Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : October 1858, Vol. XXXIX, No. IV

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MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
e s ta b lis h e d . J u ly , 1 8 3 9 , b y F r e e m a n H u n t .

VOLUM E X X X IX .

CONTENTS

OCTOBER,

OF

1888.

NO. IV.,

NU M BE R IV.

VOL. X N X IX .

ARTICLES.
A rt.

pagk

I. MIGRATION FROM EUROPE TO UNITED STATES. Changed Condition to
Labor—Progress of Emancipation—Decline of Slavery—Exodus o f White Labor—
Peace of 1S15— Its Effects—Valley o f the Rhine—Caravans—Number o f Emigrants—
Distinction between German and British Migration—Early Trade o f the United States
with France—T wo Freights on Produce—Change o f Models—Trade o f Havre—Transit
across France—Government Measures—Rivalry of Ports—Bremen Regulations—Law
o f Passenger Ships—Passengers from four Ports—Total German Migration—Cost of
Passage —Destination of Emigrants—Causes of Migration—Government Restraints—
Duchy of Baden—Cost of Migration—Cash carried out—Total Money Means—North
of Europe—Other Countries o f Europe—Ireland—Causes of Irish Distress— Means o f
Migration—Reduction of Population—Remittances of Emigrants—Measures o f the
English Government—Act of 1847— Powers o f the Commission—Annual Migration
from Great Britain ........... ....... •. ........................... ....................................................... 405
II. COMMERCIAL COLLEGE'—TH EIR N ATU RE AND OBJECT...................................410
III. G A R BLIN G ^: OR, COMMERCIAL COMMODITIES CHARACTERIZED. No. x.
SUGARS. Origin and History—Different Types, » ane and Grape—Sugar Cane o f the
United States—Different Species of Cane—Character and Properties o f Raw Sugar—
White Sugar, how Produced—Grape Sugar—Distinction and Tests -Diastase—Dex­
trine—Sorghum Saccharatum—Difficulties Attending the Production o f Crystalizable
Sugar from it—Qualities of Saccharine Juice—Isomeric Properties o f Cane Juice—
Components—Impurities. Mixtures, and Adulterations—Lime, Lead, Iron, Grit—The
Use of Albumen in Refining—Bad Qualities of Blood—Fungi and Sugar Lice—Detec­
tion of Impurities—Constitutional Effects ................................................ ...................... 415
IV. COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. No. lvij.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. General Position o f Chicago—Lake and Railways—Trans­
portation —Population and Valuation—Valuation for eighteen years—Number o f Peo­
ple since 1831— Railroad Expenditure in Illinois—Miles o f Railroad in Operation—
Aggregate centering in Chicago -Country Tributary—Grain Shipments and Prices—
Influence o f Russian War oil Prices and Receipts in Chicago—Effect o f Transporta­
tion—Earnings of Rail roads for 1857—Earnings of Corporations—Illinois Canal—Imports
and Exports o f Chicago by all R outes-G rain Received from all Points—Shipping and
Lake Trade—'Tonnage—Lumber Market— Western Pineries—Capital in Trade—Re­
ceipts—Lumber—Shipments Inland—Manufactures of Chicago -Capital—Hands Em­
ployed— Value—Effects of the Panic—City Improvements............................................. 420
V. SALT, SALT MINES, SALINES, ETC., IN THE UNITED STATES. Cession o f
Springs—Superintendent Appointed—Present Produce—Solar Evaporation—Yield per
Acre—Made by Fire—Duty on >alt—General White, Agent—Demand for Salt during
the War—New Lease—Salines of Kanawha—Wells Sunk -G a s Petroleum- Salt Rock
in Virginia—Large Supply of Salt—Importation of salt—Total Salt Home-made and
Imported—Onondaga Salines-Salt Lake—Island of St. Martin’s—Volcano Craters—
Canada vVest. By E. M e r i a m , ot Brooklyn, New Y ork .................................................... 430
V I. CIIIN A TRADE. Recent Events—Development of Intercourse —Area of China—Popu­
lation — Destiny — Land Tax — Rice—Horses — Characteristics—Government—Total
Taxes—Financial Difficulties—Opium Trade—Accumulation o f Wealth—Early Trade
witl) United States—Import of Tea—Exchange of Treaties, their Effect—Foreign Trade
of China—Internal Trade—Tonnage—Salt—Government P olicy-F u tu re Prosperity—
Imports and Exports of United States with China—Balance o f Trade—Influence o f
Gold upon Prices—China cotton—silks —Consumption of Cotton in China—Progress
o f Exports Thither—British Cotton Exports to Asia—Indian Cotton—Chinese Market
for Cottons—American Goods—Cotton Countries—Insurrection—Mode o f Collecting
Taxes—sycee Silver —Balance of Trade—Drain of Silver—Effect o f its Return........... 483
V II. THE BANKING AND CREDIT SYSTEMS. B y C h a r l e s II. C a r r o l l , Merchant, of
Boston, Massachusetts.....................................................................................................
443
V III QUARANTINE REFORM. By D r . A. N. B e l l , of Brooklyn, late P. A. Surgeon, U. S.
N avy............................................................................................................................................ 450

J O U R N A L OF M E R C A N T I L E LAW.
Application for Injunction....................................................................................................................... 455
False Pretense • ase.....................................
457
Jurisdiction—Executory Contract.—Liabilities o f Postm asters..................................................... 458

C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W .
General State of Finance—Crops Improving—Harvests Abroad—Low Prices for Food—Exports
o f Breadstuffs—Southern E xports-Cotton Value—Specie at New Orleans—Mint—Bank Re­
serve—Exchange— Bank Returns— Flow of Specie — Paris and London — Consumption of
Goods Abroad—Rate of Money—Balance of Trade—Exchange—Exports o f Specie—Com­
parative Receipts—The Central America—Character of Specie Exports—Abundance o f Coin—
Discount on silver—Redemption o f Money—Bank o f Mutual Redemption—Redemption in
Philadelphia..................................................................................................................................... 451) 466
V O L . X X X I X .----- N O . I V .




26

402

CO NTENTS

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

OF

PA G E

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

CURRENCY,

A ND F I N A N C E .

City "Weekly Bank Returns—Banks of New York, Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburg,
New Orleans, Providence....................................................................................................................
Finances of M exico..................................................................................................................................
Michigan Finances..................................................................................................................................
Finances of Memphis, Tennessee.—Debt of North Carolina.............................................................
Finances of the Ciiy o f New Orleans...................................................................................................
Valuation of Boston.—Valuation and Taxation in Roxbury.............................................................
Private Banks of Cincinnati.—The amount o f Specie in the United States...................................
Banks o f the State of New Y o rk ..........................................................................................................
Valuation of Property in St. Louis.—Finances of Portsmouth, New Hampshire..........................
New Usury Law of Canada.—Irish Encumbered Estates..................................................................
Banks of Missouri...................................................................................... .............................................
Finances of Portland, Maine. —Wealth and Resources of Mississippi..............................................
British Income Tax.— Wealth of Illinois....................................................... - ....................................

STATISTICS

OF T R A D E

AND

466
469
471
472
473
473
474
475
475
476
477
477
477

COMMERCE.

Apalachicola, Florida........................................................................................................
478
Commerce of New Orleans........................................................................................................................4el
Commerce of the Sandwich Islands.......................................................................................
483
Imports of W ool into Boston for the first half year.—Tobacco Trade o f Richmond, V irginia... 4r5
Exports of Cuba.—Consumption of Tobacco in France.................................................................... 486
General Statistics o f South American States........................................................................................ 487

COMMERCIAL

REGULATIONS.

Tariff o f Canada......................................
488
Crude Naptha, or Coal Oil.—Pecul o f Manilla..................................................................................... 492
Chinese Treaty.......................................................................................................................................... 493

NAUTICAL

INTELLIGENCE.

Port o f Liverpool, England.—Fixed Light at the Grau d’ Aigues Mortes—Mediterranean, France
Fixed Light on Billingsgate Island—Cape Cod, Massachusetts.........................................................
Lights at St. Holier—English Channel, Jersey.—Kokscheheren Lighthouse, Russia....................
Light at Port Zebu, Philippine Islands................................. . ..........................................................
Fixed Light off Lobos Island—South Atlantic, Rio de la Plata........................................................
Revolving Light on Cape Borda—Australia, South Coast.................................................................
Lights at the Delta of the Mississippi River, Louisiaua....................................................................
Fixed Light, varied by Flashes, at Sandy Point, Chesapeake Bay...................................................
Revolving Light on Cavoli Islet—Mediterranean, Sardinia...............................................................

JOURNAL

OF

494
495
495
496
496
496
497
497
497

INSURANCE.

Life Assurance.—Life Insurance Companies in the State of N ew Y o r k ......................................... 498
Massachusetts Insurance.......................................................................................................................... 499

POSTAL

DEPARTMENT.

United States Post-Office Appropriation.—Sandwich Islands Post-Office....................................... 501
English Dead-Letter Office.—Extension of the Atlantic Telegraph C a b l e ................................. 502
Chilian Post-O ffice................................................................................................................................... 503

RAILROAD,

CANAL, AND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S .

English Railways......................................................................................................................................
Railroad Accidents .................................................................................................................................
Cost and Management of English and American Railroads...............................................................
Cuban Railways.........................................
French Railroads.—Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad......................................................

JOURNAL

OF M I N I N G ,

MANUFACTURES,

AND

503
504
505
506
507

ART.

Estimates o f Coal A rea............................................................................................................
508
Lake Superior Copper Mines.—The new Method o f obtaining Silk.—Manufacture o f V elvets.. 512

STATISTICS

OF

AGRICULTURE,

&c.

Wheat Crop.— American Champagne.................................................................................................... 513
Wine-Making in Texas........... ............................................................................................................... 514
Agriculture in France.................................................................................................
515
New Inspection of Chigaco Spring Wheat.—Value o f Horses.—Hop Crop in New Y o r k ........... 516

STATISTICS

OF

POPULATION,

&c.

Emigration from State to State.............................................................................................................. 517
Population of Canary Islands.—City Population and V aluation...................................................... 518
Immigration............................................................................................................................................... 519

MERCANTILE

MISCELLANIES.

Money of the Ancients.............................................................................................................................
The Payment of D eb ts.................................................................................................................. . . . .
Navigation of the Polar S e a .................
The Pacific Ocean.—Pins and Needles.—Pussy on Shipboard......... ..............................................
Value of Slave Labor...............................................................................................................................
Origin of Brandy.—Shall we give or ask Credit?.................................................................................
Raising Sunken Vessels.—Tanneries.*..................................................................................................

THE

519
520
521
522
523
524
525

BOOK T R A D E .

Notices of new Books or new E d ition s..........................................................................................526-528




MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
OCTOBER,

1858.

Art. I.— MIGRATION FROM EUROPE TO UNITED STATES.
CHANGED

C O N D IT IO N T O

W H IT E

LA B O R — PEACE

L A B O R — P R O G R E S S O F E M A N C IP A T IO N — D E C L I N E
OF

E M I G R A N T S — D I S T IN C T I O N
U N IT E D

STATES

W IT H

IT S

BETW EEN

EFFECTS— V A LLE Y
GERMAN

FRANCE — T W O

H A V R E — T R A N S IT A C RO SS
U L A T IO N S — L A W

1815—

AND

OF T H E

B R IT IS H

M IG R A T I O N — E A R L Y T R A D E

F R E I G H T S ON P R O D U C E — C H A N G E

FR A N C E — G O V E R N M E N T M E A SU R E S— R IV A L R Y

OF PA SSE N G E R

O F S L A V E R Y — E X O D U S OF

R H I N E — C A R A V A N S — N U M B E R OF

OF

OF PO RTS— BREM EN R E G ­

S H IP S — P A S S E N G E R S FR O M FO U R P O R T S — T O T A L

T I O N — C O S T O F P A S S A G E — D E S T IN A T IO N

OF T H E

OF M O D E LS— T R A D E

G E R M A N M IG R A ­

O F E M I G R A N T S — C A U S E S O F M IG R A T I O N — G O V E R N M E N T

R E S T R A I N T S — D U C H Y O F B A D E N — C O S T O F M IG R A T I O N — C A SH C A R R I E D O U T — T O T A L M O N E Y M E A N S
— NORTH
M EANS
OF T H E
FROM

OF EUROPE — O T H E R

OF

C O U N T R IE S O F E U R O P E — I R E L A N D —

CAU SES OF IR IS H

D IS T R E S S -

M I G R A T I O N — R E D U C T I O N O F P O P U L A T IO N — R E M I T T A N C E S O F E M I G R A N T S — M E A S U R E S

E N G L IS H

G O V E R N M E N T — A C T OF

1847—

P O W E R S OF T H E C O M M IS S IO N — A N N U A L M IG R A T I O N

G R E A T B R IT A IN .

A p r o m i n e n t feature o f the present century has been the changed con­
dition of a large portion o f the human race in respect to labor. Half a
century since, slave colonial labor was considered the great source of
wealth to most European naions, while white labor was employed in war
making, or in peaceful pursuits restrained by mutual prohibition. Since
the establishment o f peace in 1815, black slavery in the colonies, and
serfdom in Europe, have gradually been abolished. The serfs of Germany
were early relieved from bondage, and in 1835 the slaves of the British
islands were emancipated.
In 1819, Sweden and Denmark purchased
the freedom of their blacks. In 1847, 60,000 serfs in Walachia were
enlarged. In March of the same year slavery was abolished in Egypt,
and Tunis followed the example. In 1848, the French provincial govern­
ment emancipated the blacks in the colonies; Holland has put a period
to slavery in Surinam; and the Brazils have recently suppressed the
trade. These movements have produced great changes in colonial pro­
ductions, but the great exodus o f Europeans to the New W orld has trans­
ferred wealth and changed the currents of trade to an immense extent.
On the establishment of peace in 1815, the attention of the people of




404

M igration fro m E u rope to United States.

Europe was turned towards that new world o f which they had heard, and
which was as free from political oppression as from the devastations of
war and military exactions. The people o f the Rhine Valley, which had
so much suffered, were the foremost in the movement, and considerable
caravans proceeded to the seaports to take passage for America. This
movement gradually increased, and was simultaneous with a similar out­
ward current from the British Islands to the same destination. From
2,000 to 3,000 per annum in the early years of the century, the combined
movement was estimated to have reached 600,000 souls in 1853, the
year of the largest movement. In order to gather some distinct idea of
the vast operation, it is necessary to consider separately that which re­
gards the European continent and that of the British Islands. The former
has again some distinct features, since the migration from the Rhine Val­
ley is different from the less numerous passengers from other European
countries.
Prior to the development o f this movement, the United States trade
with Europe suffered some inconveniences, since the raw products of this
country going abroad, gave bulky freights to a large tonnage, which had
no adequate return freights, and, as a consequence, the produce was
charged two freights, to make the voyage pay. The elegant and taper
models of the American ships, which had excited such admiration during
the war, were changed to more burdensome shapes, that stowed more
cotton going out, and left room for better passenger accommodation on
the return. This change o f models to meet the wants o f a new trade,
marks the facile character of American enterprise; and it was renewed
on the occasion of the discovery of the gold countries, which called for
the fleet qualities of the “ clipper ships,” when models were again changed.
The port of Havre, in France, was that which most favored the emigrants.
The largest number of cotton ships went thither, and these afforded the
best return accommodations for the emigrants. Accordingly, from 1818
to 1836, the number of Germans who crossed France to take passage
ranged from 18,000 to 20,000 per annum. A large portion of these were
poor people, driven from home by misery, and all sought to cheapen the
cost of passage to the utmost. The French government of the restora­
tion was soon alarmed, and sought to suppress what it supposed a tide of
foreign pauperism through its territory. It ordered, accordingly, that no
immigrant should be allowed to cross France without having previously
paid to the agent of the vessel the price t>f a passage to New York or
New Orleans. He must also have justified in the possession o f $150 for
each individual over 18 years, and in half the sum for those under that
age, and must also have had his passport countersigned by the French
ambassador at Frankfort. The effect of these regulations was to turn tho
current from the direction of Havre down the Rhine, to Antwerp, Bremen,
and Hamburg. Since then the current o f migration has been divided,
and a great rivalry for the possession of the business has sprung up be­
tween the four ports named. These passengers to be obtained at these
ports have attracted shipping, and, reciprocally, the facility o f passage has
attracted passengers. The German ports have greatly increased their
trade, while Havre has never recovered its passenger ‘p restige, although
it procured the modification o f the obnoxious regulation which had so
greatly injured it.
The authorities at Bremen were the first to avail themselves of the




405

M igration fro m E u rop e to United States.

errors of the French government. In 1849, a law subjected emigrant
ships to regulation. The height between decks, the thickness of plank,
the room for each passenger, the quantity and quality of food allowed,
■were all prescribed, and obligations are imposed upon the vessels to in­
sure, in case of shipwreck, the transportation of the passengers to the
place o f destination. The passengers to be admitted on board only when
the vessel is quite ready, and, to facilitate the sojourn o f the emigrants
on land, an immense building, capable o f lodging 2,000 persons at once,
was constructed at Bremerkaven, with every convenience, including hos­
pital. The charge is 15 cents per day, lodging and board. For 36 cents
per day they get lodging on a good bed, coffee with milk and sugar, white
bread for breakfast, soup, meat, and vegetables at noon, and a suitable
supper. All runners, and all interference with emigrants, is strictly for­
bidden, and every means taken to make Bremen attractive to emigrants,
even to gratuitous counsel in case o f dispute with the vessels or agents,
or other parties. By these means Bremen has obtained a large share of
the trade. Hamburg has not made the same efforts, although lately so­
cieties have been formed for the protection o f emigrants, and the govern­
ment has opened an office to furnish the emigrant with proper informa­
tion, and to protect them against imposition on both sides the water.
W e may now see the effect o f these changes upon the number of emi­
grants that left each port in several years:—Tears.

Havre.

Antwerp.

Bremen.

1846 ................
1847 ................
1852...................
1857...................

82,381
59,474
72,325
24,825

4,434
14,717
14,369
13,150

32,372
33,682
58,551
49,449

Hamburg.

4.857
7,628
21,916
31,556

Total.

74,044
115,501
167,161
118,990

The emigration movement seems to change from year to year.
total from Germany has been as follows for the hist ten years:—
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852

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

81,895
89,102
82,404
112,547
162,301

1853.
i 1854.
I1855.
|1856.
! 1857.

T o t a l....................................................................................................
Average per annum............................................................................

The

162,568
203,537
84,761
88,983
118,990
1,187,088
118,708

About a third o f the Germans embark in the German ports. The cost
o f transit from the Bhine Valley is about the same to Havre or to the
German ports, where they find more facility from community of language,
and where they go on board o f government vessels. In Havre they take
American vessels, and on going aboard they regard the new country in
some sort already attained. The transit over France is further greatly
facilitated by the agents of the emigrant ships. It is also the case that
the American ships generally are larger, and afford more space per head
to the passengers than do the German vessels. The destination of nearly
all the passengers from all the ports is for the United States, and at New
York they mostly disembark, only in a majority o f cases to continue their
route to the West, their final homes.
In the reports of the different societies for the protection of the emi­
grants, many attempts are made to explain the causes o f the great na­
tional movement. The German, say they, is a persevering worker; he
wishes to ameliorate his condition. He is always to carry his labor to




406

M igration fro m E urope to United Slates.

the best market, and certain professions have been exercised by Germany
in all countries since a long time. They also seek in historical origins
the causes of the movement, in ascribing it to Anglo-Saxon affinities, of
which the race seems to claim half the world henceforth as its domain.
No doubt these are among the causes, but there are others. The princi­
pal reason why the United States are selected for future homes, is evidently
the hope of enjoying civil, political, and religious liberty ; and it has been
since the spread of communism in Germany that the movement has in­
creased, and those views are entertained to a considerable extent among
the German emigrants in the United States. They exercise their liberties
here to their fullest extent. I f they seek freedom from military service,
they are ever ready to bear a just proportion of the public expense. They
find here the freedom o f individual employment, not interfered with by
trade corporations. They are also able freely to dispose of the fruits of
that labor. Finally, they seek and obtain here that which their native
country denies them.
It was not to be expected but that so important a movement should
attract the attention o f those governments whose losses by it in citizens
and capital were the most conspicuous, and a number of attempts have
been made to arrest it. There were attempts made to found agricultural
colonies, particularly in Prussia, where the government offered lands in
the Grand Duchy of Posen, and emissaries were sent to the borders of
the Rhine, to induce emigrants to accept the terms, which were too oner­
ous to be attractive to people who had choice o f land and perfect liberty
before them. In Bavaria, a monopoly of the right to contract with emi­
grants for a passage over France is given to two houses only. This is
evaded by clandestine migration.
In the Netherlands, Baden, and the
two Hesses, the rulers are less rigorous, but passports are there not given
until every means short of force has been used to deter the emigrant from
his purpose, and finally the emigrant is required to renounce all rights of
citizenship and nationality. There are other measures for the protection
o f the emigrant, for which purpose societies receive great encouragement,
and when destitution is the cause o f the departure, the local governments
assist by money. In this case, however, a strict renunciation of all future
claim to aid is required. It is sorrowful to contemplate to whai extent
destitution operates as a cause o f departure along the fruitful valley of
the Rhine. After having been oppressed by feudal tyranny, it has, in
modern times, been the theater of almost continual wars, until it recalls
almost the misery o f Ireland. In the Duchy o f Baden the pay of a day’s
labor is 36 kreutzers, (28 cents,) which enables the worker to live when
the crops are abundant, but is quite insufficient when the failure of the
harvests causes food to rise. This was the case in 1846, followed by the
potato disease and the insurrection of 1847. These causes gave a great
impetus to migration. Out o f a population of 1,336,943 souls, 14,400
emigrated in 1852. When the emigrants have the means of migrating,
bands o f families congregate from different points and proceed together;
when they are aided by the government, all those belonging to one can­
ton go together. The political exiles are few, but among them are men
of wealth, who have formed large establishments in America.
The expense o f migration from the old to the new home is computed
at S I00 per head ; but the sums transported are much more important.
In 1854, it was ascertained at Bremen that 8,908 individuals from the




M igration fro m E urope to United States.

407

Palatinate carried 2,024,000 florins. Other returns show that the average
is over $100 per head in excess o f the cost of voyage. Germany has,
therefore, sent away in ten years 1,187,088 people, and $160,000,000.
It is the same as if she had armed, equipped, furnished, and lost an army
o f I 18,000 every year for ten years.
The people of the North o f Europe do not migrate to a great extent.
A few go to Canada, but the movement is not important. Holland sends
away some 1,000 to 1,200 per annum, and the cause is mostly a religious
one, and rather singularly Mormonism has lately found recruits there.
The Spanish and Italians do not migrate in any great numbers, except
moderately to the South American countries. The attachment o f the
French to their native soil is far too marked to permit migration to any
considerable extent, and Algiers attracts most of the enterprising.
The migration from Ireland has been the most important o f all. In
forty-three years, the number which left Great Britain was 4,6 3,894
souls. Of these, 1,220,102 left in the last five years; 1,543,176 in the
previous five years; making 2,753,278 in the last ten years— an average
o f 275,327 per annum. The original incomplete conquest of Ireland,
followed by the religious persecution from Henry VIII. to George III.,
the economical condition of Ireland constantly deteriorated, and misery
made rapid progress. The 1 tndholders became involved in debt, and the
subdivisions of the land multiplied as fast as the people, which was in a
proportion as great as of the pigs, with which they lived in common.
The people had come to depend mostly upon the potato for food, and the
appearance of the rot in that crop put the climax to the institution. The
unconquered Celts chose to abandon the country they had so long held,
and the means were furnished to a great extent from the earnings o f those
who had gone before to America. The movement towards England had
become so great in 1840, that the city o f Liverpool paid the passages of
the Irish back to their island, and the same steamer brought back the
same individuals, who thus derived a support during the passage. The
current increased by the clearing of the estates, and when the famine
broke out in 1847, the efforts o f all parties interested were redoubled to
free that country from the starving poor. The sums sent from the United
States, by the laboring friends o f the emigiant, were reported officially
at $2,300,000 in 1848; $2,700,000 in 1S4'»; $4,964,000 in 1850;
$5,000,000in 1851 ; $7,200,000in 1852; $7,350,000in 1853; $8,310,000
in 1854; and the amount for 1857 was $2,500,000; and these do not
comprise the whole. The census o f 1851 disclosed the fact that famine
and migration had reduced the population from 8,100,000, in 1840, to
6,400,000, in 1851.
With the discoveries of gold in California and
Australia, came a new incentive to migration, but the diminution o f
numbers at home gradually produced a check. The supply of laborers
was evidently diminished, and the Russian war demonstrated the scarcity
of men. The English government aroused itself to action, and its first
great measure was to throw the support of the poor upon the parishes;
and as the tax for that purpose became out of proportion to the revenues
of the encumbered land, a sale o f encumbered estates was authorized.
These measures have been very successful for the improvement o f the
condition of the country; capital has entered into the cultivation of Ire­
land ; but, at the same time, the desire to purge the land by emigration
of an encumbering population has continued to act. When the gold dis-




408

M igration fro m E urope to United States.

coveries of Australia gave a new impulse to the movement, the act o f
27th November, 1847, which had erected the Commission of Emigration,
was amended by conferring new powers for the sale of lands belonging
to the crown in the colonies, and for the surveillance o f the emigration
of poor families for the colonies. The act also lays down minute regula­
tions for the passenger ships, which are subjected to the control of the
Commission under the law. The space allowed each passenger for a voy­
age to America is twelve feet, and when the tropics are crossed fifteen
feet. The regulations in relation to provisions are minute and satisfactory.
To give effect to the powers of the Commission, its funds are drawn from
the sale of the colonial lands. It derived in one year from the province
of Victoria $3,500,000. These funds enable it to aid the emigrants by
gratuitous passages, where the means are otherwise wanting. T his Com­
mission is supported by emigrant societies, not only in the United States
but in Australia. The Commissioners are enabled to keep the public in­
formed of the state o f the labor market, and the peculiar advantages
offered to the adventurer. The migration of the British Islands has been
as follow s:—
E M IG R A T IO N

Years.
1825...............
1826...............
1827...............
1828...............
1829...............
1830...............
1831...............
1832...............
1833...............
1834...............
1835...............
1836...............
1837...............
1838...............
1839...............
1840...............
1S41...............
1842...............
1843...............
1844...............
1845...............
1846...............
1847...............
1848...............
1849...............
1850...............
1861...............
1852...............
1853...............
1864...............
1855...............
1856...............
1857...............
Total




FROM

G R E A T B R I T A IN .

To
North American
To
colonies.
United States.

8,741
12,818
12,648
13,307
30,574
58,067
66,339
28,808
40,060
15.573

12,658
54,123

21,001

5,551
7,063
14,526
12,817
15,678
24,887
23,418
32,872
29,109
38,074
26,720
37,774
36,770
14,332
33,536
40,642
45,017
63,852
28,335
43,660
58,538
82,239
142,154
188,233
219,450
223,078
267,357
244,261
230,885
193,065
108,414
127,000
126,905
2,786,212

To Australian
colonies and
New Zealand.

485
903
715
1,056
2,016
1,242
1,561
3,783
4,093
2,800
1,860
3,124
5,054
14,021
15,786
15,850
32,625
8,534
3,478
2,229
830
2,347
4,949
23,904
32,191
16,037
21,532
87,881
61,401
83,237
52,309
33,000
61,248

To all
other places.

114
116
114
135
197
204
114
196
517
288
325
293
326
292
227
1,958
2,786
1,835
1,881
1,873
2,330
1,826
1,487
4,887
6,490
8,773
4,472
3,749
3,129
3,366
8,118
2,443
3,721

Total.

14,891
20,900
28,003
26,092
31,198
56.907
83,160
103,140
62,527
76,222
44,478
75,417
72,034
33,222
62,207
90,743
118,592
128,344
57,212
70,686
93,601
129,851
258,270
248,089
299,498
280,849
333,966
368,764
329,937
323,429
176,807
176,554
212,875
4 ,5 0 8 ,2 9 6

409,

Migration from iJjuTt’p c to United States.

The migration from Germany and from Great Britain for the last twelve
years compare as follows : —
Years.

Germany.

Germany.

G. Britain.

1846 ...................
1847.....................
1848.....................
1849.....................
1850....................
1851....................

74,044
115,501
81,891
89,102
82,404
112,507

129,851
258,270
248,089
299,498
280,849
835,966

1852 ...............
1853..................
1854.................. .
1855..................
1856..................
1857..................

102,801
162,568
203,537
84,761
88,983.
118,990

868,764
329,937
323,929
176,801
176,554
212,874

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

555,449

1,552,523

Total......... .

822,007

1,588,860

G. Britain. Years.

The propor tion of Germ ans who migrated iu the first six years was
about one-third of those from Great Britain and this has risen to one-half
in the last six years. W e may now take from the official annual tables
the whole number of immigrants that have arrived in the United States
from each country in the last thirty-seven years:—
N U M B E R OF A L IE N S A R R I V E D IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S F R O M E A C H C O U N T R Y .

1820

1816

1846

1851

to

to

to

1815.

1845.

1850.

1855.

21,595
50,304
5,658
347
108,362

10,327
29,430
680
115
405,481

23.618
138,892
3,221
1,154
613,597

151,952
629,304
25,000
3,166
221,242

Great Britain.. 186,266
France ............
26,638
3,565
Spain .............
Portugal.........
891
Belgium...........
33
Prussia.............
433
Germany..........
52,868
H o lla n d .........
1,757
Denmark........
467
Swed. it N orw .
509
Poland............
164
Russia..............
325
T u rk e y ...........
23
Switzerland . .
6,020
Greece ............
29
Italy, Malta,Ac.
2,339
E u ro p e ...........
2
Brit. America..
6,677
South America.
1,004
Cent. America.
147
M exico............
9,033
West Indies . .
9,528
A s ia ................
46
Africa &Auet’a
646
All other..........

446,033
51,488
2,232
202
1,008
13.321
198,729
2,631
959
5,521
810
263
31
6,155
50
1,136
48
20,735
918
38
4,232
12,115
50
174

780,482
63,588
1,168
466
4,083
2,771
326,667
6,402
365
9,168
21
329
33
1,547
6
1,200
3
30,421
3,055
334
1,423
8,184
49
326

930,664 51.343,445
57,020 188,734
4,301
11,251
2,049
490
6,991
1,867
35,995
19,450
627,823 11,206,087
17,583
6,793
3,059
1,268
29,141
14.253
1,318
823
938
21
123
86
18,349
31,071
108
23
8,345
3,670
526
473
91,699
83,866
5,440
463
640
121
15,969
1,281
36,317
5,490
16,838
16,693
2,120
1,074

to
England...........
Ireland.............
Scotland.........
W a le s .............
U . Kingdom. . .

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

309,330

....

Total,
35 years.
207,492
747,930
34,559
4,782
I.,848,682

....

767,359 1,232,076 1,746,802 ■!,055,087

1856.

1857.

25,904
54,349
6,297
1,126
14,331
101,207
7,246
1,982
7,221
68,308
1,395

111,836
2,397

91,781

1,157

.. .•
1,780

6,493

1,337
4,733
18,609

47,633

200,436

271,316

This number is very large, and it is curious to test the accuracy by the
numbers reported by the census of the United States in 1850, as those
living in the United States and born elsewhere. To do this, we take
from the above table the numbers reported to have arrived up to 1850,
and compare them with the numbers reported here by census, as follows:




410

Commercial Colleges: their Nature and Object.
Arrived to

1850.
Ireland..........
England . . . .

218,626
9,559

Wales............
United Kingd om.
T ota l......... . . .
Germany . . .
Prussia..........

1,127,440
1,412,751
ia i 7i4
578/264
16,545

In U. States
per census,

1850.
961,719 Switzerland........
278,675 H olland.............
70,550
29,868 Portugal.............
S p a in .................
Swed’n &Norw’y
1,340,812 M ex ico...............
64,069
573,225
Total...............
10,549

Arrived to

In IT. States
per census,

1850.

18-50.

12,722
10,790
5,124
1,559
6,950
14,888
14,688

13,358
9,848
1,313
1,274
3,113
16,237
13,317

2,309,785

2,240,535

These tables give the greatest degree o f accuracy, corroborating each
other in a marked manner, and speaking well for the longevity o f the
immigrants; since, in the aggregate o f 2,309,785 persons who arrived
from 1820 to 1850, 2,240,535 were living in the latter year, showing a
loss of but 69,250 persons. In the returns for the United Kingdom the
larger proportion of the arrivals are not designated as to which kingdom
they belong, but the census analyzes the return with remarkable precision
as to the aggregate. The number o f persons arrived from France includes
many who were not born there, and it is probable that more French than
o f any other nation have returned home.
Of all the foreigners in the United States, more than one-half are in
New York and Pennsylvania.
Three-fourths of the remainder are in
Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin. One-third of all the Iris'll
are in New York ; another third is in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania,
and the remainder distributed through the Union.
One-third of the
English are also in New York. The majority of the Germans are in the
Western States—one-fifth of the whole number being in Ohio. It is to
be observed, however, that since these figures for the census of 1850, the
numbers who have arrived have nearly doubled, and it is probable that
they have settled in nearly the same ratio. The number of Irish in New
York in 1855 was 469,753, an increase o f 126,000 in five years.
In the last two years there has been some check to the movement, but
it is not to be supposed but that, with the return o f prosperity in the
United States, the stream will be renewed with greater vigor, transferring
men and wealth to the United States in a larger ratio than ever.

Art. II.— C0ADIERCIA1 COLIEGES— TIIEIR NATURE AND OBJECT.
“ C o m m e r c e is King,” very truthfully remarks Thomas Carlyle, and
this “ ipse dixit” will apply much more pertinently now than ever before.
To it England owes all that she confessedly possesses— wealth, power,
dominion, and influence. “ There needs no ghost come from the grave”
to presage for us, the lineal descendants o f such busy, enterprising, and
money-making Saxons, a similar destiny.
The world’s history can produce no instance o f so young and inex­
perienced a nation embarking in a commercial career with such hot and
eager haste, and pursuing it with such determined, and even engrossing,
persistence. The close and steadfast prosecution of our material interests,




Com m ercial C olleges: their N ature and Object.

411

which unquestionably stamps our national character, has already rendered
us in the world’s estimation obnoxious to reproach.
W e are even at
this early day stigmatized as universal “ worshipers o f the almighty
dollar.”
“ The United States,” sneeringly remarks one exalted in the world’s
regard, “ is but one extended counter from Maine to Texas.” Granted ;
and it is the surest guaranty o f a prosperous future. W e would not have
it otherwise. The glaring faults which are now— it may be even offen­
sively— patent to the world, will bring with advancing age their own cor­
rection. They are but the accidents of our anomalous conditions, and
are engendered by the remarkable combination of circumstances which
have thus far environed us; they are but the offspring of the bounding
pulse and elastic spirits o f an impetuous and exuberant boyhood.
It needs but a hasty survey o f our geographical position, as related
both to this and the other hemisphere, of the physical conformation of
our country, with its varied climates, its extended seaboard, its expansive
lakes, broad-rolling rivers, and exhaustless mineral and agricultural wealth,
to establish beyond peradvent.ure the “ manifest destiny” of this Con­
federacy, as well as the character o f the people who are to rule it.
Whether the amazing prosperity which is in store for us will prove a
blessing or a curse, is the problem to be solved, since it will depend en­
tirely on our education, and the objects of national ambition. A full
and continued flush of success may sober or may madden us, and the
most obvious safeguard against the latter result is, thorough and judicious
popular education.
The more carefully you prepare business men— with whom in great
measure the future of the country rests— for the lives they are to pursue,
the more you enlarge their views, moderate their desires, rectify their
aims, and insure their reasonable success. The dangerous proclivity ex­
hibited by American youth to rush too rashly, and without due prepara­
tion, into the varied and hazardous walks of commerce, is one of the cry­
ing evils of the day. It has become in most quarters an absolute epidemic.
Agriculture, manufactures, and the mechanic arts have been too much
and too long neglected. The tendency with us now is to congregate in
towns and cities, and to throng the avenues to wealth and honor, which
are already overcrowded. This propensity is far from healthful, and leads
to wide-spread distress and the most poignant disappointment. Gross
ignorance and inexperience are every day yielding terribly bitter and ex­
pensive lessons, and most of the lamentable failures which attend Ameri­
can mercantile life, and which careful statisticians have computed equal to
over 90 per cent o f those who embark in business, are directly attribut­
able to shameful mismanagement and ignorance o f business, as well as to
an absence of commercial experience and discipline.
A faulty, or rather no, system in bookkeeping has absolutely ruined a
larger proportion o f our industrious and pains-taking merchants than
would generally be credited by those having no access to reliable records.
Of slovenly business habits, they neither know what they themselves are
doing, nor what those with whom their nearest interests are entrusted
m aybe undoing. . The disheartening results arising from causes so pal­
pable demand radical reform. They are a sad, but very significant, com­
mentary on the deficient commercial education of the times, and plead
potently for correction.




412

Com m ercial Colleges: their N ature and Object,

It may be esteemed a truth, and one which both individual experience
and trustworthy statistics will confirm, that there is no royal road to suc­
cess in business life. There, as in all other departments of industry, the
most ample and enduring rewards are to the laborious, the methodical,
and the persevering. In legitimate business, luck, which in speculation
may serve to do or undo, should never be relied on. It lures but to de­
ceive. Its effects are illusory and not substantial. The cases wherein it
has led on to fortune are exceptional ones, and only serve to prove the
general rule. The most solid, stable, and firmly-based prosperity is the
direct result of fiscal and regular laws, which will no more suffer violence
than will those of astronomy. In America there is no law o f primogeni­
ture, little- entailed property, and fortunes change with our weather, and
rise and fall with our streams. Here, more than anywhere else on earth,
experience would seem to give the lie to regular system, to logical se­
quence, and ploding method ; but observe more closely, penetrate more
deenly, and take a wider scope of men and things, and our assertion
stands confessed.
The obvious want o f the age and the country is a more careful and
efficient system, by which the youthful aspirants for commercial honor
and reputation may be more suitably prepared to enter the crowded
arena of business, where so many hazards and vicissitudes beset them,
and where they must encounter sharp competition, shrewd rivals, and ex­
perienced opposition. They must acquire a thorough acquaintance with
the tools they are to employ before they can carve out for themselves
fortunes. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
and to succeed in business there needs more than mere desire and indus­
try. Resolution, knowledge, prudence, experience, calculation, and regular
method are all required.
As a most powerful means to these ends, we know nothing at all com­
parable to commercial colleges.
They are peculiar institutions, which
have sprung but lately into vigorous life in response to a general and
widely-felt want. They are the realization of a notable aspect in popular
education, and are growing daily in the public regard. No matter, how­
ever, how perfect and efficient they may be, they cannot, no more than
can schools of law, medicine, and divinity, insure the success of those
they prepare for their respective callings. They are only but potent auxili­
aries, instrumental in affording that preliminary and elementary knowledge
and discipline which enables its possessors to occupy strong vantage ground
in the keen and hotly contested struggle for name and place. The learned
professors can make no more numerous or more pressing requisitions on
their members than do the multiplied and diversified departments of com­
merce on theirs. Business, as much as professional, men must be taught
to reason, reflect, calculate, and discriminate. They require as much
varied and useful knowledge ; they must become experienced in forms,
and in commercial law and usages; they must become accustomed to
method, to effective system, and must learn to deal iu hard and shrewd
common sense.
W ith commercial schools, as with institutions in kindred departments
o f knowledge, they are made the more efficient and fruitful in good re­
sults, in proportion as they become a speciality. They are now but in
their infancy, and have scarcely received that attention and support from
the public which their great importance demands, but they are rapidly and




Com m ercial C olleges: their N ature and Object.

413

manifestly growing in popular regard and patronage. Their progress to­
wards perfection and augmented utility must be, pari passu, with the
amount of patronage they receive, and the amount they deserve. Since
so large a proportion o f our youth select mercantile occupations for a
livelihood, that branch of popular education should possess its halls of
learning and practice, its cultivated and experienced professors, its regular
courses of instruction, and its diplomas and degrees of dignity'.
The practical benefits which they can render society will of course de­
pend upon the extent and thoroughness o f the education they impart,
and that again will depend on the measure of encouragement they obtain
from society, and upon the elevation of the popular standard of mercan­
tile education. It has been well said by a distinquished New York ac­
countant, that the young man who acquires a careful education through
the medium o f a good commercial college, will find himself in possession
o f a science which he can apply under all possible circumstances, and
which will make him as much the superior of him who is obliged, as an
apprentice, to pick up his knowledge through a series of years and by
costly and varied experience, as the educated engineer is to the ordinary
mechanic.
Commerce is King with us also, and the race o f accomplished and
highly-educated merchants is steadily increasing in this country. Boston,
Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, and other large trade-centers, fur­
nish as noble commercial exemplars as any country can boast. Manchester,
Liverpool, and Birmingham give laws to England, and our country must
also depend for its prosperity and its statesmanship on its business men.
In our Congress and State Legislatures an admixture of purely business
men with purely professional men works good to the country, and in fur­
nishing it with those who are hereafter to dignify their various callings,
and shed luster on their country, these elementary institutions become
valuable adjuvants.
A t present, we are to deal with commercial colleges as they now exist,
in order to demonstrate what that they might and ought to be, alter they
have received the fostering care of the public. It would be useless, and
indeed impossible, to give a detailed account of all which now flourish
in* various parts of our country, and all of which resemble each other in
their prominent features. Obviously, the course and character of the
studies prescribed will vary with the peculiar needs of each locality— thus,
those on the seaboard will require branches o f preparation entirely diverse
from those of inland institutions, and vice versa. Those now most prom­
inent are situated at Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, St.
Louis, and Pittsburg. E x uno disce omnes, and a more particular account
o f the “ Iron City Commercial College,” o f Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, with
which we are more intimately acquainted than with any other, and which
we believe to be the largest, most flourishing, and most completely or­
ganized in the country', will serve to familiarize the reader with the scope
and general features of the whole class.
The “ Iron City College” is a legally chartered institution, possessing
power to graduate its students with regular diplomas. The whole num­
ber of students, regular and eclectic, entering during the last two years,
rises one thousand, o f which there have been in attendance at one and
the same time not less than three hundred. The whole number has been
gathered from all parts of the country, more than half coming from States




414

Com m ercial Colleges: their N ature and Object.

outside of Pennsylvania— Canada, Florida, Texas, Kansas, Georgia, Maine,
and, in brief, two thirds o f the States being more or less largely repre­
sented. The whole number of professors, tutors, and regular lecturers em­
ployed is fourteen, besides, during the year’s course, at least forty others
selected to deliver addresses to the students on special subjects connected
with their pursuits.
The course prescribed embraces almost every branch of commercial
elementary knowledge which is necessary to thoroughly prepare a student
for any business in which he may desire to embark. The principal studies
are bookkeeping, of most approved methods, and as applied in mer­
chandising, banking, railroading, steamboating, and every customary form
of business; mathematics, penmanship, plain and ornamental, bank-note
engraving, and detecting of counterfeit money, mercantile law forms and
usages, languages, etc. Auxiliary to these regular divisions, two daily
lectures are delivered— an attendance on which is made obligatory on
every student— on various important subjects, as theory and practice o f
accounts, exchange, foreign and domestic, partnership settlements, appli­
cation of bookkeeping to the several branches of trade, political economy,
financial practice, commercial law, banking and counterfeit detecting,
mercantile correspondence, etc., etc.
The actual and effective value o f a commercial school education should
and will mainly depend on the standard of knowledge and practice re­
solved on, upon the practical nature and extent of the course of study
prescribed, and upon the fidelity and thoroughness with which it is car­
ried out; and herein, we are o f opinion, consists a peculiar merit of the
college in question. There is, of necessity, for those who can enter but
for a limited period, or who desire to prosecute only a particular branch
of preparation, an eclectic course, wherein certain studies only, or such
as are outside of the regular routine, are pursued. For such, special and
individual arrangements are made, but to them the graduation diplomas
cannot be awarded. Such as are “ regulars,” are required not only to
prosecute to the end the prescribed course, but to attend on all the lec­
tures, regular and special, and to stand frequent and satisfactory examina­
tions, which are rigidly and critically conducted, not only to test the
students general knowledge, but more particularly to measure his ability
and readiness to apply in practice what he has gathered by theory.
Nothing but the most complete efficiency, regardless of the time expended,
can procure the college diploma.
The time required to complete the full course must obviously depend
on the student's previous proficiency, on his aptitude and diligence, and
on the assiduity with which he prosecutes his studies. Those who are
reasonably quick, who come well grounded in the elementary branches of
a good English education, and who apply themselves during both day and
night sessions, can receive the degree of the institute in from ten to fifteen
weeks. There are no vacations; students may enter when they please,
and pursue their studies as rapidly as they can, no one being retarded by
being allied to a sluggish or an incompetent companion or class. W hile
those who possess the leisure or the inclination to remain longer than the
period usually found sufficient, in order the better to perfect themselves,
or to enlarge their practical knowledge, are encouraged to do so ; those
likewise, who are found unfitted to receive their degree, must do so. It
is manifestly as much the interest, as it should be the desire, of a mercan-




Garblings ; or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

415

tile college to have young men abide with them until they graduate with
such honor as may prove them a credit to their Alma Mater.
There is one desirable feature o f the “ Iron City College”— and one
that we believe peculiar to it, which we must not pass unnoticed— it
makes itself an express and a very efficient agent in procuring situations
and occupations for such as it qualifies to hold them. The great demand
which exists for its graduates, and the high salaries which they command,
are the best possible guaranties o f the practical and business value o f
those whom it recommends.
The cost of a full regular course at this institute, including expenses o f
residence while in attendance, is so moderate— less than a hundred dol­
lars— as to make it accessible to persons o f limited means. Four large
hails are at present employed, but the management design shortly to en­
large their accommodations, since no less than Jive hundred scholars are
expected to be in attendance during the coming winter. The college is
under charge of Professor F. W . Jenkins, a gentlemen of large experience
and varied accomplishments, as well as an excellent disciplinarian. He is
assisted by an able corps of professors and tutors, who have acquired
much skill and experience in imparting instruction.
Of course, the system of commercial education is by no means yet con­
sidered perfected, and the management o f the “ Iron City College,” as
well, doubtless, those of other similar institutions, have it in contem­
plation to add from time to time such features as experience may suggest,
or the needs of a more thorough and efficient education may demand. It
seems to us, therefore, judging from what they have done, are doing, and
will yet do, that as a class they are eminently worthy of public attention
and patronage.

A r t . III.— GARBLINGS: Oil, COMMERCIAL COMMODITIES CHARACTERIZED.
N U M B ER X .*

SUGARS.
O R I G IN

AND

H IS T O R Y — D I F F E R E N T T Y P E S , C A N E A N D G R A P E — S U G A R C A N E

O F T H E U N IT E D ST A TE S—

D I F F E R E N T S P E C IE S O F C A N E — C H A R A C T E R A N D P R O P E R T IE S O F R A W S U G A R — W H I T E S U G A R , H O W
P R O D U C E D — G R A P E S U G A R — D IS T IN C T I O N A N D T E S T S — D IA S T A S E — D E X T R I N E - S O R G H U M -S A C C H A R A T U M — D IF F IC U L T IE S A T T E N D IN G

T I I E P R O D U C T IO N O F C R Y S T A L I Z A B L E S U G A R F R O M I T — Q U A L IT I E S

O F 8 A C C II A R IN E J U IC E — IS O M E R IC P R O P E R T IE S O F C A N E J U IC E — C O M P O N E N T S — I M P U R I T I E S , M IX T U R E S ,
A N D A D U L T E R A T IO N S — L I M E , L E A D , I R O N , G R I T — T H E U S E O F A L B U M E N I N R E F IN IN G — B A D Q U A L I ­
T IE S O F B L O O D — F U N G I A N D S U G A R L I C E — D E T E C T I O N O F I M P U R I T I E S — C O N S T I T U T I O N A L E F F E C T S .

T he word sugar is derived from the Sanscrit, Sa-kar, w’hich signifies
white earth. In China and Hindostan, sugar has been known from time
immemorial. The ancient Greeks were also acquainted with it, and
Diascorides informs us that it was obtained from reeds growing in India
and Egypt. Sugar was not much used in Europe, however, until after
* For No. I, seo Merchants' Magazine for July, 1857, (volume xxxvii., pp. 19-23 ;) for No. 2, see
same for August, (pp. 166—171 ;) for No. 3, see same for September, (pp. 298-303 ;) for No. 4, see
same for November, (pp. 542-554;) for No. 5, see same for January, 1858, (volume x x x v iii, pp.
43-50 ;) for No. 6, see same for February, (pp 175—1S3;) for No. 7, see same for March, (pp. st92-302;)
for No. 8, see same for August, (vol. xxxix., pp. 104-175;) for No. 9, see same for September, (pp.




416

G arhlings, or, Com m ercial Commodities C haracterized:

the discovery of America, and the transplantation of the sngar-cane in
the West Indies. Yet sugar, in all respects identical with that from the
cane, exists in, and may be obtained from, a great variety of other plants
which possess no botanical relations. And in countries where the sugar­
cane is not acclimatable, sugar is obtained from such other indigenous
plants as are known to contain it. Beets, grapes, melons, sweet-potatoes,
turnips, carrots, maples, birch, palms, cocoanut trees, pine apples, mangos,
sabadillos, oranges, bananas, and many other plants, furnish sugar. The
sugar obtained from all these various sources is perfectly identical in com­
position ; nevertheless, very different in properties— a character o f natural
products which has already been pointed out under the head o f distilled
liquors.
Sugar, as thus constituted, may be divided into two grand types— cane
and grape, both alike consisting of twelve equivalents o f carbon and
eleven each of hydrogen and oxygen. But grape-sugar combines with
it the necessary amount of water— one equivalent— to convert it into
alcohol and carbonic acid by the process of fermentation. Hence, the
fermentation of cane-sugar, in order to give the same results, requires the
addition of a corresponding proportion o f water. The alcohol and car­
bonic acid produced by the fermentation of grape-sugar, or cane-sugar
with an additional equivalent of water, exactly equals in weight the
amount of sugar employed.
The sugar-cane of the United States, saccharum officinarum, belongs to
the gramnacese or cereal family o f plants, and is too well known to require
particular description. In other parts of the world different species of
the same class of plants are cultivated. Of such are the Saccharum
Sinense of China, the Saccharum Violaceum of the W est Indies and
Tahiti, the Sorghum Saccharatum, or Sweet Sorgo, etc., o f various other
places; and from these the chief sugars of commerce are produced.
In the manufacture o f cane sugar, soon after the juice is expressed, it
begins to ferment and generate acid, which, in order that it may not in­
terfere with crystalization, is immediately saturated with lime. The
juice is then promptly concentrated by evaporation, and, on cooling, the
sugar crystalizes in grains, which constitute brown sugar, or the raw
Muscovado sugar o f commerce. It varies from a pale yellowish-gray to a
deep yellow-brown color, and, while new, is dry and easily separated into
small, shining, four-sided grains; when pure, it has a clear, sweet taste,
and slight honey-like odor.
Brown sugars are sorted or classed, according to their general aspect,
into particular grades, depending upon their color, moisture, and crystaline
state.
White sugar is produced by elutriation with a small quantity o f water,
solution in water heated by steam, clarification with albumen or alumina,
filtering through charcoal, and concentration in vacuo, at the temperature
o f 150° F. Pure crystaline sugar is perfectly white, free o f odor, o f an
intense sweet taste, without aroma. Its density is from 1.563 to 1.606,
Fuses at a gentle heat, and on an increased temperature, sw'ells and emits
the peculiar odor o f caromel. A t a red heat, its burns with a livid white
flame. In boiling-water it is soluble in any quantity, and water at the
temperature of 60° dissolves more than twice its weight. It is soluble
in about twelve parts o f rectified spirits, and in eight parts o f alcohol.
Pure cane sugar undergoes no change by simple exposure to the air.
The deliquescent property o f raw sugar depends upon impurities.




Sugars.

417

Sulphuric acid decomposes cane sugar, and deposits a black mass, re­
sembling charcoal. Nitric acid converts it into saccharic and oxalic acids,
and chlorine converts it into saccharic acid alone.
Grope sugar stands in relation to cane, pretty much as a counterfeit
does to a genuine natural product— it is a compound identical in composi­
tion, but produced by artificial means.
As already indicated, however,
this type of sugar is abundantly diffused through the vegetable kingdom,
and may be obtained as a natural product in large quantities. It is also
the product of a fatal disease, diabetes ; and, as above stated, it may also
he made artificially.
To make grape sugar, take fifteen parts of potato-starch, sixty parts of
water, and six parts o f sulphuric acid ; mix them together and boil for
four hours. Then neutralize the liquid with chalk, filter and evaporate
to small bulk. By digesting with animal charcoal the color may be re­
moved, after which the solution may be boiled down to a thin syrup, and
left to crystalize. In the course of a lew days it solidifies to a mass of grape
sugar.
Diastase (the name o f a peculiar substance contained in germinating
buds and seeds in the process of development) also possesses the curious
property of converting starch into grape sugar. A little infusion of malt,
or other germinating grain, mixed with a large quantity o f gelatinous
starch, and heated to the temperature of about 160°, in a short time oc­
casions complete liquefaction, by the production o f dextrine— a soluble
substance resembling gum— which, in the course o f a few hours, changes
into grape sugar. Dextrine seems to be only a condition of starch— the
same in composition, but different in properties.
Sugar obtained from the maple tree, beet-root, and some other plants,
pertains to the type of cane sugar.
Sorghum, Saccharatum.— The introduction o f this plant in the United
States a few years ago, was at first looked upon as a valuable addition to
our agricultural resources. But scarcely had its perfect adaptation to soil
and climate been proven, before doubts were promulgated whether its
juice could be granulated. Exclusive familiarity with the saccharum officinarum lead our chemists to expect and to look for the same conditions
in the sorghum, and failing in their efforts to crystalize the crude juice
of immature specimens, they hastily pronounced the sorghum juice to be
only glucose or grape sugar.
French chemists, however, have been more successful. They have
found that the conditions o f producing crystalized sugar from the sorghum
juice are, in many respects, different from those pertaining to the saccha­
rum officinarum.
The crude juice of the sorghum contains a gummy
principle, which, as maturity advances, gradually changes into sugar.
One of the first conditions of this plant, therefore, is that it shall be fully
ripe. The transformation of the gummy matter into sugar is indicated
by an increasing specific gravity of the juice, which, when it reaches
1.080 and over, contains crystalizable sugar.
An experiment made at Verieres in 1856, on sorghum grown in the
Department of the Seine and Oise— a climate by no means best adapted
to the greatest perfection o f the plant— showed the juice to contain lOJper cent of crystalizable sugar, and 5| per cent of uncrystalizable, or
glucose juice. So that it only seems necessary to exercise the same skill
in developing the qualities of the sorghum as has been exercised on other
VOL.

x x x ix .—

n o




.

iv .

27

418

G arblings ; or, Com m ercial Commodities C haracterized:

sugar-producing plants, in order that the sanguine expectations at first
entertained concerning it may be fully realized.
Grape Sugar is easily distinguished from cane sugar by several im­
portant peculiarities.
It is much less sweet, and not near so soluble,
requiring one-and-a-half times its own weight of cold water to effect solu­
tion. When heated, it melts and loses four equivalents o f water; on
raising the temperature still higher, it blackens and decomposes. It com­
bines with lime, baryta, and oxide of lead with difficulty, and when
boiled in a solution o f caustic potash it changes into a blackened sub­
stance. Cane sugar by the same tests is but slightly affected. It dis­
solves in oil of vitriol without changing color, and gives rise to a peculiar
acid, which, with baryta, forms a soluble salt.
Cane sugar, as above stated, becomes instantly charred on the addition
of oil of vitriol or sulphuric acid.
Cane and grape sugars, however, are frequently, indeed always to a
certain extent, associated in the same plant or substance producing
them. In honey this association is pre eminent, and it is only by the
process of purification that they are entirely separated.
When cane juice is first expressed, it is always more or less turbid.
This condition is owing to the presence of innumerable cells and particles
of gluten, starch, gum, woody fiber, wax, etc., all of which are in com­
position nearly allied to each other, and to the saccharine fluid in which
they float. It is, therefore, by no means surprising that one kind of sugar
may be transformed into or combined with another, or that any or all
of the substances associated with it, may, by the action of certain salts
and acids contained in the liquid during different stages of manufacture,
change the whole into glucose or molasses, or produce a variable per­
centage of crystalizable sugar. These components of cane juice are all
isomeric.
Impurities, Mixtures, and Adulterations.— The most palpable impurities
are owing to a want of cleanliness and purity of material used in manu­
facturing—fragments o f cane, lime, lead, iron, and grit.
The first of' these substances may be regarded as certain evidence of
cane sugar, but its presence indicates a want o f nice preparation, and
samples containing it also usually contain the other impurities named—
from an excess of lime used in its manufacture, from the careless use of
leaden and rusty iron vessels, and from neglecting to have the canes well
washed before they are ground.
Impure sugars are so common that the unprincipled dealer finds a
never-failing resource in them for adulterating better qualities, without
the necessity for other and more dissimilar articles. The introduction of
other substances, however, such as flour, starch, etc., is sometimes prac­
ticed for the purpose of improving color. The deterioration of sugar
is always in proportion to the amount o f impurities present, while pure
crystalized sugar is scarcely at all affected by time, and not disposed to
ferment or putrify. Grape sugar, on the other hand, is deficient in sweet­
ening power, and very prone to purification. It is therefore obvious that
the existence or mixture of grape sugar with cane impairs its quality in
proportion to the amount present.
Raw or Muscovado sugar always contains a considerable amount of
molasses, which is mainly constituted of glucose or grape sugar. And
the variety of sugar called “ bastards” is also chiefly composed o f un-




Sugars.

419

crystalizable glucose— consisting of fragments of cane, vegetable albumen,
etc., which promote fermentation ; and it is necessary that cane sugar
be transformed into grape sugar before fermentation can take place,
this condition being due ;o the presence o f albumen, a nitrogenous com­
pound, which pure cane sugar never contains.
The use of albumen, obtained from eggs and blood, in the manufacture
o f white sugar, is due to the solidification o f that substance by heat, by
which it forms meshes and films, which, being lighter than water, ascend,
and in their course take with them the impurities contained in the solu­
tion. These impurities, with the albumen, form a scum on the surface,
which is removed. This process, however, is sometimes defective when
blood is used, which contains salts and other effete materiel which is not
removed by the albumen. P ure albumen, the white of egg only, should
be used.
The impurities above pointed out are not only injurious and unwhole­
some in themselves, but they lead to others which are abominable, unclean,
and poisonous. The conditions of fermentation and decomposition are
precisely those which give rise to and promote the growth of fungous
plants and the most loathsome insects, which are never present except as
a consequence of nitrogenized compounds.
Fungi consist of cells and fibers, always sprouting from organized and
decayed substances, and sugar that contains them possesses the essential
qualities of miasmatic poison, which, however small the quantity intro­
duced into the human system, has the quality o f a “ little leaven,” and
establishes a predisposition to disease which only awaits an exciting cause.
Acarus sacchari, the sugar louse, is also generally present in impure
sugars. It. like the fungi, cannot live without nitrogen. This insect be­
longs to the same class as, and much resembles, the itch insect. It is so
large as sometimes to be visible to the unaided eye, and may be discovered
in the following manner:— Take two or three teaspoonfuls of common
brown sugar and add it to a wine glassful of warm water, allow it to stand
for an hour or two, and by the end o f that time animalcules may be
discovered on the surface of the liquid, adhering to the sides of the glass,
or in the capious dirty sediment at the bottom. A further study o f these
animals may, perhaps, demonstrate that they cause “ grocers’,” or sugarhandlers’, “ itch,” which is only another name for “ bakers’ itch,” and
rarely attacks those who only handle pure sugar or pure flour.
Besides the means above pointed out for the detection o f impurities,
the microscope is an unfailing resource for discovering acarus sacchari,
fungi, granules o f starch, flour, woody fiber, etc.
Lime may be detected by a white precipitate with oxalate o f ammonia.
Gum, by a white precipitate on the addition of a solution of subacetate
of lead.
Grape sugar, by adding sulphuric acid.
Constitutional Effects.— Sugar, in some form or other, is an essential
requirement for the healthy sustenance o f man. It is of universal dis­
tribution in the vegetable kingdom, and has, in all ages, been considered
a necessary element o f nutrition. In composition it is analogous to the
chief elements of bread, nearly all of which are transformable into sugar.
It is, in itself, non-nitrogenous, but it obtains this element from other
necessary compounds, which constitute the formative material for the
human constitution.




420

Com m ercial and In d u stria l Cities o f the United S tates:

A common prejudice against sugar is, that it injures the teeth— an
economical idea for children, but at variance with physiological fact.
Inferior qualities of brown sugar are not only poisonous, but they are
deficient in sweetening power, and by increased weight from moisture,
they are more expensive than the purest refined. The best qualities of
brown sugar are infinitely inferior to the worst white lump.

Art. IT.— COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
NUM BER

CH ICACO ,

LVH .

ILLIN O IS.

G E N E R A L P O S I T IO N O F C H IC A G O — L A K E A N D R A I L W A Y S — T R A N S P O R T A T I O N — P O P U L A T IO N A N D V A L U ­
A T IO N — V A L U A T IO N
TU RE IN

F O R E IG H T E E N

I L L I N O I S — M IL E S O F

Y E A R S — N U M B E R O F P E O P L E SIN C E

R A IL R O A D

IN

1851—

R A IL R O A D

E X P E N D I­

O P E R A T I O N — A G G R E G A T E C E N T E R IN G IN C H IC A G O —

C O U N T R Y T R I B U T A R Y — G R A I N 8 I I IP M E N T 6 A N D P R IC E S — IN F L U E N C E O F R U S S IA N W A R O N P R IC E S A N D
R E C E I P T S I N C H IC A G O — E F F E C T O F T R A N S P O R T A T I O N — E A R N IN G S O F R A I L R O A D S F O R

1857—E A R N IN G S

O F C O R P O R A T IO N S — I L L I N O I S C A N A L — IM P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S OF C H IC A G O B Y A L L R O U T E S— G R A I N R E ­
C E IV E D

F R O M A L L P O IN T S — S H I P P I N G A N D L A K E

TR A D E — TO NNAGE— LU M BER M AR K E T— W ESTERN

P I N E R IE S — C A P I T A L I N T R A D E — R E C E IP T 8 — L U M B E R — S H IP M E N T S I N L A N D — M A N U F A C T U R E S O F C H I­
C A G O — C A P I T A L — H A N D S E M P L O Y E D — V A L U E — E F F E C T S O F T H E P A N I C — C IT Y IM P R O V E M E N T S .

T he general position of Chicago, which so early designated it as the
leading city of the West, has not failed to foster its rapid growth, and to
sfistain its pretensions as the Western emporium. Commanding, as it does,
the coasts of the Old as well as of the New W orld, from its position at the
head of lake navigation, which has lately, in the Michigan courts, been
decided not to be inland navigation, it is the center o f railroad com­
munication with a vast and fertile country peculiarly adapted for the
cheap construction o f those means of rapid transportation, and which
pours its produce, as o f necessity, into the bosom o f Chicago. These
general circumstances could not fail to produce great results, and we trace
them generally in the following figures of population and valuation of
the c it y :—
POPULATION

Years.
1840 ..................... ...............
1841.......................
1842........................
1843....................... ...............
1844.......................
1845....................... ...............
1846....................... ...............
1847....................... ...............
1848....................... ...............
1849....................... ...............
1850....................... ...............
1851....................... ...............
1852....................... ...............
1853....................... ...............
1854....................... ...............
1855....................... ...............
...............
1866 ...............




AND

VALUATION OF CnlCAGO.

Population.
4,479
....

7,580
12,088
14.169
16,859
20,023
23,047
28,269
32,270
38,737
60,652
65,872
83,509
110,000

Eeal estate, Personal property,
valuation of.
valuation of
Total.
...........
$94,437
$94,437
$39,720
166.744
127^024
151,342
42,585
108,757
1,441,384
479,093
962,221
2,763,281
771,186
1,992,095
3,065,022
791,851
2,273,171
4,521,666
3,664,425
857,231
863,704
5,849,170
4,995,466
1,302,174
6,300,440
4,998,266
6,676,684
1,495,047
5,181,627
1,534,284
7,220,249
5,685,965
1,758,458
8,562,717
6,808,262
2,391,102
12,498,306
10,107,204
3,711,154
16,841,831
13,130,677
24,394,239
5,401.495
18,790,744
27,422,204
6,521,000
21,901,204
31,489,140
5,717,959
25,771,181

421

Chicago, Illin ois.

The increase has been very rapid since 1851, and if we take the ag­
gregate valuation for a number of preceding years, the results are as
follow s:—
TABLE

1839___
1840___
1841___
1842___
1843 . . .
1844___

E X H IB IT IN G

TOTAL VALUE

$1,829,420
1,861,205
1,888,160
2,325,240
2,250,735

OF B E A L

1845___
1846___
1847___
1848___
1849___
1850___

.

AND PERSONAL

$3,669,124
5,071,402
6,189,385
9,986,000
7,617,102
8,101,000

PROPERTY

IN

C H IC A G O .

1851..........
1852..........
1853..........
1854..........
1856..........
1857..........

$9,431,826
12,035,037
22,929,637
24,446,288
31.489,140

The increase in the number of the people has been very rapid since
1851 ; that is to say, since the influence of the gold discoveries, and the
valuation, per head, has maintained its ratio per inhabitant. The influence
o f railroads upon this development of business, has been direct and im­
portant. The amount of money expended in Illinois and the neighboring
States has been about $180,000,000, the disbursement o f which has aided
in settling, stocking, and working a vast extent of country, the products of
which are carried over these roads more or less directly to Chicago. The
progress in this respect may be seen from the following table o f the miles
o f road entering Chicago, completed in June, 1855, and June, 1858 :—
June, 1855,
miles.

Chicago and Milwaukee.....................................................
Kenosha and Rockford....................................................
Racine and Mississippi...................................................
Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac.................................
Milwaukee and Mississippi, (Western Division.)........
Galena and Chicago Union................................................
Fox River Valley............................................................
Wisconsin Central..........................
....
Beloit Branch......................... fail. i
Beloit and Madison.............. .(z.?.. Q
y . .. IrfQ rJ k
Mineral Point..................... ........................ >• vr , i A f S )
Dubuque and P a cific.......... .
...........f ' y ' •)
Galena (FultoD) Air Line. . . . .
.T T v................ ..... /
Chicago, Iowa, and Nebraska..?>>».. i . ’i
t
! •
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy......................................
Burlington and Missouri..................................................
Quincy and Chicago.......................................................
Hannibal and St. J osep h ..............................................
Chicago and Rock Island..................................
Mississippi and Missouri, 1st division..........
«
u
2d
«
“
“
3d
“
!!!!.
Peoria and Bureau Valley.............................
Peoria and Oquawka......................................
Chicago, Alton, and St. L o u is .........................
Illinois Central ..................................................
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago..............
Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana . . .
Cincinnati, Peru, and Chicago.....................
Michigan Central................................................
New Albany and Salem................................

ii

Eleven trunk and twenty branch and extension lines...

June, 1858,
miles.

40

85
11

41
84

131
130

121

121

86

34

8
20

96
85
84
181
81

20
17
32
29
136
36
210
35
100
65
182
55

20

282
284

13
47
143
284
704
383
242
28
282
284

2,455

3,953

40
47
281
602
247

There has been put in operation 1,500 miles o f roads, which have ex­
tended the area of country that pours its wealth into Chicago. The pro­
jected connections of these roads extend over four thousand miles more,




i

422

Com m ercial and In d ustrial Cities o f the United S tates:

making 8,000, and their ultimate ramifications embrace every section of
the Union. Every extension of railroads forms a center, embracing the
breadth of land which feeds that center, as the square of the distance. If
a wagon can bring a load 20 miles in a day, and a railroad run 60 miles,
then the breadth of land that may be drained in the same time is nine
times greater by the railroad. If the cars come 100 miles in the same
time the wagons come 20, then the breadth o f land commanded in a
given time is twenty-five times greater.
From every point of the
compass these lengthening roads run from Chicago over the most fer­
tile country. It is therefore not to be wondered at that Chicago is
the greatest grain depot in the world, nor that her grain receipts have
improved in the following ratio
S H IP M E N T S OK G R A IN F R O M C H IC A G O F O R T W E N T Y Y E A R S .

Years.
1 8 3 8 ....
1 8 3 9....
1 8 4 0 ....
1 8 4 1 ....
1 8 4 2 ....
1 8 4 3 ....
1 8 4 4 ....
1 8 4 5 ....
1 8 4 6 ....
1 8 4 7 ....
1848... .
1 8 4 9 ,...
1850___
1 8 5 1....
1 8 5 2 ....
1 8 5 3 ....
1 8 5 4....
1855... .
1 8 5 6....
1 8 5 7 ....

"Wheat,
bushels.
78
3,678
10,000
40,000
586.907
688,907
923,494
1,024,620
1,599,819
2,136,994
2,386.000
2,192,809
1,387,989
799,390
941,470
1,680,998
2,644,860
7,115,270
9,419,365
10,783,292

Corn,
bushels.

....

67,315
550,460
644,848
262,013
3,221,317
2,757,011
2,780,253
6,837,899
7,517,678
11,129,668
6,814,615

Tears.

1838........................
1839.......................
1840.......................
1841.......................
1842.......................
1843.......................
1844.......................
1845....................... .
1846.......................
1847................ . . .
1848.......................
1849 ..................... ...................
1850.......................
1851 ..................... ...................
1852....................... ...................
1853....................... ...................
1854.......................
1855....................... ...................
1856 ...................
1857.......................

P R IC E S

Winter
wheat,
bushel.

0 82
0 62
0 68
0 85
1 65

Barley,
bushels.

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

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

AVERAGE




Oats,
bushels.

38,892
65,280
26,849
186,054
605,827
2,030,317
1,748,493
3,239,987
1,888,533
1,014,547
416,778
OF

G R A IN

Spring
wheat,
bushel.

$0
0
0
0

38
40
50
50

0
0
0
0
0
0

38
55
52
40
50
70

0 66

0 78
0 65
0 40
0 60
1 09
1 31
1 05J
0 93

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

Eye,
bushels.

.
.
.
.
.

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

31,453
22,872
19,997
127,028
120,275
148,421
92,032
19,051
17,993
AND

17,315
82,162
41,153
20,132
590
. . . .

Total,
bushels.
78
3,678
10,000
40,000
586,907
688,907
923,494
1,024,620
1,599,819
2,243,201
8,001,740
2,769,1 11
1,830,938
4,646,291
5,873,141
6,412,181
12,932,320
16,633,700
21,583,221
18,032,678

FLOUR.

Flour, per barrel.

Corn,
bushel.

Oats.
bushel.

#2 25 a 2 60
.. .
f o 20
2 50 a 2 75
. ..
3 00 a 3 25
0 20
$0 40
3 25 a 3 35
2 75 a 3 25
0 20
0 15
2 62 a 2 871
0 20
0 16
3 25 a 3 75
0 40
0 30
3 50 a 3 75
0 40
0 19
3 25 a 3 50
0 22
0 14
3 50 a 4 00
0 26
0 15
3 75 a 4 00
0 32
0 26
a
4
00
3 75
0 43
0 20
4 50 a 4 76
0 45
0 40
2 50 a 4 00
0 36
0 28
2 75 a 4 25
0 40
0 24
3 75 a 5 25
0 47
0 33
6 98 a 7 48
0 481
0 30
0 62
0 331
7 121 a 8 141
0 36
0 281
4 91 a 6 26
5 05J
0 53
0 391

423

Chicago, Illin ois.

The above tables embrace three periods having reference to the foreign
demand which raised the prices. The first period is that o f the famine
o f Ireland on the failure o f the potato crops, which commenced in 1845,
and which carried the prices of corn and wheat to unusual height during
the three years ending with 1850. A t that time Chicago had no other
communication with the interior but that of the canal, and lake naviga­
tion furnished her only avenue to market.
The grain of the valley o f
the Illinois River, and that commanded by the canal, went South to New
Orleans. Nevertheless, the prices were sufficient, as seen by the figures,
to develop a large wheat trade in Chicago. In 1846-47-48, during the
high prices abroad, the crops rapidly developed, and were brought in
by wagons to the port to be shipped by the lake. The years 1851-52
were of reaction and low prices, giving no encouragement to the distant
grain ports. W ith the year 1857 commenced not only a marked revival
in the foreign trade for grain, mostly wheat, but a large expenditure of
money, amounting since to $180,000,000 for the construction of those
railroads which have drained the surrounding grain country into Chicago,
and have also aided its sales.
In Chicago, during the five years ending
with 1850, when there were no railroads to bring wheat into the city,
wheat averaged 75 cents per bushel. In the last five years it has averaged
$1 23 per bushel. Corn has averaged 50 cents, against 33 cents at the
former period. The effect o f these prices has been the immense increase
in the grain supplies, particularly corn. The $180,000,000 which has
been spent in the last named period for the construction of railroads has,
to a large extent, become capital in the hands o f cultivators who have
produced the grain. The value o f the wheat and corn brought to market
at these two periods was as follows :—
,-------—Five years to 1851.------------ ,
Bushels.
Price.
Value.

,-------------- Five years to 185S.-------------- ,
Bushels.
Price.
Value.

W h ea t.. . .
Corn...........

9,703,611
1,521,636

$7,778,709
508,212

31,643,785
35,080,113

$1 23
50

$39,554,731
17,540,056

Total.

11,228,247

$7,786,921

67,723,898

..

$57,094,787

75
33

Thus the value o f these two grains alone, received at Chicago, has been
equal to an increase o f nearly $50,000,000, or $10,000,000 per annum.
This trade has been developed during the season of high prices abroad,
and while the railroads have not operated fully. The corn has been re­
ceived one-half by the canal, and the remainder by the railroads. The
wheat has come to hand nearly altogether by railroads.
The teams in
the last year brought in about 200,000 bushels, and the canal 880,000
bushels, together 10 per cent of the whole.
It is obvious that the business of Chicago has been based on a solid
foundation; that the natural products o f an area of at least 200 miles
diameter, intersected at every point by railroads, has been drawn into her
warehouse, and the fast-settling country has required merchandise in re­
turn. The operations for a moment has encountered a check, but cannot
be lasting. Prices o f grain may decline for the moment, but the general
trade cannot but increase.
The whole machinery is now in operation.
If railroad expenditure is less, the attractions of the land are greater,
and vast tracts still invite settlers to add to the future resources of Chicago.
A t this moment, the machinery of production and transportation,
in and around Chicago, indicates that it is just now entering upon




42-i

Com m ercial and Industrial Cities o f the United S tates:

its career. The prices for grain for the moment are dull, owing to good
harvests abroad, but the Western country can now sell and deliver cheaper
than ever, 'the railroad expenditure is to be run down for the present;
but it follows that the local demand for food is also less in proportion ;
that while the whole industry of the section is turned to production, it
depends upon the foreign market only for the sale of its surplus. The
earnings of the railroads indicate the immense development of business
they have occasioned.
Six years since the whole amount was $40,000,
derived from 40 miles o f the Galena Boad. The result of the last year’s
business was as follows
E A R N IN G S OF A L L T H E R A I L W A Y S C E N T E R IN G IN C H IC A G O F O R T H E Y E A R

1857.

T O T A L E A R N IN G S .

Passengers.
Chicago and Milwaukee.............
Racine and Mississippi..............
Chicago, St. Paul,<fc Fond du Lac
Milwaukee and Mississippi........
Galena and Chicago Union........
Fox River V alley.......................
Mineral P o in t.............................
Dubuque and Pacific .................
Chicago, Iowa, and Nebraska...
Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy..
Burlington and Missouri...........
Quincy and Chicago...................
Chicago and Rock Island...........
Mississippi and Missouri...........
Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis...
Illinois Central.............................
Pittsburg, F. Wayne, & Chicago
Michigan Southern
N. Indiana
Michigan Central.......................
New Albany and S a lem ...........

Freight

Mails, &c.

$239,808 19 $178,452 66 $11,644
(vide receipts in full)
726.909 58 1,321,787 67 69,258
(estimate.)
8,465 29
14,465 87
650
22,676 09
28,720 07
273
1,552 21
448
11,630 39
592,565 81 1,280,522 76 16,497
30.618 45
17,836 38
589
145,422 12 173,011 04 18,890
742,949 84 882,384 16 65,967
147,911 35 148,244 30
442,434 18 523,806 43 32,068
1,064,978 46 1.087,987 55 190,998
941,175 14 653,916 61 53,787
1,316,478 21 833,053 80 31,592
1,447,526 78 1,130,819 25 78,125
(estimate.)

54
72
35
89
05
92
75
73
57
86
56
48
96
33

Total.
$532,782
271,608
429,305
441,408
2,117,904
30,000
23,581
51,660
19,830
1,889,586
49,044
337,323
1,681,101
296,155
998,309
2,293,964
1,652.727
2,186,124
2,656,471
631,868

92
44
39
94
97
00
51
05
65
49
58
89
57
74
47
57
95
97
36
00

Total...................................................................................................... $18,590,520 26

Several new lines were added to the above list during the past year,
but in order that we may form definite ideas of the aggregate effect of
the panic on the railways, we present the earnings of the twelve roads
then reported for each year:—
,-------------------Earnings.-

1857.

1856.
Chicago and Milwaukee......................................
Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac.................
Galena and Chicago U n ion ...............................
Fox River Valley ..............................................
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy.......................
Quincy and Chicago, six months.......................
Chicago and Rock Island .................................
Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis.............................
Illinois Central......................................................
Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana.. . .
Michigan Central................................................
New Albany and Salem.....................................
Total..............................................................

$660,000
137,303
2,456,045
50,000
1,627,029
215,222
1,751,704
1,000,000
2,469,533
3,114,756
3,120,154
743,492

00
67
80
00
61
79
60
00
67
06
10
53

$17,343,242 83

$522,731
429,305
2,117.904
80,000
1,899,586
347,323
1,681,101
998,309
2,293,964
2,186,124
2,656,471
631,868

92
39
97
00
49
89
57
48
57
97
86
00

$15,784,692 60

The result is not a large decline, but the panic operated but upon a
portion of the year’s business, and will more fully develop its effects in




425

Chicago, Illinois.

the succeeding year. In addition, these railroads are the operators of the
Illinois and Michigan Canal, o f which the tolls are $200,000 per annum.
The imports and exports of the city, from all sources for the past year
were as follows :—
S T A T E M E N T S H O W IN G

TH E

C O M P A R A T IV E

R E C E IP T S

R A IL R O A D

FOR

AND

S H IP M E N T S B Y

L A K E , CANAL, AND

1857.

R E C E IP T S .

Articles.
Agricultural implements, .lbs.
Agricultural products.............
A shes........................
A pples.......................
Barley.......................
Barrels, empty..........
Beer...........................
Brick......................... ............M.
B u tter.......................
Cattle.........................
Cheese.......................
Coal...........................
Corn. . . ; ...................
C otton.......................
Dressed hogs............
Dressed beef.............
Dried fr u it...............
Flour......................... ........bbls.
Furniture................. packages
Furniture...................
F urs...........................
Grass seed.................
H e m p .......................
Hides.........................
Hides......................... .........No.
Hogs, live.................
Horses.......................
Hubs...........................
Iron and n a ils.........
Iron, pieces and scrap..............
Lard.........................
Lath........................... ........ No.
Lead.........................
Lime, &c ...................
Lumber.....................
Machinery................ packages
Machinery.................
Malt...........................
Merchandise.............. packages
Merchandise.............
Meal....................... .
Mill stuffs.................
Molasses................... ....b b ls .
Oats...........................
Oil-cake.....................
Paper.........................
Pickets....................... ........ No.
P ork................
....b b ls .
Posts, cedar............... ........ No.
Provisions.................
Railroad iron............
Railroad ties.............
R y e ...........................
Salt............................




Lake.
146,460
8,375
38,160
1-2,910
22,596
659
....
53
134,043
3,200
...
....
....
5.347
4,290
5,900
....
....
1,159
...
....
24,584
6,950
6,154
....
79,650,000
23,320
444,396,300
175
104
3,360
160,763
82,749
...
....
80

Canal.
37,300
23,760
...
2,692
1,240
191
4,395
8 000
6,636
4,122,605
....
....
....
12,931
11
1,138
162,751
193,637
72,353
....
....
....
8
21
149
...
36
7,686
196,150
....
41
....
202
13,700
435,319
....
366,739

....
....

5
544,302
14,200
27,805
120,076
....
204,469

2,787
....
1,395,198
....
2,213
....

Railroad.
15,286,072
11,723,006
181,792
8,795
86,191
32,771
2,429
217,721
1,534,990
48,235
970,590
30,671
3,085.825
103,000
8,442,611
211,712
516,987
376,752
2,632
2,288,572
....
5,366,931
61,833
208,902
4,428
....
2,835
255
7,085
494,000
2,091
45,4 85
15,046,748
59
42,876
91,663
101,892
7,927,556
1,848
940,432
45,767
436,460
1,182,000
6,126
4,852,830
787
2,057
84,485
4

Total.
15,328,370
11,893,227
181,792
17,170
122,043
46,921
25,025
218,471
1,539,385
48,288
978,590
171,360
7,211,630
103,000
8,442,611
211,712
516,987
395,030
4,290
2,643
1,138
2,257,223
193,637
5,439,284
62,992
208,902
4,428
24,684
9,793
6,620
7,234
80,144,000
2,127
76,491
459,639,198
175
204
45,736
160,763
174,612
115,592
8,362,875
1,848
1,307,251
45,767
436,460
1,182,000
8,918
544,302
6,252,228
28,092
122,138
86,698
204,473

426

Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:

Articles.
Salt................................... .sacks
Lard.................................
Sheep............................... ..N o.
Shingles...........................
Shingle bolts................... .cords
Shot.................................
Spokes.............................
Staves...............................
Stone.....................cubic yards
Stone-ware.....................
Sugar................................
Tar....................................
Threshing machines . . . . ..N o.
Tobacco...........................
Wagons and buggies... . ..N o.
W heat.............................
Whisky............................. , bbls.
White-lead.......................
W ood ............................... cords
W o o l ...............................
Agricultural implements . .lbs.
Agricultural products.. .
A p p le s .............................
Barley..............................
Bark................................. .cords
Barrels............................. ..N o.
B eans............................. ..bush.
Beer.................................. .bbls.
Beef.................................
Broom c o . n .....................
Buckwheat flour.............
B u tter.............................
Castings...........................
Cheese.............................
Coal.................................
Corn................................. .,bu<h.
Cattle................................ ..N o.
Dressed h o g s ................. ..lbs.
Dressed beef...................
Dried fruit.......................
Engines........................... ..N o.
F is h .................................
Flour.................................
Furniture.........................
Grass seed.......................
Grind-stones ...................
Hair.................................
Hay..................................
Hides............................... ..N o .
Hides................................
H oops............................... cords
H o g s ................................
Horses.............................
Iron and n a ils.................
Iron, pieces and scrap..
Lard.................................
Lath.................................. ..N o.
Lead.................................
L im e ................................ .bbls.
Lumber...........................
M achinery.......................




Lake.
117,877

Canal.

Bailroad.

1,850
....
130.462,250
7,182
373,300
3,123,000
58,123
...

....
....
81,000
....
30,610
122,842
....
1,714,961
29,750

no
625
8,470
430
79,463

....
....
....
6,776,514
122
....

226
....
634
....

5
....
167,227

....
147
644
47
...
14

731,300
40
434
75,200
196,000
....
....
....
39
601
2,210
....
928
1,010
240,330
. . . .

....
6,432,166
210

91,266
5
885,531
5,881
425,012
21,592
89,588

SHIPMENTS.
___
520,418
....
63,312
....
....
10
1,104
9,993
686
8,900
54
....
6
44,203
53
358
....
«...

....

• 52,469
1,368,000

....
....

596
....
....
35
....
....
140
106
....
14,118,275
....
1,392
82,427,639
. . . .

153
9,461,029
24,255
17.974
1,027,243
6,930,844
1,348,192
165,682
5,931
158,829
10,037
8,600
1,313
146
35
83
45,350
849
218,406
22,764
48,620
25,365
4,229,253
348,626
13,179
...
78,407
392
806,648
....
...
66,578
1,320,300
110,070
2,105
24,328
35
1,476
38,519,420
180
12,759
228,919,870
2,273

Total.
117,371
1,850
52,469
131,830,250
7,182
81,000
373,300
3,153,610
122,842
58,123
8,147,127
29,750
350
91,266
783
10,355,030
30,566
425,012
119,029
1,116,631
7,451,262
1,401,404
165,582
5,941
169,926
686
13,937
8,654
1,319
44,402
393
83
45,350
1,075
218,406
23,398
6,825,134
25,487
4,229,253
348,626
13 179
5
147
255,278
439
1,537,948
14
40
1,030
141,778
1,516,300
35
110,070
2,105
24,479
742
3,686
52,637,695
1,108
15,161
311,787,839
2,273

427

Chicago, Illin ois.
Articles.
Marble.....................
Machinery...............
Merchandise............
Merchandise.........
Meal.........................
Mill-stufFs...............
Mill ston e...............
Molasses................. ........ bbls.
Oats.........................
Oil...........................
Pelts, <fec..............
Pork.........................
P o s ts .......................
Provisions............... ...........lbs.
Railroad iron.........
Reapers................... ............No.
S a lt .........................
Salt.........................
Lard............... . . . .
Sheep.....................
Shingles..................
Shingle b o lts ........
Staves.......................
Stone .....................
Sugar.......................
Sundries..................
Tallow.....................
Vinegar...................
Wagons...................
W heat.....................
W h isky., ...............
W o o d ................... ..
W o o l .......................

Lake.
115
9,189
23,178
402,770

Canal.
102
91
717
....

6,500
389,184
12,151
1,617,460
129
102
2,240

1,890
35
....
91
31,656
55
....
11,578
58,534
585

45
20,131,250
489
519
1,604
99
1,807
9,284,705
609
8,276

12,645
35
37
60
110
12,383
359
....

Railroad.
....
137,253
113,289
76,716
1,400
1,506
24,538
592,973
17,836
587,880
1,846,106
869
57,501
88
6,471
134,696,500
76
206
7,000
876,550
3,464
345
....
1,624
187,964
9,014
126
735,711

Total.
102
206
147,159
23,178
516,059
76,716
7,900
1,506
415,612
35
592,973
30,078
619,536
3,463,566
184
971
71,319
58,534
673
6,516
154,827,750
665
725
8,604
889,195
3,598
2,189
60
1,734
9,485,082
9,982
126
738,987

The aggregate receipts of grain and flour have seen has follows for all
points inland and by lake :—
1856.
1857.
1854.
1855.
3,038,955
7,490,753
4,193,385
85,961
201,764

7,535,097
8,532,377
2,947,187
68,068
301,805

8,767,760
11,088,398
2,219.897
45,707
128,457

10,554,761
7,409,130
1,707,245
87,911
127,689

Total................
Flour, its equival’t in wheat

792,875

1,203,310

23,050,219
1,624,605

19,886,536
1,969,670

Total............... .bush.
Flour......................... . .bbls.

15,804,423
234,575

20,487,953
320,312

24,674,824
410,989

21,856,206
489,934

Wheat.....................
Corn.........................
Oats.........................
Rye..........................
Barley.....................

Rapid as has been the progress of great railroad enterprises, it has not
been at the expense or sacrifice of the lake commerce. Indeed, it is far
otherwise; for since the completion of the great lines of railroads, the
commerce of the lakes has been greater than ever before. Indeed, the
railway interest acts as a direct feeder to the shipping; and if the one
prospers the other cannot decay. As carriers they are not competitors ;
for the railways can never carry either freight or passengers as cheap as
the sail-vessel, propeller, or steamboat. There are articles o f merchandise
where dispatch is the great desideratum with the purchaser, which it is
better to carry by railroad; but in the great staples of trade— the grain,
flour, beef, pork, and lumber— the sail-vessels and propellers will always
be the principal carriers.




428

Com m ercial and In d ustrial Cities o f the United S tates:
N U M B E R A N D T O N N A G E O F V E S S E L S A R R I V IN G

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

No. vessels. Tonnage.
5,021
1,092,644
6,610
1,608,845

1854

A T C H IC A G O ,

1856 .....................
1857 .....................

TO

1857.

No. vessels.
Tonnage.
7,328
1,545,379
7,557
1,753,413

Chicago, as a lumber market, has for many years stood pre-eminent.
Its rise and progress is only equaled by the rapid development of the city
as a center o f the territory west of the great lakes; and, in importance,
this branch of its commerce is second perhaps to no other.
The river
banks are lined for miles and miles with the immense piles of lumber
which is shipped to Chicago from the pineries o f Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Canada, and it is perhaps the best criterion that could be adopted to
comprehend the magnitude of the trade. The capital invested in the
lumber business is immense.
Not to speak of the property owned by
merchants in mills and woodlands, the wealth which is invested in stock,
in docks, and in real estate in that city, cannot be less than ten or a dozen
million dollars. The fleet of lumber vessels alone did not cost less than
a million and a half o f dollars; and the number of hands employed in
the business, one way and another, cannot fall short of ten thousand. The
receipts for a number of years were as follows :—
R E C E IP T S

OF

L U M B E R , L A T H , A N D S H IN G L E S

FOR

Lumber.
1847 ..............................
1848 ..............................
1849 .............................
1850 ..............................
1 8 5 1 .............................
1852 ..............................
1853 ..............................
1854 ..............................
1855 .............................
1856 ..............................
1857 ..............................

ELEVEN TEARS.

Shingles.
12,148,500
20,000,000
39,057,750
55,423,750
60,338,250
77,080,500
93,483,784
28,061,250
158,770,860
135,876,000
131,832,250

Lath.
5,655,700
10,250,109
19,281,733
19,809,700
27.583,475
19,759 670
39,133,116
32,431,550
46,487,550
79.235,120
80,130,000

The destination of this lumber is seen by the routes it took last year
as follow s:—
S H IP M E N T S

OF

LUM BER F O R

THREE

185§.

YEARS.

1856.

1S57.
240,330
82.427,643
70,732,960

By lake..........................................feet.
By ca n al..............................................
By Galena Railroad...........................
By Michigan Southern Railroad___
By Michigan Central Railroad..........
By Rock Island Railroad.................
By Illinois Central Railroad.............
By Chicago and St. Paul Railroad..
By Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis R.
By Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy R.
By Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad
City supply on hand..........................

5,500
81,040,328
111,081,351
216,386
287,983
18,207,723

90,968,113

203,285,437

414,870
26,526,425
32,615,279
8,333,453
17,088,850
71,329,393
1,888,590
148,030,405

Total feet.....................................

306,553,467

456,673,169

459,639,198

17,800
73,633,990
135,709,150
152,014
149,705
24,232,705

4,746,184 )

.......i

W ith these leading features o f the large commerce which is carried on
in Chicago, in receiving the produce o f the fast-settling prairies and sup­
plying them with lumber and goods, a large manufacturing business has
grown up in the city. The capital and hands employed are as follows :—




Chicago , Illin ois.
M ANU FACTURES

OF

Iron works, steam engines, Ac.............................
S to v e s.....................................................................
Agricultural implements.......................................
Brass and tin ware, A c..........................................
Carriages, wagons, Ac............................................
High wines, beer, ale, A c......................................
Soap, candles, lard, A c..........................................
Furniture.................................................................
Stone, marble, A c ..................................................
Planing mills, sash, doors, Ac...............................
Musical instruments..............................................
Leather...................................................................
Barrels, wooden ware, A c ....................................
Brick.........................................................................
Flour ..................... ..............................................
Chemicals.................................................................
Harness, saddles, A c..............................................
Sheet and bar lea d ................................................
Glue and neats foot oil..........................................
Starch (estimated).................................................
Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes...............................
Engraving, dec..........................................................
Cigars......................................................................
White lead...................................... .....................
Types, Ac.................................................................
Boots, shoes, clothing, A other manufactures, est.
Miscellaneous (reported)........................................
T o ta l...............................................................

429

C H IC A G O .

Capital.
$1,763,900
185,000
597,000
257,000
356,000
497,000
296,000
354,000
617,950
445,000
13,200
332,000
178,700
300,000
325,000
15,000
82,900
25,000
20,000
15,000
75,000
11,000
8,050
50,000
500,000
439,700
$7,759,400

Value of
Ilands. Manufactures.
2,866
$3,887,084
70
238,000
575
1,134,300
351
471,000
881
948.160
165
1,150,320
100
528,021
504
543,000
843
896,775
554
1,092,397
31
37,000
126
432,000
171
357,250
500
712,000
73
636,569
15
32,000
220
271,000
75
100,000
15
25,000
25
75,000
75
100,000
30
29.500
26
16,800
10
7,200
20
....
1,750
750,000
502
1,044,697
10,573

$15,515,063

The panic of the last fall has thrown a cloud over these employments
for the moment, only to restore greater activity with the coming year.
With the wealth of the city its embelishments indicate the public
spirit of its people. The Chicago Daily Press remarks :— The improve­
ments for the year 1857 have generally been of a character, both as to
style of architecture and costliness o f materials, far ahead of the im­
provements of any former year. Massive business blocks, such as can be
found in no other city in the United States, except New York, some of
iron, some of marble, and others of brick, five stores in height, with
capacious basements; costly marble and brick residences, and spacious
churches, constitute the more prominent features of these improvements.
Aside from these, a larger amount of less pretending improvements have
been made than ever before, which, if not effecting so marked a difference
in our city’s characteristics as those first spoken of, are nevertheless of
quite as much importance to its growth and prosperity, in affording cheap
places of business for men of limited means, and residences at living
rentals for the families of the less thrifty traders, and for the operatives
in our growing manufacturing establishments. Without going into our
usual detail under this head, we present the following table as showing
the amount of capital invested in these improvements during the year
1857
Description of building.
Business blocks and buildings...................
Residences...................................................
Churches...................................................... .........




75,000

West
division.
$211,500
227,500
67,200

North
division.
$144,200
189,400
61,500

$2,110,895

$506,200

$395,100

South
division.

430

Salt, S alt M ines, Salines, etc., in the United States.

Total in three divisions..............................................................................
2,000 buildings m various parts of the city, not included in the above,
averaging $1,000 each (estimated) ....................................................
City improvements, as per report of Superintendent of Public Works
Unenunoerated improvements, by sewerage and water commission­
ers, by gas company, by canal companies, and by private individ­
uals (estimated)......................................................................................

$3,012,195 00

Total.....................................................................................................
Cost of improvements 1851 .....................................................................
“
“
1855
“
“
1856
“
“
1857

$6,423,518
2,438,910
3,735,254
5,708,624
6,423,518

2,000,000 00
411,323 62
1,000,000 00
62
00
00
00
62

Art, V.— SALT, SALT MINES, SALINES, ETC., IN THE UNITED STATES.
C E S S IO N O F S P R I N G S — S U P E R I N T E N D E N T
Y IE L D

A P P O IN T E D — P R E S E N T P R O D U C E — S O L A R E V A P O R A T I O N —

P E R A C R E — M A D E B Y F I R E — D U T Y ON S A L T — G E N E R A L W H I T E , A G E N T — D E M A N D F O R S A L T

D U R IN G TH E W A R — N E W
R O C K IN

L E A S E — 8 A L IN E S O F

V IR G IN IA — L A R G E SU P P L Y

K A N A W H A — W E L LS SU N K — GAS— PETROLEU M — SA L T

O F 8 A L T — I M P O R T A T IO N O F S A L T — T O T A L S A L T n O M E -M A D B

A N D IM P O R T E D — O N O N D A G A S A L IN E S — S A L T L A K E — I S L A N D

O F ST . M A R T I N ’ S — V O L C A N O C R A T E R S —

C A N A D A W EST.

I n 1788, tlie State of New York, in a treaty made with the Indians at
Cavuga Ferry, obtained a cession o f the Onondaga Salines. In 1797,
the State appointed a superintendent of these salines, and from the 20th
of June of that year to the 31st of December, 1857, these salines pro­
duced one hundred and ten million two hundred and ten thousand four
hundred and fourteen (110,210,414) bushels o f salt, o f fifty-six pounds
each. About forty gallons of salt water of these salines make a bushel
of fifty-six pounds of salt. The State superintendent, in 1850, estimated that
salt, "by solar evaporation, could be made at these salines for four cents
per bushel. An acre of solar salt-vats yield three thousand bushels
of salt per annum— one man can attend two acres. Salt made in iron
kettles by heat of fire, requires two-and-a-half cords of wood to produce
a bushel of salt. A block o f forty iron kettles, of one hundred gallons
each, will, in five running days, with two additional for cooling down and
clearing out the kettles, yield one thousand bushels o f salt. The wells
from which the salt water is pumped up are from two hundred and
thirty-seven to two hundred and eighty-five feet in depth.
The State of New York, from 1797 to 1834, imposed a duty of twelveand-a-half cents per bushel of fixty-six pounds. In 1835, it was reduced
to six cents, and since 1846 has been at one cent per bushel. The present
rate pays the expense of sinking wells, pumping, etc. The supply o f salt
water does not appear to diminish, nor its quality in the least impaired,
by continued pumping.
Among my files, I have an old letter from General White, o f Equality,
Illinois, which says :— “ In 1809, I was appointed agent on the part of
the United States for the works at this place, and being then quite a
young man, and was advised that the object o f the government was to
make the greatest possible quantity of salt at as low a price to the con­
sumer as possible, these were the propositions offered in the advertisements,




Salt, Salt M ines, Salines, etc., in the United States.

431

and the leases were taken with strong covenants to make as much salt as
could be made, and to sell it at a given price, generally seventy-five cents
for a bushel of fifty pounds, the first lease lower but soon raised by per­
mission of the government. My duty consisted principally in distributing
this salt, as fast as made, among the applicants, as the demand was greater
than the supply, and a short distance off it was worth from two to three
dollars for a bushel of fifty pounds, or from four to six cents per pound.
The lease expired in 1&13, during the war, when a great demand for salt
existed. The government now seemed to change its policy, and instead
of leasing to those who would make the greatest quantity and sell cheapest,
they wanted the most rent they could get, and permitted a higher price,
viz., one dollar and twenty-five cents per bushel. A new set o f men
came, and gave fifty thousand dollars per annum, under the impression
that the water was inexhaustible, and that the advance in price would
enable them to pay this rent, and they would make a fortune. By this
time the wood was exhausted, (had not learned to burn coal then,) new
lines of pipes had to be made, new wells dug, old lines lengthened, new
furnaces to be erected, and by the time this was done peace came, and
the Kanawha Salines extended their works, down went the price o f salt,
and ruined all here.”
The salines o f Kanawha, in Northwestern Virginia, were first worked
by the Indians and by the early white settlers to 1808. A large number
of wells were subsequently sunk for a distance o f ten miles along the
banks of the Kanawha River. Within a few years past, wells have been
sunk there to a depth o f from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet, and
the salt water that comes from the greatest depth is, in mid-summer, as
cold as iced water, and the gas that rises from these wells is as cold as a
northern blast on this continent in winter. This gas is turned under the
kettles, and is burnt in the furnaces for boding down the salt water and
making salt. The tubes, through which the gas and salt water is forced
from great depths, become coated with a white concrete substance, as
hard as stone, and unless removed, like soot from a chimney, will close
the wells in a few months. I have specimens of this incrustation, but
have not yet analyzed it. The outer surfaces of the kettles, in the fur­
naces where the gas is burnt for fuel, become coated with a black, spongy
substance that is very hard, and on being broken exhibits the appearance
of a mass of vegetable roots. The gas is so abundant, and so powerful,
that it forces the salt water to the height of seventy feet above the ground.
The Kanawha brine contains bromine, the salt has a redish tinge, and is
highly esteemed in the West. A large quantity of salt is made at these
salines annually. Coal, in addition to the gas, is used under the kettles
for fuel, and is found abundantly in the surrounding hills. When the
wells were first sunk there, liquid petroleum in great abundance came
up with the first discharges of salt water. The intense cold in the deepest
wells at Kanawha presents the converse o f the temperature o f the deep
artesian well at Grenalle, Paris.
In 1840, in deepening a salt well at Saltville, on the north fork o f Holsten
River, southwestern mountains o f Virginia, a bed of salt rock was
struck at the depth of two hundred and twenty feet from the surface, and
a shaft sunk in it to the depth of one hundred and sixty feet. This de­
posit is under a strata of gypsum of thirty feet in thickness. The place
in which this deposit was found is what geologists call a trough between




432

Salt, Salt M ines, Salines, etc., in the United Stales.

two mountains, and is near eighteen hundred feet above the level of the
sea. New River, a tributary of the Kanawha, heads near this salt mine.
The salt made of these mines is the best that is sold in any o f our
markets— it is a pure chloride o f sodium.
No water was found in the shaft sunk in the salt rock, and they sunk
a well at a distance of forty feet from it, and at the depth of two hundred
and fourteen feet obtained an abundant supply o f water, fully saturated
with salt. They find it more economical to raise the salt water and
evaporate it than to raise the salt rock, dissolve it, precipitate the earthy
matter held in suspension, and then evaporate the clarified salt water. The
supply of salt at these mines is very large— the Holsten is a tributary of
the Clinch River, which is a tributary of the Tennessee River, affording the
means of transportation to Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, etc., and the
railroad, recently made in that part o f the country, will afford an easy
and cheap transportation to the East.
Thus it is seen, in this brief statement, how bountifully our country is
supplied with the necessaries of life, and what progress we have made in
bringing it into use.
In the year 1840, the importation of salt into the United States was
eight million one hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and
three bushels of fifty-six pounds, and six million one hundred and seventynine thousand two hundred and three bushels. The Virginian and Western
bushel is fifty pounds; New York bushel fifty-six pounds, the same as the
United States Custom-house bushel.
In 1840, ihe quantity o f salt imported, and that manufactured together,
was equal to fourteen million three hundred and two thousand three hun­
dred and seventy-seven bushels, being equal to an apportionment of seveneighths of a bushel to every man, woman, and child in the United States.
In the year 1855, the Onondaga Salines produced six million eightytwo thousand eight hundred and eighty-five bushels o f salt, the largest
quantity that has been made at these salines in any one year.
When Capt. Stansbury returned from the Salt Lake of Utah, I was at
Washington, and had several interview's with him. He brought home
some samples o f the salt made there, but the salt water he lost by the
carelessness of the express which brought it.
The salt pond in the Island of St. Martin’s, W . I., produces salt that
weighs ninety-pounds to the measured bushel; it has the transparency and
hardness o f alum, and is in pepper-shaped crystals o f large size. The
water of that pond has been reinforced by an earthquake; previous to that,
a few years the saline supply was cut off by a similar convulsion.
Some of the salt mines on our globe are in the craters o f volcanoes.
In the State of New York and in Canada West, at a point west of
the Onondaga Salines, salt water is found in great abundance, and much
of it has a specific gravity greater than that of the Dead Sea, or Sea of
Sodom, and holds in combination so large a percentage o f the deliquescing
chlorides, calcium, and magnesium, as to render it unfit for antisceptic
purposes.
The great Salt Lake o f Utah is at a great elevation above the sea­
board, while the surface of the Lake of Sodom, or the Dead Sea, is below
the level of the ocean.
During one of the volcanic eruptions o f Mount Vesuvius, a few years
since, a beautiful arbor of marine salt was instantly formed by the fumes
of the volcano.




433

China Trade.

Thus we see, in the production of salt, nature displays wonders that are
instructive to the human mind.
From my immense gatherings of statistics in relation to salt, salt mines,
salines, etc., I find it difficult to condense a statement within readable
limits, but I trust this statement, brief as it is, will be instructive to those
whose duty it may become to frame tariffs, and afford also facts o f in­
terest to the scientific reader.
The great Falls of Niagara, now in the bosom o f a plain, have, under­
neath the great waterfall, and immediately beneath Table Rock, salt water
of as great specific gravity as the water o f the Dead Sea.

Art. V I .- C H I N A
RECENT

TRADE.

E V E N T S — D E V E L O P M E N T OF IN T E R C O U R S E — A R E A

OF C H IN A — P O P U L A T IO N — D E N S IT Y — L A N D

T A X — R IC E — H O R S E S — C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S — G O V E R N M E N T — T O T A L T A X E S — F IN A N C IA L D IF F IC U L T IE S
— O P IU M

T R A D E — A C C U M U L A T IO N O F W E A L T H — E A R L Y T R A D E

"T E A — E X C H A N G E

OF T R E A T IE S , T H E IR

E F F E C T — F O R E IG N

W I T H U N I T E D S T A T E S — I M P O R T OF

TRADE

OF

C H IN A — I N T E R N A L T R A D E —

T O N N A G E — S A L T — G O V E R N M E N T P O L I C Y — F U T U R E P R O S P E R I T Y — I M P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S OF U N IT E D
STATES

W IT H

C H IN A — B A LA N C E

8 I L K S — C O N S U M P T IO N O F C O T T O N
E X P O R T S T O A S I A — I N D IA N

O F T R A D E — IN F L U E N C E
IN C H IN A — P R O G R E S S

O F G O L D U P O N P R I C E S — C H IN A C O T T O N —
OF E X P O R T S

T H I T H E R — B R IT IS H

COTTON

C O T T O N — C H IN E S E M A R K E T F O R C O T T O N S — A M E R IC A N G O O D S — C O T T O N

C O U N T R IE S — IN S U R R E C T IO N — M O D E O F C O L L E C T IN G T A X E S — S Y C E E
— D R A IN O F S I L V E R — E F F E C T

OF I T S

S IL V E R — BALAN CE

OF T R A D E

RETURN.

T h e recent events that have transpired in China m a rk a new era in
our intercourse with that portion of the human race ; interesting, not
only on account of its antiquity and supposed wealth, but from the extent
of its numbers ; which, with the people of India, with whom a new state
of intercourse is about to be developed, make up half the whole human
race. The area of China is 1,298,000 square miles, and the population
is given by Gutzlaff at 367,000,000, and confirmed at about that by other
late writers. Comparatively with England and Wales, the proportion of
numbers to territory would be as follow s:—
Area,
square miles.

England and W a le s ..................................
C h ina................................ ........................

37,812
1,298,000

Population,

18,065,634
367,000,000

Acres
per head.

2
2£

Thus, even at the figures given, the population is less dense than in
England. The census returns give, in some provinces of the empire, the
population at an average of more than 700 persons to the square mile.
But by the last census the county of Lancaster, England, had about 800
per square mile, not to speak of Middlesex, which has an average of 500,
or of Surrey, which has about 700 per square mile. It is also to be ob­
served that these densely peopled parts of China on the sea-coast, have
been penetrated by Europeans, are well known to be very fertile, and in
every way well fitted to afford a large amount o f subsistence to their in­
habitants. The Chinese returns of the land subject to tax, as used in rice
cultivation, give nearly half an acre of such land to each living person ;
and we are assured that in the southern and well-watered provinces, it is
anything but uncommon to take two crops of rice, one of wheat, and one
of pulse from the same land in a single season. Now the whole arable
VOL.

x x x ix .—

no




.

iv .

28

434

China Trade.

surface of England and Wales is said not to exceed 10,500,000 acres,
which gives little more than half an acre per head ; and they have also
to provide for about 1,600,000 horses and cattle, and 8,000,000 sheep
and swine. In China they keep few horses, the rude labor being per­
formed chiefly by m en; they have few cattle o f any description; even
their dogs they make serviceable as food ; and their swine are fed only
on such garbage as even they cannot convert to human sustenance in any
more direct manner.
These Chinese are a quiet, peaceable, and docile race, being for the
most part more free than Europeans from oppression of any description.
They have never encountered feudal slavery in any of its forms, and conse­
quently have not had to struggle against local customs and the privileges of
an aristocracy, as has been the case in Europe, and with the white race
generally. To this fact may, perhaps, be ascribed the absence of a pro­
gressive spirit, which has not been elicited by intolerable local oppressions.
The theory of the government has been patriarchal. The emperor is the
sire, his officers are the responsible elders of the provinces, as every father
is of the inmates of his house, and the gradations of rank carry the im­
perial authority down to the smallest subdivision of the communities.
The authority is felt, however, by individuals, in a very mild degree. The
Mandschu government has never been extortionate of itself, nor has it
varied the taxes materially. These are levied almost entirely upon rice
grounds and salt; and the amount, according to the “ red book ” of 1842,
was 150,000,000 taels, or about §200,000,000, which would be a little
more than half a dollar per head each inhabitant. The chief expenditure
is the army, which is estimated at 700,000 men, but is, in fact, nearly
nominal. The present emperor succeeded his father in 1850, and he is
the seventh of the Tsing dynasty, which was established on the conquest
of the country, in 1675, by the Mandschu Tartars.
The discontent of the people, which has always existed to some extent,
has of late years been stimulated by the manifest inability o f the govern­
ment to protect its subjects from plunder, either by bands o f robbers in
the interior, or by pirates on the coasts, but which was never openly and
thus forcibly expressed, in a refusal to pay taxes wherever an overwhelm­
ing force was not at hand to compel payment, until the issue of the war
with England gave the people to understand that the emperor was not
invincible. The deficit on the last budget was some §75,000,000, and as
the government has no credit, having at various times illustrated the value
of its paper promises to pay by answering “ bearer on demand ” with the
paternal bamboo, the resources commonly resorted to in such cases in the
western world are not available.
One great cause of the derangement of the Chinese finances has been
the opium trade, causing an immense drain of silver from China to India.
This opium trade has, at the same time, been the chief support of the
British Indian government. That which has been destroying China has
been fostering India. The trade being illegal, is everywhere settled in
silver, and the amount averages $6,000,000 annually. The “ oozing out”
o f silver was one of the most potent motives o f the late emperor for at­
tempting the suppression of the trade. The financial difficulty, it was
supposed, would cease if the trade should be legalized, by which the
government revenue would be improved. The emperor replied, “ Nothing
will induce me to derive a revenue from the vice and misery o f my peo-




China Trade.

435

pie.” The new emperor, it appears, is less scrupulous— he has legalized
the trade at 40 taels per chest duty. The average import was 50,000
chests per annum, at a cost o f smuggling about equal to this duty ; but
the removal of the penalties for its use will immensely extend the sale.
The duty will yield on 50,000 chests 82,300,000 per annum.
Those people, so long secluded from the “ rest of mankind,” under their
own government, are supposed to have accumulated vast wealth in the
lapse of ages; and the hope o f participating in that wealth by commer­
cial intercourse, has fixed the attention of modern traders. The trade
with China was early commenced in the United States; but although
those engaged in it found it lucrative, it was confined to few hands, and
the annual value did not much vary, being restricted mostly by the quan­
tity of tea consumed in the United States. In speculative years, when
the prices of silks and teas ran high, the sum o f the imports from China
increased generally, causing a corresponding drain of specie, because the
wants of the Chinese embraced few o f the articles which the United
States had to sell. In 1820, the imports were large, and fell off one-half
with the panic of that year. In 1830, they had recovered the amount, and
again declined with the revulsion, and continued to do so under the war
between Great Britain and China; the result of which was to put the
trade on an entire new footing.* Since the peace there has been much
improvement, but the expectations then entertained have not been fully
realized.
It is now about thirteen years since we exchanged treaties with China,
putting us on a level with the most favored nations; that is, opening to us
the five ports of Canton, Shanghae, Ningpo, Foo chow, and Amoy. Since
that time our trade with China has been steadily growing, until from
1850 to the present time it has averaged about 82,000,000 exports, and
810,000,000 imports. This is a small trade, considering the immense
po illation of China; but there is reason to believe that it will now be
greatly improved in both respects, since it is understood that the whole
country is to be open to foreigners, and that the Amoor River is to be the
boundary with Russia.
The whole foreign trade of China, like that o f other countries, is but a
trifle compared with its internal traffic. Comprising within itself the
greatest variety of soil and climate, and penetrated in every direction by
large rivers, aided by artificial canals, its domestic commerce is on the
largest scale, and for a semi-civilized people, is almost self-satisfying in
its completeness and variety. It has been asserted that there is a greater
amount of tonnage belonging to the Chinese than to all the other nations
of the world combined ; and the number of the people constantly resident
upon the water has been estimated at many millions. More than ten
thousand barges are said to be employed in the grand canal and its lateral
branches, for collecting and distributing among the public granaries the
various grains paid in kind as taxes. At Tien-sin alone it was calculated
that the depot of salt accumulated for the use of the capital and the
northern provinces was sufficient for a year’s consumption for thirty mil­
lions of people. But there is no occasion for resorting to statistics like
these, granting them to be perfectly reliable, which they are not. The
* For elaborate articles on the trade of China, see the Merchants' Magazine for 1840, vol. iii.,
page 465; vol. xi., page 54; and vol. xxi., page 104.




436

China Trade.

very fact that the empire holds 400,000,000, with a density of population
almost unexampled, says enough for the resources o f the country, and of
the inland trade necessary to equalize them by exchange of products.
The people are exceedingly industrious, for it is the inexorable law o f
their being. But hitherto foreign trade has been discouraged by govern­
ment, and the portion of it that has been carried on, estimated variously
from fifty to one hundred millions annually, has been under disadvantages,
weighing upon all parties. Being the mere surplus o f the domestic sup­
ply, leaking out at five ports only, there has been scarcely an opportunity
to stimulate a taste for foreign commodities among the people, and hence
a balance against the foreign customer, and a drain of silver, severely felt
throughout the more civilized world.
But if our ships can freely range the two thousand miles o f sea-coast
between Canton and the Gulf of Pechelee, and can have access to rivers
like the Yang-tse-Kiang, said to water a country of a hundred millions of
inhabitants, we may well anticipate more cheering results in the future.
The natives will receive a new impulse both towards production and the
consumption of foreign fabrics; and from a more intimate study of their
peculiarities and w'ants, our manufacturers will be enabled to fit and stimu­
late their tastes. The Chinese will find that their country cannot produce
all they want, as they have hitherto imagined, and will bestow an increas­
ing share of their labor upon products destined entirely for the foreign
trade. That these are capable of being indefinitely increased in amount
is shown by the facts that the quantity of tea exported from China to
England and the United States, within the last seven years, has been car­
ried up from 65,000,000 pounds, in round numbers, to 131,000,000
pounds, and that the number of bales of silk exported to England alone,
within eleven years, has been increased from 10,000 to 60,000. This
evidence of augmented interest in the foreign trade, indicates that the
people are ready to avail themselves o f the privileges now thrown open.
Competition in their principal markets, the proper regulation o f trade by a
superior system of exchanges, and all the influences which follow' in the
train of commercial enterprise, will do the work. W e do not expect
much, indeed, from a people o f limited capacity and refinement, like all
the present Oriental nations ; but if there is anything that will both re­
generate them and enhance their usefulness to other nations, it is free
commercial intercourse, and that we are now to have with the Chinese.
In the Merchants' Magazine for July, 1853, will be found tables o f the
chief articles of import and export for the twenty previous years. Those
tables we bring here down to the present date :—
Cotton goods.
1852...........
1853...........
1854...........
1855...........
1856...........
1857...........

963,283
9C8.719

Specie.

$80,981
606,651
298,028
295,913

Foreign goods.
Total.
$183,111
$2,663,177
624,418
3,736,992
104,163
1,398,088
186,372
1,719,429
509,993
2,558,237
2,375,230
4,395,130

Imports.
$10,593,950
10,673,710
10,506,329
11,048,726
10,454,436
8,356,932

The column “ foreign merchandise ” is nearly all silver; notwithstand­
ing this remittance, it is observed that there existed yearly a large ap­
parent balance against the United States, which was somewhat modified
by the operation o f the Pacific trade, northwest trade, and w'halers,
making sales in China, the proceeds o f which reduced the balance; never­




China Trade.

437

theless a large balance remained, which was paid for in bills on London.
But the East India opium trade always caused a demand for silver for
that destination, which took, annually, $7,000,000 fiom China, conse­
quently silver was, when abundant in the United States, as in the year
1831, a good remittance. The bulk o f the transactions were, however, up
to 1835, in bills of the late Bank o f the United States, at six months, on
London, when the removal o f the deposits shook its credit. In that year
the remittance o f silver became large. Soon, however, individual bills
became the better remittance, and the export of specie to China gradually
subsided down to the influence of California gold upon prices generally.
This has caused the value o f imports from China to swell in amount, and
as a consequence, to involve larger remittances in specie. In 1857, over
$2,000,000 in Mexican silver went to China from San Francisco, with
about $100,000 o f quicksilver, which has become a large export from San
Francisco. In the last three years Mexico has taken $1,500,000 of the
metal, and the proceeds in Mexican dollars has been sent to China.
Up to 1841, more or less cotton goods were annually imported from
China, which derived its cotton for the manufacture from India. That
trade has ceased, and large quantities of United States cotton goods are
now sent to China. It has also been the case in those years, like 1843,
when prices here were v-ery low, that a value of $179,000 raw cotton was
exported from here to Cliina, underselling the India cotton, a curious
commentary upon the project to supplant United States cotton in Liver­
pool with Indian cotton. The importation of China silks has greatly
varied. Up to 1842, a great variety were free of duty, and the balance
paid 10 per cent. Under the tariff of 1842, a heavy specific duty was
charged, and since 1846, 30 per cent a d v a lo r e m . There has been a
steady increase in the quantities so imported, amounting to an exchange
o f New England cottons for Chinese silks. A considerable trade in lead
was done at one time, but since the rise in its price, under the influence
o f gold, it has ceased to go to China. Breadstuff's and provisions have
also shown a disposition to increase in quantity.
It is to be remarked in the trade o f China, as with that of India, that
thirty years since a leading article of import thence was cotton goods,
“ nankeens” mostly, which, in the then state o f manufacture, could be fur­
nished to this market and England, lower than domestic goods. Yellow
and blue Chinese nankeens were a favorite wear. In 18c2, the amount
received thence was $800,000. From that date the receipts declined,
year by year, until 1842, the last import was received, value $53. The
progress of machinery and the arts in the production o f cloths, began,
however, to make itself felt in 1826, when the United States began to
send white cottons to China, and that trade grew to $2,813,777 in 1853,
which would represent about 20,000,000 yards of drills. The trade was
then interrupted by the difficulties that have resulted in the present peace;
but in the last three years the exports o f drills hence has again increased,
those of 1857, being nearly double those of 1855.
The large population of China is clothed mostly with cotton goods,
and if it is assumed that the quantity used per head is no greater than
that taken by each inhabitant of the United States, 30 yards per head,
the quantity of cotton required will be nearly 10,000,000 bales, or three
average United States crops. The cotton is raised in China by almost
every farmer, and the goods being made by hand and rude machinery,




488

China Trade.

find a market in the large population o f the cities ; but the quantity of
cotton raised in China having never beeu sufficient for the den a id, a
supply has been drawn from the British Indies, and were, at times, from
the United States, in small quantities. It is obvious that were machinemade goods to come freely everywhere in competition with those goods,
that the market would enlarge itself almost indefinitely. The exports of
British calicoes to India and China have been as follow s:—
EXPORTS

FROM

GREAT

B R I T A IN

India.

1831..........................................
1844..........................................
1856..........................................
1867..........................................
1858, six months....................

...............
201,717,109
477,951,401
469,757,011
386,478,095

TO

THE

EAST.

China.

...............
89,285.877
112,665,202
121,594,515
72.619,869

Total, yards.

27,373,835
291,002,986
590,616,603
591,351,726
459,097,964

In 1831, the quantity of cotton imported from India was 35,178,625
pounds, and the weight o f goods sent back as above, 9,000,000 pounds,
leaving 24,178,000 pounds net of cotton supply derived from India. In
1844, the quantity of cotton received thence was 85,612,461 pounds, and
the weight sent back in goods was 97,000,000 pounds, being a net ex­
port of 12,000,000 pounds of cotton to India derived from other sources.
Of late years, the war in China, by curtailing the market there for
India cotton, at the time that the raw material in Europe attained very
high prices, the supplies from India have greatly increased. In 1857,
the quantity received from India amounted to 253,516,000 pounds, and
the quantity sent back in goods was 200,000,000 pounds, leaving a small
supply from that quarter.
In the first six months o f the present year
there has been received from India 56,525,000 pounds, or one-third less
than for the same time last year, and there has been sent to Asia
150,000,000 pounds in goods, a loss of 94,000,000 pounds o f cotton.
It is thus evident that the growth of the trade with India has been merely
a process o f supplanting the home cloths o f India with the machine
goods of England— that is, carrying India cotton to England for the sake
o f carrying it back again in the shape of goods. In China a still more
extensive field presents itself o f the same nature. Thirteen years ago,
when the five ports were opened, they in some degree facilitated the trade.
In 1842, England and the United States sent thither 46,000,000 yards.
In 1853, the United States sent 28,000,000 yards, and England 156,000,000
yards. The internal insurrections, and the renewal of difficulties with
England, checked the trade. It is now the case, however, that all the
ports and all the cities will be accessible to the dealers. A large export
trade has already sprung up in these goods, and it is but reasonable to
suppose the triumph o f machine goods over the rude native manufacture
will then be as marked as it has been everywhere else, and the only limit
to the Chinese demand for goods will be the supply of the raw material.
The United States are almost the only country which furnishes a surplus
of cotton.
If we were to add to the quantities sent to Egypt, those sent to Syria
and Turkey, the balance of cotton would be against that region. The
Brazils buy more cotton by 40 per cent than they sell to England, besides
what they get from the United States. It results, that for the supply of
the Euglish consumption, including all her colonies in North America,
West Indies, Australia, and everywhere except India, as well as all the




China Trade.

439

European consumption, the surplus o f the United States is the only source
of supply. The demand for goods in Asia is, as we see, far greater than
the surplus cotton they produce will make; yet a high English authority
states that the outlay for clothing in India, with its 135,000,000 souls, is
not 12| cents per annum per head. It follows, that if the consumption,
being now so low, is still greater than the cotton supply, what will he the
result if the lines of railroads and other enterprises calculated to promote
prosperity in Asia, should be successful ? If they should enable those
people to double their consumption of goods, will the cotton product rise
in the same ratio ?
The supply of goods to China must then devolve upon that country
which can supply that style of goods the cheapest. It has been the case
long since that the United States cottons can command the market any­
where over all other goods. Massachusetts drills have even founded a
market in Manchester ; and a steady market in China, backed by a Pacific
railroad, promises to be an absorbing point for the United States crops.
In 1853, the value of cottons sold China paid for half the tea importa­
tion, and the progressive increase in the consumption of that article by no
means equals the prospective wants o f China for clothing.
Next to tea, silk is the great article of Chinese production. It has re­
ceived a greater importance since the damage done to the crops o f Europe,
has so affected the markets o f the world, not only for silk goods, but the
exchanges by drawing largely upon China for that article. The Chinese
silks hitherto come of such coarse fiber as much to interfere with its use­
fulness. W ith a steady market, however, that objection may be done
away with. In relation to the great use made of silk in China we ex­
tract the following from a late publication, mostly upon the province of
Chekiang:—
“ The women here dress their hair in a peculiar manner. In front it
is brushed back as in the South, but the back hair is twisted in a roll,
and bound tightly from the poll with black silk cord for a length o f
seven or eight inches. This is then turned up, like a horn, at the back
of the head, and stands four or five inches above the crown, the hair be­
ing then turned round, so as to give it the appearance o f a handle. In
cases where, instead of being upright, the horn inclines to either side, the
wearer has quite a jaunty appearance. In the spring o f 1857 foreigners
had not been seen before in this quarter, the curiosity exhibited by all on
the occasion o f the first visit being something extraordinary. The style
of head dress spoken o f is found to extend throughout the country from
this to the River Tsien Tang.
“ The quantity o f silk used by each woman in binding this horn cannot
be less than half a pound. Produced from their own cocoons, the cost
will be trifling; but the appearance of such an exuberance o f silk cord
could not fail in inducing a reflection on the use of an article which, since
trade has been released from the fetters that bound it prior to the war o f
1840, has had so much to do with the currency and exchange of England
and the whole mercantile world. Prior to 18 44, the total quantity of silk
exported from China did not exceed 3,000 bales a year ; four times three
thousand is now the average; and for the year 1855-7, the deliveries o f
China silk in England alone amounted to 74,215 bales.
“ From inquiries made we find that this extraordinary difference in ex­
port is not effected on increase o f production so much as on the inability,




440

China Trade.

(for want of means,) or the carelessness o f the Chinese to indulge in the
luxury, either as tsien for the tail, hands for the waist, or other form of
indulgence; and our ruminations have led us to make the following cal­
culation. Allowing the population of China to he 300,000,000, (doubtful,)
and that each man, woman, and child uses a quarter of a pound o f silk cord
a year for a plait to the end of the tail, (a quarter of a pound, be it re­
membered, being a minimum quantity— some of the richer classes plait­
ing in several new tsien in the course of a year, these again using half a
pound, and even a pound at times,) we find that the total quantity used,
75,000,000 of pounds, equals the weight of 750,000 bales. Estimating
the price again at four pounds for a sovereign, we have, in the shape of a
tax to carry out a whim imposed by the Tartars on their subjugation of
the country, a total sum of nearly £19,000,000 sterling per annum— not
far short of the interest on the debt created by our forefathers in England
to carry on the wars.
“ Whilst on the subject of Chinamen’s tails, we may remark that the re­
gion in which we found the peculiar head-dress educing this note is that
in which the natives exhibited, for a lengthened period, the firmest deter­
mination not to submit to the degradation of a ta il; and that this feeling
still rankles in the minds of the people was clear from the questions of
several of them. Being taken for rebels in disguise, as a feeler one said—
‘ W h y do you not wear a tail V (the rebels have discarded it.) A n s w e r , ‘ Be­
cause it is not the custom in our western country’— 1W hy do you V
A n s w e r , (a n g r i ly )— ‘ Because the Tatsing dynasty insist on i t !’ ”
A late English publication, following the trade of England with China
in the same view, has the following remarks. In 1854, the trade between
China and Great Britain stood as follow s:—
Imports into China from Great Britain and India.....................................
Exports to Great Britain and India.............................................................

$33,600,000
25,700,000

Balance...........................................................................................................

$7,900,000

“ During the succeeding three years the exports to Great Britain have
greatly increased. In the commercial year 185(5-7, the export o f teas
to England and her colonies was 87,741,000 pounds, and the same year
the deliveries in England of China silk amounted to 74,215 bales.
“ The silk-exporting power of China seems to be without limit. Every
year takes from her an annually increasing quantity. In 1843, there was
not a bale sent. In 1845, there were 10,727 bales. In 1855, there were
50,489 bales; 185(5 showed an increase o f 50 per cent over 185 5 ; and
I am informed that if the Chinese succeed in establishing the prices now
demanded, and in selling all their produce in stock, the money paid for
China silk at Shanghae during the current year will certainly not be
less than £10,000,000 sterling, 20, 40, 60, 90, 140 are figures of rapid
progress, yet they represent the advance o f our silk imports from China.
A t the prices now paid you may, I believe, double this last quantity in
the year to come. Id o not understand, however, that by stimulating the
production you can greatly decrease the price. W e have, I believe, found
by experience, that however abundant the corn crop may be in America,
there is a price below' which it will not be brought down for export, but
can be profitably employed at hom e; so of China silk. You have to
compete as buyers with such an enormous population of home consumers,
that any extra production to meet our demands may be thrown, without




China Trade.

441

great effect, upon the home market. By improving the present faulty
system of winding you may perhaps make the silk more valuable, but if
you take treble your ancient quantities, you must pay treble your former
quantity of silver, and so far increase the balance of trade against you.”
The continued high prices of silk in Europe would, undoubtedly, not
only improve the mode of preparing the Chinese silks for market, but
draw forth the largest supplies, and of a quality less heavy than that at
present derived thence, as all goods are made to adapt themselves to the
market of sale. It is still in the minds of many, how great the difficul­
ties were, on the opening o f the British provision trade in 1842, en­
countered in adapting American beef and pork to the English market;
not only the mode o f packing, but fattening and killing, were required to
be changed before the trade was established. W ith silk, these difficulties
are more easily overcome.
The settlement of the insurrection will no doubt, if that is possible,
tend greatly to promote trade, but whatever may be the result China will
henceforth be open to trade. The legalizingof the opium trade may also
obviate the necessity o f paying for that article in silver; but the quantity
of silver now in China will be set free to circulate in exchange for the
gold flowing in. The quantity o f silver in China must be pretty large,
it being the exclusive medium for payments to the government. The
dread of change, which has been generally considered as the leading
characteristic feature in the domestic, as -well as foreign, policy o f China,
has extended in its full influence to the circulating medium o f the country.
The government was determined that its coffers, at least, should suffer no
defalcation by depreciation o f the currency; and hence the imperial
taxes and duties are required to be paid in pure silver. In every large
town are yin teen, or “ money shops,” the inferior class of which are es­
tablishments of money changers and shroffs; the more respectable are
private banks. Of the latter class, every officer who has any superintend­
ence of the revenue, employs one or more to receive the taxes and duties,
with a fixed allowance for loss in melting, and having reduced them to
sycee silver, to become responsible for the purity thereof. The establish­
ments which are thus connected with government are licensed, a privilege
for which they have to pay, but not largely. They are remunerated by
the surplus allowance for waste, which always exceeds what is necessary.
Taxes are generally handed over to them by the government; mercantile
duties are frequently paid into their banks by tbe merchants from whom
they are owing, and the banker in such case gives the merchant a receipt
for the amount, accompanied by a certificate that it shall be paid to gov­
ernment within a certain period. The refined silver is cast into ingots,
and stamped with the name of the banker and date o f refining. Should
any deception be afterwards discovered, at whatever distance of time, the
refiner is liable to severe punishment.
The silver ingots, denominated sycee silver, are cast in an oval form,
and as the metal cools it sinks in the middle, making something the
form of a shoe.
The usual weight is ten taels each, or twelve ounces,
and some that have been assayed at the United States mint give 982
thousandths fine. This is the finest o f the sycee, o f which there are five
descriptions. That already described, and which is sent to P ek in ; the
second, that taken for land tax ; the third comes in pieces o f fifty taels
each ; the fourth, of a low standard, used for the salt tax ; and a fifth,




442

China Trade.

much debased. Bearing these facts in mind, and also that China is a
silver-producing country ; that the export of it is illegal; that there are
367,000,000 souls, and that the revenue, all collected in this silver, is
$200,000,000 per annum, sent in ingots to Pekin, after deducting the local
expenses, and the inference remains that the quantity of silver in China,
the accumulation of tens of centuries, must be immense. That stock is
now apparently about to be added to the circulating stock of the com­
mercial world, after hoarding and distrust, caused necessarily by the civil
war, shall have passed away.
It is not improbable that the balance of trade will again be against
China as before the opium war, and cause the current of silver again to
set outwards to come in competition with the continued streams o f gold
that pour into the European markets. Such an event would at once give
full force to the supplies o f gold that have been derived from the mines.
Hitherto it is known that the anticipated effect o f gold, in appreciating
all other values, has not taken place, for the reason that the aggregate
mass of money in Europe has not been much increased. The demand
for silver for the East has been almost equal to the supply o f gold, and
the latter has found employment in the channels o f currency vacated by
the exported silver. If, now, owing to the change in Eastern affairs, the
current of silver is set back upon Europe, while the gold current continues
to flow inwards, all the influence of the gold discoveries must be felt with
redoubled force, and the depreciation of gold, so long looked for, be more
extensively experienced. In the last six years $250,000,000 in silver have
been drawn from Europe to the East, and its place has been filled with
the gold. If, now, $200,000,000 in silver is to come back from the East,
to meet in the next six years’ $600,000,000 more gold from the mines,
the accumulation of the mixed mass will produce that depreciation which
the most sanguine looked for some years since. This financial effect, it
seems now possible, may flow directly from the opening o f the internal
trade of China and India, because numerous wants may be discovered in
these people which can be supplied by other means than by silver.
The future operations of trade cannot, indeed, be measured by those
which have been in action since 1844, because the five small ports in the
tea districts cannot have furnished those facilities that must flow from
direct communication with the large cities of China. A late visitor to
Pekin thus describes the city which was so long a sort of geographical
myth :—
“ On arriving at the capital o f the Chinese Empire we find a city con­
taining about two millions of inhabitants.
Such is the estimate, but
doubtless the calculation is made in the usual spirit of Eastern exaggera­
tion. Be that as it may, the walls are fourteen miles in circumference,
twenty-eight feet high, twenty-four feet thick at the base, and twelve at
the top. There are spacious towers all around, at seventy feet distant
from each other, and at the gates are look-out barracks for the soldiers
nine stories in height. The metropolis is divided into two parts, one in­
habited by Tartars and the other by the Chinese. In each there is a street
four miles long and one hundred and twenty feet wide, and the emperor’s
palaces and gardens occupy two-thirds of the Tartar c ity ; and all this
besides the suburbs, which are nearly as populous as the city proper.
“ Pekin is located sixty miles south of the famous Chinese wall, and
therefore much exposed to northern and hostile neighbors; yet its forti­




T he B anking and Credit System s.

443

fications are strong, and, until the vast machinery o f modern artillery,
was perfectly secure in his palatial halls, the walls, bastions, and towers
being impregnable in ancient times. Although the country about Pekin
is sandy and unfertile, yet provisions abound, being brought by canals
from all the great rivers; and also with its commerce, the merchants be­
ing paid in money, as the capital is the chief recipient of the levenues
o f all China.
It has ever been regarded as a very exclusive place, the
presence of no foreigner being permitted within its walls; but now the
outside barbarians are in a fair way o f overleaping the sacred boundaries;
and it is probable that this act, together with the opening o f Japan, may
pro\e an important step towards the inauguration of Christianity among
the millions who are now benighted in Pagan idolatry and superstition.”

Art, VII.— THE BANKING AND CBEDIT SYSTEMS.
To the Editors o f the Merchants’ M agazine : —
O n further investigation, I found, after sending off the manuscript o f
the article contributed by me to your September issue under the above
caption, that I was in error regarding the time and circumstance of the
commencement of the prevailing currency system— the organization o f
debt into currency through the medium o f a bank. I had depended upon
the authorities of Adam Smith and McCulloch, that happened to be be­
fore me at the time, both o f which state that the stock of the Bank of
England was increased only £3,400,000 to purchase the South Sea
annuities, amounting to £4,000,000. They say nothing of the premium
paid on that subscription.
In Francis’ “ History of the Bank of England” I find the following
account of this transaction :— “ In 1722, the South Sea Company were
allowed to sell £200,000 government annuities, and the Bank of England
took the whole, at twenty years’ purchase, at a price equal to par. To
meet the payment, amounting to £4,000,000, their corporate capital was
increased £3,400,000 by £3,389,830 10s. being subscribed for at 118 per
cent. By this transaction the bank made a profit o f £610,169 10s., and
the capital amounted to £8,959,995 14s. Gd.” Thus was formed the re­
served fund, “ which, under the name o f r e s t , has increased with the
business of the house, and has frequently proved of invaluable service.”
This is a perfectly clear explanation of what appeared to be a deficiency
o f subscription for the purchase of the .South Sea stock. W e find it to
be the commencement of the celebrated “ rest,” designed, as it has proved,
to be a security for an unfailing dividend to the stockholders of the bank.
Pursuing the investigation, I find the bank plunged into the debt-currency
system, loaning its debt without capital in hand, as deeply as possible, at
the very beginning o f its existence. Its early operations are described
by its friends so plausibly, and with so much sophistry and word twisting,
that, as there are no publications of its opponents to be found, the casual
reader would never suspect that this famous bank went into operation
with almost no capital at all, and so continued for several years; but
such is the fact. . It was at first an engine, ingeniously adapted to operate




444

T h e B anking and Credit System s.

with the loyalty and religious enthusiasm o f the English people in favor
o f the Protestant succession o f William and Mary; to carry on the war
against Catholic France, in the endeavor of Louis X IV . to restore the
exiled Stuart, James II., to the British throne. Its efficient aid in secur­
ing the successful result of the seige of Namur, in 1095, was universally
acknowledged, and thereby it gained great popularity. Its first deputy
Governor, Michael Godfrey, was killed in the trenches before that place
by a cannon ball, in the presence o f the king, after having conducted a
remittance o f specie to the camp. But it was by the sophistical applica­
tion of the terms “ capital ” and “ money ” that people were induced and
deluded to accept its notes and credits, which were nothing but debt in a
form more convenient than the tallies o f the exchequer, for which they
were exchanged.
Before the establishment of the hank, “ tallies,” according to a writer
o f that day, “ lay bundled up like Bath faggots in the hands o f brokers
and stock jobbers.”
And they were faggots, neither more nor less.
These tallies were sticks, with the indebtedness o f the government scored
upon them in notches; the stick, or faggot, was then split lengthwise
through the notches— one half given to the creditor, and the other re­
tained in the exchequer. When payment was demanded, it became ne­
cessary to match the two halves into a perfect whole again, as the voucher
of the claim. This form of obligation, however inconvenient in other
respects, must have been very secure against counterfeiting. I can con­
ceive of nothing more difficult than to match one-half o f a faggot, thus
torn in two, with any other than the original piece.
The oldest account o f the bank, I think, is the following, taken from a
rare pamphlet, published in 1695 by Michael Godfrey, who was killed
the same year in the trenches before Namur, as before stated:— “ The
bank is a society consisting of about 1,300 persons, who, having sub­
scribed £1,200,000, pursuant to an act of Parliament, are incorporated
by the name of the ‘ Governor and Company o f the Bank o f England,’
and have a fund o f £100,000 per annum granted them, redeemable after
eleven years, upon one year’s notice; which £1,200,000 they have paid
into the exchequer by such payments as the public occasion required, and
most of it long before the money could have been demanded.” * * *
“ There was a proviso in the act, that if £600 000 or more of the said
£1,200,000 should not be subscribed on or before the 1st August then
next coming, that the power of making a corporation should then cease,
and the money be paid into the exchequer by the respective subscribers
and contributors.” The subscription, however, was taken up in ten days’
time.
Noticing the objections to the hank, the same authority proceeds:—
“ Some find fault with the bank because they have not taken iu the whole
£1,200,000 which was subscribed, for they have called in but £72,000,
which is more than they now have occasion for. But, however, they
have paid into the exchequer the whole £1,200,000 before the time ap­
pointed by act of Parliament, and the less money they have taken in to
do it with so much the more they have served the public, for the rest is
left to circulate in trade, to be lent on land, or otherwise to be disposed
of for the nation’s service.”
All this looks very fine in words ; we will put it into figures by and by.
I think it must have puzzled the clerks of that day to tell how a bank




T h e B anking and Credit Systems.

445

could pay into the exchequer £1,200,000 with a capital paid in of only
£72,000. W e understand the thing now, however, by extensive practice
in getting up modern banks. Freshmen in college are in the habit of
exercising themselves in logic somewhat t h u s “ No cat has two tails.
One cat has one tail more than no c a t; therefore, one cat has three tails.”
There seems to be no occasion to dispute such a wise conclusion. It is
precisely as indisputable as the logic of the proprietors of the Bank of
England, that was so satisfactory to the Protestants of Eng'and on its
establishment, which built up a huge corporation at the cost of the peo­
ple, and sowed the seeds o f the present oppressive and irredeemable pub­
lic debt.
“ Francis’ History continues:— “ The corporation w e r e n o t a llo w e d to
b o r r o w o r o w e m o r e th a n th e a m o u n t o f th e ir c a p it a l , and if they did so
the individual members became liable to the creditors in proportion to
the amount of their stock. The corporation were not allowed to trade
in any goods, wares, or merchandise; but were allowed to deal in bills
o f exchange, gold and silver bullion, and to sell any goods upon which
they had advanced money, and wdiich had not been redeemed within
three months after the time agreed upon. The whole of the subscription
was tilled in a few days, tw e n ty -fiv e p e r cen t paid down, (?) and a charter
was issued on the 27th July, 1G94.”
*
*
*
*
*.
*
“ When the payment was completed, it was handed in to the exchequer,
and the bank procured from other quarters the funds which it required.
It employed the same means which the bankers had done at the exchange,
with this difference, that the latter traded wTith p e r s o n a l p r o p e r t y , while
the bank traded with the d e p o s its o f th e ir c u s to m e r s . It was from the
circulation of a capital so formed that the bank derived their profit. It
is evident, however, from the pamphlet of the first deputy-governor, that
at this period they allow'ed interest on deposits, and another writer,
D ’Avenant, makes it a subject of complaint. ‘ It would be for the gene­
ral good of trade if the bank were restrained from allowing interest for
running cash, for the ease of having 3 or 4 per cent without trouble
must be a continual bar to industry.’ ”
Gilbart, in his treatise on banking, says o f the Bank o f England :—
“ The corporation were to lend their whole capital to government, for
which they were to receive interest at the rate of £ 8 per cent per annum,
and £4,000 per annum for management, being £100,000 in the whole.
They were n o t a llo w e d to b o r r o w o r o w e m o r e th a n th e a m o u n t o f th e ir
c a p ita l, and if they did so the individual members became liable to the
creditors in proportion to the amount o f their stock.”
Now examine the following statement from Lawson’s “ History of
Banking,” page 44 :—
“ On the 4th December, 1696, the governor and directors o f the bank
attended at the bar of the House of Commons, and presented to the
house a statement o f their affairs, as follow s:—
DEBTOR.

To
To
To
To
To

sundry persons for sealed bank bills standing out...................
sundry persons on notes for running cash.................................
moneys borrowed in H olland.....................................................
interest due on bank bills standing out.....................................
balance......................

£893,800 0 0
764,196 10 6
300,000 0 0
17,876 0 0
125,315 2 11

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

£2,101,187 13 5




446

T he B anking and Credit Systems.
CREDITOR.

By tallies in several Parliamentary fun ds....................................
By one-half year’s deficit o f fund £100,000 per annum.............
By mortgages,* pawns, securities, and cash...................................

£1,784,576 16 6
60,000 0 0
266,610 17 0

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

£2,101,187 13 5

* This item includes £35,664 Is. lOd. cash, which, it appears, was all the bank
had on hand to pay their notes, amounting to £1,657,996 10s. 6d.”

The reader, if accustomed to accounts, will probably inquire— where is
the capital in this statement? All there is o f it is in the balance of
£125,315 2 s .lld . Thiscovers capital and eontingences. Undoubtedly all
the capital paid in at that time was the £72,000 mentioned by Godfrey.
Francis must have been mistaken in saying that 25 per cent was paid
down, which would have been £300,000 to appear in the balance. The
bank had done a magnificent business for two years. The tallies bore an
interest of 8 per cent per annum, and the bank was allowed 8 per cent
per annum on £1,200,000— of which it furnished but £72,000— besides
£4,000 for management. It had paid the heavy expense o f its charter
and establishment, and 8 per cent per annum dividends for two years to
its stockholders, for no “ capital” but their name, excepting the £72,000,
and had £125,315 2s. l i d . left.
For the loan in real cash of £72,000, the bank aggregated interest
at the rate of 8 per cent per annum on the subscribed capital of
£1,200,000, and allowance for management...................................
On exchequer tallies, mortgages, pawns, <fec..
£1,951.187 13 5
Less cash on h an d ............................................
35,664 1 10
£1,915,523 11 7
O f say 5 per cent net, after deducting interest allowed on out­
standing notes......................................................................................

£100,000

0

0

95,776

8

1

£195,776

3

1

There seems but little reason to doubt that their gross income on
£72,000 actual capital was al out £200,000 per annum. I believe this
bank was the first to call debt “ capital,’ ’ and give the name o f “ money ”
to convertible promises to pay. It appears unaccountable that a people
can be so deluded as were the people of England then, and as the people
o f this country are now. They were lending capital to the bank in hold­
ing the bank notes, while they fancied the bank was lending them money,
and were paying monstrous charges to the bank for the loan o f their
own capital. W e are doing the same with our banking system at this
tim e; it is but a continuance of the system o f the Bank o f England.
I shall not attempt to reconcile the statement that “ the corporation
were not allowed to borrow' or owe more than the amount o f their
capital,” with the figures as presented by Lawson, for it cannot be done.
The truth is, the bank and the government were in partnership, both
knowing that they must sink or swim together, and the method by which
they obtained means from the people to carry on the wars of that period,
and make profit for the bank at the same time, w'ould not then, and can­
not now, bear an honest scrutiny.
This seems to have been the discovery of the speculative Scotchman,
William Patterson, who projected the Bank o f England; that by calling
a bank note “ money,” and promising that it shall be convertible into




T h e B anking an d Oredit Systems.

447

gold and silver'on demand, the people will accept it as money without
wishing to convert it, that they will lend their own labor and capital to
the bank, and furnish the bank means to pay the note before they have
occasion to demand payment of it themselves. Through the sophistical
arrangement o f this business people do not discover its nature, and usually
submit to its impositions without inquiry, but it is only under favorable
circumstances that they escape trouble with it. Accordingly, there have
been frequent panics and difficulties with the Bank o f England. In 1696,
the second year of its existence, it stopped payment on its notes in con­
sequence of the recoinage of silver. As the new coin was supplied by
the mint this difficulty was soon remedied, but other pressures and runs
upon the bank succeeded, until in 1745 it came near being wound up
altogether by the invasion o f the Pretender Charles Edward. On his en­
trance into Derby, 120 miles from London, the run upon the bank for
payment of its notes drove the directors to the subterfuge o f paying in
shillings and sixpences, and o f employing emissaries to obstruct the access
o f the creditors of the bank to the teller’s counter. These emissaries
presented notes, which were paid with as much delay as possible, then
passing out of one door and in at another they redeposited the money,
took fresh notes, and repeated the operation. By this ruse the bank
avoided the suspension of payment, officially, and the directors took much
credit to themselves for such sharp practice. A greater relief, however,
was afforded by the retreat o f the Pretender from Derby. If this had
not taken place immediately, the bank would have stopped payment, and
probably would have been broken up altogether; crises have occured
with it periodically ever since.
In my September communication I was therefore mistaken, in point of
time 28 years, with respect to the commencement of the present system
of organizing debt into currency; but I was not mistaken in attributing
it to the Bank of England. It was the very principle o f its existence—
began with it in 1694, and has continued with it to the present day,
checked only by such restraint as Sir Robert Peel was able to put upon
it in the Bank Charter A ct o f 1844. By that act the issue o f notes on
debt security is limited to £14,000,000, which security includes the pub­
lic debt, constituting the capital of the bank, and some other public dues.
Every pound issued in notes beyond this sum must have a sovereign
deposited and retained against it. But this limitation principle is not
applied to the deposits, which can be increased by discounts indefinitely,
excepting the restraint naturally imposed by the export demand for specie.
The limitation of issue o f the notes is a movement in the right direction,
but, with the credits for discounts left untrammeled, it is quite ineffectual
to prevent the expansion and consequent degradation of the currency of
the kingdom, by which the precious metals are expelled to the continent
and to Asia as fast as they are received. This leaves the nation dependent
upon debt for the transaction of business, like ourselves, with the excep­
tion of the smaller class of traffic, for which cash is secured by the re­
straint upon bank issues below the denomination o f £5.
The truth is, there can be no compounding or tampering with this
principle of debt in the currency without serious damage. If it were
good, we could not have too much o f it, but it is evil continually— un­
mingled evil— and the first dollar of it is too much.
W ith $1,000 o f real money we know that, by ten removes or ex­




448

T he Banicing and Credit System s.

changes, merchandise to the aggregate amount of $10,000 may be sold
without debt or embarrassment; while the absence of the $1,000 of
money makes it necessary to sell that amount on credit, notes being
created and discounted at bank, one to meet the other, through the whole
of the exchanges, till ten separate parcels of debt, of $1,000 each, stand
subject to an alteration in the exchange value of money, perhaps four to eight
months, and liable to be knocked down, like a row o f bricks, on the ap­
plication of the screw— the power o f contraction of bank loans. This
is our system, and this is what we experienced last fall.
Now, had we bought $1,000 of gold, to begin with, and retained it,
by the sale of two hundred barrels of flour, the wheat grower and the
miller would have been thankful for the privilege of producing two
hundred barrels m ore; it would have sped the plow, furnished additional
employment to labor through the whole production, been a clear gain of
$1,000 capital to the country, increased trade, and, of course, wholly pre­
vented the bankruptcy and distress resulting from the circulation of
property to the aggregate amount of $10,000 without it.
W hat worse than folly, therefore, is the argument o f the anti-bullionists,
that a country gains by the use of a cheap medium of exchange ! That
as paper is cheaper than gold, so is the gain to the community in the
substitution and use o f paper promises and bank credits for money ! W e
should repudiate this doctrine utterly, for it is clearly pernicious and false.
W hat item of wealth can we possess of more utility and value than the
commodity which accomplishes our exchanges without debt, and secures
us from bankruptcy ? and what thing is more worthless than the paper
substitute that limits our production and traffic, and entails such wretched­
ness upon the country as we witness in every bank revulsion ?
W e want freedom from the present, constant, wasting care of d eb t;
we want heart and spirit unoppressed, to labor with some certainty of
reward. These we cannot have while d e b t sits like a Briareus in the
center of our system o f currency, grasping with its hundred hands all
the methods and operations o f trade.
I have not any doubt that an inconvertible paper currency, such as
governments have issued from the earliest periods of history, is less in­
jurious to the community than the convertible debt currency introduced
by the Bank of England; for the inconvertible currency soon falls into
line with the marketable stocks o f the exchange, and is sold at a discount
according to its estimated value. Real money, gold and silver, has a
value independent o f it— is not degraded by it, but measures its price as
it measures the price o f other property. A depreciated stock may serve
as a medium o f exchange, it may be bartered like any other property
without being money, and may sink to nothing in the hands of its pos­
sessor, as most o f the paper currencies of the governments o f the world
have done, without causing the export of an ounce of gold, or the loss of
a dollar of capital to the country.
Government paper, passing at a dis­
count, or inconvertible on demand, is nothing but government debt—-the
same as government stock in principle and effect. The funded debt of
England has none of the power or influence o f currency.
But the convertible bank debt o f notes and credits, formed by discount­
ing a counter debt, is a very different thing.
Although pure kiting, it
amalgamates with the mass of the currency, and reduces it all in value,
^without being mingled with it in substance. It is a worthless alloy that




T he B an kin g and Credit System s.

449

costs us solid gold. The foreigner will sell us his goods at the value we
put upon the mixed currency, and he will leave our domestic products on
our hands at the fancy prices created by it; he will take none o f the
mixture away, but, separating the dross from the substance, he leaves the
dross with us, at the value we put upon it, and takes the solid gold.
By a ca b a lis tic use o f the terms “ capital” and “ money,” the wily
Scotchman, Patterson, was enabled to impose a prodigious tax upon the
people of England, for the benefit of his corporation, without their knowl­
edge. The bank reaped its harvest from fresh soil, having the field to
itself, aided by all the warlike and religious prejudices of the nation, and
the corporation were thereby enabled to sustain themselves, for a time,
upon a foundation that would disgrace a Western wild-cat bank of our
country at the present day.
The establishment o f the Bank of England was greatly promoted by
the extortions of the goldsmiths, who were the previous bankers of the
kingdom.
For anticipating the taxes, in loans to the government,
they frequently obtained interest at the rate of 20 or 30 per cent per
annum.
They had been plundered by the Stuarts, who had a habit of
taking money by the strong hand, and, not yet being entirely confident
of prompt returns, they made the new government pay for the perfidy of
the old. They loaned money, however, and not debt. The distinction
between their dealings and the dealings of the bank is explained by
Francis, as already quoted :— “ The bankers traded with p e r s o n a l p r o p e r t y ,
while the bank traded with the d e p o s its o f tlieir c u sto m ers. It was from
the circulation of a capital so formed that the bank derived their profit.”
The clipped coins with their uncertain value, the extortions of the
goldsmiths, the bad credit o f the government, and the exhausting war
with France, would seem to have called for the establishment of some
financial regulator as an urgent necessity to England, in the latter part of
the seventeenth century, but a tr u e b a n k , established by authority o f the
government, to aggregate re a l c a p ita l for public and private uses, was the
fiscal agent needed, and not the d eb t f a c t o r y contrived by William
Patterson.
Prices would then have conformed as they now conform to the
volume of the currency offered for investment in the transactions of the
day— as money is thrown upon, or withdrawn from, the market, they
rise or fall. W hat possible benefit would flow from the possession of
fifty times as much money or currency as constitutes our current me­
dium of exchange to-day ? Flour, now five dollars, would then be two
hundred and fifty dollars, per barrel, and all other commodities and
property would be in the same proportion. Not a fraction more of
business could be done with the whole of it than we do with the more
limited currency now— not a dime more o f v a lu e or wealth should
we possess ; we should have only the same property measured in p r ic e
by a cheaper currency. But every intelligent reader must see at a glance
that we should operate at an immense disadvantage with such high prices.
Where one pound o f gold will now discharge a balance of account at
home, or adjust exchanges with a foreign conntry, fifty pounds would
need to be transported. It would require more than one cart and horse
to make the exchanges of the Clearing house in New York, and fifty
times as much labor and expense in adjusting balances with gold every29
V O L . X X X I X .----- NO. IV .




450

Q uarantine R eform .

where. To carry gold change in one's pocket, sufficient for the ordinary
pocket expenditure, would be out o f the question.
Our best interests, the activity o f business, the accumulation of capital,
the absence of debt, and the prosperity and happiness o f all classes in
this country, depend upon our having never more, but always less, money
or currency than any other people in relation to commodities. That we
cannot always maintain this relation I know very well—-the production
o f gold in California is against us. But it is suicidal to increase the cur­
rency a dollar when it can be avoided. W e want a more valuable cur­
rency than any other nation, and this we can have by reducing or restrict­
ing its volume, or by increasing commodities. W e want low prices for
commodities, and a high exchange value to money. W e want to sell
commodities to other countries, which we shall always do when our cur­
rency is more valuable than theirs; for so long we are sure o f an average
of lower prices. Cannot our intelligent merchants be made to understand
that we are better circumstanced with one dollar now than we should be
with fifty dollars if the currency were increased fifty fold ? Cannot they
see that when an ounce o f gold buys more of the product of labor here
than anywhere else, we have the commerce o f the world at our command ?
This will be seen. The science of political economy will not always
be neglected by merchants, and left in the hands o f closet students. The
industrious nation, cultivating with intelligence the arts o f peace, which
shall first repudiate the convertible debt system o f the Bank of England,
and the doctrines o f Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and the other antibullionists of England regarding paper money, and so shape its policy as
to give the highest possible value to its currency, will infallibly get ad­
vantage of the commercial world.
c. h . c .

Art, TUI.— Q U A R A N T I N E R E F O R M .
Two years ago, immediately subsequent to the malignant effect o f the
New York Quarantine Establishment on the Long Island shore, there
seemed to be but one opinion as to the propriety o f its removal to a less
populous neighborhood, and less dangerous situation. But before legisla­
tion could be had, such influences were brought to bear as only resulted
in the enactment of a subterfuge which has permitted the “ establishment,”
with all of its odious appurtenances, to continue its death dealings to such
as are so unfortunate as to come within the scope o f its influence.
The recent destruction o f the buildings appropriated to quarantine pur­
poses, is but one o f thousands of other evidences of the worse than use­
less laws which impose confinement on w e ll p e r s o n s , under the absurd
notion that they may propagate disease.
In a paper on this subject two years ago, (see Merchants' Magazine for
October, 1856,) it is stated “ that there is no disease to which mankind is
heir, contagious or non-contagious, which may not be aggravated by the
infliction of quarantine, and quarantines are necessarily dangerous and
disease-producing in proportion to the strictness with which the laws that
govern them are enforced.
That there is no disease compatible with
cleanliness, which may occur at all, that can be otherwise influenced than
aggravated by the quarantine o f persons.”




Q uarantine R eform .

451

B y the destruction of the quarantine buildings on the evening of the
1st of September and since, many persons, whose liberty was limited to
the extent of the walls, have been suddenly forced upon the community
with all the dangers o f “ recent exposure,” yet there is not a single in­
stance of any disease having been propagated by them, while they have
been relieved of the danger of contracting disease from the establishment.
The quarantine regulations of the United States are, as a whole, the
rewritten laws o f seini-civilized barbarians, enacted against plague and
other diseases originating and spreading in filth, and are no more suited
to the present state o f civilization than would be the dwellings, store­
houses, and ships of London previous to the great fire of 1666, to the
present wants of commerce.
As long ago as 1V84, New York had an “ act to prevent” the spread of
such diseases as have never prevailed here, or against the extension of
such as owe their existence to causes where they usually do prevail, to
other places where like causes do not exist, and, consequently, where the
same diseases never prevail, whether there is quarantine or not.
The United States laws, on the subject of quarantine, make those of
each port supreme, and United States vessels, as well as all others, are
obliged to submit.
The present laws of New York require all vessels last from places
where epidemic diseases existed at the time o f departure, or in case any
such disease has existed on board during the vovage, if between the 31st
of May and the 1st of October, to remain at quarantine a t lea st t h ir t y
d a y s a ft e r th eir a r r iv a l , a n d a t lea st tw e n ty d a y s a f t e r th e ir c a r g o s h a ll
h a ve been d is c h a r g e d , a n d su ch f u r t h e r q u a r a n tin e as shall be prescribed.
All vessels arriving between the 1st day of April and the 1st day of
November, and aU from foreign ports, on board which a n y p e r s o n s h a ll
h a v e been s ic k ! and all from south of Cape Henlopen, from the 31st of
May to the 16th of October, and all from a n y p la c e in Asia, Africa, the
Mediterranean, West Indies, Bermudas, Western Islands, or any place
south of Georgia, between the 1st o f April and the 1st of November,
shall be subject to such quarantine as shall be prescribed.
Any vessel may be ordered from the wharfes o f the city to the quaran­
tine ground, and a l l p e r s o n s and things introduced from any such vessel
may be seized and returned on board or removed to the quarantine. All
cargoes, matters, or things within the city, that may be p u t r i d , o r o th e r ­
w ise d a n g e r o u s to th e p u b lic h ea lth , may be ordered to the quarantine
ground. And all persons in the city, not residents thereof, who may be
sick of an epidemic disease, are subject to being removed to the hospital
at quarantine.
The New York quarantine, thus le g a lly constituted, further provides
that e v i r y v essel from any foreign port having passengers on board shall
stop there, and in case there has been any epidemic disease on board,
showing that in all probability the condition of the vessel is such as to
render the passengers peculiarly susceptible to any prevailing source of
disease, she shall in that case be detained at quarantine! And any vessel,
on board which a n y p e r s o n h as been s ic k o r d ied , is obliged to anchor at
quarantine, and there await the directions of the health officer, and all
fellow-passengers of any such persons are required to remain at quarantine
until fifteen days a f t e r th e la s t ca se o f d isea se shall have occurred on
board the vessel in which they may have arrived, and ten days after
arrival at quarantine.




452

Q uarantine R eform .

It is surely not surprising that a place thus constituted, on the main
entrance to New York, in a populous neighborhood, should become ob­
noxious not only to those living in the immediate vicinity, but to all who
have taken pains to investigate it, and to observe numerous other count­
less abuses which are currently practiced by those who have controlled it.
During the harvest of the New York quarantine in 1856, an individual
affected with pulmonary disease, a resident of the State of New York, on
returning from a tour for the benefit of his health, was taken from a
healthy ship to the quarantine hospital, and there “ detained” during the
pleasure of those who get a f e e f o r the r e m o v a l — (of invalids and those
who are detained to become invalids)— for “ if this were not done,” said
the visitor, “ the ship would have to be detained.”
She was less than
thirty days from Liverpool, and in a perfectly healthy state.
Such examples of quarantine practices are so common that it is rarely
the case that one cannot be selected in illustration, during any such
period, as the greatest extremes are then palmed oft' as necessary strictures
for th e 'p ro tectio n o f p u b li c h ea lth !
On the 15th of April last, the United States steamer Susquehanna
arrived in an infected condition. Captain Sands chartered two steamers,
and was about proceeding to do everything possible, im m e d ia te ly on arrival,
to ventilate the ship and promote the health of the crew, but his inten­
tions were speedily nipped in the bud by his being placed under arrest
by the Health Officer.
The crew of the Susquehanna were shortly after “ removed” at the
usual rates to the quarantine grounds, and subsequently “ removed” a g a in
to the Battery, by orders of the Health Officer.
Meanwhile the ship, with stores, &c., s t i l l o n b o a rd , was anchored with
the following crew, at the rates corresponding:—
15 men at $18 per m on th ....................................................................................
1 engineer, U, S. N., per month..........................................................................
6 engineers at $90 per month.............................................................................
6 policemen at $90 per m on th .........................................................................
A tender at $100 per m onth..........................................................................
Bations per month, about................................................................................

$170
125
540
540
400
300

Per month since 1st A p r i l ..............................................................................
Which, for five months, is................................................................................
Besides which, incidental expenses have been paid by the government,
amounting t o ..........................................................

$2,075
10,375

U p to Septem ber..................................................................................

$17,960

7,585

It is, however, due the Health Officer to state that, on the 18f/t o f
J u n e , after hot weather had fully set in, and the infectious influences of
the Susquehanna had attained their height, he th en called the attention
of the Board of Health ( h im s e l f ) to the infected ship Susquehanna, and
they (h im s e lf) having duly authorized the Health Officer to carry out h is
o w n r e s t r ic tio n , he sent a peremptory o r d e r to the Commandant o f the
Navy Yard to break out the Susquehanna without delay 1 But—
1. “ Every vessel arriving at any port in the United States shall be sub­
ject to the quarantine regulations of the port.
2. “ It shall be the duty of the officers of the revenue cutters to assist
in carrying into effect the quarantine regulations of the several ports,
under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.
3. “ It is the duty of all licensed pilots to place in the hands of the




Q uarantine R eform .

453

commanders o f all vessels they may board, copies of the quarantine
regulations of the port, and of this act.
4.
“ Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be liable to a
fine not exceeding $1,000, one half to the United States, the other half
to the informers.”
In 1832, when it was feared cholera was about to make a port of entry
in the United States, there was a committee appointed in Congress to
keep it out! And after much correspondence with different “ boards of
health,” the law above quoted was passed. And when the Health Officer
of New York wished to stop the progress of Captain Sands in his efforts
to place the Susquehanna in a healthy state as soon as possible after her
arrival, it was in lull force, but after the ship had lain two months, the
weather become hot and her condition manifold more dangerous for any
one to work on board or in the vicinity, above all to such as were un­
acclimated to the condition, as was not the case with the crew when the
ship first arrived, the Health Officer then stretched a point and ordered
the commandant of the navy station to have the ship broken out. Now,
the commandant of this naval station is an old cruiser, and he knew, i f
the Health Officer did not, that to send raw hands on board the Susque­
hanna in her then condition would be likely to cause them to contract
yellow fever, and, at least, aid in spreading a panic, which would be no
advantage to him, the commandant, which would in its turn be the
means of enforcing a strict quarantine, and cause a great many passengers
and ships to be “ removed,” “ detained for observation,” “ placed under
strict vigilance,” etc., etc.— “ necessary for the preservation of public
health.”
In view of all this, and more too, the commandant disobeyed orders,
and the Health Officer still commands the frigate Susquehanna.
It is pertinent to this transaction to inform those, who may not find it
convenient to inform themselves, what constitutes the Board of Health
of the city of New York. “ The Mayor and Common Council when acting
in relation to the public health of the city of New York, shall be known
as the Board o f Health, of which ten members shall be a quorum. The
President o f the Board of Aldermen, the President o f the Board o f As­
sistant Aldermen, the Health Officer, the Resident Physician, the Health
Commissioner, and City Inspector shall be the Commissioners o f Health.
The duty of the Mayor, in this capacity, is to render advice to the
Board of Health— to himself. And the commissioners, their duty is to
render advice to the Board of Health and to the City Inspector. The
Board, Commissioners, and Inspector thus mutually advise one another,
and are responsible to eaeh other. All, however, seem to await the re­
ports, and adopt the advice, of the Health Officer, who, by getting ap­
proval of his own contemplations, and signing them in virtue of his official
capacity, is virtually autocrat of the establishment.
The affair of the Susquehanna only differs from the more ordinary
cases by being the United States on one side, and on that account more
easily got at. It is a fair exemplification of management on a large scale,
and what the merchants o f New York are daily tolerating in the quaran­
tine establishment.
This remnant of barbarism has been perpetuated against every received
theory and well authenticated fact regarding the nature of epidemic
diseases for more than two centuries.




454

Quarantine Reform,.

Quarantine, as generally practiced, and particularly at New York, has
been and is the producer of what it pretends to prevent.
By congregating together numerous ships loaded with infectious goods,
from places prolific in the causes o f epidemics, by keeping things thus
infected, confined in the dark, damp holds of ships to eke out their
poison— and above all, by detaining persons in an atmosphere thus con­
taminated till they sicken and die— quarantine is in every aspect, as ap­
plied to persons, contrary to every principle of health and humanity— an
obstruction to commerce and a public nuisance.
Yellow fever, nor no other epidemic, is the product of specific con­
tagion, that can be stayed in its progress by the isolation o f individuals;
but it, a n d a ll d isea se against which quarantine has been supposed to pro­
vide, are the legitimate offspring of decomposing organic matter, and every­
thing which contributes to this-—as collecting such matter in large quan­
tities in the manner practiced at the New York Quarantine— contributes
to the rise and spread of epidemics.
The necessity o f destroying local nuisances of every kind, whether on
land or sea, is essential to the promotion of health. Wharves, docks, courts,
yards, cellers, or the obnoxious qualities of all these collected together
at a well organized quarantine depot— all accumulations o f filth, should
be cleansed, paved, and watered, or r em o v e d .
The true basis of a well organized quarantine, as a part o f a system
for the promotion and protection o f public health, consists in— 1. I m m e d i ­
a te fr e e d o m , a n d p u r e a i r to a l l w e ll p e r s o n s .
2. W a r e h o u s e s for infected
goods, with provision for unloading and ventilating ships which are found
to be infected, im m e d ia t e ly a f t e r a r r iv a l. 3. A n c h o r a g e g r o u n d at such
a distance and direction from the warehouses, and all populous neighbor­
hoods, as to endanger no o n e ; and— 4. A M a r in e H o s p it a l, also at such
a distance and direction from the anchorage ground as to be in no dan­
ger from them.
Quarantine on such a basis presents the greatest advantages for health,
and the least obstacle to commerce. W ell people have their freedom
without being kept subject to the causes o f disease; sick persons a chance
of recovery; merchants their ships in the shortest possible time, and
goods their safety.
It is worthy o f special note in selecting sites for quarantine buildings,
where yellow fever has only occasionally prevailed in the United States, that
it has always been preceded by southerly winds; yet these have never
extended the disease unless they have had infected cargoes in their line.
In 1856, as on all previous occasions in New York, the first cases on
shore were in a direct line of the prevailing winds and quarantine shipping.
The only neck of land exactly suited to these conditions in the vicinity
of New York is Sandy Hook, the trend o f which is almost due north
from the main land, and southerly winds being from the landward to sea ­
w a rd , can under no possible circumstances propagate disease from that
point inland. There is ample room there for the necessities of the whole
establishment, and it is reasonable to believe that quarantine, modified as
herein indicated, would be liable to none of the objections urged by New
Jerseymen against the obnoxious character of the old establishment.
Should there, however, be any obstacle to obtaining this site from New
Jersey, the plan could be adopted on other available places already under
the jurisdiction o f New York.




J ournal o f M ercantile L aw .

455

Iron warehouses, so built as to admit of the free circulation of air
through them, on stone foundations raised from knolls on the o ld O r c h a r d
S h o a ls , with all the appurtenances necessary for immediately unloading
ships, could be erected with less expense to the merchants o f New York
than the present establishment under the old regime can be conducted
for one year.
Additional anchorage ground, for such brief periods as would be necessary
under this system, could be designated in various places ; for a few weeks
at most would afford ample time for the perfect cleansing and ventilation
o f empty ships, when they could again be restored to their owners and
to lucrative trade, instead o f submitting their owners and the public to
such an onerous tax as they now do. A Marine Hospital, for s ic k p e r s o n s
o n l y , would scarcely be objected to anywhere. The chief object in placing
it should be to put it out o f range from the storehouses and anchorage.
G r e a t K i l l would form a good site.
An objection to this place has
been raised, on the ground of insufficient draft o f water for a steamer to
approach it. So far from this being a valid objection, it is a n a d v a n ta g e,
for while there is water enough for large boat draft, its shallowness pre­
cludes the dangers to which the hospital would otherwise be subject. The
draft there is amply sufficient for all the wants of a hospital, but to no
other part of the establishment— and for this so much the better.
The remaining advantages, f r e e d o m to w e ll p e r s o n s , etc., are sufficiently
implied in the context.

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW
APPLICATION FOR INJUNCTION.

In the Supreme Court. Before Judge Ingraham, August 24.
Jr., el al., vs. Oliver Banks and others.

David Banks,

The plaintiffs iu this action ask for an injunction restraining the defendants,
Barbour and Davison, from publishing and selling the manuscript reports of the
decisions of the Supreme Court, and that they also be restrained from publishing
or vending any printed copies of any manuscript reports of such decisions.
It appears from the pleadings that the defendant, Barbour, in 1847, made a
contract with the firm of Gould, Banks & Gould, whereby Barbour, for a con­
sideration to be paid to him, agreed to furnish to the said firm reports in manu­
script of such of the decisions of the Supreme Court as he should deem proper
for publication, and as should be received by him from the judges of the court
for that purpose, so long as he should receive from the said judges a sufficient
number of opinions suitable to be reported, and should be furnished with the
necessary facilities by the said judges to enable him to report their decisions, and
that he would superintend the printing and the proofs ; that the copyright should
belong to the firm, and that he would do any legal act necessary to carry the con­
tract into effect.
Under this contract the parties have acted in the publication of the twenty-four
volumes of reports which have heretofore been published.
It also appears that since the making of the contract, two of the plaintiffs, in
1851, became members of the firm of Gould, Banks & Gould, when the name was
changed to Banks, Gould & Co., in New York, and Gould, Banks & Co., in
Albany ; that thereupon the books, copyrights, and contracts were transferred
to the new firm, and the publication of the late volumes was continued by that
firm ; that David Banks, William Gould, and Anthony Gould, withdrew from the




456

J ournal o j M ercantile L aw .

firm, and the remaining plaintiff was taken into the firm as a partner, and the name
of the firm was changed to Banks & Brothers, to which firm all the copyrights
and contracts were transferred, including the contract with Barbour, and notice
of such transfer was given to Barbour.
It is further alleged that Barbour has prepared and caused to be printed by
Davison the 25th volume of such reports, and was about to sell the same to the
plaintiff’s injury.
The answers of the defendants show that the defendant Barbour made his con­
tract -with David Banks, William and Anthony Gould, and that in making the
contract he relied upon their personal efforts and influence, experience and reputa­
tion, and that this formed the principal moving consideration to make the con­
tract with him. It denies knowledge or belief as to the admission of any of the
plaintiffs into the firm in 1851, or of any transfer to them.
The defendants also deny any knowledge or information as to their interest in
the contract, or that the contract had been transferred to any one until January,
1858, when Barbour received a circular from the new firm of Banks & Brothers.
The defendant, Barbour, claims that his contract was only made with the old
firm, and that the plaintiffs have no right to such contract, but that it has ceased
and terminated ; that the contract was one requiring the personal efforts and
services of the members of the former firm, and that the same could not be trans­
ferred to the plaintiffs.
Affidavits were also submitted, stating other matters relating to the dealings
between the parties, and the affidavit of Little states that he purchased the copy­
right from Barbour, and paid for it, without any knowledge that the plaintiffs
had any right or claim to the contract; that he has taken out a copyright of the
volume, has published the said 25th volume, and has the same ready for sale.
The question which arises as to the right of the plaintiffs to enforce this con­
tract, or whether, if they could, this contract is to be considered a permanent con­
tract, without any termination other than the refusal of the judges to iurnish
their opinions therefor, are not necessarily to be decided for the disposition of this
motion. The contract is a personal contract with the members of the firm of
Banks. Gould & Co., of New York, and Gould, Banks & Gould of Albany, and
provides for a copyright to be taken out by them or their assigns: and they for
themselves, their heirs and assigns, agree to pay for each volume a certain
amount.
The obligation on the part of the assigns of the firm to pay for the volumes
as published by them, would seem to imply the right to assign the contract as a
prerequisite to the obligation on the part of the assigns of the firm to pay for
any volumes delivered under it.
In regard to the 25th volume of the reports, there are, however, other reasons
which induce me to refuse any injunction to restrain the sale of that volume.
First. The defendant, Little, has purchased and paid for the volume without
knowledge of any right or claim on the part of the plaintiffs to the same. If
Barbour has seen fit to violate the contract, and has disposed of the volume to
Little, he is responsible in damages, and the plaintiffs have no other remedy as
to that volume than an action ; therefore, when a contract is made to sell personal
property, or do work for another, and the party chooses to sell such property to
a third person, without notice of the claim, the breach of the contract gives no
right to the party injured to follow that property in the hands of an innocent
purchaser.
Second. The damages to be sustained by the plaintiffs, if they are entitled to
the contract, can easily be ascertained in an action for such damages. The num­
ber of the edition published, the value of each column, and the profits to be made
from the sale, are mere matters of calculation, and there is no need of an injunc­
tion to prevent serious or irreparable injury to the plaintiffs.
The code undoubtedly has used terms in regard to this writ which, literally
construed, have extended it to many cases in which it had not been previously
used, but in a case of mere breach of contract, easily ascertained, and for which
an ample remedy exists by action, I see no propriety in resorting to it. Such an




J ou rn a l o f M ercantile L aw .

457

extension of the writ I cannot consider was ever intended by the Legislature, and
caution in the granting of injunctions is cahed for, rather than any further addi­
tion to the cases in which it may be used.
Third. It would be unadvisable, unless necessary for the protection of the
plaintiffs, to delay by an injunction the sale of a work which is required for the
public use, and in wliiek the public are interested. To delay the publication un­
til the trial of this case, would probably postpone the sale of the book for more
than a year, to the inconvenience of courts and suitors. For these reasons I am
of the opinion that the motion for the injunction as to the twenty-fifth volume of
the reports should be denied.
There is nothing in the complaint to show that the defendants contemplate
publishing any other volume, or that the defendants, Barbour or Little, have any
interest in, connection with, or control over, any other manuscripts or volumes of
reports except the twenty-fifth volume before referred to. There is, therefore,
no grounds for an injunction as to any other publication.
Motion for an injunction is denied. The defendants’ costs ($10) to abide event.
FALSE PRETENSE CASE.

In the Supreme Court.
Lucius E. Bulkley.

Before Judge Clerke. August 24.

Elias IT. Main vs.

This was a case for an application to discharge the defendant from an order
of arrest. The facts in the case, as stated in the plaintiff’s affidavit, were that on
the 24th of April, 1857, defendant applied to him for a loan of $600, and to in­
duce plaintiff to lend the money represented that he was the owner of 1,000
shares, at $100 each, of the Stockbridge and Pittsfield Railroad Company, which
he would transfer to the plaintiff as collateral security for the loan ; deponent
then gave a check for the amount to Bulkley, who pretended to be in a great
hurry, and that he could not then transfer said stock ; that a few days after Bulkley represented that he was perfectly responsible, and that there was no occasion
for the transfer of the stock ; that on the 6th of May, 1857, defendant obtained
a further loan of $150 for eight days from deponent, by representing that he was
also the owner of 100 shares, of $100 each, in the Rutland and Whitehall Rail­
road Company, which, as he stated, were good dividend-paying stocks, and at
par in the stock market. On the faith of these representations, deponent gave
him the $150, and extended the time to pay the $600 for some days. At that
time defendant also represented that the stocks of the Stockbridge and Pittsfield
Railroad Company were at par in the market, and perfectly good, and deponent,
relying on the truth of Mr. Bulkley’s statement, did not press for the transfer of
the stock, as promised by defendant. That the stock is not worth as much as
represented, neither had it been for a long time previous to said representations.
Deponent also states that some time in May, 1857, deponent had employed defen­
dant, who is an attorney at law, to collect a claim against one John Mowatt,
and that Bulkley collected th ; sum of $40 thereon, which he refuses to pay over.
Defendant applied for his discharge, on the ground of the orignal affidavit not
being sufficient to warrant the order. His Honor denied the motion in the follow­
ing opinion :—
Although the facts are not detailed with as much particularity and in as pre­
cise order as I deem desirable, yet I think now, as I first thought, that enough
is shown in the affidavit to enable me to infer a deliberate design on the part of
the defendant to defraud the plaintiff, from the beginning. His manner and con­
duct, at the time of obtaining the first loan, stated in the plaintiff’s affidavit,
taken in connection with his subsequent conduct, and particularly the non-fulfill­
ment of his promise, shows that design. Not that the breach of promise of itself
necessarily is indicative of fraud, or could alone lay the foundation for an order
of arrest; but, following indications of a dishonest purpose in contracting the
debt, this breach of promise strongly corroborates my belief that the defendant
- never intended to deliver the stock, and that his representations respecting it
were false.




458

J ourn al o f M ercantile L aw .

But, it is contended, even supposing the defendant did not act fairly with re­
gard to the first loan, that the plaintiff waived his objection, and his right to the
stock as a security, by entering fnto a new arrangement with the defendant when
he obtained the second loan— the loan for $150. The answer to this, however,
is, that on this second occasion the same indications of a fraudulent intent are
manifested by his conduct at the time, and by his subsequent failure to perform
his promise to transfer the stock ; and if, under such circumstances, the plaintiff
waived any of his rights, he is not bound by the waiver, for fraud vitiates every­
thing. I can scarcely admit that the defendant’s second fraud can have the effect
of exonerating him from the consequences of the first. Two wrongs can never
make a right.
After failing to deliver the stock, which the defendant promised to give as
security for the first loan, he made various additional representations to the plain­
tiff ; among others, that he was a man of considerable property and perfectly
responsible for the amount, and that the stock was much more valuable than it
really was ; in consequence of these representations the second loan was made,
and the same result followed—an entire failure to give security or to pay the
money. If, therefore, I am to believe the plaintiff, I must conclude that the de­
fendant has justly exposed himself to the imputation of a fraudulent intent in
this transaction. It shows that, throughout the whole transaction, the conduct
of the defendant was not that of an honest borrower.
Motion denied with costs.

JURISDICTION— EXECUTORY CONTRACT.

In the United States District Court in Admiralty, April, 1858. Before Judge
Betts. Bafael R. Torices vs. the ship Winged Racer.
This was an action to recover damages against the ship for the non-perform­
ance of a charter from this port to China, for the transportation of Coolies to
Havana. The libel alleged the execution of the contract by the owners of the
ship, and that they have since wholly refused to perform it, and prayed damages
to the amount of $28,951.
The owners excepted to the libel.
Held by the Court.—That the agreement set up was an executory contract
only, entered into on land, and never commenced to be performed on water, and
therefore does not come within the jurisdiction of the court.
Decree for exceptant, but with leave to the libelant to amend his libel within
twenty days on payment of costs.
For libelant, Messrs. McOulloh and Ridgeway. For claimants, Messrs.
Stoughton and Harrington, and Judge Beebe.

LIABILITIES OF POSTMASTERS.

An important law case was closed at Springfield, Massachusetts, in which
William Davis & Co., of Frankfort, in this State, were plaintiffs, and Foster
Pepper, Postmaster at Monson, Massachusetts, defendant.
The Monson Bank sent a package of $2,000 in money addressed to the plain­
tiffs, depositing the package in the Monson Post-office. The package never
reached its destination, and the parties to whom it was addressed, sued the Post­
master, Pepper, for the amount lost. There was no criminal prosecution, for no
suspicion of guilt was entertained. The only fault attempted to be fastened
upon Pepper, was (if we remember right) that he did not mail the package
“ direct,” instead of the usual mode through the distributing offices. The verdict
was for the defendant.




459

Com m ercial C hronicle and R eview .

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
GENERAL STATE

O F F IN A N C E — C R O P S IM P R O V I N G — H A R V E S T S A B R O A D — L O W P R I C E S F O R

FO OD— E X ­

P O R T S OF B R E A D S T U F F S — S O U T H E R N E X P O R T S — C O T T O N V A L U E — S P E C IE A T N E W O R L E A N S — M IN T —
B A N K R E S E R V E — E X C H A N G E — B A N K R E T U R N S — F L O W OF S P E C IE — P A R IS A N D L O N D O N — C O N S U M P T IO N
O F G O O D S A B R O A D — R A T E OF M O N E Y — B A L A N C E OF T R A D E — E X C H A N G E — E X P O R T S OF S P E C I E — COM ­
P A R A T IV E

R E C E I P T S — T H E C E N T R A L A M E R IC A — C H A R A C T E R

C O IN — D I S C O U N T ON S I L V E R — R E D E M P T IO N

OF S P E C IE

E XPO R T S— ABUNDANCE

OF M O N E Y — B A N K O F M U T U A L

OF

R E D E M P T IO N — R E D E M P ­

T I O N IN P H I A L D E L P H I A .

T h e general state of commercial and financial affairs has remained nearly the
same during the month as at the date of our last, with a general tendency towards
an improved condition of things. The imports have continued small for the fall
trade, while the exports of the leading articles have been well sustained, and the
year’s balance shows largely in favor of the country. The very fine weather which
has prevailed during the month of September, has gone far to repair the damage
which previous rains was supposed to have done the crops, and imparted a more
cheerful aspect in that respect. The favorable accounts of the European crops,
however, debars the idea of very extended exports of breadstuff's for the coming
year, and leading to the prospect of low prices for food. Such a prospect, how­
ever favorable it may be for the inhabitants of towns and cities, and for manu­
facturers and artisans, does not attract capital into the crops, as would be the case
with the prospect of a rising market. The exports of breadstuffs for the past
year have nevertheless been large from the ports to the continent, and to Great
Britain, as follows :—
E X P O R T S O F B R E A D S T U F F S , S E P T E M B E R 1 S T TO O C T O B E R S I ST.

1Sj57
Flour,

-ISfiS-

-

Wheat,
bush.

Corn,
bush.

Flour,
bbls.

Wheat.
bush.

7,567,001
2,875,653

4,793,134
543,590

1,300,906
303,100

6,653,639
390,428

bush.
3,372,464
16,848

Total ............. 1,346,523 10,442,654

5,336,724

1,604,006

7,049,067

3,389,312

To Great Britain
Best of Europe..

bbls.
863,179
483,344

Corn,

This has been a large export, considering the low prices which have ruled
abroad, but the largest proportion was sent away in the first half of the year.
The subsequent decline in prices induced the growers to hold for prices that they
will not be likely now to realize. The exports of the great staples from the South
have been large this year, and have fully realized more than ever before. The
value of cotton exported from New Orleans and Mobile to foreign ports for the
year to September 1st, 1858, was as follows :—
,-------------18§7,--------------, ,------------- 1858.--------- — ■,
Bales.

Price.

Value.

Bales.

Price.

Value.

New Orleans...................
Mobile................................

1,293,717 $67 $73,741,869
314,989 . . 20,419,712

1,495,070 $52$ $79,491,175
387,632 . .
22,239,025

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

$94,161,581

$101,730,200

With the large exports and diminished imports, the balance has been apparently
in favor of the South. The imports of specie at New Orleans have been very
large, reaching a far higher figure than ever before, by $11,732,083 against
$4,278,420 at the same time last year. Of this large amount over $6,400,000
has been silver from Mexico, and the operations of the New Orleans Mint were,
for the year to August 1st, as follows :—




460

Com m ercial C hronicle and R eview .

From California.............................
Other..............................................

Gold.
$425,276 73
709,656 23

Silver.
$2,771 57
3,642,074 89

Total.
$428,048 31
4,351,631 12

Total......................................
Coinage.................................

$1,134,832 97
1,205,000 00

$3,644,846 46
8,237,000 00

$4,779,679 43
4,442,000 00

I t has resulted, as will be seen from our weekly bank tables in our Banking De­
partment, that the amount o f specie and exchange in bank at N ew Orleans is much
larger than usual, the former being double the amount on hand at the corres­
ponding period last year, and the exchange held is in a larger ratio. The new
crops o f cotton, as well as o f sugar and tobacco, promise well, and all the ele­
ments o f a large consumption exist in the markets at home and abroad.

W hile

N ew Orleans, the chief point o f exports, shows so strong a position, the accumu­
lation o f money at the N orth continues. The amount o f specie in the banks o f
six cities is now as follows. The amount for N ew Y o rk includes that in the
sub-treasury, which has been put there by the loan operation o f the governm ent:—
S P E C IE

IX

BANKS.

October.
March XJ.
May 13.
June 13.
July lx.
August 14.
London. $35,850,110 $88,532,091 $86,940,942 $86,530,138 $84,217,895 $83,937,637
Paris...
35,585,613 63,323,865 82,993,386 85,716,528 98,991,184 105,283,051
N. York
7,843,230 32,961,076 34,730,728 33,367,253 35,328,184 44,037,300
N.Orl’ns
3,230,370 10,978,759 10,615,535 10,312,237 10,877,768 10,912,871
Boston.
2 563,112 7,589,968
9,210,111
9,410,569
9,000,663
8,795 945
Philad..
2,071,434 5,448,514
7,019,204
7,055,188
6,399,754
6,875,520
Total

86,743,890208,834,273 231,509,906 232,391,913 244,855,448 259,842,424

This is the season o f the year when the specie accumulations are everywhere
the greatest.

I t is the close o f the crop year, when the products of the earth

have been sold and paid for, and the money which operated this transfer from the
hands o f the producers to the consumers has returned to the central reservoirs,
preparatory to resuming its functions for a new year.
These accumulations in
Paris and London are as large as they ever before attained, and the United
States are far larger.

In the first named city the specie in bank was never so large

but once before, and that was just previous to the Russian war, w’hicb event,
accompanied by the bad harvests o f food, and silk, and wine, which carried the
specie reserve to the lowest point, and compelled the bank to purchase largely o f
specie.

The events have now turned.

The silk crops and the vines are in good

condition, while the food is abundant, and but little money will be required to
loan France for this purpose.

It has, therefore, been in contemplation to re­

duce the rate o f interest to 3 per cent.

In London the accumulation is also

large.
The India war has caused an outward current o f money, which has, in some
degree, retarded the accumulation in bank, but the harvests are there good also,
with a considerable revival in export trade to the East. These are all elements
o f a promising future, and a renewal o f the home demand for goods, which has
been in abeyance during the high prices which have prevailed for food.
The
accumulation o f money in N ew Y ork and the other A tlantic cities has not yet
produced its usual results in increasing trade, and the rate o f interest remains low.
On call money is had freely at 4 per cent, and good bills are done by the banks
at 5 a 6 per cent, but the usual amount o f money is not offering.

B y reierence

to the trade tables annexed, it will be seen that the imports as compared with




461

Com m ercial C hronicle and R eview .

the exports from New York, as well as from the South, do not warrant high
rates of exchange. These have, however, been well maintained as follows
Aurjust:31.
109* a 110
5.18* a 5 .10
5.12* a 5 .10
41* a
41*
41*
41* a
19 a
19*
a
36*
36*
5.15 a 5 .11*
a
13
13*

L on don ......................... .
P a ris..............................
Bale and Zurich.............
Amsterdam................... .
Frankfort.......................
Brem en.........................
Hamburg.......................
Antwerp .....................
Berlin, Liepzig, Cologne

September 15.
109* a n o
5.13* a 5 .10
5.12* a 5 10*
41* a
42
42
41* a
19* a
19*
36*
36* a
5.15 a 5 .11*
13*
13* a

The supply of bills on the market, notwithstanding the quantity of the new
United States loan taken abroad, has been less than the quantities usually derived
from that source, and also by the indisposition to draw money to this side by
reason of the non-employment for it. The exports of specie have been sus­
tained, but to a less extent than last year. The comparative amount has been as
follows :—
G O LD R E C E IV E D

FROM

AMOUNT O F

r -

C A L IF O R N IA A N D
S P E C IE I N

1857 •

Keceived.

Jan. 16___ . . $1,269,101
23.. .. ...............
30.. ..
Feb. 6 ... ,
1 3 .... . . 1,091,186
2 0 .... .......................
2 1 .... . . 1,296,108
Mar. 1 . . . .
636,000
1 3 .... .......................
2 0 .... . . 1,004,000
2 7 .... .......................
April 8 .... . . 1,481,128
1 0 ....
315,800
1 1 .... . . 1,229,238
2 4 ....
140,015
May 1___ . . 1,800,000
8 . . . . .......................
1 5 .... . . 1,929,521
2 2 ....
198,000
2 9 ....
June 5 . . . . .......................
1 2 ....
1 1 ....
208,000
2 6 ....
July 3___ . . 1,892,000
1 0 ....
1 1 ....
2 4 ....
200,000
3 1 ....
Aug. 1 . . . . .......................
14.. . . . .
1,246,905
2 2 .... ........................
29.. . . .......................
Sept. 4___ . . 1,106,000
1 1 ....
100,000

EXPORTED

FROM

NEW YORK

S U B -T R E A S U R Y , A N D T H E T O T A L I N

^ r

Exported.

Received.

------------ 18
Exporled.

$250,UO0 $1,607,440 $1,045,490
181,295
1,244,368
57,075
1,565,779
1,111,812
2,928,271
348.216 1,3*8,507
48,850
219,661
641,688
26,708 1,640,430
128,114
967,405
297,898
422,914 1,279,134
225,274
306,351
11,000
116,114
38,734 1,403,949
83,120
742,233
115,190
468,698
250,246
779,892 1,325,198
203,163
106,200
41,208
15,850
1,711,390 1,550,000
136,873
671,101
106,110
1,826,629 1,626,171
120,710
353,166
532,862
2,714,002 1,575,991
400,300
489,668
51,425
3,394,892 1,446,115
16,616
2,045,389
68,318
2,019,406 1,799,502
276,487
58,228
317,110
1,184,115 1,500,000
564,030
523,368
637,240
1,893,893
1,028,270
896,407 1,163,818
303,318
1,615,932
786,841
930,430 1,531,514
440,729
2,180,008
844,781
149,399 1,434,674
187,941
287,500
562,087
187,187 1,796,139
227,980

W E E K L Y , W IT H TH E
T H E C IT Y .

ss.

>

Specie in
Total
sub-treasury. in the city.

$2,934,000
3,073,900
3,288,500
3,168,787
3,384,800
3,360,000
3,420,900
2,996,700
2,964,000
6,853,852
6,141.594
5,548,069
4,875,975
3,841,577
3,695,071
3,145,400
2,874,200
6,853,590
5.566,300
6,398,500
5,263,300
4,803,609
7,773,108
7,461,600
5,820,000
5,342,200
5,157,600
5,336,000
5,144,700
5,553,400
12,886,800
17,739,600
13,418,000
13,077,000
12,626,900

$33,145,266
33,903,151
34,561,500
33,821,735
33,611,075
34,776,076
35,079,294
35,736,431
35,925,076
37,681,656
37.071,066
37,078,069
36,912,411
37,035,026
37,808,806
38,209,613
38,327,346
41,586,300
39,613,700
37,894,600
38,053,660
38,170,900
38,011,251
39,410,688
39,650,000
40,047,800
40,485,000
40.851,090
40,856,800
40,699,200
44,037,300
46,089,100
41,235,000
41,125,600
40,686,300

Total.. . . . . 25,981.211 32,231,698 25,953,564 18,112,777

The receipts of gold thi3 year are about the same as last, but the exports are




462

Com m ercial Chronicle and R eview .

much less. From Boston the exports for August were but 31.072. From Boston
and New York together, the exports from January 1st to date, are $20,415,680
against $39,143,297 same time last year, a decline of nearly $19,000,000. It
will be remembered that the Central America, which should have arrived in the
third week of September last year, was, by a singular fatality, unfortunately
then lost, with its gold freight of $1,600,000. It was an extraordinary fact that
the only loss of a specie vessel which has ever taken place should have occurred
just in a moment of panic, as if to give point and intensity to it. The character
of the specie exports since our last has been as follows :—
S H IP M E N T S O F

American
coin.
Liverpool.. . .
100,000
H avre............
306,380
B rem en.........
187,444
Hamburg. . . .
2.500
Uuidad. Boliv’r
28,550
...........
Cienfuegos . . .
Barcelona. . . .
15,000
Maracaibo . . .
6,000
Naqualo.........
...........
...........
Buenos Ayres.
Porto R ic o ...
......
Neu vitas........
Laguaj ra__ _
5,000
5,000
P a ra ..............
991
Jacm el..........
Shanghae___
5,000

S P E C IF . F R O M

Bars.
976,979

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

PO R T OF

NEW

TORE.

French Spanish
Silver. Sov'reig^is. D’bloons. cold, silver.
Total.
___
3,480
......... 51,440 ___ 1,131,899
___
306,330
.......................................
....
192,444
....
.....
.....
5,000 ___
___
2,500
....
.....
.....
....
......................................
___
28,550
....
___
1,000
1,000
.........................
....
....
.........
___
15,000
....
....
___
6,000
___
7,762
.......................
7,762
....
___
6,046
.......................
6,046
___
26,671
.....
26.671
___
3,257
.......................
3,257
.......................................
___
5,000
___
5,000
___
991
___
5,000
•••• .........................

Aug. 16, Sep. 11 661,815 976,979 1.000
___ 1,742,470
3,480 43,736 56,440
May S, Sep. 11 1,911,240 5,296,208 40,496 282,311 212,948 86,175 13,418 7,761,800

The amount of money exported, it appears, continues to be small, notwithstand­
ing its abundance. But that abundance is due to the dullness of business, as
seen in the supply of small coin. The United States silver, under the bill of
1852, is a legal tender for not more than five dollars, and is depreciated, as com­
pared with the old silver, 7 per cent. The coinage has been, indeed, large. At
New Orleans in the past year, as seen above, $3,237,000 have been coined, of
which more than one-fifth was quarters, dimes, and half dimes. A t Philadelphia
the coinage has been several millions, having been $420,900, mostly in quarters,
for August. A t the same time the channels of circulation are now so full of
silver that it accumulates with the banks. The banks will not take it as it is
not a legal tender, and the brokers sell it at I a 4 discount, an operation which
induces those who have numerous small bills and hands to pay to buy it for that
purpose, thus supplanting country bank bills to some extent, and there are
$8,000,000 less outstanding than for the same period last year. The circulation
illustrates the dullness of business. It is probable that as soon as there is a re­
vival of business there will be a demand for currency, which will be supplied by
the country banks.
The plan of redemption, to which we alluded a few numbers since, has so far
progressed in Boston that the Bank of Mutual Bedemption, with its capital of
$500,000, has gone into operation. The new concern proposes nothing new in
the system of redemption, and it only remains to be seen whether the Bank of
Mutual Bedemption is competent to sustain a competition with an institution so
powerful and ably conducted as the Suffolk Bank, which, for upwards of thirty




463

Com m ercial C hronicle and R eview .

years, has managed the redemption of New England currency, if not with entire
satisfaction to all the parties in interest, at least with remarkably correctness and
fidelity, and has established the currency of New England on so firm and popular
a' basis that it has attained a confidence such as the currency in no other section
of the country has gained, even with additional safeguards in the way of security
to billholders. Up to the present hour no one of the forty or fifty New England
banks, that have opened accounts with the new bank, has closed its account with
the Suffolk, and the latter, therefore, still retrains, de facto, the redeeming agent
of the New England banks.
In Philadelphia, the Farmers and Mechanics’ Bank has been selected as the
agent for the substantial redemption of all the notes of the banks located east
of the Alleghanies, this bank undertaking their conversion into specie for the
fixed charge of quarter per cent, which is to be paid by each bank on its own
receipts of this currency. Thirty-eight banks are embraced in the list so placed
at par, and the notes of all these are received at par at the counters of all the
city banks. For all practical purposes the issues of these thirty-eight banks of
the interior are equivalent to specie, and the practice of collecting and returning
to the point of issue for specie will cease, since it is no longer necessary to get
rid of them as uncurrent.
With all the machinery for business thus in order for operation, there is as yet,
neither at home nor abroad, any indication of a renewal of enterprise, although
there is a considerable revival in the Atlantic cities of business in a general way,
and the prices generally are firm, the make of goods having been small. In cot­
ton the consumption in the United States for the year closed has been only
450,000 bales, against 660,000 last year, which would indicate a decline of full
one-third in the make of goods. The small comparative receipt of goods from
abroad, with a continued excess of the withdrawals from warehouse over those
entered, shows the soundness of the foreign trade.
The imports for the month of August show but little change from the
corresponding month of last year, when the difficulties began to manifest them­
selves. They were as follows :—
F O R E IG N

IM P O R T S AT

NEW

1855.

YORK

IN

AU G U ST.

1856.

1S57.

1858.

Entered for consumption............... $18 899,758 $18,375,986 $14,401,018 $15,067,732
Entered for warehousing...............
1,356,428
4,136,716
4,516,039
2,146,021
Free goods.......................................
1,201,570
1,303,790
2,052,122
2,342,741
Specie and bullion.........................
48,643
103,173
17,319
67,682
Total entered atthe port.............. $16,506,399 $23,919,665 $19,9S6,49S $19,624,176
Withdrawn from warehouse.........
2,889,884
2,524,407
5,624,147
3,116,013

The total imports at the port of New York, since January 1, are $76,801,574
less than for the corresponding total of last year, and $58,023,349 less than for
the total for the first eight months of 1856. A part of this diminution, it will
be seen, is in the receipts of specie, which came forward last year for reshipinent
to the West Indies and South America on account of sugar :—
F O R E IG N

IM P O R T S A T N E W

YORK

FOR

E IG H T M O N TH S , F R O M J A N U A R Y 1 S T .

18.55.
Entered for consumption.............. $72,806,038
Entered for warehousing............. 17,621,075
Free goods......................................
9,763,868
Specie ahd bullion..........................
571.794
Total entered at the port.............. 100,762,775
Withdrawn from warehouse........ 17,160,118




1856.
117,965,756
25,230,040
13,675,437
1,066,673
157,937,906
16,629,611

1857.

1858.

105,681,632 $65,401,911
61,427,670 17,331,440
13,732,200 15,298,266
5,874,629
1,882,940
176,716,131 $99,914,557
29,240,228 28,102,515

464

Com m ercial C hronicle and R eview .

Our summary of the imports of dry goods, during the last four weeks, shows a
high increase on the corresponding statement of last year. The total entered
for warehousing during the month was less than for the corresponding period of
last year, while the total withdrawn from warehouse was nearly the same :—
IM P O R T S

O F F O R E IG N D R Y

GO O D S A T

ENTERED

NEW

FOR

YORK

•1855.
Manufactures of wool.....................
Manufactures o f cotton.................
Manufactures o f silk.....................
Manufactures of flax.....................
Miscellaneous dry goods...............
Total........................................

FOR

THE

1856.

$2,552,263
806,606
3,574,030
507,196
638,912

OF

AU G U ST.

1857.

FROM

1858.

$3,867,718 $3,243,227 $4,312,916
1,490,021
1,334,473
1,789,745
8,887,008
2,758,097 3,526,725
724,075
564,507
839,927
821,341
631,816
613,826

$8,079,007 $10,790,163

W IT H D R A W N

M ONTH

C O N S U M PTIO N .

$8,532,120 $11,083,139

W AREH O U SE.

1855.

1856.

Manufactures o f wool.....................
Manufactures o f cotton.................
Manufactures o f silk......................
Manufactures of fla x ....................
Miscellaneous dry goods...............

§402,640
128,779
324,445
99,286
33,016

$583,959
118,004
132,938
88,764
15,994

$796,631
229,041
511,045
188,023
45,666

$911,951
204,568
305,353
202,568
84,643

Total........................................
Add entered for consumption___

$988,166
8,079,007

$889,659
10,790,163

$1,770,396
8,532,120

$1,709,083
11,083,139

Total thrown on m arket.. . .

1857.

1858. .

$9,067,173 $11,679,822 $10,302,516 $12,792,222

ENTERED

FOR

W A R E H O U S IN G .

1855.

1858.

1856.

1857.

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

$95,269
47,272
28,954
28,434
23,312

$455,059
172,872
141,124
122,496
11,379

$380,041
120,505
218,164
78,096
136,799

$239,236
105,683
73,243
54,270
IS,969

Total........................................
Add entered for consumption.......

$223,241
8,079,007

$902,930
10,790,163

$933,605
8,532,120

$491,401
11,083,139

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

$8,302,248 :$11,693,093

$9,465,725 $11,574,540

The total imports o f foreign dry goods at the port o f N ew T ork , since January 1st, are §24,470,086 less than for the corresponding eight months of last
year, and $28,963,882 less than for the same period of 1856
IM P O R T S

OF

F O R E IG N

DRY

GOODS A T
FROM
ENTERED

THE

PORT

JAN U ARY
FOR

OF

NEW

YO R K , FOR

E IG H T

M ONTH S,

1ST.

C O N S U M P T IO N .

1855.

1856.

1857.

1858.

Manufactures o f w o o l................... $10,417,073 $19,161,032 $17,648,469 $11,980,604
Manufactures o f cotton.................
5,471,337
11,712,154 12,927,582
6,676,304
Manufactures of silk ..................... 14,831,814
23,373,656 20,563,139 12,381,859
Manufactures of flax.....................
3,422,551
5,833,817
4,669,025
2,955,195
3,428,557
5,273,443
5,052,091
2,396,258
Miscellaneous dry goods...............
T ota l....................................... $37,571,332 $65,354,102 $60,860,306 $36,390,220




465

Com m ercial Chronicle and R eview .
W IT H D R A W N

FROM

W AREH O U SE.

1855.

1857.

■ 1856.

1858.

Manufactures of w ool...................
Manufactures of cotton..................
Manufactures of silk......................
Manufactures of flax......................
Miscellaneous dry goods...............

$1,945,257
1,901,632
2,157,878
971,386
611,761

$1,793,397
1,653,183
1,600,737
784,719
314,800

Total withdrawn....................
Add entered for consumption. . . .

$7,587,914
37,571,332

$6,146,836 $12,825,552 $12,332,503
65,354,102 60,860,306 36,390,220 .

$4,485,294
2,631,053
3,755,533
1,316,035
637,637

$3,518,346
3,151,898
2,887,009
1,746,616
1,028,634

Total thrown upon market... $45,159,246 $71,500,938 $73,685,858 $48,722,723
ENTERED

FOR

W A R E H O U S IN G .

Manufactures of w ool...................
Manufactures of cotton................
Manufactures of B i l k .....................
Manufactures of fla x....................
Miscellaneous dry goods..............

$1,357,630
1,142,552
1,670,228
725,226
569,673

$2,438,657
1,433,185
1,688,628
636,779
438,688

Total..........................................
Add entered for consumption___

$5,455,309
37,571,332

$6,635,937 $15,321,712
65,354,102 60,860,306

$5,729,871 $1,731,492
2,623,091 1,547,538
4,207,627
988,141
1,536,726
649,230
1,224,398
437,277
$5,353,678
36,390,220

Total entered at the port....... $43,026,641 $71,990,039 $76,182,018 $41,743,898
The exports from N ew Y o rk to foreign ports show a large decrease in specie,
but the variation in other items is less important. There is a slight increase in
the exports o f domestic produce :—
EXPORTS

FROM

NEW

Y O R K TO F O R E IG N

PORTS

1855.
Domestic produce..........................
Foreign merchandise (free)..........
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)..
Specie and bullion.......................
Total exports.........................
Total, exclusive o f specie . .

FOR

TH E

M ONTH

1856.

O F AU G U ST .

1857.

$4,281,481 $5,612,828
151,482
88,242
222,176
211,933
2,609,392
3,202,053

1858.

$4,289,479
393,882
654,088
6,271,717

$4,660,272
102,674
224,438
2,201,802

$7,264,532 $9,115,056 $11,609,166
4,665,139 6,913,003
5,337,449

$7,189,186
4,987,384

This leaves the exports from N ew Y ork to foreign ports, exclusive o f specie,
for the first eight months of the current year, $7,512,009 below the correspond­
ing total o f last year.

The exports o f specie show a decrease o f nearly

§15,000,000 upon the total o f the previous year :—
E X P O R T S F R O M N E W Y O R K TO F O R E I G N P O R T S F O R E I G H T M O N T H S , F R O M J A N U A R Y 1 S T .

1855.

1856.

1857.

1858.

Domestic produce.......................... $33,579,662 $50,290,993 $43,014,815 $38,012,626
Foreign merchandise (free)...........
3,440,696
680,750
2,709,756
955,698
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)...
3,422,348
2,044,601
3,538,044
2,782,282
Specie and bullion......................... 22,607,612 22,703,980 32,298,156 17,363,257
Total exports...........................$64,050,118 $75,720,324 $81,560,771 $59,113,863
Total, exclusive of sp ecie.. . 42,442,606 53,016,344 49,262,615 41,750,606
The cash revenue for August shows a large decline compared with last year,
and, as compared with 1850, larger than the decline in imports would warrant,
since there are more goods free ol duty :—
CASH

First six months
In July.............
In August.......
Total since January 1 s t....
V O L . X X X I X .— N O . I V .




D U T IE S R E C E I V E D

AT

NEW

YORK.

1856.

1857.

1858.

$22,541,145 75
6,441,544 27
5,286,399 11

$19,293,521 31
6,987,019 61
3,946,830 40

$11,089,112 57
3,387,305 33
3,545,119 01

$33,269,098 13

$30,227,371 32

$18,021,536 91

30

466

Journ al o f B anking, Currency, and F inance.

This shows fairly the operation of the new tariff, and the comparison is highly
instructive. The following is the total value of dutiable goods thrown upon the
market at New York, with the duties actually collected thereon, in the same
month of each of the last five years:—
AugUBt,
“
“
“
“

Dutiable value.
*20,518,048
16,789,642
20,900,393
20,025,165
18,183,165

1854..........................................................
1855.........................................................
1856.........................................................
1857.........................................................
1858.........................................................

Duties collected.
*5,214,629
4,290,796
5,286,399
3,946,830
3,545,119

The duties under the tariff of 1846, upon the goods marketed at the port of
New York, have averaged about 25 per cent ; for the same month of 1856, the
average, under the new tariff, was a fraction below 20 per cent, and this year it
is 19 J per cent, which may be set down as the probable average for the future.

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
CITY

WEEKLY

NEW

2
9
16
23
30
Feb. 6
13
20
27
March 6
13
20
27
April 3
10
17
24
May 1
8
16
22
29
June 5
12
19
26
July 3
10
17
24
31
Aug. 7
14
21
28
Sept., 4
11

Jan.

YORK

BANK

W EEKLY

BANK

Loans.
Specie.
Circulation.
$98,549,983 !*28,561,946 :*6,490,403
98,792,757 29,176,838 6,625,464
99,473,762 30,211,266 6,349,325
101,172,642 30,829,151 6,336,042
102,180,089 31,273,023 6,369,678
103,602,932 30,652,948 6,873,931
103,783,306 30,226,275 6,607,271
103,706,734 31,416,076 6,542,618
103,769,127 31,658,694 6,530,759
105,021,863 32,739,731 6,854,624
105,293,631 32,961,076 6,755,958
107,440,350 31,902,656 6,853,852
109,095,412 30,929,472 6,892,231
110,588,854 31,530,000 7,232,332
110,847,617 32,036,436 7,245,809
111,341,489 33,196,449 7.190,170
111,003,476 34,113,891 7,140,851
111 868,456 35,064,213 7,431,814
112,741,955 35,453,146 7,735,056
114,199,288 34,780,728 7,502,975
115,658,082 34,047,446 7,307,445
116,650,943 31,496,144 7,252,616
116,424,597 32,790,333 7,647,830
116,022,152 33,367,253 7,367,725
117,797,547 32,396,456 7,297,631
118,823,401 31,948,089 7,215,689
119,812,407 33,830,232 7,458,190
118,863,937 34,705,593 7,571,373
119,164,222 35,328,184 7,346,946
118,946,482 85,315,243 7,351,065
119,850,456 35,712,107 7,408,365
120,892,857 35,154.844 7,784,415
123,374,459 31,150,472 7,388,739
126,368,231 28,349,507 7,480,684
126,004,424 27,817,006 7,466,846
125,885,840 28,048,661 7,748,249
125,013,211 28,059,495 7,830,669




RETURNS,
RETU RN S.

Deposits.
$78,635,225
79,841,362
81,790,321
82,598,348
83,997,081
86,000,468
84,229,492
86,773,222
87,386.311
90,382,446
90,063.432
91,238,505
90,644,098
93,589,149
93,566,100
96,448,450
95,340,344
98,438,506
101,165,806
101,884,163
101,917,869
99,351,901
101,489,535
100,787,073
102,149,470
101,961,682
106,803,210
106,420,723
107,101,061
105.490,896
106,456,030
107,454,715
105,034,769
104,609,658
103,928,178
103,347,811
102,899,554

Average
Actual
clearings.
deposits.
$13,601,357 $65,033,867
13,899,078 63,942,284
14,066,412 67,723,909
13,074,762 69,523.836
13,519,330 70,477,751
15,439,083 70,561,405
13,803,583 70,425,909
14,769,565 72,003,657
15,657,056 71,729,805
18,002,665 72.370,781
16,511,506 72,552,926
17,064,588 74,173,917
16,429,056 74,201,709
17,567,160 76,021,989
16,775,237 76,790,863
17,329,431 78,121,025
16,141,451 79,198,893
17,875,203 80,563,303
19,438,661 81,727,146
18,284,868 83,599,295
17,620,131 84,297,738
16,199,657 83,162,244
17,982,648 83,506,887
16,503,899 84,283,194
16,818,521 85,280,987
15,825,983 86,135,699
17,267,927 89,535,283
18,168,757 88,260,956
17,046,961 90,054,100
15,365,206 90,105,690
15,310,157 91,145,873
17,115,237 90,339,678
15,208,690 89,826,082
15,449,895 89,159,763
16,208.039 87,720,139
15,414,213 87,933,594
15,989,375 86,908,179

J ourn al o f B anking, Currency, and Finance.

467

BO STO N B A N K S .

Dec. 2 2 . . . .
29... .
Jan. 5 . . . .
12... .
18... .
25 . . .
Feb. 1 ... .
8... .
15... .
22... .
Mar. 1 ... .
8... .
15. . . .
22... .
29... .
April 5 . . . .
12... .
19... .
26... .
May 4 . . . .
10... .
18... .
25... .
31... .
June 7 . . . .
14... .
21... .
28... .
July 5 . . . .
12... .
19... .
26... .
Aug. 2 . . . .
9... .
16... .
23... .
30... .
Sept . 6 . . .

Loans.
$50,209,500
50,377,000
50,726,800
61,221,000
51,740,926
51,772,412
51,854,178
52,011,821
52,137,972
52,089,500
51,970,800
52,251,300
52,068,743
51,999,451
61,632,451
51,918,900
52,042,428
51,752,500
51,388,977
51,499,700
51,679,315
52,622,000
63,396,741
53,469,179
53,407,693
53,951,032
54,162,119
54,780,644
55,808,453
56,200,929
56,626.264
56,602,469
56,250,500
56,096,805
55,971,072
55,845,271
55,650,350
55,926,042

Due
Due
Circulation.
Specie.
Deposits.
to banks. from banks.
1$4,579,000 $5,627,000 $15,606,000 $4,054,800 $5,888,000
4,789,500 5,1 30,400 16,326,600 3,998,000 5,688,000
5,028,000 6,416,000 17,073,800 3,911,000 6,732,600
6,449,000 5,938,400 17,226,700 4,368,000 5,969,500
5,661,216 5,669,028 17,722,553 4,754,006 5,891,800
6,073,680 5,494,721 18,129,649 3,531,721 1,949,031
6,402,460 5,251,006 18,395,692 5,111,278 6,725,337
6,872,977 5,4 98,600 18,602,984 5,317.764 5,756,068
7,079,606 5,898,660 18,429,945 5,568,464 5,523,012
7,257,800 5,299,000 18,450,500 5,339,600 6,877.900
7,316,800 5,170,000 18,525.000 5,778,000 5,625,000
7,497,700 5,182,400 19,031,682 5,764,000 6,137,000
7,569,698 5,291,549 18,909,682 5,837,534 6,011,377
7,235,531 5,163,492 19,029,251
7,905,491 5,159,569 18,895,249
8,259,500 5,477,500 20,136,400 6,576,900 6,386,000
8,505,312 5,852,991 20,675,028
9,007,000 6,224,500 20,657,500 6,110,000 7,259,400
8,851,719 6,007,628 20,671,569 5,884,533 7,363,702
9,243,000 5,903,600 21,257,900 5,925,900 7,444,000
9,351,861 6,165,768 21,143,973 5,949.986 7,562,885
9,210,000 6,117,000 21,527,700 7,187.800 6,263,000
9,015,146 6,096,417 21.418,578 7,175,486 6,756,792
9,120,846 5,903,020 20,846,860 6,530,828 6,929,062
9,315,086 5,870,808 20,668,037 7,265,607 6,399,061
9,410,569 5,732,900 20,815,560 7,532,900 5.755,268
9,457,831 6,703,699 20,764,739 7,804,896 5,809,542
9,119.604 5,633,176 20,833,942 7,827,075 5,674,795
9,104,461 6,313,049 21,570,803 8,089,162 6,357,413
9,000,663 6,538,325 21,075,247 8,526,510 6,299,019
8,930,757 6,236,698 21,462,437 8,565,647 6,023,415
8,943,004 6,268,745 21,466,471 8,658,185 6,268,745
8,883,400 5,869,800 21,161,000 8,467,000 5,767,000
8,985,526 6,238,221 21,051,519 8,445,734 6,112,023
8,795.945 6,026,818 20,804,875 8,132,356 5,675,367
8,958,280 5,988,995 20,698,794 7,693,989 5,599,457
8,724,186 5,889,477 20,698,228 7,537,728 5,952,844
8,701,679 6,137,981 20,971,138 7,632,662 6,287,397
8 T . LOOTS B A N K S .

April 10..
17
24.
May
8.
15.
22.
29.
June 5.
12.
19.
26.
July 3.
10.
17.
24.
31
Aug. 7
14

21
28

Sept.

4




Exchange.
$1,255,694
1,161,065
1,250,295
1,369,316
1,494,025
1,547,938
1,548,531
1,557,119
1,471,190
1,459,735
1,417,340
1,523,179
1,445,704
1,490,876
1,494,116
1,487,256
1,681,723
1,609,067
1,695,299
1,766,798
1,734,169

Circulation.
$1,788,970
1,793,945
1,832,915
1,240,431
1,864,960
1,825,810
1,921,475
2,087,890
2,101,405
2,161,985
2,005,505
2,246,835
2,260,560
2,190.955
2,161,370
2,159,540
2,079,225
1,932,160
1,882,625
1,943,735
1,975,760

Specie.
$1,673 628
1,720*728
1,770*882
1,959*823
2,161*503
2,225*285
2,396*027
2,452’ 141
2,536.707
2,465,.372
2,434,398
2,320,768
2,815,635
2,322,245
2,238,498
2,169,387
2,108,988
2,081,197
2,026,841
2,043,783
1,995,312

J ou rn a l o f B anking , Currency , and Finance.

468

W EEKLY

Date.
Jan. 11, ’58.
Jan. 1 8 . . . .
Jan. 2 5 . . . .
Feb. 1 . . . .
Feb. 8 . . . .
Feb. 15___
Feb. 22___
Mar. 1 . . . .
Mar. 9 . . . .
Mar. 1 6 . . . .
Mar. 2 3 . . . .
Mar. 3 0 . . . .
Apr. 6 . . . .
Apr. 1 2 . . . .
Apr. 19___
Apr. 2 6 . . . .
May 3 . . . .
May 1 0 . . . .
May 1 7 . . . .
May 2 4 . . . .
May 3 1 . . . .
June 7 ____
June 1 4 . . . .
June 2 1 . . . .
June 2 8 . . . .
July 6 . . . .
J uly 1 2 . . . .
July 1 9 . . . .
July 2 6 . . . .
Aug. 2 ----Aug. 9 . . . .
Aug. 1 6 . . . .
Aug. 2 3 . . . .
Aug. 30___
Sept. 4 . . . .

AVERAGE

Loans.
$21,302,374
21,068,652
20,730,958
20,423,704
20,359,226
20,071,474
20,161,260
20,251,066
20,471,161
20,522,936
20,796,957
21,020,198
21,657,152
21,656,028
21,776,667
22,141,300
22,243,824
22,190,934
22,592,841
22,969,576
23,103,418
23,542,751
23,796,085
23,803,903
24,060,708
24,311,928
23,783,792
24,555,873
24,570,778
24,524,569
24,542,291
24,829,767
24,913,526
24,843,131
24,988,251

OF TH E

Specie.
$3,770,701
4,018,295
4,243,966
4,465,693
4.668,085
4,888,983
4,924,906
4,903,936
5,147,615
5,448,514
5,463,358
5,661,782
5,937,595
6 133,000
6,382,485
6,752,640
7,027,712
7,143,628
7,019,204
6,963,371
7,031,756
6,985,208
7,055,188
6,873,971
6,664,681
6,835,877
6,399,754
6,868,596
6,956,440
7,070,145
6,882,660
6,375.520
6.605,882
6,476,406
6,685,856
P IT T S B U R G

Loans.

April 12...........
May

June

July

Aug.

19..........
26..........
3 ...........
10...........
17...........
24...........
31...........
7 ...........
14...........
21...........
28...........
5 ...........
12...........
19...........
26...........
2 ...........

7.........
14...........
21...........
28...........
Sept. 5 ...........




5,570,585
5,611,689
5,784,492
5,737,072
5,769,868
5,843,108
6,895,461
5,874,782
6,014,676
6,016,509
6,077,608
6,009,453
5,975,321
5,940,451
6,985,766

P H I L A D E L P H IA

Circulation.
$1,011,033
1,046,545
1,062,192
1,096,462
1,293,046
1,559,218
1,686,689
1,808,734
1,916,352
2,077,967
2,140,463
2,296,444
2,647,399
2,675,193
2,484,150
2,408,421
2,329,617
2,406,482
2,361,709
2,410,181
2,436,527
2,406,568
2,387,886
2,365,435
2,389,252
2,431,181
2,422,411
2,548,945
2,514,345
2,605,278
2,534,652
2,622,540
2,505,899
2,460,645
2,520,501

BANKS.

Deposits.
$11,466,263
11,512,765
11,547,697
12,195 126
11,904,519
11,889,342
12,014,605
11,830,532
12,253,282
12,691,547
12,413,191
13,201,599
13,422,318
13,784,656
14,682,175
15,068,178
15,589,713
15,260,858
15,548,237
15,354,428
15,726,640
15,776,251
15,883,306
15,867,904
16,366,129
16,566,846
15,898,464
16,937,685
17,196,794
17,533,780
17,054,076
16,929,656
16,848,980
16,961,496
17,426,777

Due banka.

3,056,181
3,178,855
3,071,603
2,804,095
2,610,000
2,754,973
3,055,076
3,221,858
3,211,889
3,380,477
3,565 213
3,504,300
3,101,201
2,986,297
3,369,430
3,351,204
3,291,107
3,234,866
3,176,333
3,378,351
3,421,217
3,446,195
3,370,165

BANKS.

Specie.
$1,194,232
1,220,633
1,221,195
1,192,216
1,171,627
1,191,663
1,175,334
1,212,178
1,207,637
1,218,342
1,223,759
1,266,195
1,246,588
1,229,383
1,249,398
1,256,026
1,198,767
1,236,485
1,257,921
1,266,621
1,257,173
1,261,195

Circulation.
$1,287,095
1,291,091
1,319,416
1,360,651
1,365,561
1,373,401
1,371,586
1,394,146
1,426,586
1,385,926
1,366,481
1,377,096
1,436,651
1,458,776
1,475,351
1,439,916
1,423,669
1,378,231
1,428,856
1,452,751
1,435,516
1,470,741

Deposits.
Due banks
$1,305,294
$70,236
1,345,062
87,713
1,404,760
84,171
1,504,549
40,312
1,585,182
74,491
1,491,620
111,260
1,464,767
124,044
1,467,849
88,896
1,540,926
90,334
1,556,862
108,994
1,571,589
134,480
1,630,570
125,743
1,699,196
85,698
1,691,758
157,608
1,720,691
165,257
1,708,210
188,551
1,730,650
188,242
1,788,792
136,835
1,818,617
57,411
1,887,579
182,413
1,884,917
181,392
1,858,072
142,215

469

Journ al o j B anking, C urrency, and Finance.
N E W ORLEANS BANKS.

1 7 .. .
1 2 .. .
1 9 .. .
2 6 .. .
Jan.
2 .. .
9 ..
1 6 .. .
2 3 .. .
8 0 .. .
Feb.
6 .. .
1 3 .. .
20. .
2 7 .. .
March 6 .. .
1 3 .. .
2 0 .. .
2 7 .. .
A p r il 3 .. .
1 0 .. .
1 7 .. .
2 4 .. .
M ay
1....
8 ....
1 5 ..,.
2 2 .. .
2 9 .. .
J u n e 5. .,.
1 2 .. ,.
1 9 ....
2 6 ....
J u ly 3 . . .
1 0 ....
1 7 ...
2 4 .. .
8 1 ...
A ug. 7 ...
1 4 ...
2 1 ...
2 8 ...
S ept. 5 . . . ,
O c t.
D ec.

Short loans.
$19,200,583
18,069,088
17,818,222
17,741,355
18,149,456

Specie.
$3,230,320
8,841,370
9,942,880
10,320,714
10,505,183
10,626,260
14,804.320 10,592,617
14,659,131 10,693,330
14,674,217 10,844,246
14,490,001 11,187,398
14,937,307 11,110,763
14,890,351 11,065,697
15,062,058 11,061,832
15,832,181 10,967,225
15,888,347 10,978,769
15,937,924 10,897,866
16,157,998 10,947,636
16,641,554 10,848,605
16,481,249 10,962,570
16,480,547 10,854,012
16,094,721 10,798,455
>6,933,046 10,892,453
15,459,435 10,615,530
14,958,401 10,478,675
14,772.173 10,394,638
14,250,529 10,299,135
13,521,534 10,257,171
12,828,721 10,312,237
12,374,123 10,208,900
12,390,984 10,423,080
12,291,555 10,676,674
12,116,486 10,755,126
11,981,985 10,877,768
11,985,231 10,936,870
12,011,616 10,992,148
12,452,664 10,835,005
12,883,216 10,912,975
13,516,161 10,806.910
14,196,661 11,173,021
14,892,969 11,285,308

Circulation.
$6,196,459
4,148,859
4,224,042
4,336,624
4,535,951
4,778,539
4,797,746
4,767,816
4,803,071
5,037,906
5,100,916
6,264,181
5,524,209
6,005,769
6,299,967
6.654,434
7,068,240
7,572,094
7,692,634
7,685,539
7,828,399
7,946,334
8,023,429
7,972,599
7,954,829
7,916,858
7,965,484
7,943.819
7,645,844
7,323,034
7,962,969
7,671,824
7,452,104
7,334,414
7,231,739
7,135,389
7,024,587
6,860,289
6,731,599
6,828,889

P R O V ID E N C E

Jan.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay

11........
15____
5 ........
19........
3 ........
17........
7 ........

June
J u n e 2 1 ...........
J u ly
5 ____
J u ly 19____
o
A ug.
S e p t . 6 ........

Loans.
$17,701,725
16.925,349
17,037,949
17,169,822
17,203,225
17,054,877
17,060,695
17,345,487
17,653,908
17,8«7,068
17,780,220
17,121,639

Specie.
$565,553
520,828
591 861
564,033
566.869
567,024
577,868
573,317
528,691
466,266
444,165
175,635

Exchange.
Deposits.
$7,442,142 $2,297,348
9,993,370 2,838,878
10,996,494 3,526,929
11,579,048 3,951,212
11,948,906 4,114,622
11,764,593 4,675,028
12,323,808 5,095,771
12,573,173 5,201,368
12,678,696 6,249,136
14,539,408 5,934,781
14,368,835 6,624,657
14.640,976 7,124,477
14,894,714 7,623,252
15,201,909 7,919,605
15,421,499 8,220,000
15.765,084 8,776,621
15,792,554 8,880,798
15,453,850 9,147,709
15.658,182 9,321,352
15,640,948 9,035,522
15,589,151 9,221,277
16,681,593 8,754,140
16,886,529 9,169,848
15,035,182 9,418,151
15,096,528 9,184,271
14,648,164 8,899,170
8,269,260
15,464,347 8,533,964
15,714,302 8,720,257
15,676,134 8,110,788
16,013,100 7,890.863
14,114,217 6,970,157
14,078,294 7,427,930
13,864,925 6,348,192
15,262,173 6,053,229
15,200,271
13,564,756 5,263,035
13,164,598 4,652,889
13,343,938 4,081,875
14,636,311 3,853,326

D istant

balances.
$816,132
1,266,660
1,863,478
1,590.072
1,349,781
1,652,855
1,469,861
1,379,908
1,256,815
1,283,609
1,274,034
1,327,750
1,378.848
1,847,623
1,172,552
1,271,084
1,664,614
1,410,349
1,381,527
1,473,994
1,263,882
1,112,188
1,429,660
1,266,140
1,868,581
1,102,648
1,009,870
1,119,317
1,034,117
1,061,242
1,192,675
1,244.213
1,336,398
1,402,012
1,327.951
1,258,843
1,185,562
1,139,616

BANKS.

Circulation.
$1,552,822
1,310,787
1,409,695
1,483,226
1,393,553
1,451,356
1,555,717
1,604,850
1,810,047
2,039,911
1,921,812
1,420,455

Deposits.
$2,025,956
1,903,082
1,946,998
1,965,316
2,068,335
2,062,597
2,088,878
1,988,496
2,402,956
2,079,188
2,022,092
935,593

Due oth. b’ks
$1,838,435
1,043.930
1,080,817
996,961
1,089,833
1,131,176
1,208,548
1,170,711
1,010,101
1,145,364
1,095,896

F I N A N C E S OF M E X I C O .

According to the recent budget published by the Minister of Finance of Mexico,
which we gather from a synoptical translation of the work of Don Miguel Lerdo
de Trojada for the New York Herald, we have the following statement of the




470

J ourn al o f B an kin g , Currency, and F inance.

finances of that Bepublic, comprising the governmental expenditures, revenue, and
national debt, by which it will be seen that the annual expenditures of the gen­
eral government cannot fall much short of $20,000,000, to meet which the pro­
ceeds of all the sources of revenue afford but $15,000,000. leaving a deficit of
$9,819,203 on the current expenses of the government, and the funded debt
amounting to $110,666,888, with its long arrears of interest, to provide for itself.
G O V E R N M E N T E X P E N D IT U R E .

Public establishments, d ie ..............................................................................
The army and the navy..................................................................................
Oficinas of recandation and branches of government........... .................
The national debt, interest thereon annually, and the sinking f und. . . .
The city government of city of M exico.. . .................................................

$5,294,181
4,309,377
765,327
8,584,690
274,760

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

$14,228,362

But we are of the opinion that the whole expenditure of the general govern­
ment for the present year, even though the expenses of the army have been les­
sened, will not fall much short of 20,000,000 of dollars. Our reasons are, because
in the above budget reforms and economies have been calculated upon which
cannot be carried into execution ; also, because several indispensable expenditures
have been omitted, such as the repairing and preserving the public roads, and
the payment of the interest of the national debt due to citizens in the country.
NATIONAL REVENUE.

The following table of the probable proceeds of all the sources of revenue will
give a clear view of the real situation of the public treasury :—
Duties on imported goods................................................................................
Twenty per cent for material improvements...............................................
Twenty-five per cent for the Home Debt Sinking F u n d ..........................
Ten per cent of importation duties (on $3,500,000)................................
Twenty per cent of control entries, (on the same)......................................
Tonnage duties..............
Duties on faro banks........................................................................................
Exportation d u ties..........................................................................................
Circulation o f coined money...........................................................................
Excise duties......................................................................................................
Three per cent on mining products...............................................................
The one real for stamping the same.............................................................
Banking houses................................................................................................
Direct taxes.......................................................................................................
Stamped paper..................................................................................................
The mails, or post-office ................................................................................
Lotteries.............................................................................................................
Bridge to lls .......................................................................................................
Pawnbroking establishments, safety papers to foreigners, escheated in­
heritances, salt works, playing cards, discounts on payments, with
other minor and accidental incomings.....................................................

$4,500,000
900,000
1,125,000
350,000
700,000
90,000
20,000
600,000
300,000
3,500,000
450,000
220,000
150,000
1,200,000
160,000
60,000
80,000
300,000

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

$15,000,000

405,000

C O M P A R IS O N .

Expenditure.......................................................................................................
Revenue.............................................................................................................
D eficit..............................................................................

$24,819,203
15,000,000
$9,819,203

THE NATIONAL DEBT.

The total amount of the debt owing by the Bepublic is divided into the in­




471

Journ al o f B anking , C urrency, and F inance.

terior and exterior debt. The former arises from different obligations contracted
during the vice-regal government and since the declaration of independence, and
the latter originates in the loans contracted in London in the years 1823 and 1824.
Both these debts amount at the present time to the sum of $117,767,024, ac­
cording to the following account:—
THE

F O R E IG N

DEBT.

Its capital, according to the last convention, is £\0,241,650, which, re­
duced to dollars, at the rate o f $5 to the pound sterling, amounts to. $51,203,250
To six dividends, owing since the 1st of January, 1853, to the end of
December, 1855...........................................................................................
4,608,741
Total......................................................................................................
IN T E R I O R

OR

HOME

$55,816,991

DEBT.

The total amount of this debt on the 3lst of December, 1850, after
the deductions fixed by the law o f the same year, wa9 $40,000,000;
of this sum the Committee of Public Credit liquidated and paid
$16,829,755 27, up to the 5th of January, 1855 ; in consequence of
this, and other sums subsequently liquidated, this debt will not
amount to more th an .................................................................................. $30,000,000
Owing for interest to the eDd of 1855, on credits acknowledged and
liquidated, up to the 1st of January o f the same year........................
2,491,395
Debt contracted in the five succeeding years, and the debts made by
the chiefs of the last revolution, which have been assumed by the
present governm ent....................................................................................
17,000,000
To the English convention.....................................................
$4,323,428
That of Father M oran...........................................................
855,210
-— ----- -—
5,178,638
To the Spanish convention..............................................................................
6,680,000
To the French convention..............................................................................
600,000
Total.......................................................................................................

$61,950,033

RECAPITULATION.

Interior or home debt......................................................................................
Foreign debt......................................................................................................

$61,950,033
55,816,991

Total.......................................................................................................$117,767,024
N ote.— The sum of $768,123, the amount of one dividend, is to be deducted

from the interest due on the foreign debt. This sum, though it has not yet been
paid, is very shortly to be paid out of funds which have been for this purpose
collected in London.
MI CHI GAN FI NANCES.
The debt of the State of Michigan, July 1st, was as follows :—
Old debt— adjusted bonds due 1863 ..........................................
Bonds of 1863, original issue.........................................................
State prison bonds, 1859-60 .........................................................
Loan of 1858, in renewal, and due 1878.....................................
Temporary loan...............................................................................
Unadjusted bonds of old debt......................................................

$1,722,685
177,000
60,000
216,000
50,000
100,000

Total d e b t ...............................................................................

$2,325,685

A new loan of $216,000 was since asked for, and awarded at an average of
something over one per cent premium. The bids amounted to over $833,000,
and the entire amount was awarded to E. H. Hazleton & Co., of Detroit.
The premiums on the amount of the loan amount to something over $2,000.




472

Journ al o f B anking, Currency, and Finance.
FINANCES OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

The post-bond indebtedness of the city of Memphis amounts to the sum of
$1,536,000, payable as follows
Jn New York city............................................................................................
In Philadelphia.................................................................................................

$1,294,000
242,000

Total.............................
Bonds issued to the Memphis and Lexington Railroad Company, se­
cured by deed of trust on navy yard grounds........................................

$1,636,000

Total bonded indebtedness.................................................................

$1,836,000

300,000

The navy yard bonds bear interest at the rate of 7 per cent per annum, and
the company has disposed of $70,000 worth of the bonds, the interest on which
is due and payable in this city on the 1st of July, and amounts to $2,450. The
six per cent bonds of the city amount to $1,536,000, the interest on which is
due and payable in New York and Philadelphia semi-annually, viz., on the first
days of January and July in each year. The semi-annual interest on these
bonds, due on the 1st of July, amounted to $46,080. The total amount of in­
terest to be provided for on the 1st of July was as follows :—
On post-bonds payable in New York and Philadelphia.................................
On navy yard bonds payable in this city..........................................................

$46,080
2,450

Total interest..............................................................................................

$48,530

The interest has always, heretofore, been promptly met, without embarrass­
ment, and measures have been taken by the Finance Committee of the present
Council to meet the July interest.
DEBT OF NORTH CAROLINA.

The following is a statement of the debt of North Carolina, with the year in
which it will mature :—
1859 ........ . . .
1860 .........
1 8 6 1 .........
1862 .........
1864 .........
1866 ........
1866 .........
1867 ___

$200,000
500,000
40,000
180,000
41,000
111,000
59,000
15,000

1868............
1869............
1870............
1871............
1872............
1875............
1876............
1877............

.

$6,000
26,500
33,500

1878................
1883................
1884................
1885................
20,000 1886................
24,000 1887................
10,000 1888................
Time not spec’d

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

$4,000
1,000,000
630,000
1,370,000
748,000
1,283,500
185,000
231,005
$6,715,505

In addition, the State has made the following indorsements :—
Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad...................................................................
Cape Fear and Deep River Navigation Company........................................

$250,000
300,000

Total indorsements..................................................................................

$550,000

The annual interest account is as follows
Payable
Payable
Payable
Payable

in New York January 1st and July 1st ......................................... $213,450
in New York April 1st and October 1st........................................ 116,220
in New York on Cape Fear indorsement......................................
18,000
at Public Treasury, Raleigh..............................................................
73,260

Total.




00
00
00
30

$420,930 30

473

Jonrn al o f B anking, C urrency, and F inance.
FINANCES OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS,

We are indebted to Mr. Francis Turner, one of the State Assessors, for the
following results of the assessment rolls for 1857 :—
AN A B S T R A C T O F T H E S T A T E A S SE S S M E N T R O L L S O F T H E C IT Y O F N E W
O B JE C TIO N S A N D C O R R E C T IO N S H A T E B E E N M A D E , F O R

Real estate.
$6,200,750
7,030,250
20,400,625
9,981,350
7,509,400
4,638,750
2,907,450
1,760,170
2,277,830
7,544,850

Represented District.
First ..........................................
Second........................................
Third...........................................
Fourth.........................................
Fifth............................................
S ix th ..........................................
Seventh......................................
Eighth.........................................
Ninth...........................................
Tenth..........................................
Real estate.............................. . .
Slaves.........................................
Capital.......................................

ORLEANS,

AFTER

1837.

Slaves.
$685,600
780,900
821,800
452,800
756,100
744,100
325,250
135,3u0
283,600
796,000

Capital.
$331,350
717,800
14,191,000
3,614,750
1)168 850
311,450
284,900
1,178,400
163,950
297,900

License.
$9,505
10,525
83,875
24,965
24,350
14,945
9,415
9,025
7,575
9,465

$70,251,425 $5,781,450
5,781,450
22,260,350

$22,260,350

$203,645

$98,293,225

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

State tax, 16£ cents per $100....................................................................
Mill tax, 10 cents per $100...........................................................................
Internal improvements, 3 f cents per $100................................................
State licenses.................................................................................................
Poll t a x ...........................................................................................................

$163,822 04
98,293 22
36,859 95
203,645 00
8,18100

Total State ta xes..................................................................................

$510,801 21

In making out the above statement I am indebted to my colleagues, Messrs.
Dufour, Dure!, and Watkins, for their several recapitulations. In comparing
the above statement with the returns of last year, I find there is an increase on
real estate, slaves, and capital, of $7,105,030, and on licenses of $22,310.
VALUATION OF BOSTON,

The following is the valuation of Boston by wards for 1858 :—
Personal.
$8,259,100
589,800
2,739,500
35,977,200
2,296,700
20,438,400
19,044,000

Real estate.
Polls. Wards.
3,521
8 ___ $10,899,300
3,460
7,770,700
9 ___
2,205 1 0 ___
7,942,100
13,840,600
3,059 1 1 ___
2,153 1 2 ___
7,557,700
1,935
2,526
Total. 153,578,700

Personal.
$4,741,900
2,960,600
2,582,600
4,448,800
2,064,100
K>
'--T
O
O

Real estate.
$9,142,700
5,618,100
6,950,600
37,592,600
5,818,000
23,192,300
17,244,000

O

Wards.
i .........
2 .........
3 .........
4 .........
5 .........
6. . . .
7 .........

Polls.
2,097
1,974
2,567
3,557
3,624
—
32,588

VALUATION AND TAXATION IN R0XBURY,

In Roxbury, this year, the rate of taxation on real and personal property will
be $9 50 on $1,000, and the poll tax will be $1 71. The following is the valu­
ation of the city by wards :—

.

.

.

Wards.
Polls.
Eeal.
1
1,031$28,910,000
2
90416,200,000
3
1,11421,348,000
Total




Personal. Wards.
$553,600 4 .........
369,200 5 .........
1,596,200

Polls.
Eeal.
654 $28,824,000
626
3,364,600

Personal.
$1,256,600
1,397,000

4,329 $93,646,600

$5,172,600

474

Journ al o f B anking, C urrency, and F inance.
PRIVATE BANKS OF CINCINNATI,

Below will be found a complete list of the returns made to the County Auditor
by the various banking establishments of the city, for which we are indebted to
the courtesy of John E. Bell, Esq., Deputy Auditor. The returns are made in
accordance with the provisions of the “ A ct to tax the property of banks and
bankers, so as to require all property employed in banking to bear a burden of
taxation equal to that imposed on the property of other persons,” passed by the
last Legislature.
The returns include the average amount of notes and bills discounted or pur­
chased, the average amount of all moneys, effects, or dues of every description
belonging to each house, loaned, invested, or otherwise used with a view to profit,
or upon which the banker receives, or is entitled to receive, interest:—
Groesbeck A C o ...........
Kinney, Espy A Qo . . .
Evans, Swift A Hughes.,
Gilmore A Brotherton..
Commercial Bank........
Lafayette Banking Co .
Nettleton, Lowry A Co.
E. G. Burkam A Co . . .
Fallis, Brown A C o . . . .
C. F. Adae & Co...........
George S. Wright A Co
A. G. Burt A C o ...........
Wood, Lea A C o .........
Smith A G ilb ert...........
Homans A C o ...............
James F. Meline A Co .
G. H. Bussing A C o . . . .
J. F. Larkin...................
J. R. Morton A C o .. ,
J. B. Ramsay.................
B. Bagley.......................
S. S. Davis.....................
T. S. Goodman A C o . . .
Johnson, Brothers A Co
C. E. Bourse A Co.........
S. S. Row e.....................

$563,815
214,650
105,000
100,000
92,530
83,550
61,939
50,000
45,654
39,300
30,000
26,850
21,516
20,000
20,000
20,000
11,322
14,000
12,000
10,000
9,100
9,500
8,133
8,000
5,000
3,000

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

$1,658,119

Sworn.
“
u

((
((
<(
M
U

U
U
(«
«

u
Refused to
Sworn.
“
((
“

Absent.
Sworn.
u

“
(i
«

THE AMOUNT OF SPECIE IN THE UNITED STATES.

A t the commencement of 1850, the amount of gold and silver coin and bullion
existing in the United States was estimated to be one hundred and twenty mil­
lions of dollars ; the coinage at the United States Mint since 1850, has amounted
to four hundred and ninety millions ; the amount of specie brought into the
country by immigrants since 1850, is estimated to be one hundred and twentyfive millions; the bullion on hand at the present time is estimated to be one
hundred millions ; making a total of eight hundred and thirty-five millions of
dollars. The exports of specie from the United States since 1850, (less imports,)
have amounted to three hundred and fifteen millions ; leaving the amount of five
hundred and twenty millions of dollars existing at the present time in the United
Stales, in the shape of gold and silver coin and bullion.
The product of the California mines, since their discovery, has amounted to
seven hundred and twenty-seven millions of dollars.




J ourn al o f B anking , C urrency , and Finance.

475

BANKS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,

The following is an official summary table showing the aggregate of the re­
sources and liabilities of the banks of this State, as exhibited by their reports to
the Banking Department of their condition on the morniug of Saturday, the 19th
day of June :—
RESOURCES.

June, 1857.
$190,803,832
507,137
11,643,830
7,423,015
14,370,434
23,737,436
24,747,472
9,299,794
3,093,552
771
1,362,623
980

June, 1853.
$190,980,431
837.289
13,859,406
8,484,041
36,404,058
16,923,450
28,228,965
8,706,944
1,971,528
5,774
1,636,526
946

$287,990,846

$302,538,858

Capital.......................................................................
Circulation...............................................................
Profits.......................................................................
Due banks...............................................................
Due others.............................................
Due State.................................................................
Deposits....................................................................
Otheritems...............................................................
A dd for cents...........................................................

$103,954,777
32,395,892
13,949,030
21,819,817
1,010.575
3,254,877
104,350,426
1,754,886
666

$114,690,541
25,154,931
14,747,594
36,469,584
876,235
3,130,387
105,754,137
1,713,334
515

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

$287,990,846

$302,538,358

Discounts...................
Overdrafts...................
Due by banks...........
Real estate.................
Specie.........................
Cash items..................
Stocks, &c...................
Bonds and mortgages,
Bank notes..................
Do. suspended............
Expense account . . . .
Add for cents.............
TotaL.................................................................
L I A B IL I T I E S .

The June, 1858, summary is made up from reports from 297 banks, including
Luther Wright’s Bank, winding up, and including Dover Plains Bank, new
banking association. The difference in the totals was occasioned by a bank
having failed to make a balance in its report.
VALUATION OF PROPERTY IN ST. LOUIS.

The return of the Auditor, July 21st, gives a statement of the assessed value
of real and personal property, as appears by the collected lists returned to his
office by the Court of Appeals :—
First ward
S e co n d ...
Third........
Fourth . . .

$6,443,965 36
3,662,219 78
5,859,671 84
9,479,440 36

IFifth ward
|S ix th ____
ISeventh...
|E igh th ....

$15,121,431 82 INinth ward
14,724,427 63 | Tenth___
6,580,398 67 1
6,750,589 26 | Total . .

$5,704,145 79
8,000,115 25
--81,326,405 76

The above returns show an increase over last year of §7,664,361 84.
FINANCES OF PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

The rate of taxation in Portsmouth is 85f cents, and the appropriations for
each year since the establishment of the city government have been as follows :—
185018511852-

1.
2.
3.

$40,543 76
41,716 77
41,075 70




1853-4........
18556.
18567.

$41,189 99
47,638 59
45,025 73

1857- 8........
1858- 9........

$48,726 87
51,817 58

476

J ourn al o f B anking , C urrency, and F inance,
NEW USURY LAW OF CANADA.

AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAWS OF THIS PROVINCE REGULATING THE RATE OF INTEREST.

Whereas, it is expedient to amend the laws relating; to the interest of money,
and for that purpose to repeal the third section of the act of the Parliament of
of this Province, passed in the sixteenth year of Tier Majesty’s reign, and entitled,
“ An Act to modify the usury laws,” as to future contracts; therefore, Her
Majesty, by and with the consent of the Legislative Council and Assembly of
Canada, enacts as follows:—•
1. Prom and after the passing of this act, the third section of the act mentioned
in the preamble of this act shall be, and the same is hereby repealed, except only
as to contracts made after it came into force and before the passing of this act,
as to which it shall remain in force.
2. It shall be lawful for any person or persons, other than those excepted in
this act, to stipulate for, allow, and exact, on any contract or agreement whatso­
ever, any rate of interest or discount which may be agreed upon.
3. It shall not be lawful for any bank incorporated by any act of the Legisla­
ture of this Province, or of the late Provinces of Upper or Lower Canada
respectively, or by royal charter, nor of any bank established or to be established
under the provisions of the act of the Legislature of this Province, passed in
the session thereof, held in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Her Majesty’s
reign, entitled, “ An Act to establish freedom of banking in this Province, and
for other purposes relative to banks and banking,” to stipulate for, take, reserve,
or exact a higher discount or interest than seven per centum per annum ; and
any rate of interest not exceeding seven per centum per annum may be received
and taken in advance by any such bank ; and it shall be lawful for any such bank to
allow and pay any rate of interest whatsoever upon moneys deposited in such bank.
4. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the act passed in the session
held in the nineteenth and twentieth years of Her Majesty’s reign, chapter fortyeight, entitled, “ An Act for enabling all the chartered banks in this Province to
enjoy a certain privilege therein mentioned,” or in any other act or law, it shall
not be lawful for any bank or banking institution, carrying on busine33 as such
in this Province, in discounting at any of its places or seats of business, branches,
agencies, or offices of discount and deposit, any note, bill, or other negotiable
security or paper, payable at any other of its own places or seats of business,
branches, agencies, or offices of discount and deposit within this Province, to
receive or retain, in addition to the discount, any amount exceeding the follow­
ing rates per centum, according to the time it has to run, on the amount of such
note, bill, or other negotiable security or paper, to defray the expenses attending
the collection of such bill, note, or other negotiable security or paper; that is to
say, under thirty days, one-eighth of one per cent; thirty days and over, but under
sixty days, one-fourth of one per cent; sixty days and over, but under ninety days,
three-eighths of one per cent; ninety days and over, one-half per cent.
5. Six per cent per annum shall continue to be the rate of interest in all cases,
where by the agreement of the parties or by law interest is payable, and no rate
has been fixed by the parties or by the law.
6. Nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to any corporation, or com­
pany, or association of persons, not being a bank, heretofore authorized by law
to lend or borrow money.
IRISn ENCUMBERED ESTATES.

The Encumbered Estates Court in Ireland has been replaced by the Landed
Estates Court, for which an act of Parliament has just been obtained. During
the existence of the old court the total amount expended in the purchase of
property under the control of the court was £22,000,000, of which £3,000,000
were invested by English and Scotch purchasers. 'The number of estates sold
was 2,380, divided into more than 11,000 lots, and 8,235 conveyances have been
executed by the Commissioners.




Journ al o f B anking , Currency, and F inance.

477

BAKKS OF MISSOURI.

The following is a semi-annual statement of all the banks of Missouri, July 1,
1858
L I A B IL I T I E S .

RESOURCES.

Capital in branches___
Notes discounted............
Exchange matured........
Exchange m aturing....
Suspended debt..............
Due from banks..............
Sundry accounts.............
Notes of other banks . . .
Coin.................................
Circulation on hand........
Beal estate.....................
State bonds.....................

. . . 2,925,019
67,940
...
118,468
. . . 1,109,020
. . . 3,488,186

T ota l.......................

25
05
62
57
64
04
08
00
51
00
83
00

Capital owned by State... .
Capital own’d by individuals
Due depositors.....................
Unpaid dividends................
Interest and exchange.........
Due to banks.........................
Capit’l furnish’d by par’nt b’k
Due parent bank on account
Profit it loss cfec’nting’nt fund
Circulati’n rec’iv’d fr’m coin’r

$963,490
2,552,146
2,658,383
6,042
342,654
768,028
759,342
274,468
38,987
4,851,310

10
20
29
84
95
76
25
96
24
00

Total...............................13,209,214 59

59
FINANCES OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

The valuation and taxes of Portland have been as follows:—
1857.....................
1868.................... .,

Eeal.
$12,617,929
12,901,690

Personal.
$9,756,800
9,838,600

Total.
$22,373,729
22,240,290

$417,700

$183,489

$283,761
Decrease. . . ,

Polls.
3,240
3,269

Taxes.
$180,122
193,895

29

$13,773

A decrease in personal estate of S-117,700, has been principally in the reduced
value and loss of shipping.
WEALTH AND RESOURCES OF MISSISSIPPI.

The total value of lands in the State was estimated at the assessment of 1857
at $141,747,536 37, showing the enormous increase over the assessment of 1854
of $50,880,460 70. The number of taxable slaves in the State in 1854 was
326,861, and in 1858 the number was 368,182, being an increase of 42,163, and
an increase in value, rating each slave at $600, of $25,297,800. Within the pe­
riod of three years the land and slave property has advanced in value in the ag­
gregate, $76,178,260 70. The value of the entire property in slaves may be
safely computed at $220,909,200, which, added to the estimate of the land, would
make as the value of the two interests $462,656,736.
BRITISH INCOME TAX.

A Parliamentary return recently issued shows that in 1853 the income tax of
7d. in the pound on incomes of £150 and upwards, produced £5,388,691 ; in
1854, 7d. in the pound on £150 and upwards, and 5d. on £100 to £150,
£6,001,028 ; in 1855, Is. 2d. in the pound on £150 and upwards, and lOd. on
£100 to £150, £12,086,522 ; in 1856, Is. 4d. in the pound on £150 and upwards,
and ll^d. on £100 to £150, £13,942,795; and in 1857, the same poundage
yielded £ 1 4 , 2 8 6 , 0 3 2 . ___________________
WEALTH

OF

ILLINOIS.

By returns of the County Assessors at the State Auditor’s office of all except
a few of the counties, it appears that the whole value of the real and personal
estate, according to the assessment of 1857, is $407,477,367. The assessment
of 1855 amounted to $333,350,340, which shows an increase in the taxable prop­
erty of the State of $74,227,127—an increase of 22 per cent.




478

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
APALACHICOLA, FLORIDA.

The Coast Survey of the United States, one of the greatest national works
ever undertaken, is progressing surely, steadily, and accurately—not with the
degree of rapidity that was expected by those who framed the original law ; but
yet as fast as any undertaking of the kind ought to proceed. Though broken
at intervals, the triangulation, topography, and hydrography extend from Maine
to Texas. All the principal harbors, bays, and sounds are in course of comple­
tion, and much has been done on the ocean coast. Innumerable charts have
already been published, and more are continually in course of projection. Dis­
coveries and developments of the most important character are made almost
daily, and no sooner does this occur than information of the fact is transmitted
throughout the world.
And yet (would it be believed ?) this great national work has the most bitter
enemies ; who, by various means, endeavor to poison the ears of our legislators,
exclaiming against the extortionate demand for the annual appropriation to con­
tinue the survey, intimating that it might be done more economically—and by
whom ?
Now, the truth is, that the yearly appropriation is niggardly enough— con­
temptible for a country like ours ; and were it not for the excellent management
of the superintendent of the work, scarcely anything could be done with the
means allowed.
Through the Coast Survey, the attention of the commercial community at the
South, and more especially in Middle Georgia and West Florida, has recently
been turned towards Apalachicola. Although this place has for a number of
years been a cotton mart of no little importance, an increase in the trade of that
staple, as well as the opening of new sources of commerce, must result from re­
cent developments and discoveries.
During the last surveying season on the Florida coast, amongst other things
accomplished, a new channel into St. George’s Sound, with not less than twenty
feet water, was discovered by the hydrographic chief of the party, from whom
it has taken its name. As this inlet has three or four feet more water than is
ever found on the bar of the East Pass, (hitherto the deepest channel into the
sound known to the pilots,) its importance will at once be understood. Vessels
capable of carrying very large cargoes of cotton will now be able to trade to
Apalachicola, thus saving expense to shippers.
Besides, along the banks of the Apalachicola River there are forests of the
very best pine and oak, and ships that have gone to this port for heavy timber
have been in the habit of receiving it on board inside the harbor, until loaded
down to 16 or 16J feet, and then dropping outside the bar of the East Pass to
complete their cargoes. Here they often lie for weeks, for it is only during ex­
tremely moderate weather that rafts can be taken to them, and though the hold­
ing-ground is good, there is no shelter from the sea. When the channel, whose
existence has been determined, comes to be buoyed out, its advantages to these




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

479

vessels will be incalculable. Under Dog Island, they may load without delay
down to nineteen or twenty feet, and then be carried to sea.
Below we give the official reports of the developments and discoveries made
in the vicinity of St. George’s Sound during the past season :—
Savannah , G a ., April 12,1858.
S ir :— I have the honor to communicate, for the consideration of the Light­

house Board, an extract from a report recently made by Lieut. Commanding J.
K. Duer, U. S. N., Assistant in the Coast Survey, at present engaged in the
hydrography of St. George’s Sound, Florida :—
“ The Coast Survey signal situated on the easternmost point of St. Vincent’s
Island, at the West Pass of St. George’s Sound, has been made a beacon, and
may be used as a guide by vessels drawing less than eleven feet water.
“ I would respectfully suggest that this point be marked in a permanent man­
ner, so that the beacon may be replaced if washed away in a gale— an occur­
rence by no means unlikely, as it is situated on a low sand beach. A durable
beacon erected here would be very serviceable to coasters, as well as to the pilots
of the place.
“ The directions hereto appended, if strictly observed, will carry vessels of the
above limit of draught safely in, thus saving the time and distance unavoidable
in following the regular channel.
“ To enter West Pass, St. George's Sound, with vessels drawing less than
eleven feel water:— With the lighthouse on Cape St. George bearing east, (by
compass.) and when in four or four-and-a half fathoms, bring the beacon on St.
Vincent’s Island to bear northeast, a id run directly for it until the lighthouse
bears southeast by east with the beach of St. Vincent’s Island close aboard, then
haul up east by north, keeping on this course until inside both points of the en­
trance. Here vessels may anchor in from three to three-and-a-half fathoms, with
good holding-ground.
“ The beacon is white, and can readily be seen at the distance necessary to get
the bearing. It is of the form of a pyramid, and neither of the pilot’s ranges
(which are of entirely different shape, and stand considerably to the westward,)
must be mistaken for it.” Very respectfully, yours,
Hon. H owell Cobb, Secretary o f the Treasury.

A. D. BACHE, Supt. U. S. Coast Survey.

C oast S urvey Office , May 5, 1858.
S ir :— I have the honor to communicate extracts from a report in reference to

developments made in St. George’s Sound, western coast of Florida peninsula,
by Lieut. Commanding J. K. Duer, U. S. N., Assistant Coast Survey. The
extracts show important special results obtained in the prosecution of the regu­
lar hydrography of that quarter, and contain, also, sailing directions for navi­
gating a channel sounded out near Cape St. George’s lighthouse :—
“ I. The shoal off Cape St. George’s lighthouse .(commonly designated as the
Cape Shoal) is composed of detached reefs, extending in a south and south by
east direction from the lighthouse, with channels of various depths running be­
tween them. The only one, however, that can be recommended for navigation
is about four miles from the land. This is quite wide, and the soundings in it
vary from four fathoms to seventeen feet, the latter being the least water found.
On the outer edge of it there are reefs having but ten or eleven feet on them,
and on the inner edge others with but seven or eight feet. In both instances
the water shoals very suddenly, and breaks unless the sea is very smooth.
“ The end of this shoal is about six miles from the point of Cape St. George.
There the water deepens to three fathoms, and, by taking the channel, coastwise
vessels may save themselves great loss of time.
“ The following directions will carry ve33els through i t :—
“ Bound to the eastward— From the bar at the West Pass steer S. E. (by com­
pass) until the lighthouse on Cape St. George bears N. by W., then haul up
east, and when in live fathoms the channel has been cleared.
“ Bound to the westward— When about four miles from the land, and in live




480

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

fathoms water, get the lighthouse to bear N. N. W., and steer east until it bears
N . by W ., then steer N. W ., and find four-and-a-half fathoms. Continue on this
course if bound to Apalachicola. When crossing the shoal the lead should be
kept constantly going, as the set of the currents is always uncertain.
“ This channel might be easily buoyed out. Two large buoys only would be
requisite.
“ II. Very near midchannel, and just inside the bar of the West Pass, there is
a lump haying only nine feet of water on it at the low tides, which occur after a
strong northerly wind. This is a continuation of a spit which puts out from the
East Breakers, and there is deeper water between them and the lump.
“ The following bearings show its position :—
“ Lighthouse on Cape St. George bearing E. by S. (true.)
“ Westernmost point of St. George’s Island bearing N. E. by E. (true.)
“ III Outside the West Breakers of the East Pass, and near the easternmost
point of St. George’s Island, there is a shoal having upon it but fifteen or sixteen
feet, while all around there is from three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half fathoms.
“ Bog Island lighthouse bears from it S. IV. J S., (true,) and the east end of
St. George’s Island, S. by W . f W .” Very respectfully, yours,
Hon. H owell C obb , Secretary of the Treasury.

A. D. BACHE, Superintendent.

C oast Survey Office, May 18,1858.
S ir :— I have the honor to communicate the discovery of a new channel lead­

ing into St. George’s Sound, Florida, the sound of which Apalachicola Bay is
an arm, by the Coast Survey parties working there. The channel has been
sounded out by Lieut. Commanding J. K. Buer, U. S. N., Assistant in the
Coast Survey, who gives the following description of i t :—
* * “ The fact is established that an excellent channel exists from sea to the
sound, (St. George’s,) running close-in with the north shore of Bog Island, with
not less than twenty-one or twenty-two feet of w-ater, (twenty or twenty-one feet
at low water.)
“ It is highly probable that deeper water may yet be found near the eastern
end of the island.
“ By this channel, vessels made be carried from sea to a good anchorage in
four fathoms, under a reef, and from there around the easternmost point and
shoal of Bog Island, with cot less than twenty-one or twTenty-two feet, (twenty
or twenty-one at low water,) as just stated. The general depth is four fathoms
or more.
“ On the bar of the East Pass the depth at high tides is usually seventeen
feet, never exceeding three fathoms. * * * * Below are given directions
for entering the new channel from sea, and for running into the four fathom an­
chorage under the reef. Beyond this, it would not be safe to go without a pilot.
Directions—Bring Bog Island lighthouse to bear west, (by compass,) and
Southwest Cape N. E. ^ N. On finding five-and-a-half or six fathoms water,
the course hence is north, until the easternmost end of Bog Island bears S. IV.
by W . | IV., or until the water shoals off the east point of Alligator Harbor.
From here haul up IV. S. IV., and keep this course until well inside the reef,
which can readily be discerned by colored water or breakers.
Between Southwest Cape and the reef, the channel now reported is very deep,
having not less than thirty-one feet, until well in towards the land, where sound­
ings give four fathoms.
“ To enter St. George’s Sound by this new pass, a lighthouse on Southwest
Cape will be indispensable, as well as another light on Bog Island. A beacon
should be placed at each point immediately.”
The channel also should be marked by buoys. I would respectfully request
that a copy of this communication may be transmitted to the Lighthouse Board,
aud that authority be given to publish it in the usual iorm for the information
of navigators.
Very respectfully, yours,
Hon. H owell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury.




A. D. BACHE, Superintendent.

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

481

COMMERCE OF NEW ORLEANS,

Keferring to page 603, (vol. xxxvii.,) for the business of the year 1857, and
previous years back to 1842, we now append, from the New Orleans Price Cur­
rent, the tables for 1858. That paper remarks:—
The year opened with great buoyancy in prices and flattering prospects with
regard to the business of the season. The crops of cotton and sugar, it was
known, would not be large, and in view of the injuries suffered from late spring
frosts and subsequent unfavorable weather, it wTas apprehended that the former
would fall short of the crop of the preceding year. But it was expected that
this deficiency would be counterbalanced by a continuance of a high range of
prices for that and other staples. This favorable prospect, however, was changed
by the commercial and financial revulsion, which, originating at the North, spread
disaster through the country, and resulted in a general change of market values
and prospects. There were some weeks of gloom and depression, many losses,
and some heavy failures, but the crisis here was soon passed, and trade had
resumed its usual channels by the time active business had fairly opened.
Business became settled on a more secure basis, and the feverish and excited
condition of the markets, which had prevailed for months preceding the revulsion,
gave place to a healthy system of trade, prices having fallen from the stilted
position which they had occupied, to a more reasonable and natural level. With
a favorable autumn, the cotton crop recovered in a measure from the disasters
of a late spring, and has proved larger than had been anticipated, exceeding that
of any previous years except 1855-56 and 1852-53. In valuation it exceeds
last year’s crop $1,872,261.
The cane crop, which had also greatly suffered from a cold spring, late frosts,
and early summer heat, partially recovered, but was again seriously injured by
heavy frosts in November. The yield has consequently fallen considerably short
of an average crop, though almost four times as large as that of last year, which
was nearly an entire failure, and exceeds it in valuation about $9,763,248.
The crop of tobacco was large, and the receipts at this port have exceeded
those of any previous years except 1851-52 and 1842-43. In valuation, there
is an increase as compared with last year of $1,736,207.
VALUE OF PRODUCE OF THE INTERIOR.
T A B L E S H O W IN G T H E R E C E IP T S

OF

THE

P R IN C IP A L

A R T IC L E S

FROM

T H E IN T E R I O R D U R IN G

THE YEAR ENDING 31st AUGUST, 1858, WITH THEIR ESTIMATED AVERAGE AND TOTAL
VALUE.
Amount. Average price.
Articles.
Y alue.
76,952
$o 00
Apples..................... ................................. bbls.
?384,760
Bacon, assorted........
90 00
35,557
3,200,130
Bacon, assorted.. . . ,
2,143
45 00
96,435
32,451
73 00
Bacon hams..............
2,368,923
343,833
Bacon in bulk.........
9
30,944
B agging...................
35,691
13 00
463,983
133,276
8 00
Bale rope.................
1.066,208
7,678
5 00
Beans................. . . ................................. bbls.
38,390
33,733
10 00
B u tte r................. ...
337,330
1,227
35 00
B utter.......................
42,945
41
50 00
Beeswax....................
2,050
27,130
13
50
366,255
Beef...........................
5,547
23
00
127,681
B e e f.........................
30,450
12
3,654
Beef, dried................
1,678,616
52
50
Cotton.......................
88,127,340
700
5
00
Corn-meal..................
3,500
62,405
50
Corn in ear................
31,202
1 45
1,291,731
Corn, shelled............
1,873,009
3 50
64,447
Cheese...................... .
190,564
72,183
8 00
Candles......................
577,464
83
8 00
Cider..........................
664
2,501,000
50
Coal, W estern..........
1,250,500
VOL. X X X IX .---- NO. IV .




31

482

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

Articles.
Dried apples and peaches.
Feathers...............................
Flaxseed.............................
Flour.....................................
Furs.............................hhds., bundles, <Ss boxes
Glassware.............................
H em p..................................
Hides....................................
H a y .....................................
Iron, pig.............................
Lard......................................
L a rd.....................................
L ea th er..............................
Lime, Western....................
Lead......................................
Lead, b a r ............................
Lead, white.........................
Molasses, (estimated crop).
Oats.......................................
Onions.................................. ..................... bbls.
Oil, linseed..........................
Oil, castor............................
Oil, la r d ..............................
Potatoes.............................
P o r k ....................................
Pork......................................
Pork.......................................
Pork in bulk......................... ....................... lbs.
Porter and ale..................... ..................... bbls.
Packing y a rn .....................
Hum...................................... ..................... bbls.
Skins, d e e r .........................
Shingles..............................
Shot.......................................
Soap....................... ...........
Staves................................... ....................... M.
Sugar, (estimated crop) . . ................... hhds.
Spanish moss.........................
Tallow.................................. ...................bbls.
Tobacco, le a f.......................
Tobacco, strips....................
Tobacco, stems.....................
Tobacco, chewing...............
Twine.................................... .bundles & boxes
Vinegar...............................
W hisky..................................
Wheat...................................
Other various articles, estimated at...................

Amount.
3,809
886
1,031
1,538,742
469
20,662
13,787
103,174
84,287
257
112,970
93,240
5,689
13,843
112,147
1,242
205
19,578,790
568,649
12,135
208
1,472
12,800
210,481
278,480
200
4,330
7,357,291
6,350
2,061
3,000
1,712
6,100
1,871
9,857
11,500
379,697
4,201
905
75,168
9,514
2,459
3,006
4,524
1,149
125,207
401,275

Average price.
$9 00
50 00
12 00
4 60
5 00
25 CO
3 00
3 25
35 00
35 00
7 00
30 00
1 30
6 00
21 00
2 00
23^
1 20
5 00
35 00
60 00
35 00
2 25
17 75
40 00
70 00
7
10 00
6 00
20 00
20 00
3 00
25 00
4 00
65 00
64 00
16 00
30 00
153 00
212 00
45 00
25 00
11 00
4 00
8 00
2 00

Value.
$34,281
44,300
12,372
7,078,213
160,000
103,310
344,675
309,522
273,933
8,995
3,953,950
652,680
170,670
17,995
672,882
26,082
410
4,601,015
682,378
60,675
7,280
88,320
448,000
473,582
4,943,020
8,000
303,100
515,010
63,500
10,305
60,000
34,240
18,300
46,775
39,428
747,500
17,900,608
67,216
27,150
11,500,704
2,016,968
110,655
75,150
49,764
4,596
1,001,656
802,550
6,000.000

Total value...............
Total in 1856-7 ___
Total in 1855-6 ___

158,061,369
144 256 081

Total in 1853-4 ___

115,336^798

117 106 828

The aggregate shows again a large increase in value.
have been larger than ever before as follows
I M P O R T S OK S P E C IE F O R T W E L V E T E A R S , F R O M

1 8 5 7 - 5 8 ...
1856-57 . . .
1855-56 . . .
1854-55 . . .

$13,268,013
6,500,015
4,913,540
3,746,037




I 1853-54
| 1852-53 . . .
I 1851-62 . . .
| 1850-51 . . .

The imports of specie

1ST S E P T E M B E R

TO

31ST AUGUST.

$6,967,056 I 1849-50 . . .
7,865,226 | 1848-49 . . .
6,278,523 1847-48 . . .
7,937,119 I 1846-47 . . .

$3,792,662
2,601,250
1,845,808
6,680,050

483

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

The Picayune of the 1st publishes the following comparative statement of
imports, through the Custom-house of New Orleans, for the fiscal years ending
the 30th of June of each year, of 1856-57-58 :—

1856.
Dutiable......................................................
F r e e ................................................................
Specie and b u llion .......................................
Total..............................................
Exports.........................................

1857.

1858.

$8,000,583
$16,417,034
6,417,596
6,637,076
1,775,148
1,927,030
$17,183,327
80,547,968

$24,981,150
91,514,286

$10,248,002
4,818,015
4,621,246
$19,687,263
88,382,438

It will be seen that the imports into New Orleans have never exceeded the
present year, except for the year ending the 30th of June, 1857. A t all the
Northern ports there has been a great falling off—much larger, pro rala, than
in New Orleans.
It will be observed that there is a decrease in the amount of exports from last
year of a little over $3,000,000.
COMMERCE OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

The position of the Sandwich Islands, and their being the refitting station for
our Pacific and Indian whaling fleets, give to them a prominence which the
amount of trade does not seem to warrant. As the whaling rendezvous, it is
interesting to note their commercial progress, as an index of the growth of one
of the most important branches of our marine. The fact that the Sandwich
Islands are on the California and India route, also adds to their importance.
The present condition of the islands is shown by the following financial exhibit
for the two years ending March 31, 1858 :—
Cash in treasury, April lBt, 1856.....................................................................
Receipts for two years ending March 31, 1858 ............................................

$28,096
639,042

T o ta l.............................................................................................................
Expenditures same period..................................................................................

$667,138
666,788

Balance in treasury, March 31, 1858 ...............................................................

$350

The liabilities of the treasury, March 81, 1858 ............................................
The assets of the treasury, March 31, 1858....................................................

$60,679
7,301

Balance

$53,378

This shows a small debt, but not as properous a condition of the treasury as
could be hoped for.
,----------- Exports.------------,
Domestic.
Foreign.

1853
1854
1855
1856
1857

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

$281,599
274,029
274,793
378,999
422,304

$191,398
311,092
297,859
204,545
222,222

Total
exports.

Imports.

$472,996
585,122
572,652
583,544
645,526

$1,281,95118
1,396,78624
1,306,35589
1,152,41299
1,130,16541

It will be seen from the above statement of imports and exports that the state
of foreign trade has materially improved during the last two years, for while the
imports in 1856 and 1857 were $420,563 73 less than those of 1854 and 1855,
the exports of domestic goods during the two former years were $253,479 88 more
than those of 1854 and 1855. This proves that during the last two years the
productive powers of the kingdom have been increasing rapidly.




/

484

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

The navigation returns for the past two years have not been made up, but we
find that for 1855 and 1856 the arrival of vessels were—
1855
1856

National Merchant
vessels.
vessels.
13
154
9
123

Tonnage.
61,304
42,213

Number
whalers.
468
366

The moderate success of the whaling fleet for two years, and the low price of
oil for the past year, have been fully compensated by the extraordinary high price
of bone, so that in some vessels the return from bone was almost equal to that
of oil.
The revenue of the different islands for the two years ending March 31,1858,
is shown as follows :—
Revenue.
$474,347 94
78,745 02
65,080 37
20,867 90

Expenses.
$517,185 99
67,472 83
55,015 69
27,114 82

$639,041 23

$666,788 83

The cash on hand, April 1st, 1858, was......................................................
The estimated receipts for the two years ending March 31, 1860,
a r e ...............................................................................................................

$349 24

Revenue from O ahu..
“
M aui..
“
Hawaii.
“
Kauai .
Total revenue..............................................................

Total resources..........................................................
The estimated expenditures for the same period, amount
t o .....................................................................................
To which add balances of appropriations of 1856, due
and unpaid March 31, 1858..........................................

592,671 00
$593,020 24

$736,087 88
2,579 04
738,666 92

Leaving the sum of.....................................................................
excess of estimated expenditure over estimated receipts.

$145,646 62

These estimates are based upon the tariff and rates and taxation now existing.
Under the provisions of the new code, (if passed,) the revenue from taxes and
other sources will be somewhat increased. The ratification of the new French
treaty, too, will bring into force the new tariff bill, passed at the session of 1855,
by which the revenue from duties will be still further augmented.
It is as indisputable as creditable to the enterprise of our whalers, that our
whaling marine is the only one that is increasing, and our whalers of late years
have stated that the only probable exception to this in the future is with the
Sandwich Islands, the ships from which have shown an enterprise and met with
success only equaled by the American vessels. In our last files from these islands
we find the report of the Minister of Finance contains this statement:—
Another interest which has lately sprung up amongst us, and which promises
to become of the highest importance to the kingdom, deserves also your attentive
consideration. I allude to Hawaiian whaling. Our whaling fleet now numbers
fifteen vessels. Our proximity to the whaling grounds, and our facilities, present
and prospective, for the fitting out of whale ships, are likely to attract to us
foreigners possessed of the capital, skill, and resources necessary for the successful
prosecution of this profitable branch of business. I need not remind you that
any increase of our capital from foreign sources is, in a national point of view,
as valuable to us as if it belonged to our own people, for if invested in this busi­
ness, it must necessarily lead to an increased demand for all those of our products
which are employed in it, thereby furnishing for our own people that best of all
markets—a home market. It will be for you to inquire into the propriety and
expediency of encouraging this business amongst us, by giving Hawaiian sailors,




485

Statistics o f Track and Commerce.

in vessels under the Hawaiian flag, some privileges and exemptions not accorded
to them when sailing under the flags of other nations.
The whaling vessels from the United States have brought in better returns
than any branch of shipping; and we learn that from New Bedford and New
London there is an activity unknown in the ship-yards of other ports.
IMPORTS OF WOOL INTO BOSTON FOR THE FIRST HALF YEAR.

Chili and Peru...................
....

1857.

$37,617
1,356,748
33,691
1,390,430
183,427
16,500
1,647,082

3,660
$3,553,018

$4,735,395

$27,346
789,614
348,997
1,812,187
371,864
191,660
1,756>61
291,054
2,810

CO

1856.

1122,245
440,558
9,767
1,382,537
117,683

GO

1855.
England............................... ___
Buenos Ayres..................... ___
France.................................
T u rk ey............................... ___
Cape of Good H o p e ......... ___

$134,752
1,000,814
19,180
1,272,671
799,310
2,523,459
68,405
64,213
$5,882,804

$6,592,493

TOBACCO TRADE OF RICHMOND, YIRGINA.

The following are authentic returns of the tobacco trade of Richmond, show­
ing the whole amount of manufactured tobacco exported from the dock in sailing
vessels for twelve months ending 30th June last; the amount exported by steamers
to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore for six months, ending at the same
period ; together with the amount of manufactured and leaf tobacco exported to
foreign countries, and the quantity of tobacco inspected in Richmond for the
year ending 30th June last; as also the quantity inspected in the whole State
for ten months ending August 1st:—
AM O UN T O F M A N U F A C T U R E D T O B A C C O E X P O R T E D

IN

S A IL IN G

VESSELS FROM

T H IS C IT Y F O R S IX M O N T H S , E N D IN G J A N U A R Y

THE

D O C K IN

1, 1858.

Six months ending January 1..................................................... boxes
January..................................................................................
2,113
February...............................................................................
3,627
M arch ....................................................................................
5,200
April.......................................................................................
5,136
May.........................................................................................
4,292
J u n e ......................................................................................
3,778

81,282

23,145
For year ending June 30, 1858
AMOUNT

OF

M ANU FACTURED TOBACCO E X P O R T E D

60,427
FROM

THE W H A R V E S

N E W Y O R K , P H I L A D E L P H IA , A N D B A L T IM O R E , F O R S I X M O N TH S , E N D IN G

January.......................................................
February.....................................................
M a rch .........................................................
A p r il............................................................
M a y .......................................................................
Jun ........................................................................
Total




B r

S T E A M E R S TO

JUN E

New York,
Philadelphia,
boxes.
boxes.
2,482
1,476
2,831
3,611
4,972
10,481
3,389
11,095
12,719
3,467
3,811
13,227
63,615

19,946

30, 1858.
Baltimore,
boxes.
2,130
2,912
4,576
6,195
8,348
10,796
83,952

486

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

A M O U N T O F M A N U F A C T U R E D TOBACCO E X P O R T E D

TO

F O R E IO N

C O U N T R IE S

FROM

JU LY

1,

1857, TO J U L Y 1, 1858.
For quarter ending September 30, 1857................................................ lbs.
“
“
December 31, 1857........................................................
For six months, from January 1, 1858, to 1st July last.............................

29,123
14,878
10,235

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

54,236

It will be seen that the exports of manufactured tobacco to foreign countries
are very limited, being confined altogether to South America, where the duty
upon it is comparatively light. The trade in this article is variable and irregular,
as may be seen by the comparative exhibits of the first and last months of the
year :—
AM OUNT OF L E A F

TO BACCO A N D S TE M S E X P O R T E D TO F O R E IG N C O U N T R IE S F R O M

1857, t o 1st J u l y , 1858.
For six months ending 31st December, 1857........................................... bales
For quarter ending 31st March, 1858 ...............................................................
For quarter ending 30th June, 1858..................................................................

1st

JU L Y ,

13,508
3,853
8,616

25,977
Total for year ending 30th June, 1858 ....................................................
Amount of stems, tobacco alone, exported for year ending 30th June, 1858
7,500
Amount of leaf tobacco exported within the same period.............................
18,477
Amount of tobacco inspected in Richmond for twelve months, commencing
37,082
1st July, 1857, and ending 30th June, 1858................................................
Amount of tobacco inspected in the whole State for ten months, from the
1st October, 1857, to 1st instant.....................................................................
55,852
Against 45,000, or thereabouts, within the same period of the year previous. The
inspections for the two months o f August and September, 1857, 1 was unable to as­
certain.

These returns have been carefully prepared, and will be found perfectly
accurate. It will be seen from the comparative exhibit given of the exports of
manufactured tobacco to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, that the
exports to New York are nearly equal to those made to the other two, the
difference in favor of the latter being but two hundred and eighty-three boxes.
The disparity was considerably greater a few years ago, but it is steadily decrea­
sing as the facilities of steam communication with New York increase.
EXPORTS

OF CUBA.

The Havana Diario of the 17th, gives the following as a complete statement
of the exports of the island, for the first six months of the present year, in
comparison with the same time last year :—
1858.
1857.
1858.
1857.
Sugar.................. boxes
B ra n dy...............pipes
Coffee...............arrobes
W ax.............................

471,291 590,000 Honey, pure.. bocoyes
7,830
8,632 Honey, in comb.. .trcs.
10,824 16,843 Tobacco, twisted. .lbs.
25,465
22,548 Tobacco, in leaf.........

26,655
15,287
1,678
1,173
75,886
58,258
949,007 1,482,055

CONSUMPTION OF TOBACCO IN FRANCE.

The Genie Industriel says that it is difficult to account for the tremendous in­
crease, during the last few years, of the consumption of tobacco in France; but
that it has increased, and that enormously, the following figures will show :—In
1830, the value of tobacco consumed was about $13,000,000. In 1840, it had
increased to $19,000,000. In 1850, it attained $24,000,000, and in 1857 the
sum of nearly $35,000,000 was puffed away in smoke.




487

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
GENERAL STATISTICS OF SOUTH AMERICAN STATES,
E X H IB IT II a

T H E IR

A R E A , P O P U L A T IO N , C O M M E R C E , R E V E N U E , D E B T S , E T C ., F O R
C IA L

YEAR

States and countries.

V en ezuela........................
New Granada...................
Ecuador ............................
B ra zil................................
Guiana, British................
“
Dutch.................
“
French................
B o liv ia ..............................
P e r u .................................
Chile...................................
Argentine Confederation 1
Buenos Ayres.................)
P araguay.........................
Uruguay.............................
Patagonia, etc...................
Falkland Islands.............
Grand total.

1866.

,--------Total commerce.-------- ,

O F F I­

Imports into
U. States.
$3,616,869
1,799,672
12,553
15,218,935
107,180
206,633
8,546

870,556
3,426,257

597,546
3,518,896

11,394,693

969,428

2,545,087

585,523
5,836,212

422,172

242,709

Imports.
$4,994,244
6,102,738
2,486,706
50,104,442
4,582,491
835,024
4,927,885
3,721,989
9,087,894
25,988,925

15,240,986
777,457
8,791,205
95,217

105,311

5145,219,350

-Commerce with IT. States.-

Exports from
U. States.
$1,223,449
1,062,045
66,092
4,261,273
824,932
248,606
80,618

Exports.
$5,495,270
7,929,350
2,490,639
50,993,827
7,026,661
1,150,841
5,239,672
3,927,333
16,880,303
19,180,589

$132,758,227
Population to
sq. mile.
3.19
4.63
2.41
2.37
1.45
1 16
1.01
4.91
4.54
5.76
1.79
2.83
4.25
2.14
0.35
0.50

Falkland Islands.............

Area of
Total
sq. miles. population.
426,712 1,361,386
521,948 2,417,819
287,638
691,967
2,973,400 7,060,000
96,114
139,219
59,765
69,186
27,560
27.842
473,298 2,326,126
498,726 2,266,697
249,952 1,439,126
590,739 1,106,600
127,681
361,926
72,106
306,609
73,538
167,982
281,927
100,000
3,148
6,297

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

6,767,401 19,835,633

States and countries.
Venezuela.........................
New Granada...................
Ecuador.............................
Brazil.................................
Guiana, British................
“
Dutch..................
“
French.................
Bolivia...............................
Peru....................................
C h ile ..................................
Argentine Confederation.
Buenos Ayres...................
Paraguay...........................
U ruguay.............................

THE

C O M P IL E D B Y D R . R . S . F I S H E R .

,--------- Revenue.----------* /
Income. Kxp'nditur's.
countries.
Foreign.
Venezuela... $2,706,055 $8,248,081 $16,769,770
N. Granada. 2,114,459 2,866,576 18,5311,444
Ecuador . . .
171,608
169,812
7,122,375
B ra zil......... 26,662,619 21,483,972 27,940,140
Guiana, Brit. 1,093,620 1,142,922
Do. D utch..
436,072
416,936
Do. French .
217,956
623,981
Bolivia......... 1,976,213 1,739,381 . .............
P e r u ........... 8,995,000 10,452,690 24,567,000
Chile............ 6,287,526 5,484,686
6,889,500
Arg. Conf’d’n 2, 000,000 2,000,000
Buen’s Ayr’s 3,441,760 3,060,906
8,750,000
Paraguay . .
750,000
750,000
U ruguay... 2,132,800 3,280,745 10 , 000,000
Patagonia...
Falkland Is.
31,304
28,476

19,500
$13,455,417

$27,894,126

Capitals
Popul't'n to
of States, etc.
capitals.
Caraccas.............
53,800
S. Fe de Bogota.
45,000
Q u ito ...............
65,000
Rio de Janeiro.. 266,000
Georgetown........
25,500
Paramaraibo . . .
20,000
Cayenne..............
5,000
Chuquisaca.........
26,000
Lim a...................
100,000
Santiago..............
78,000
Parana ...............
6,000
Buenos Ayres . . 100,000
Asungion...........
12,000
Montevideo . . . .
16,000
Port Stanley. . . .

500
.....

2.93

States and

Domestic.

Paper m oney.

Total.

$1,522,725
$18,292,495
18,530,444
37,060,888
92,324
7,214,699
31,181,766 $7,625,293 66,747,199

3,592,350
23,211,400
1,960,400

3,592,850
47,778,400
8,849,900

925,000 5,250,000

14,925,C00

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

10, 000,000

G ’d total. 59,013,992 61,748,114 120,569,229 81,016,409 12,875,293 214,460,931




488

Com m ercial R egulations.

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
TARIFF OF CANADA.
A S S E N T E D

TO

A U G U S T

7 ,

1 8 5 8 .

T A B L E OK D U T IE S O F CU STOM S I N W A R D S — G O O D S P A Y I N G S P E C IF IC D U TIE S .

Ale, beer, and porter, in casks....................................................................... pergallon
$0 08
“
“
in quart bottles................................. per dozen bottles
0 25
“
“
in pint bottles.................................................................
0 12*
And a duty of 15 per cent ad valorem on the bottles containing the same.
Almonds, walnuts, and filberts...............................................................per lb.
0 03
Corn brooms....................................................................................................... perdozen0 50
0 15
Corn whisks..............................................................................................................
C igars.......................................................................................................... per lb.
0 80
0 01
Chicory, raw and kiln-dried.................................................................................
0 04
“
roasted and ground.................................................................................
0 01
Coffee, g re e n ..........................................................................................................
0 04
“
roasted.........................................................................................................
0 04
“
ground .........................................................................................................
Cordials.............................................................................................................. pergallon1 00
0 03
Currants...................................................................................................... per lb.
0 03
Figs-- ••...................................................................................................................
0 03
Dried fruits.............................................................................................................
0 04
Ginger, pimento, and pepper, unground............................. 7.............................
0 06
“
“
“
ground.................................................................
0 03
Macaroni and vermicelli........................................................................................
0 05
Mustard............. ..................................................................................................
0 04
Molasses............................................................................................................. pergallon
0 25
Mace.........................................................................................................................
0 25
Nutmegs............................. ....................................................................... per lb.
0 01
Nuts not specially Darned, except cocoa-nuts....................................................
Spirits and strong waters of all sorts, for every gallon of any strength not
exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes’ Hydrometer, and so in pro­
portion for any greater strength or less quantity than a gallon, viz.
1 00
B ra n dy...............................................................................................................pergallon
0 80
Gin.............................................................................................................................
0 50
R u m .........................................................................................................................
0 18
W hisky....................................................................................................................
Spirits and strong waters, including spirits of wine and alcohol, and not
0 70
being brandy, gin, or whisky.......................................................................pergallon
0 07
Spices, unground, not otherwise n am ed................................................ per lb.
0 10
“
ground.........................................................................................................
0 05
Starch, and all preparations of starch................................................................
1 25
Soap, not otherwise specified ...................................................... per 100 lbs.
Sugar, refined, whether in loaves or lumps, candied, crushed, powdered, or
granulated, or in any other form ; white bastard sugar, or other sugar
2 50
equal to refined io quality...........................................................per 100 lbs.
Sugar, white clayed sugar or yellow bastard sugar, or any kind equal in
quality to white clayed sugar, but not equal to refined sugar...................
1 75
Sugar, brown clayed sugar, Aluscovado, or raw sugar of any kind, not equal
1 80
in quality to the sugars last named.................................................................
Sugar, raw, for refining purposes only, and not within 25 per cent of the
0 90
value o f the last named sugar.........................................................................
0 03
Tea, not exceeding in value 18 cents per p o u n d ..................................per lb.
“ exceeding in value 18 cents per p ou n d ....................................................
0 04
0 05
Tobacco, manufactured, Dot exceeding in value 20 cents per pound............
“
“
exceeding 20 and not exceeding 40 cents per l b ...
0 07 *
0 10
“
“
over 40 cents per pound..............................................
0 10
Snuff.........................................................................................................................
Vinegar.................................................................................................. per gallon
0 06




489

Commercial Regulations.
Wine, in wood, not exceeding in value $40 per pipe of 126 gallons.............
“
“
over $40 but not exceeding $60 per pipe o f 126 gallons...
“
“
“ $60
“
“
$100
“
“
“ $100 in value per pipe of 126 ga llon s............................
“
in quart bottles, not exceeding $4 per dozen.......... per dozen bottles
“
in pint bottles, in proportion...................................................................
“
in quart bottleB, exceeding $4 but not exceeding $8 per dozen.........
“
in pint bottles, in proportion............................. ■....................................
“
in quart bottles, exceeding $8 and not exceeding $12 per dozen. . . .
“
in pint bottles, in proportion...................................................................
“
in quart bottles, exceeding $12 per dozen.............................................
“
in pint bottles, in proportion...................................................................
And a duty of 15 per cent ad valorem on the bottles containing such wine.
Printed, lithographed, or copper plate bills, bill heads, checks, receipts,
drafts, posters, cards, labels of every description, advertising pictures,
or pictorial show bills or cards....................... per hundred cards or sheets
Advertising pamphlets..................................................................... per hundred

0
0
0
0
1
0
2
1
2
1
3
1

20
30
40
50
50
75
00
00
50
25
00
50

1 00
1 00

TABLE OF FREE GOODS.

Acids of every description; agricultural societies—seeds of all kinds ; farm­
ing utensils and implements of husbandry, when specially imported by, for the
encouragement of agriculture; alum ; anatomical preparations; anchors, over
6 cwt. in weight; animals of all kinds ; antiquities, collections o f; apparel,
wearing, and other personal effects, and implements of husbandry, (not mer­
chandise,) in actual use of persons coming to settle in the province and accom­
panying the owner ; apparel, wearing, of British subjects dying abroad ; argol ;
arms for army or navy and Indian nations, provided the duty otherwise payable
thereon would be defrayed or borne by the treasury of the United Kingdom, or
of this province ; ashes, pot, pearl, and soda ; bark, tanners’ ; bark, used solely
in dyeing ; barley, except pot and pearl; barley meal; beans; bean meal; bere
and bigg; bere and bigg meal; berries, used solely in dyeing; bleaching powder ;
books, printed ;—periodicals and pamphlets—not being British copyrights, nor
blank, account, or copy books to be written or drawn upon; borax ; Dottles
containing wine, spirituous or terminating liquors of officers’ mess ; brandy im­
ported for officers’ mess ; bran and shorts; brimstones ; bristles ; broom corn ;
buckwheat; buckwheat meal; bulbs and roots ; bullion ; burr stones, wrought
and un wrought, but not bound up into mill-stones; butter; coin and bullion;
cabinets of coins ; cables, iron chain; cables, tarred hemp ; cables, untarred
hemp ; cables, grass ; carriages of travelers, and carriages employed in carrying
merchandise, (hawkers and circus troops excepted ;) casks, ships’ water, in use;
caoutchouc, or India rubber, and gutta perclia, unmanufactured ; cement, marine
or hydraulic ; charitable societies—donations of clothing for gratuitous distribu­
tion by ; cheese ; clothing for army or navy or Indian nations, or for gratuitous
distribution by any charitable society; coal; cochineal; coke; commissariat
stores ; copperas ; corkwood, or the bark of the corkwood tree; corn, Indian;
cotton and flax waste; cotton wool ; cream of tartar in crystals ; diamonds and
precious stones; drugs used solely in dyeing ; dyestuffs, viz., bark, berries, drugs,
nuts, vegetables, woods, and extract of logwood ; earths, clays, and ochres, dry ;
eggs ; felt hat bodies and hat felts ; fire brick ; firewood ; fish ; fish oil, in its
crude or natural state ; fish, products of, unmanufactured ; flax, hemp, and
tow, undressed ; flour ; fruits, green ; fruits, dried, from the United States only,
while the Reciprocity Treaty is in force; furs, skins, pelts, or tails, undressed,
when imported directly from the United Kingdom or British North American
Provinces, or from the United States ; gems and medals ; gravel ; grains—
barley and rye, beans and peas, bere and bigg, bran and shorts, buckwheat, In­
dian corn, oats, wheat, meal of above grains; grindstones, wrought and un­
wrought ; gums and rosins, in a crude state; gypsum or plaster ofParis, ground
or unground; grease and scraps; hams; hemp; hides; horns ; household
effects, personal, not merchandise, of subjects of Her Majesty domiciled in Canada
but dying abroad ; indigo ; inventions and improvements in the arts, models of—
provided that no article shall be deemed a model which can be fitted up for use ;




490

Com m ercial R egulations.

junk and oakum ; lard ; lime, the produce of British North American Provinces
only; machinery, models of—provided the same cannot be put to actual use ;
Manilla grass ; manures of all kinds ; maps and charts in sheets, not mounted
nor on cloth; marble in blocks or slabs, unpolished ; meats, fresh, smoked, and
salt; menageries, horses, cattle, carriages, and harnesses of, subject to regulations
by the governor in council; military clothing for Her Majesty’s troops or militia;
military stores and materials for military clothing imported for the use of the
provincial militia, under such restrictions and regulations as may be passed by
governor in council; mosses and sea grass for upholstery purposes; musical in­
struments for military bands; nitre of saltpeter ; oakum ; oil cake or linseed
cake; oils, cocoa-nut, pine, and palm—in their Datural state; old nets; ordnance
stores; ores of all kinds of metals; osier or willow, for basket-makers’ use;
packages of all kinds in which goods are usually imported, except the following,
viz., spirit, wine, oil, beer, cider, and other casks for the containing of liquids,
baskets of every description, trunks, snuff jars, earthenware jars, glass jars, bags
and barrels containing seeds and peas ; pig iron, pig lead ; pitch and tar;
philosophical instruments and apparatus, books, globes, maps, and charts—pro­
vided the same be specially imported by and for the use of philosophical societies,
universities, colleges, public schools, or institutes ; plants, shrubs, and trees ; pro­
visions for army and navy, or Indian nations; rags; resin and rosin ; rice ; sail­
cloth ; sal-soda ; sal-ammonia ; salt; seeds of all kinds ; ships’ blocks ; binnacle
lamps; canvas, duck ; bunting ; compasses; dead eyes; dead lights; deck plugs ;
shackles ; sheaves; signal lamps; traveling trucks ; ship’s water-casks in use,
expressly imported for ship-building purposes and by ship-builders or sail-makers ;
silk hat felts ; soda, ash; specimens of natural history, mineralogy, or botany;
stone, unwrought; slate ; statues, busts, and casts *of marble, bronze, alabaster,
or plaster of Paris; paintings and drawings as works of art; specimens of
sculpture ; cabinets of coins, medals, gems, and all collections of antiquities;
sulphur and brimstone ; tin and zinc, or spelter, in block or pig ; tallow ; teasels ;
timber and lumber of all kinds, round, hewed, sawed, unmanufactured in whole
or in part; tobacco, unmanufactured ; tools and implements of trade of persons
arriving in Canada, when accompanied into the province by the actual settler,
and brought in by such settler for his own use, and not for sale ; treenails; tur­
pentine ; type metal, in blocks or pigs ; vegetables—not elsewhere specified ;
vehicles of travelers, except those of hawkers and peddlers ; water lime ; wine,
spirits, and fermented liquors of all kinds, imported for officers’ mess, and the
packages containing the same ; wood for hoops, when not notched ; woods of
all kinds ; wool; all importations for the use of Her Majesty’s army and navy
serving in Canada.
TABLE OF PROHIBITIONS.

The following articles are prohibited to be imported under a penalty of fifty
pounds, together with the forfeiture of the parcel or package of goods in which
the same may be found :—Books and drawings of an immoral or indecent char­
acter ; coin, base or counterfeit.
GOODS PAYING FIVE PER CENT.

The following goods shall be charged with a duty of five per cent on the value
thereof:—Bolting cloth ; brass in bars, rods, and sheets; brass and copper wire,
and wire cloth ; chain, iron, and other cables, and not being horse chain, dog
chain, jack chain, or other small chain not exceeding three-quarters of an inch ;
Canada plates, tinned plates, galvanized iron and sheet iron ; copper in bars,
rods, bolts, or sheets ; cotton candle wick, yarn, and warp ; emery ; emery, glass,
and sand paper; fishing nets and seines ; fish hooks, lines, and fish twines; gold
beaters’ brim moulds and skins ; silk-twist for hats, boots, and shoes; hat plush ;
hair, Angora, goat, Thibet, horse, or mohair, unmanufactured ; iron, bar, rod, or
hoop ; iron, nail and spike rod ; iron, hoop or tire, for driving wheels of locomo­
tives, bent or welded ; iron, boiler plates ; iron, plate and angle, and other iron,
shaped or unshaped, when forming part of an iron ship imported in pieces ; iron,
rivets for iron ships ; iron, wire ; lead, in sheets; sails, ready made ; steel, wrought




Com m ercial R egulations.

491

or cast; tin, granulated or ba r; tubes and piping, of copper, brass, or iron,
when drawn ; varnish, bright and black, for shipbuilders, other than copal, car­
riage, shellac, mastic, or Japan ; zinc or spelter, in sheet; locomotive and engine
frames, cranks, crank axles, railway car and locomotive axles, piston rods, guide
and slide bars, crank pins, connecting rods, steamboat and mill shafts, and cranks
forged in the rough.
GOODS PAYING TWENTY PER CENT.

The following goods shall be chargeable with a duty of twenty per cent on
the value thereof:— Anchovies, sardines, and all other fish preserved in oi l ;
Argentine, Alabetta, or Albetta, and German silver manufactures ; articles em­
broidered with gold, silver, or other metals ; baskets, and all other articles made
of grass, osier, palm leaf, straw, whalebone, or willow, not elsewhere specified ;
beads of every description ; billiard tables and furnishings ; bagatelle boards and
furnishings; blacking; bracelets, braids, chains, curls, ringlets, or head-dresses
of anything composed of hair or of which hair is a component part; brooms
and brushes, not elsewhere specified ; cameos or mosiacs, real or imitation, when
set in gold, silver, or other metal; capers, pickles, olives, and sauces of all kinds
not specified; candles and tapers of wax, sperm, belmont, stearine, adamantine,
and composition ; chandeliers, girondoles, gas fittings ; carriages or parts of car­
riages not otherwise specified ; cabinet ware or furniture ; cashmere—see manu­
factures ; cocks, taps, and coupling joints ; carpets and hearth rugs, velvet,
Brussels, tapestry, Turkish, Persian, and other kinds ; confectionery not else­
where specified ; China ware of all kinds : cutlery, polished, of all sorts ; coach
and harness furniture of all kinds ; composition tops for tables or for other arti­
cles of furniture ; essences, balsams, cosmetics, extracts, pastes, perfumes, tinc­
tures, and perfumery of all kinds ; feathers and flowers, artificial or ornamental,
or parts thereof, of whatever material composed ; fans and fire screens; fire­
works ; glass, plate ; glass, silvered ; glassware, cut, ground, or colored ; glass,
stained, painted, or colored, glass, bottles and vials, not being wine or beer bot­
tles ; gold and silver leaf; gilt frames ; guns, rifles, and fire-arms of all kinds ;
hats, caps, and bonnets ; inks of all kinds, except printing ink ; jewelry, real or
imitation; japanned, planished tin, and britannia metal ware of all kinds ;
leather, sole, harness, dressed, kip, calf, and upper leather, and all imitations of
leather ; marble or imitation of marble mantel-pieces, or parts thereof; mat­
tresses of hair, moss, or other material; millinery of all kinds ; musical instru­
ments of all kinds, including musical boxes and clocks ; mowing, reaping, and
threshing machines ; manufactures of fur, of which fur is the principal part;
manufactures of cashmere; manufactures of silk, satin, and velvet, and of all
other fabrics of which silk forms the principal part; manufactures of bone, shell,
horn, pearl, ivory, or vegetable ivory ; manufactures of gold, silver, or electro­
plate ; manufactures of brass or copper ; manufactures of leather or imitation of
leather, or of which leather or imitation of leather is the principal part, not
otherwise specified ; manufactures of marble, or marble more advanced in manu­
facture than slabs or blocks in the rough ; manufacture of papier mache; manu­
factures of caoutchouc, or India rubber, or of gutta percha, or of which any of
these articles forms the principal part; manufactures of straw ; patent medicines
and medical preparations not elsewhere specified ; oil cloths of whatever ma­
terial composed ; salad oils, table oils, and linseed oils; opium ; ornaments of
bronze, alabaster, terracotta, or composition ; plated and gilded wares of all kinds;
playing cards ; preserved vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, and game ; railing or
fencing of iron ; riddles and sieves ; scales and weights ; shawls, Thibet, wool, or
filled ; silks, satins, or velvets, and all fabrics of which silk forms the principal
part; spades, shovels, axes, hoes, rakes, forks, and edge-tools, scythes and snaiths,
bolts, nuts, and washers; spikes, nails, tacks, brads, and sprigs; silk, woolen,
worsted, and cotton embroideries, and tambour-work ; silk twist and twist com­
posed of silk and mohair; silver and gold cloth, thread, and other articles em­
broidered with gold or for embroidering ; skins, sheep, calf, goat, and chamois,
dressed ; soap, perfumed or fancy ; stoves and all other iron castings ; toys ;
thread lace and insertions ; writing desks, fancy and ornamental cases and boxes
oi whatsoever material; woolen goods.




492

Com m ercial Regulations.
GOODS PAYING TWENTY-FIVE PEE CENT.

The following goods shall be chargeable with a duty of twenty-five per cent on
the value thereof:— Manufactures of leather, viz., manufacture of boots and
shoes ; manufacture of harness and saddlery; clothing or wearing apparel, made
by hand or sewing-machine.
GOODS PAYING FIFTEEN PER CENT.

All articles not hereinbefore enumerated as charged with a specific or ad
valorem duty, and not exempted from the payment of duty, shall be chargeable
with a duty of fifteen per cent as the duty thereof.
CRUDE NAPTHA, OR COAL OIL,
T reasury D epartment, June 21,1858.

S ir :— I acknowledge the receipt of your report, under date of the 3d instant,

on the appeal of Messrs. .E. T. Jones & Co. from your assessment of duties on
an article imported by them and invoiced as “ crude Daptha,” at the rate of 24
per cent, under the classification in schedule C of the tariff of 1857, of “ oils,
volatile, essential, or expressed, not otherwise provided for.” The article in ques­
tion is understood to be obtained by distillation from a bituminous coal found
in the British Province of New Brunswick, used mainly for illuminating purposes,
and belongs, it would appear, to that class of products known in commerce as
“ coal oils.” The importers, however, allege that it differs in some of its properties
from “ coal oil,” though applicable to the same general purposes, and claim entry
of it as an unenumerated article at a duty of 15 per cent under the first section
of the tariff act of 1857. The department concurs with you in opinion as to the
character of the article— that it is to be regarded as a coal oil—but not as to
the schedule to which it should be referred, and the rate of duty to be exacted.
It is not specially designated in any of the provisions respecting “ oils ” in the
tariff of 1857. Being the product of distillation, it cannot be regarded as an
“ expressed ” oil, nor as a “ volatile or essential oil,” according to the strict
technical meaning of those terms, or as they are used and understood in the trade.
It does not, therefore, in the opinion of this department, fall within the classifition to which it was assigned on the entry, but should be regarded as unenumerated
in the tariff of 1857, and assimilated by force of the 20th section of the tariff
act of 1842, in view of the uses to which it is applied, to the illuminating and
lubricating oils in schedule E, to wit, “ oils, neatsfoot and other animal oil;
spermaceti, whale, and other fish oil, the produce of foreign fisheries,” and sub­
jected to a duty of 15 per cent. Very respectfully,
HOW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury.
A. W. A ustin , Esq., Collector, Boston, Massachusetts.

P E C U L OF M A N I L L A .

The Department acquiesced in the decision of the Circuit Court of the United
States for the Eastern Circuit in the case of Samuel Austin vs. Charles II.
Peaslee, late collector at Boston, rendered at the September term, 1857, on the
question of law involved in the same, to wit. that duties are not legally charge­
able on more than the net weight of the Manilla hemp entered at the custom­
house, and this principle, so established by the court, will govern in cases of
similar character now pending, or which may hereafter arise at the several ports.
As it regards the weight of the pecul of Manilla (a question of fact, established
by the verdict at 140 pounds avoirdupois,) the Department is not prepared to
yield a like acquiescence. The judge, in his opinion, rates it at within a few
ounces of 140 pounds; and the best authority accessible to the Department
(Alexander’s Universal Dictionary of Weights and Measures) rates it at
139.449615 pounds, at which rate it must be taken at the custom-house, unless
it be hereafter satisfactorily shown to the Department that a different rate is
the proper one.




Com m ercial R egulations.
CHINESE

493

TREATY,

The Friend of China has the following synopsis of the provisions of the new
treaty :—
A rticle 1. Provides for general peace, and a stipulation for good offices of
the United States in case of difficulty with other powers.
A r t . 2. Provides for the deposit and record of the treaty of Pekin and
Washington.
A rt . 3. The official publication of the treaty at Pekin and in the provinces by
imperial authority.
A rt . 4. Direct correspondence (with the obligation to acknowledge and answer)
of the Minister of the United States with the Privy Council or Prime Minister
at Pekin.
A rt . 5. Right of annual visit and sojourn at his own leasure, as to time, of
the United States Minister at Pekin, journey to be either by the Peiho, or over­
land from Shanghae, and to be provided for by the Chinese government, as well
as with an official residence at the capital. His suite not to consist of more
than twenty, exclusive of Chinese attendants. His official intercourse to be
with the Privy Council, or one of its members deputed for that purpose.
A rt . 6. Permanent residence at Pekin if the same privilege is conceded to
other powers.
A
A

rt .

7. Equality o f rank in official correspondence.

8. Interviews of ministers with governor-general, governors, &c., always
to be at official residences ; interviews never to be denied.
A rt . 9. Interviews on terms of equality o f naval commanders with officials
o f highest rank. Suppression of piracy.
A rt . 13. Right to lease property without any intervention of officials. De­
signation of open ports, new ones being Swatow and Taiwan in Formosa, and
any other granted to English, French, or Russians. Clandestine and contraband
trade prohibited. Opium to be prohibited or allowed according to Chinese laws.
A rt . 14. The United States never to pay higher duties than the “ most favored
nation.”
A rt. 15. Tonnage duties not higher than imposed on the most favored nation ;
double tonnage dues abolished. Prospective application of tonnage dues to
beacons, lighthouses, &c.
A
A

rt .

rt .

16. Regulations o f pilots.

20. Time of paying duties ; to be paid in sycee or foreign money; con­
suls not to give up papers before duties are paid.
A rt . 24. Immunity of national flag and obligation of neutrality.
A r t . 25. Apprehension o f mutineers and deserters, and punishment of crim i­
rt .

nals.
A r t . 26. Exclusive jurisdiction of United States authorities over rights and

intercourse of its citizens.
A rt . 27. Mutual appeals to public officers with complaints.
A rt . 28. Recognition and absolute toleration of Christianity, and protection
of Chinese converts.
A rt . 29. Comprehensive provision that all rights, privileges, and powers gran­
ted to any nation, its merchants, or subjects, whether political, mercantile, or
otherwise, and not conferred by this treaty on the United States, shall at once
enure to the benefit of the United States, its public functionaries, merchants, or
citizens.
Treaty to be ratified within a year by the United States, and by the emperor
forthwith.
The claims for pecuniary indemnity, either for English, American, or French
losses neither admitted nor denied, but referred to Canton.
Permanent legation of the United States Minister, after settlement of pend­
ing question at Canton, understood to be hereafter at Shanghae.




494

N autical Intelligence.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
PORT OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

The Marine Surveyor of the port of Liverpool, England, has given notice, by
order of the Mersey Docks and Harbor Board, that the following changes in
the lighting and buoying of the approaches to the port will be carried into
effect on the 18th August next, and following days, (weather permitting.) All
bearings by compass.
B ELATIVE CHANGE.

BEAKINGS, ETC., FROM N EW POSITION.

Formby light-ship will be moved 350 Crosby light-ship, S. E. f S., 2 } m iles; N'
W. mark, E. by N. f N., 3 f miles; buoy
fathoms S. E. by E. f E. from her pres­
ent position, into 25 feet at low water.
Q. Fy., (bell beacon,) N. W. by W. f
W., 2 f miles; V. 3 red, W . S. W., f
mile nearly ; C. 1 red, S. by E. § E., f
mile.
Q. Fy. to be moved 350 fathoms N. W. by Formby light-ship and Crosby lighthouse
W. f W., into 37 feet at low water, to
in one, S. E. by E. f E., distant from
be a black pillar buoy, bearing a bell,
Formby light-ship 2$ miles; N. W. light­
with perch and ball on its summit,
ship, S. W., 4 1 mites.
marked Q. Fy., with the course up the
channel S. E. by E. J E.
Q. 1 black and white chequered to be Formby light-ship, S. E. f E., I f mile; Q.
Fy., (bell beacon,) W . by NT. f N., 1
moved 85 fathoms N. E., into 12 feet at
low water.
m ile; Q. 1 red and white chequered, S.
S. W. f VV., f mile nearly.
Q. 1 red and white chequered to be moved Formby light-ship, E. by S. f S., I f m ile;
75 fathoms W. by S., into 12 feet at low
Q. Fy., (bell beacon,) N. W. \ W., 1
water.
mile.
C. 1 red to be moved 250 fathoms S. S. E. Formby light-ship, N. by W .£ W .,£ mile ;
S. V . 1 red and white striped can buoy,
i E., into 14 feet at low water.
W. by N., f m ile; Crosby lighthouse, E.
by S. £ S., 3f- miles.
C. 2 black to be moved 150 fathoms N. £ Crosby light ship, S. E. by S., I f m ile; C.
E., into 23 feet at low water.
1 red, W est,f mile; Formby light-ship,
N. W. i W., I f mile.
0. 3 black to be moved 90 fathoms If. E. Crosby light-ship, S. E. by S. f S., £ m ile;
C. 2 red, W. f S., f mile nearly; C. 2
i N., into 29 feet at low water.
black, N. W. £ N., £ mile nearly.
F. 2 black to be moved 7 5 fathoms East, Crosby light-house, S. E. £ S., 2 f mile ; If.
W. mark, N. E. \ N., I f m ile; F. 3 red,
into 7 feet at low water.
S. W. i W , f mile.

The old bell beacon to be superseded in its present situation by a black nun
perch buoy, market V . Fy. The buoy R. 1, black can, to be superseded by the
old bell beacon, to be marked “ R. 1, Spencer’s Spit.”
By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THOENTON A. JEN K IN S, Secretary.
W

a s h in g t o n ,

August 11,1858.

FIXED LIGHT AT THE GRAU D’AIGUES MORTES—MEDITERRANEAN, FRANCE.

The Imperial Ministry for Public Works in France has given notice, that on
and after the loth day of July, 1858, a harbor light will be exhibited from the
northwest mole head o f the Grau d’Aigues Mortes, in the Department of the
Bouches du Rhone, Gulf of Lion. The light will be a fixed red light, visible 3
miles, and it is placed at 295 yards to the southwest of the present lighthouse,
or Phare d’Aigues Mortes. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THOENTON A. JEN KIN S, Secretory.
W a s h in g t o n ,

A u gust 4, 1858.




N autical Intelligence.

495

FIXED LIGHT ON BILLINGSGATE ISLAND-CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS.
NORTH SIDE OF ENTRANCE OF WELLFLEET HARBOR.

‘

Notice is hereby given that Billingsgate Island lighthouse, situated on the
north side of the entrance of Wellfleet Harbor, Massachusetts, has been rebuilt,
and will be lighted for the first time at sunset on Wednesday, the first day of Sep­
tember next, and will be kept burning during that night, and every night there­
after, from sunset to sunrise. The lighthouse is situated on the east side of the
island, and the ranges are the same as those published on the Coast Survey chart
of 1853, of Wellfleet Harbor, with the old lighthouse. The tower is built of
brick, square, and is of the natural color of the brick. The lantern is painted
black. The dwelling-house, which is joined tathe tower, is built of brick, and
is brick color. The tower is 30 feet high, and the focal plane is 40 feet above
the level of the sea. The illuminating apparatus is a catadioptric lens of the
4th order of the system of Fresnel, showing a fixed light of the natural color,
which should be seen in ordinary states of the atmosphere 12 nautical miles.
The position of the lighthouse, as given by the Coast Survey, is latitude 41°
52' 22" N., longitude 70° 03' 55" W. The stake light now shown on the island
will be discontinued from 1st September next. By order of the Lighthouse
Board,
W . B. FR A N K L IN , Engineer, Secretary.
W ashington, August 11, 1858.

LIGHTS AT ST, HELIER—ENGLISH CHANNEL, JERSEY,

The harbormaster at St. Helier, Jersey, has given notice that the following
lights are exhibited all night for the guidance of vessels bound into the barbor
of that place :—
A fixed white light from the lighthouse on Victoria, or New South Pier Head,
placed at an elevation of 31 feet above the level of the sea at high water, and
should be visible in ordinary weather from a distance of about 6 miles.
A fixed red light from a lantern post on Albert Pier Head, elevated 15 feet
above high water, and visible in ordinary weather from a distance of about 3
miles.
A fixed blue light on the parapet of the Old North Pier, at 477 yards to the
N. E. by E. of the Albert Pier light, and it should be seen about 3 miles dis­
tant in ordinary weather.
A fixed red light from a lantern post on the Upper Pier Boad, 680 yards to
the E. N. E. of the Victoria Pier light, at an elevation of 46 feet above high
water, and also visible 3 miles in ordinary weather.
Vessels approaching the harbor, by keeping the Albert Pier red and Old North
Pier blue lights in line, will pass a little to the eastward of the Grune St. Michel,
and to the eastward of, but rather too close to, Les Huitriers, or Oyster Bocks.
The best approach from the westward will be the passage between the Oyster
Bocks and the Bues, with the Victoria or New South Pier light in line with the
Upper Pier Boad red light, although this leads too close to the Grune au Dart
and the Grande Vaudin. The bearings are magnectic. Variation 21f° west in
1858. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THORNTON A . JENKINS, Secretary.
W a s h in g t o n ’ ,

August 4,1858.

K0KSCHEHEREN LIGHTHOUSE, RUSSIA.

The Hydrographical Department of the Ministry of Marine of His Imperial
Majesty of Bussia, has given notice, that to render the lighthouse tower of
Kokscheheren a better day-mark, the base of that tower, constructed of stone,
would, on and after the 6th of July ultimo, be painted red. By order of the
Lighthouse Board,
THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.
■Wa s h i n g t o n ,

A ugust 25, 1858.




496

N autical Intelligence.
LIGHT AT PORT ZEBU, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

The Spanish Government has given notice, that a harbor light has been estab­
lished at Point Dapdap (?) at the northeast entrance of Port Zebu, on the eastern
coast of Zebu, one of the Pilipinas or Philippine Islands, in the China Sea. The
light is a fixed white light, placed at an elevation of 50 English feet above the
level of the sea, and should be visible in clear weather at a distance of 4 miles.
Its position is in about latitude 10° 21p N., longitude 124° 3' east of Green­
wich by the Admiralty Charts, or in longitude 123° 49' east, according to the
Spanish official notice.
L ight at P ort B omblon. Also, that a fixed white light is exhibited from a
lighthouse erected on Point Sabang, at the northern extremity of the entrance to
Port Bomblon, on the northeast coast of Bomblon Island. Filipinas. The lighttower is of stone, and stands in about latitude 12° 36f' N., longitude 122° 18'
east of Greenwich. The extremities of the reefs within the port of Bomblon
are marked by four beacons, from which lantern lights are shown by night.
T rincomalee — I ndian O cean— C aution .—The usual notice of the fixed light
at the flag-staff on the north side of the entrance of Trincomalee Harbor, on the
northeast coast of Ceylon, says it is visible from N. 15° W. round easterly to
S. 55® E. These bearings, if followed, would lead into danger. The mariner,
therefore, is cautioned, when approaching from the northward, not to steer for
the lights on a bearing to the eastward of S. I E., and when closing from the
southward not to bring the lights to the northward of N. W . by W . £ W .
magnetic. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THORNTON A . JENKINS, Secretary.
■Washington, August 4, 1858.

FIXED LIGHT OFF LOBOS ISLAND-SOUTH ATLANTIC, RIO DE LA PLATA,

The Captain of the Port at Monte Yideo has given notice, that after the 5th
of April, 1858, a light would be exhibited from a lighthouse on Lobos Island,
off Maldonado, on the north side of the entrance to the Biver Plata. The light
is a fixed white and red light, (?) placed at an elevation of 84 English feet above
the level of the sea, and should be visible in clear weather from a distance of
about 14 miles. The lighthouse stands on the northwestern extremity of the
island, in about latitude 35° l p S., longitude 54° 52J' west of Greenwich.
L ight -vessel off the E nglish B ank .— Also, that a light-vessel has been
moored off the north spit of the English Bank, in the entrance of the Itiver
Plata. The light is a fixed white light, visible in clear weather from a distance
of 11 miles. The vessel lies in 7 fathoms water, with the Monte Yideo N. W .
by W . W., Flores Island N. by W. f W., and the Sugar Loaf N. E. i E. ;
her position being in about latitude 35° 6' S., longitude 55° 54' west of Green­
wich. All bearings are magnetic. Variation 9i° east in 1858. By order of
the Lighthouse Board,
W ashington, August 4,1858.

THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.

REVOLVING LIGHT ON CAPE BORDA—AUSTRALIA, SOUTH COAST,

The Master and Wardens of the Trinity House of Adelaide have given notice,
that on or about the 1st of May, 1858, a light would be exhibited from the light­
house recently erected on Cape Borda, the northwest point of Kangaroo Island,
off the entrance to St. Yincent Gulf, South Australia. The light is a revolving
light, showing alternately red and white, with intervals of half a minute between
each exhibition. It is placed at an elevation of about 510 feet above the sea at
high water, and should be visible in clear weather from the deck of a vessel at
a distance of 30 miles. The lighthouse stands in about latitude 35° 45p S .;
and longitude 136° 34 J' east of Greenwich. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.
W a s h in g t o n ,

A ugust 4, 1858.




N autical Intelligence.

497

LIGHTS AT THE DELTA OF THE MISISSIPPI RIVER, LOUISIANA,

The light at the Northeast Pass of the Mississippi Riven; Louisiana, having
been discontinued in conformity to law, the lights at the Delta of the Mississippi
will be known and distinguished as follows, viz. :—
S outhwest P ass L ight . The Southwest Pass light is a fixed light, of the
natural color, third order catadioptric apparatus of the system of Fresnel,
illuminating 270° of the horizon, from northeast around by south to northwest,
exhibited from a white tower, 70 feet above the mean level of the sea, situated
on the west side of, and near the entrance to, the pass.
S outh P ass L ight . The South Pass light is a revolving light, o f the natural
color, third order catadioptric apparatus of the system of Fresnel, showing a
brilliant flash once in every one minute and a half, exhibited from a slate-colored
wooden tower, rising from the center of the keeper’s dwelling, 60 feet above the
mean level of the sea, situated on the S. W . side of Gordon’s Island, and near
the entrance of the South Pass.
P ass a L outee. Pass a Loutre light, placed on Middle Ground Island, north
side of the entrance to the Pass a Loutre, will be changed on and after the 1st
of January, 1859, to a fixed light, of the natural color, third order catadioptric
apparatus of the system of Fresnel, illuminating 270° of the horizon, exhibited
from a tower, painted black, at an elevation of 77 feet above the mean level of
the sea. The present distinction of the light at Pass a Loutre (fixed light varied
by flashes) will be continued until the 1st January, 1859.
N ortheast P ass D a y B eacon . The lighthouse tower on Frank’s Island at
the Northeast Pass, 70 feet high, painted white, will be left standing to serve as
a day-mark to guide mariners. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
E. SEMMES, Inspector, Eighth Lighthouse District.
M obile,A l a b a m a ,August

28,1858.

FIXED LIGHT, VARIED BY FLASHES, AT SANDY POINT, CHESAPEAKE BAY.

A fixed light, varied by flashes, of the natural color, will be exhibited for the
first time on the night of October 1st, 1858, and on every night thereafter, from
sunset to sunrise, from the lighthouse recently erected on Sandy Point, west
side of Chesapeake Bay, between Greenbury Point lighthouse (entrance to
Annapolis Harbor) and the mouth of the Magothy River. The light will be of
the 4th order catadioptric of the system of Fresnel, and will appear to the
mariner fixed, within the limit of range of the fixed part, varied by a brilliant
flash once in every one-and a-half minute. Without or beyond the limit of
visibility of the fixed part, the flashes only will be seen. The structure is a brick
house, with a lantern on top, in the center, painted red. The height of the light
from the base of the house is 35 feet, and the height above the mean level of the
bay is 50 feet. The light should be visible to an observer, on the deck of a
coasting vessel, at the distance of about 12 miles in good weather. By order of
the Lighthouse Board,
L. SITG EEAVES, Capt. Corps Top. Engineers.,
B a ltim o r e , August 11, 1858.

REVOLVING LIGIIT ON CAV0LI ISLET— MEDITERRANEAN, SARDINIA.

Official information has been received at this office that the Sardinian Govern­
ment has given notice, that on and after the 18th of July, 1858, a light would
be exhibited from the lighthouse recently erected on Cavoli Islet, off Cape
Carbonara, the eastern point of the Gulf of Cagliari, south coast of Sardinia.
The light will be a revolving light, eclipsed every half minute, placed at an eleva­
tion of 242 English feet above the level of the sea, and should be visible in clear
weather from the deck of a vessel at a distance of about 25 miles. The illumina­
ting apparatus is dioptric, or by lenses of the first order of Fresnel. The light­
house stands in latitude 39° 5' 18" N., longitude 9° 32' 35" east of Greenwich.
Its form, height, and color are not stated. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THOKNTON A . JEN K IN S, Secretary.

■Washin gton , August 4,1858.

VOL. X X X IX .---- NO. IV .




32

498

Journ al o f Insurance.

JOURNAL OF INSURANCE.
L I F E A S S U R A N CE,

Life assurance has now become a fixed fact; a resource which common pru­
dence and foresight impel every one, with a due sense of his responsibility to
those dependent on him for their subsistence, to avail himself of, to secure them
from want in the event of his being cut off by death before he has had time or
opportunity to make adequate provision for them. The exertions of pkilanthropical
and statistical writers have not been unavailing in directing public attention to
this subject, and the effects have become apparent in the large increase of policies
of assurance opened and continued to be subscribed to. But precisely in the
proportion that the practice of life assurance becomes general, is it necessary to
guard against frauds or extortion on the part of those with whom it is effected.
It is a hard case, indeed, after a man has applied the amount of his savings for
years in an annual contribution to a company, that they, for whom the sacrifice
is made, should be deprived of the legitimate fruits of it. Such things, however,
have occurred ; the eagerness of competition between a large number of com­
panies has led to premiums below the rate which the statistics of longevity show
to be necessary to make such companies profitable. When losses occur, as they
must in the order of things do, they are left without the means of fulfilling their
obligations. It is thus the interest of the assured that premiums lower than
those which the chances of tenure of life justify, should not be paid, since their
being so leads to bankruptcy of the company.
On the other hand, it is manifestly in an equal degree the interest of the assured
that he should not be overcharged. This of late years has been effectually
guarded against by making the assured the partner with the assurer, in the profit
on the rate charged. The mutual principle is in that respect a good one, but it
is attended with this drawback, that it makes the assured participate in the losses
the company are liable to, through mismanagement or miscalculation of chances
by the governing body. This objection, too, has been obviated by making the
assured participants at stated intervals in the profits, without involving him in
the risk. This principle is now generally admitted in the best-regulated com­
panies, and has caused them to obtain the decided preference over other companies
that have not adopted it.
LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
SYNOPSIS OF T H E A N N U A L ACCOU N TS O F L I F E IN S U R A N C E C O M P A N IE S D O IN G B U S IN E S S IN T H E

1857.
/— Policies issued. — v
"When
Amount.
organized. No.
1843
1,863
$5,852,087
1843
532
1,719,900
1845
711
2,675,102
1845
522
1,969,650
1846
531
1,310,870
582
980,750
1847
1850
750
2,345,000
1850
1,004
2,537,900
168
365,448
1853
337
722,150
....

STATE OF N E W Y O R K F O R TH E Y E A R

Companies.
Mutual Life, of JNew Y ork ...
N. England Mutual, Boston. .
New York Life .....................
Mutual Benefit, Newark, N. J.
Connecticut Mutual, Hartford
American Mutual, New Haven
Manhattan, New Y ork...........
United States, New York . . .
Knickerbocker, New Y o r k .. .
Mass. Mutual, Springfield . . .




r— At

risk, end of year. —»
No. of
policies.
Amount.
10,390
$30,481,302
2,831
8,884,190
3,836
12,778,938
5,321
17,423,177
8,529
20.197,164
3,100
4,050,000
2,478
7,862.928
2,440
4,964,824
1,219,811
500
1,083
2,161,680

499

Journ al o f Insurance.

Premiums
and
interest
in cash.

Mutual Life, o f New York . . $1,166,733
N. England Mutual, Boston..
201,154
New York Life.......................
358,572
Mutual Benefit, Newark, N. J.
634,092
Connecticut Mutual, Hartford
899,580
American Mutual, New Haven
73,347
Manhattan, New Y ork ...........
202,553
United States, New York . . .
184,900
Knickerbocker, New Y ork__
49,815
Mass. Mutual, Springfield . . .
43,771

Receipts.—
Premium
notes and
other
receipts
not cash.

Total
income.

$1,166,733 $317,043
299,346
94,350
474,191 153,788
695,018 198,115
637,455 217,225
80.392
47,975
317,106
57,863
184,900
68,794
4,009
53,824
3,000
56,635
12,864
5,500

$98,192
115,619
60,926
237,875
7,045
114,553

/— Disbursements.— *
Expenses,
Total
including disburse- rCash.
commissions. rnents.

Mutual Life, o f New York . . $110,085 $466,635 *4,685,909
N. England Mutual, Boston. .
960,747
24,557 118,907
New York L ife.......................
62,534 262,770
864,820
Mutual Benefit, Newark, N. J.
58,301 436,204 1,730,648
Connecticut Mutual, Hartford
44,978 448,435 1,592,063
American Mutual, New Haven
21,564
69,772
168,781
Manhattan, New Y ork ...........
41,355 126,077 **287,535
United States, New York . . .
29,778 105,741 **341,611
Knickerbocker, New Y o r k ...
14,780
24,170 **155,597
Mass. Mutual, Springfield . . .
10,502
23,002 **146,249
Per cent

Mutual Life, of New York . .
N. England Mutual, Boston. .
New York L ife.......................
Mutual Benefit, Newark, N. ,T.
Connecticut Mutual, Hartford
American Mutual, New Haven
Manhattan, New Y ork...........
United States, New Y o r k .. .
Knickerbocker, New York . .
Mass. Mutual, Springfield....

,----- Disbursements.----- *
Paid
Surrenclaims by dered poldeath.
icies, &c.

$39,507
f 46,448
^179,788
186,232
243
§26,859
117,169
6,390
17,000

- Assets. —
Not cash.

Total.

$199,406
538,146
1,012,678
1,053,776
24,603
318,974
ff78,873
32,713
47,572

*4,685,909
1,160,153
1,402.966
2,743,326
2,645,839
193,384
**606,509
**4 20,484
**188,310
**193,821

Per cent

Per cent

Per cent
Per cent
cash assets other assets tofal assets
o f expenses of claims on amount on amount on amount
on income, on income.
at risk.
at risk.
at risk.
27 . 2
09.5
15.4
15.4

08.2
13.2
08.4
07.1
26.8
13.0
16.1
27.6
18.5

31.5
32 4
28.5
34.1
59.7
18.2
31.8
05.6
09.7

10.8
06.8
09.9
07.9
04.2
03.7
06.9
12.8
06.8

02.2
04.2
05.8
05.2
00.6
04 0
01.6
02.6
02.1

13.0
11.0
15.7
13.1
04.8
07.7
08.5
15.4
08.9

Of the last five columns, the first two represent respectively the amount paid
for expenses of management and for claims by death for each $100 of income,
while the last three columns represent the assets, (cash, credit, and total, respect­
ively,) for each $100 of amount at risk.
MASSACHUSETTS INSURANCE,

The Commissioners of Massachusetts report :—
The amounts of these losses paid for the last two years, (the only years in
which they can be ascertained from official sources,) are for the years ending
October 31st, 1856, and October 31st, 1857, as follows :—*§
* Includes “ deferred premium account and interest accrued,” as returned by the other com ­
panies.
+ Including $22,332 interest on dividends paid during the year.
X Including dividends paid.
§ Including $16,000 interest on capital stock,
fi Including interest on capital stock.
^ Interest on capital stock.
** Including $100,000 capital stock.
t t Including $37,919 of “ premium notes on which policies are issued and in force.”




500

J ourn al o f Insurance.

For the year ending October 31, 1856—
$1,401,964 58
4,209,864 08

Fire losses...
Marine losses

Total...................................................................
For the year ending October 31,1857—

$5,611,828 66

Fire losses................................................................................
Marine losses..........................................................................
Total.............................................................................

$978,88170
5,202,62889
$6,181,510 59

The Commissioners again report stock companies as being in a prosperous
condition, the Hope Insurance Company, of Boston, which has been compelled,
by large marine losses, to suspend lurther operations for the present, being the
only exception. No change in laws relating to, or in the management of, this
class of corporations is asked for. The suggestion made in the last annual re­
port, that a stock company, with a large capital, organized for the express pur­
pose of insuring “ extra hazardous” property, would be a great convenience, is
renewed. There is a large and constantly increasing class of property, con­
sidered extra hazardous, such as steam saw and planing mills, carpenters’ and
cabinet-makers’ shops, and the like, which it is exceedingly difficult now to insure,
except in second-class mutual or in foreign companies ; the owners of this class
of property are usually willing to pay fair and even liberal rates for insurance,
but the liability to enormous assessments in such mutual companies as will write
for them, and the uncertainty of recovery in case of loss from foreign companies,
operates in many cases as an effectual bar to any insurance.
There are fourteen mutual marine and mutual fire and marine insurance com­
panies reported this year. The amounts,at risk in these companies, November
1st, 1857, were—
Fire risk s................................................................................
Marine risks...........................................................................

$9,600,614
53,452,163
--------------- $63,052,777

Losses during the year—
Fire losses....................................................................................................
Marine lo sses..............................................................................................

$7,335 32
2,051,815 47

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

$2,059,150 79

The Commissioners report mutual fire insurance companies as changing for
the better. A larger cash premium is now required than formerly, a greater
degree of care is exercised in issuing policies, and there is less litigation in cases
of loss. Attention is called to the provision of the statute that every member
of a mutual company shall, at the expiration of his policy, have a share in the
profits of the company during the time his policy was in force, in proportion to
the sums paid by him on said policy.
Under this provision, the question arises—has any company a right to lay aside
for the accumulation of a fund any part of its earnings ? It is very clear that
the fund, if collected, must be collected or reserved from the profits of the com­
pany, and if so, it is clearly an infraction of the provision of the law which en­
titles each individual member to his proportion of such profits. Yet the returns
show that a large proportion of the mutual companies in the State have already
accumulated funds thus reserved ; and it is doubtless true that this fact of itself
gives popularity and strength to such companies. But another question presents
itself. The charters of nearly all mutual companies expire in twenty or twentyeight years after date of issue. In case of accumulation of a fund, to whom
does that fund belong at the expiration of the charter ? The experience of the
last year has still more strongly confirmed the opinion expressed in both the first
and second annual reports of the Board, that a passage of a law prescribing a
uniform policy for all mutual fire insurance companies, would be a measure o




501

P ostal D epartm ent.

great, if not. indeed of universal, utility. There can be no doubt that a very
large proportion of the vexatious lawsuits, which cause so much difficulty in
these companies, arise from the ambiguous and complex by-laws which are by
the companies made a part of their policies. The whole contract between the
insurers and the insured should be contained in the face of the policy, and should
be clearly and unequivocally set forth, and easily understood.

POSTAL DEPARTMENT.
UNITED STATES POST-OFFICE APPROPRIATION.

The appropriations for the service of the year 1859 have been as follows:—
APPROPRIATION FOR MAIL B

From New York to Liverpool
From New York to New Or­
leans, Havana, <fcc...............
From Panama to California,
and back...............................
For mails between California
and Washington.................

$346,500
261,000

OCEAN STE A M E R S FO R

1859.

For mails on Puget Sound . .
From New York to Havre . .
From Charleston to Havana..
Across the Isthmus.................

$22,500
230,000
50,000
100,000

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

$1,460,750

328,350
122,500

A P P R O P R I A T IO N F O R T H E P O S T -O F F IC E .

For transportation of m ails.. $10,140,520
Compensation of postmasters 2,325,000
Ship and way letters.............
20,000
Wrapping paper.....................
55,000
Post-office furniture...............
5,000
Advertising.............................
85,000
Mail bags.................................
65,000
Total....................................................

Blanks and paper
Locks and keys...
Special agents . . ,
tlerks .................
Postage stamps..
Miscellaneous.

$125,000
15.000
70.000
850.000
100.000
180,000
$14,035,620

This $14,035,520 is to be paid out of the receipts of the Post-office. If
those receipts do not suffice, then $3,500,000 i3 to be paid out of the general
treasury. This, with the amount paid for ocean steam mail above, makes
$4,960,750. In addition to this $700,000 is appropriated for the mail service of
the two Houses of Congress, making $5,660,750 expenses of a system which it is
admitted should be self-supporting.
SANDWICH ISLANDS POST-OFFICE.

From the report of the postmaster it appears that, although the number of
foreign letters which have passed through the Post-office, during the past two
years, is smaller than those passed in the year 1855, still the amount of postage
collected during the two years exceeds the amount collected in 1855. This is
accounted for by the sea postage having been collected in addition to the Hawaiian
postage, and also by the increase in the number of pamphlets and newspapers
received.
The minister in his report says :—“ I beg to call your attention to the post­
master’s suggestion, that a small rate of postage be imposed on inter-islaud letters,
and that he be authorized by the law to issue inter-island postage stamps, to
carry the plan into effect. Although it is now a fixed principle of every civilized
community to reduce its postage to the lowest possible figure, in order to
facilitate the inter-communication of thought and the transactions of business,




502

P osta l D epartm ent.

yet I know of no country but our own where postage of some kind is not levied
to assist at least in defraying the expenses of that department.
“ In the new code a clause has been introduced prescribing a definite time and
mode of disposing of dead letters, which I hope you will approve of.”
ENGLISH D E A D - L E T T E R

OFFICE.

The following report from the English Dead-letter Office is interesting :—
The total number of letters sent to the Returned Letter Office in 1857, (as
dead letters,) amounted in England to 2,024,057 ; in Scotland to 183,132 ; and
in Ireland to 199,651. Of these there were returned to the writers 1,460,792 in
England, 145,512 in Scotland, and 123,904 in Ireland. In England 102,234
letters were re-issued to corrected addresses, 196,779 were returned unopened to
foreign countries and the colonies, and 264,251 were destroyed ; 12,239 letters
were destroyed in Scotland, 66,351 in Ireland. The number of dead letters con­
taining money and valuables, was (for the United Kingdom) 30.669, and the
amount of property was £419.939. Almost all this property was, however,
ultimately returned to the writers of the letters ; 3,320 letters in England, to the
amount of £16,202, with the exception of 141 refused letters, containing dupli­
cate bills of exchange for £7,936 3s. Id., which have been destroyed as of no
value, are still in the Returned Letter Branch awaiting application, (there being
no means of discovering the writers,) where they will remain for two clear years,
when the letters will be destroyed, with the bills and other securities, which may
have become valueless through lapse of time.
The jewelry and other articles of permanent value will be sold by auction,
and the sum realized, as well as the cash and bank notes found in such letters,
will be carried to the account of the Life Insurance Fund. There are 793 let­
ters, containing cash and bank notes to the value of £250 4s. 6d., but many of
them will probably yet be applied for and delivered. The sum of £527 6s. 5d.
was carried to the account of the Life Insurance Fund during the year, as the
proceeds of lost property ; but this sum does not represent the amount properly
appertaining to the year, for, owing to an alteration in the arrangements for the
disposal of returned letters, the proceeds of two years’ letters were carried to
account in 1857.
EXTENSION OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE.

It is stated that the French Government have granted to the Atlantic Telegraph
Company the exclusive right for fifty years to land telegraph cables on the
Islands of Miquelon, which lie between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, in a direc­
tion about thirty miles southwest from the latter, and about two hundred miles
distant from Sydney, N. S. Having secured the right, the company propose to
run a cable from Placentia Bay, N. F., to St. Pierre, the chief fish depot of the
islands, and thence to a point near Sydney, Cape Breton, N. S. By this means
the two French islands will be thrown into telegraphic communication with
Europe, while the company will get rid of the necessity of keeping in repair
some four or five hundred miles of land line running across Newfoundland and
Cape Breton, through regions where there are no inhabitants, excepting a few
scattered Indians, and no roads other'than those which have been constructed by
the telegraph company at its own expense. In according this liberal grant, the
French Government doubtless had in view the advantages it must confer upon
its immense fishing interest, which centers at St. Pierre, and which will thus be
brought into daily and almost instantaneous communication with France.




R ailroad, Canal, and Steam boat Statistics.

503

CHI LI AN POS T - OF FI CE.

The number of letters posted in 1857 in ail the Chili Post-offices amounted to
613,772 ; that of certified letters to 410 ; that of fined letters to 126,297 ; that
of samples to 6,509 ; that of newspapers 168,060 ; and newspapers fined, 2,445 ;
total, 1,314 908, and their value $79,565. The number of letters posted for
foreign countries in 1857 was 792,601.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMR0AT STATISTICS.
ENGLISH RAILWAYS,

The editor of the Railroad Journal writes from London as follows :—
The distinguishing feature of English railways, compared with American, is
the more costly character of their structures, and the finish given to these, as well
as to the roads and everything pertaining to them. Give an English engineer
his way, and he will use indestructible materials, and put them together in a man­
ner that will defy the action of the elements and of time. The best station
houses, consequently, are constructed of stone, iron, and glass. The bridges are
almost universally of stone or iron. The cuts and embankments are reduced to
an uniform slope, and turfed.* Instead of fences, the leading lines are enclosed
by hedges, thrifty and well triihmed. On my trip from Liverpool to London, on
the first day of June, these were in full bloom. This line runs through one of
the best and most highly cultivated portions of England, and the trip presented
a striking contrast to that on most American railways, which generally seek the
most uncultivated and poorest portions of the district they traverse, while on either
side of them little is seen, save naked banks of earth covered often with charred
remains of trunks and stumps of trees, and a poor apology for a fence in the
shape of posts connected by a few frail pieces of boards.
This manifest superiority of English railways is very agreeable to the eye, and
in fact to the comfort of traveling; but it has been obtained (though not
necessarily) at a cost which compels a high rate of charges for transportation,
and has rendered, and must continue to render, the investments in them unproduc­
tive. According to the report of Captain Galton to the Committee of the Privy
Council of the Board of Trade, for 1856, the total cost of the railways in Eng­
land and Wales was £244,300,855. The total mileage was 6,153 miles; showing
an average cost of £39.705, or nearly $200,000, per mile. This sum exceeds
five times the average cost of American railways. The total earnings of the
above mileage was £19,314,999, which is at the rate of £3,191, or $15,955, per
mile ; or about 7f per cent gross on its cost. The net earnings equal very nearly
4 per cent. The total cost of operating the roads in 1857 was £9,369,234—
leaving £9,945,755 as net earnings. Of this sum. £5,371,498 went for interest
and dividends on preferred shares, leaving £4,574,257 as net earnings for dividends
on £125,554,694 ordinary shares. Such is the pecuniary results for one of the
most favorable years English railways have known ; that of the present year be­
ing much less so, from causes operating upon English, in common with American
roads.
As an investment, therefore, English railroads have proved failures under con­
ditions most favorable to success. England has a population of 360 to the square
mile, one-half of which is engaged in manufactures and commerce. The number
of passengers exceeds five times her entire population. The average rate of
charges, for the accomodations, is high. The country is not unfavorable to the
construction of roads. Labor and material are cheap—cheaper than in the Uni­
ted States. How is it, then, that English railways have been so expensive, when
they could be so cheaply constructed, and are so unremunerative in the face of
enormous receipts ? The explanation appears to me to be a simple one, and all




504

R ailroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

the more important to be stated, for the reason that the excessive cost of roads
both in England and America is often due to the same cause.
The parties who plan aud execute, and superintend the railways of this country
neither furnish the means for their construction, nor are they interested in their
results. Whether they cost much or little, or prove productive or unproductive,
is all the same to them. There is, consequently, no necessary relationship be­
tween the sum to be expended on a railway and the income it will produce. We
readily see how such relationship is preserved in the mind of the manufacturer in
the construction of an iron or a cotton mill, that success is a necessary sequence
of his premises. We can also see that if a manufacturing establishment should
be got up and conducted as are railways, it would inevitably break down. The
English engineer, who constructs a railway, ignores all such considerations. He
simply carries out the idea of what a work should be. The more expensive and
elaborate it is, the greater often will be the credit gained. The Britannia and
Victoria Bridges will, very likely, immortalize their projectors, although every
cent invested in them may be lost; the same may be said, to a certain extent, of
the magnificent structures that are found upon almost every line of road in Eng­
land. They are grand affairs, and are a great convenience to the public, pur­
chased, however, at the cost of high charges for traveling, and loss of income to
stockholders.
RAILROAD ACCI DENTS.

We draw some interesting facts from the British Board of Trade Beport, on
railway casualties for 1857, by Captain Galton. The French Minister of Pub­
lic Works has also, through a commission appointed for that purpose in 1854,
made an elaborate report, detailing with great minuteness the railroad disasters
in France.
It appears from Captain Galton’s report, that during the year 1857, 25 per­
sons were killed and 631 wounded on British railways, “ by causes beyond their
own control.” Of the 25 deaths, but one occurred in Scotland and none in Ire­
land. Taking into account the number of persons carried, this gives one fatal
accident to every 5,200,000 passengers carried. This, though a large number,
is yet neither as great as that of 1851 nor 1853.
Subjoined is the result of a series of comparison of railroad disasters in various
countries during several years :—
Passengers carried.

Prussia, one killed or wounded to every..........................................................
Belgium, ODe killed or wounded to every........................................................
France, one killed or wounded to every...........................................................
England, one killed or wounded to every............... ......................................
United States, one killed or wounded to every..............................................

3,294,075
1,611,237
376,092
311,345
188,459

These figures can no wise be considered absolute ; being the result of too con­
tracted a system of comparisons.
From the commencement of the railroad system in France, in 1835, up to 1855
— a period of twenty years—513 accidents happened, of which 274 were from
running off the track, and 239 from collisions. In these accidents 111 persons
were killed, giving one person killed for every 1,703,123 passengers carried. To
this must be added 393 wounded ; and, taking killed and wounded into account,
it presents one killed or wounded for every 375,092 passengers carried. This
does not include agents, or persons who suffered from causes within their own
control, as suicides, &c. Of these 513 accidents, 252 were the fault of the em­
ployees, their carelessness or violation of the rules bringing on collisions, and 261
from defects in the state of the road, locomotive, &c.




505

R ailroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

There is one aspect of railroad accidents that is very surprising, and which
should be stated as a per contra. When we take into account the immense num­
ber of persons who travel by railroad, it turns out that, when we come to balance
the accidents on railways, with those happening to an equal number of persons
by the old methods of transport, the advantage is entirely on the side of rail­
roads. Thus, in the French post system, there occured in the period from 1846
to 1856, accidents causing 20 deaths and 238 wounded for 7,109,276 passengers
carried, giving oue to every 355,463— that is, nearly seven times as many deaths
as occur in an equal number by railroad, even according to the reckless Ameri­
can system. According to Dr. Lardner’s computations, 366,036,923 passengers
must travel one mile to cause the death of one railroad employee. The chances
of a person’s meeting bodily injury in traveling one mile of railroad, are 8,512,486
to one. And the chances of one’s meeting with a fatal accident in traveling one
mile of railroad, are more than sixty-live million to one ! What a consolation
for a cracked cranium or a fractured femur !
COST AIVD MANAGEMENT OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN RAILROADS.

A comparison of the reports, and an examination into the details, of the man­
agement of railways in this country and in Europe, disclose the following com­
parisons :—
Annual expense o f American railways.....................................................
“
“
English railways, same mileage...............................

$120,000,000
80,000,000

Annual difference..................................................................................

$40,000,000

Average annual expense for maintenance of way of American lin es..
“
“
of English lines, same m ileage.....................

$33,000,000
12,500,000

Annual difference..................................................................................

$20,500,000

Average annual cost of fuel for American lin e s ....................................
“
“
“
English lines, same mileage.................

$18,000,000
7,500,000

Annual difference.................................................................................

$10,500,000

Total annual expenses of American railw ays........................................
“
“
English
“
........................................

$171,000,000
100,000,000

Total annual difference.........................................................................

$71,000,000

In regard to the net results and financial profits of administration, the contrast
between the two systems is remarkable :—
England, (1 8 5 6 ).............................
France, (1855).................................................
New York, (1 8 5 5 )......................... .............
Massachusetts. (1855)...................
“
(1856)....................

Percentage
Receipts per Expenses per of expenses
mile run.
on receipts.
mile run.
44
$0 63£
2 03
43
o 87 i
1 00
57
176
62
1 05
59
1 08

The expenses for “ maintenance of way, engines, and working,” are thus
stated :—
New York railroads...........................................................
Western
“
...........................................................
English railways, (1856).....................................................
French
“
(1855).....................................................




Per cent of Per cent of
total expenses, gross receipts.
70£
40.1
80
43.8
57
25.3
48
20.7

506

R ailroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Some of the expenses of American railways are necessarily higher than those
of the English. We must pay more for fuel; still more disproportionately for
labor and service, the wages of day laborei-s here being at least double that in
England. The price of land, however, is greater there. The road-beds in the
Northern States are annually upheaved by frost, and the snows of winter,
alternating with the extreme heats of summer, affect the wooden substructures.
Our extraordinary freshets in the spring inflict immense damage upon the roads.
The cost of engines and cars is greater; and the mechanical repair of both is
made at a greater price.
Our roads are not unfrequently built through fresh-broken wildernesses ; and,
it must not be forgotten, are constructed and maintained, less with an idea to
their profitableness, as investments, than for the incidental advantages they con­
fer on the neighboring country and the terminal cities and villages.
CUBAN R A I L R O A D S .

The Bay of Havana and Matanzas Railway was recently opened with great
ceremony to Guanabaco. His Excellency, the Captain-General, and suite were
present, and also the Right Rev., the Bishop of the Diocese. As on all public
occasion in Cuba, there was a great display of the military. The steam ferry­
boats connected with the line, which ply from this city to Regia, were gaily
decorated with flags and streamers, as was also the railroad depot at Regia—nor
could I avoid observing the stars and stripes floating nobly among the rest from
the pretty ship Riga, of Marblehead, which was at her berth alongside the com­
pany’s wharf.
On the 17th August, His Excellency, the Captain-General, accompanied by
General Manzano, Segundo Cabo, Brigadiers Echavarria, the political Governor
of this city, the Director of Public Works, Don Domingo, and Don Miguel
Aldumer* and several other gentlemen, embarked in a special train of the Havana
and Gaines Railway to inspect a new iron bridge that has been erected for the
purpose of the railway over the River Almendares. The bridge is upwards of
seventy feet in length, and is a light and elegant yet strong structure.
The new railroad depot, for the railway now building between Regia and
Matanzas, is an elegant gothic building, nearly 300 feet in length, and about 60
feet in breadth. The painted doors and windows are all of solid mahogany.
These two new splendid locomotives, called “ the Marquis de la Habana ” and
“ Jacinto G. Laninaga,” were built at Patterson. Nevv Jersey, and each weighs
eighteen tons. There is a third locomotive, the “ Edward Eesser,” built at
Philadelphia, employed on the line. The first-class passenger cars, are possessed
of admirable ventilation and general comfort and elegance. The cars were built
in Jersey City. The rails possess uncommon strength, weighing no less than 68
pounds to the yard. This railway will prove of immense public benefit; at pres­
ent, six or seven hours are occupied in going by a circuitous route, change of
cars, &c., to Matanzas. By the new line, which is direct to Matanzas, a man
will be able to take an early train and be in Matanzas in good time for breakfast,
remain there through the day, and return to ihis city in the evening.




R ailroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
FRENCH

507

RAILROADS.

The imperial government, as is well known, has long favored the amalgamation
of the leading lines of railroads in this country, and is well satisfied to see them
reduced to five or six companies, enjoying an immunity from that private and
public competition which has often proved so fatal to railway enterprise else­
where. But the French railways, though undoubtedly the best established, the
most remunerative, and, upon the whole, perhaps the best administered in the
world, have not been allowed to gain their present position and privileges with­
out paying some equivalents. In return for its patronage and protection, the
government has imposed the condition of carrying out and completing a vast
number of branches, of great service and benefit to the localities through which
they pass, but by no means certain to be remunerative for the amount of capital
expended on them. To carry on these works, the companies have been compelled
to issue their obligations (bonds or debentures) in a continuous stream, chiefly
through the intervention of the Bank of France, which, at their request, under­
took to negotiate 240,000,000 worth of their securities, making advances the
meanwhile, from time to time, to the companies. The effect of this state of things
has been, in the first place, to keep the public stocks at their present low figure,
by daily feeding the market with the issue of these rail way .bonds, and in the
next place, to cause the credit of the companies to become seriously affected, both
by the redundancy of their paper in the market, and also by the apprehension of
the public that the numerous branch lines which they are compelled to construct
would tend to anything rather than to increase the dividends of the shareholders.
Under these circumstances, the railway companies have been, for some time past,
appealing to the administration for the modification of a contract of which they
profess to find the conditions too hard for them ; and an agreement for their
relief appears to have been at last come to with the Minister of Public Works.
The course adopted seem3, in fact, to amount to a guaranty to 4fr. 68c. per cent
on the part of the government. That is to say, a dividend is to be paid first at
the rate of the last returns of profits per kilometre, and the residue is to be applied
to W'orking expenses. If there be more than sufficient for the latter, the supplies
will go to increase the dividend ; if less, then the government steps in to make
up the deficiency to the extent of 4.68 per cent. In addition to the above arrange­
ment, it has been decided that no more railway paper shall be negotiated daily
by the Bank of France. One hundred and sixty-five millions of obligations have
been already so issued; the remaining seventy-five millions are to be issued at
once, and the money raised by public subscription, as in the case of the State
loans during the war.
CINCINNATI, HAMILTON, AND DAYTON RAILROAD,
Years.
1 8 5 2 -5 3 ...
1 8 5 3 -5 4 ...
1 8 5 4 -5 5 ...
1 8 5 5 -5 6 ...
1 8 5 6 -5 7 ...
1 8 5 7 -5 8 ...

No. of
passengers.
236,828
342,954
370,189
352,451
362,630
370,957




Passenger
earnings.
$191,700 93
274,650 39
259.915 35
236,568 12
231,571 54
232,596 95

Freight
earnings.
$122,377 25
176,142 11
211,562 79
221,697 54
268,819 20
214,272 37

Mails and
express.
$7,714 99
12,228 95
12,142 34
13,620 04
17,943 21
18,868 93

Total.

$321,793
463,021
483,620
471,885
518,333
465,738

17
45
48
70
95
19

508

Journ al o f M ining, M anufactures, and A rt.

JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART.
ESTIMATES OF COAL AREA.

P. W . S h e a f e e , Esq., Civil and Mining Engineer, of Pottsville, Pennsyl­
vania, has presented several estimates of the area of the anthracite coal regions
of Pennsylvania, together with statistics pertaining to the bituminous coal area
of this country and of Europe. To this is added a few remarks upon the com­
parative importance of our anthracite and bituminous coal fields at present and
in the future :—
E S T IM A T E S O F T H E

P E N N S Y L V A N IA

A N T H R A C IT E

CO A L F IE L D S .

Square miles.

Acres.

Air. Packer’s report to the Legislature............................................
Mr. S. B. Fisher—
1. Southern or Schuylkill Coal Field............................................
2. Middle Coal Field, including the Mahanoy Basin, 59,450 acres
3. Wyoming or Northern Field.......................................................

976

624,000

119
183
120

76,950
85,525
76,805

Total, according to S. B. Fisher............................................
R. C. Taylor—
4
1. Southern or Schuylkill Coal Field............................................
2. Middle, containing the Mahanoy and Sbamokin Coal Basin.
3. Wyoming or Northern Basin.....................................................

872

238,280

164
1 15
118

104,960
70,600
75,520

Total, according to Taylor......................................................
E S T IM A T E M A D E

FROM

THE

O U TLIN E S

OF TH E

COAL

F IE L D S

ON

397

ROGERS’

NEW

254,080
MAP,

BY

P . W . SH EAFER.

1. Southern or Schuylkill Coal Fields.
Square miles. Acres.

Fast of Tamaqua......................................................................................
Tamaqua to Pottsville.............................................................................
Pottsville to fork o f the Basin...............................................................
North Fork, Lykens Valley prong.........................................................
South “
Dauphin
“
.........................................................
North Mine Hill Range............................................................................

16
36
65
16
15
8

10,240
23,040
35,200
10,240
9,600
6,120

Total Southern Field...................................................................

146

93,440

2. Middle Coal Field.
Shamokin D istrict...................................................................................
Mahanoy District.......................................................................................
Beaver Meadow 2.3 square miles of mammoth bed, in a ll.............
Hazleton Distr’t 3
“
“
“
“
.............
Big Black Creek 2.3
“
“
“
“
.............
Little
“
0.6
“
“
“
«
.............

50
41
6.4
13
13.3
2.3

32,000
26,240
4,096
8,320
8,512
1,472

8.1 square miles of mammoth bed, total..............

126

80,640

3. Wyoming Coal Field...........................................................................

198

126,720

Total, as estimated from Rogers’ map......................................

470

300,800

It is also interesting to consider the relative areas in the various coal fields
which are drained by the several great water courses which form the outlets to
the Atlantic seaboard. The course of trade has, however, diverted the product
of certain portions of the coal fields from the natural channels.; hence, two sys­
tems of drainage may be taken into account—1st. The natural drainage of the




Journ al o f M ining, M anufactures, and A rt.
streams.

509

2d. The artificial drainage, or transit o f the products in part by lines

o f transportation which do not follow the water drainage.
N A T U R A L D R A IN A G E E S T IM A T E D IN J . DUTTON S T E E L E ’ S R E P O R T T O T H E R E A D IN G R A I L R O A D
FOR

1856,

F U R N IS H E D B Y H . W . P O O L E .

Total,
Square square
miles, miles.
70
70

By the Schuylkill—
Southern Coal Field.................................................................................
By the Lehigh—
Southern Coal Field...........................................................................
Middle Coal Field..................................................................

3
17
—

20

42
104
120
-----

266

To^al .............................................................................................................

856

By the Susquehanna—
Southern Coal Field...........................................................................
Middle Coal Field..............................
Wyoming............................................................................................

E S T IM A T E

FROM

ROGERS’

M AP, BY

P . W . SHEAFER.

Total,
Square square
miles, miles.
85
85

By the Schuylkill—
Main body of the Southern Coal Field..........................................
By the Lehigh—
East end of Southern Field..............................................................
Part of east end of Middle Field, (Beaver Meadow and Hazle­
ton Basins.)......................................................................................

3
22
—

By the Susquehanna—
Wyoming Coal Field.........................................................................
Shamokin.............................................................................................
Mahanoy..............................................................................................
Part of eastern end of Middle Coal F ie ld ....................................
West end of Southern Coal F ie ld ...................................................

198
50
41
13
68

Drainage by the Susquehanna.........................................................

360
-----

Total.......................................................................................................
A R T I F IC I A L

D R A IN A G E , F R O M

25

360

470

3 . D U TTO N S T E E L E ’ S R E P O R T .

By the Schuylkill—
Southern F ie ld ...........................................................................
Middle Field..................................................................
B y the Lehigh—
Southern Field.............................................................................
Middle Field.................................................................................
B y the Susquehanna—
Southern F ie ld ...........................................
Middle Field....................................................i ..........................
Wyoming......................................................................................
Eastward from Wyoming to New York.......................................

Square miles.
92
42

Acres.
68,880
26,880

4
17

2,560
10,880

19
62
60
60

12,160
39,680
38,400
38,400

856

227,840

ESTIMATE FROM RO G ERS’ NEW MAP, BY P. W . SHEAFER.

By the Schuylkill—
Middle Coal Field, Mahanoy....................................................
Southern Coal Field...................................................................
Artificial drainage by the Schuylkill...............................




Square miles. Acres.
41
26,240
93
59,520
134

85,760

J ourn al o f M ining , M anufactures, and A rt.

510

By the Lehigh—
Eastern end of Middle Coal Field...........................................
Eastern end of Southern Coal Field........................................
Portion of Wyoming, via Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad
Artificial drainage by the Lehigh......................................
By the Susquehanna—
Western end of Wyoming Coal Field.....................................
Shamokin Coal Field.................................................................
Western end of Southern Coal Field.......................................
Part of eastern end of Middle Coal Field................................
Artificial drainage by the Susquehanna.........................
Scranton routes and Delaware and Hudson CanaWEast end of Wyoming to New York, <tc....................... . . .

22
13
10

14,080
8,320
6,400

45

28,800

80
51
40
13

51,200
32,000
26,600
8,320

183

117,120

108

89,120

470

300,800

The following table, principally by R. C. Taylor, exhibits the area of the coal
fields in the several States :—

“

SS }(“•*»*>•••

Pennsylvania.................................. 15,437
Maryland.........................................
550
Virginia.......................................... 21,195
N. Carolina, from Olmstead’s data.
1,000
Georgia...........................................
150
Alabama..........................................
3,400
Total........................................................

Ohio....................... .....
Indiana.......................
Illinois.........................
K entucky...................
Tennessee....................
Michigan.......................
Missouri.......................

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

11,900
7,700
44,000
13,500
4,300
6,000
6,000

Of these, Pennsylvania alone possesses anthracite coal, and of the large sup­
ply owned by this State, the anthracite, amounting ,to 470 square miles, as before
shown, is but a small portion. The coal field of Rhode Island and Massachusetts
is considered by Professor Hitchcock as a metamorphic coal field— being truly
neither anthracite nor bituminous. The same eminent authority believes that
important seams of workable coal will yet be found in these fields, although none
are now known to exist.
Professor Hitchcock estimates our coal area as follows :—
Square miles.

The great Appalachian Coal Field extends from New York to Alabama
720 miles in length.........................................................................................
Indiana Coal Field, 350 miles in length..........................................................
Michigan Coal Field, 150 miles in length........................................................
Missouri and Iowa as mapped by Prof. Owen................................................
Massachusetts and Rhode Island.....................................................................
Total

100,000
55,000
12,000
55,000
500
222,500

The following summary presents the total coal area of the United States and
of several countries of Europe, according to the estimate of R. C. Taylor:—
Area of the coal fields of the United States........................... square miles.
British America, bituminous........................................................
18,000')
Great Britain, bituminous...........................................................
8,139 |
Great Britain, with Ireland, anthracite and cu lm ..................
8,720 i
Spain...............................................................................................
3,408 J
France............................................................................................
1,719 I
Belgium..........................................................................................
618 J
Anthracite of Pennsylvania estimated from Rogers’ new map. square mil’s.

133,132

35,604

470

The bulk of the coal trade of the United States is in anthracite, and although




Journ al o f M ining, M anufactures, and A rt.

511

the trade in bituminous coal is rapidly increasing on the Western rivers, yet
anthracite promises to continue to be, for several generations, the principal fuel
of the Atlantic States. What may be the condition of the coal trade of this
country at the end of another century cannot be probably conjectured. Either
the anthracite mines in course cf time must greatly increase in value, because
comparatively soon exhausted, or else the bituminous coals must become the great
source of supply for the country. When I compare the narrow limits of the
anthracite fields, confined to the Atlantic slope of the Alleghanies, and cut off
from the great body of the country by that mountain ridge, with the wide-spread
bituminous fields which extends over parts of thirteen great States, I am forced
to the conclusion that within one hundred years the great bulk of our coal trade
must be supplied by the softer coals.
But as the time when this will occur is yet far distant in the future, we need
not give way to dismal forebodings of the consequences of this change in the
course of trade.
Of one thing, however, we may be assured, viz., that we do not sufficiently
appreciate the great value ot the anthracite coal fields. With the impetuosity
characteristic of our nation, we crowd the whole extent of the coal districts with
railroads above and below the surface— open mines, erect machinery, cut tunnels,
sink slopes—each individual striving to out-do his neighbor in the product of
his mines—the miners, operators, landowners, transporters, and all engaged in
the tiade, urging on the work of rivalry as if it were necessary to mine all the
coal of the State within this century. To such an extent has this injudicious
system been pursued, that at this early day much of the coal above the water
level has been exhausted, without adequately remunerating those engaged in the
production.
Scarcely a dozen of large collieries in the southern coal basins are now above
the water level; nor are there as many below the water level which are now
working their first lift, nor at the eud of the present leases will there be as many
working their third lift.
England consumes 6,000,000 of tons of coal annually— London consumes
500,000 tons, w'hich produces 4,500,000,000 cubic feet of gas. The main gas
arteries of that great city are 1,600 miles in length. The coal trade of Great
Britain, in 1856, amounted to more than 66} millions of tons.
Our own coal trade is yet in the weakness of infancy, its annual product, in
1857, being but 7} millions of tons, and the aggregate product, since its com­
mencement in 1820, being but 77} millions, or in 37 years a total product but
one-sixth more than the annual product of Great Britain. But this is no dis­
paraging contrast, when we compare the 470 square miles of our anthracite coal
fields with the 11,859 square miles of coal area in England, Ireland, Scotland,
and Wales. If we consider the length of time in which coal has been used in
Great Britain, and then reflect that our own coal trade has but just begun, we
shall find much cause for hope and encouragement. To my mind a much stronger
contrast is presented, if we place our small patch of 470 square miles of
anthracite coal besides the 200,000 square miles of our bituminous districts.
How will the products of these fields compare in the future ? I leave this for
the consideration of my readers.




512

Journal o f M ining, M anufactures, and A rt.
LAKE SUPERIOR COPPER MINES,

The following table shows the quantity and value of copper shipped from the
mining region of Lake Superior, from the commencement of operations in 1845
to January 1,1858 :—
Mr. Whitney, in his “ Metallic Wealth of the United States,” estimated
that, to the close o f 1854, there had been received in ingot copper, in
tons of 2,000 lbs.................................................................* .................... tons
Rough copper shipped from 1855 to 1857, inclusive—
Districts.
Ontonagon................................tons
Portage L ake.................................
Keweenaw Point............................

1855.
1,984
315
2,245

1856.

1857.

2,767
462
2,128

3,190
704
2,200

4,544
5,357
6,094
Total....................................
A dd product of November and December, 1857, raised but not
shipped, estimated.........................................................................
Total.

7,642

Total.
7,941
1,481
6,573
15,995
888
16,883

Equal, when smelted, at 67 per cent, to,

11,312

Total product from 1845 to 1857, inclusive............................
18,954
Valued, at $500 per ton, at........................................................ $9,477,000
THE NEW METHOD OF OBTAINING SILK.

It appears from the Indian journals that some slight notice has been taken
of an Italian discovery, already practically and extensively carried out in Prance
and Syria, for obtaining silk, at a most moderate cost, direct from the bark of
the mulberry tree, and for converting the residue, after the silk has been extracted,
into a pulp, suited better than most materials for the manufacture of paper.
This process has been secured by patent in England and France, and by an Im­
perial firman in Turkey ; and it is said that steps are about to be adopted for
taking advantage of an extension of the patent laws in India to secure the right
of the process to the discoverers, and to work it in that country. In Bengal
alone millions of mulberry plants, which would yield tons of silk and of pulp,
are now next to thrown away—that is, employed as fire wood, for no other use
has hitherto been found for them. There is nothing peculiar in the bark of the
mulberry tree. It is the chemical process in the stomach of the silk worm, and
the subsequent fine spinning, that makes the silk—given these, silk may be pro­
duced from any fiber that can be got of sufficient strength. Some fibers are
better than others, but of these the best is not that obtained from the bark of
the mulberry tree. A t present the silkworm is the most experienced chemist,
and the cheapest dresser and spinner of fine numbers, yet occupied in the manu­
facture and spinning of silk from fiber, which it finds readiest of the right quality
in the leaf of the mulberry tree.
MANUFACTURE

OF V E L V E T S .

B . S iiiers , Jr., lias obtained a patent in England for the manufacture of silk

velvets after the manner of those which are now manufactured of cotton, by em­
ploying silk threads for the wrap and weft, so combined, adapted, and attached
to each other as to gain the required surface, heretofore produced by forming loops
with the wrap.




Statistics o f A gricu ltu re , etc.

513

STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c.
WHEAT

CROP.

The New York Courier and Enquirer remarks, in relation to the wheat crop,
that, in the several States, it may be considered as harvested, and partially ready
for market. We can, therefore, give the following returns with some degree of
certainty :—
N ew Y ore .—The crop is under the last year’s about fifteen per cent, but the
quality is much ! etter.
P ennsylvania .—The crop is fully an average one, but ten per cent less than
last year per acre.
M aryland .— The crop is an average one, but less per acre, and better in
quality, than last year.
V irg in ia .— The wheat crop in this State is twenty per cent less than last
year, for the amount of ground in cultivation, and the quality not much superior.
N orth C arolina .—The crop in this State is probably nearer to a total fail­
ure than in any other—the yield being fully fifty per cent less than last year, and
poor in quality.
K entucky .—The crop is above the average, but less than last year; the qual­
ity is, however, unsurpassed.
T ennessee.—The crop is a good one, but under the average in the yield per
acre. The quality is good.
M issouri.—The amount of the wheat crop in this State is not fully known,
but it will generally compare well per acre with the other Western States.
O hio .—The yield of wheat per acre is fully twenty per cent less than last
year, but from the increase of land in cultivation the decrease from an average
crop will not much exceed ten per cent.
I owa .—The accounts from the center of the State, in regard to the wheat
crop, are very gloomy. The crop will hardly average ten bushels to the acre.
Oats are generally a failure.
I llinois .— Iu Southern Illinois the yield of wheat is about a fair average,
rather under than over. The winter wheat has been generally successful, and
spring wheat the reverse. In other parts of the State the yield will not be over
half the usual crop.
I ndiana .— I n Indiana the yield of wheat has been from one-half to two-thirds
of the average crop.
M innesota .—The yield of wheat in this State is of better quality than usual,
and in quantity nearly two-thirds the usual crop.
M ichigan .—The yield of wheat in Michigan is over two-thirds an average
crop, and generally of good quality.
W isconsin.— The crop of wheat is up to the average, the greater extent in
cultivation compensating for any deficiency in the yield per acre.

The upward tendency in wheat, promising good prices, and the present fair
prices, will, we think, make the receipts at tide-water this year nearly equal to
those of last year. The quality of last year’s wheat is such that an attempt to
store it longer will be ruinous. We have reason, therefore, for believing that
the movement of the crop to the seaboard will be active for the rest of the year.
AMERI CAN CHAMPAGNE.

The manufacture of champagne wine in the United States is no longer an
experiment; it is an established fact. The ingredients in use, for the production
of champagne in this country, are the same as are employed in France and Gervol.

x x x ix .—

n o . iy .




33

514

Statistics o f A gricu ltu re , etc.

many. The French champagne, which originally obtained such great celebrity
throughout the world, was manufactured from the common pear, and that species
of fruit was for many years in such request, that it ultimately became almost
extinct, so that the producers of that delicious and elegant wine were compelled
to seek for some other fruit which was produced in greater abundance. It is be­
lieved that the first champagne made from the w'hitewine was made in Germany;
in fact, much of the best champagne offered in the market of the United States
is the produce of the German vinyards. All the champagne wines now in use
are manufactured from the white wine, and the greater part of it is from the
white wine of the German States. Of late years, the vinyards of France have
not been so productive as formerly, and the result has been, that much less of
the rich wines have been manufactured into champagne than heretofore. But
as all the mystery, which has for so many years been allowed to surround the
manufacture of this favorite beverage, has been revealed and exploded by French­
men themselves, there is no reason why as good champagne should not be produced
in this country as in France or Germany. The same wine used by them is im­
ported into the United States in vast quantities, and the same men who have
served their long and faithful apprenticeships in the French and German wine
factories, and bottling establishments, have been brought to this country, so that
the material in all its details is here. There is a great deal of very poor French
champagne that finds its way into our markets; much of it is highly charged with
sulphur and other obnoxious ingredients, used for the purpose of driving the
carbonic acid gas into the head, and will thus create a sudden delirium or dis­
order of the intellect, and not uufrequently will produce mania a potu. Alum
is also introduced into the wine in the incipient stages of its manufacture, and is
injurious in its efiects upon the system. These practices, however, are only re­
sorted to by those who produce the poorest quality of American champagne, and
their poisonous liquids are easily detected. The higher and more respectable
order of manufacturers repudiate those dishonorable means to palm upon the pub­
lic such baneful beverages. Good American champagne is equal to the French
commodity, and there is no necessity for counterfeiting French labels, corks,
bottles, foil, or any other branch of the business.

WINE-MAKING IN TEXAS.

The progress of wine-making near Breuham, in Texas, is thus described in a
letter to the New Orleans Picayune:—
We have been engaged during the last month in making wine from the Mus­
tang grape, under the direction of a French gentleman, M. Gerard. But for the
scant supply of labor available for the purpose this season, and so much of other
work to do, we could easily have made one hundred barrels of rich wine, without
going over five miles in any direction to gather grapes. As it is, we have had
to content ourselves with less than half the quantity. Of the process of wine­
making, I will treat at some future time. I am fully satisfied that Texas pos­
sesses in this grape an inexhaustible source of wealth. The wine is a rich, acid,
red wine, stronger in alcohol than any other natural wine, it is positively as­
serted. What we have made is the pure juice of the grape, without the addition
of one grain of sugar or drop of spirits of any kind. Some small experiments,
it is true, were tried in that way, but which resulted in every instance in injury
to the wine.




Statistics o f A gricu ltu re, etc.

515

AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE.

The Moniteur contains a long report to the Emperor from the Minister of
Agriculture and Commerce on the labors of the Cantonal Commissions of Sta­
tistics :—
The document begins by stating that a decree of the 1st of July, 1852, or­
dered the establishment, in each of the 2,846 cantons of the empire, of a com­
mission charged to obtain annual statistical returns of the most important agri­
cultural facts, such as the quantity of land cultivated, the yield of the various
crops, &c., and every ten years to group the statistics, so as to show the aspect,
the state of agriculture, and the economic situation of the agricultural classes.
It then makes some remarks on the importance of such information, and observes
that to obtain it requires great practical knowledge, activity, patience, and per­
severance. After mentioning, as a proof of that importance, that both Charle­
magne and William the Conqueror caused similar intelligence to be collected,
and after glancing at what was done to procure it in Prance from the time of
Louis X IV . down to that of the first empire, the report goes on to describe the
manner in which agricultural statistics are obtained in Belgium, Prussia, most
of the German States, the Scandinavian countries, Italy, and the United States;
and it expresses great surprise that England, from the hostility of her farmers,
should be one of the three countries in Europe, the other two being Portugal
and Turkey, which have no regular system of agricultural statistics; a circum­
stance the more extraordinary, as in both Ireland and Scotland statistics are
carefully attended to. The report, after enumerating the advantages of agricul­
tural statistics, (the most important of which is that, in case of an insufficient
harvest, commerce is enabled to procure supplies of foreign grain before an ex­
cessive rise in prices takes place,) remarks that in France statistics are more
difficult to obtain than in any other country in Europe, inasmuch as the agricul­
tural populations, thinking that the object of them is to impose new taxes, are
reluctant to give information ; as, from not keeping correct accounts, they are
not able to state with precision the quantity of land cultivated, nor that of grain
sown, nor the expense of cultivation, nor the yield obtained ; as in France there
are not fewer than 42,000,000 hectares (the hectare is two-and-a-half acres) of
lands under cultivation, which are divided into 130,000.000 holdings, possessed
or occupied by at least 7,000,000 heads of families; as France, possessing great
variations of climate, produces not only wheat and other grain, but vines, silk,
textile plants, &c.; and, lastly, as the technical language of agriculture is not
the same in all provinces. To overcome these difficulties requires, says the re­
port, great energy and perseverance, and great care in the choice of the cantonal
commissions. It then describes how the statistics are obtained. A series of
questions are sent every year from the Ministry of Agriculture to the commis­
sions, and are transmitted by them to sub-commissions in every commune. These
questions are sent back to the commissions answered in the latter part of Octo­
ber ; that is, when all the crop3 are got in. The commissions carefully verify
the truth of the answers given, and send in a general return for the whole can­
ton to the sub-prefect of the arrondissement, who also causes it to be examined.
The sub prefect, in his turn, sends in tables for his arrondissement to the prefect
of the department, and the prefect has them examined by a central commission,
and by the Chamber of Agriculture; after which they are forwarded to the
Ministry of Agriculture, where their principal points are summed up and class­
ified ; but, previous to this, the Ministry, in the first fortnight of October, re­
ceives from the presidents of commissions general details, which enable it to esti­
mate the state of the harvests. The report concludes by stating that the com­
missions are now beginning to work well, and that the prejudices of the fanners
against giving returns are beginning to wear away; and it recommends to the
Emperor a long list of members of the commissions in all of the departments o f
the empire as deserving of medals or “ honorable mentions” for their services.
The official journal declares that the Emperor approves the report, and the grant
of recompenses recommended.




516

Statistics o f A gricu ltu re, etc.
NEW INSPECTION OF CHICAGO SPRING WHEAT,

The following, which we find in the Chicago papers, may be of interest to
many of our readers :—
To prevent any misunderstanding on the part of our readers and the public,
we give below the designation of the various grades into which Chicago spring
wheat will be inspected in this market after the 15th of June, 1858 :—Chicago
club wheat, No. 1 spring wheat, No. 2 spring wheat, rejected spring wheat.
The “ Chicago club wheat ” grade is intended to comprise a very superior
quality of spring wheat which comes to this market, of the kind known as “ club,”
or equal to it in every respect. It must be entirely free of dirt, oats, or other
substances—have a plump, sound berry, and be perfectly sound.
“ No. 1 spring wheat” will represent the lower qualities of that which is at
present classed as “ extra.” It must be perfectly free of dirt, screenings, and
other substances, and be sound and dry. This grade will, in all probability, be
our standard wheat.
“ No. 2 spring wheat” will represent our common spring wheat, sound and
dry, but mixed with dust, or other substau&s. All good wheat coming to this
market in a dirty condition will be inspected into this grade.
“ Rejected spring wheat ” will represent all wheat coming to this market in an
unsound or damaged condition, whether it be dirty or clean.
VALUE OF HORSES,

It is estimated that there are 50,000 horses in the State of Massachusetts,
221.000 in the New England States, and 4,500,000 in the United States. Ohio
stands foremost in the number of horses, New York next, Pennsylvania next,
Kentucky next, and Minnesota last of all. Estimating the horses of Massachu­
setts at §75 per head, their value will be §3,750,000 ; and all the horses in the
United States, at the same rate, would make a value of §337,500,000, or more
than three times the whole cotton and woolen manufacturing capital of the O'nion.
The horse interest is a most important one to the wealth and prosperity of the
States.
HOP CROP IN NEW YORK.

The Cooperstown Journal, after remarking upon the effects of blight and
wind storms, states :—
VVe have seen a great many yards, located in this and two or three of the ad­
joining counties, within the past week, and have reliable information from gen­
tlemen of experience in hop growing, who have traversed nearly the entire hop
districts—and from such sources of information, have no hesitation in saying
that the growing crop does not promise to exceed one-half the ordinary average.
As soon as this state of things became known, the dealers advanced their rates,
and have purchased all the old hops they could ; they have also made contracts,
to a considerable extent, for the new crop. Prices are very unsettled just at
present, and it would be difficult to give proper quotations. Growers, who have
not already contracted, would now prefer to take the risks of the market, and
dealers will not be in haste to sell, except at large advances.
Most of the old hops in the country are held by regular dealers and specula­
tors ; a fair proportion is still in the hands of the more wealthy class of growers ;
some of the brewers hold as many as they may wish to use, with new hops, in
the manufacture of beer. A large class of small brewers, however, are without
any hops.
The news from England, received at this place during the past week, is to the
effect that the crop there has been considerably damaged by high winds ; the
crop on the continent will be a short one; and, therefore, no export to this coun­
try will probably take place.




Statistics o f P opulation, etc.

517

A material increase in the brewing business is reasonably anticipated, com­
pared with last year ; and from present appearances the hops of 1857 and 1858
will all be needed. For three or four years past the brewers have had everything
their own way, in regard to hops, and the growers have not been fairly remuner­
ated. This year, if the brewers do not have to pay over fifteen to twenty cents,
they may consider themselves well off. They may rely upon it, the quantity of
prime, No. 1 hops brought to market this year will be comparatively small.

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, &c.
EMIGRATION FROM STATE TO STATE.

According to the returns of the last United States census, remarks the Boston
Post, there are more natives of the Southern States residing in the Xorth, in
proportion to Southern population, than of the Northerners who live in the
South. In Maine there are to be found 3,092 persons who were Southerners by
birth ; whereas in Mississippi there are but 2,566 natives of the Northern States.
The smallness of the number of New Englanders in the South is quite re­
markable ; and we think that the largeness of the number of the natives of the
South to be found in New England will quite astonish those who have not ex­
amined the subject. For example, there are 271 natives of Virginia residing in
Maine, and only 94 natives of -Maine residing in Virginia. The w'hole number of
natives of New England residing in Mississippi is 125, while there are 1,023
natives of Mississippi residing in New England. These are examples of the
state of things on a wide scale.
In looking over all the free States, we find that Massachusetts has 8,752
natives of the South, while New York has about 20,000. Other Northern States
that have large numbers of Southern born inhabitants are Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Illinois, and Indiana.
A few facts will further show that Southern men emigrate much from one
State to another in their own section. Of the inhabitants of Virginia, 10,000
were natives of North Carolina; as many of Alabama ; 46,000 of Tennessee,
and 54,000 of Kentucky. To people North Carolina, there came 37,000 from
Georgia, 28,000 from Alabama, 72,000 from Tennessee, and 14,000 from Ken­
tucky. As a general law, the emigration flows westward from State to State,
on the parallels of latitude. For example, emigrants from New England find
their homes in New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, while
the Georgian seeks an adopted home in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, or
Texas ; and yet we find many exceptions to this law. It was, perhaps, owing,
in part, to this general tendency of emigration in this country that it flowed
rather more naturally into Kansas from the free than from the slave States.
Emigration has flowed very rapidly from the seaboard slave States to the
Western and Southwestern. Two or three facts will indicate the vast extent
of it. From South Carolina alone, 186,479 native white Carolinians have been
distributed through the West and Southwest. The population of Texas in 1850,
was but 51,641 ; now, it is about 600,000, and mainly the result of emigration
from States to the eastward of it. Foreigners, particularly Germans, have set­
tled more in Texas than perhaps in any other Southern State. Germans began
to settle in Texas as early as 1843, being invited there by Texas land speculators.




518

iStatistics o f P opulation, etc.

In 1845, 2,000 families, embracing 5,200 Germans, had been induced to cross
the sea, by promises of great advantage, to enter a State that was that year
annexed to the United States, an event which was followed by a war with
Mexico. Within a few years there has been a considerable emigration from the
free States to Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and other slave States, with a view
of introducing free labor for agricultural and other purposes. Thus slave labor
has gradually pressed further South. Such processes may have something to do
in promoting a general system of emancipation in the northern slave States.
POPULATION OF CANARY ISLANDS.

The Canary Islands are thirteen in number, the most eastern of which is only
one hundred and fifty miles from the coast of Africa. Six are quite inconsider­
able in size, being accumulations of rocks rather than inhabited or inhabitable
islands, whose names are Gracissa, Rocea, Allegranza, Santa Clara, Inferno,
and Lobos. The size and population of the seven largest islands have been given
as follows:—
Square miles. Population,
Teneriffe......................................................
219
10,000
Forteventura...............................................
184
9,000
Grand Canary............................................
180
50,000
P alm a..........................................................
81
22,600
Bancerotta............................................
78
10,000
G om era........................................................
42
7,400
Ferro.............................................................
21
5,000
Total.....................................................

810

Population to
squaro mile.
958
142
833
837
384
528
714

174,900

644

This estimate of the population was given some years since, from which time
it has not probably increased but a trifle. Some, however, give the whole group
of islands above 3,000 square miles.
CITY POPULATION AND VALUATION,
8LAVE CITIES.

FREE CITIES.

In h a b ita n ts.

In h a b ita n ts.

V a lu a tio n .

500,000
165,000
225^000
55,000
210,000
112,000
75,000
20,391

$511,740,492
300,000,000
249,162,600
96,800,440
58,064,400
88,810,734
171,000,000
45,474,476
27,047,000

Baltim ore.........
New Orleans.. .

Total....... . . 2,083,000 $1,547,100,153

Total..........

New Y o r k .. .
Philadelphia.. .
.
Brooklyn........ .
Providence....
Cincinnati . . .
Chicago......... .
New Bedford. .

V a lu a tio n .

250,000 .$102,053,139
175,000
91,000,000
225,000
95,800,440
Charleston, S. C.
65,000
86,127,751
Louisville........
67,000
31,500,000
Richmond, Va...
34,612
20,143,520
Norfolk, V a ___
17,000
12,000,000
25.000
12,000,000
Wilmingt’n, N. C.
10.000
7,550,000
787,000

$375,862,320

The slaves are included at so much per head in the average, in personal pro­
perty. Boston is the richest city in the United States according to population—
equal to one-twentieth of the value of the whole Union. Chicago stands next.
The wealth, jper capita, in the free States, is as $754 to $477 in the slave States.
Another table presents the following returns :—
In sixteen free States.........................
In fifteen slave States.......................

Property.
§ 4 ,102 , 1.72,108
2,986,090,787

Revenue.
$18,725,211
8,232,715

Expenditures.
§17,076,738
7,249,933

The area of the free States in 1857, was 612,597 square miles, with a popula­




519

M ercantile M iscellanies.

tion of almost twenty-two to the square mile. That of the fifteen slave States
351,448 square miles, with a population of a little over eleven to the square
mile. White population of the free States in 1850,13,233,670 ; white popula­
tion in slave States, 6,184,477.
I MMI GRATI ON.

The number of arrivals in the United States from 1790 have been as follows :—
Number.
1790
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850

to
to
to
to
to
to

1810....................................
1820....................................
1880....................................
1840....................................
1850....................................
1858.....................................

Per annum.
12,000
11,400
20,397
77,850
154,285
377,494

Total im m igration....................

It will be seen that more emigrants arrived during the last eight years than
during the whole of the sixty preceding years.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
MONEY OF THE ANCIENTS.

Before the invasion of Julius Cmsar, the natives of England had tin plates,
iron plates, and rings, which were money, and their only money. On the authority
of Seneca, a curious account is given of a period when leather, appropriately
stamped to give it a certain legal character, was the only current money. A t a
comparatively recent date in the annals of Europe, Fredich the second, who died
in 1250, at the siege of Milan, actually paid his troops with leather money.
Nearly the same circumstance occurred in England during the great wars of the
barons. In the course of 1350, King John, for the ransom of his royal person,
promised to pay Edward the Third, of England, 3,000,000 of gold crowns. In
order to fulfill the obligation, he was reduced to the mortifying necessity of pay­
ing the expenses of the palace in leather money, in the center of each piece there
being a little, bright point of silver. In that reign is found the origin of the
travestied honor of boyhood, called— conferring a leather medal. The imposing
ceremonies accompauing a presentation, gave full force, dignity, and value to a
leather jewel, which noblemen were probably proud and gratified to receive at
the hand of majesty.
So late as 1574, there was an immense issue of money in Holland stamped on
small sheets of paste-board. But further back in the vista of years, Numa
Pompilius, the second king of Rome, who reigned 672 years before the Christian
era, made money out of wood as well as leather ; a knowledge of which might
have influenced King John in the bold project of substituting the tanned hide of
an animal for gold and silver, well known to his subjects to be exceedingly
precious.
Both gold and silver appear to have been in extensive circulation in Egypt,
soon after their potency was understood in Asia. From thence they were in­
troduced into Carthage and Greece ; and finally, traveling further and further in




520

M ercantile M iscellanies.

a westerly direction, the city of Rome discovered the importance of legalizing
their circulation.
Weight having alwajs been of the first importance in early times, the shape
of money appears to have been regarded with perfect indifference for a series of
ages.
When the bits and portions of metal received as precious, were extensively
circulated, it is quite probable that each possessor shaped them to suit his own
conception, as practiced to some extent at this time in remote places in the East
Indies. The payer away cuts off parts with shears, till he obtains, by exact
weight, the stipulated amount. It was thus that men traveled with the evidence
of their possessions in a sack. But great inconvenience must have resulted from
this often tedious process; and as nations advanced in civilization and the
economic arts, a certain mark or impression on certain sized pieces were
acknowleged to be the sign of a certain weight. This facilitated negotiations,
and afterwards led to further improvements, both in the shape, weight, and beauty
of the external devices. By and by, the profile of the king, the date of the coin­
age, and the record of important events, gave still more completeness and char­
acter to the circulating article of exchange.
THE PAYMENT OF DEBTS,

The Chicago Commercial Express remarks:— “ Among the compensating
blessings of hard times, one of the greatest is, that it compels men, who other­
wise would never stop, to cease running into debt. The recklessness with which
the mass of men, in this country, plunge into debt, is only equaled by the
deplorable laxity of morals which exists in the community regarding the obliga­
tions imposed by it. Of all the minor evils which curse society, there is none
more productive of mischief than the procrastination and inveterate reluctance
to pay of those who design to be moderately just—honest only when it advances
their selfish aims. Thousands of men who roll in luxury, and deny themselves
hardly a pleasure which money can buy, resort to the meanest and most pitiful
shifts to evade the discharge of their petty debts; and only pay at the last extremity
when their property is about to be wrested by the strong grasp of the law, and
pretexts can no longer avail. Hundreds of others, who acknowledge that a debt
is a moral lien on all their goods and estates, yet concealing their knavery under
cover of shallow sophistry touching the duty which every man owes to his family,
place their property beyond their creditors’ reach, and practically assert that a
debt is an obligation to pay when it is most convienent, or is absolutely inevitable.
But he who pleads the wants of his family as an excuse for withholding pay­
ment of his honest dues, is just as truly and irretrievably a knave, as he who
forcibly seizes possession of an eligible house, and lives rent-free for years.
“ No matter how great sacrifices may be required by a compliance with the
letter of his obligations; not only would nine-tenths of the losses that now result
from commercial revulsions, bankruptcy, and extravagance, be avoided, if every
man would make it a part of his acknowledged code of honor to pay every debt
at the precise time agreed, but he would be doubly rewarded in the increased
consideration, respect, and credit, to which such conscientiousness and integrity
would entitle him. The poorest punctual man, whose word may be relied on, is
with justice held in better credit than a long-winded, procrastinating Croesus.




M ercantile M iscellanies.

521

In fact, a young man who enters into business with a determination, from which
he never swerves, to discharge every liability at the exact day and hour, will in
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, have acquired an independence at thirty, even
if he has amassed nothing but a reputation for promptness and integrity.
NAVIGATION OF THE P O U R SEA,

A t a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in
Baltimore, in June last, Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, Surgeon of Dr. Kane’s last Arctic
exploring party, read a paper upon the propriety of continuing the explorations.
He thought that the northern limit of land, with the exception of Greenland
and Grinnell, had been definitely determined, and doubted the Russian theory
that a large continent lies north of Asia. Four attempts at exploration with
sledges have been made by the Russians in 1810 and 1822, to look for the
Northern continent; by Perry, in 1827, to reach the north pole, and by Dr.
Kane, in 1854, to find an open polar sea. The highest latitude was attained by
William Morton and an Esquimaux attached to Dr. Kane’s expedition, who
found a channel of open water between 80° 25' and 81° 30', and from an eleva­
tion of 300 feet at the latter point looked upon miles of solid ice. The fact of
water within the icy limit is thus established, but not decisively a polar sea.
There are other evidences, however, of such a sea. Morton found many
aquatic birds which get their food from the sea. An open sea would have a
milder temperature than the icy limit, but the isothermal currents fix the point
of greatest cold several degrees below the pole. The traditions of the Esquimaux
make the north their place of origin, and the remains of colonies are found be­
tween 77° and 81°. As we advance southward this race deteriorates, and if
they ever inhabited land north of Smith’s Straits, there is open water there, for
the Esquimaux get their living from the sea. Again, the summer winds from
the north, in that latitude, are often warm, and mist clouds are often seen in the
northern horizon. The fact of a deep sea current towards the north is also
established, in various ways. Facts seem to combine to show the existence of
a force or agency, constantly operating to keep the waters of the Polar Sea
above the freezing point, which, aided by the wind and other causes, keeps it con­
stantly open.
The most practicable route to be followed to reach this sea, in the opinion of
Dr. Hayes, is through Davis’ Strait, Baffin’s Bay, Smith’s Strait, and Kennedy’s
Channel. He saw no insurmountable obstacle to the successful exploration of
this sea, and urged the attention of the association to the subject. The experi­
ence of previous expeditions will conduce to its success. A vessel of 100 tons,
manned with twelve men, and provisions for two and-a-half years, with perhaps
a small steam tender, would be sufficient equipment. The expedition should
leave America early in April, should stop at the Danish trading posts in Green­
land to secure supplies; should pass the winter at some harbor in Grinnell Land if
possible, probably near the parallel of 80°. Early in the following spring the
shores of Grinnell Land should be stored with provisions as far north as 82°.
A boat’s crew should start iu April, and would probably meet open water by the
middle of June. Dr. Hayes explained the advantages to science to be derived
from the success of such an expedition, and announced that he is now endeavor­
ing to organize one. 11c said that while our flag is carried to the remote heights




522

M ercantile M iscellanies.

of the Rocky Mountains, the Andes, and the Cordilleras, we should not forget
that it now floats upon the northernmost point of land yet discovered, and de­
mands further investigation in the same direction.
THE

PACIFIC

OCEAN.

A California paper remarks that it is astonishing how little is absolutely known
about the navigation of the Pacific Ocean as compared with that of the Atlantic.
Every little while we receive news of the discoveries of islands having been made,
that are not laid down in any chart. The ship Frigate Bird, arrived from Hong
Kong, July 4th, reports having fallen in with a group of rocky islets, not laid
down on the charts. The report says :—“ Went north as far as latitude 45° 17';
June 3d., at 4 P. M., made a group of rocks bearing south, distant six miles, sea
breaking very high around them ; some of them were even with the surface, and
some forty or fifty feet high; they appeared to extend east and west about a
mile; they lay in latitude 31° 50' N., longitude 140° E., and are not down on
my chart; after running E. N. E. thirty miles, made South Islands, bearing N.
N. W.. distant thirty-five miles, which made these rocks bearing from South Is­
lands S. by W. half W., distant seventy miles.” It will also be remembered that
guano islands of considerable extent were discovered little more than a year ago
to the northwest of the Sandwich Islands.
PINS

AND

NEEDLES.

The manufacture of the indispensable little pin was commenced in the United
States between 1812 and 1820, since which time the business has extended greatly,
and several patents for the manufacture of pins have been taken out. The manu­
facture in England and other parts of Europe is conducted upon improvements
made here. Notwithstanding the extent of our own production, the United
States imported in 1856 pins to the value of $40,255, while in the same year
there were imported into this country needles to the amount of $246,060. Needles
were first made in England in the time of “ bloody Mary,” by a negro from Spain,
but as he would not impart his secret, it was lost at his death, and not recovered
again until 1566, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when a German taught the
art to the English, who have since brought it to the greatest perfection. The
construction of a needle requires about one hundred and twenty operations, but
they are rapidly and uninterruptedly successive.
PUSSY

ON

SHIPBOARD .

Two years and a half ago one of our citizens, to oblige a friend, the captain
of a ship about to sail for the East Indies, gave him a cat for the purpose of
keeping the vermin on board in proper subjection. Pussy, during the intervening
time, voyaged to Calcutta, thence to Liverpool, back to Bombky, thence to
Charleston, South Carolina, and finally to Boston. A few days after the arrival
of the ship at this port, the former owners of the cat were sitting at breakfast,
when in walked tabby, the same as if she had never been away from home, and
after a general review of the premises she came and jumped on the knee of the
master of the household, as had been her wont in old times. The story is a
curious evidence of attachment to locality in the animal, and a singular proof of
its retention of memory.




M ercantile M iscellanies.

523

VALUE OF SLAVE LABOR.

The value of slave labor in the South— particularly upon the sugar planta­
tions of Louisiana—is well illustrated in a recent article in the New Orleans
Picayune. That journal gives some interesting statistics concerning the Parish
of St. Mary’s, in Louisiana, which show not only an extraordinary productive­
ness of soil, but perhaps a larger net return from the labor of slaves than can be
found in any other portion o'f the Southern country. The Parish of St. Mary’s
is situated in the swamp district of Louisiana, immediately upon the gulf coast.
To enable our agricultural friends to make a comparison of the value of slave
labor in Louisiana and Virginia, we subjoin the interesting figures of the Pica­
yune
The population of St. Mary’s, by these assessment rolls, consists of 4,021
whites of all ages and sexes, and 12,019 slaves. We do not see the number of
free negroes stated, but by the census, five years ago, they numbered 585.
The slave property is assessed at $>6,433,250, averaging $535 25 as the value
of each slave, and about $1,600 a head of slave property for every white man,
woman, and child in the parish.
The total assessed valuation of all the taxable property in the parish is
$13,978,169, or within a trifle of $3,500 a head for every white inhabitant.
The number of plantations in the parish is 171, and the number of acres cul­
tivated and in swamp lands is 279,547, of which the assessed value is $5,948,100.
It is difficult to state from this with accuracy the average value of the culti­
vated land, which is returned at 59.326 acres. The estimate in the register takes
$5 per acre as the value of the swamp lands, and deducts from the aggregate the
estimated value of the town lots and buildings in the towns at $610,000. The
average deduced from all the circumstances is, that the cultivated land in St.
Mary’s is to be valued at $65 62 per acre—an estimate which the writer himself
is startled with, but he can only amend it by estimating some of the uncultivated
land at more than $5 an acre, or in supposing the number of cultivated acres
understated. The figures will bear no other alteration, and they show, at all
events, an extraordinary state of prosperity.
The products of these 171 plantations for the year ending with the crops of
1857, are estimated by the prices furnished in New Orleans, viz., sugar at $55
net per hogshead, molasses at 6£ net, corn at 70 cents, and cotton at $40 per
bale, although only forty bales were raised in the parish.
The total value of the products raised, viz., 31,915 hogsheads of sugar, 41,309
barrels of molasses, 401,600 bushels of corn, and smaller products, is put down
at $2,316,553 50. The average production is, therefore, $39 and a small frac­
tion per acre of the cultivated iands. Taking the excess of 2,019 over 10,000,
as the estimate of slaves employed other than in agriculture, the production of
every slave on the plantation—men, women, and children— exceeded $231 a
head ; and if we take only the working hands, must be nearly $500 a head.
The product of every white person, of every age and sex, averaged $576 a head.
The plantations being 171, the average of each plantation was $13,547 09.
These are the gross receipts. The following are the estimates made of the net
income. The molasses on plantations is estimated as paying current expenses,
and the other products, excepting sugar, as consumed on the place. The sugar,
therefore, is net profit. This amounted to $1,755,325. Each slave, therefore,
netted his master $175 a year, or nearly 33 per cent on his assessed value.
The summing up is as follows :—The 171 plantations have an average value
each of $72,188, an average net income of $10,265. There are 970 voters in
the parish, and it follows that if it were equally divided among the white popula­
tion. each would receive $3,407 82 ; if shared among the 970 voters, each would
receive $14,410 48 ; if shared among the whole population, including whites,
negroes, and Indians, there would be for each $839 88.
The total number of slaves being 12,019, there are three to each white in the
parish, over twelve to each voter, and over seventy to each plantation.




524

M ercantile M iscellanies.
ORIGIN

OF B R A N D Y .

Brandy began to be distilled in France about the year 1313, but it was pre­
pared only as a medicine, and was considered as possessing such marvellous
strengthening and sanitary powers that the physicians named it “ the water of
life,” (I'eau de vie.) a name it still retains, though now rendered, by excessive
potations, one of life’s most powerful and prevalent destroyers. Raymond Lully,
a disciple of Arnold de Villa Nova, considered this admirable essence of wine
to be an emanation from the Divinity, and that it was intended to re-animate and
prolong the life of man. lie even thought that this discovery indicated that the
time had arrived for the consummation of all things—the end of the world. Be­
fore the means of determining the true quantity of alcohol in spirits were known,
the dealers were in the habit of employing a very rude method of forming a no­
tion of the strength. A given quantity of the spirits was poured upon a
quantity of gunpowder in a dish, and set on fire. If at the end of the aornbustion the gunpowder continued dry enough it exploded, but if it had been wetted
by the water in the spirits, the flame of the alcohol went out without setting the
powder on fire. This was called the proof. Spirits which kindled gunpowder
were said to be above proof.
From the origin of the term “ proof,” it is obvious that its meaning must at
first have been very indefinite. It could serve only to point out those spirits
which are too weak to kindle gunpowder, but could not give any information
respecting the relative strength of those spirits which were above proof. Even
the strength of proof was not fixed, because it was influenced by the quantity of
spirits employed—a small quantity of weaker spirit might be made to kindle gun­
powder, while a greater quantity of a stronger might fail. Clarke, in his hydro­
meter, which was invented about the year 1730, fixed the strength of proof spirits
on the stem at the specific gravity of 0.920, at the temperature of 60D. This is
the strength at which proof spirits is fixed in Great Britain by act of Parliament,
and at this strength it is no more than a mixture of 49 pounds of pure alcohol
with 51 pounds of water. Brandy, rum, gin, and whisky, contain similar pro­
portions.
SHALL WE GIVE OR ASK CREDIT?

It is convenient, and under the existing condition of the commercial world, it
is not far from necessary. That it might be different by “ mutual consent,” is a
question to be decided. Who would it build up, who would it pull down ? Farmer
G. of our acquaintance owned a fine farm of two hundred acres. He was
an enter-prising, go-ahead farmer, and a proud one. He was fond of ” creating
sensations” among his neighbors—wanted to be looked up to—was happiest
when surrounded by a half score of well-fed men, ready to do his bidding as their
employer. Farmer G. could do up farm labor on a large scale, but could not
descend to details. His teams could “ put in ” large fields of grain, and do it
after the stereotyped manner of his ancestors. His “ force ” could harvest those
fields in autumn, and garner the sheaves. His manure heaps were made to cover
his soil without any regard to adaptation, the main object being to “ get it out.”
If the crop was “ short ” he was “ out of pocket,” and charged it to the weather;
never to the soil, or its culture. Had the soil, on which he depended to pay his
bills and help, neither of which were small in the aggregate, been never-failing
in fertility, he might have survived all other relapses. He gave and received
credit. In both he was indiscreet and unwise. Why? He credited his soil
with too much ability to pay his demand upon it. He a.-ked credit largely because
he credited in this manner. He based his supposed ability to pay upon the sup­
posed ability of his soil to pay, or rather give, him its wealth undiminished. He
asked accommodation and got it. He drew checks on his larm which were not
paid, because no deposits had been made. Yet he was regarded prosperous. His
note was good, and received when crops failed. How easy to glide down hill,
unconscious of the rapidity with which we move ! The credit system is a hill well
glazed with glittering ice. The sled we ride is our own good credit, finely shod.
We are on it to coast. Here we are at the top—we start slowly, but the mo­




M ercantile M iscellanies.

525

mentum grows greater, and away we go. We are confident of our power to
guide it, and regulate its speed. We grow more fearless, and soon find ourselves
at the bottom—perhaps have approached ere we are aware a rock, or root, were
thrown out, and the sled we rode smashed—irreparably broken. We have a new
sled to build, our own bruses to recover from, and then clamber to the top of the
hill ere we may ride again.
Farmer G-. was at the top of the hill, had a good sled of his own building, and
was in for a ride. He did ride—rode to the bottom—unobstructed was his ride,
hence the more badly was his sled broken, and the worse were his bruises. “ I ’ve
learned something I tell you." said he to us after he had sold half his farm to
pay his debts, and mortgaged the other half for money to build with, (having no
buildings on the half retained.) “ Now" said he, “ when I buy a thing I shall
pay for it. No man can credit me with even a paper of needles. What I am
not able to pay for I am able to do without.” He learned this lesson at fifty
years of age. Ten years subsequent he had as much laud as he owned originally,
paid for, and well stocked, beside being in much better culture than ever the old
one was. Necessity stimulated effort, and “ the most was made of everything.”
A t this writing, he is a hale, happy, hearty farmer of seventy years, and owes
not a dollar. Ask him for advice, if you are a young man, he will answer briefly,
“ go to work, and neither ask or give credit.” He does not practice strictly
what he preaches about giving credit, but he gives less, yet sells more than his
neighbors.
RAISING

SUNKEN

VESSELS,

Among the various devices for raising sunken vessels which have been brought
forward lately, that involving the appl ication of lifting tanks, according to "the
method adopted by Captain Bell, certainly possesses some unique features. The
apparatus consists of two separate water and air tight tanks, with straight or
square sides, each having on its outer side the form of an acute angle ; while
the inner surface resembles an arch, which would best compare with a narrow
breast-hook timber of a vessel. They are four feet six inches deep by five feet
six inches wide, the whole length being fifty-seven feet, with forty-five feet from
the span of the arch to the ends, and eighteen feet wide across the crotch. A
bulkhead, also water and air tight, is placed through the crotch, dividing the
tank into three separate chambers, with a valve under each to admit and let out
the water. The valves are opened simultaneously by a lever attached to them
all, and, by letting go the lever, are closed by the pressure of the water. The
tanks are attached one to the bow, and the other to the stern of the sunken ves­
sel, each one receiving so much of the vessel within its arch. A sufficient weight
is applied to submerge them when filled with water, and when made fast to a
vessel or any sunken body, the water within them is expelled by the force of air
on its surface, which is to be applied by means of a pump, and which then give
to the tanks their lifting power. This arrangement is both ingenious and practi­
cable.
TANNERIES.

According to official statistics there are 6,263 tanneries in the United States,
of which the South has about one-third. Pennsylvania alone has nearly one-sixth
part of the whole number, or 1,039. The Southern States rank in the following
order:—Tennessee has 394, "Virginia, 341; Kentucky, 275 ; North Carolina,
151; Alabama, 149; Missouri, 148 ; Georgia, 140 ; Maryland, 116 ; Mississippi,
92 ; South Carolina, 91 ; Arkansas, 51; and the other Southern States a less
number each. The entire capital invested in all the tanneries in the land is
$18,900,557, the number of skins in them being 2,658,065, and the number of
sides of leather counting up 12,257,940.




526

T he B ooh Trade.

THE BOOK TRADE.
1.— Abridgment of the Delates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856. By T homas H.
B enton, author of “ Thirty Tears’ View.” Vol. Y III. 8vo., pp. 757. New

York : D. Appleton & Co.
The eighth volume of this noble work is now given to the press and the public,
embracing the period from April, 1824, to the termination of the eighteenth
Congress, March, 1826. It covers the period of John Quincy Adams’ admin­
istration, and many of its debates are of an important character, containing
several of John Randolph’s most noted speeches, as well as Colonel Benton’s
celebrated speech before the United States Senate on the appointment of re­
presentatives to the Diplomatic Congress at Panama, and many questions of
international law regarding the position this country should assume with respect
to other States and nations on this continent. The Diplomatic Congress at
Panama, it will be remembered, was a call from the confederated republics of
South America for a general assembly of the representatives of free American
States to convene at Panama, having for its ostensible object the formation of a
league which w’ould unite in a closer bond of union all the different republics, but
in reality it was nothing more or less than a grand scheme of the liberator
Bolivar to enlist the growing power of this country in the cause of Colombia
and other South American States, in enabling them to make a more successful
stand against their common enemy, old Spain. The question, involving as it did
the neutrality laws of nations, at a time when party spirit was rampant, elicited
in its cause the greatest minds of the nation, and the debate must always retain
a permanent value from the ability which it developed, as well as the views of
national policy which it opened. True, the questions that arise from the inter­
course of the United States with the Spanish American States present them­
selves at this day in a somewhat different light from the above period, circum­
stances having so greatly changed ; but, as some one has said, “ right views of
the present come from knowledge and consideration of the past,” and hence they
should have great weight in pointing out the true position of this country in its
dealings with our South American neighbors. The statesmen who participated
in these events, and who have established for themselves an undying fame, have
now nearly all passed away, and there now remains but this record of the olden
time, so big with the destinies of nations.

2.— American Biographical

Series. Numbers 1, 2, and 3. Comprising the Lives
of Captain John Smith, General Israel Putnam, and Benedict Arnold. By
G eorge C anning H il l . Three volumes. 12mo., pp. 286, 270, 295. Boston:
E. 0. Libby & Co.

This new biographical series, which will comprise some ten volumes, lias been
designed by the author to furnish the youth of our day with an attractive collec­
tion, embracing the lives of a few of the most heroic and manly characters who
have made their deep and lasting mark upon the minds of the American people.
It is by such simple narratives as these that the characters of those who
have vividly impressed the times in which they lived, and shaped the mould of
great events, are, perhaps, revealed by minute details and personal sketches far
more clearly than by the more dignified and historic narrative, and so far the
author has succeeded in presenting to the youthful vision fresh, living pictures,
which must prove highly palatable to the taste of an intelligent boy, filled as
they are with the spirit of heroic adventure, while, at the same time, they possess
the additional charm of historical truth. A parent can scarcely do better than
to put into the hands of his children such attractive biographies as these, and
we congratulate both the author and the publishers upon the well-merited success
with which they have been thus far received.




T he B ooh Trade.

527

3. — History of Civilization in England.

r

By H enry T h o m a s B uckle. From
the second London edition. To which is added an alphabetical index. Yol.
I. 8vo., pp. 677. New York : D. Appleton & Co.
The large field covered by political economy has for long occupied the best
minds of every country ; but so varied are the opinions in regard to this specula­
tive science, without it be those great fundamental principles of morality of which
all moral systems are composed—to do good to others, to love your neighbor
as yourself, etc.— that with each successive generation, the opinions once popular
in every nation, as to those laws which should govern mankind, are displaced by
some new theory, and what at one period is denounced as a paradox, or heresy,
at another we are found hugging to our bosoms as sound, sober truth, only, in its
turn, to be replaced by some new novelty. Mr. Buckle, in dealing with his sub­
ject, the progressive civilization of old England, cannot be considered a treatise
on political economy, although in an investigation of this kind there is much
analogy, entering so largely as he does into the different elements and progress
of society, including in his scope the whole world, and at different epochs, when
every man was either a tyrant or slave, to that period when mankind began to
be imbued with a sense of their own rights, and to receive the image and
superscription of freedom, which remained for America to warm into life,
by declaring to the world, in words that can never die, that the true ob­
ject for the institution of all governments should be to secure the rights of the
people, and that from the people alone it derives its powers, and “ that whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the
people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda­
tions on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” Mr. Buckle treats his sub­
ject in the most able manner, displaying a highly cultivated mind, and a close­
ness of reasoning deserving of the highest praise. Indeed, it is long since we
have seen a work, judging from the first volume, which gives tokens of so much
promise. It is an English book, but in its reprint here, loses none of those
nice points in “ getting-up,” characteristic of English works, at the hands of
those enterprising publishers, Messrs. D. Appleton & Co.
4. — The Two Sisters.

By Mrs. E mma D. E. N. S outhworth, author of the
“ Lost Heiress,” “ Missing Bride,” “ Wife’s Yietory,” “ Curse of Clifton,” etc.
12mo., pp. 497. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brother.
Mrs. Southworth is one of the very few American women who have gained an
individuality among our female fiction writers. We have had, and have now,
many women of decided talent, but the number of those whose force of concep­
tion, knowledge of human nature, and powers of delineation fit them to grapple
with works of this sort, is comparatively' few. She has now given to the public
another of her entertaining stories in the “ Two Sisters,” which will be found
full of live characters, warm and brilliant in invention, and abounding in that
deep thought and rich pathos which lends a charm to all her pen-paintings, and
is a work which all may read with profit. Messrs. T. B. Peterson & Brother
have recently published a complete and uniform edition of all Mrs. Southworth’s
works, which will be seut to anyTplace in the United States on application.
5. — Men and Things; or Short Essays on Various Subjects. By J ames L.
B a k e r . 12mo., pp. 287. Boston : Crosby, Nichols & Co.
The most of these essays originally appeared in a daily paper, but the notice
which they attracted at the time has induced the author to give them a more
permanent form than that afforded by the columns of a newspaper, and we have
the neat volume before us. They embody much thought, showing the author to
be a profound thinker, as well as a good common-sense reasoner, and many of
the suggestions herein contained will be found eminently calculated to quicken
the mind of the general reader, if not furnish a few texts from which profitable
sermons may be preached. We see but one fault with them, and that is, we
think, they7 are too brief, when we consider the importance of the various sub­
jects treated on, and the material they must afford to a thinking mind like that
of Mr. Baker’s.




528

T he Booh Trade.

6. — T h e A g e ; a Colloquial Satire.

“ Festus.”

12mo., pp. 208.

By P hilip J ames B ailey , author of
Boston: Ticknor & Field.

W e have neither had the patience nor the time to wade through this satirical
production of Mr. Bailey’s, and are, therefore, not well qualified to say much
concerning it, more than that his shafts seem directed, pretty generally, at
humanity, occupying nearly every estate of human life. But we opine Mr.
Bailey has found it as hard to satirize well a man of distinguished vices, as to
praise well a man of distinguished virtues. For instance, the critics, those lam­
pooners, of whom he says—
“ Writers in whose narrow views
All high is false, all low life only true ;
Who own no taste as sound, nor purpose valid,
But what concerns the vile, or paints the squalid;
Profoundest sciolists, who proclaim with gravity,
That human nature simply means depravity.
Critics, whose lucubratious feast our eyes
In journals of the most portentious size ;
Who, ignorant of all but native graces,
Like leopards lick and paw each other’s faces.”
These are parlous words, Mr. Dissectors, and we advise you to take a back
seat forthwith, tor he is evidently after you with a sharp quill.
7. — Shamah in Pursuit of Freedom; or, the Branded Hand. Translated from
the original Showiah by an American citizen. 12mo., pp. 600. New York :
Thatcher & Hutchinson.
This narrative appears to be a series of letters by the chief of a tribe of Kabyles, who inhabit the high regions among the mountains of Algiers, addressed
to his brother, while on a tour of travel and adventure in the United States.
The translator says of this people, that morally and physically speaking, the
Kabylesare among the noblest in the world, imbued as they are with a passionate
love of liberty, which, though often assailed, has never yet been overthrown by
any neighboring power ; and of Shamah himself, that he is a self-made man,
opening rare and profound depths of thought, and sometimes even disturbing
deep fountains of wisdom, with no other guide than the few books that come
in his way to direct him. For ourselves, we can discover no such high attributes
in the chevalier, more than a somewhat musical flow of language, mixed up with
a great deal of unreal and high-wrought sentiment, which would go to proclaim
Shamah rather a clever Lothario than a practical philosopher, who views things
in the true light in which he finds them.
8.1—Courtship and Matrimony: with other Sketches from Scenes and Experi­
ences in Social Life, particularly adapted to Every-day Reading. By R obert
M orris . 12mo., pp. 508. Philadelphia : T. B. Peterson & Brother.
We have been most agreeably disappointed in our examination of this book,
supposing, from its title, it to be one of the many ephemeral publications that
have become so common on this and kindred subjects, whose wretched sophistry
is fruitful of the most pernicious influences ; but, on the contrary, we find it as
far from fraud as heaven is from earth, wrought in gold, breathing forth a spirit
of clear, common sense, and presenting life in its purest and most practical
aspects. It is in every respect a family book— one intended for every-day read­
ing—one which no family, especially those who have children growing up around
them, should be without— and one which cannot be perused without inspiring
more or less good feeling and sensible reflection in the minds of all who look
into it.