789,726
161,066,594
162,650,811
149,167,638
139,926 277
139,796,908
147,659,087
150,875,167
154,074,880
156,818,245
179,681,651
196,879,068
289,013,452
243,083,030
265,444,122
245,940,203

1862.]

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
P h il a d e l p h ia B a n ks .

Date.
Jan. 6 , . . .
«
1 3 ,...
(< 2 0 , . . .
2 7 ,...
Feb 3 , . . .
“
1 0 ,...
U 1 7 ,...
«< 2 4 , . . .
Mar 3 , . . .
U 1 0 ,...
14 17, . .
(« 2 4 , . . .
U 3 1 ,...
A pril V ,...
U 1 4 ,...
(« 21 . . .
“
2 8 ,...
May 5,. . .
M 1 2 ,...
U
1 9 ,...
(( 26,. . .
June 2 , . . .
(4
9,. . .
M 1 6 ,...
44
2 3 ,...
44
3 0 ,...
July 7,. . .
“ 1 4 ,...
44
2 1 ,...
“ 2 8 ,...
Aug. 4 , . . .
“ 1 1 ,...
44
1 8 ,...
“ 2 5 ,...
Sept. 1 , . . .
“
8 ,...
44 15, . .
44
2 2 ,...
44 2 9 , . . .
Oct. 6 , . . .
44
1 3 ,...
44
2 0 ,...

{C a p ita l, J a n ., 1862, $11,970,130,)

Due

Due

Loans.
Specie. Circulation.
to banks. from banks.
Deposits.
$31,046,537 $5,688,728 $2,145,219 $21,396,014 $3,645,956 $1,796,805
31,145,938 6,692,123 2.162,152 21,324,510 3,992,952 1,702,716
30,601,160 6,733,450 2,120,756 20,698,496 4,120,261 1,575,116
30,385,606 5.821,323 2,121,146 20,058,098 4,209,006 1,858.688
30,385,319 5,884,011 2,144,398 20,068,890 4,572,872 1,707,186
29,974,700 5,923,874 2,191,547 19,032,535 4,890,288 1,587,481
29,388,544 5,849,354 2,191,512 18,692,182 4,661,442 2,052,031
29,280,049 5,867,686 2,230,605 18,777,300 5,205,203 1,935,414
29,393.356 5,881,108 2,343,493 18,541,190 5,218,383 1,828,383
28,083,499 5,869,730 2,575,503 17.375,771 5,131,834 1,733,169
28,723,835 6,897,891 2,632,627 17,253,461 5,342,876 1,649,187
28,350,615 6,915,535 2,707,804 17,066,267 5,210,365 1,774,162
27,831,333 5,884,314 2,904,542 17,024,198 6,100,186 2,184,392
28,037,691 5,886,424 3,878,970 16,636,538 5,607,488 2,231,889
28,076.717 5,912,870 3,496,420 18,112,446 4,868,842 2,634,171
28,246,733 6,046,260 3,525,400 19,011,833 4,548,327 2,504,147
28,793,116 6,052,827 3,613,994 20,223,556 4,470,674 3,128,069
29,524,432 6,049,685 3,759,692 21,316,614 4,531,837 3,828,659
29,966,347 5,728,028 3,867,200 23,002,263 5,118,541 4,981,291
31,121,563 5,529,221 4,045,696 23,385,009 5,597,984 4,804,956
31,538,603 5,587,012 4,186,055 23,973,478 5,472,615 5,120,902
31,747,070 6,583,482 4,335,013 24,884,644 5,373,322 5,372,748
31,951,715 5,632,307 4,354,599 24,973,011 5,161,280 5,355,034
82,132,654 5,630,503 4,298,023 24,807,057 5,036,828 5,396,328
82,554,655 6,609,926 4,824,735 24,143,314 6,144,628 4,800,094
32,911,578 5,573,999 4,430,057 24,410,423 5,583,644 5,233,273
33,206,661 5,545,007 4.749,220 24,307,782 5,733,574 5,422,124
33,118,502 5,579,945 4,859,921 24,183,604 5,936,594 5,415,203
33,086,808 5,613,724 5,005,583 24,485,817 5,794,325 5.219,445
33,383,373 5,579,788 5,065,276 24,764,281 5,918,294 5,308,984
38,517,900 5,660,187 5,026,070 24,658,289 6,984,242 6,406,075
33,543,878 5,652,730 4,999,935 24,217,855 6,339,018 5,204,511
33,506,039 5,552,605 5,006,351 24,147,814 6,400,830 5,316,223
33,731.575 5,483,051 5,002,418 24,237,662 6,533,786 5,44 6,135
33,899,351 5,543,160 6,071,855 24,597,596 6,518,107 5,322,089
34,631,350 5,546,167 5,192,935 25,062,171 6,632,905 5,139,978
35,015,676 5,515,044 5,177,587 24,780,163 7,420,242 5,104,687
34,871,535 5,449,027 5,174,550 24,194,214 7,702,439 5.212,073
34,589,387 5,440,140 5,111,474 24,997,926 7,255,049 6,035,429
34,826,063 5,453,748 5,095,704 25,419.340 7,119,310 5,714,780
35,298,494 5,508,970 5,091,06! 25,735,661 7,171,391 2,396,801
35,526,851 5,467,907 5,050,614 25,892,970 7,244,194 2,250,832

B oston B a n ks .

Date.
Jan. 6 , . . .
44 1 3 , . . .
44 20,. . .
44 27, . .
Feb 3, . .
“ 1 0 ,...
44 1 7 , . . .
“ 2 4 ,...
Mar 3 , . . .
“ 10,. . .
44 1 7 , . . .
44 2 4 , . . .
44
31,. . .
A pr 7 , . . .

469

{C a p ita l, J a n., 1862, $38,281,700; Jan.,

Loans.
Specie.
Circulation.
Deposits.
$65,612,997 $8,920,486 $6,451,587 $27,093,839
64,704,039 8,580,607 6,612,512 25,642,994
64,409,585 8,585,277 6,549,871 25,441,327
63,025,191 8,562,175 6,284,268 24,030,776
62,628,793 8,529,483 6,260,299 23,500,321
62,340.600 8,514,600 6,616,000 22,784,700
62,587,788 8,410,890 6,469,309 22,034,794
62,053,640 8,341,588 6,580,205 21,515,228
61,678,500 8,364,500 6,318,700 21,208,500
61,834,500 8,409,585 6,693,139 20,740,208
61,747,000 8,471,000 6,364,800 20,554,000
61,655,420 8,441,058 6,219,512 20,326,087
61,360.789 8,441,196 5,908,272 19,975,018
61,208,974 8,674,170 6,557,152 21,014,000




861, $38,231,700.)
Due
Due
to banks.
from b a n k s .
$9,187,924 $8,701,873
9,634,227 8,806,255
9,547,319 9,018,388
9,593,545 8,727,348
9,727,783 8,766,415
9,892,600 8,965,500
9,653,725 8,316,887
9,625,869 8,644.360
9,681,500 8,982,600
9,906,110 8,450,721
9,790,000 7,981,000
9,715.256 7,669,531
9,434,782 6,978,527
9,246,088 8,133,124

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

470

Date

Apr .1 4 ,...
(i

2 1 ,...
2 8 ,...
M ay 5 , . . .
CC
1 2 ,...
(i 1 9 ,...
CC
26, . .
June 2 , . . .
««
9 ,...
Cl
1 6 ,...
<1 2 3 , . . .
cc 3 0 , . . .
Ju ly 7 , . . .
“ 1 4 ,...
CC

ft
II

2 1 ,...

2 8 ,...

Aug . 4 , . . .
<1

it
CC

1 1 ,...

1 8 ,...
2 5 ,...

Sept.
CC

cc
cc
cc

Oct.
“
cc

1 , . ..
8 ,...

1 5 ,...
2 2 ,...

2 9 ,...
6 ,...

1 3 ,...
2 0 ,...

Loans.

61,058,969
61,019,787
60,441,452
59,805,545
69,621,251
60,059,635
60,266,275
60,677,367
62,059,198
62,591,341
63,056,262
63,638,999
64,590,268
65,635,000
65,939,168
66,168,806
66,836,729
67,508,527
68,234,988
68,843,323
69,130,636
69,788,676
69,958,000
70,332,897
70,081,686
71,043,500
71,226,581
72,553,000

P e o y id e n c e B a n ks .

Date.
Jan 11,
cc 18,
cc 25,
Feb 1,
C
C 8,
cc 15,
cc 22,
Mar. 1,
CC 8,
cc 15,
cf 22,
cc 29,
Apr • 5,
C
C 12,
cc 19,
cc 26,
May 3,
C
C 10,
June 7,
“ 14,
“ 21,
C
C 28,

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

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

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

July 6, . . .
C
C 12, . . .
cc 19, . . .
cc 26, .,
Aug . 1 6 , . . .
C
C 23, . . .
Sept 6, . . .
C.

20, . . .

Oct. 11, . . .

Circulation.

Specie.

8,688,673
8,679,356
8,666,797
8,593,990
8,422,738
8,304,534
8,108,695
8,089,728
7,983,425
7,894,899
7,850,634
7,8014,87
7,934.037
7,978,000
7,980,780
7,963,696
7,966,702
7,967,761
7,975,427
8,055,402
8,043,888
8,006,695
7,968,000
7,968,546
7,970,332
7,991,580
7,977,116
7,842,700

6,170,383
6,924,906
5,500,896
5,453,815
5,537,937
5,602,844
5,503,756
5,348,138
5,696,413
5,875,612
6,159,115
6,131,019
6,943,827
7,091,000
6,840,474
6,618,160
6,633,822
6,768,178.
6,778,260
6,772,215
6,815,923
7,065,156
7,153,000
7,239,383
7,243,967
7,616,044
7,949,524
7,832,000

D ue
to banks.

D ue
from banks.

21,009,010 8,949,259 7,173,874
21,570,017 8,529,277 6,946.164
22,402,1 34 8,493,004 7,813,530
23,823,199 8,655.206 9,898,508
24,827,121 9,197,744 11,755,589
25,793,916 9,614,737 13,105,350
26,264,656 10,029,198 13, 95,636
26,730,486 10,226,491 13,924,896
26,277,021 10,610,702 12,888,043
25,602,048 10,632,170 11,884,692
25,994,738 10,644,000 12,122,000
26,237,754 10,678,205 12,265,781
26,868,862 11,686,142 13,869,180
26,685,000 12,675,700 13,624,000
26,80S,242 13,436,486 14,060,762
26,698,825 13,583,589 13,197,239
27,315,402 14,013,524 13,473,620
26,816.409 14,409,359 12,379,978
26,572,677 14,854,778 12,566,167
26,791,827 15,690,425 13,231,313
26,646,647 15,951,097 13,105,871
26,942,687 15,982,000 13,106,000
26,140,600 17,683,000 13,902,000
25,970,904 17,594,158 13,585,410
26,397,325 17,388,395 13,921,286
28,166,155 17,805,000 14,961,700
28,673,721 17,036,000 14,960,700
29,316,000 17,868,700 14,555,000

(Capital, Jan., 1 862, $ 15 ,4 5 4 ,6 0 0 .)

Loans
Specie. Circulation.
$19,356,800 $40S,700 $1,889,600
19,238,700 402,900 1,890,300
19,160,600 394,700 1,756,500
19,160,600 394,700 1,811,100
19,087,700 395,900 1,814,300
19,109,400 394,800 1,784,000
18,869,800 396,800 1,879,100
18,920,500 407,500 1,791,200
18,953,900 405,100 1,973,500
18,998.600 408,500 1,848,100
19,148,400 408.300 1,879,200
19,360,500 411,300 1,857,100
19.641,000 417,500 2,102,000
19,719,200 416,600 2,036,300
19,644,500 408,600 1,953,400
19,620,300 413,700 1,877,200
19,538,410 417,378 1,979,828
19,070,200 410,300 1,969,400
19,236,100 395,600 2,016,600
19,641,600 388,500 2,182,700
19,827,500 385,500 2,324,900
20,235,500 383,400 2,510,500
20,588,800 382,100 2,888,300
20,416,400 388,000 2,953,800
20,494,600 384,800 2,980,200
21,078,400 376,400 3,143,100
21,051,000 367,600 8,086,700
21,119.500 363,300 3,102,000
21,279,200 355,700 3,394,200
21,804,200
35,690 3,484,300
22,197,400 379,000 4,006,600




D eposits.

[N o v e m b e r ,

Due
Due
to banks. from banks.
Deposits.
$3,054,600 $1,099,800 $916,400
898.500
2,899,200 1,071,500
959,400 1.057.400
2,899,600
925.500
871,800
2,950,500
934,700
900,400
2,915,200
911,100 1,081,000
2,762,200
893,900 1,180,000
2,792,700
953,900 1,283,000
2,924,400
3,030,600 1,131,500 1,598,800
2,946,800 1,103,200 1.484.300
3,060,900 1,085,000 1.407.700
3,078,800 1,021,000 1.165.400
3,124,000 1,115,500 1.063.200
894,800
3,017,700 1,081,000
846,400
3,015,900 1,020,400
961,200
948,400
3,123,500
950,430 1,156,072
3,134,601
3,164,700 1,132,500 1.714.400
3,342,400 1,653,000 2.101.900
3.274,600 1,666,500 1.818.200
3,153,600 1,627,500 1.744.400
3,283,200 1,873,500 1.753.700
3,531,500 1,763,900 1,858 800
3,183,100 1,744,600 1,796,600
3,347,300 1,918,500 2.023.400
4,282,200 2,061,800 2,150,200
3,780,500 1,646,200 1,927,500
3,569,900 1,804,600 2.090.700
3,704,200 1,844,800 1.683.300
3,731,600 1,710,800 1.642.300
4,066,000 1,751,100 1.859.900

1862.]

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
BANK

OF

W EEKLY

411

ENGLAND.
STATEM ENT.

The returns of the Bank of England the past month, show a regular de­
crease in bullion each week :
For the week ending September 10.
il
“
“
17..
M
M
“
04
“
October
8 ..
“

£213,682
245,785
199,011
400,981

Total decrease from September 10 to October 8 .................

The other changes are immaterial.
Date.

Jan. 1 . . .
“ 8 ___
“ 1 5 ____
“ 2 2 ___
“ 2 9 ____
.Feb. 5 . . . .
“ 1 2 ___
“ 1 9 ____
“ 2 6 ____
Mar. 5 . . . .
“ 1 2 ____
“ 1 9 ____
“ 2 6 ____
April 2 . . . .
“ 9 ____
“ 1 6 ____
“ 2 3 ____
“ 8 0 ____
May 7 . __
“ 14...
“ 2 1 ____
“ 2 8 ____

June 4 . . . .
“
“
“

1 1 ____
1 8 ____
2 5 ____
July 2 . . . .
“
9 ____
“ 1 6 ____
“ 2 3 ____
“ 30 . . .
Aug. 6 ____
“ 13....
“ 2 0 ____
“ 2 7 ____
Sept. 3 . . . .
“ 1 0 ___
“ 1 7 ____
“ 2 4 ____
Oct. 1 ___
“
8 ____

Circulation.
£20,818,190
21,086,675
21,460,925
21,697,928
21,183,376
21,427,554
21,236,312
20,772,726
20,736,715
21,217,246
20,013,685
20,483,509
20,814,655
21,501,595
21,822,105
22,048,4 63
21,655,553
21,946,997
21,752,884
21,618,780
21,539,430
21,265,561
21,515,263
21,329,641
21,076,059
21,172,057
22,242,361
22,504,490
23,085,409
22,942,503
22,933,036
23,378,393
22,920,727
22,900,555
22,079,890
22,348,918
21,895,385
21,610,987
21,300,731
22,365,351
22,137,670

Public
Private
Coin and
Deposits.
Deposits.
Securities.
Bullion.
£7,345,833 £15,036,062 £30,419,730 £15,961,439
4,542,974 18,206,488 31,022,505 16,046,017
4,583,353 16,480,452 29,509,864 16,291,626
5.467,340 15,366,081 29,464,720 16,350,939
5,753.063 14,751,486 28,696,456 16,280,369
5,788,441
14,179.917 28,834,352 15,956,903
4,884,989 15,526,334 29,010,241 16,042,949
5,397,144 15,085,843 28,771,812 15,894,405
5.762,849 14.939,742 29,024,962 15,749,065
6,755,287 13,737,507 29,692,441 15,673,898
7,527,911 18,763,718 29,489,795 16,027,111
8,011,694 13,340,928 28,963,089 16,548,586
8,413,275 13,154,258 29,140,207 16,812,798
8,456,468 13,622,532 30,398,790 16,849,198
5,625,314 16,336,169 29,981,793 16,881,940
5,225,132 15,710,260 29,325,888 16,743,434
5,534,973 15,915.247 29,022,128 17,172,204
6.867,375 14,357,007 29,164,075 17,089,446
7,503,991
13,866,643 28,961,214 17,265,745
6,304,683 14,948,308 29,076,079 16,919,147
6,557,811 14,567,671 29,433,044 16,344,940
6,937,808 14,685,087 29,824.704 16,178,815
7,518,007 13,188,136 29,841,864 15,489,723
8,825,516 13,156,662 31,396,492 15,036,100
9,322,949 13,085,271 31,342,547 15,268,453
9,629,594 13,399,245 31,424,661 15,909,638
9,672,345 13,851,869 32,709,039 16,220,771
6,429,939 17,199,715 31,287,912 17,055,537
5,223,380 17,063,630 30,942,358 17,671,890
5,291,213 17,202,923 30,631,501
18,060,617
5,895,840 16,903,068 30,542,050 18,448,443
6,157,358 15,232,959 30,162,297 17,956,938
6,838,546 14,594,854 29,929,352 17,778,846
7,150,252 14,668,007 30,309,703 17,674,604
7,508,882 14,865,006 30,106,295 17,678,698
7,671,934 14,973,470 30,808,748 17,825,220
8,768,329 13,809,643 30,504,527 17,611,538
9,074,279 13,733,905 30,700,116 17,365,753
9,268,106 13,825,230 30,874,552 17,166,742
8,486,834 13,595,337 31,140,897 16,949,137
8,333,779 13,530,122 31,101,260 16,548,156

Kate of
Discount

3 pr. ct.
24 “
2i “
2i
“
n
“
2* “
2* “
2| “
2j
“
H “
2| “
n
“
2+ “
2i «
2i “
2£ “
H “
2}
2£
24
3
3
8
3
8
3
3

H
24
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
.

*

“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
«
«
«
it

The subjoined table will be found of interest, affording a comparative view
of the bank returns, the bank rate of discount, the price of consols, the
price of wheat in London, and the leading exchanges during a period of




472

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

[November,

three years, corresponding with the date o f the last returns (October 8th,
1862) given above:
At corresponding dates with the
week ending October 8,1862.
Circulation.....................................
Public deposits.............................
Other deposits...............................
Government securities.................
Other securities...........................
Reserve of notes and coin...........
Coin and bullion...........................
Bank rate of discount.................
Price o f consols............................
Average price of w h ea t.............
Exchange on Paris (sh ort)........
Amsterdam
“
....
Hamburg (3 months).........

1860.
£22,112,936
6,583,944
12,818,771
9,663,460
19,582,595
8,547,308
15,425,613
4 p. c.
93
58s 3d
25 124 20
11 144 14f
13 5 f 6 £

BANK

OF

1861.
£21,674,563
4,893,914
12,028,835
10,733,123
17,440,363
7,859,634
14,141,519
3^ p. c.
92£
57s Od
25 30 374
11 19 194
13 10 104

1861
£22,137,670
8,333,779
13,530,122
11,252,556
19,751,704
9,828,331
16,548,156
2 p. c.
94
51s Id
25 174 25
11 15 154
13 74
8

F R A N i CE.

M O N TH LY R ETU RN S.

W e give this month, and shall hereafter continue to give, the monthly
returns of the Bank o f France. It will be seen that, compared with last
month, there is evidently an increased demand for money. The recent large
advance on the Bourse in all securities, and especially in Credit Mobilier
shares— in the latter, more than 200 francs in a fortnight— will perhaps be
considered sufficient cause for the additional demand. The following altera­
tions will be noted:
An increase in bills discounted o f .................................................francs
An increase in circulation .......................................................................
An increase in deposits..............................................................................
A decrease in specie............................................................................„ . .

65,734,383
31.006,150
9,558,789
29,642,847

W e also give for comparison the returns of a year a g o :
( Capital, 182,500,000 francs.)
Circulation.
Francs.
Cts.

April, 1 8 6 2 ,...
J u n e.................
J u l y .................
August..............
September . . . .
October.............

839,899,825
818,843,325
760,461,015
794,113,175
782,429,125
761,215,625792,221,775

October, 1861..

766,439,725 .

M a y ..................

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Specie.
Francs.

416,055,202
418,761,840
416,637,648
972,221,960
384,952,389
371,512,263
341,S69,316

Cts.

33
61
2
5
6

60
62

304,761.228 12

Commercial bills
discounted.
Francs.
Cts.

663,797,882
489,132,252
486,477,069
647,683,539
503.444,419
460,295,713
526,030,096

74
98
26
73
47
18
5

679,835,336 36

Deposits.
Francs.
Cts.

188,389,642
181,765,440
190,365,272
217,500,654
200,103,641
166,208,671
175,767,460

5
78
46
30
12
2
53

145,233,242 14

FRENCH BUDGET OF 1863.

A report from M. F ocld , Minister o f France, to the Emperor, on the finan­
cial situation of France, was published during the first week of October.
The correspondence o f the London Economist referring to it, states that the
Minister begins by speaking of the Budget of 1863. He says that, “ owing
to the additions made to certain taxes, and to modifications in others, the
Budget of that year will present an excess o f receipts o f 8,360,041 francs
(£334,400;) but he admits that this sum is not sufficient to guarantee the




1862.]

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

473

equilibrium and provide for unforeseen necessities.” He, however, calcu­
lates that the yield of indirect taxes will be considerably greater than the
1.104.370.000 francs for which they are set down in the Budget, especially
as the inconvenience caused by the bad harvest of 1861 will have termina­
ted ; and should the war in America cease, and so put an end to the suffering occasioned by the want of cotton and the loss of trade, he even calcu­
lates on being able to provide for the expenses of the expedition to Mexico.
With regard to the Budget o f the present year, it was, he says, voted with
a surplus of 4,300,997 francs, but supplementary credits were afterwards
accorded to the amount of 200,116,382 francs, so that a sum of 195,815,385
francs (£7,832,616) had to be provided. The Minister gives a detail of
the items composing this total. Among them are 50,512,190 francs to the
Ministry of War, 75,690,816 francs to the Ministry o f Marine, and
4.165.000
francs for “ obligatory expenses,” but what those expenses are he
does not state. He then gives thefollowing detail of the manner by which
he expects to be able to provide for the payment o f this large sum of
195,815,385 francs:
Augmentation in direct taxes................................... francs
“
in revenue from forests................................
“
in indirect taxes............................................
Addition to registration and stamp duties for six months
“
to sugar duties for six months............................
Reserve o f the sinking fund................................................
Indemnity from China..........................................................
Payment by S p a in ................................................................
Balance of the loan of 1855 for works for preventing in­
undations.............................................................................
Balance of the loan of 1859, and of consolidations of
the dotation of the army..................................................

Deduct anticipated decline in the revenues o f A lg e ria ..

4,713,000
3,304,000
20,000,000
19,350,000
18,420,000
1,069,000
10,000,000
25,000,000
2,000,000
42,330,000
146,186.000
4,894,000
141,292,000

But this sum is less by 54,523,385 francs than the 195,815,385 francs
required. “ As, however,” says the Minister, “ the new mode of paying the
dividends of the three per cent stock will leave disposable in the chapter of
the debt a sum of 35,000,000 francs,” and as about an equal sum will be
saved by annulments of credits accorded, he will have, he says, “ 70,000,000
francs to place opposite the 54,000,000 francs which are wanting, and to
provide for the miscalculations which may arise in the latter months o f the
year.” The manner in which the first 35,000,000 francs will be gained is,
perhaps, a little singular. The dividends o f the three per cent stock hav­
ing been made payable quarterly instead of half-yearly, the government, in
place of paying 70,000,000 francs in December, as it used to do, pays onehalf on the 1st of October and the other half on the 1st of January. It is
thus able to throw over to next year what is really due for this, and what,
but for the change referred to, would have been paid in this. If the divi­
dends had been made payable the 31st of December instead of the 1st of
January, M. F o u l d would have been minus 35,000,000 francs— a difference




474

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

[November,

of four-and-twenty hours saves him. But may we not regard this as a
mere juggling with figures rather a bona fide provision for a deficit ?
The minister next mentions various matters. The first is that decouverts
(all that is due) which at the end of 1860 were 848,000,000 francs, rose
on the 1st January, 1862, to 1,024,503.000 francs, but have since been re­
duced to 867,000,000 francs, by the employment o f 157,000,000 francs
received by the government in the conversion of the four-anrl-a-half per
cent stock into threes, for the difference in value between the old stock and
that given in exchange. (The 15 7,000,000 francs are round figures, as in
a subsequent part of the report the amount received is stated at 157,031,289
francs.) Of the 867,000,000 francs, a sum of 865,839,018 francs is repre­
sented by what is called floating debt— in other words, by treasury bills and
other securities given by the government. The minister states that the
Bank of France on the 1st of July last placed at the disposition of the
government 35,000,000 francs, which, after deducting 25,000,000 francs
due by the government to the bank, made up the 60,000,000 francs which
the latter was bound to advance without interest for the renewal of its
privilege. With respect to the conversion, the minister says that of
174,151,366 francs rente to be converted (interest is meant, not capital,)
134,914,481 francs were actually converted, and that for that measure
160,431,289 francs were to be, or are to be, paid to the government. But
the expenses of the operation for “ printing, supplementary clerks, commis­
sion, discount, and other expenses,” was about 2,800,000 francs, so that
there remains for the treasury 157,631,289 francs. The sum of 2,800,000
francs is such a large one that an account of the items comprising it would
have been desirable ; the public in particular would like to know the amount
of the commission, and to whom it went; but on these points M. F ould is
silent. The portion of the rente unconverted is only 39,236,885 francs,
and about half of it cannot be touched on account of legal obstacles. ‘‘ The
rest,” says M. F ould, “ forms so small a part of the public debt, and is so
easy to assimilate, that it cannot present any impediment to the elevation
of the threes, the price of which is now the undisputed regulator of our
credit.
The principal object of the operation,” he adds, “ is therefore
attained, and the remodelling of the debt, which amounted to more than
3,500,000,000 francs in capital, has been made without any shock and with­
out any serious difficulty, although it had to encounter certain political em­
barrassments. The re-classification of the rentes which passed from the
hands of the old proprietors to those of the speculators seems complete.
The influence of the conversion,” he continues, “ has been considerable. It
has been felt in all securities without injuring the three per cent stock, the
average price o f which, without injuring the three per cent rente, was in the
first months of the year above the average price of the same period in the
preceding year. Other securities, such as shares of the bank and of finan­
cial and railway companies, have risen in a much larger proportion, and
have consequently added a very large sum to the national wealth. The
measure has also facilitated the execution of great public works and the
completion of the network of railways, by permitting companies to place
more easily and at a higher rate the debentures which they are authorized
to issue.” The minister next refers to the thirty years railway bonds. lie
says that out of 675,100 issued, 604,618 have been exchanged for three
per cent stock, and “ as the rente given in exchange,” he adds, “ is not pro­
vided with a special sinking fund, it has been possible to reduce the expenses




1862.]

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

47 5

of the public debt for 1863 by a sum of 4,245,000 francs, which has facili­
tated the abandonment of certain taxes which were proposed.” In conclu­
sion, the minister says that the financial situation may be thus summed up :
Reduction of deficits previous to 1862 by 157,000,000 francs; no deficit
for 1862 ; and a reserve which may be estimated at 80,000,000 francs for
1863.

BASTES OF WISCONSIN.

The folio wins; is an extract o f the report of Hon. W m. H. R amsey, Bank
Controller of Wisconsin, made October 1st;
The following stocks have been decreased since statement of September
1st, 1862, viz :
Virginia 6s......................
Louisiana 6s...................
Illinois 6s........................
Michigan 6s....................
Ohio 6 s ..........................
California 7s...................
Missouri 6 s ....................

$4,000
6,000
26,490
12,000
3,000
22,000
42,000

22,000
34,000
3,090
500
1,000

Tennessee 6 s ...........
North Carolina 6s. .
New York 6s...........
Georgia 6s................
Louisiana 5s.............
Total................. . . .

$175,990

The following stocks have been increased since statement of September
1st, 1862:
$64,700
Wisconsin 6s................
United States 6s.......................................................
123,000
“
7 3-1 0 s ............................................
67,000
Total..................................................................
The circulation has been increased during last month

$254,700
208,278

The whole amount of circulation outstanding is—
Par banks..................................................................
Discredited banks.....................................................
Winding up...............................................................

2,001,441
163,810
84,123

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

$2,249,374

The following banks have gone into operation since last report: Mer­
chants’ and Milwaukee County Bank, located at Milwaukee; also Bank of
La Crosse, located at La Crosse.

FINANCES OF VERMONT.

From the message of Governor H olbrook, o f Vermont, to the Legisla­
ture of that State, it appears that the receipts for the fiscal year ending
September 1, 1862, were $1,442,509, and the disbursements $1,218,250,
leaving a balance in the treasury of $224,250. The liabilities of the State
on September 1, were $1,164,977, and the resources $552,868, of which
$234,988 is a balance due from the United States. The indebtedness of
the State in excess of its resources is funded in State bonds, payable in ten
years from June 1, 1860. The expenses of the current year are estimated
at $1,334,839.




476

Journal o f Banicing, Currency, and Finance.

[November,

BANKS OF ILLINOIS.

The Bank Commissioner’s official statement of the scurities and circu­
lation of the banks of Illinois, as they existed on Monday, the 15th day
of September, 1862, is as follows :
Illinois 6s.............................................................
Illinois and Michigan Canal.............................
Illinois new Internal Improvement S t o c k ...
United States 5 s.................................................
Ohio 6s................................................................
•Missouri 6 s..........................................................
North Carolina 6s..............................................

$320,900
151,583
65,649
15,000
6,000
4,000
2,000

00
33
00
00
00
00
00

Total........................................................
Circulation..........................................................

$574,532 33
511,280 00

DEBT OF MEXICO.

The amount of Mexico’s debt to England, France, and Spain is as fol­
lows :
The two loans contracted in London, in 1824 and 1825
represent, with the interest accruing..............................
The English Convention........................................................
The French Convention........................................................
The Spanish Convention......................................................
Interest on the latter.............................................................

$62,264,332
5,000,000
150,000
6,563,000
1,246,000

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

$75,224,382

The domestic debt amounts to $21,725,572, making the whole public
liability amount to nearly $97,000,000.
If, to the exact sum of the above liabilities, we add $52,141,839 of
the Peza and Jecker bonds, issued by Miramon and Z uloaga, we have a
general total o f $149,091,474.

TAXATION OF GOVERNMENT SECURITIES— LEGAL DECISION.

The Supreme Court, General Term, in New York, before Judges I n g r a ­
C lerk e , and B a r n a r d , rendered the decision (Judge C lrrke dissent­
ing) that all United States bonds, stocks, etc., issued before the passage of
the act of Congress, September 7, 1862, which pronounced them exempt
from taxation, are liable to taxation under a State assessment as personal
property.
The New York city banks hold about $12,000,000 of those
which are liable to State taxation under this decision.
But the court fur­
thermore decided that all United States bonds, stocks, etc., issued after the
passage of the said act of Congress on September 7th, 1862, are exempt
from taxation or assessment by the State.
Of course, this case will be carried to the Court of Appeals, and we do
not look upon this decision, therefore, as of any importance, being only the
conclusion of a part of the judges in one district of the eight that compose
the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
ham ,




1862 .]

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

477

THE BALANCE OF TRADE.

The present high rates obtained for gold and exchange is thus referred
to, and in a measure accounted for by the Journal o f Commerce:
“ The total imports of foreign merchandise at New York from January
1st to the close of last week amounted to $138,105,422 as per Custom­
house value, while the exports for the same time amounted to$109,518,220
in produce, and $43,556,214 in specie, making a total o f $153,074,434 in
exports against only $138,000,000 in imports. If the other ports taken
together give an equal amount of imports and exports, so that the balance
of trade is left for this port to settle, it will be seen that there is about
$15,000,000 in our favor. If this were the true balance, and no other causes
interfered, there could be no reason for an active demand for bills of ex­
change at a rate so far above the value of our paper currency. It is evident,
therefore, that there is a large balance still to be remitted for on the other
side.
“ What then is this balance and how does it arise? W e answer that a
portion of it comes from the fact that there is now a legal undervaluation
of foreign imports at the Custom-house. The appraisers are bound to fix
the dutiable value of goods at the port o f shipment, but this may not re­
present their cost as compared with our currency. Thus, a pair of blankets
may be worth in England one pound sterling, and the appraisers agree with
the importer in establishing that as the dutiable value. But how much is
one pound sterling in federal currency ? It is actually at present about
$6.12 in our paper money; but according to law it is only $4.84, so that
the returns of imports, being made by this arbitrary standard, are partly
below the amount to be paid for the goods received, even exclusive of pro­
fits.”
Such is undoubtedly a correct explanation; and when we take into the
account the return of stocks held abroad, and the transmission from this
country by the timid, o f funds for deposit or investment in Europe, we will
readily see sufficient cause for our being so largely in debt to Europe.
BANK OF ENGLAND— ACCESS TO THEIR BULLION ROOM.

A correspondent of the Birmingham Post tells the following strange
story : “ The directors of the Bank of England received recently an anony­
mous letter, stating that the writer had the means of access to their
bullion room. They treated the matter as a hoax, and took no notice of
the letter. Another more urgent and specific letter failed to rouse them.
At length the writer offered to meet them in the bullion room at any
hour they pleased to name. They then communicated with their corres­
pondent through the channel he had indicated, appointing some dark and
midnight hour for the rendezvous. A deputation from the board repaired
to the bullion room, locked themselves in, and waited the arrival of the
mysterious correspondent. Punctual to the hour a noise was heard be­
low. Some boards in the floor were without much trouble displaced, and
in a few minutes the Guy Fawkes of the bank stood in the midst of the
astonished directors. An old drain ran under the bullion room, the ex­
istence of which had become known to him, and by means of which he
might have carried away enormous sums. Nothing had been abstracted,
and the directors rewarded the honesty and ingenuity o f their anonymous
correspondent— a working man— by a present o f £300.




Commercial Regulations.

478

COMMERCIAL

[November,

REGULATIONS.

1. I mportant I nstructions to the Collectors. 2. D ecisions on the T a x L a w . 3. D eal E s­
tate S ales and the T a x L aw . 4. B anks must take out B rokers’ L icense to deal in E x ­
change . 5. T a x L a w —R ectified S pirits , etc. 6. Stamp D uty on Bond and Mortgage.
7. Stamps on Checks and D rafts must be Canceled by the D raw er . 8. D uties on I mports
in V enezuela.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS TO THE COLLECTORS.
T h e collectors appointed under the recent act o f Congress, to collect the
national tax, are making their arrangements and will soon commence opera­
tions. The Commissioner of Revenue at Washington has just issued the
following important regulations to the collectors at Philadelphia, which
apply equally to collectors elsewhere :

]. All mechanics, except those who merely do repairs, must be registered
as manufacturers, and must take out a license as such if their annual sales
amount to $1,000.
2. But mechanics and other manufacturers who sell their own manufac­
tures at the place where they are produced are not required to take out an
additional license as traders. This does not include rectifiers, who must pay
both licenses.
3. If manufacturers have an office, depot, store-room, or agency, at a
place different from the place where the goods are made, or if they sell the
manufactures of others, in addition to their own, they must pay a traders’
as well as a manufacturers’ license. Thus, a tobacconist who both makes
cigars and keeps for sale goods in his line which he has purchased must
take out both licenses. So must a druggist, who also makes patent articles,
or medicines, &c., for which he has a private formula or receipt.
4. Persons keeping bar rooms or saloons for the sale of liquors must take
^ut a liquor dealers’ license. If they also furnish food, they must, in addi­
tion, take out an eating-house license; and the sale of cigars, &c., requires
a tobacconist’s or retail dealer’s license beside. Billiard tables require a
special license, and bagatelle tables are reckoned as billiards.
5. Commission merchants, who are also ship or commercial brokers, are
required to take out two licenses.
6. Grocers selling flour by the barrel, or salt by the sack, or any other
article in the original package, are reckoned as wholesale dealers.
7. Stamps must be attached to the papers requiring them, at the time of
their execution, and must be obliterated by the person writing his initials
upon them. Telegraphic dispatches must be stamped and effaced when de­
livered to be transmitted. But railroad and telegraph companies are not
required to stamp their own dispatches over their own lines.
8. Arrangements will be made with the collector of this district to supply
stamps to parties desiring to purchase $50 worth or over, at the rates of
discount established by the Treasury Department.
9. Notes and bills of exchange drawn for a certain sum, with interest,
will be stamped according to the principal sum. Foreign currency will be
estimated at the real par of exchange; the pound sterling, for instance, at
the rate fixed for sovereigns, not at the nominal rate of $4 4 3 f, nor at the
market rate of exchange, which is now something above the real par.




Commercial Regulations.

1862.]

479

10.
On and after October 1st tbe following instruments must be stamped :
All agreements, appraisements, checks, sight drafts, promissory notes, inland
and foreign bills of exchange, bills of lading to foreign ports, packages, &c.,
per express, bonds, certificates of stock, or profit, of deposit in banks, of
damages, and all other certificates, charter parties, brokers, memorandums,
conveyances, mortgages, leases, telegraph dispatches, custom house entries
and manifests, policies of insurance— life, marine and fire, and renewals of
same— passage tickets to foreign ports, powers of attorney, proxies, probate
of wills, protest, warehouse receipts, and writs or other original process for
commencing suit. Also, patent medicines, perfumeries, and playing cards.
In reference to public houses and liquor dealers exclusively, it is defiued
that in a tavern or public house where liquor is sold licenses must be taken
for each business, the license for the tavern to be according to ihe rental,
and the license for liquor in all cases of retail to be twenty dollars. By re­
tail is understood any quantity under three gallons. To sell above that
quantity is wholesale, and the license is one hundred dollars. Restaurants
which furnish bedding, and which keep liquors, are required to obtain three
licenses— first a tavern license, secondly a license for the liquor bar, of
twenty dollars, and thirdly a license for the eating bar, costing ten dollars,
when the receipts amount to or exceed one thousand dollars per year. Eat­
ing houses are permitted to keep confectionery without an additional license.
All dealers in liquor by retail are required to pay a license of twenty dol­
lars per year. The penalty for refusal or failure to take out license is a fine
of three times the amount o f duty or tax imposed by the law, one-half of
which goes to the informer. These taxes are, of course, in addition to the
State and city licenses now imposed, and the accumulation of expenses will
materially affect the smaller dealers who abound in every part of the city.
The prosecution of delinquents is made imperative on the collectors, who
hold the names and residences of all dealers, so that escape from the penalty
is next to impossible.

DECISIONS ON THE TAX 1AW.

Treasury Department, Office o f Internal Revenue,)
October ‘Id, 1862.
j
G entlem en :— I have received your letter of the 24th inst., and reply to
the several inquiries made therein as follows :
1. Persons who manufacture articles which are exempt from ad valorem
duty, are not subject to license tax as manufacturers. The provision in sec­
tion sixty-six relating to manufacturers, does not apply to them, and they
are to be licensed as wholesale or retail dealers, as the case may be.
2. Bankers, who, besides their regular business as defined in the first
article of section sixty-four, do business as brokers, as defined in article
thirteen of the same section, should be licensed both as bankers and brokers.
3. Two or more lawyers in actual and legal partnership, require but one
license for such partnership.
4. Butchers and others who retail meat in market places or stores, should
he licensed as retail dealers; if they sell their meat from carts, going from
house to house, a peddler’s license is required for each cart thus employed.
5. The excise law became operative, with respect to legacies and distri­
butive shares of personal property, upon its passage, July 1st, 1862.




480

Commercial Regulations.

[November,

6. Any person whom the assessor deems proper, may have the custody
of the assessor’s lists during the 6fteen days they are to be open for public
inspection.
7. Rectifiers, as defined in article eight, section sixty-four, are not required
to pay an ad valorem duty on their products; but do require license as
dealers in liquor in order to sell.
8. For a full discussion of the questions relating to the duty on manu­
factures removed from the place of manufacture prior to Sept 1st, I refer
you to the opinion of the Solicitor of the Treasury herewith enclosed.
9- Where brewers run a small still to dispose o f spoiled beer, merely as
an incident to their legitimate and proper business, I think a distiller’s license
is not necessary.
10. The law does not authorize the revenue officers to administer oaths,
except as provided in sections forty-eight and fifty-two. I agree with you
that they should be so authorized, and I think that Congress will amend
the law in this particular. In some instances, State authorities have given
assistants this power, by appointing them notaries or justices o f the peace.
11. Inspectors must obtain the necessary instruments for their business,
and charge accordingly in their fees for inspection. I do not know where
they are to be obtained.
12. The printed instructions, No. 2, give all the information respecting
collector’s seals that appears necessary.
13. The same instructions contain the required information respecting
drawback.
I am, respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
G eo . S. B o u t w e l l , Commissioner.
To Messrs. A. P. S to n e , Collector 7th District, Ohio, R. M. W . T a y l o r ,
Collector 2 d District, C. S. H a m il t o n , Assessor 8 th District, Committee.

REAL ESTATE SALES AND THE TAX LAW.

The following correspondence in relation to the operation of the tax law
upon real estate is important:
N o. 106 B r o a d w a y , N. Y., October 9.
To the Hon. the Commissioner o f Internal Revenue:
S ir : Referees have many sales of real estate under foreclosure proceed­
ings where there is a prior mortgage upon the property : and very often
the amount bid is so much “ over and above the prior mortgage,” and in
the referee’s deed is inserted the amount o f the bid, with the words, that
“ the property is conveyed subject to said prior mortgage.”
Supposing the fact to be that a referee sells a lot of ground for §6,500,
subject to and over and above a prior mortgage of §5,000. The deed names
§6,500 as the consideration money, and also contains an announcement that
the property is sold subject to said prior mortgage of $5,000. Now I de­
sire to know whether the stamp duty is to be paid on the amount of the
bid only, (viz. $6,500,) or on the amount of the bid, including the mort­
gage, (viz. $11,500.)
Again, by section seventy-six of the tax bill it is enacted that there shall




Commercial Regulations.

1862.]

481

be levied, collected, and paid on all sales of real estate
*
*
*
at auction, a duty of 1.10 per centum on the gross amount of such sales—
provided that no duty shall be levied under the provisions of this section
upon any sales by judicial or executive officers making auction sales by vir­
tue of a judgment or decree of any court.
I desire to be informed—
First— Whether the duty is to be charged on the amount of the bid, or
on the amount of the bid including amount of the prior mortgage.
Second1—Whether “ referees ” appointed by the court to sell in foreclosure
or partition suits are considered by you as judicial or executive officers.
By giving this your immediate attention you will much oblige
Yours, respectfully,
Chas. H. H innau.
Treasury Department, Office o f Internal Revenue,
Washington, October 13.
Si r : Your letter o f the 9th inst. is at hand.
You ask if a piece of
ground is sold subject to a mortgage on what amount must the stamp duty
be paid. I answer, upon the amount of the consideration named in the
deed— any fraud in naming the amount would invalidate the instrument.
Your second inquiry upon sales of mortgaged real estate at auction is
upon the same principle. The tax on the sale will only be required on the
amount bid and paid over the mortgage.
I am of opinion that “ referees ” appointed by the court to sell in fore­
closure or partition suits cannot be regarded as judicial or executive officers.
Very respectfully,
G eo . S. B outwell, Commissioner.
C has . H . H innau , Esq., 106 Broadway, BT. Y .

BANKS MUST TAKE OUT BROKERS' LICENSES TO DEAL IN EXCHANGE.

The following correspondence between Messrs. R ochester, bankers of
Rochester, N. Y., and Cc
’
T>
L'
to
the licenses required by
sact
business under the tax h

Hon. G eo. S. B o u t w e i . l , Commissioner o f Internal Revenue, Washington,
District o f Columbia :
D ear Si r : In section 64 of the tax bill, clause 1, bankers are charged
§300 license; in clause 13 brokers are charged §50, and in clause 15 land
warrant brokers are charged §27.
Is it intended that parties whose business includes all these branches shall
pay for each license, or does the greater include the less, and is a person
taking out a license as a banker, and paying §100 therefor, entitled to en­
gage in the other branches of the business alluded to without paying for
additional licenses?
W e ask these questions because we presume there is not a single banker
in the country who is not also a broker, as defined by the tax bill, and very
many of them are also land warrant brokers.
yol. xlyii .— ho . Y.
31




482

Commercial Regulations.

[November,

Are incorporated banks, who pay no license, entitled to deal in coin,
currency, or exchange, or any of them, that is, by purchase and sale at a
premium or discount ?
Respectfully,
J no. H. R ochester & B roth er .
Treasury Department, Office o f In tern al)
Revenue, Washington, Oct. 11.
j
G entlem en : In answer to your communication o f the 8th instant, I
must say that parties doing business as bankers, brokers, and land warrant
brokers must take three licenses. See section 61, excise law.
Incorporated banks dealing in coin, currency, and exchange are subject
to license as brokers.
Very respectfully,
(Signed)
G e o r g e S. B ou tw ell ,
Commissioner o f Internal Revenue.
Messrs. J ohn H . R och ester & B r o ., Rochester, N . Y .

TAX LAW— RECTIFIED SPIRITS, ETC.

N ew

Office o f Collector o f Internal Revenue, )
Fourth District, State o f New York.
v
Y o rk , 85 Franklin Street, October 9, 1862 )

S ir : 1.
*
*
*
Must rectified spirits be inspected after
being rectified, in those cases in which the article rectified had been inspect­
ed before it was subjected to the process of rectifying ?
2. Are rectified spirits subject to any and what duty, after being rectified,
in those cases in which a duty shall have been paid upon the article rectified
before it was subjected to the rectifying process ?
3. A large distinct business is done in the manufacture of “ cordials,”
but the article is not specifically named or provided for in the act. Cordi­
als being made in good part of spirits, may, I think, be properly considered
as embraced in the definition of a “ rectifier ” in subdivision eight of section
64 of the act, and be subjected to the same duty or tax. The provisions
of the law requiring inspection would not, h d ^ e r , it seems to me, apply
to the manufacture of cordials.
Am I right in this view of the business ? W
4. The manufacture or distillation of syrups— lemon, sarsaparilla, etc.—
is also a large business which is not provided for by name in the law. Being
made from sugar or saccharine matter, mixed with other materials, they
may, I think, be properly considered as a “ manufacture,” and be taxed as
such, under the clause or paragraph of section 75, commencing “ on all
manufactures of cotton,” &c., or of other materials not in this act otherwise
provided for, “ a duty o f three per centum ad valorem.”
Is this opinion
of the liability of the article correct ?
5. Under the peculiar conjunctive phraseology of section 77, declaring
that from and after the first day of May, 1862, there shall be levied, col­
lected, and paid by any person or persons owning any carriage, yacht “ and ”
billiard table, the several duties, etc., set forth in schedule A, can a duty be
demanded from a person who keeps for use only a carriage or carriages, of
the kind designated, and no yacht and billiard table, and so also as to the
owner of a yacht or billiard table only ? Or will the word “ and ” in the
law be read by intendment “ or?"




1862.]

Commercial Regulations.

483

6.
Are persons who purchase foreign imported cloths, silks, muslins, laces,
or other dutiable articles, and cut up and convert the same into garments
or articles of wearing or personal apparel and offer them for sale to an amount
exceeding annually §1,000, to be considered “ m a n u fa ctu rersand taxed
three per centum on the amount o f their stock of such garments or articles
of personal apparel? or, under the proviso of section 75, which declares
“ That on all cloths, etc., manufactured into other fabrics, etc., on which a
duty shall have been paid before the same were so
*
*
manufac­
tured, etc., the tax of three per centum shall be assessed only upon the in­
creased value thereof?
Ought this duty of three per cent to be assessed
only upon the increased value of the stock manufactured into personal ap­
parel by the class of persons referred to ?
I am, Sir, very respectfully, your ob’t servant,
J ohn Mack , Collector Fourth District.
To Hon. G eo. S. B outwell, Com. Internal Revenue.
Treasury Department, Office o f Internal Revenue, )
October 13, 1862.
[
S ir : Your letter of the 9th inst. has been received. 1 and 2. Your first
and second questions are answered by my decision o f the 6th inst., accord­
ing to which the basis for calculating the amount of license duty that a
rectifier of liquor is subject to, under the internal revenue law, is the num­
ber o f barrels or casks containing not more than forty-nine»gallons each pro­
duced by the process of rectification, and not on the quantity o f p roof liquor
used. Rectifiers will keep a record of the quantity of liquor produced, and
will be required to make a monthly return o f the same to the assistant
assessor, subscribed and sworn, and pay the amount of license tax accrued
thereon when required by the collector.
It follows that the article rectified, before it was subjected to the rectify­
ing process, need not be regarded by the collector, who has simply to exact
a rectifier’s license, according to the quality of liquor rectified.
3. You are right in considering the manufacture of cordials as embraced
in the definition of subdivision 3 o f section 64.
4. The manufacture of “ syrups ” — lemon, sarsaparilla, etc.— is to be con­
sidered as a “ manufacture ’’ under the clause which you quote, and to be
taxed three per centum ad valorem.
5. Section 77, in speaking of “ any person or persons owning, possessing,
or keeping any carriage, yacht, and billiard table,” is to be interpreted as
referring to three different classes o f owners, viz : Such as possess any car­
riage ; and, as a second class, such as possess any y a c h t and, as a third
class, such as possess any billiard tables. If you read the passage thus,
your scruples with regard to the interpretation o f the word “ and ” will dis­
appear.
It is, I believe, in strict accordance with grammar and usage to
employ it thus, with the force of “ or.”
6. Your sixth question is answered by this department, that manufac­
turers of clothing are required to pay duty on the whole value of goods
manufactured by them, and not on the increased value of their goods over
the value of the cloth.
This principle holds good generally, with regard
to all manufactures. The exceptions are found in section 75.
I am, Sir, very respectfully,
G eo. S. B outwell, Commissioner.
J ohs Mack, Collector Fourth District.




Commercial Regulations.

484

[November,

STAMP DUTY ON BOND AND MORTGAGE.

The following letter from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue has been
received in answer to an inquiry :
Treasury Department, )
Office o f Internal Revenue, Oct. 11. j
Sir : Your letter of the 9th instant has been received. A separate stamp
is required for each document— one for the bond and another one for the
mortgage.
I am, very respectfully,
G eo. S. B outwell, Commissioner.
To I saac B utts, Esq., Rochester, N . Y .

STAMPS ON CHECKS AND DRAFTS MUST BE CANCELED BY THE DRAWER.

The following is another important decision under the Internal Reve­
nue la w :
Treasury Department, Office o f Internal Revenue, )
Washington, October 23, 1862.
j
I would say that when the maker of a check, draft, note, or any other
document shall neglect to put on the required stamp, it will not do for
the party receiving the same to affix the stamp and cancel it, but it must
be returned to the maker for him to do it.
G eo. S. B outwell, Commissioner.

DUTIES ON IMPORTS IN VENEZUELA.

Department o f State, Washington, Oct. 15.
The following decree, received from the United States consulate at
Maricaibo, Venezuela, imposing twenty-five per cent additional duty on mer­
chandise imported into that republic, is published for the information of
those whom it may concern :
DECREE

R E Q U IR IN G

TH E

DUTY O F T W E N T Y -F IV E

CU STOM -H O U SE
PER

O F TH E

CE N T U PO N

R E P U B L IC

TH E O R D IN A R Y

TO

C O LLEC T

D UTIES

OF

A
IM ­

P O R T A T IO N .

I, J ose A ntonio P aez, Supreme Chief of the nation, do decree :
A rt. 1. There shall be levied by the custom-houses of the republic a
duty of twenty-five per cent upon the ordinary duties of importation, be­
sides that of fifty per cent which is levied under the existing regulations.
A rt. 2. The levying of this twenty-five per cent will begin and take
effect within thirty days upon the imports which are paid from the Antilles;
within sixty days upon those that are paid from the United States, and
within ninety days for those that are paid from Europe.
These periods commence to run respectively from the publication of the
present decree at the ports of the republic.
Given at the government palace, in Caracas, on this 18th day o f August,
1862.
J. A. P aez, The Secretary General.
P edro J ose R ojas.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

1862.]

MERCANTILE
1. T iie L ate H igii B alloon A scent

485

MISCELLANIES.

"Wolverhampton . 2. A n A musing H istokiette d e ­
3. V I C I S S I T U D E S O F S P E C U L A T I O N . 4. F L O W E R L E A V E S
in F rance. 5. C urrency T erms. 6. D eath of a F rench C enteniere. 7. H oarding the
P rkciou8 Metals. 8. Common S ense in a Money P anic . 9. L ooking A head. 10. M oney
G oes as it Comes. 11. R aymund L ully—Power to M ak e G old. 12. L iberality in Busi­
ness. 13. A n A ustrian A necdote.
at

veloped B E F O R E T H E P A R I S P O L I C E .

THE LATE HIGH BALLOON ASCENT AT WOLVERHAMPTON.
B Y JAMES G LAISH ER, ESQ., OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH.
B a l l o o n i n g has been turned to account and we preserve for our readers
Mr. Glaisher’s interesting narrative of his late ascent. In this he reached
the greatest height attained by a native of our globe, and shows the limits
at which human life appears to be capable of support: indeed his balloon­
ing voyages of late, but especially this, will be preserved as the most inter­
esting on many accounts that have ever been made.
On the earth at lh. 30m. the temperature of the air was 59°, at the
height of one mile it was 39°, and shortly afterwards we entered a cloud of
about 1,100 feet in thickness, in which the temperature of the air fell to
36J°, and the wet bulb thermometer read the same, showing that the air
here was saturated with moisture. On emerging from the cloud at lh.
17m. we came into a flood of light, with a beautiful blue sky, without a
cloud above us, and a magnificent sea o f cloud below, its surface being va­
ried with endless hills, hillocks, mountain chains, and many snow white
masses rising from it. I here tried to take a view with the camera, but we
were rising with too great rapidity, and going round and round too quickly
to enable me to do s o ; the flood of light, however, was so great, that all I
should have needed would have been a momentary exposure, as Dr. Hill
Norris had kindly furnished me with extremely sensitive dry plates for the
purpose..
When we reached two miles in height, at lh . 21m., the temperature had
fallen to the freezing point. W e were three miles high at lh. and 28m.
with a temperature of 1 8 °; at lh . 39m. we had reached four miles, and
the temperature was 8 ° ; in ten minutes more we had reached the fifth
mile, and the temperature had passed below zero, and then read -2 ° , and
at this point no dew was observed on Regnault’s hygrometer when cooled
down to -3 0 °.
Up to this time I had taken the observations with comfort. I had expe­
rienced no difficulty in breathing, whilst Mr. Coxwell, in consequence of
the necessary exertions he had to make, had breathed with difficulty for
some time. At lb . 51m. the barometer reading was 11.05 inches, but
which requires a subtractive correction of 0.25 inch, as found by comparison
with Lord Wrottesly’s standard barometer just before starting, both by his
lordship and myself, which would reduce it to 10.8 inches, or at a height
of about 5§ miles. I read the dry bulb thermometer as —5° ; in endeavor­
ing to read the wet bulb I could not see the column of mercury. I rubbed
my eyes, then took a lens and also failed.
I then tried to read the other instruments, and found I could not do so,
nor see the hands of the watch. I asked Mr. Coxwell to help me, and he
said, he must go into the ring and he would when he came down. I en­




486

Mercantile Miscellanies.

[November,

deavored to reach some brandy which was lying on the table, at the dis­
tance of about a foot from my hand, and found myself unable to do so. My
sight became more dim. I looked at the barometer, and saw it between 10
and 11 inches, and tried to record it, but was unable to write. I then saw
it at 10 inches, still decreasing fast, and just noted it in my book; its true
reading therefore at this time was about 9 f inches, implying a height of
5 f miies, as a change of one inch in the reading of the barometer at this
elevation takes place on a change of height of 2,500 feet. I felt I was
losing all power, and endeavored to rouse myself by struggling and shaking.
I attempted to speak and found I had lost the power. I attempted to look
at the barometer again; my head fell on one side; I struggled and got it
right, and it fell on the other, and finally fell backwards. My arm, which
had been resting on the table, fell down by my side. I saw Mr. Coxwell
dimly in the ring; it became more misty, and finally dark, and I sank un­
consciously as in sleep.
This must have been about lh . 54m.- I then heard Mr. Coxwell say,
“ What is the temperature ? Take an observation. Now try.” But I
could neither see, move, nor speak. I then heard him speak more emphat­
ically, “ Take an observation. Now do try.” I shortly afterwards opened
my eyes, saw the instruments and Mr. Coxwell very dimly, and soon saw
clearly, and said to Mr. Coxwell, “ I have been in sen sib lea n d he replied,
“ You have, and I nearly.” I recovered quickly, and Mr. Coxwell said, “ I
have lost the use of my hands, give me some brandy to bathe them.” His
hands were nearly black. I saw the temperature was still below zero, and
the barometer reading eleven inches but increasing quickly. I resumed my
observations at 2h. 7m., recording the barometer reading 11.53 inches and
the temperature -2 . I then found that the water in the vessel supplying
the wet-bulb thermometer, which I had by frequent disturbances kept from
freezing, was one mass of ice.
Mr. Coxwell then told me that whilst in the ring he felt it piercingly
cold, that hoar frost was all round the neck of the balloon, and on attempt­
ing to leave the ring he found his hands frozen, and he got down how he
could; that he found me motionless, with a quiet and placid expression on
the countenance; he spoke to me without eliciting a reply, and found I
was insensible. He then said he felt insensibility was coming over himself,
that he became anxious to open the valve, that his hands failed him, and
that he seized the line between his teeth and pulled the valve open until
the balloon took a turn downwards. This act is quite characteristic of Mr.
Coxwell. I have never yet seen him without a ready means of meeting
every difficulty as it has arisen, with a cool self-possession that has always
left my mind perfectly easy, and given to me every confidence in his judg­
ment in the management of so large a balloon.
On asking Mr. Coxwell whether he had noticed the temperature, he said
he could not, as the faces of the instruments were all towards me : but that
he had noticed that the centre of the aneroid barometer, its blue hand, and
a rope attached to the car, were in the same straight line; if so, the read­
ing must have been between seven and eight inches. A height of six miles
and a half corresponds to eight inches.
A delicate self-registering minim thermometer read -1 2 °, but unfortu­
nately I did not read it until I was out of the car, and I cannot say that its
index was not disturbed on descending. When the temperature rose to
17° it was remarked as warm, and 24° as very warm.




1862.]

Mercantile Miscellanies.

487

The temperature gradually and constantly increased to 57° on reaching
the ground. It was remarked that the sand was warm to the hand, and
steamed on being discharged.
Six pigeons were taken up— one was thrown out at the height of three
miles, it extended its wings and dropped as a piece of paper; a second at
four miles flew vigorously round and round, apparently taking a great dip
at each time.
A third was thrown out between four and five miles, and it fell down­
wards.
A fourth was thrown out at four miles when descending; it flew in a
circle and shortly alighted on the balloon.
The two remaining pigeons were brought down to the ground. One
was found dead, and the other, a “ carrier,” had attached to its neck a note.
It would not, however, leave, and when cast off the finger returned to the
hand. After a quarter of an hour it began to peck a piece of ribbon by
which its neck was encircled, and it was then jerked off the finger, and it
flew with some vigor finally towards Wolverhampton. Not one however
had returned when I left on the afternoon of the 6th.
To much praise cannot be given to Mr. Proud, the engineer of the gas
works, for the production o f gas of such a small specific gravity.
It would seem from these facts that five miles is very nearly the limit of
human existence. It is possible, as the effect of each high ascent upon my­
self has been different, that in another I might be able to go higher, and it
is possible some persons may be able to exist with less air and bear a
greater degree of cold, but still I think prudence would say to all, when­
ever the barometer reading falls as low as eleven inches, open the valve at
once, the increased information to be attained is not commensurate with the
increased risk.

ABT AMUSING HISTORIETTE DEVELOPED BEFORE THE PARIS POLICE.

In the presence of a wine merchant and his wife, two distinguished mem bers of the canaille, S ariol and T urban by name, entered into articles of
copartnership for the purchase o f a small keg o f brandy, with the under­
standing that it was to be peddled out by the glass, at the fair of St. Denis,
the annual fete of a village in the environs of the capital, the terms of the
association being that the profits o f the venture should be equally divided
between the itinerant merchants. Everything was drawn up in due form,
and among the various articles of the agreement, was one fixing the price
of a “ smaller ” at four sous.
On the evening of the very first day that the partners commenced opera­
tions, both Sariol and T urban were picked up by the police, in a most
woful plight, their garments in rags, their eyes in deep mourning, and their
scalps partially denuded of the capillary embellishments. Their financial
situation may be summed up in two words— an empty keg and a copper
coin of the value of two sous.
Appearing on the following morning before the police tribunal, charged
with assault and battery and resistance to the public authorities, the follow •
ing thoroughly Frenchy facts were elicited: The two speculators had duly
started for the fair grounds at St. Denis, taking with them the keg of brandy.
Upon arriving at the suburb of La Chapelle, S ariol said to Turban, “ T ur­
ban , my boy, I think I’ll take a stiffener;” to which T urban replied, “ Well,




488

Mercantile Miscellanies.

[November,

I think that’s cool, anyhow ! You know, I s’pose, that that ’ere brandy
isn’t yours alone ; it belongs to us both 2” “ That’s so !” returned S ariol,
“ and I’ll tell you how w'e’ll manage i t ; the price of a smaller is four sous,
so I ’ll just give you two sous, and that’ll make us square.” “ All right,”
said Turban, mollified, “ that’s fair enough.” So S ariol gave his partner
a two sous piece and took his “ stiffener.”
The pair had gone but a short distance further when Turban suddenly
remarked, “ I think I'll take a rewiver now, myself.” “ Of course you mean
to pay me two sous?” said S ariol. “ T o be sure I do,” answered the
other. Whereupon he drank a glass of brandy, and handed back the cop­
per. After plodding on another mile, S ariol broke in with, “ By Jingo, I
go in for goods at half price 1 As a smaller costs me two sous instead of
four, I’ll take another 1” To which T urban agreed at once, and again re­
ceived the two sous piece. Five minutes afterward he told Sariol that his
logic was quite correct— two sous for a glass of grog was an unprecedently
low price— took a drink, and once more returned the copper coin. And so
it went on, at frequent intervals, until the pair at length reached St. Denis,
congratulating themselves upon their happy discovery of brandy at half
price. It is superfluous to remark that when they arrived, they were not
particularly attentive to business, and were struck with the single idea that
the more they drank the more money they made. Governed by this no­
tion, they rapidly circulated the two sous piece, until the keg was at last
found to be empty, whereupon Turban suddenly exclaimed— “ Hallo, how’s
this? W e bought six francs’ worth of brandy, it’s all out, and there’s
only two sous in the till!” “ What d’ye mean by only two sous?”
“ That’ s all there is, my boy.” “ Then, by thunder, you’ve robbed the cash
box !” This was the signal for a bout at fistcuffs, followed by the interfer­
ence of the police, when the two partners turned their united forces against
the officers, were overcome by superior numbers, captured, lodged in the
nearest station house, examined the next morning, and sent to durance vile
for eight days. No moral is necessary.— Cor. New Y ork Express.

VICISSITUDES OF SPECULATION.

The New Bedford Standard says, that seven years ago parties in that
vicinity purchased 2,600 barrels of whale oil at fifty-six cents per gallon, and
stored it for speculation. Subsequently 600 barrels were withdrawn by
one of the owners. The balance, 2,000 barrels, has been sold within a few
weeks for forty-seven cents a gallon. During the period the.oil has been
held, the price has been as high as eighty-two cents a gallon, but the
owners held on waiting for something a little better. The total loss, count­
ing interest, depreciation, shrinking, &c., is between $40,000 and $50,000.

FLOWER LEAVES IN FRANCE.

In the South of France a harvest o f two and-a-half million o f pounds
weight of flower leaves is gathered every year, and sold for about
£250,000 sterling.
It consists of 100,000 lbs. of leaves o f the orange
blossom, 500,000 lbs. of rose-leaves, 100,000 lbs. o f jessamine blooms,
70,000 of violets, 65,000 of accacia buds, 30,000 of tube roses, and 5,000
o f jonquil flowers.




1862.]

Mercantile Miscellanies.

489

CURRENCY TERMS.

The origin of the word sterling has been explained as follows in a corres­
pondence of the Transcript:—
“ Your correspondent refers to the pound sterling, or easterling, which
word, I believe is commonly spelled esterling. Some of your readers may
not be aware of the origin o f the word sterling, about which antiquarians
have doubted. The word esterlings may be found in Spelman’s glossary.
The word was first applied to English pennies, in the reign of Edward I.,
about the year 1279. Henry, in his History of G. B., vol. vi., page 297,
London, 1814, says— ‘ In the course of this period, the silver penny is some­
times called an esterling or sterling; and good money in general is sometimes
called esterling or sterling money.’ It is unnecessary to mention the vari­
ous conjectures of antiquaries about the origin and meaning of this appella­
tion. The most probable meaning seems to be this:— that some artists
from Germany, who were called esterlings from the situation of their coun­
try, had been employed in fabricating our money, which consisted chiefly
of silver pennies, and that from them the penny was called an esterling,
and our money esterling or sterling money.
“ I used to be puzzled to know why a certain coin was called a milled
dollar. Antoine Brucher, a Frenchman, invented the '■inilV for making
money, and money was first struck with it, in 1553. It was brought into
England by Philip Mestzel, and Elizabeth had milled money struck in
England, in 1562. It was used in France, till 1585, and in England, till
1572, but gave place to the cheaper expedient o f the 1hammer ; ’ which, in
1617, gave place to the engine of Belancier; which was merged in the
great improvements of Boulton and Watt, at Soho, in 1788. In 1811, the
art was brought to very great perfection, at the mint in London. One of
the most interesting objects, at the present day, in Philadelphia, is the
whole process o f coinage, from first to last, from the crude California snuff,
as it enters the melting pot, till it verifies the proverb and taketh the
wings of an eagle and flieth away.
“ The dollar mark (•$) is derived from the use of the old Spanish pillar
dollar, which was of very general circulation and known value, two pillars
enclosed with an S became the cypher for a Spanish dollar.”

DEATH OF A FRENCH CENTENIERE,

The oldest centeniere o f the French army died a few weeks since at
Issoudun, aged 94. T herese J ourdan, born at Besancon, in 1768, was
married in 1783, to Jean P atru, who afterwards became sergeant in the
69th brigade. She accompanied her husband in the Italian campaigns of
1796 and 1797, under General B onaparte. She next went to Egypt,
was present at the landing o f the army before Alexandria, then at the bat­
tle of the Pyramids, and at K leiber’ s victory near the ruins of Heliopolis.
After her return from the East, she was present at the battles of Austerlitz,
Jena, Eylau, Friedland, and the campaigns on the Elbe, the Vistula, and
the Niemen. She then followed the army into Spain and Portugal,
whence she returned, and, going to Germany again, witnessed the battles
of Essling and Wigram. In 1812, she followed the Grand Army to Russia,
and was present at the battle of Moscow, where her husband fell in storm­
ing a redoubt. She came back to France with the remnant of the army,




490

.

Mercantile Miscellanies.

[November,

and took part in the campaign of 1813; was at Bautzen and Leipsic, and
at Waterloo in 1815. When the army was re-organized, she wa3 attached
to the 4th Regiment o f the Line, and accompanied it to Spain, under the
Duke d’ A n g o u l e m e , in 1823. From 1830 to 1834, she was in Africa.
In 1859, she went there again with the depot of the 4th Regiment, and
remained till 1860. Such are the services of this extraordinary woman.
She went to Issoudun with the depot of the 4th, the officers o f which
allowed her a pension, and she had rations with the men, who absolutely
idolized her. She had survived all relatives, but never wanted for friends.
She retained her faculties to the last, and died without pain. The whole
battalion, 600 strong, attended her funeral, and a sergeant-major pro­
nounced an oration over her grave.

HOARDING THE PRECIOUS METALS.

The Albany Journal, in view of the withdrawal o f specie from the banks
during the panic, has the following cleverly drawn hit for the “ hoarders.”
It reminds us of a story told by a Philadelphia lawyer, of some eminence,
now no more. He said the Dutch farmers in the interior of Pennsylvania
were generally in the habit of hoarding their money. A farmer, who had
laid by a large sum, the earnings of years, had his house broken into, and
the money stolen. When asked by our friend, the lawyer, how much he
lost, he said he did not know exactly, but that he had about a bushel of
dollars, half a bushel of halves, and a peck of quarters, besides a considera­
ble pile (when that bank was in its palmy days) of United States Bank bills.
“ Now is the time when gold dollars are hid in old stockings. Now is
the time when sixpences are tucked away in snub-nosed teapots. Now
money is laid by in cupboards— for mice to nibble ; thrust into corners—
for thieves to rummage; carried in wallets— for pickpockets to grab a t;
hid behind the wood-work— for the next generation to find ; and buried in
the ground— to be lost and forgotten. Now men rush frantic to draw cash
out of safe places, and put it into unsafe ones. Now poor families lose five
per cent for the purpose of having their savings where they will keep
them awake at nights. Now farmers hang up deposits in the shot pouch
behind the door, housewives sew up gold pieces in their skirts, and travelers
weigh themselves down with body belts of coin. Now the unprofitable ser­
vant, who hid his talent in a napkin, is canonized into a bright and shining
scriptural example, while those who ‘ put their money to the exchangers,’ are
looked suspiciously upon, as rash speculators in Jewish fancy stocks. Now
all money is distrusted but such as can be heard to cliinek. Now men
privily put all their cash under lock and key, and then publicly lament that
it has ceased to circulate. Now men with well filled pockets refuse either
to pay their debts or to forgive their debtors. Now the butcher must wait
and the baker must go unpaid, and the printer must be put off for the
nineteenth time. The era of hoarding has come round again with all its
blind, unreasoning fears, and all its self-imposed curses of poverty, idleness,
distrust, and decay.”
COMMON SENSE IN A MONEY PANIC.

The National Intelligencer, in copying the annexed article from the
Cleveland Herald, adds, that “ circumstances familiar to almost every




1862 .]

Mercantile Miscellanies.

491

reader in the country give to the subjoined remarks peculiar aptitude and
force. When the ocean is in a tumult, and the storm pours out its fury,
the humblest sailor in the ship feels that the safety of his fellow-voyagers is
as much a matter of pride and humanity as his own. He perils all, and
works manfully ‘ whilst a stick is left standing'.’ He never deserts the ship.
“ Moneyed men are the veriest cravens on earth; so timid, that at the
least alarm they pull their heads, turtle like, within their shells, and, snugly
housed, hug their glittering treasury until all fear is removed. The conse­
quence is, that a few days’ disturbance of the monetary atmosphere brings
on a perfect dearth of not only the precious metals, but of even paper
money, their representative.
“ Moneyed men never adopt the tactics o f mutual support; as soon as a
shot is fired into the flock, they scatter, each looking out for himself, each
distrustful of the other, and each recognizing only the great law of selfish­
ness. which is, to take care of number one. Courage has saved many an
army even when ammunition was low, and many a foe has been scattered
by one yell of defiance when there was not a cartridge left.”

LOOKING AHEAD.

The Philadelphia Commercial List says :— “ W e once fell in with a busi­
ness man, and he was a person of wide experience, too, who said that,
whatever might happen to him, he always looked sixty days ahead, rather
than sixty days behind. This was sensible, and there was profound philos­
ophy in it. For the habit of looking on the dark side o f matters soon be­
gets a despondent feeling in the heart, and disinclines a man to make any
exertion at all. To look forward to better days, however, and to a turn of
fortune for better times, is naturally calculated to inspire one with enthusi­
asm, to stimulate one with the new wine of hope. It makes all imaginable
difference whether a man desponds or hopes. Hence, when a blast of
trouble comes, the true way is to turn your back upon it, to refuse to have
anything to do with it, to forswear all connection with its threats or prom­
ises. Look ahead, and look up! what is gone, is gone; there is no help
for it. Work for better fortune, and the bad will desert you in absolute
disgust at your impressibility.

MONEY GOES AS IT COMES.

The Boston Commercial Bulletin says, very truthfully : “ The young man
who begins by saving a few shillings, and thriftily increases his store—
every coin being a representative o f good solid work, honestly and man­
fully done— stands a better chance to spend the last half of his life in
affluence and comfort, than he who is in his haste to become rich, obtains
money by dashing speculations, or the devious means which abounds in
the foggy region lying between fair dealing and actual fraud. Let the
young make a note of this, and see that their money comes fairly, that
it may long abide with them.”




492

Mercantile Miscellanies.

[November,

RAYBIUND LULLY— POWER TO MAKE GOLD,

W iliiam J acob in his history of the precious metals, says of R ay mund L ully, that he went to England in the reign o f Edward III.
It
will be remembered that this L ully pretended, and was believed, to
possess the power o f transmuting the inferior metals into gold and silver.
He seems to have been a strange compound o f fanaticism and imposture.
He was originally a Jew, who had been converted to Christianity and had
become a Dominican friar. Cremer, abbot of Westminister, brought him
to England, and introduced him to the king, for whom he agreed to ex­
ercise his science on condition of the monarch entering into a war with
the Turks. The king was too much occupied with his wars in France to
attack the Turks, and L ully refusing on that account to continue his
operations in making more gold, was in consequence, of it imprisoned and
kept in durance a long time in the Tower. It seems to have been be­
lieved by A shmole, upon the testimony of N orton and H ermes B ird,
that this man actually made gold whilst a prisoner in the Tower; and
besides giving credit to this from tradition, he mentions as a corrobora­
tive proof, that the money coined from this gold had on the reverse “ a
cross fleury with lioneux, and the inscription, Jesus autern transiens per
medium eorum ibat; intimating, that as Jesus passed invisible and in a
secret manner through the midst o f the Pharisees, so that gold was made
by an invisible and secret art amidst the ignorant.” Some instances o f
faith in this delusive necromantic art may be traced in the statutes and
other public documents almost to the first year of William and Mary,
when the act of the 5th o f Henry IV. was repealed which had been en­
acted to prevent the “ craft o f the multiplication of gold.”

LIBERALITY IN BUSINESS,

There is no greater mistake, says a cotemporary, that a business man
can make than to be mean in his business. Always taking the half cent,
and never returning a cent for the dollars he has made and is making.
Such a policy is very much like the farmer’s, who sows three pecks of seed
when he ought to have sown five, and as a recompense for the leanness of
his soul only gets ten when he might have got fifteen bushels of grain.
Everybody has heard of the proverb of “ penny wise and pound foolish.”
A liberal expenditure in the way o f business is always sure to be a capital
investment. There are people in the world who are short-sighted enough
to believe that their interest can be best promoted by grasping and clinging
to all they can get, and never letting a cent slip through their fingers.
As a general thing, it will be found— other things being equal— that he
who is the most liberal is most successful in business. Of course we do not
mean it to be inferred that a man should be prodigal in his expenditures ;
but that he should show to his customers, if he is a trader, or to those
whom he may be doing any kind of business with, that, in all his transac­
tions, as well as social relations, he acknowledges the everlasting fact that
there can be no permanent prosperity or good feeling in a community where
benefits are not reciprocal.
W e know of instances where traders have enjoyed the profits of hundreds
of dollars’ worth of trade, and yet have exhibited not the slightest disposi­
tion to reciprocate even to the smallest amount. Now, what must neces­




1862.]

Mercantile Miscellanies.

493

sarily follow from such a couse? W hy, simply the loss of large profits per
annum, in the loss of trade, which, under a more liberal system, might have
been retained.
The practice of some men seems to be, to make as little show in the way
of business as possible. Such a one, if a trader, takes no pains with the
appearance of his store. Everything around him is in a worn-out, delapidated, dirty condition. To have it otherwise it would cost a dollar for
whitewash, and perhaps five for painting, and a few dollars besides for
cleaning up and putting things to order. And so he plods on and loses
hundreds of dollars’ worth of custom for the want of attention to these
matters, while his more sagacious neighbor, keeping up with the times, and
having an eye to appearances, does a prosperous business.
Another will spend no money in anv way to make business for fear he
shall not get it back again. Consequently he sends out no circulars, dis­
tributes no handbills, publishes no advertisements ; but sits down croaking
about the hard times— moaning over the future prospect of notes to pay,
no money, and no trade; and comes out, just where he might expect to
come— short, while his neighbor, following in a different track, doing all
that is necessary to be done to make business, has business; isn’t short, but
has money to loan; and it would be just like him to get twelve per cent.,
perhaps more, for the use of i t ; and we should not blame him for so doing.
The fact is, times have changed. The manner of doing business is dif­
ferent now, from what it used to be. It would be just as foolish to insist
upon doing business now, in the old-fashioned way, as it would be to insist
upon travelling with an ox-team instead of by railroad; to get news by oldfashioned stages instead of having it brought bv the lightning telegraph.
The times demand men of enlarged, liberal, energetic souls— men who will
keep up with the world as it goes; men of hearts, too, who not only desire
to go ahead themselves, but take pleasure in seeing others succeed ; and
who have public spirit enough to do something for, and rejoice in the pros­
perity of the people.

AN AUSTRIAN ANECDOTE,

The Gazette dw Danube-publishes the following anecdote:— “ A naval
officer, who was some time ago making an excursion in the mountain near
Ischl, lost his way, and entered a cottage to ask for information. The mis­
tress of the house offered to send her son to show him the road. The offer
was accepted, and when the lad had put the officer in the right path, the
latter offered some money as a reward for his services. The boy refused to
accept any, and remarked that the soldiers were always short of money.
The officer inquired how he came to know that, and the lad replied, ‘ W hy
because I have a brother who is a soldier, and he never has any money.
This very day my mother has sold our last goose and sent him what it
fetched.’ Touched by this artless tale, the officer returned to the cottage,
gave the good woman three times the value of her goose, and promised to
take care of her son if he behaved well. It need hardly be said that the
officer kept his word, for he was the Archduke Ferdinand Maxamilian.”




The Book Trade.

494

THE

BO O K

[November, 1862,

TRADE.

American Underwriters' Manual and Insurance Directory f o r 1862 and 1863.
New York: G rie rson & E cclesine .
This work presents, in a very convenient form, a large amount of information and
statistics connected with insurance affairs. It professes to be the first compilation
which contains an account of all the insurance companies in the whole Union, except­
ing the seceding States, and must prove useful to the mercantile as well as the insu­
rance community. In addition to an alphabetically arranged list, or directory o f the
officers o f insurance companies in New York, the New England States, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania, this manual gives a very full account o f all insurance companies
and agents in the Western States, some of the Southern States, and also in Califor­
nia, a collection of recent insurance laws and several official reports, with general
statistics of great interest in connection with the growth and strength of insurance
throughout the country. Merchants doing a country trade, and men in the shipping
and forwarding business, will find a work of this description invaluable for reference.
The compiler is J oseph B. E cclesine , Esq., the talented insurance editor of the Wall
Street Underwriter, and having made this branch of statictics his specialty, the work
is reliable and accurate in its statistics and just in its expressed opinions.
The American Annual Cyclopcedia arid Register o f Important Events o f the Year
1861. D. A ppleton & Co., 443 and 445 Broadway, New York.
The development of science, the geographical explorations, the ingenious and im­
portant inventions of the past year, together with biographical notices of the virtues
and services of the distinguished men who closed their career in 1861, form a portion
of this very valuable volume. But perhaps the most important part is the full and
accurate history which it contains of the conflict in the United States during the same
period. The publishers appear to have presented a truthful picture o f these matters,
giving, as they state in their preface, the movements of the leaders of secession, from
their first acts to the close of the year, including the proceedings, step by step, in
each of the Southern States until they had resolved themselves out of the Union, and
their subsequent efforts; the organization o f the Confederate States; the principles
upon which that organization was founded; the civil and commercial regulations of
the Confederacy ; the movements of its Government to fill its treasury, and organize
and equip vast armies; the counteracting movements of the United States; the or­
ganization of its armies, with the details of the weapons for the infantry and artillery,
and for the batteries for the ships and gunboats; together with all the original docu­
ments, from the Messages of the respective Presidents ; the instructions of Cabinet of­
ficers; the Messages and proclamations of Governors; the important acts of the
United States and Confederate Congresses; the acts and resolutions of State Legisla­
tures; the proclamations and orders of commanding officers; the contributions of
men and money from each State, North and South; the details of every battle and
skirmish involving a loss of life. So ample have been the resources from which its
details have been prepared, comprising publications both North and South, that it is
believed no important public measure o f the Federal or Confederate Governments,
or of any of the States, has been overlooked or valuable document omitted. The
efforts of the Confederacy to secure the cooperation of foreign powers, and of the
United States to prevent it, are summarily presented in the letters and instructions
of the respective diplomatic agents. We heartily commend this volume to our readers*




THE

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL

REVIEW.

E s t a b l i s h e d .J u ly , 1 8 3 9 .

E D IT E D

W ILLIAM

VOLUME XLVII.

CONTENTS

BY

B. D A N A .

NOV E MB E R , 1862.

OF

No.

V.,

NUMBER V .

VOL.

X L V II.

A rt.

I.
II.

pa g e

OUR CITIES IN 1862 A N D 1962.

Chicago

and

T oledo,

by j. w

.

. ........ 401

TRA DE AND COMMERCE OF S IC IL Y ...................................................... 409

III. THE COTTON QUESTION— THE SU P P L Y — A SUBSTITUTE............ 410

IV. JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LA W .

1. Auctioneer— Contract with Bid­
der— How far Auctioneer is bound to accept all Bids indiscriminately.
2.
Transfer of Property in a Ship. 3. What is sufficient Evidence of the
Cause o f Damage to Cargo. 4. The Petroleum Oil A ct of England.........413

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE

AND R E T I E W .

Progress o f Paper— Government Embarrassments— Appreciation of Gold— Specu­
lative Movement— Theories of Paper Currency— AUedged Causes of Appre­
ciation— General Advance in Prices— Losses o f Contractors—Government
Remittances— War Expenses— Ultimate Discredit—Evils of Contraction—
Interference— Larger Importations— Imports— Valuations— Cost of Goods
— Exports— Rates of Exchange— Rapid Rise in Bills—Gold Movement—
Increased Exports of Gold— Small Currency— Tax Law .................................. 419




tv*.
X

Contents o f November No., 1862.

496

STATISTICS

OF T R A D E

AND

COMMERCE.

1 . Trade o f Cincinnati.

2 . The Coffee Trade of Brazil. 3. Cotton, Tobacco, and
Sugar Trade in New Orleans. 4. The Hop Trade. 5. Salt Trade of Poland.
6 . Successful Rice Growing in the Hawaiian Islands........................................ 427

RAILWAY,

CANAL,

AND

TELEGRAPH STATISTICS.

1. A Railway through the Pyrenees. 2 . The Italian Railway Contract. 3. Tolls
on Railroads. 4. Steel for Railway Bars. 6 . The New York Canals..........438

STATISTICS

OF A G R I C U L T U R E .

1. The Consumption of Milk. 2 . The Wheat Crop for 1862. 8 . Productions of
Agriculture for 1850 and 1860 4. Agricultural Statistics for Ireland in
1862. 6 . Tea in China. 6 . Wheat Growing in Canada. 7. Composition
of Milk at Different Times of D ay.......................................... ............................444

J O U R N A L OF M I N I N G ,

MANUFACTURES,

AND A R T .

1. The Gold Mines of Nova Scotia. 2 . The Preparation of Iron Plates. 3. Paper
and Cloth made of Indian Corn Husks.................................................................456

NAUTICAL

INTELLIGENCE.

1. Foreign Navy Yards. 2. Navy o f the United States. 3. England’s IronCased Fleet. 4. Notice to Mariners. 5. Shipping Interest of Great Britain. 459

J O U R N A L OF B A N K I N G ,

CURRENCY,

AND F I N A N C E .

1. City Weekly Bank Returns, New York Banks, Philadelphia Banks, Bos­
ton Banks, Providence Banks. 2. Weekly Statement Bank of England.
3. Bank of France. 4. French Budget of 1863. 5. Banks of Wisconsin.
6 . Finances of Vermont. 7. Banks of Illinois. 8 . Debt of Mexico. 9. Taxa­
tion of Government Securities. 10 . The Balance of Trade. 11. Bank of
England—Access to their Bullion Room.............................................................. 468

COMMERCIAL

REGULATIONS.

1. Important Instructions to the Collectors. 2. Decisions on the Tax Law. 3.
Real Estate Sales and the Tax Law. 4. Banks must take out Brokers’ Li­
cense to deal in Exchange. 5. Tax Law— Rectified Spirits, etc. 6 . Stamp
Duty on Bond and Mortgage. 7. Stamps on Checks and Drafts must be
Canceled by the Drawer. 8 . Duties on Imports in Venezuela...................... 478

MERCANTILE

MISCELLANIES.

1. The late high Balloon Ascent at Wolverhamton. 2. An Amusing Historiette
Developed before the Paris Police. 3. Vicissitudes of Speculation. 4.
Flower Leaves in France. 5. Currency Terms, ti. Death of a French Centeniere. 7. Hoarding the Precious Metals. 8 . Common Sense in a Money
Panic. 9. Lookiug Ahead. 10. Money Goes as it Comes. 11. Raymund
Lully— Power to Make Gold. 12. Liberality in Business. 13. An Austrian
A necdote................................................................................................................... 485

THE

BOOK

TRADE.

Notices of New Publications in the United States




494