Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : October 1864, Vol. LI, No. IV

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THE

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
O C T O B E R , 1864.
THE NATIONAL DEBT AND NATIONAL RESOURCES.
T he payment of the National debt, which has now become so large,
and which is growing with such rapidity, is a subject of absorbing interest
to every one, and it is high time that the true principles of taxation, and
the real resources of the nation, out o f which it must be paid, should be
clearly understood. During the first years of the war it was deemed
patriotism to shut one’s eyes to the expense of it, and so hold out the idea
that the national resources were iuexhaustable. Hence any one bold
enough to raise his voice against .the financial policy pursued was con­
sidered disloyal, and debt, quadrupled by reason of paper money, was
pushed to the utmost limit. Now, however, the country is beginning to
see that patriotism consists, rather in battling this wasteful system, than
in abetting such measures as must exhaust the national resources before
the object of the war can be obtained. Yet the idea is still diligently in­
culcated by many, and believed by some, that the national means are ex­
haustless, and that the success of the war cannot be endangered by any
measure of extravagance and waste. Believing this error to be a danger­
ous, yes a fatal one—-that it would soon bring us to bankruptcy and
repudiation— we have done what we could, from time to time, to expose
it, and show the necessity of a speedy return to a sound basis. Yet the
Government paper issues are continued, and our debt is being multiplied
by reason of them in a fearful ratio, and this is permitted by the country
just because writers are found to flatter the people with the idea of our
inexhaustible resources.
This idea, too, is encouraged by the further one that a few weeks will
bring us peace and union again. Would to God that it might be s o !
but to manage our finances on the supposition that it will be, is, in the
light of the past three and a-half years, wild in the extreme. Yet these
twin errors— that the wealth o f the country is inexhaustible, and that
peace will very soon be declared— are deceptions that are helping one
another, and it' persisted in, and allowed to continue to give shape to our
financial policy, can bring nothing but disaster.
VOL. LI.----NO. V.




16

258

The National Debt and National Resources.

[October'

Let us, tben, for a few moments, look at this question of payment of
our national debt, and see out o f what it must be paid, if at all. And in
doing this we may repeat some things said in o'ur article o f last'month, in
reply to the correspondent o f the Times : but the subject is one o f so
much importance— involving really our national honor— and such incor­
rect notions are being disseminated by those who should know better,
that we deem it a sacred duty to the country to expose the fallacies of the
day.
The first great governing truth, then, we should remember, is that the
national debt must be paid out of the national income ; and the second is
that our national income consists in the amount produced by the indivi­
duals composing the nation, less the amount consumed by them. Hence,
therefore, the ability to pay cam be increased only by increasing the
amount produced, or decreasing the amount consumed. These proposi­
tions appear so plain and self-evident that one would think none could be
found to doubt them. Yet superficial thinkers, instead of enquiring into
the yearly income o f the nation, to see what we as a people can pay,
appeal to vague estimates o f the prospective value of mines and other pro­
perty, and start new theories, with the expectation o f obtaining two golden
eggs where there was but one before. One writer will thus point to our
mineral resources, and say, with apparent sincerity, is there not within
the very earth itself, many times the gold to pay our debt with ! Surely
there i s ; and the simple-minded man might also have added that the
earth contained a greater source o f wealth than even its gold— the rich­
ness enabling it to afford nourishment necessary for innumerable bushels
of wheat and corn and oats. But can we sell those crops before we have
raised them, or can we pay out the gold before it is mined? Further­
more, have we not been producing both gold and crops, heretofore, as fast
as we could, with the capital and labor we possessed? Bemember, too,
that this same gold and richness was there when the Continental
dollar was valueless; and for the same reason, the fact of their
being such wealth in the earth now, will never add a cent towards the
security of our debt, if the annual payments o f interest, &c., more than
equal the amount o f our national savings from these and other sources.
The mines are only o f value to the nation for the amount of wealth they
annually produce, over and above the expense o f production.
Other writers take the money value o f all the property in the country
as evidence of ability to pay, and the unthinking public are caught by
such a display.
Thus we are informed that although the debt is
$2,000,000,000, and may possibly be $4,000,000,000 before the war is
terminated, yet the wealth of the country is $16,159,000,000— meaning
the census value attached in 1860 to all the land, slaves, utensils, build­
ings, ships, machinery, waterfalls, factories, railroads, public debt, incor­
porate capital, &c., in the whole country. A Mr. W ells has recently
published a pamphlet called “ Our Burden and our Strength,” in which
he assumes that this nominal wealth is a means of paying the debt. Yet
there never was a conclusion more unsound. For instance, a little reflec­
tion will show any person that 4,000,000 black slaves, whose money value
is, by the census, $2,160,000,000 of the above aggregate, can in no man­
ner be applied to the payment of the public debt, except by the wealth
they may annually produce after paying out of it the cost of their support,




1864 .]

•

The National Debt and National Resources.

259

the expense o f the plantation, <fec. In some years there is no surplus, and
the planter’s capital is diminished; while in others there is much. But
for Mr. W ells, or anyone else, to parade the nominal money value o f
these blacks (one-eighth of the whole aggregate value) as a resource for
the payment of the debt now being contracted, is too much, we should
fancy, for the credulity of anyone.*
And if this is the case with the blacks, is it in any way different with
regard to the value of the lands they cultivate, which lands are also esti­
mated at $4,000,000,000, in this grand aggregate from the census of
$16,159,000,000 2 Clearly not. The only value o f those lands consists
in the annual production which the black labor draws from them. That
value, in 1S60, was, per census: Naval stores, $3,695,474 ; rice, $2,207,148 ;
tobacco, $21,074,038 ; sugar, 31,455,241 ; cotton, $204,128,493 : making
a total production of $262,560,394, by 4,000,000 slaves, or $65 64 per
head. But it costa $75 per annum to support the hand, and this, there­
fore, gives a loss o f $10, which is made up by other productions, such as
food, &c. In some years there is, no doubt, a surplus. But this is first
applicable (unless the plantation is to decrease in value each year) to the
improvement of land, the construction of fences and houses and roads, and
to the increase of machines, implements, furniture, & c.; and then the re­
maining balance is the fund out of which the payment of town, county,
state and federal taxes must be made. A t the North the value of land
has also acquired great proportions (and is so put down in the census es­
timate), because the labor of settlers, by the aid o f machinery, has drawn
from it a very large annual supply of produce; and out of the surplus,
after the support of the family, the repairs o f fences and buildings, their
extension, &c., have been defrayed. The nominal value of the land, from
which the produce has been drawn, is no more applicable to the payment
of the present debt, than it was to the expenses of the revolutionary war.
In this country almost within the memory o f some of its inhabitants,
the land (now thickly settled) has been a wilderness, but has gradually
been reclaimed from the domination of the savages by the patient indus­
try of poor emigrants. Most of these have gone on to land, which they
cleared and planted, suffering every privation until the first crojrs were
grown, and Indian corn has been the main dependence of them all. It
grew early and easily, and at once gave food to man and beast. The
* This same Mr. W ells , for the purpose of showing how little a burden the debt
ss, calls the amount of it $1,750,000,000, and.then says, it i9 only equivalent to $72 92
for each person. In other words, every family in the land (counting five to each
family) owed, through the general government, $364 60 when the debt was only
$1,750,000,000, and, on the first of January, will owe about $600. This at six per
cent would make $36 interest for each family to pay each year; and if we add to
this the probable peace expenses of the government (which we have Bhown would be
as much more), it would make $72 as the annual payment of each family to the
United States Government if the war was closed the first of January! Now, let Mr,
W ells da one more sum—let him tell us how many families there are in the country
able to pay $72 a year taxes—and if he does it correctly, he will find that he has
made the most discouraging and startling estimate of “ our burden and our strength ’ ’
any o f us have seen.




260

The National Debt and National Hesonrees.

[October,

patient settler was also enabled to save something of the first years eropand purchase comforts. Granin ally the log hut was changed for a “ shingle
palace.” Trees grew', eattle multiplied, and furniture was bought. In this
manner his industiy of many years at length gave an air of wealth about
him, because the land being productive, and there being no rent or taxes,
to pay, all his surplus went on to his farm in the way of improvements.
Thus the farm, which was worth nothing when he went upon it, is now es­
timated at a value of $10,000. The real value in a national point o f
view, however, consists only in the surplus the farmer sells. The most of
his year’s-labor is to provide food for his family ar.d animals, but whatever
surplus there is, if any, lie will sell, and with the proceeds improve hisfarm and purchase tea, coffee, clothing, and other supplies, and pay his
medical bills, local taxes, etc. The remainder, and only the remainder,
is a part of the national savings out of which the debt can be paid.
In like manner the railroads that cost $1,000,000,000, the ships that
cost $300,000,000, the buildings that cost an immense sum, the factories
full of machinery, are applicable to the payment of taxes only in so far as
their surplus profits go. That surplus has a well defined limit.
As one more instance, take the Illinois Central Railroad.
That
road is the result of three years labor of ten thousand men, representing
probably seven thousand families of five persons each. These families
consumed, while the work was in progress, three million bushels of grain,
and potatoes worth $4,000,000, and $500,000 worth of manufactures j
and the iron was bought with grain shipped to the extent of $4,000,000
more. Thus that road is the accumulation o f a large amount of land
products and labor, and in the census aggregate is put down at its full
cost. Evidently, however, it is not available for any purpose of taxation
beyond what its revenue will give above the expense o f working.
Thus we might go on indefinitely illustrating that it is only to this sur­
plus revenue, to the national income, we can look for the means to pay
our debt. It is worse than folly at such a time as this to parade the cen­
sus value of all this property, or to point to our mines and declaim upon
our boundless wealth. W e have been and are a greatly favored nation,
and unless production becomes so fettered by debt and taxation, as to pre­
vent our national growth, a future of great prosperity awaits us. But
from what we have already said it is evident there is a limit to our ability
to pay taxes. A child can see that if the poor emigrant, when he first
went on to his land, had been called upon to give any portion of bis first
years crop to the general government directly, or if he had been com­
pelled to give it indirectly, by reason of a tax on manufactures, which
would require him to pay an additional sum for his winter clothing, he
would have had less left to improve his new home with. And if those
taxes, direct or indirect, should become so heavy as to make it impossible
for him to pay them and spend anything on his land, bis enterprise would o f
necessity be soon given up. It becomes then a question of the first im­
portance how much interest can we meet without crippling production.
To measure accurately the net income of the nation is of course im­
possible, and yet through the census we can approximate sufficiently near
for the purposes of this inquiry. In our last number we gave the savings
of the Northern States up to 1860 at $2,632,709,497, from this we con­
cluded that the annual savings for the ten years, from 1850 to 1860,could




i'864.]

The National Debt and National Resources.

261

not have been more than $60,000,000 a year. Such then is probably the*
amount of the actual savings o f the Norther States in 1860. Of course,
however, it does not follow that we can pay but $60,000,000 additional
taxes, or that if the federal -taxes in these Northern States had amounted
to $60,000,000 more than they7 were in 1860, there would have been no
accumulation that year, since the necessity of paying sueh taxes would
have and will induce greater eeon >my. Economy, however, means d e - ■
■creased consumption, and must therefore react injuriously on production.
O f eourse if every man in saving money to pay his taxes buys one coat
less, there is so much less produced and also so much less profit to the
manufacturer and merchant. Economy, therefore, eauses not only de­
creased consumption but decreased production and decreased national pro­
fits. But to what extent that economy can be carried without destroying
the productive interests of the country is the important question.
W e have from the census report prepared with great care the following
table of the probable profits of the whole country from all sources during
I8 6 0 :
NATIONAL PROFITS BURIN-Q I 8 6 0 .

From agricultural productions.................................................. ............
From industrial products................................ .......................................
For stocks except manufacturing whieli are included above............
For mines, fisheries, and carrying trade....................... ...................

$100,000,000
125,000,000
55,000,000
50,000,000

Total profits North and Sou th ................................... ..................

$330,000,000

This is the fund out of whieh the farmer buys his clothing and agricul­
tural implements, repairs and enlarges his buildings, and pays his taxes.
And in 1860, as we have stated above, all of this sum that was earned
in the Northern States was thus and otherwise expended, except $60,000,000
which was laid up. To this fund, then, and this aloue we must look to pay
•our debt. The strictest economy could not increase our tax paying ability
beyond the amount of these profits. Besides, out o f them must first be
allowed sufficient for the eramigraut to buy the necessary farming im­
plements and improve his farm, or, as we stated before, he will soon give
up his enterprize; and all classes will require sufficient of their income
left them to provide for their family wants, or their labor will be in vain.
The balance, after paying these necessary expenses, measures the extent
to which economy may be carried. Is then this fund sufficient to allow
ifs to throw away anything more by further uses of paper money? And
do not these figures furnish a sad commentary on the acts of those, who
have heedlessly increased our debt, yes wasted our resources, and are still
doing so, by their paper issues ?
The expenses of Government after peace is restored were estimated by
Mr. C ease in his last annual report, page 12, at $178,838,010, as follows :
Interest........................................................
Civil service......................... ......................................* . .........................
Army and nary......................................................................................
T o t a l................................................................

$85,587,616
37,604,499
55,845,834
$ 1 7 8 ,8 3 8 ,0 10

These estimates are however clearly unreliable. The debt is now
$2,000,000,000, and will be at least $2,500,000,000 by the first of Janu­




262

[October,

The Commercial Progress and Resources

ary. If, therefore, we have peace at that time the annual expenses o f
Government would be about as follows if our finances were ably managed :
Interest on tbe debt at six per cent.................................. . v , „ .
The pension list will now reach at least........................................
Army and navy....................................................................................
Civil service........................................................
Total..........................................................

$150,000,000
50,000,000
15,000,000
35,000,000
$310,000,000

These estimates of. the expenses of the Government after the war are,
we believe, less than can be expected without the strictest economy. Then,
besides this, we have largely increased city, county, town, and'State taxes.
An idea of the extent o f this latter burden may be gathered from the ex­
pense of raising this last call o f five hundred thousand men ; cities and
counties having paid a bounty of from $500 to $1,000 for each man. If
we estimate the average bounty paid at only $000, we have an aggregate
debt o f $300,000,000 incured for this one purpose.
Thus we see that if the war is closed by the first of January, there will
be from three to four hundred million dollars of taxes to be paid without
mentioning the amount required for the sinking fand. Previous to the
war we paid in taxes about $10,000,000, leaving at least $300,000,000;
additional to be raised hereafter out of our national income simply to pay
our current expenses and interest.
To add to the force of these figures would be impossible. They speak
more earnestly than anything we could say of the wretchedness o f our
past policy and the importance of the future. Clearly our resources are
not inexhaustible, and he who preaches such a doctrine is, we had almost
said, the worst enemy the country can have ; for,he encourages a system
that can but lead to national dishonor.

THE COMMERCIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES OF CENTRAL BR ITISH
AM ERICA.
THE LAKE WINNIPEG AND SASKATCHEWAN DISTRICTS.
By H eney Y oule H ind , M.A., F.RG.S., Trinity College, Toronto. (Read befora
the Statistical Society of London, 19th January, 1864.)
[C ontinued yeom P age 192.]

VI.— Communication with Central British America.
The questions which relate to the facilities for communication between
the Lake Winnipeg basin and this country, through British or American
territory, and the extension of that communication across the Continent
to the Pacific, may now be discussed.
It has already been stated that, with the single exception o f 200 miles*
of road traversed by well appointed stage coaches, the communication




1864.]

263

O f Central British America.

from Liverpool to Fort Garry, or indeed t'ue grand falls of the Saskatch­
ewan, can be made by steam.
The successive steps in this route are as follows :
Days.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Liverpool to Quebec, steamer........................................................
Quebec to La Orosse, railway
................................................
La Crosse to St. Paul, steamer.......................................................
St. Paul to Fort Abercrombie, stages...........................................
Fort Abercrombie to Fort Garry, steamer....................................

10
3
14
3J
4
22

The following route is also practicable :
1. Liverpool to Superior City by steamer.
2. Superior City to Fort Abercrombie, road.
3. Fort Abercrombie to Fort Garry, steamer.

The present difficulty of this route is the nature of the road between
Superior City and Crow W ing, which, being cut through a wooded coun­
try, is still, in the language of the country, rather “ rough” as yet.
The next link in a route across the Continent is from Fort Garry to the
New Westminster, in British Columbia. And in order to illustrate the
singular and wholly unexpected topographical facilities which exist in the
basin of Lake Winnipeg, the Rocky Mountains, and British Columbia for
commercial intercourse, I shall venture to describe, in as brief a manner
as possible, the journey o f the Canadian emigrants o f 1862 through that
vast extent o f country. My brother, Mr. W ii .liam H ind, who accom­
panied me on an exploration into the interior of the Labrador Peninsula
in 1861, went with this party for the express purpose of sketching the
passes through the Rocky Mountains and all natural features on the line
of route.
VII.— The Canadian Emigrant Route across the Continent.
The Canadian emigrant party assembled at Fort Garry in June, 1862,
travelling thither by Detroit, La Crosse, St. Paul, and Fort Abercrombie,
by rail, stage and steamer. At Fort Garry they separated into two par­
ties ; the first division contained about one hundred emigrants, the second
division, sixty-five persons in all. The first party took the northern route,
by Carlton to Edmonton, the second, the southern trail. A t Edmonton
they all changed their carts for horses and oxen, and went thence in a
straight line to the Leather Pass (lat. 54°), through which they took 130
oxen and about 10 horses. They suddenly found themselves-on the head
waters of the Frazer river, and so gentle was the ascent that the only
means they had of knowing they had passed the divided ridge of the
Rocky Mountains was by unexpectedly observing the waters of the rivers
flowing to the westward. When in the mountains, they killed a few oxen
for provisions; others were sold to the Indians at Tbte Jaune Cache, on
the Frazer, and others were rafted down the Frazer to the forks o f the
Quesnelle.
At Tete Jaune Cache a portion of the party separated from the rest,
and, with fourteen horses, went across the country, by an old well-worn
trail, to Thompson’s River, and thus succeeded in taking their horses from
Fort Garry, through the Rocky Mountains, through a supposed impassable




264

The Commercial Progress and Resources

[October,

part of British Columbia, to the wintering station on Thompson’s River
lor the pack animals of the British Columbia gold seekers. With this
party of more than 150 people were a woman and three little children.
The little children were well cared for, for the emigrants took a cow with
them, and these infant travellers were supplied with-milk all the way on
their long journey to the Leather Pass in the Rocky Mountains. I look
upon the successful journey of the Canadian emigrants o f 1862, across the
Continent, as an event in the history of Centra! British America of unex­
ampled importance. It cannot fail to open the eyes of all thinking men
to the singular natural features of the country which formed the scene of
this remarkable journey. Probably there is no other continuous stretch
of country in the world, exceeding 1,600 miles in length, and wholly' in a
state of nature, which it would be possible for 150 people, including a
woman and three children, to traverse during a single short season, and
successfully, and, indeed, easily overcome such apparently formidable ob­
stacles as the Rocky Mountains have been supposed to present.
The Leather or Miette Pass lies in latitude 54°, and has long been
known to the employes of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and is called by
them the “ Old Columbia Trail” or “ Jasper Pass.” It will be observed
that it forms an immediate and direct connection with the great artery o f
British Columbia, namely, the Frazer river. The other passes to the
south connect with the Columbia river, which flows for many hundred
miles through Washington territory. It will not fail to be noticed, too,
that the existence of this route, via the Leather Pass, has only very re­
cently appeared on published maps. It is shown on A rrowsmith ’ s map
of British Columbia, published in 1860, but the success with which its
long established connection with the Frazer was concealed by the late
Hudson’s Bay Company is a singular instance of the unity of purpose
which has pervaded all the actions of that powerful corporation, during
their long tenure of absolute control over a portion of British America,
containing more land suitable for the abode o f man than the province of
Canada itself, and which has already cost in its defence from agression
many millions of money and many thousands of lives. It seems remark­
able that the Leather Pass, and its easy connection with the Frazer river-,
escaped the attention of the exploring party sent by the British Govern*
ment, under Captain P alliser , in 1857, 1858 and 1859. If the existence
of this unobstructed communication between the Athabaska valley and
British Columbia had been made known to the world as one of the results
of that expedition, probably long ere this the British Government would
have taken measures to establish a separate Government in Central Bri­
tish America, and open a communication across the Continent through
British territory. Dr. H ector actually passed the “ Old Columbia Trail,”
but neither his guides nor the people at St. Ann’s or-Edmonton appear to
have informed him of its existence. Fortunately the Leather Pass has
now been traversed by men, a woman, children, and numerous oxen and
horses. The.Frazer river has been safely descended for 400 miles from
its source, in canoes and on rafts, by a very numerous party, and it has
been ascended in a boat from Cariboo to the Tete Jaune Cache; and from
this last-named place there is a well known trail for horses to the Thomp­
son’s river, and thence to New Westminster, which has also been travers­
ed by Canadian emigrants with horses; and more recently, according to




1S6 4.]

265

O f Central British America.

Victoria papers, b y Lord M ilto n ", with thirteen horses. The difficulties o f
the Rocky Mountains have, in great part, melted away, and .the “ impos­
sibilities” of the overland route have vanished, just as the “ uninhabitable
deserts and swamps” of the Saskatchewan have given place to boundless
fertile prairies, which will probably become— even in our generation— the
seat of an enterprising and prosperous people.
VIII.— Comparison between British and United States Routes .across the
Continent.
Not only is the track of the Canadian emigrants suggestive as to the
nature of the country they traversed so easily, but in comparison with the
explored routes for a Pacific railway within the limits o f the United States
it assumes a new importance. The present President o f the Southern
States, when Mr. Secretary D a v is , summed up the comparisons o f the
different routes in the United States, as regards the character of the coun­
try they traverse. The following is an abbreviation o f the summary :
Miles.

Route near the 47th and 49th parallels, from St. Paul to )
Vancouver................................................................................)
Number of miles through arable land..............................................
Number o f miles through land generally uncultivable, arable )
soil being found in small a rea s............................................ )

1,864
374
1,490

The greatest number of miles o f route through arable land on any one
of the lines surveyed is 670 miles, in a distance of 2,290 miles. The least
number of miles of route through generally uncultivable soil is 1,210, on
a line of 1,618 miles in length, near the 32nd parallel.
From the Lake of the Woods, or from Pembina, a line in British terri­
tory instead of passing through a desert incapable of supporting human
life, would traverse a fertile, belt o f country, averaging 100 miles in
breadth, fully able to sustain five times as many people as Canada now
possesses, and leading directly towards the lowest and by far the most
facile pass in the Rocky Mountains.
The arid region o f the Missouri valley commences west o f the 100th
degree of longitude divides the United States into two nearly equal parts
on the 40th parallel o f latitude. The eastern half is the present fertile
and peopled part of the country. The western half is a comparative de­
sert all the way to the Pacific.* It is in comparison with this immense
* The cause of the aridity and unfitness for settlement of fully one-third of the
United States has been ably discussed by distinguished meteorologists. This remark'
able feature, extending over a portion of the American continent within the limits of
the United States of more than 1,000,000 square miles in area, is highly important
in relation to the valley o f the south branch of the Saskatchewan, to a large part of
which the same peculiarity belongs. The physical geography o f the arid region in
the United States has been very admirably described by Dr. J oseph H enry .*
* “ Meteorology in its Connection with Agriculture,” by Professor J oseph H enry ,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.




266

The Commercial Progress and Resources

[October,

desert that the fertile belt at the edge of the woods, stretching in the
Saskatchewan valley from the Late o f the W oods to the Rocky Moun­
tains, stands out in such surprising contrast. The*cause of this exceptional
character is, in great part, due to the drift deposits which cover the fertile
belt. There is, therefore, a geological as well as a climatological reason.
Sixty thousand square miles of arable land in Central British America
mark out the true pathway across the Continent, which alone is capable
o f sustaining an efficient means of communication, whether in the form of
a stage road or ultimately of a railway, by the growth o f a local popula­
tion. But the favorable comparison does not rest here. The mountain
region, which offers such a difficult barrier to communication between the
Pacific and the valley o f the Mississippi, possesses peculiarities in British
America which are in themselves of a very striking character, and quite
sufficient to establish the line of route, cutting diagonally the 50th, 51st,
52nd and 53rd parallels, as far superior in point o f physical conformation

“ The general character o f the soil between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic
is that of great fertility, and as a whole, in its natural condition, with some exceptions
at the west, is well supplied with timber. The portion also on the western side o f
the Mississippi, as far as the 98th meridian, including the States of Texas, Louisiana,
Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, and portions of the territory of Kansas and
Nebraska, are fertile, though abounding in prairies and subject occasionally to
droughts But the whole space to the west, between the 98th meridian and the
Rocky Mountains, denominated the Great American plains, is a barren waste over
which the eye may roam to the extent of the visible horizon with scarcely an object
to break the monotony.
“ From the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, with the exception of the rich but nar­
row belt along the ocean, the country may also be considered, in comparison with
other portions of the United States, a wilderness unfitted for the uses o f the husband­
man ; although in some of the mountain valleys, as at Sal^Lake, by means of irriga­
tion, a precarious supply of food may be obtained sufficient to sustain a considerable
population, provided they can be induced to submit to privations from which Ameri­
can citizens generally would shrink. The portions of the mountain system further
south are equally inhospitable, though they have been represented to be of a different
character. In traversing this region, whole days are frequently passed without meet­
ing a rivulet or spring of water to slake the thirst of the weary traveler.
“ W e have stated that the entire region west of the 98 th degree of west longitude >
with the exception o f a small portion o f Western Texas and the narrow border along
the Pacific, is a country of comparatively little value to the agriculturist; and, per­
haps, it will astonish the reader if we direct his attention to the fact that this line,
which passes southward from Lake Winnipeg to the Gulf of Mexico, will divide the
whole surface of the United States into two nearly equal parts. This statement,
when fully appreciated, will serve to dissipate some of the dreams which have been
considered as realities as to the destiny o f the western part of the North American
continent. Truth, however, transcends even the laudable feelings of pride of coun­
tr y ; and in order properly to direct the policy of this great confederacy, it is neces­
sary to be well acquainted with the theatre on which its future history is to be
enacted, and by whose character it will mainly be shaped.”




267

O f Central British America.

to any other lines o f route which have been explored in British America
or the United States.*
The candid opinion o f Professor J oseph H enry regarding the adapta­
tion of a large portion of the United States for settlement is confirmed
and strengthened by the following excellent summary, from the pen of
Major E mory of the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission.
It will at once occur to the reader that a knowledge of these facts gives
great additional value to the truly fertile valleys of Red River, the Assinniboine, part of the Qu’appelle, and portions of the south and north
branches of the Saskatchewan. It determines also the direction in which
efforts should be made to people this great wilderness, and guide the pro­
gress of settlement in such a manner as will render the country available
for that grand desideratum, a route across the Continent:
“ In the fanciful and exaggerated description given by many o f the character of the
western half of the Continent, some have no doubt been influenced by a desire to
favor particular routes of travel for the emigrants to follow ; others by a desire to
commend themselves to the political favor of those interested in the settlement and
sale of the lands ; but much the greater portion by estimating the soil alone, which is
generally good, without giving due weight to the infrequency of rains, or the absence
of the necessary humidity in the atmosphere, to produce a profitable vegetation. But
be the motive what it may, the influence has been equally unfortunate by directing
legislation and the military occupation of the country, as if it were susceptible of con­
tinuous settlement from the peaks of the Alleghannies to the shores of the Pacific.
“ Hypothetical geography has proceeded far enough in the United States. In no
country has it been carried to such an extent, or been attended with more disastrous
* Table of comparison between the different passes in the Rocky Mountains, in the
United States and in British territory, north o f latitude 38° :

Altitude of Pass.
Feet.

United States—
Surveyed route between the 38th and 39th parallels of latitude..
Route between the 41st and 42nd parallels........................................
• 47th and 49th
British territory—
,
Kananaski Pass, from the South Saskatchewan to the Kootanie )
river.................................................................................................. )
Kicking Horse Pass, from South Saskatchewan to the Columbia..
Vermillion Pass, from the South Saskatchewan to the Kootanie )
river.................................................................................................. J
“ Old Columbia Trail,” or Leather Pass, from the Athabaska to )
the Frazer— the Canadian emigrant route— probably below, j

10,032
8,373
6,044

6,985
6,420
4,944
4,500

The breadth of country forming a continuous mountain region is far greater in the
United States than in British America. The United States is crossed by three great
systems of mountains, extending generally from north to south. The first system,
beginning with the Sierra Madre, and terminating in the Black Hills of Nebraska
territory, is partially gorged by the Rio Grande, completely cut through by the North
Platte and the Sweet Water Rivers, and turned by the Missouri. It does not extend
into British America. The total breadth of mountainous country, in the proper
acceptation o f the term, within the limits of the United States, vanes from 500 to
900 miles. In British Columbia, the distance is not more than 380 miles from the
Leather Portage to the Pacific, and the distance, in an air line from the Leather
Portage to the extremity of Belhoula inlet, the possible terminus, o f a route, does not
exceed 400 miles.




268

The Commercial Progress and Resources

[October,

consequences. This pernicious system was commenced under the eminent auspices of
Baron H umboldt, who, from a few excursions into Mexico, attempted to figure the
whole North American Continent. It has been followed by individuals to carry out
objects of their own. In this way it has come to pass that, with no other evidence
than that furnished by a party of persons travelling on mule back, at the top of their
speed, across the Continent, the opinion of the country has been held in suspense upon
the subject of the proper route for a railway, and even a preference created in the
public mind in favor of a route which actual survey has demonstrated to be the most
impracticable o f all the routes between the 49th and 32nd parallels of latitude. On
the same kind of unsubstantial information, maps of the whole Continent have been
produced and engraved in the highest style of art, and sent forth to receive the patron­
age of Congress, and the applanse of geographical societies at home and abroad,
while the substantial contributors to accurate geography have seen their works pilfer­
ed and distorted, and themselves overlooked and forgotten.
*
*
*
“ The plains or basins which I have described as occurring in the mountain system,
are not the great plains of North America which are referred to so often in the news­
paper literature of the day, in the expressions, ‘ News from the Plains,’ 4Indian De­
predations on the Plains,’ tfec^
“ The term ‘ plains,’ is applied to the extensive inclined surface reaching from the
base of the Rocky Moutains to the shores of the Gulf o f Mexico and the valley of the
Mississippi, and form a feature in the geography of the western country as notable as
any other. Except on the borders of the streams which traverse the plains in their
course to the valley of the Mississippi, scarcely anything exists deserving the name of
vegetation. The soil is composed of disintegrated rocks, covered by a loam an inch
or two in thickness, which is composed of the exuvire of animals and decayed vege­
table matter.
“ The growth on them is principally a short but nutritious grass, called buffalo grass
(Sysleria JDyctaloides). A narrow strip of alluvial soil, supporting a coarse glass and
a few cotton wood trees, marks the line of the watercourses, which are themselves
sufficiently few and far between.
“ Whatever may be said to the contrary, these plains west of the 100th meridian
are wholly unsusceptible of sustaining an agricultural population, until you reach suf­
ficiently far south to encounter the rains from the tropics.
“ The precise limits of these rains I am not prepared to give, but think the Red
River (of Louisiana) is, perhaps, as far north as they extend. South of that river the
plains are covered with grass of larger and more vigorous growth. That which is
most widely spread over the face cf the country is the grama or mezquite grass, of
which there are many varieties. This is incomparably the most nutritious grass
known.” *

IX .— Communication between Canada and Central British America.
In Canada we are separated from the fertile part of Central British
America by six degrees o f longitude, which must be traversed before we
can reach the edge of the fertile belt. This barrier has frequently been
upheld as an insuperable objection to a practicable commercial communi­
cation between Canada and Central British America, in the absence of
correct knowledge o f the physical features of the country. The utmost
length of the barrier which requires the construction o f a road scarcely
exceeds 200 miles. From its western extremity there is an unobstructed
navigation, with but one break, to the edge of the fertile prairies of Central
British America via Rainy River and the Lake of the W oods; and its
eastern extremity is connected uninterruptedly with the sea by the great
lakes and the St. Lawrence. The highest point over which the road from
* “ Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, made under the
direction o f the Secretary o f the Interior,” by W illiam H. E mory , Major First Cavalry
and United States’ Commissioner. Washington, 1846, pp. 43-47.




1804.]

Of Central British America.

209

Lake Superior to the northern indent of Rainy Lake must pass is not 900
feet above Lake Superior ; and for the first 30 miles it would traverse a
country susceptible o f tillage for several miles on either side, and part of
it already occupied by settlers. Then follows a sudden rise, marked by
the great drift bank of D og Lake, which forms the eastern limit of a driftcovered country stretching in a north-east and south west direction, and
having a breadth of about 90 miles where the road would cross it. This
accumulation of drift covers the height o f land to a depth certainly ex­
ceeding 150 feet, as shown by the hills at the summit level at Prairie
Portage, 885 feet above Lake Superior, and the highest point on the line
of road. There are no serious physical impediments to overcome between
Lake Superior and the northern indent of Rainy Lake, either for a wag­
gon road or a railway; and this short link of 200 miles completed, the
distance between Fort William on Lake Superior and the commencement
of the arable prairies o f the valley of Red River would be reduced to 200
miles of road or railroad, and 180 miles o f steam navigation. Hete, then,
we see no formidable impediments, which an impression derived from the
custom of traversing the country in canoes through the rocky channels of
rapid rivers or hill-embosomed lakes had created in the minds of the few
who have traversed that region;— impressions which have been too
readily accepted by the public at a time when no particular commercial
interests were at stake, except those of the fur trade, and when a policy
diametrically opposed to that now entertained by the existing Hudson’s
Bay Company was pursued with singular success by their predecessors.
X .— Communication via Hudson’s Bay.
In contemplating the future of Central British America one important
feature appears to be neglected, if not entirely overlooked. W hile Lake
Winnipeg is 2,500 miles from the sea board of the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and lies exactly in the centre of the American Continent under the 51st
parallel, its northern extremity is only 380 miles from the tide waters of
Hudson’s Bay.
• The mouth of the Saskatchewan is as near to the open sea as Fort Garry
is to the western extremity of Lake Superior. The passage from Norway
House, at the northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg, to Hudson’s Bay is
made in nine days with loaded boats. It is not unreasonable to suppose
that by the introduction of tramways over the portages the journey may
be made in four days, thus bringing Lake Winnipeg within four days o f
the sea, yet the nature o f the communication now followed is such that it
would not admit of vessels much larger than freighters’ boats being em­
ployed. The navigation of Hudson’s Bay for sailing vessels is safe for a
period not exceeding six weeks— for steamers it may be double that time.
Hitherto the mode of communication adopted by the fur traders between
Norway House and Hudson’s Bay has been sufficient for the exigencies o f
the fur trade; it is not at all improbable that more easy means of com­
munication with the sea board exists than those which are now pursued.
Under any circumstances it is a fact of the highest importance that Lake
Winnipeg is actually within a week’s journey of the ocean, over a natural
road by which troops have already entered and departed from Central
British America. It is more than probable that whenever the necessity
arises, the communication between Lake Winnipeg and Hudson’s Bay,




270

The Commercial Progress and Resources

[October,

and thence to the Atlantic, by the aid of steamers, will be made easy and
speedy for at least three months in the year.
The outlet by which the waters of the Saskatchewan and Lake Winni­
peg reach the sea is Nelson River. The chief reason which induces the
Hudson’s Bay Company to send their cargoes o f furs to York Factory by
Hayes River is stated to be the difficulties and dangers o f the tracking
ground on the banks of Nelson River, arising from impending masses of
ice on the precipitous banks. The head of tide-water in Nelson River
may yet become the seat o f the Archangel of Central British America,
and the great and ancient Russian northern port— at one time the sole
outlet of that vast empire— find its parallel in Hudson’s Bay.
X I.— N o other Area suitable f o r Extensive Settlement in British America
besides the Lake Winnipeg and Saskatchewan Districts.
Let it be observed that one great fact can be no longer overlooked,
viz., that there is no other unoccupied part o f North America, “ whatever
may be said to the contrary,” other than the Lake Winnipeg' and the
Saskatchewan districts, where the establishment and growth of a new
ration is possible. The same aridity which .renders the United States a
desert west of the 100th degree of longitude converts many of their great
rivers, so prominently marked on the maps, into detached ponds during
the summer season,* while the Saskatchewan, which flows from west to
east across the basin of Lake Winnipeg, is navigable far above Carlton
during six weeks in the year for steamers of shallow draught ; in spring
and autumn it is not navigable further than Carlton. It is important to
bear in mind that the Saskatchewan attains its maximum in July, and
before and after that mouth its waters are considerably lower than during
its summer rise.” This fact will account for the difficulties in uavigating the Saskatchewan, which have been described by travellers as occur­
ring in the spring or autumn, Aeftwe the melting snows of the mountains
reach Edmonton, or after they have passed it on their way to the sea.
X II.— The Progress o f Minnesota, Dekoiah and Nebraska.
The State of Minnesota and the territories o f Dakotah and Nebraska
border on the districts of Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan. Min­
nesota was organized as a territory in 1849, admitted into the Union as
a State in 1857, and, with an area of 83,531 square miles, it has now a
population exceeding 200,000 souls.f The census valuation of the real
and personal property in the State in 1860 was $52,294,413. The State
income for eleven months in 1861 was $106,462, and the expenditure for
the same period was $110,732.
In 1863 the projected railroads in this frontier State extended over
1,167 miles, and the sum already expended on them at that date (1st
January, 1863), was $3,200,000.J The quantity o f wheat produced in
* See papers by Dr. J osefh H enry , Secretary of Smithsonian Institution, and by
Major E mory , o f the Mexican Boundary Survey, on this subject- These papers are
published in the “ Transactions of the Smithsonian Institute,” and in the “ Report of
Mexican Boundary Survey.” See also Reports of the Pacific Railway, and Lieutenant
■Warren's exploration in Nebraska and Dakotah.
f 173,855 by the census of 1860.
\ “ American Railroad Journal.”




1864.]

271

O f Central British America.

1860 was 5,101,432 bushels, nearly 3,000,000 bushels of oats, and
3,143,577 bushels of Indian corn.
The contribution of Minnesota to the volunteer army has already
reached the following large numbers:—
Number of
Men.

10 regiments of infantry................................................ ..
1 regiment and 3 companies of cavalry.............................
2 batteries of artillery...........................................................
2 companies of sharpshooters...............................................

9,065
1,485
212
195

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

10,957
•

These men have all engaged for three years, or for the war. The total
number of forces Minnesota has sent into the field since the commence­
ment of the war amounts to 11,887 men. Such are the resources of the
new State of Minnesota, bordering on the Lake Winnipeg district.
Twelve years since it was for the most part an uninhabited wilderness;
now it has sent an army of nearly 12,000 men into the field.
Dakotah territory, which lies west of Minnesota and whose northern
boundary is conterminous with part of the districts in British America
referred to in this paper, was organized in 1861. Its area is 325,000
square miles.' Much o f it lies within the limits o f the American desert,
and will never be peopled with white men. It contains a population of
44,501, o f which 39,664 are Indians.
Nebraska territory lies west of Dakotah; in 1860 its population *vas
28,841, besides 5,072 Indians. The aridity of this territory will for ever
prevent it from assuming any great commercial or political importance.
X III.— Indian Population ia Central British America.
Great misapprehension exists as to the numbers of the Indian popula­
tion of Rupert’s Land. They do not exceed 40,000 in all. The number
inhabiting the prairies and plains o f the Lake Winnipeg and Saskatch­
ewan districts do not exceed 20,000 at the present time. Under proper
management the Indian would become the most useful and tractable pro­
tectors of a telegraph line. Once impressed with the idea that it is some­
thing supernatural, they would cherish it, protect it, and reverence it as
a “ manitou,” or superior spirit, exercising a control over their fortunes
and even lives.
X IY .— General View o f British America.
The total population of British America at the present moment approaches
four millions, and the quantity of land available fo r agricultural purposes
is approximately 267,000 square miles— or more than twice the area of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and equal to France
(including Corsica), Belgium, Holland, and Portugal combined.

New Brunswick..............................................
Nova Scotia and the Island of Cape Breton
Newfoundland................................................
Prince Edward Island....................................
_ Total area................... .




—
—

—
■

-----

Area
in Square
Miles.
27,620
18,600
36,000
2,133

Estimated
Population,
January, lbtii.
295,UOO
352,000
140,000
95,000

84,353

882,000

272

Progress and Resources o f Central British America. [October,

Estimated area available for agricultural
purposes......................................................
Upper Canada................................................
Lower
“
................................................
Estimated area available for agricultural
settlement....................................................
Basin of Lake Winnipeg and Valley of the
River Athabaska........................................
[Exclusive of Indian population, 40,000.]
Estimated area available for agricultural
settlement............................. -......................
British Columbia and Vancouver’s Island..
[Exclusive of Indian population, 60,000.]
Assumed area suitable for agricultural purposes..................... ....................................
Total area...........................
Estimated area available for agricultural
purposes ., ...................................................

62,000

—

—

140,000
200,000

1,520,000
1,200,000

400,000

15,000

_

_

210,000

50,000

1,034,353

3,667,800

—

—

90,000

95,000

___
30,000

_
267,000

—

—

Or about nine times tbe area of Great Britain and Ireland. But throwing
out what may be called the inferior and desert portion of this immense
territory, we find the area of the agricultural portion to be approximately
267,000 square miles, or as large as France, Holland and Denmark put
together, with an aggregate population approaching fou r millions.
Six years only have elapsed since public attention in England and
America was first directed to the Lake Winnipeg and Saskatchewan dis­
tricts. During that period not only has satisfactory evidence been obtain­
ed of the existence o f mineral wealth, in the form of coal, iron ores, salt,
and gold, but there are good scientific grounds for the belief that the
original matrix of the auriferous drift will be found to extend far north of
the Saskatchewan district, towards and perhaps beyond Lake Athabaska.
The Hudson’s Bay Company, in the recent report of the committee, state
that “ they are prepared to meet the wishes of Her Majesty’s Government
and the spirit of the times, by assisting in the settlement o f any portion
o f the territory which may be fit for it, or by facilitating the transmission
o f intelligence by post or telegraph, and aiding general communication
where it may be practicable to do so.”
W h o can forsee tbe importance, or estimate the value of telegraphic
communication with our Pacific posts, now that the British Pacific fleet
finds a suitable station in our own territory ? Now that British Columbia
has assumed the position of a gold-exporting colony, and that numerous
parties of gold-seekers from the Pacific Slope have already passed to the
east side of the Rocky Mountains, and invaded the Saskatchewan valley,
like the Indian o f American pre-historic times, coming from the west.
From private inquiries which have been made to me recently, I am
impressed with the conviction that many of the most prominent citizens
in Minnesota are fully alive to the vast importance o f the Winnipeg and
Saskatchewan districts, and they will spare neither energy or money to
continue and increase their commercial intercourse with them. On the
boundary line, their military post, Pembina, 65 miles from Fort Garry, is
now occupied with United States troops, numbering 350 men. While
these will insure the preservation of order among the Indian tribes which




1864.]

The Sandwich Islands.

273

have so recently disturbed the frontier settlements in Minnesota, they will
familiarize the Red River people, now numbering 10,000 souls, with all
the advantages of commercial intercourse.
I have refrained from making any allusion to the fur trade, which has
so long been a source o f wealth to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The dis­
tricts in which that lucrative trade can be carried on with increasing
profit under judicious management, lie wholly beyond the area whose
resources form the subject o f this paper. W ith prompt and energetic
action on the part of those who in a measure rule the destinies of this
valuable portion of the empire, Central British America will rapidly ac­
quire an important commercial and political status, independently o f its
being the high road for postal and telegraphic communication between
the Atlantic and the Pacific, lying wholly within the jurisdiction and
influence of British rule.

TIIE

SANDWICH

ISLANDS.*

KUJIBER ! ¥ .— KILAUEA.
H. B. A.

K ilauea , the largest active crater in the world, is in the district o f
Puna, on the sputh-east coast of Hawaii, and distant from the Bay of
Hilo about twenty-nine miles. It has been scientifically described by the
officers o f the United States Exploring Expedition of 1840, and frequent
accounts have been given by visitors at various periods since, no two o f
which are alike, so frequent and radical are the changes in its appear­
ance.
The ascent, although fatiguing, is not a matter of extraordinary diffi­
cult)-, and is made in a single day, the elevation being only about four
thousand feet above the sea. The native guides, walking beside the
horses of visitors, can reach the crater in about twelve hours, although
they carry heavy loads, swung in calabashes on poles— a la Chinois.
The road for the first three miles from Hilo leads among ferns of all
shapes and sizes. There is a collection o f these ferns in the Museum of
Oahu College at Punahou, near Honolulu, which embraces upwards of
one hundred and fifty specimens. The variety and size of the ferns on
the road to Kilauea, and the tropical luxuriance of their growth, suggests
the rapidity with which the soil of lava islands has been formed. Myriads
of these plants die annually, and go to enrich the soil, and as they die a
* The articles, which we have published, of this series (full of valuable information
pleasantly conveyed) have been, as it were, preliminary to an article we shall publish
in our next number, on the “ Sandwich Islands and their Sugar Crop,” to which we
would call particular attention. The interest of the United States in the Hawaiian
Islands must increase each succeeding year as their capabilities and resources become
better known, and the importance to our Pacific Coast o f the position they hold is
more fully realized.— E d. “ B ust ’s M ebchants’ Magazine.”
VOL. LI.----NO. V.




17

274

The Sandwich Islands.

[October,

fresh growth is following from their roots, so that the face of the country
is always green, while below the leafy sward, that at the distance of six or
eight feet from the ground is spread over everything, are vast masses of de­
cayed and decaying vegetable matter. The growth o f ferns has evidently
been the first throughout these lava islands, although in the older and richer
portions they have been supplanted by the grasses. As an instance of
the rapidity and spontaneousness o f their growth it was noticed that after
one of the great erruptions of Mauna Loa, in 1856 or 1859, I am not
certain which, the lava was two years in cooling, and yet. in the fourth
year signs of vegetation were visible. All the older lava streams are
covered by a growth of ferns, only surpassed by this belt around the coast
in density.
The most remarkable of the gigantic ferns of this belt are the great
tree-ferns, with branches four or five feet long. A t the foot of these trees
is found a soft, feather-like substance, called pulu, which forms an article
of considerable trade. It is used extensively in California for bedding;
and in 1862, 738,000 lbs. were shipped to San Francisco. Those who
have used it, however, are substituting hair or straw on account o f the
uuhealthiness of the pulu, which, from its heat, has the same ill effects as
feathers, and is popularly thought to increase rheumatism. It has been
recently exported to China in considerable quantities, and it is not impro­
bable that as the demand from California decreases that from China will
increase. The natives are largely engaged in gathering it, and are em­
ployed more or less by the Chinese merchants of Honolulu. The Chinese
are a singular people, wherever in the East there seems to be an opening
for trade in their peculiar staples, there they are to be found collecting
necessaries or luxuries for their countrymen at home, and generally are
very successful merchants. In all the islands of the South Pacific they
are numerous, in Australia there are large communities of them. In San
Francisco they have monopolized the trade in several articles o f com ­
merce, among which is rice, and none dare compete with them in import­
ing it. They manage to buy it cheaper, and are satisfied with so much
smaller profits, that they sell it for less than it costs the American merch­
ant to land it in California. In the Sandwich Islands they are quite
numerous, the retail trade of the islands being almost entirely in their
hands. Some o f them are successfully engaged in sugar-planting, and
they have the shrewdness to avail themselves of the best kinds of Ameri­
can machinery. Quite recently, one of the most successful left the neigh­
borhood of Hilo to return to China, taking with him all the machinery
of his mill, with the intention o f putting it up somewhere in the interior
of the Empire. Men like this will accomplish more in introducing the
comforts and improvements o f civilized life into China than all the efforts
foreigners may direct to that end. His success is of the greater import­
ance from the fact that very large quantities of sugar are made in the
Southern Provinces, but at an enormous waste of molasses from evapora­
tion, arising from the use of very imperfect machinery. The sugar of
Svvatow, the great port of export for that commodity, is damp and black
with molasses. W ith the centrifugal machinery for drying it could be
made equal in color to the best. As an instance of the ability and secrecy
with which they conduct their trade, it is noticed that many of the natives
of Hawaii are engaged in collecting a fungus which grows on decaying




1864.]

The Sandwich Islands.

275

trees, and which the Chinamen ship in considerable quantities (300,000
lbs. a year), and yet none of the white merchants of Honolulu have ever
shipped a single pound, nor can they tell what profit the Chinamen obtain
for the article; their only knowledge being that it is used as an article of
luxury, like the bird’s-nests of Malacca, and the shark’s fins and fish-maws
collected by Chinamen on the African coast, or the sea-slug beche-de-mar,
obtained in the Islands of the Pacific. Indeed, throughout the world,
trade in these peculiar commodities is entirely in the hands of Chinese,
they alone possessing the necessary facilities for selling them in the in­
terior of the Empire.
Leaving the region where ferns are the only growth, the road to Kilauea
winds through a belt of forest land, about four miles broad, which skirts
the Eastern side o f the island, and runs partially around the Southern and
Western. Here the road is but a sheep-walk, leading often through such
a dense growth of weeds and ferns, ten or twelve feet high, as to make it
difficult to see anything of the surrounding forest. Wherever glimpses
are caught of it, the eye is pleased with the strange and wonderful tropical
plants that spring up on every side. Conspicuous among them is the
beautiful ohia-tree, which looks like one of our own hickories, except that
it is covered with a brilliant red flower, and clusters o f snake-like vines
run up the trunk. The tutui, or candle-nut tree, is almost as common as
the ohia, and quite as beautiful in its way. Many of these are transplanted
to the towns and villages, where they make excellent shade trees, not
attaining any great height, but spreading like the larger kinds o f cherry
or chestnut. From the nut of this tree, as its name implies, the natives
make their tapers, by stringing them like beads. Another curious tree,
very abundant in these forests, is the lauhala-tree, the roots o f which
grow above ground for four or five feet, being with the trunk as gnarled
and ugly as those of any tree in existence. The leaves are shaped like
rushes, and stand out around the fruit like the cloak of a New Zealander,
or a Chinese Coolie, and are equally impervious to the rain. Commend
us to a lauhala-tree in times of thunder-showers. Occasionally the Pride
of India, the Koa and the Sandal-wood are seen, but not often, especially
the last, as the active demand for it in former times did not allow many
to escape. The cocoa-nut palm and the wild banana-tree are some­
times found, the former shooting upwards with a curve in its earlier
growth like that of a rocket in its first flight, and the latter attaining a
height of twenty feet or more. It is singular that the African Palm (“ La
Palma real,” of the Spanish West Indies,) has not been introduced on
these Islands. There is only one specimen, I believe, and that occurs in a
private garden in Nuaanu Valley. Tropical scenery scarcely seems com­
plete without this lordly tree. A plant, which cannot be correctly styled
a shrub, yet which never attains to the dignity of a tree, the Ti-plant, is
quite abundant, especially on the out-skirts of the forest, furthest from the
coast, where the road leads through wild plantations o f them, two miles
or more in extent. The roots o f this plant are said to be very nutritious,
and are cooked by the natives, although not a favorite dish with them.
In times of famine, which, Heaven help them ! will occur in the most
favored lands, if man is lazy and improvident, the roots of the Ti-plant
have saved many from starvation. , The general use, however, is to
obtain an intoxicating liquor like arrack, manufactured somewhat in




276

The Sandwich Islands.

[October,

the same manner, the effects of whieh rival those o f opium in last­
ing injury to the system. A wild plantation of these bushes with­
out branches is a pleasing sight; the stalk is of the thickness of twofingers, rough and mottled like calamus ro6t, and growing nearly straight
to the height of eight or ten feet. Here it bursts oat into leaves, broad
and glossy, which hang gracefully like those o f the palm-tree.
After leaving the forest and its belt of Ti-plants, the character of the road
changes, and leads through a tract of country, several miles in extent, where
lava-rock is the only noticeable feature. This rock, although a dozen miles
from the volcano,shows signs of having been formed by some overflow within
the century. Those who have examined the country critically say that it has
come from Mauna Loa, on the side o f which Kilanea is situated. It has
all the waves and eddies of a moving mass distinctly marked on its sur­
face. In many places appear pools and eddies, where a level space has
allowed a short accumulation ; while, further on, the stream has leaped
down some precipice, and crusted the rock it passed over, as ice will form
on some northern waterfall. These signs warn the traveller that he is
approaching the volcano, but he will look in vain for any other sign of its
proximity. If the orthodox school-boy idea of a volcano, such as geogra­
phies for a century past have impressed on all minds— that o f a cone,
smoking at the top like a burning hay stack—-b e present to his imagina­
tion, he will surely be disappointed, for the road carries the visitor within
a hundred yards of the brink before he is aware of the proximity of the
crater.
It is a sight to be remembered.
Looking below, almost under the feet, is a vast black lake, 800 feet be­
neath, and bounded by lofty walls of lava-rock. This lake stretches for
miles, and the opposite walls, nearly four miles away, bound the horizon.
If seen for the first time at night, under the dim light of the moon as she
bursts from time to time through the clouds, the lake appears boundless;
its outline is magnified until it seems to swallow up the landscape, and the
distant shores appear as if they were the natural horizon. Miles and
miles away there is a bright, red, and fitful light east on the elouds from
that awful pit, for which the ancient Hawaiians had such a dread as the
abode of the goddess Pele. Now and again the fires leap up and illumi­
nate the great lake for a long distance from the pit, but unless Pele is un­
usually active, the surging of the flames, apparently low on the black sur­
face of the lake, and the glow in the clouds, seem so far away that it is
impossible to say how bright or extensive these fires may be. A smell of
sulphur is noticeable from the sulphur-pits only a few rods from the spot
where the road approaches the volcano, and even around us as we stand
on its brink, little puff's of smoke come up from the ground. Down in the
black lake, wherever the moonlight will permit them to be seen, little
columns of smoke are noticed oozing upwards through the cracks in the
crust of lava, and forming in places a white vail over the black mass.
Viewed at any time, and from any point of sight, the prospect is weird
and very “ uncanny,” as the Scotch say, but it is particularly so at night,
especially to one unacquainted with the mysteries below.
With the morning everything is changed. The outline o f the basin
the sulphur banks on the walls; the black lake beneath, its cakes, like
those of a frozen river, its mountains and single peaks smoking like young




1864 .]

The Sandwich Islands.

2 77

■volcanoes; the great pit of fire itself, and the cloud of smoke always ris­
ing from it, are plainly distinguished ; and when the mind can grasp the
outline entire, it is not difficult to examine and understand the minuter
details one by one. The first .thing noticeable by anyone at all familiar
with the descriptions o f former travellers, is that the “ black ledge” has
entirely disappeared, or else that it is of monstrous size, embracing all
that is visible from above. The former supposition is the correct o n e ; in
some eruption subsequent to 1840, or as the result of a series o f eruptions,
the crust which was called the Black Ledge has sunk or fallen in, and the
liquid lava below has risen to meet it, and on eooling at this height has
left the present lake, filling the bow! of the crater.
A descent into this bowl shows that all this mass o f black lava has
been subject to great upheavals. When the surface of the fiery lake sunk
to its present level, it was tremendously agitated, if we may judge by the
confused position of stupendous slabs of lava. It is broken into fantastic
shapes on every side. Here, a chain of hills, trap-rock among the lava
waves, runs from North to South; there, a river seems to have flowed be­
tween fixed banks, its surface is turbulent with great flat cakes like black
ice, broken up in the sinking of the lava-flow Jaelow, standing on end and
tossed into every possible position. In whatever direction one wanders on
this black prairie he is reminded that beneath are the eternal fires. Every
crevice has its little curl of smoke, like that rising above a spring on a
frosty morning; and as we approach the actual lava-iake, after a brisk
walk of more than two miles, volumes of smoke roll up on the right hand,
where, as it blows aside, a yellow coating of sulphur is seen on the lava,
while out of the dense clouds come strange noises, groans and fearful
shrieks from escaping steam, suggestive of the torments of the damned, as
when the angel in Revelations applies the key to the bottomless pit. The
lurid fires, leaping up before us, seem as if they might come from hell, so
horrible suggestive is the whole region of M ilton’ s description of the fiery
abode of Satan. The Devil himself would roast in Kilauea.
The natives give the name of Kilauea only to the burning lake, scarcely
two hundred yards across, where the molten lava is tossed about as in a
boiling pot. It is possible to approach within fifty feet of the rim, al­
though at that distance the heat is oppressive, and to look down upon the
angry mass. Its surface, about thirty feet below our stand is covered
with a light grey scum, wrinkled like a wasp’s nest, and cracking into
hideous waves as the mass is pressed against the banks at either side
alternately. It is always in motion, and as it retires from one bank to
press heavily upon the other, seams of bright molten lava are seen be­
tween the waves. When the slowly-moving mass crowds too powerfully
upon the bank, up spring'3 the cherry-red lava, shooting like a fountain
twenty or thirty feet into the air, tossing its viscid spray upon the black
shore of the crust that encroaches over the basin. Again and again, without
warning, except in the angry roar with which it tosses aside the scum, a
great column of fiery heat appears, now in the centre, now at the rim of the
basin. The thick, pitchy spray often cools in the air, and can be seen
floating on the wind in glassy fibres, like thistle-down, long and exceed­
ingly fine. This is found upon the outer banks, and is well-known as
Pele’s hair. If the wind blows hard there is generally a bright line of
fire skirting the edge of the lava-crust, overhanging the basin. This crust




278

The Sandwich Islands.

[October,

or rim is fretted by the action of the tossing lava into caves with gothic
arches, glowing like an iron forge when the men are “ digging out the
loup,” and with a red sea heating up against their sides and fantastic roofs.
Sometimes a great piece o f the crust, where the fire has undermined it,
breaks off, and plunges through the grey scum into the red lava with a
sullen roar and a mighty disturbance of the surface o f the lake, followed
by numerous columns o f fire shooting aloft. The whole effect is grand
beyond description ; grandest in its fearful suggestions o f what might he
when such a fiery lake fills this crater of miles in extent. Many who visit
the place are so fascinated by these wonderful fires— always in motion,
never the same— that they spend several nights in succession on the very
brink. Small need for a blanket there, unless it were a wet on e! A l­
though the air is more or less filled with the sulphur fumes, if the wind is
from the basin and tolerably fresh, the smell is not unpleasant, but any­
wheres in the lee of Kilauea the air is horribly oppressive; people attemp­
ting to pass behind and around the lake have been nearly stifled by the
vapors.
Surrounding the basin at every point of the compass, and not far from
it, are cones, smoking viciously at the top and crusted with flower of sul­
phur. On near examination the bright eye of the lava is seen furtively
lurking in the sulphur chambers, and the crusted lava at their base is sure
to be hot to the touch. In fact the whole surface o f the crater is more or
less warm, and burns the soles of boots so as to ruin a pair in a few hours.
The vitreous lava cuts like a knife, as many a man, too eager in breaking
off specimens with his hands, has learned to his cost. Some of these cones
assume the most fantastic shapes. There is one not half a mile from the
fires of Kilauea which is as large as a church, and at a distance looks like
one. Viewed from the bank, at the distance of two miles, it has a perfect
resemblance to a Gothic Cathedral, with a graceful spire, and all the gro­
tesque yet delicate fretwork which distinguishes that order of architecture.
In fact it is the only strictly Gothic Cathedral on the islands, notwith­
standing that the Puseyite Bishop of Honolulu has seen fit to dignify by
that name an unsightly brown building, painted to resemble freestone, and
scarcely large enough to accommodate his choir.
Kilauea is reported by the people o f Hilo to have been quite active in
March of last year (1863), and in June it was still moderately so. The
lake had filled up, and a crust had formed over it, so that then it occupied
comparatively a small area, and the impression left upon the mind that
another extensive eruption could not be far off was very strong. It has
often been thus choked up by the crusted lava, and th,en suddenly burst
out afresh with redoubled fury, but the area of the eruption seems to have
been more circumscribed at each successive outbreak, for nothing like the
scene of grandeur described by Mr. E llis, and visitors following him with­
in a few years, can be found there at present, and until another eruption,
filling the entire crater, shall occur, a repetition of what they saw cannot
be expected. It is questionable whether Kilauea has not found another
outlet to the sea, as a small island o f rock has appeared off the 8. E. point
of Hawaii, a mere patch of rock, to be sure, but which has grown up
lately.
*
Still, Kilauea remains the most wonderful volcano in the world,— in
constant operation since its discovery, at times on the grandest scale.




279

The Statute o f Limitations.

1864 .]

The native traditions do not go back to a time when Kilauea was silent,
although they undoubtedly refer to a time when Mauna Kea and Mauna
Loa were more active, and threw out vast fields of lava. Kilauea is also
wonderful, as almost the only volcano where the liquid lava and its won­
derful action can be viewed, w'ithin a few rods with perfect safety, in the
bowl of a crater over four miles in diameter.

C O M M E R C I A L

L A V - N O .

14.

TIIE STATUTE" OF LIMITATIONS.
T he statute of 21 J ames I., chapter 16, commonly called the Statute o f
Limitations, was passed in England in 1623. Among its provisions, it
enacts that all actions o f account and upon the case, (which include
nearly all the actions which can be brought for indebtedness or damages,)
provided they do not concern the trade of merchandise between-merchant
and merchant, their factors or servants, all actions of debt'grounded upon
any lending, or contract without speciality, (that is, contracts without
seal,) and all actions for arrearages of rent, shall be commenced and sued
within six years next after the cause of such actions or suit, and not after.
In few words, all claims which do not rest on a seal or a judgment must
be sued within six years from the time when they arise.
The provisions of this statute were copied, without much important
variation, in the statues of all our States; and upon them, as they are
explained and in some respects materially modified by adjudication, the
law of limitation rested, in England and in this country, until 1827, when
statute o f 9 G e o r g e IV., chapter 14, commonly called Lord T e n t e r d e n ’ s
Act, was passed. This statute, after reciting the statute o f J a m e s , provi­
des, in substance, that if a debt or promise be once barred by the Statute
of Limitations, no acknowledgment of the debt or new promise shall re­
new the debt and take away the effect o f the statute, unless the new pro­
mise is in writing, and is signed by the party who makes the promise.
But this new statute expressly permits a part payment either of principal
or interest of the old debt to have the same effect as before. And this
statute also provides, that if there be joint contractors or debtors, and a
plaintiff is barred by the statute against both, but the bar of the statute
is removed as to one by a new promise or otherwise, the plaintiff may
have judgment against this one,1but not against the other. And statutes
substantially similar have been passed in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont,
New York, Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas and California.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE STATUTE.

For the law of limitation there is a two-fold foundation. In the first
place, the actual probability that a debt which has not been claimed for a
long time was paid, and that this is the reason o f the silence o f the credi­
tor. But besides this reason, there is the inexpediency and injustice of
permitting a stale and neglected claim or debt, even if it has not been




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The Statute o f Limitations.

[ October,

paid, to be set up and enforced after a long silence and acquiescence. In
truth, these two reasons mingle; but as one or the other prevails, its effect
is seen in the construction of this law, and in its application to cases.
If, for example, the statute is considered as only a statute of presump­
tion, or, in other words, if it is supposed to say that a debt which is six
years old shall not be demanded, because the law presumes that so old a
debt must have been paid, it is obvious that, when evidence is offered to
do away the effect o f the law, courts will look at this evidence mainly to
ascertain whether it rebuts this presumption, by proving that the debt
still exists. In this view, and for this purpose, any acknowledgment or
admission of the mere existence of the debt, by the debtor, would be suf­
ficient to do away with the law. Thus, Lord M ansfield said, long ago,
“ The slightest acknowledgment has Men held sufficient to rebut the pre­
sumption that an okl debt has been paid; as saying, ‘ Prove your debt,
and I will pay you ’ ; ‘ I am ready to account, but nothing is due you ’ ;
and much slighter acknowledgments than these will take a case out of the
statute.” If, however, courts regarded the statute rather as a statute of
repose, or, in other words, as intended to prevent the enforcement of stale
claims, whether they were paid or not, then it is obvious that a mere ad­
mission that the debt was legal and remains unpaid, amounts to nothing.
The law says, it has remained unpaid so long, that it is too late now to
bring it forward. But if the debtor is willing to waive the protection o f
the law, and not only acknowledges the debt, but promises to pay it, there
is no reason why he should not be held upon this promise.
Between these two views it may be said that the courts have fluctuated
from the beginning. As soon as the statute was passed, whenever it was
pleaded by the defendant in bar of the action, if the plaintiff sought to re­
move this bar by any words of the defendant, he was obliged to allege “ a
new promise ” made by the defendant. This rule of pleading tends to
show that, at the beginning, the statute was regarded as a statute o f re­
pose, which could not be set aside by a mere acknowledgment that the
debt was unpaid. But although the rule itself indicates this, the practice
of the courts took the opposite direction. Ah impression prevailed, not
perhaps at the beginning, but early, and continued long, that the statute
itself was not to be favored ; that a resort to it was generally a dishonor­
able attempt to escape the payment of a just debt; and that the court
should give its aid to the creditor who endeavored to do away the effect
of this law. Such language as this was not used, but such was the prac­
tice ; and, accordingly, any sort of acknowledgment, proved in almost any
way, was permitted to remove the bar of the statute.
At length, however, a different, and, as we think, a far more just and
rational view, prevailed. It began to be admitted by the profession and
by the courts, although it never has been, perhaps, by the community,
that it was a necessary and beneficial law, and should be, if not favored,
at least applied fairly and rationally, and permitted to do its very useful
work in suppressing stale claims. These views are now very general,
both in the English courts and in our own. One effect of them was Tenterden’s Act, which we have given already, and which, as may be seen,
guards against the admission of loose and uncertain testimony in proof o f
a new promise.
Before inquiring into the rules o f law which now apply to the case of




t

1864.]

The Statute o f Limitations.

281

an acknowledgment or nevv promise, it should be remarked that a pre­
scription, or limitation, of common law, much more ancient than the
statutes above quoted, is still in full force. This is the presumption of
payment after twenty years, which is applicable to all debts; not only
the simple contracts to which the Statutes o f Limitation refer, that is,
contracts which are merely oral, or which if written have no seal, but to
specialities, or contracts or debts under seal or by judgment of court. Of
these it will not be necessary to speak here, excepting to remark, that in
one or two of onr States the Statute of Limitation excepts a promissory
note which is signed in the presence o f an attesting witness, and is put in
suit by the original payee, or his executor or administrator; such a note
in those States, which we believe are now only Maine and Massachusetts,
may be sued at any time within twenty years after it is due. Bank-bills,
and other evidences o f debt issued by batiks, are everywhere excepted
from the operation of the statute.
THE NEW PROMISE.

The first question we propose to consider is, what is the new promise
which suffices to take a case out of the statute. If the promise be made,
the former debt, although not in itself enforceable, is considered a suffici­
ent consideration for the new promise. This might be made as well orally
as in writing, until Lord T enterden’ s Act. But although this act requires,
as matter o f evidence, that the new promise shall be in writing, it does
not affect at all any question respecting the character or sufficiency o f the
new promise; they remain to be decided by the same principles, and in
the same manner, as before.
The first thing to be said is, that now, by the general consent of the
courts of this country and of England, a mere acknowledgment, which
does not contain, by any reasonable implication or construction, a new
promise, and still more, if it expressly excludes a new promise, is not suf­
ficient. In the leading American case upon this point, before the Supreme.
Court of the United States, it was proved, in answer to the plea o f
the Statute of Limitations, that the defendant, one of the partners o f a
firm then dissolved, said to the plaintiff: “ I know we are owing y o u ” ;
“ I am getting oid, and I wish to have the business settled” ; it was held
that these expressions were insufficient to revive the debt. So, in New
Hampshire, in an action on a promissory note, the defendant, on being
asked to pay the note, said “ he guessed the note was outlawed, but that
would make no difference, he was willing to pay his honest debts, always ”
As he did not state in direct terms that he was willing to pay the note,
this was held not sufficient to revive the debt. A new promise is not now
implied by the law itself, from a mere acknowledgment.
Whether an acknowledgment of an existing debt is sufficient to take it
out of the statute, or, in other words, whether it carries with it a promise
to pay that debt, is a question of law for the court, when it is only a
question as to the legal meaning and effect of the words used; for this
would be a mere question of construction, which is always a matter of
law only. But if the question is as to what words were used, and what
was the intention of the parties to be gathered from the words and acts,
this is a question of fact, and it is for the jury to determine.
The new promise need not define the amount o f the debt. That can be
*




*

282

The Statute o f Limitations.

[Octotter*,

done by other evidence, if only the existence of the debt and the purpose
of paying it are acknowledged. Still, the new promise must be of the
specific debt, or must distinctly include i t ; for if wholly general and un­
defined, it is not enough. A testator who provides for the payment o f his
debts generally, does not thereby make a new promise as to any one of
them.
If the new promise is conditional, the party relying upon it must be
prepared to show that the condition has been fulfilled. Thus, if the new
promise be to pay “ when I am able,” the promisee must prove not only
the promise, but that the promisor is able to pay the debt. Even if there
seems to be a promise wholly unconditional and unqualified in its terms,
it is competent for the defendant to show, by the attendant circumstances
or other proper evidence, that it was not intended, nor understood, as
an acknowledgment or a promise. On the other hand, if the expressions
in themselves are doubtful, the plaintiff may make them clear, and show
by evidence that they meant and were a promise.
As the acknowledgment should be voluntary, it follows that those made
under process of law, as by a bankrupt, or by answers to interrogatories
which could not be avoided, should never have the effect of a new pro­
mise.
A doctrine has prevailed, and perhaps has at present the weight o f
authority in its favor, according to which every new item and credit in a
mutual and running account is an acknowledgment, by the party making
it, that the account is open and unsettled, and so draws after it all pre­
ceding items as to have the same effect as a recognition of them, and a
promise to pay the balance when that should be struck. This doctrine
grew up, we think, in those days when courts disliked the Statute o f
Limitations, and sought opportunities, or at least favored attempts, to de­
feat it. Such is not the view of courts at present; and we should say
that the general principles now prevalent would eventually limit this doc­
trine to cases where the account was mutual and open, and there was evi­
dence that the items relied upon were intended to be charged in offset, so
as to have the effect of a part-payment. But the law on this subject is
not now quite clear.
TART-PAYMENT.

A part-payment o f debt is such a recognition o f it as implies a new
promise ; even if it be made in goods or chattels, if offered as payment
and agreed to be received as payment, or by negotiable promissory note
or bill. Thus, in England, where one was sued for money due for a
quantity of hay, and pleaded that it had been due more than six years,
which was a good defence, the plaintiff proved in reply that defendant
had given him within six years a gallon o f gin as part-payment for his
d eb t; and it was held that this took the case out of the Statute of Limi­
tations, and the plaintiff recovered. But a payment has this effect only
when the payment is made as o f a part of a debt. I f it is made in settle­
ment of the whole, of course it is no promise of more. And a bare pay­
ment, without words or acts to indicate its character, would not be con­
strued as carrying with it an acknowledgment that more was due and
would be paid.
If a debtor owes several debts, and pays a sum of money, he has the




1864.]

On the Action o f Oil- Wells.

283

right of appropriating that money as he pleases. If he pays it without
indicating his own appropriation, the general rule is, that the creditor
who receives the money may appropriate it as he will. There is, how­
ever, this exception. I f there be two or more debts, some o f which are
barred by the statute, asid others are not barred by it, the creditor cannot
appropriate the payment to a debt that is barred, for the purpose of talc­
ing it out of the statute by such part-payment. If a debt consists of both
principal and interest, a payment specifically on account of either of these
parts will take the remainder o f that part, and the whole of the other
part, out of the statute. If mutual accounts are settled, and a balance
struck, all the items which are within the admitted account are so many
payments, and may have the effect of part-payments in taking a debt to­
wards which they go out of the statute. So, a payment for a creditor to
a third party on account of a debt due from the payer to the creditor, is
the same thing as a payment to the creditor.
The Tenterden A ct requires that the new promise should be in writing ;
but provides also, as we have seen, that nothing in it shall alter, or take
away, or lessen the effect of any payment o f any principal or interest.
This, therefore, remains a new promise, as before.

ON THE ACTION OF O IL-W ELLS.*
B y P rof. E . IT. E vans, M arietta C olleqe.
T h e phenomena exhibited by oil-wells suggest various problems, the
discussion of which may be o f scientific as well as practical interest.
The facts on which the following remarks are based have been collected
chiefly from the history of different wells in the coal regions o f Southern
Ohio and West Virginia.
It seems certain that the principal supplies of petroleum are not dif­
fused between the planes o f stratification, but are collected in cavities
more or less sunken in the strata, whence it is less liable to be carried
away by running water. Prof. E . B. A n d r e w s has shown, in an article
published in this Journal, July, 1861, that it is common to find large
quantities in places where there are marks of disturbance and displace­
ment of the rocks. The cavities have probably been caused sometimes
by uplifts and sometimes by erosion and the dissolving action of water;
but whatever may be their origin, they are not usually of great horizontal
extent. It is seldom that two neighboring wells strike oil at the same
depth, whether the strata be horizontal or dipping. It is one chance out
of many to strike oil at all, even in neighborhoods where it exists in
abundance. The drill, as it enters the cavity, sinks variously from four
or five inches to as many feet, sometimes sticking fast, as if between the
oblique sides of a narrow fissure. But there are facts connected with
the history of oil-wells, particularly their intermittent action and their

* This article is copied by permission from the American Journal o f Science for
September.




284

On the Action o f Oil- Wells.

[October,

interference witb one another, which serve to show the existence, in many
cases, of systems of these cavities connected together by channels of
communication more or less free, running sometimes along the strata and
sometimes across them. The productiveness of a well depends on its en­
tering either one of the main reservoirs or some of its important connec­
tions.
Let ns begin with the most simple case, that o f a single or isolated oilcavity ; of which a cross section is represented by gw, fig. 1. Every col­
lection of oil is accompanied with varying quantities of gas and water,
the gas occupying of course the top of the cavity and the water the
bottom, according to the order of their specific gravities. First suppose
that a well is bored at A , so as to enter the gas. Being in a high state
of tension the gas escapes, sometimes with explosive violence, carrying
Out with it whatever water there may be collected in the boring. If
water enters the cavity freely, as is usually the case, the oil, floating on
its surface, is soon driven upward to the mouth (i. e., lower end) of the
tube; it may then be pumped out till the line o f division between it and
the water rises to the mouth o f the tube; after which, mixed oil and
water will be drawn. But it often happens that the water rises faster than
it can be thus exhausted, and the oil, driven into the top of the cavity, is
lost, until the water is reduced
1.
by macliinerv of greater work­
ing power. But as it cannot
be reduced below the mouth
of the tube, unmixed oil can­
not again be obtained from the
well. In all wells from which
the gas has escaped, there is
ultimately a saving o f work if
the oil is pumped out as
rapidly as possible before the
intrusion of water. Secondly,
suppose that the boring is at
B and enters the oil. In this
case, the oil rises in the tube
to a height depending on the
tension of the gas above i t ; a mode of action which is illustrated by the
familiar apparatus called the fountain with condensed air. Sometimes
it is thrown into the air a distance of 30 or 40 feet, and large quantities
wasted. I f the oil continues to be ejected till its surface in the cav­
ity descends to the mouth o f the tube, the fact first becomes known by a
gurgling and spurting action, and the gas, or the greater portion of it,
escapes, .after which the pump becomes necessary, and the same series of
actions take place as in the first case. But if the gas reaches its equili­
brium with the hydrostatic pressure before the oil is reduced so low, we
may then pump out the oil till the water rises to the mouth o f the tube,
after which we shall obtain mixed oil and water as before, till the whole
supply of oil is exhausted, provided the pump is o f sufficient working
power to prevent interruptions by the too rapid rise of the water.
Next suppose that the boring is at C and enters the water. If the gas
has sufficient tension, water is raised until its surface in the cavity de­




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On the Action o f Oil- Wells.

285

scends to the mouth of the tube, then mixed oil and water is obtained,
then pure oil, after which the same circumstances exist as in the second
case. It must not be inferred, however, that when the water is not thrown
to the surface there is no oil. It mav happen that the pressure of the
gas will raise a column of water only part of the way up the boring, and
yet the well be found productive. Hence no considerable quantity of
water should be passed without ascertaining by reducing it with the pump
whether there is oil confined above it in some side chamber. The Shattuck well on the Little Kanawha had to be drained of water with a steam
pump for two weeks before oil was obtained; but after that it yielded
abundantly.
Some varieties of action are to be accounted for on the supposition
that there are, in the same cavity, different collections o f gas separated
by a partition descending from the top. Such a cavity is represented by
MN, fig. 1. A well enters the gas chamber M. The gas escapes with
violence, and yet the oil immediately begins to flow in a continuous
stream over the top of the boring, and is perhaps projected in the form
of a jet to a great height, by the pressure o f the gas in another chamber
N, of the same cavity.
It is evident that if a second well be sunk so as to enter the gas in the
chamber N, the oil in M will immediately sink to the level o f that in N,
and be lost to the first well ; a mode of interference which sometimes
occurs, when two wells are quite near together.
Thus far I have considered only isolated oil-cavities, or those which,
when exhausted, are not replenished to any considerable extent from other
sources. In general these run their course in a short time, and yet they
sometimes yield very large quantities of oil.
There is a second class of wells, in general more productive, which
exhibit the same phenomena at first, but as often as they are exhausted
are replenished again, and repeat a certain series of actions indefinitely,
and with remarkable regularity of time. This is to be explained by sup­
posing that they are connected with other reservoirs by slight channels of
communication, whose capacity for replenishing is less than that of the
tube for exhausting. Let C, tig. 2, be an oil cavity having connections
with two other cavities, B and D. Suppose that a well A enters the oil
in 0 . After this well has thrown out oil, and perhaps afterward water, by
force of the condensed gas, it comes to a stop. Then owing ^o the d i­
minished tension of the gas in the enlarged space in C, the gas and oil in
B and D force slight passages, represented by the dotted lines, into C,
until the gas in this cavity again becomes sufficiently compressed to raise
oil and water successively; after which the well comes to another stop
until it is replenished with oil and gas as before; and the same process is
repeated an indefinite number of times. The Newton well, on a branch
of the Little Muskingum, a few miles from Marietta, repeats this process
(with some escape of gas) at regular intervals of about half an hour, ex­
pelling about a barrel of oil each time. A noteworthy fact connected
with this well is that when it stops it is necessary to pump out a little
water in order to start it again ; then the oil issues spontaneously. This
is to be explained as follows. The pressure o f the gas is not quite suffi­
cient to raise the water to the surface ; but the position o f the mouth of
th.e tube is such that a few strokes of the pump suffice to reduce the sur­




286

On the Action o f Oil- Wells.

[October,

face of the water in the cavity below that point. Now a column of oil
will be raised by a given pressure so much higher than a column of water
as its specific gravity is less. In this case it is raised not far from a fourth
higher (the specific gravity of the oil being -816 ;) and the difference is
sufficient to make it flow over the top of the tube. Examples of this
kind are common.
2.
The well in the figure is re­
presented as having but a few
connections, sufficient perhaps for
the purpose of illustration; but
it is probable that these lines of
slow communication are usually
numerous; the gas and oil, like
the water, forcing their way in
through a multitude of pores and
slight crevices, until a state of
equilibrium is gradually reached
or approximated to, as mercury
forces its way in through the
pores of wood into the exhaus­
ted receiver of an air-pump. Sometimes it happens that the cavity is
filled with sediment of clay and sand by these little streams, and the well
becomes inactive.
The class of wells here described may be distinguished from others as
intermittent wells. The finding of one of these may be regarded as a cer­
tain sign that there are numbers of oil cavities near together in the same
locality. Especially if it yields copiously for months in succession, as
often happens, without any material diminution in quantity, or increase
of the intervals between the successive yields, the rocks in its neighbor­
hood may be presumed to contain rich sujjplies of oil that may be directly
reached.
On Oil Creek in Pennsylvania the greatest quantities of oil are found
in the same horizontal stratum o f sandstone. It would seem that this
rock is very porous, and perforated like a honeycomb with numerous cells
and fissures containing petroleum. The history o f many o f the wells is
as follows. When oil is entered, the gas begins to raise it up over the
top of tli» boring, increasing gradually in force until it projects it into the
air, often to a height o f 40 or 50 feet, then alternately diminishing and
increasing in force at regular intervals, but without any cessation in the
flow for a long time. These variations in the force of the gas (the
“ breathings of the earth,” as they are called,) are to be explained on the
same principle as before, by supposing that as the tension of the gas is
relaxed by the removal of oil, the gas and oil from other cavities around
rush in through the pores and slight fissures till a certain maximum ten­
sion is reached, and the influx ceases; then by the expansion o f the gas
already in the chamber the oil continues to come up, but with a dimin­
ishing flow, until a relative vacuum is again created ; after which the in­
flux is renewed and gradually increases as at the beginning. These regular
alternations vary in different wells from two or three times a day to as
many times an hour ; the intervals, however, gradually increasing in length
as the supply of oil is diminished ; unless, as sometimes happens, new




1864 .]

On the Action o f Oil- Wells.

287

communications are forced, and the well, deriving new supplies, starts off
again with a new period. It often happens that the same well has two
periods ; one of variation in the flow, and another of cessation, consequent
on the escape o f gas.
A more uniform flow may be secured by making the orifice at the
mouth of the tube smaller. This is often desirable in order to prevent the
escape of gas by the exhaustion of the oil in the cavity down to the bot­
tom of the boring. Sometimes such a quantity will thus rush out, before
the oil raised up by the water, closes the passage again, as not only to
render the pump necessary after that to raise oil, but also to diminish
materially the influx o f oil from other cavities by reducing the pressure of
the gas in them. Another expedient sometimes resorted to, when the
spontaneous flow o f oil becomes slight, is to stop up the boring till another
“ head of gas,” as it is called, accumulates. But the stoppage should not
be continued lo n g ; for instances are known where the gas has in conse­
quence forced a way from its new channels in other directions, and found
vent in other wells.
It is not an uncommon thing for intermittent wells to throw out at
first 300 or 400 barrels a day, or to yield in all as much as 20,000 bar­
rels. They sometimes run two or three years before exhaustion. The
productiveness of the Lewellyn well on the Little Kanawha greatly
exceeded these figures.
It is evident that if a second well were sunk so as to enter the cavity
B or D fig. 2, the well C would lose one portion of its supply of gas and
oil, and be to this extent interfered with. Sometimes a very productive
well thus cuts off the main supplies o f a number of less considerable one3
in its neighborhood, or, if the first sunk, it is itself tapped by them.
But some of the most marked cases of interference that are known,
show the existence of a third class of oil cavities, connected with one
another by perfectly free channels of communication, so that when the
equilibrium between them is disturbed, it is immediately restored. Fig.
3 will serve to illustrate. A well A enters the cavity D finding oil. A n­
other well B is bored so as to enter an open channel g between the two
cavities D and E. This will drain oil from A ; but if, as in the figure, its
mouth is lower than that of A, it can be made a valuable auxiliary to it
when the rising water drives the oil into the upper part of the cavity ; for
it can be used to reduce the water, and thus to keep the oil within reach of A .
Again, a third well C is bored,
and passes through a strong cur­
rent of water, a cross section of
which is represented by F. It
finally descends to a fissure II,
which communicates freely with
E and consequently also with D,
and interferes with both the other
wells by letting in such a head of
water as to drive the oil in both
cavities above the mouths of the
tubes. Pumping the water out of
all these simultaneously might
brina:
within
O the oil down arain
o




288

On the Action o f Oil- Wells.

[October,

reach of that tube at least which enters at the highest point. A better
expedient is to stop up tightly the space on the outside of the tube in the
well C, just below the stream of water F. This is often effected by lower­
ing a leather bag filled with dry seeds to the required depth. As water
penetrates it, the seeds swell and close the passage.
On the Little Muskingum there are four or five wells (from 100 to 200
feet apart), so connected together as to illustrate both modes of interfer­
ence shown by fiig. 3. Had the well B entered the gas in E, it would
have interfered with A by causing the escape of this gas ; a case analogous
to that mentioned before, where there were supposed to be two gas cham­
bers in the top of the same cavity. After this the irruption of the water
from C would have temporarily assisted B by raising the oil in E to the
mouth of the tube.
Examples differing in details might be multiplied indefinitely. I have
aimed only to point out in a general manner the different modes of action,
and the hypotheses on which they are to be explained.
In the foregoing illustrations the quantity o f gas has been supposed
considerable. In many cases however it is so slight that the pump has
to be used throughout. Yet wells of this kind often partake of the inter­
mittent character to some extent. As it is not usual to work them at
night, they begin each day with a new accumulation, which gives'them a
certain regularity of daily action often considered mysterious. There is a
well a few miles from Marietta which yields oil only for a short time in
the morning; when neglected till that time is passed, it is unproductive
for the day. This is owing to the proximity o f another well, which drains
it of its water in the day-time, but by resting at night allows it to be re­
plenished. W ells of small supply often require a certain interval of rest
to be replenished, but never exceed a certain amount, however that inter­
val may be extended— the column of oil having reached its maximum
height by pneumatic or hydrostatic pressure.
Oil-wells commonly vary in depth from 100 to 800 feet. The deepest
are as apt to raise oil to the surface as the shallowest. This indicates a
greater compression of the gas at the greater depth, owing doubtless to
its connection with higher columns of water. The activity o f some w'ells
is increased by rains; others,.with less gas, are rendered unproductive till
the water can be reduced. It must not be assumed, however, that their
connection with subterranean currents is immediate and unobstructed. I
know of no instance where there is reason to suppose that the oil is raised
to the surface by the direct pressure of a stream o f water whose head is
higher than the issue, as the jets o f Artesian wells are said to be produced.
In spouting wells, the presence o f gas as the immediate agent becomes
know n, not only from their variable action, but also from the actual escape
of gas, and consequent cessation o f flow whenever the oil is reduced to a
certain level. If collections o f oil had direct and free connection with
strong currents of water, the mechanical agency of these currents would
bear them rapidly away.
As it is, minute quantities come to the surface with the springs, show­
ing a very slow process of drainage. As an index o f the location of oilcavities this sign is not reliable; for that which issues may have been
carried by the streamlets many miles from its source. Gas springs are
less deceptive signs; for the gas, being more buoyant than the oil, and




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

1 8 0 4 .]

289

not liable to be carried along by descending currents, is not likely to
wander so far before it issues. But the “ show of oil ” increases in value
as a sign with the depth at which it is found. Especially is the finding of
large quantities of imprisoned gas, though no oil may be present, regard­
ed as a good indication that there is no oil near.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
FITTCTTTATION S I N G O L D — E F F E C T S O N P R IC K S — P R I C E S OF D O M K 6 T IC P R O D U C T IO N S A N D F O R E IG N I M ­
P O R T A T IO N S C O M P A R E D — T i lE F A L L IN G O L D A N D IT S E F F E C T ON B U S IN E S S — I I I * L O A N O F F E R E D
B Y G O V E R N M E N T A N D T IIE B A N K D E P O S IT S W I T H T H E T R E A S U R Y — P U B L I C D k B T — R E C E I P T S A N D
E X P O R T S O F S P E C IE A N D P R IC E O F G O L D — R A T E S O F E X C H A N G E — P R IC E S O F U N IT E D S T A T E S P A P E R .

TnE events of the last month have been influenced principally by the great
fluctuations in the prices of gold, that have tended to unsettle all values pro­
spectively, aud create great apprehensions in relation to the possible consequences
of a sudden and large depreciation in prices of goods. The combined influence
of taxes and currency inflation had carried goods so high as seriously to check
consumption. The effect is the more decided since domestic productions have
not risen in price as fast as other articles,. because, although articles of home
production suffered the influence of paper inflation, those manufactured articles
composed of imported materials and goods directly imported were influenced also
by the piemium on gold as well as the paper inflation, and the latter in the double
ratio of premium on exchange and premium on gold. The depreciation of the cur­
rency is the one general cause of the rise, but the import taxes have added a further
element of cost which is not borne by the domestic products. With each ad­
vance in the price of gold this becomes more evident, and it s the sign of in­
creased relative difference in prices, which is the main cause o f. languishing com­
merce. The Fall trade is very backward, and many dealers are awaiting orders
for the resbipment of their goods to more propitious quarters. An ordinary
quality of cloth which paid twenty-four per cent duty three years since, now pays
four hundred and sixty per cent before it reaches the retailer ; a fact which re­
presents so many yards less for the same quantity of farm produce. The opera­
tion of the rise on the general market, may be seen in the lollowing table of
certain imported articles, showing duties and prices:
Coal ......................
Coffee......................
Copper....................
Raisins.....................
Hides.......................
In d ig o .....................
Iron, p i g .................
Brandy . . . . . . . . . .
S a lt.........................
R u m ........................
Sugar.......................
Tea..........................
Wine, p o rt.............
Total...............
Average.........
VOL. LI.----BO. VI.




,—:---------1802.---------------,
1’rice.
Duties.
60
6 SO a 7 00
5
22 a
23
2
30
28 a
5
3 30 a 3 35
24 a
25
1
95 a 1 15
00
27 00 a 28 00
4 20 a 8 00
i 25
i 12 a 1 15
H
50
i 60 a 2 25
2 00
7 00 a 9 00
58
55 a
15
60
1 50 a 4 00
$n i n

$54 86 a 60 26
58 12
18

,---------------- 1804.-----------------,
Duties.
Price.
25 00 a 30 00
1 25
5
50
47 a
r<1 a
72
34
5
5 25 a
5 50
1
38
87 a
free.
i 60 a
2 10
9 CO
77 90 a 80 00
3 50
9 25 a 25 00
a 40 a
8 50
24
7 50 a i i 00
2 00
18 50 a 23 00
3 00
1 25
22
1 15 a
8 50
1 20
4 00 a
$20 27

$154 20 a 191 45
172 82

2£o

[October,

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

These figures give the duties in gold at each period, and the market price of
the articles, including the duties at the present time. There must be added to
the aggregate duties that the Government receives, the premium which the importer
pays for the gold. There must also be added to the prime cost, the premium on
gold paid for bills of exchange. The average aggregate prices in 1862 of
the articles enumerated was §56 12, from which deducting the sum of the duties,
there remains §44 98 as the invoice prices, freights and charges also payable in
gold. Taking the same data now, we find the cost is as follows:
Cost
Add
Add
Add

and charges............................................................................................
premium on exchange.........................................................................
duties...........................................................................
$20 15
gold premium.............................................................
32 16

$44 98
69 11

Present cost....................................................................................................
Average market prices as above.................................................................

$161 60
112 82

52 91

This is an advance of two hundred and eight per cent upon the aggregate price
of the articles named, the consumption of none of which is especially affected by
the operations of war. They are all articles that meet with a regular demand.
The advance in price is composed of two elements mainly, viz.: the duties
doubled in gold and nearly quintupled in paper, and the depreciation of paper
which is marked in the rise of exchange. I f we now take from the prices cur­
rent thirteen staple articles of domestic production, which have not been influ­
enced in supply by the war operations, we shall find that the advance is not so
great.
1862.

A sh e s.........................................................
Dry cod...................................
F l o u r . . . . ...................................................
Corn.............................................................
H ay.............................................................
W heat........................................................
H ops...........................................................
L im e ..........................................................
P o rk ...........................................................
Beef.............................................................
L a r d ...........................................................
Tallow .........................................................
Whisky.......................................................

$8 00 a 8 50
4 31 a 4 15
6 60 a 6 95
81 a 83
95 a 1 00
1 50 a 1 65
18 a
25
85 a 90
14 25 a 15 25
1 00 a 9 00
9J a
10*
10J a
11
40 a 42

Increase............................................
A v e ra g e ..................... ......................

$44 15J a 49 11
46 93

1864.

$13 00
1 60
9 45
1 60
115
2 30
. 20
1 00
85 00
13 00
19*
19f
1 68

a 13 50
a 8 50
a 10 50
a 1 62
a 1 30
a 2 52
a
32
a 110
a 39 00
a 15 00
a
20|
a
20*
a 1 11

$S6 21J a 95 48
90 81

If we compare these thirteen domestic products with the above thirteen im­
ported articles, the respective aggregate advance per cent will appear as follows:
1862.

Thirteen imported.................................
Thirteen domestic.................................

56.12
46.93

1SG4.

112.82
90.81

Adv. percent.

208
90

The increase of the price of the imported articles is 100 per cent duties, and
18 per cent in the freight and charges, leaving the portion due to the deprecia­
tion of paper 90 per cent; the same as in domestic articles. The fact then re­
mains that producers of domestic articles get far less of imported articles for the
same quantities sold. To illustrate by single articles. In 1862 one barrel beef




1864.J

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

291

was equal to 100 pounds sugar, at present one barrel of beef will only buy 67
pounds of sugar. In 1862 one ton of iron equaled 18 bushels of wheat, it now
equals 32 bushels. W e see in these diminished proportions the declining ability
of the domestic producers to consume commodities, and therefore the resistless
cause of diminishing commerce. The imported articles and the goods manufac­
tured from imported articles are loaded with an immense tax, composed of two
elements, the gold which the Government gets and the paper premium on gold,
which does not aid the Government in any way. In the case of sugar, every
pound consumed pays two taxes, viz., three cents in gold to the Government, and
four-and-a-half cents premium on gold or depreciation of paper, and this is paid
by the domestic producer, because his articles rise only in proportion to the directdepreciation of the paper in which it is sold. The internal taxes have as yet
not been added to the cost of internal production, while the customs tax has
swollen the cost in a double ratio. I f the depreciation of the currency should
progress during the next six months, this difference against the producer must
necessarily increase, and with it the disposition to economize. In this sense
economy means not only lessened consumption but diminished production, less
employment to operatives, and a diminution of the national wealth.
The very high prices thus reached, having greatly reduced the demand for
goods for consumption, considerable quantities remained in bond, many in the
expectation of being re-exported to more favorable quarters. This general state
of business greatly lessened the direct demand for gold and bills for export.
While at the same time the sales of United States 5-20’s abroad had been so con­
siderable, although at the very unsatisfactory prices of 37 J a 40 cents per dol­
lar, as to supply a considerable amount of bills. This state of affairs, with vague
rumours as to approaching peace, impressed the public mind with the idea that
gold would fall in value, arrangements were made to realize that idea, and towards
the close of August, on the taking of Atlanta by the federal troops, heavy sails
caused a decline from §2 57 to $2 14, September 12. This large fall had the
greatest influence upon all business, completely paralyzing it. There was no sale
for produced bills, and the shipment stopped without bringing any decline in the
price of commodities.
The fall in bills, on the other hand, was a great advantage to those who had
imported goods in bond, since the decline in gold effected a large reduction in the
duties and remittances, and enabled the new goods to come on the market at cost
greatly below these in stores. In the expectation of a great reduction there
were no buyers. The reduction, however, as a general thing, did not take place*
Holders continued to wait for the expected fall business. Another element had
a great influence upon the fall trade, viz., the draft for 500,000 men contingent
upon the non-supply of volunteers up to the 5th of September. This caused very
high prices for volunteers aud substitutes, and arrangements for supplying the
money , $500 a $1,000 was paid per man. Taking the average $700 theaggregate would be $350,000,000, raised in a few weeks mostly by that portion of the
people not possessed of large means. So large a drain compelled the greatest
economy in expenditures, drew down balances in Banks, and bore heavily upon
the usual currents of business. The drain took plahe at a time when, owing to
tine high prices of crops, much money was wanted to move them, and when the




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

292

[October,

pay of the soldiers, being long in arrears, had left their families in great distress
to meet store bills and current expenses, and when contractors and Government
creditors long without pay were needy borrowers and clamorous in their demands.
A t such a moment the Secretary put forward another loan, the $31,000,000 bal­
ance which had been rejected by Mr. C h ase in June, and an account of which
was given in our July number, page 42. The loan being a 6 per cent gold in­
terest stock, payable in 1881, was put upon the market to the highest bidder.
The bids were opened September 9th, and resulted iD the award to bidders at
104.03, being nearly the same parties that took the loan in June. Seventy-two
millions dollars were offered, and $41,000,000 were rejected.
The Treasury held about $12,500,000 of 6 per cent deposits made by the
associated Banks, payable at ten days notice. This notice was given by the
Banks, and, if the money had been drawn out, would take away nearly all the
money obtained by the Treasury on the loan. This induced the Treasury to
stipulate that if the Banks would allow the money to remain it should be pay­
able on demand, instead of ten days notice. This the Banks agreed to, and
money was more easy.
The amount of loans obtained by the Treasury, August 30 to Sept. 16, was—
On 7-30 paper interest notes......................................................
On 10-40 gold 5 per cent interest stock...................................
On 6’s of 1881, new loan...............................................................

$3,186,410
1,974.300
31,000,000

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

$36,160,410

This was about half of the current expense, but as the $31,000,000 was paid
for in 5 per cent notes to be cancelled, it gave no money. The weekly account
of the public debt was suspended August 30; at that date it stood as follows:
A u g. 16.

Six per cents, 1867-8...................
Five per cents, 1871-4................... ' . .
Five per cents, 1865...........................
Six per cents, 1881.............................
7-30’s, convertible into 1881...............
5-20’s 6 per cents................................
10-40’s, 6 per cents..............................
Oregon, 6 p r cents.............................

A a g. 23.

A u g. 30.

$18,323,592
27,022,000
2,052.000
172,353,500
77,965,400
510,756,900
75,868,800
1,016,000

$18,323,592
27,022,000
2,052,000
176,488,660
74,629,300
510,756,900
77,170,700
1,016,000

$18,323,592
27 022,000
2,052,000
180,072,500
71,599,800
510,756,900
79,056,700
1,016,000

Total gold-bearing .................... $885,358,192
Deposits at 6 per cent........................
$52,821,689
Treasury certificates, 6 percen ts.. .
186,162,000
One year 5 per cen ts........................
44,520,000
Two year 5 per cents.
16,480,000
Two year coupons 5 per cents . . . .
79,577,502
Three year 6 per cents, com pound..
41,360,000
New 7-30 per cents..............................
14,291,950

$887,459,141
$59,221,432
192,754,000
44,529,000
16,480,000
79,377,502
48,900,000
21,951,000

$889,899,492
$54,400,352
203,057,000
44,520,000
16,480,000
78,973,422
45,889,680
29,876,550

Total currency interest............... $435,013,141 $452,203,934
Greenbacks.......................................... $433,160,569 $433,166,563
Fractional Notes..................................
24,017,842
24,283,042
Due Creditors............... $78,795,000
Lesson hand.................
17,189,519— 71,797,641
61,800,517
Old debt, interest ceased..................... •
367,170
367,170

$469,197,004
$433,160,569
24,345,217

Total, free of interest..................... : $529,343,222

— 61,605,481
367,470

$519,244,128

$519,468,737

Total of all Debt......................... $1,849,714,555 $1,859,274,374

$1,878,565,233




293

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

On the 1st September, about §40,000,000 arrears of pay fell due to the
troops, making nearly §100,000,000 additional to the debt up to September
16, mostly in paper money. The amount was, therefore, in round numbers,
$ 2,000,000,000.
Sept., 1863— Official statement..........................................
Sept., 1864—Semi-official ..................................................

§1,222,113,560
2,000,000,000

Increase in 12 months.......................................................

$717,886,440

Or two and one-eighth millions per day, in addition to the customs and internal
taxes, which Mr. F essenden, in his appeal to the people, represented at
$1,000,000 per day. The amount of debt now authorized and available for
issues is as follows, per official statement;
Oct. to March 3, 1864— 10-40 5 per cent gold bonds.
.................
Oct. to June, 1864—5-40 6 per cent gold bonds.................................
Oct. to June, 1864— compound notes....................................................
Total..................................................................................................

$114,101,100
366,937,000
55,000,000
$536,038,100

. Thus the authority to issue paper is now confined mostly to gold stock. The
compound notes are substituted for 5 per cent legal tenders called in. The ut­
most efforts are now being made to pay the troops some of their arrears The
stagnation in business caused a great decline in the demand for gold for ship­
ment, and the movement was as follows:
S P E C IE AND P R IC E OP G O L D .

--------- IS
Received.
........... .

2 ....
9 ___ 1,277,788
.......
16 . . . .
678,841
2 3 ___
3 0 ___
..........
Feb. 6 . . . .
301,860
1 3 ___
359,9S7
2 0 ___
..........
27 . . ,.
285,394
March 5 __ _ 1,243,551
1 2 ___
.............
249,514
19 . . . .
2 6 ___
159,105
Apr. 2 . . . .
250,778
9 ___
.............
1 6 ___
217,602
2 3 ___
256,604
3 0 ___
May 7 . . . .
205,057
14 . . . .
12 . . . .
258,570
2 8 ___
318,066
J une 4 . . . .
1 1 ___
18 . . . .
2 5 ___
187,082
July 2 . . . .
9 ___
254,947
1 6 ___

Jan.




-----------1 s 0 4 .---------------- ------- a
Exported.’ ^Received. Exported. Gold in bank. Prem.ongold.
681,448
726,746
1,380,247
780,817
1,331,027
1,277,000
1,152,846
520,017
1,377,016
738,643
3,540,550
1,201,907
1,050,156
473,385
607,059
158,437
629,855
294,998
451,827
661,996
438,745
279,994
411,483
235,364
522,147
134,432
317,807
401,936
2,190,781

254,239
279,801
365,608
324,864
363,198
407,057
512,358
281,804
375,101
273,429
802,344
269,522
282,876
282,276
383,428
271,801
291,208
281,011
301,207

590,262 25,161,935 6 1 } a 52
1,216,204 25,122,002 51J a 62
1,985,057 24,884,264 52j a 5 6 }
1,000/)00 24,631,204 66 a 58
668,747 24,203,632 56} a . . .
662,616 24,070,191 19} a . . .
1,219,808 23 521,453 96 a . . .
325,632 22,523,918 69 a . . .
531,700 22,301,687 165 a 61
629,803 21,220,653 611 a 62
465,920 20,750,495 62 a 69
83,881 21,059,512 62 a 6 2 }
273,900 20,425,504 691 a 701
168,912 19,527,665 63* a 681
345,471 20,924,287 67 a 71
1,002,384 21,687,670 71 a 89
3,226,000 24,868,203 721 a 79
1,271,836 24,087,343 77 a 85
1,174,241 23,082,023 71 a 81
2,452,668 22,635,155 611 a 76f
1,884,195 22,091,691 73 a 85
680,820 21,973,180 871 a 921
1,425,588 22,461,604 87 a 901
1,548,600 24,041,704 92 a 991
1,886,663 22,916,291 94 a 981
1,296,356 22,000,898 99 a 130
660,»77 21,206,685 115 a 180
486,339 20,084,917 122 a 176}
301,244 21,234,354 144 a 185

294
23
30
Aug. 6
13
20
27
Sept. 3
1 10
17

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
. ..................
270,182
.
313,612
.
.
231,854
. ...
.
279,043
.
193,548
.

1,725,748
480,874
530,044
1,210,220
238,398
1,379.710
309,799
852,752
535,796

Total. . . .$8,541,942 $29,024,458

249,095
284,301
671,281
387,281
369,592

[October,

556,464 21,033,912 150|al68|
404,312 21,051,896 144 al59
90,111 21,159,518 155 al61-J
341,883 21,080,309 152 a l5 9 f
48,009 20,794.268 155 al58
206,398 19,952,94 9 145 al57
444,503 20,136,547 131 al53
486,451 20,603,881 125 al43
669,733 20,065,180 114 al30

9,103,486 32,986,738

The supply of gold in California has been reduced at estimated over three
and by the drought, and the crop of wheat which has been exported, to the
extent of four millions has been cut off, thus diminishing the means of remittance
here.
The supply of specie in the market was a good deal aided by the operations
of the Treasury in paying in advance the interest on the public stocks due No­
vember 1. The idea of peace that got abroad, just previous to the surrender of
Atlanta, also caused numbers of persons to sell, and others to borrow and sell,
for speculative purposes. This decline caused the withdrawal of many goods
from bond, and improved the demand for gold, as well for customs as for remit­
tance. Neither the demand nor the supply of bills was large, and there was a
great indisposition to operate any farther than the necessities of the moment
warranted. The gold price for sterling bills remained very nearly 109 a 1091,
and the currency price followed the rate of gold. These rates have been as fol­
lows :
KATES OF EXCHANGE.

*

London.

Pans.

Amsterdam. Frankfort.

Hamburg.

Berlin.

Jan. 2,. 166 a 166J 3 . 3 8 f a 3.341 624 a 63 6 2 f a 634 651 a 56 1104 a 111
“
9,. 166J a 167f 3.384 a 8.40
62f a 63 62§ a 634 5fi| a 564 110 4 a 111
“ 16,. 1694 a 170J 8.30 a 3 324 64 a 644 644 a 64§ 5 6Ja 57} 1 1 2 fa 1 1 3 f
“ 23,. 170 a 171 3.81 a 3.33
644 a 64| 644 a 65 5 6 f a 57 1 1 2 f a l l 8 f
“ 30, 171 a 172 3.824 a 8.284 644 a 6 4 J 644 a 65 574 a 574 1134 a 114
Feb. 6, 174 a 175 3.264 a 3 .28f 654 a 6 6 f 654 a 6 6 58 a 584 115 a 116
“ 13, 173 a 1744 3.274 a 3.234 65 a 654 654 a 654 584 a 584 1154 a 116
20, 1724 a 174 3 2 7 4 a 3 .2 3 J 654 a65| 654 a 6 5 f 584 a 6 8 4 1154 a 116
27, 1734 a 174 2.264 a 3.22 654 a 654 65|a 6 6 584 a 5 8 f 115| a 1164
5, 1744 a175J 3.25 a 3.211 65| a 664 6 6 a 664 584 a 59 116 a 117
12, 177 a 178 3.15 a 3 .1 8 f 6 6 a 664 67 a 674 59 a 594 1174 a 118
19, 176 a 177 3.224 a 3 . 18| 654 a 664 66 a 6 6 4 584 a 59 116 a 117
• 26, 1794 a 182 3.15 a 3.10 67| a 6 8 4 68 a 684 604 a 61 120 a 121
April 2, 1774 a 181 3 .1 8 | a 3 .1 2 4 664 a 67 67 a 6 7 f 594 a 604 118 a 120
“
9, 184a 185 3.08
a 3.064 6 8 4 a 69 6S|a 694 614 a 62 1214 a 122
70 a 71 704 a 714 624 a 644 127 a 128
“
16, 189 a 191 2.974 a 2.95
“
23, 190 a 192 3.054 a 2.95 714 a 7 1 f 714 a 72 6 2 fa 634 124 a 125
“
80, 195 a 198 2 .9 0 a 2.85 73 a 74 734 a 744 65 a 66 130 a 131
tyfay 7, 192 a 195 2.984 a 2 . 90 72 a 73 724 a 734 634 a 644 126 a 127
“
14, 192a 187 2.95 a 3.02
714 a 704 714 a 71 624 a 63 124 a 125
“
21, 196 a 198 2.874 a 2.8.3J 7t a 754 734 a 75 65 a 66 130 a 131
“
28, 201 a 2034 2.814 a 2.774 754 a 764 754 a 764 67 a 674 134 a 135
June 4, 218
a 210
2.724a 78
2.684
a 79 774 a 744 684 a 69 135 a 1S6
“
11, 215 a 218 2.65 a 2.60
79 a 794 78 a 79 714 a 72 143 a 144
794 a 8 O4 80 a 8 O4 72 a 73 145 a 145
“
18, 216a 219 2:64 a 2.88
“
25, 235 a 238 2.374 a 2.414
86 a 87 . . a . .
76 a 77 154 a 155




1864.]
July

2,
9,
“ 16,
“ 23,
U SO,
Aug. 6,
<k 13,
« 20,
“ 27,
Sept• 3,
« 10,
<( 17,

5

295

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
270
292
288
273
270
279
274
278
275
260
253
245

a 295 2.15 a 1.921
93 a 94
a ..
. . a . . 200 a215
a 298 1.95 a 1.871
a 290 Nominal.
. . a . . 101 al03
a 282 2.10 a 2.0IJ
. , a . . 98 alOO
a 274J 2 15 a 2.071
. . a . . 103 al05
a 283 2.001 a 2.00
a 277 2,05 a 2.071
a 2794 2.061 a 2.021 100 a 1021 101 al03
a 276 2.084 a 2.05
a 275 2.15 a 2.05
. , a ..
a 256 2.25 a 2.20
93 a 94
a 2481■2.31 J a 2.271

85 a 95
96 a 98

185
184

90 a 93 182
88 1 a 901 178
91 a 93 184
911 a 921 183
91# a 921 183
90 a 90J 178
85 a 901 170
83 a 84 166
801 a 811 ••

a 195
a 188
a 184
a 180
a 185
a 1851
a 184
a 180
a ISO
a 167
a ••

The amount of bills on the Continent is nominal, and in the month it was
stated that some forged Mexican bills, on the French Government, were in the
market. The bills drawn against United States 5-20 bonds, sold in Germany,
underwent a great diminution, for the reason that the markets there became
glutted wit£ bonds, and a sort of panic set in which caused the rate to fall to
351 cts. per dollar, a decline of 20 per cent from the price of May 24. When
the rapid rise in gold caused the bonds to be forwarded to an extent which
caused reaction, at the same time the Confederate bonds rose to 80 in LondoD,
the semi-annual drawing on these bonds took place, and was paid in specie,
making about one-sixth of the loan of $15,000,000 that has been paid off from
the proceeds of cotton, a large portion of which found its way from Texas, where
it appears that the growing cotton crop will be as large this year as ever it was,
owing to the amount of negro labor that has been transferred thither from Loui­
siana, Mississippi, and Alabama, the region of the war movements. Picking is
now in progress, and the probable yield is represented to be more than 450,000
bales. What this is to the South now may be partially judged when it is known
that all of the other Southern States combined will not make an equal amount
this year. Texas has suffered, and still suffers, from the war, but her losses are
nothing compared to those of other Southern States, or as measured by her own
abilities. From the frontier of Texas large quantities of Cotton are finding
their way into Mexico, and thence to Europe.
The sales of United States Stocks caused by the low prices abroad, and the
fall of exchange here, did not materially affect New York prices, which were as
follows:
PRICES UNITED STATES P A P E R .

January 2 . .
M
9 ..
M
1 6 ..
(i
2 3 ..
U
3 0 ..
February 6 . .
1 3 ..
«
2 0 ..
U
2 7 ..
March
5 ..
“
1 2 ..
u
1 9 ..
u
2 6 ..

7 3-10,
.— G’s, 1881.— ^
Coup. 5’s, 1S74. 3 years.
Keg.

1 year certil.
Old.
New.

104f
104f
y)4
106
1061
107f
1091
1111

101*
102
1021
103
102#
102f
103
103
103
1031
103
103
103

llli

1111
112
112
112




1051
1051
1051
107
106
1071
1091
110
1101
111
112
1121
1121

96
96
96
97
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

1061
1661
1061
107
1071
108
1091
111
111
111
1101
1101
m i

97f
97!
971
97
97#
98#
98#
991
991
99#
99#
991
991

Gold.

1511a 151#
152 a 1521
155 a 1551
156 a 158
1561 a 156#
159# a 159#
159# a 1591
159# a 161
159# a 161
1611 a 161#
1621a 162#
162 a 1621
169# a 179

296
April
“
n
“
«
May
«
“

U
June
M
It
It

July
II
it
It

((
Aug.

<

«<

“
((
Sept.
“
«

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
2 ..
9..
16..
28..
so..
7..
14..
2 1 ..
28..
4 ..
1 1 ..
18..
25..
2 ..
9..
16..
23..
SO..
6 ..
13..
2 0 ..
27..
3..
1 0 ..
17. .

I ll

110

ICO

111

112

112

102

1074
1054
114
113
114
114
114
109
108
107
1044
1044
104
10 2 J

1124

102

1114
112

108
114
113
1144
114
114
1134
113

109

109

102

111

102

1094

103

111

102

1 11

102

1 11

102
.1 0 2
102

1064

111

102

1054
105
1034
1034
107!

102
102

1024

1024

102

107

107
1054
107
1084
109f
107
1084
1084

93
99
100
100
100
100
100
100

106f
io ?4
109!
107
107
108

107

102

112

104

1064

109!
1084

112

102!

994
994
99
97
984
984
984
984
984
98
974
97
964
94
94
944
92|
954
944
95
944
95
93f
934
934

1074

108
110
1114
111
111
110|

[October,
166! a 1674
1694 a 170
173 a 189
174! a 179
1794 a 179!
173J a 173f
1724 a 1724
183 a 1834
186 a 1864
I90J a 19l"
1984 a 1984
1954 a 196
212 a 216
235 a 240
2664 a‘ 267
244 a 285
250 a 268
251 a 2514
260 a 2604
2^64 a 256
2574 a 2574
254 a 255
254 a 2544
234 a 233
2 2 2 4 a 222|

These prices carry the interest on and for the 6’s of 1881, on which there is
three months interest, the net price is 1044, which is equal to 45 cts. per dollar
gold piece. The price of registered 5-20’s here is in gold, less accrued interest,
44, and the last London quotation was 39, giving a slightly higher rate in New
York than in London. The large sales that have been made of United States
gold interest stock, at less than 40 cts. per dollar, is a matter of great anxiety,
since it will be a matter of great future hardship for the country to return 85
for $1 received.

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.

>
N A T I O N A L B A N K S , T H E IR N U M B E R A N D C IR C U L A T IO N — G O V E R N M E N T ISSU ES O P C O M P O U N D N O T E S —
THE

OLD

B A N K 8,

T H E IR

C IR C U L A T IO N

AND

LO AN

TO

Y O R K , P H IL A D E L P H IA , A N D BOSTON— N E W Y O R K B A N K

G OVERN M EN T— B A N K RETU RN S

OF

NEW

D IV ID E N D S — FIN A N C E S O F G R E A T B R IT A IN

— T H E COTTON T R A D E — R E TU R N S OF B A N K O F EN G L AN D A N D B A N K O F FR A N C E .

T he general banking movement has not been very important in the last
month. The leading feature, however, is the great increase in National Bank
circulation which has taken place, and which threatens to go on until the whole
amount, $300,000,000, authorized by law is added to the present redundant
mass of paper. The following table shows the amount of capital in each State
at the close of August and the close of June:




1 8 6 4 .]

J o u rn a l o f B a n k in g, C u rren cy, and F in a n ce.

2 97

00
00
22
00
00
00
74
34
00
00
00
00
02
97
36
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00

August 31.
$2,100,000
660,000
1,310,000
15,551,000
4,825.000
500,000
20,133,800
10,215,900
2,220,000
1,550,000
100,000
500,000
10,042,400
3,443,000
1,362,500
4 007,900
200,000
1,709.000
50,000
204,000
500,000
360,000
.997,000
300,000
1,245,000
100,000
350,000

Total................................................. .........
Bonds deposited—
6 per cent registered......................... .........
5
do
do
.........................
6 per cent coupon...............................
5
do
do
................................ .........

875,213,945 35

$81,485,500

18,168,750 00
00
00
2,537,900 00

28,561,000
7,637,000
17,963,100
2,610,900

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

$44,266,850 00
31,285,270 00

$46,524,100
44,225,210

June 30.
M ain e..........................................................
New Hampshire..........................................
Vermont........................................................
Massachusetts..............................................
Connecticut..................................................
Rhode Island................................................
New York....................................................
Pennsylvania..............................................
New J ersey........................................
Maryland......................................................
Virginia........................................................
Louisiana....................................................
Ohio..................................................‘ ..........
Indiana.........................................................
Michigan........................................................ ........
Illinois..........................................................
K entucky....................................................
Missouri......................................... .............. .........
Nebraska Territory.................................... .........
“Vest Virginia..............................................
District of Columbia................................. .........
Delaware...................................................... .........
Wisconsin..................................................... .........
Minnesota.....................................................
I o w a ............................................................

Kansas..................................................
Tennessee.....................................................

1,114,243
1,605,370
39,037
500,000
100,000
858,160

The amount of capital subscribed during the month of August was $2,608,600,
and the amount of circulation issued was $7,897,950. Under the pressure for
money, and the demand for small notes to send to the army, the issue of National
Bank notes was very active, and the prospect is that, by January 1, the amount
outstanding wiil reach $75,000,000. Iu the first week of September, the whole
number of National Banks reached five hundred and eight, with a total capital
of eighty-three millions three hundred and sixty-four thousand dollars.
The issue of currency to the National Banks, for the two weeks ending
Saturday, September 17, were $1,623,250. The total that date amounted to
fifty millions four hundred and seventy-seven thousand seven hundred and fifty
dollars.
This process of issuing notes merely adds to the redundancy of paper and the
rise in prices, causing the National expenses to increase in the direct ratio of the
advance. It is quite possible that the extra expense thus caused to the Govern­
ment per annum is equal annually to the whole issues of these institutions. In
addition to which they draw, for the present issues, $2,700,000 in gold interest
from the Treasury. The accumulation of these notes is accompanied by a cur­
tailment of one class of Treasury notes by substituting another. Thus there
l




298

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

[October,

Lave been issued by the department $214,000,000 of interest bearing Treasury
notes, which are for their face a legal tender for all debts except duties. These
are being rapidly supplanted with Treasury notes, called compound, that are a
legal tender for all debts except duties and the redemption of bank notes. Of
these about $80,000,000 have been substituted. Soon all the interest bearing
notes will be of that description. There will then remain only greenbacks which
will be the medium of redemption for the bank notes, now being so rapidly push­
ed out. The time is near, therefore, when the redundancy of these notes will
cause them to be rushed in for redemption, and, by putting the new Banks on
the defensive, will compel them to keep more greenbacks on hand, since under
the new law there is less room to evade redemption than before. The struggle
between the National Banks for greenbacks has already been severe.
The old Banks, as a general thing, are reducing their outstanding circulation.
Those of the City of New York have-reduced the amount to $4,169,513, which
is one-third the amount outstanding last January. The New York institutions
were much pressed for money to meet the instalments due on the loan contracted
during the month by the Treasury, although the Secretary agreed to take 5 per
cent legal tenders, and allow the interest. The banks held a quantity of 6 per
cent deposit certificates, which they were compelled to call in. Accordingly, the
Associated Banks voted to do away with the Clearing-House certificates, issued
by Mr. Cisco, and make their clearings in legal tender. By this arrangement
the $12,500,000 on temporary deposit at the Sub-Treasury would have been
withdrawn, and the Government would have lost the use of this money at a mo­
ment when they were much in want of it. The new Assistant-Treasurer, MrStewart, made a proposition to the Banks to issue 5 per cent certificates, in­
stead of 6 per cent as heretofore, and make them payable in legal tenders on de­
mand, instead of, as before, at ten days. The Associated Banks accepted this
proposition, with only one dissenting voice, and rescinded their resolution mak­
ing exchange in legal tenders. The ten days’ notice for the $12,500,000 was
therefore withdrawn. This had the effect, to some extent, to restore confidence
and diminish the stringency in money.
The returns of the New York Banks show the following features :
NEW YO R K BANKS.

N ew Y ork B anks. (Capital, Jan., 1864,$---------------; Jan., 1863, $69,494,577.)
Date.

January
k

<(
«
February

March

((
«
«(

April

9
")• •
9 ,. .
1 6 ,..
2 3 ,..
3 0 ,..
6 ,. .
1 3 ...
2 0 ,..
2 7 ,..
5 ,..
1 2 ,..
1 9 ,..
2 6 ,..
2 ,..
9 .. .
1 6 ,..

Clearings.
Loans.
Specie.
Circulation. Net Deposits.
$174,714,465 $25,161,935 $6,103,331 $140,250,856 i1300,753,147
387,546,217
25,122,002
6,032,546
134,861,977
173,009,701
165,991,170 23,884,264 6,008,182 130,311,046 416,962,806
162,925,880 24,077,513 5,049,807 130,136,203 460,811,543
162,296,896 24,203,632 5,913,558 130,665,415 427,806,608
163,076,846 24,070,791 5,974,762 133,849,042 425,430,985
165,090,329 23,521,453 5,916,707 140,464,616 467,751,745
168,302,985 22,523,918 5,908,394 148,014,106 614,887,411
174,928,205 22,301,687 5,907,851 154,875,059 575,442,304
182,317,378 21,188,034 5,937,167 158,999,668 618,951,433
189,757,746 20,750,405, 5,918,807 168,044,977 688,822,273
198,229,513 21,059,542 5,889,197 169,637,975 618,338,858
199,372,437 20,425,504 5,514,139 168,315,904 676,253,989
203,993,131 19,526,665 5,708,908 171,151,297 670,372,745
5,804,511 170,513,020 658,352,112
204,333,192 20,924,287
5,779,"650 168,850,790 646,593,643
198,703,699 21,687,670




'V

1864.]

299

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

ft
“
May

23 ,..
8 0 ,..
7 ,..
ft
1 4 ,..
ft
2 1 ,..
«l
2 8 ,..
4 ,..
June
ft
1 1 ,..
ft
18 ,..
ft
2 5 ,..
J uly
2 ,..
ft
9 ,..
ft
16 ,..
«
23 ,..
ft
3 0 ,..
August
6 ,..
«(
13,..
ft
2 0 ,..
“
2 7 ,..
September 3 ,..
1 0 ...
(•
1 7 ,..

196,286,72? 24,868,003
194,157.495 24,087,343
192881,246 23,082,028
194,178,921 22,635,155
197,356,939 22,091,691
195,813,462 21,973,180
196,740,609 22,461,604
194,935,822 24,041,704
195,773,583 22,916,291
197,077,002 22,000,988
198,089,016 21,206,685
199,699,742 20,084,917
199,043,887 21,234,354
190,885,761 21,038,912
185,838,480 21,051,896
185,563,507 21,159,518
185,074,244 21,080,309
185,998,407 20,794,268
188,502,729 19,952,949
189,414,631 20,136,547
187,285,127 20,603,881
186,317,519 20,185,315

5,679,947
5,626,978
5,594,832
6,482,357
5,367,355
5,240,812
5,180,639
5,049,457
4.959,09.6
4,807,195
4,752,917
4,696,107
4,724,538
4,688,892
4,553,426
4,522,728
4,417,804
4,346.658
4,256,847
4,200,950
4,181,616
4,169,513

161,978,166 672,442,840
164,578,919 446,587,420
168,562,197 410.052,013
174,426,682 413,552,127
173,111,884 486,884,114
171,765,696 410,972,198
174,516,367 477,648,207
172,537,248 445,519,165
169,445,767 431,158,427
158,772,982 •442,840,362
154,989,844 452,583,531
153,525,977 336,621,426
151,816,947 466,125,408
147,981,325 403,144,195
152,929,633 399,439,739
153,279,263 415,360,181
155,826,514 422,879,926
156,536,217 382,685,847
156,086,807 406,296,866
151,068,566 436,3S1,918
147,967,942 435,795,830
146,378,542 498,191,745

The New York Bank dividends, for January and July, were as follows :*

,— 1864.— .

Names of Banks.

Capital.

Atlantic .........................................................
Bank of America........................................
Bank of Commerce...................................
Bank of New Y ork...................................
Bank o f North America ..........................
Bank of Commonwealth...........................
Broadway.................................................
Butchers and Drovers’ ..............................
Chatham......................................................
Chemical ......................................................
Continental....................................................
East River .....................................................
Grocers’ ..........................................................
Hanover.........................................................
Importers and Traders’ ..............................
Irv in g ............................................................
Manufacturers and Merchants’ ..................
Market .........................................................
Mechanics’ ......................................................
Mercantile................................ ...............
Merchants’ Exchange...............................
Metropolitan............................................
Y ew York County....................................
New York Exchange...............................
North River................................................
New York Dry D ock...............................
Park.............................................................
People’s.......................................................
Phenix....................................................... .
Seventh W ard............... ...........................
Tradesmen’s ..............................................
Bull’s H ead................................................
Capital................ .....................................

1883. Jan. July
4
4
0
8
5
6
4
4
n
5
5
n
4
4
n
5
4
7
11 *10 *10
5
5
10
5
4
7
24
t®
t#
4
84
®4
4
7
84
5
8
5
4
5
n
4
5
n
4
0
84
4
4
H
4
4
7
4
5
n
5
5
9
4
34
n
4
5
ii
5
5
84
8
6
§0
5
7
34
7
34
34
5
9 J15
4
4
7
4
4
7
5
5
10
5
6
7
0
}3
f3

$42,704,025

* Including 4 per cent extra.
f Quarterly dividend.
extra.
§ Re-organized under National Bank act.




18G2.
0
7
6
6
®4
6
10
10
0
24
6
7
7
3
H
0
6
6
7
8
6
6
6
7
H
7
8
7
6
10
64
0

% Including 10 per cent

300

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

[October,

PH ILA D E LP H IA BANKS.

P h iladelphia B anks .
Date.
Jan. 4 ,. .
“
1 1 ,..
“
1 8 ,..
“
2 5 ,..
Feb. 1 ...
Feb. 8 ,..
“
1 5 ,..
“
2 2 ,..
“ 2 9 ,..
Mar. 7 ,..
Mar. 14,..
“
2 1 ,.,
“
2 9 ,..
A p ril 4 ,..

Loans.
$85,098,808
85,458.907
84,896,842
84,849,959
84,345,126
84.146.677
34,590,880
35,059,676
35,519,704
35.913.334
35.956.678
36,412,923
36,695,415
37,262,220
37,032,110
39.535.334
39.570.567
89.770.436
39.639.436
39.262.695
39.639.436
39.262.695
89,723,493
40,286,483
40,286,488
42.057.758
40,918,009
40,717,527
40,731,324
42.067.758
39,277,980
39,142,449
39,353,341
39,401,423
39,778,594
40,334,268
40,885,872
42,404,383
41,839,955

“
11,-.
“
1 8 ,..
“
2 5 ,..
M aj 2 ,..

“

9,.,

“ 1 0 ,..
“ 2 8 ,..
' “ 8 0 ,..
Juqe 7,.
“ 1 4 ,..
“ 2 1 ,..
“ 2 7 ,..
July 4 ,..
“ 1 1 ,..
“ 1 8 ,..
“ 2 0 ,..
A ug. 2,.
“
9 ...
“ 1 0 ,..
f “ 2 4 ,..
“ 8 1 ,..
Sept. 7 ,..
“ 1 4 ,..

“

21,.,

“

2 7 ,.,

( C a p ita l, J a n ., 1863, $11,740,080; 1862, $11,970,180.)
Due
Due
Specie. Circulation.
Deposits.
to banks, from banks.
$4,15S,5S5 $2,055,811 $29,878,920 $4,316,763 $2,963,563
4,158,285 2,050,891 30,484,227 4,001,473 2,814,188
4,158,125 2,044,427 31,194,851 4,330,120 3,063,148
4,103,065 2,047,846 32,354,253 8,500,693 2,905,921
4,108,109 2,056,532 82.027.147 3,453,4 31 3,271,306
4,102,671 2,066,069 31,033,030 4,080,059 2,461,873
4,102,748 2,069,061 29,911,704 4.322,609 2,080,750
4,102,588 2,119,488 30,783,741, 4,463.751 2,099,778
4,102,848 2,167,348 31,435,753 4,837,264 2.114.227
4,102,632 2,208,492 31,712,547 5,323,316 2,116,042
4,099,707 2,308,250 32,511,405 5,508,146 2.333,819
4,099,664 2,340,182 32,835,038 6,933,974 2.428.227
4,096,401 2,357,768 33,156,496 5,791,191 2,724,935
4,095,495 2,390,092 34,404,607 5,641,638 3,425,805
4,093,461 2.379.827 35,958,444 5,855,277 3,799,151
4,095,387 2,329,590 38,174,046 5,748,257 3,291,176
4,095,475 2,253,386 37,393,247 6,067,966 2,592,465
3,972 349 2.241,885 37,758,836 6,374,531 2,730,540
3,967,263 2,152,S27 37.466.311 6.636.576 2,786,080
3,964,522 2,'31,919 37.638.814 6,580,548 2.853.894
3,967,263 2.152.827 37.466.311 6.636.576 2,786,080
8,964,522 2,131,919 37.638.814 6,580,54 8 2.858.894
3,694.320 2,100,927 38,249,800 6,993,116 3,186,259
8,964,758 2,077,753 38,367,171
5,930,707 3,007,283
3,964,529 2,074,273 37,588,203 6,403,664 2,998,548
3,963,640 2.092.470 39.122.865 6.544.668 3.139.132
3,955,836 2,154,258 37,945,305 6,225,952 4,325,450
3,949,105 2,387.651 37,312,423 6,197,570 4,658,667
3,948,440 2,208,068 36,462,271 6,189,843 3,616,992
3,963,640 2.092.470 39.122.865 6.544.668 3.139.132
3,962,385 2,24 9,228 36,520,768 6,059,048 3,816,165
8,962,367 2,231,394 37,234,436 5,992,712 3,7 85,89 .
3,691.201
8,962,313 2,214,929 36,826,674 5,801,231
3,962,154 2,222.401 35,869,084 5,738,141 3,891,137
3,972,413 2,361,745 35.603.148 6,070,333 3,704,273
3,962,395 2,454,060 34,981,281 6,119,371 3,419,624
3,962,353 2,524,005 35,039;636 6,071,768 3,047,313
3,961,342 2,574,571 35,913,425 6,031,204 3,081,281
3,960,464 2,610,809 34,838,109 6 , 121,101 3,057,381
BOSTON BANKS.

B

oston

Date.
Jan. 4 , . .
«< 1 1 ...
«
1 8 ,..
“
2 5 ,..
F eb 1 ...
«
8 ,. .
rt 1 5 ,..
u
2 2 ,..
n 2 9 ,..
Mar.■ 7 , . .
“ 1 4 ,..
“ 2 1 ,..
“ 2 8 ,..
A p ril 4 ,. .

( C a p it a l, J a n ., 1863, $38,231,700 ; J a n ., 1862, $38,231,700.)
Due
Due
Loans.
Circulation.
from banks.
Specie.
Deposits.
to banks.
$76,805,343 1$7,503,889 $9,625,043 $32,525,679 $12,831,000 $12,351,500
77,747,734 7,531,195 10,185,615 31,524,185 12,703.600 11,019,000
75,877,427 7,464,511 9,963,389 31,151,210 12,041,0u0 11,769.000
74,146,000 7,440,000 9,729,000 80,893,000 11,106,700 12,227,000
73,959,175 7,386,413 9,660,163 30,655,782 10,825,000 11,854,600
71,765,122 7,266,104 9,579,020 80,030,292 11,315,000 12,272,000
71,088,849 7,224,924 9,741,471 30,412,647 11,615,000 13,448,000
71,074,000 7,215,500 9,411,000 31,831,000 11,329,600 14,925,4u4
72,189,003 7,179,310 9,371,440 33,155,888 12,224,603 16,189,720
72,687,363 7,108,519 9,606,318 33,688,017 12,313,829 16,535,992
72,105,111 7,052,181 9,490,311 33,891,204 12,704,181 17,315,231
73,207,121 7,033,721 9,648,211 35,090,181 13,092,531 17,266,741
73,485,514 7,016,086 9,210,096 34,859,608 13,352,706 17,071.731
71,838,506 6,856,708 9,442,082 32,861,609 13,601,005 15,786,092

B

an ks.




1864.]
Date.

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
Loans.

72,620,848
“ 11,..
“ 18,..
72,328,896
“ 25,.. •72,538,611
May 2 ,..
71,270,181
“ 9 ,..
69,471,481
68,888,581
“ 16 ...
“ 2 3 ,..
66,688,610
“ 30,.. 69,201,301
June 7 ,.. 67,093,500
“ 14,.. 67,942,400
“ 21 ... 68,880,121
“ 28 ,.. 69,691,000
July 5 ... 66,950,111
‘ 12... 66,452,107
“ 19,.. 66,079,000
“ 26 ,.. 59,973,511
Aug 2,. . 59,760,398
“ 9 ,.. 60.655,181
“ 16... 61,175,211
“ 2 3 ,.. 61,817,002
“ 30 ,.. 61.960,481
Sept. 6 ,.. 62,211,931
“ 13,.. 61,818,600
“ 20 ,.. 61,863,582
“ 2 7 ,.. 58,352,671

Specie.

Circulation.

6,982,192
6,869,726
6,952,498
6,642,798
6,716,484
6.644,493
6,673,181
6,541,201
6,509,181
6,524,207
6,507,021
6,470,600
6,290,521
6,301,101
6,246,211
5,733,010
5,729,431
5,734,101
5,665,981
5,660,911
5,681,871
5,744,898
5,789,033
6,820,671
5,637,921

10,447,916
10,331,806
10,938,991
10,127,097
10,521,591
10,126,473
9,899,193
9,681,204
9,160,621
8,771,181
8,983,121
9,068,712
9,574,009
9,986,491
9,890,081
9,775,481
9,327,101
9,685,671
9,538,841
9,567,921
9,630,000
10,100,400
10,274,852
10,420,810
10,280,431

Deposits.

Due
to banks.

801
Duo
from banks.

83,824,978 16,094,360 17,362,871
33,510,054 14,447,997 17,054,214
31,810,971 14,715,981 15,790,498
31,461,499 14,206,581 14,206.592
31,172,584 12,801,000 16,239,000
31,633,071 12,500,671 16,201,083
36,605,1S1 11,871,719 15,733,691
34,391,208 11,101,307 15,925,201
32,771,821 10,875.181 16,130,720
33,305,220 10,710,089 15,057,131
32,740,201 11,681,602 14.790,012
30,865,101 12,260.080 12,872,111
29,940,102 11,880,312 18,809,002
32,280,004 11,306,002 13,434,523
30,584,101 10,003.181 13,942,001
9,151,111 13.473,621
27,905,491
27,866,201
8,947,021 13,039,587
27,806,030
9,842,621 13,261,654
27,773,821
9,855,921 12,798,821
27,221,731 10,052,871 12,007,481
26,495,100 10,110,000 11,618,931
25,S84,487 10,535,000 11,526,011
25,015,230 10,152,979 11,142,930
24,722,891 10,530,000 11,237,080
23,582,981 10,958,781 10,197,691

A t the date of our last number the returns from the Bauk of England were
such as to indicate a further rise in the rate of interest, which has continued for
an unusually long period of time, and still with an upward tendency. The mov­
ing cause seems the cotton trade. The shutting up of the American ports in
1861 through out of employment a very large amount of capital before employed
in buying, manufacturing, and selling cotton, while at the same time there was as
a consequence of the closing of the trade, a rise iu the value of old stocks of
cotton goods all over the world. Hence it could not be otherwise than that
money should be very cheap, and 1| a 2 per cent was the rule in 1862. Gradu­
ally that cheap money stimulated new occupations, and later the credit of corpo. rate companies in all parts of the world has drawn largely upon English capital.
The rise in the price of cotton has also' stimulated its production to a great ex­
tent all over the world, and the sale of it in England has so increased as to create
an alarming drain upon her resources. The extent to which this has proceeded
may be seen in the following table of the value of cotton imported into Great
Britain and the exports of cotton goods in six months of each of the last three
yea rs:

From.

United States................................
Bermudas.......................................
Mexico..........................................
Brazil..............................................
Turkey............................................
E g y p t ............................................
In d ia ..............................................
China...............................................
Other countries.............................
Total......................................
Exports cotton goods...................




1862.

1863.

1864.

£226,937
.......
.............
617,889
.............
2,144,691
3,914,012
........ . .
785,794

£69,593
634,713
425,343
1,149,928
340,708
4,336,874
9,193,049
793,888
867,185

£1,245,954
2,038,809
1,836,733
2,362,974
1,296,629
8,952,379
15,023,536
3,570,152
1,531,226

£7,689,223
17,882,132

£17,811,281
19,094,206

£37,858,292
26,384,995

302

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

[October?

This gives an immense reverse in trade. In 1862 there was a ratio of
$50,000,000 more goods exported than cotton imported. This year in six
months $100,000,000 more has been paid for cotton than has been received for
goods. It is not therefore a matter of surprise that exchanges pass pertinently
against England in spite of the continued high rate of interest, or that just fears
are entertained that any injury to the crops would precipitate a crisis. The
Bank returns are as follows :
THE BANK OF ENGLAND RETURNS.

Date.
Dec. 2 , . . .
ft
9 ,...
ft 1 6 ,...
il 2 3 ,...
il 3 0 ,...
Jan. 6, ’64
1 3 ,...
“ 2 0 ,...
u 2 7 ,...
Feb. 3 , . . .
“ 1 0 ,...
<( 1 7 ,...
tt 2 4 ,...
March 2 , . . .
ft
9 ,...
it 1 6 ,...
“
2 3 ,...
tt SO,.. .
April 6 , . . .
It 1 2 ,...
if 2 0 ,...
tf 2 7 ,...
May 4 , . . .
tt
1 1 ,...
“
1 8 ,...
(t 2 5 ,...
June 1___
“
8 ,...
t< 1 5 ,...
“
2 2 ,...
it 2 9 ,...
July 6 , . . .
1 3 ,...
“
2 0 ,...
“
2 7 ,...
Aug. 3 , . . .
1 0 ,...
“
1 7 ,...
tt 2 4 ,...
“
3 1 ,...
Sept 7 , . . .

Circulation.

Public
Deposits.

21,685,732 7,234,894
20,801,207 8,629,856
20,382,764 9,103,738
20,273,799 10,266,546
20,686.538 10,841,991
21,322,304 10,001,982
21,396,420 5,264,097
21,445,793 5,689,074
20,875,825 6,337,246
21,162,626 6,748,867
20,708,113 7,254,682
20,696,172 7,079,789
20,207,871 8,153,601
20,840,874 7,893,633
20,563,325 8,863,364
20,383,112 8,570,711
20,366,705 9,841,323
20,908,644 10,280,458
21,528,914 9,818,880
21,785,597 5,929,922
21,672,783 5,787,329
21,484,602 6,217,965
22,045,792 6,981,132
21,478,987 7,299,434
21,313,352 7,568,661
20,868,047 7,971,003
21,246,840 8,286,719
20,766,405 8,748,510
20,597,557 8,512.311
20,623,207 9,287,594
21,163,606 10,213,535
21,890,063 9,489,130
22,161,001 4,683,803
22,302,688 4,462,490
22,158,547 4,961,046
22,489,710 5,165,704
21,881,314 4,963,222
21,554,139 5,145,800
21,047,048 5,288,725
21,289,324 5,815,742
21,367,124 6,022,373

Private
Deposits.

12,924,545
12,981,276
13,265,068
12,711,637
13,021,212
13,052,604
15,411,794
13,879,877
13,406,627
13,372,981
12,882,226
13,306,156
12,426,673
13,541,278
12,4.34,975
13,105,800
12,480,154
12,658,986
13,348,299
13,586,029
13,684,069
12,620,036
12,278,903
12,901,160
12,962,402
12,882,042
12,493,776
11,966,204
12,790,361
13,051,661
12,890,244
13,471,415
15,082,746
13,408,675
13,719,621
13,519,626
14,419,766
13,950,446
13,714,161
13,073,751
12,904,085

Securities.

Coin and
Bullion.

Date of
Discount.

31,980,889
32,622,659
32,303,049
32,270,286
33,438,154
33,486,952
31,726,575
31,445,860
31,017,449
31,436,334
36,923,317
31,078,328
30,504,827
31,980,446
31,769,811
31,929,164
32,112,543
33,472,484
34,223,509
31,385,305
31,596,179
30,961,635
32,070,427
32,239,210
31,855,696
81,297,181
31,329,121
30,711,740
30,884,192
31,948,856
33,297,897
34,286,592
31,637,509
30,471,085
31,846,657
31,909,793
32,202,646
31,594,986
30,861,710
31,058,841
31,202,405

13,048,475
13,008,617
13,675,474
14,217,067
14,362,605
14,196,754
11,708,597
12,974,109
13,022,220
13,303,243
13,472,271
13,588,635
13,819,412
14,034,222
13,884,389
13,946,943
14,499,201
14,163,519
13,616,762
13,080,300
12,743,302
12,567,776
12,454,244
12,705,251
13,267,446
13,713,943
14,052,761
14,043,129
14,304,205
14,319,061
14,197,849
13,930,809
13,701,112
13,171,561
12,996,685
12,877,483
12,609,925
12,725,759
12,831,751
12,980,038
12,970,447

8 per ct
8 “
7 tt
7 ft
7 ft
7 ft
7 ft
8 ft
8 tt
8 ft
ft
7
ft
7
tt
6
6 ft
6 ft
6 ft
6 ft
6 ft
6 ft
6 ft
7 ft
7 “
9 ft
9 if
8 tt
7 tt
7 ft
7 tt
6 ft
6 ft
6 tt
6 tt
6 “
6 “
8
8 ft
8 f
8 ft
8 ft
8 ft
9 ft

The aggregate British trade continues very large, but there is a disposition of
capital to leave Britain, which the continued high rate of money restrains, and
which rate is seen in the decline in consols, they being lower now than for many
years. The large German interest in United States bonds have absorbed a sum
which the low rate of consols might otherwise have attracted to London.
In France the rate of money is more steady, and it is remarkable that the




1864.]

503

Pneumatic Railways.

Bank of France is enabled to keep her rate at 6 per cent or 2 per cent under that
of England, and with very little variations. The returns of the Bank interest
are as follows:
BA N K OF FRANCE.

Loans.

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits. Interest.

January —fr.751,649,983 fr.169,027,010 fr.813,490,825 fr.159,797,667
February — 705,516,796
182,573,888
775,096.775
160,110,225
March
— 642,135,993
195,994,738
746,610,375
142,925,719
April
759,926,425
— 643,570,276
219,320,720
133,701,530
May
767,443,475
242,824,609
178,434,305
— 683,332,517
725,381,925
June
— 577,309,524
294,892,295
156,685,209
it
23, 594,563,973
280,511,406
720,243,375
144,559,768
it
277,544.816
766,609,875
165,668,712
30, 676,605,538
July
7, 662,197,524
276,522,727
772,309,475
170,022,200
a
266,890,961
792,819,275
14, 667,187,446
152,242,482
it
269.810,253
21, 639,299,542
788,378,725
135,282,170
it
28, 642,692,154 ' 276,162,420
791,673,525
144,636,985
August
276,790,393
786,629,625
4, 634,904,899
157,810,891
ti
777,023,925
11, 633,495,575
272,433,487
148,866,812
it
276,200,183
769,096,425
18, 627,110,297
139,746,017
25, 615,885,942
767,100,725
280,595,089
130,431.547
September 1, 618,948,683
279,353,778
767,763,725
141,075,120
It
8, 618,030,503
281,021,082
752,214,625
137,349.361

7
7
6
6
8
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
7

The imports and exports of silver and gold into and from France have been
as follows for six months of 1864 :
Silver.

Gold.

Imported.................................................................francs
E xp orted .........................................................................

158,957,188
196,819,685

281,187,374
184,231,842

Excess exports.........................................................
Excess imports........................................................

37,861,897
.................

...................
97,205,532

Thus the exchange of gold for silver seems to keep up a steady current, with,
however, an aggregate increase of coin in France.

PNEUMATIC

RAILWAYS.

The power employed by the Pneumatic Despatch Company of LondoD, in the
conveyance of letters and parcels, has from time to time, in years past, been used
in an experimental way to propel cars, but never very successfully. We can,
however, see no reason why it should fail if properly applied. A series of ex­
periments were made, the latter part of August, at Sydenham, in the Crystal
Palace grounds, with, it is said, far more favorable results than ever before.
The trial was on the model Pneumatic Itailway recently constructed under the
superintendence of Mr. R am m e ll , C. E., and was conducted in the presence of
several eminent engineers and scientific men. A brickwork tuunell, about 10
feet high by 9 feet wide, and capable of admitting the largest carriages used on
the Great Western Railway, was laid with a single line of rails, fitted with open­
ing and closing valves at either extremity, and supplied with all the other re-




304

Pneumatic Railways.

quisite apparatus for propelling passenger trains on the pneumatic principle.
The tunnel, or tube, is described by the Ironmonger of London as extending
from the Sydenham entrance of the grounds to the Armoury, near the Pengegate, a distance of nearly 600 yards. The object of laying down this experi­
mental line was to afford, both to the scientific world and the travelling public,
a practical demonstration of the applicability to passenger traffic of the motive
power employed, as we have already stated, by the Pneumatic Despatch Com­
pany in the conveyance of letters and parcels. The pneumatic principle of pro­
pulsion is very simple. It has been likened to the action of a pea-shooter—a
rough kind of comparison, perhaps, yet one sufficiently accurate as a popular
illustration. The tunnel may be taken to represent the pea shooter, and the
train the pea, which is driven along in one direction by a strong blast of air, and
drawn back again in the opposite direction by the exhaustion of the air in front
of it. The train may be said, in fact, to be blown through the tube on the
down journey, and sucked through it on the return journey. It must not, how­
ever, be supposed that the passengers are deposited at their destination with a
sudden jerk, as the simile we have used might seem to imply. Such an incon­
venience is entirely obviated by the mechanical arrangements employed. The
motion is throughout smooth, easy, and agreeable, and the stoppages are effected
gently and gradually. Indeed, when it is considered that the curve in the tun­
nel is unusually sharp, being of eight chains radius, and that the gradients are as
high as 1 in 15, it is surprising that the motion should be so much steadier and
pleasanter than ordinary railway travelling. The journey of 600 yards was per­
formed either way in about 50 seconds, with an atmospheric pressure of only 2\
ounces to the square inch ; but a higher rate of speed, if desirable, can easily be
obtained consistently with safety. Indeed, one great incidental advantage of
this species of locomotion is, that it excludes all risk of the collisions occasion­
ally attendant on railway travelling ; for it is plain that no tw.o trains could
over run full tilt against each other where all the propelling force is expended in
one direction at one time. The worst mishap which it is said could well happen
is that, owing to some sudden failure in the machinery, the train might be ab­
ruptly brought to a dead stop in the middle of the tunnel, when the passengers
would have to alight from the carriages and grope their way as best they could
out of the tube. Such a predicament certainly would not be enviable, but it
might be more ludicrous than dangerous. Whether in such a contingency there
is any possibility of another tiain being started before they had safely made
their exit, or any risk of their sharing the fate of frogs placed under an exhausted
air-pump, we do not venture to assert; but probably the scientific engineer
could guarantee the traveller against any such novel peril. The train used on
the trial consisted of one Very long, roomy, and comfortable carriage, resembling
an elongated omnibus, and capable of accommodating some 30 or 35 passengers.
Passengers enter this carriage at either end, and the entrances are closed with
sliding glass doors Fixed behind the carriage there is a framework of the same
form, and nearly the same dimensions, as the sectional area of the tunnel; and
attached to the outet edge of this frame is a fringe of bristles forming a thick
brush. As the carriage moves along through the tunnel the brush comes into
close contact with the arched brickwork, so as to prevent the escape of the air.




Pneumatic Railways.

305

With this elastic collar round it, the carriage forms a close-fitting piston, against
which the propulsive force is directed. The motive power is supplied in this
way :—-At the departure station a large fan-wheel, with an iron disc, concave
in surface and 22 feet in diameter, is made to revolve by the aid of a small sta­
tionary engine at such speed as may be required, the pressure of air increasing, of
course, according to the rapidity of the revolutions, and thus generating the
force necessary to send the heavy carriage up a steeper incline than is to be
found upon any existing railway. The disc gyrates in an iron case resembling
that of a huge paddlewheel; and from its broad periphery the particles of air
stream off in strong currents. When driving the air into the upper end of the
tunnel to propel the down-train, fresh quantities rush to the surface of the disc
to supply the partial vacuum thus created ; and, on the other hand, when the
disc is exhausting the air in the tunnel with the view of drawing back the up.
train, the air rushes out like an artificial hurricane from the escape valves of the
disc case, making the adjacent trees shake like reeds and almost blowing off his
feet any incautious spectator who approaches too near it.
When the down journey is to be performed, the breaks are taken off the wheels,
and the carriage moves by its own momentum into the mouth of the tube, pass­
ing in its course over a deep air well in the floor, covered with an iron gratiDg.
Up this opening a gust of wind is sent by the disc, when a valve, formed’ by a
pair of iron doors, hung like lock-gates, immediately closes firmly over the eitrance of the tunnel, confining the increasing atmospheric pressure between the
valve and the rear of the carriage. The force being thus brought to hear upon
the end of the train, the latter, shut up within the tube, glides smoothly along
towards its destination, the revolving disc keeping up the motive power until it
reaches the steep incline, whence its own momentum again suffices to carry it the
rest of the distance. The return journey, as above indicated, is effected by the
aid of the exhausting process. At a given signal a valve is opened, and the disc
wheel set to work in withdrawing the air from the tube. Near the upper end of
the tube there is a large aperture, or side-vault, which forms the throat through
which the air is, so to speak, exhaled, the iron doors at the upper terminus still
being kept shut,. In a second or two the train posted at the lower terminus,
yielding to the exhausting process going on in its front, and urged by the ordi­
nary pressure of the atmosphere from behind, moves off on its upward journey,
and rapidly ascending the iucline approaches the iron gates, which fly open to
receive it, and it emerges at ouce into daylight. Such is tht mode in which the
system works, and it seems capable of being adapted to railway communication
wherever tuuuelled lines with steep gradients exist. The chief obstacles en­
countered in practically working the atmospheric railway, introduced some
fifteen years ago, are considered to have been effectually overcome by the present
modification of the principle. Under the former system the tube was of very
small size, and fixed upon the ground ; a longitudinal or continuous valve opering at the top, along which a rod, connecting the piston with the carriages
passed, and the valve closing behind the rod as it moved onwards. The amount
of atmospheric pressure required to be exerted where the area of the tube was
so small was enormous, being from 7 pouuds to 10 pounds per square inch .
whereas upon Mr. R ammell’s principle the pressure is only 21 ounces per square
VOL. LI.--- NO. IV.




19

»

Mineral Statistics o f Great Britain and Ireland.

306

[October,

inch, and, moreover, the great leakage and waste of power which rendered the
old atmosphere system so costly in working are here in great measure avoided.
It need hardly be added, that, the worst drawbacks to travelling through tunnels
— viz., the smoke and sulphureous vapours emitted from the locomotive, and the
close, unwholesome atmosphere of the tunnels themselves—are in this case got
rid of. Every train, in fact, carries its own supply of fresh air along with it,
and also expels the foul air before it.

MINERAL STATISTICS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND FOR 1861.
COAL, IRON, COPPER, TIN , LEAD, ZINC, AND GOLD,

W e obtain from the published reports, for 1863, the following respecting the
mineral wealth of the United Kingdom :—
COAL.

Of this, the most important mineral product, the enormous quantity of
86,292,215 tons was obtained in 1863, being an increase of more than 4,500,000
tons upon the produce of 1862. The exports of coal in the three last years have
varied but little in amount. Thus, in 1861, 7,222,718 tons were exported; 1862,
7,671,670 tons; 1863, 7,529,341 tons. Hence it follows that there must have
been greatly increased energy in some branches of British manufacture to account
for this large consumption of coal. In 1862 it appears that considerable quanti­
ties were stocked, especially in Lancashire and other districts devoted to textile
manufactures; this does not seem to have been .the case last year, the whole
being returned as “ sold or used.”
The great extension of coalmining is shown by the fact that, in 1853, the
number of colleries at work amounted to 2,397 ; whereas, in 1863, the number
had risen to 3,180. In the great northern coalfields of Durham and Nor­
thumberland, we find the production of its collieries has increased from
19,360,356 tons in 1862, to 22,154,146 tons in 1863. A t the same time, there
has been a decrease of the quantities shipped to foreign countries and sent
coastwise to the extent of 418,163 tons ; but the North-Eastern Railway car­
ried out of this coalfield 2,029,803 tons of coal and coke more than it transport­
ed in 1862.
In the returns given of coal production, the quantities wasted in “ getting ”
and at the pit’s mouth is not stated. It may be inferred that this is very large
when we find the coal-trade of the north giving in their report the “ duff and
waste” from their own district as 500,000 tons. Taking this into consideration,
it is evident that the rate at which the exhaustion of these coal beds is now pro­
gressing cannot be regarded as less than 90,000,000 tons per annum.
IRON.

The iron ore produce of the United Kingdom amounted to 9,088,060 tons in
1863. Of this the Cleveland district, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, pro­
duced 2,553,805 tons of argillaceous carbonate of iron; Scotland* 1,500,000




1864.]

Mineral Statistics o f Great Britain and Ireland.

307

tons, principally of black band iron ore; while Lancashire gave 658,643 tons,
and Cumberland 690,974 tons, of their remarkable red hmmatite. This iron ore,
with about 50,000 tons imported, fed 597 blast furnaces, which yielded the folowing amounts of pig iron:—England, 2,451,211 tons; AVales, 898,829 tons ;
Scotland, 1,160,000 tons: total, 4,510,040 tons. This was 566,571 tons more
pig iron than made in 1862. This will account for the extra consumption of
?ery nearly 2,000,000 tons of coals.
CO PPER.

The copper mines have, for some few years, exhibited a regular falling oif in
their rate of production. Two hundred and twenty-two copper mines, of which
190 are in Devonshire and Cornwall, gave 210,947 tons of copper ore, the
money value of this being £1,100,554, or about $5,502,770. By smelt'mg this
ore 14,247 tons office copper is obtained. In addition to this 26,386 tons o f
copper ore were imported from foreign and colonial mines, whieh gave 4,461
tons of metal, sold at public sales; and 70,498 tons of copper ore, producing
17,509 tons of copper, were sold by private contract. Of the foreign ore there,
was imported from Chili 25,966 tons, and 18,708 tons of regulus, while Cuba
sent 15,570 tons of ore and 858 tons of regulus.
TIN .

From the tin mines of Cornwall and Devonshire, in the year 1863, a larger
quantity of tin was obtained than in all probability was ever before produced ;
the tin ore raised being 15,157 tons, which gave 10,006 tons of white (metallic)
tin. When we remember that these tin mines have been most industriously
worked for more than three thousand years, this return will convey some idea of
the continued richness of this stanniferous district, and of the enormous value of
the original deposit. We have recently been made acquainted with some curi­
ous facts connected with the mode of occurrence of tin in the “ lode,” or mineral
vein. All the old tin mines were shallow workings, and many mines were aban­
doned at comparatively small depths when the miners “ came to the yellows,”
by which they meant copper ore; the “ yellows,” as the phrase was, “ always
cutting out the tin.” Doicoath, and many other mines which were worked for
tin, passed gradually into copper mines, and were then prosecuted to great
depths for that metal. Passing, however, through the copper ore in the lode,
the miners have again come into rich deposits of tin. From Doicoath mine, at
a depth of nearly 300 fathoms, the adveuturers obtained, last year, 1,026 tons of
tin ore, worth £69,741. Many other mines are exhibiting precisely the same
conditions, and the belief that the ores of the valuable metal tin occur only near
the surface is exploded. England imported, principally through Holland and
from British India, via Singapore, 2,728 tons of tin and 559 tons of tin ore
and regulus.
LEAD.

The lead mines of these islands produced 91,283 tons of lead ore, which yield
ed 68,220 tons of metallic lead, and 634,004 ounces of silver. The lead mines o f
the United Kingdom are more generally ditiiused than those of any other metal
except iron—the counties producing the largest quantities being,—




308

[October,

Mineral Statistics o f Great Britain and Ireland.

Uurbam and Northum berland.............. ____
Yorkshire...................................................
Denbighshire............................................
C ardiganshire..........................................
Cum berlond..............................................
C o r n w a ll...................................................

Lead Ore.
Tons.
22,774

Lead.
Tons.
17,205
6,171
6,432
5,661
4,949
4.270

Silver.
Ounces.
81,315
3.270
29.797
58,846
41,304
206,312

There appears to be a regular order in the increase of the quantities of silver
contained in the ores of lead as we advance towards the southern and western
counties.
ZINC.

Of zinc ores—Hack-jack of the miners, blende of the mineralogists—the mines
produced 13,699 tons, which on smelting, gave of metallic zinc 3,835 tons. The
zinc miners have, however, much difficulty in competing with the mines produc­
ing the ores of zinc on the Continent.
GOLD.

In the appendix to the mineral statistics we have a complete list of all the
mines and collieries of the United Kingdom, with the names of the companies
or proprietors ivorking them. From this list we learn that there are 23 mines
dignified with the names of gold mines in North Wales. We have, however,
returns of gold from only two of these, and the total quantity obtained is only
552 ounces, of the value ol£l,747. In 1862 Vigra and Clogan alone produced
5,299 ounces of gold of the value of £20,390. These results, after all the excite­
ment about British gold mines which has been rife during the past four years,
leading to the expenditure of very large sums of money upon the hills of Merio­
nethshire, should read a lesson to eager adventurers.
The following tables place the whole question'of the value of the mining oper­
ations of the United Kingdom at once before the eye :—
VALUE OF THE PRODUCTS OF THE MINES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FOE

Minerals.

Quantity.

Gold quarts, tons.......................
Tin ore, tons...............................
Copper ore, tons........................
Lead ore, tons...........................
(Silver ore, tons...........................
Zinc ore, tons.............................
Iron ore, tons..............................
1J\rites, tons...............................
'Wolfram, tons...........................
Uranium, cwts............................
Gossans, tons..............................
Arseuie, tons..............................
Coals (sold and used), t o n s .. .
Earthy minerals, estimated at

385
15,157
210.947
91,283

88
12,941
9,101,552
95,376
13
3
4,424
1,444
86,292,215

Total value o f the minerals produced in 1863.................... ..




Or, about $145,759,880.

1863.

Value.
£1,500
963,985
1,100,554
1,193,530
5,703
29,968
3,240,890
62,035
67

23
4,576

1.200
20,572,945
1,975,000
£29,151,97®

1S64.J

The New Almaden Quicksilver Mines.

309

METALS PRODUCED FROM BRITISH MINERALS AND COALS.

Quantity.

Gold, ounces....................................................
Tin, ton s..........................................................
Copper, tons.....................................................
Lead, tons.......................................................
Silver, ounces..................................................
Zinc, tons.........................................................
Iron (pig), tons................................................

Value.

552
10,006
14,247
68,220
634.004
3,835
4,510,040

£1,747
1,170,702
1,409,608
1,418,985
174,351
90,SS9
11,276,100

Total valve of the above.......................................... . .
Estimated value of other metals................... ..............
Coals..................................... .■...........................................

£15,541,382
250,000
20,572,945

Total value o f the metals obtained, and coals produced
in 1 8 6 3.............................................................................

£36,364,327

Or, about $181,821,635.

THE N EW ALMADEN (IUICKSILVER MINES.
T he following, which we find in the September number of the American Jour­
nal of Science, was written by Professor Silliman, Jr., who is now in Califor­
nia :

The New Almaden Quicksilver Mines are situated on a range of hills subordi­
nate to the main coast-range, the highest point of which at the place is 1,200 to
1,500 feet above the valley of San Jose. Southwest of the range which contains
the quicksilver mines, the coast-range attains a considerable elevation, Mt. Bache,
its highest point, being over 3,800 feet in height.
New Almaden is approached by the railroad running from San Francisco to
San Jose, a distance of 45 miles. In the course of it there is a rise of 100 feet,
San Jose being of this elevation above the ocean. From San Jose to New
Almaden the distance is 13 miles, with a gradual rise of 150 or perhaps 200
feet.
The rocks forming the subordinate range in which the quicksilver occurs, are
chiefly magnesian schists, sometimes calcareous and rarely argillaceous. As a
group they may be distinguished as steatitic, often passing into well characterized
serpentine. Their geological age is not very definitely ascertained, but they are
believed by the officers of the State Geological Survey to be not older than
Cretaceous. But few fragments of fossils, and these very obscure, have yet been
found in these metamorphic rocks. A t a point just above the dumps, behind the
reduction works at the hacienda (or village,) there is an exposure, in which may
be clearly seen in projecting lines the waving edges of contorted beds of steatite
and serpentine, interspersed with ochery or ferruginous layers, more easily de­
composed ; and the partial removal of the latter has left the steatitic beds very
prominent.
The mine is open at various points upon this subordinate range over a distance
of 4 or 5 miles, in a northeast direction. The principal and the earliest work­
ings of the mine were in a right line, but little more than a mile distant from the




310

The New Almaden Quicksilver Mines.

[October,

hacienda. The workings are approached, however, by a well graded wagon
road, skirting the edges of the hills, which is two and three-eighth miles in
length.
It appears partly from tradition, and partly from the memory of persons now
living, that the existence of cinnabar upon the hill was known for a long time
prior to the discovery that it possessed any economic value. In fact, upon the
very loftiest summit of this subordinate range, cinnabar came to the surface, and
could be obtained by a slight excavation or even by breaking the rocks lying
upon the surface. In looking about for physical evidences such as would aid the
eyes of an experienced observer in detecting here the probable presence o f valu­
able metallic deposits, one observes on the summit of the hill, at various points
along the line of its axis for 2 or 3 miles, and also beyond, towhrd the place
called Bull Bun, occasional loose boulders of drusy quartz, with more or less
well characterized geodes and combs ; accompanying which is an ochraeeous or
ferruginous deposit, such as frequently forms the outcrop of metallic veins. There
is, however, no such thing as a well characterized vein, the quartz and its asso­
ciated metals occurring rather in isolated masses or bunches segregated out of
the general mass of the metamorphic rocks, and connected with each other, if at
all, somewhat obscurely by thread veins of the same mineral.
The main entrance to the mine at present is by a level about 800 feet long,
and large enough -to accommodate a full sized railroad and cars. This level en­
ters the hill about 300 feet from its summit, and is driven into a large chamber,
formed by the removal of a great mass of cinnabar, leaving ample space for the
hoisting and ventilating apparatus employed in working the mine.
A t this point a vertical shaft descends to an additional depth of nearly 300
feet, over which is placed a steam “ whim ” with friction gearing and wire rope,
worked by a steam engine, and by means of which all the ore from the various
workings of the mine is conveniently discharged from the cars, which convey it
out of the level to the dressing floors.
The first thing which strikes the observer on entering the mine is the liberal
scale of its exploration. Every thing indicates a liberal and judicious use of
capital in the development of a property which upon any other principle of ex­
ploration would probably have been unremunerative. We note also the absence
of the usual galleries or levels, cut at regular distances of ten fathoms, common
in the exploration; for example, of copper mines, and of other metallic deposits
in which the ore is confined to well characterized veins.
In order to reach the lower workings of the mine, the observer may employ
the bucket as a means of .descent, or he may, in a more satisfactory manner, de­
scend by a series of ladders and steps, not in the shaft, but placed in various large
and irregular openings, dipping for the most part in the direction of the mag­
netic north, and at an angle of 30° to 35°. These cavities have been produced
by the miner in extracting the metal, and are often of vast proportions ; one of
them measures 150 feet iu length, 70 feet in breadth, and 40 feet in height—others
are of smaller dimensions; and they communicate with each other sometimes by
narrow passages, and at others by arched galleries cut through the unproductive
serpentine.
Some portions of the mine are heavily timbered to sustain the roof from crush­




1864.]

The New Almaden Quicksilver Mines.

311

ing, while in other places arches or columns are left in the rock for the
same purpose.
The principal minerals associated with the cinnabar are quartz and calcareous
spar, which usually occur together in sheets or strings, and in a majority of cases
penetrate or subdivide the masses of cinnabar. Sometimes narrow threads of
these minerals, accompanied by a minute coloration of cinnabar, serve as the
only guide to the miner in re-discovering the metal when it has been, lost in a
former working.
Veins or plates of white massive magnesian rock and sheets of yellow ochre
also accompany the metal. Iron pyrites is rarely found, and no mispickel was
detected in any portion of the mine ; running mercury is also rarely, almost never,
seen.
The cinnabar occurs chiefly in two forms, a massive and a subcrystalline. ‘ The
first is fine granular, or pulverulent, soft, and easily reduced to the condition of
Vermillion ; the other is hard, more distinctly crystalline, compact and difficult
to break ; but in neither of these forms does it show any tendency to develop
well formed crystals. It is occasionally seen veining the substance of greenish
white or brown compact steatite or serpentine.
The ores are extracted by contract, the miners receiving a price dependent
upon the greater or less facility with which the ore can be broken. By far the
larger portion of the work people in the mines are Mexicans, who are found to
be more adventurous than Cornishmen,^nd willing oftentiiSes to undertake jobs
which the latter have abandoned. The price paid for the harder ores in the
poorer portions of the mine is from $3 to $5 per cargo of 300 pounds. This
weight is obtained after the ore is brought to the surface and freed by hand-break­
ing from the superfluous or unproductive rock ; by this arrangement, the com­
pany are secured from paying for anything but productive mineral. All the
small stuff and dirt formed by the working of the “ labors,” are also sent to the
surface to form the adobes used in charging the furnaces.
It has often happened in the history of this mine, during the past fifteen years,
that the mine for a time has appeared to be completely exhausted of ore. Such
a condition of things has, however, always proved to be but temporary, and may
always be avoided by well directed and energetic exploration. Upon projecting,
by a careful survey, irregular and apparently disconnected chambers of the mine
in its former workings in a section, there is easily seen to be a general conformity
in the line of direction and mode of occurrence of the productive ore masses.
These are.found to dip in a direction toward the north, in a plain parallel, for
the most part, to the pitch of the hill, but at a somewhat higher angle. An in .
telligent comprehension of this general mode of structure has always served
hitherto in guiding the mining superintendent in the discovery of new deposits
of ore.
Since the settlement of the famous law suit, which has so long held this com­
pany in a condition of doubt, the new parties, into whose hands the property has
Bow passed, have commenced a series of energetic and well directed explorations
at various points upon the hill, with a view to the discovery of additional de­
posits of ore. A t one of these new openings, distant at least 500 feet from the
limit of the old workings, and not more than 200 feet from the summit of the




312

Tlie N e w A lm a d en Q uicksilver M ines.

[October,

bill, a deposit of the richest description of the softer kind of cinnabar has been
discovered, which, so far as hitherto explored, has a linear extent of at least 70
or 80 feet, and in point of richness has never been surpassed by any similar dis­
covery in the past history of the mine. A charge of 101,000 pounds, of which
70,000 were composed of this rich ore, 31,000 pounds of “ grauza,” or ordinary
ore, and 48.000 pounds of adobes, worth 4 per cent, making a total charge of
105,800 pounds, yielded on the day of our visit, 400 flasks of mercury at 76J
pounds to tlie flask. This yield is almost without parallel in the history of the
mine. The only preparation which the ores undergo, preparatory to reduction,
consists of hand-breaking, or “ cobbing,” for the removal of the unproductive
rock.
The small ores and dirt hoisted from the mine are made into “ adobes,” or sundriecf bricks, sufficient clay for the purpose being associated with the ore. The
object of these “ adobes ” is to build up the mouths of the furnaces to sustain
the load of richer ores. No flux is employed, there being sufficient lime associa­
ted with the ores to aid the decomposition of the sulphurets.
The furnaces are built entirely of brick, in dimensions capable of holding from
CO,000 to 110.000 pounds, according to the character of the ores employed. The
chambers are fired from a lateral furnace, fed with wood, and separated from the
ore by a wall pierced with numerous openings by the omission of bricks for that
purpose.
Connected with the furnace is a series„of lofty and capacious chambers, also
of masonry, through which the whole product of combustion is compelled to pass
alternately above and below, from chamber to chamber, until all the available
mercury is condensed. The draft from these furnaces is carried by inclined stacks
up to the top of a lofty hill several hundred feet distant; and here the sulphu­
rous acid and other effete products of the furnace are discharged. Formerly, no
precautions were taken to prevent the escape of mercury through the foundations
of the furnace to the earth beneath ; now, the furnaces stand upon double arches
of brick work, and plates of iron are built into the foundations, so as to cut off
entirely all descending particles of the metal and turn them inward. To be con­
vinced of the importance of this precaution, it is sufficient to watch the opera­
tion of the furnace for a few moments, when an intermittent stream may be seen
to flow into a reservoir provided for it, and which by the former process was
completely lost in the earth.
On taking up the foundations of some of the old furnaces, within the last two
years, the metal was found to have penetrated, or rather permeated, completely
through the foundation and clay of the substructure down to the bed-rock be­
neath, a depth of not less than 25 or 30 feet. Over 2,000 flasks of mercury were
thus recovered in a single year from the foundations of the two furnaces. This
loss is entirely avoided by the improved construction which has been adopt­
ed.
The whole process of reduction is extremely simple, the time occupied from
one charge to another being usually about seven days. The metal begins to run
in from four to six hours after the fires are lighted, and in about sixty hours the
process is completed. The metal is conducted through various condensing chambers by means of pipes of iron, to a “ crane-neck,” which discharges into capa-




1 8 6 I .J

B rea d stu ffs.— E x p o r ts to G reat B rita in , (be.

313

cions kettles. It undergoes no further preparation for market, being quite clean
from all dross.
Deducting 21 years, during which the mines were in a state of inactivity, pend*
ing the decision of the law-suit, the average monthly product for 12J years has
been not far from 2,500 flasks, of 76J pounds each, of mercury. The selling
price in San Francisco is, at present, and has been for some time past, 75 cents
per pound, while in London and New York it has ranged from 40 to 50 cents
per pound.
San Francisco, May, 1864.

BREADSTUFFS,— EXPORTS TO GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND THE
CONTINENT FROM THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
T he exports of breadstuffs the past year show a great decrease in quantities
and still greater decrease in values over previous years. As to the corn trade it
has been almost entirely suspended, the small shipments that were made being at
a loss.
The following is an estimate of the total quantities and value of the shipments
of flour, wheat, and corn, from the United States to Great^ Britain, Ireland, and
the Continent, from September, 1, 1863, to September 1,1864, compared with the
previous year :
Flour, bbls.

Corn, bush, in U. 8. currency.

Wheat, bush.

1862-68................
1863-64................

25,510,504
16,822,370

10,403,313
695,226

$58,819,110
25,571,976

D ecrease.. . .

8,688,134

9,708,087

$33,247,134

Below we give our usual table o f the exports o f breadstuffs from the United
States for the year ending September 1 ,1 8 6 4 :
EXPORTS OF BREADSTUFFS FROM UNITED STATES TO GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAN D, FROM
SEPTEMBER

From—

1, 1863, TO
Flour, bbls.

New Y ork .............
Philadelphia........
Baltimore...............
Boston....................
Other porta............
Total..........................

SEPTEMBER

Wheat, bush.

114

15,123,990
500,866
60,129

...
...
...
1,257,377

1, 1864.-

Meal, bbls.

114

Corn, bush.

664,852
683
17,256

807,958
16,492,943

682,691

The following are the total quantities for the last eighteen years :
Flour, bbls.

1863-64 .................
1862-63.................
1861 62.................
1860-61.................
1859-60.................
1858-59.................
1857-58.................




1,479,413
2,672,515
2,561,661
717,156
106,457
1,295,430

Meal, bbls.

114
1,147
1,124
4,416
944
58
143

Wheat, bush.

Corn, bush

16,492,943
23,167,190
25,754,709
25,553,370
4,938,714
439,010
6,555,643

682,691
10,334,356
14,084,168
11,705,034
2,221,857
342.013
3,317,802

314

N e w T o r i: C ity and C ou n ty R esou rces, D eb t, <&c.

1856-5*7..................
1 8 6 5 -6 6 ..................
1 8 5 4 -5 5 ..................
1 8 5 3 -5 4 ..................
18 5 2 -6 3 ..................
1 8 5 1 -5 2 ................
1 8 5 0 -5 1 ..................
1 8 4 9 -5 0 ..................
1 8 4 8 -4 9 ................
1 8 4 7 -4 8 ...............
1 8 4 6 -4 7 .................

T o ta l............................ 24,241,219

[O c t o b e r ,

685
6,816
4,768
41,726
100
1,780
5,620
6,411
82,900
108,534
844,188

7,479,401
7,956,406
324,427
6,038,003
4,823,519
2,728,442'
1,496,355
461,276
1,140,194
241,300
4,000,359

4,746,278
6,731,161
6,679,138
6,049,371
1,425,278
1,487,398
2,205,601
4,753,358
12,685,260
4,390,226
17,157,659

1,111,374

139,591,261

110,998,649

Below we give the exports for a series of years to the continent from the
United States, and also a table showing the quantities exported during same
time from Canada :
TO THE CONTINENT.

From—

New York .....................
Other p o r ts.................
Total, 1 8 6 3 -6 4 ................
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“

Flour,
bbls.

1862 6 3 ................
1 8 6 1 -6 2 ................
1 8 6 0 -6 1 ................
1 8 5 9 -6 0 ................
1 8 5 8 -5 9 ................
1 8 5 7 -5 8 ................
1 8 5 6 -5 7 ................
1 8 5 5 -5 6 ................

329,427

Corn,
bush.
12,535

Rye,
bush.
13,965

329,427
2,265,431
7,577,350
3,452.496
178,031
57,845
390,428
2,875,653
2,610,079

12,535
68,957
322,074
101,145
19,358
25,519
16,848
563,590
282,083

13,965
429,956
1,584,501
347,258

"Wheat,
bush.

13,100
216,162
1.975,178

FROM CANADA TO GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, VIA ST. LAWRENCE.
Sept. 1, 18G8,
to Sept. 1, 1864.

Flour .................
W h e a t.............
Corn .....................
P e a s .....................
Oats...................
O atm eal.............,

87 8 9449 KOfi F.04-

hnsli

’ 64^040
552,605
169

S e p t 1. 1861
Sept. 1, 1869,
to Sept. 1, 1863. to Sept. 1, 1862

687,986
5,722,377
1,578,458
694,999
9,024
1,020

617,308
6,376,905
2,016,040
822,060
780,766
7,242

N EW YORK CITY AND COUNTY RESOURCES, DEBT, SINKING FUND, ETC.
T he necessary means to defray the ordinary expenses of the New York City
and County governments are derived from : first, the general fund, which com­
prises all the ordinary revenues except such as have been especially appropriated
and pledged to the sinking fund ; second, the annual taxes which are included in
the general levy made by the Board of Supervisors for State, County, and Cit-y
purposes.
ANNUAL TAXES.

The following were the purposes and amounts for which taxes were levied for the
year 1863 :




1864.]

New Y ork City and County Resources, Debt, dec.

For the use of State—
For common schools.............................................
For canals, volunteer militia, dcgener’l purposes

315

$401,132 71
2,139,424 44

82,540,557 15
2,954,019 29
6,062,095 74

For county purposes, including support o f police.
For city purposes........................................................
Amouut required for the payment of appropriations.
Amount required to supply deficiencies.....................

$11,556,672 18
535,232 96

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

$12,091,905 14

To produce the amount required it was found necessary to fix the rate of taxa
tion at $2.03J- per $100, or $20.35 per $1,000, as shown by the following state­
ment :
Amount required to be raised, as above stated...........................
Valuation of taxable property ........................
$594,196,813
Rate of tax $20.35 per $1,000. Product of tax by said rate...

$12,091,905 14
12,091,905 14

The following table shows the valuation of the real and personal estate and
the amount of tax in detail:
REA L ESTATE, VALUATION, AND TAX.

Ward.

Valuations.
$32,779,900
19,621,028
25,464,956
9,187,100
18,460,000
12,949,150
12.384,499
18,156,000
15,806,300
8,755,000
9,054,700
14,134,825
5,467,900
12,422,000
26,994,050
18,508,900
18,190,900
37,104,000
19,003,552
17,588,300
31,972,250
18,281,222

First................
Second...............
Third...................
Fourth.............. .
Fifth...................
S ix t h .................
Seventh ..........
Eighth ..............
Ninth.................
Tenth ...............
Eleventh...........
Twelfth . . . . . . .
Thirteenth........
Fourteenth . . . .
Fifteenth...........
Sixteenth...........
Seventeenth . . .
Eighteenth . . . .
Nineteenth . . . .
Tw entieth........
Twenty-first . . .
Twenty-second.
Total.

5402,286,532

Amount of tax.
$667,070 17
399,266 70
518,211 56
186,955 39
375,657 70
263,513 46
252,019 64
369,470 31
321,650 64
178,161 60
184,257 17’
287,611 45
111,270 07
252,785 40
549,323 97
376,647 50
370,177 47
755,059 18
386,679 25
357,910 62
650,627 45
871,980 89
$8,186,307 59

, AND TAX.

Resident . . . .
Non-resident.
Total.

$179,310,329
12,703,332
192,013,661

3,907,446 31

>94,300,193

12,093,773 90

The valuation for 1862 compared with 1863 was as follows :
1862.

1863.

Real estate. . . .
Personal estate..

238,964
172,416,031

5402,187,382
191,967,161

Total..........

$572,654,995

$594,154 543




316

N ew Y o r k C ity and C ou n ty R esou rces, D eb t, &c.

[O c t o b e r ,

Showing a total increase in the valuation of real and personal estate of
$21,439,548.
The amount of the yearly taxes levied during the last five years has been as
follow s:
T ears.
1859..................................
1860...................................
1861...................................
1862...................................
1863...................................

F o r the use o f
the corporation.

$6,546,034
6,085,448
6,713,293
5,111,056
6,341,202

F o r county and
State purposes.

11
60
40
08
96

$30,797,035-15

$3,314,891
3,673,059
4,914,338
4,795,215
5,750,702

98
26
88
02
18

$22,448,207 32

Total. 1
$9,860,926
' 9,758,507
11,627,632
9,906,271
12,091,905

09
86
28
10
14

$53,245,242 47

The following was the amount o f taxes collected in 1863 :
O f the amount of the general levy for 1 8 6 3 ....
Amount of areas collected.,

$9,996,212 70
963,807 86

Total collected from taxes during 1 8 6 3 ....

$10,960,020 66

These receipts were proportioned as follows between the city and county :
Amount transfered to the city treasurer..........................................
Amount to account o f county treasurer..-.........................................

$5,826,143 78
5,133,876 78

Total collections from taxes........................................................

$10,960,020 56

TOTAL RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS ON CITY ACCOUNT.

The following is a summary of the receipts and disbursements of the city for
the year 1863 :
Receipts.
From
From
Fi-om
From

taxes, as stated above................................................................
general fund, being license fees, interest on taxes, etc........
loans....................................................................... .................. .
the sinking fu n d .........................................................................

Total receipts...............................................................................

$5,828,143
1,234,862
7,886,657
3,500,170

78
10
13
63

$18,447,833 64

Disbursements.
For the support of the city government..........................................
The payment of interest and annual instalments of the principal
o f that portion of the city debt provided for by appropriations
made by the Common Council—
Payment o f interest.......................................
941,993 41
Payment of principal ....................................
571,657 36

$5,717,781 84

Other loans p a id .........................................................

$1,513,650 77
7,231,432 61
3,309,960 00

Trust and special accounts........................................
Sinking fund for redemption of city debt................
Sinking fund for payment o f interest on city debt.

$4,345,055 32
2,380,427 49
1,259,988 17

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

$18,526,803 59

RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT.

The following shows the different sources of revenue and amount received
therefrom during the year 18C3, and the disbursements during same time of the
county government:




1864.]

New York City and County Resources, Debt , c£d.

317

Receipts.
Amount o f collections by the receiver o f taxes placed to account
o f the county.................................
General fu n d .........................................................................................
Excise license fees............................
Temporary loans...................................................................................
New York county court house stock— Amouut received for said
stock, including premiums thereon................................................
Substitute and relief fund bonds........................................................
Riot damages indemnity fund bonds— Amount received for said
bonds, including premiums thereon................................................
Soldiers’ substitute bounty fund bonds.. « ........................................

$5,183,876
65,920
7,020
2,417,700

78
18
00
00

319,750 00
946,700 00
861,323 00
1,423,400 00

Total receipts.................................................................................

$11,175,689 96

For amount of receipts from the Board of Commissioners of excise
for license fees paid out, as follows—
To the corporation of the City of New York
toward the support of the poor, in pursuance of
sec. 5 of the act, chap. 628 of the laws of 1857,
$6,318 00
To the New York State Inebriate Asylum, being
ten per cent of the receipts for excise license
fees, in pursuance of chapter 381 of the laws of
1859.........................................................................
702 00
------------For payments for damages caused by riots in July, 1863 .............

$7,020 00
713,589 33

Total p a y m e n ts ........................................................................ ..

$11,092,738 49

We see from the above that the total receipts during the year of the city and
county governments amount in the aggregate to $30,000,000, or about one-half
the total expenses of the United States Government before the war.
DKBT OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

Below will be found statements in detail of the debt of the county and City
of New York :
DEBT OF NEW YORK CITY.

Titles of Stocks and Bonds.

Amount Outstanding,
Dec. 31, iSd2.

Amount Out- Interest.
standing,
Dec. 31, ic63. PerCent.

When
Interest
Payable.

FUNDED DEBT.

The Water Stock (1858).
do
(1860)
do
do
do
(1870)
do
do
(1876)
do
(.•879)
do
do
do
(lt>80)
The Croton Water Stock (1883)...
do
do
(1890)...
do
do
(1 8 9 0 ;...
The Fire Indemnity Stock (1868)..
Public Building Slock, No. 3 (’64-66)
The New York City o per cent Stock
for Docks and Slips (1867-76)...
Public Slock for Rebuilding Tom­
kins Market (1861-69).................
Building L.oan Stock, No. 3 (1870).
Public E lucatiou Stock (id < 8 )... .
Building Lo.m Stock No 4 (1873).
Central Park Fund Stock (1887)..




$4,871
2U.362
3,000,.00
2,163,000
2,147,000
1,800,0 JO
1,000, uuu
1.00.OO0
402,768
200,000

$4,871
20,862
3,000,200
2,163,600
228,000
1,147,000 .
1,800,000
900,000
100,000
402,768
150,0U0

5
6
5
5
5
5
6
5
6
5
5

500,000

500,000

5

119,000
7o,o00
154,000
115,000
3,006,071

102,000
*75,01)0
154,000
115,000
3,006.071

6
5
5
5
6

Feb., May,
' Aug., Nov.

Feb. A Aug.
\ Feb., May,
f Aug., Nov.
Feb. & Aug,

318

N e w Y o r k C ity and C ou n ty R esou rces , Debt , d c .

Central Park Fund Stock (1898)..
do
do
(1898)..
Centra] Park Additional Fund Stock
(1874) ............................................
Central Park Improvement Fund
Stock (1887).................................
Central Park Improvement Fund
Stock (1876).................................
Floating Debt Fund Stock (1878).
Heal Estate Bonds (1873)...............
T o ta l..........................................

399,300
275,000

5
6

1,000,000

6

2,083,200

2,083,200

6

1,666,000
2,748,000
600,000

1,966,000
2,748,000
600,000

6
6
6

$22,539,372

$24,000,372

399,300
275,000

[October,

Feb., May,
Aug., Nov.

TEM PORARY AND OTHER LOANS.

Street Improvement Fund Bonds,
1863................................................
Street Improvement Fund Bonds,
1864................................................
Street Improvement Fund Bonds,
1865................................................
Assessment Bonds, 1862.................
Assessment Fund Bonds, 1864__ _
do
do
1 8 6 5 ..,.
Union Delense Fund Redemption
Bonds, 1864 ..................................
Volunteer Soldiers’ Family Aid
Fund Bonds, Wo. 2, 1863.............
Volunteer Soldiers’ Family Aid
Fund Bonds, No. 3, 1865...........
Volunteer Soldiers’ Family Aid
Fund Bonds, No. 4, 1865.............
Volunteer Soldiers’ Family Aid
Fund Bonds, No. 5, 1869.............
Volunteer Soldiers’ Family Aid
Fund Bonds, No. 6, 1870.............
Volunteer Soldiers’ Family Aid
Fund Bonds, JN
’ o. 7, 1871.............
Volunteer Soldiers’ Bounty Fund

$183,600

5

317,000

6

800,000

$800,000

7

600,000
13,000
500,000
100,000

600,000
13,000
500,000
100,000

6
0
6
6

895,570

895,570

6
6

500,000
500,000

500,000

6

43,100

500,000

6

500,000

5

500,000

5

600,000

5
5

500,000
Volunteer Soldiers’ Bounty Fund
Kedemptiou Bonds, 1867 ...........
Total...........................................

490,000
$4,952,270

6

$6,898,570

RECAPITULATION.

Funded Debt, as a b ove.................................
Temporary Loans, as above.........................

$22,839,312
4,982,270

$24,000,372
5,898,570

$27,491,642

$29,898,942

Net increase, 1863, Funded Debt.................
do
do Temporal y and other Loans

$1,461,000
946,300
$2,407,300

D EBT OF THE COUNTY OF NEW YO RK .

t .The following statement shows the amount of the County Debt at the close
of each year since 1859 :




1864.]

Trade o f New Orleans. >
1859.

I860.

319

1861.

1862.

1863.

Revenue bonds...............................
$515,500 $690,600
$671,700
Harlem
River
Free
Bridge Bonds----- -- $20,000
60,000
60,000
60,000
New York County Court
House Stock.........................................................................
700,000
Substitute and Relief
Fund B o n d s ................................................................................................
Soldiers’ Substitute Bo­
unty Fund Bonds..........................................................................................
Riot Damages Indem­
nity Fund Bonds..........................................................................................
Totals...........

$20,000

$575,500

$750,600

$1,431,700

...............
$40,000
1,000,000
946,700
1,423,400
861,300
$4,271,400

The total Debt, therefore, of the City and County of New York, was as
follows, Dec. 31,1863 :
City D ebt.................................................................................
County D ebt............................................................................
Total Debt,

City and County.........................................

$29,898,942
4,271,400
$34,170,342

TRADE OF N EW ORLEANS.
W e have in the New Orleans Price Current* of September 1st the review of
the trade of that city the past year, from which the following is prepared.
Some idea of the extent of the commercial loss this war is causing may be
gathered from the following comparative table of the receipts from the interior
at New Orleans of certain leading articles during 1863-64 and 1839-60:
RECEIPTS OF CERTAIN LEADING ARTICLES AT N E W ORLEANS.

A pples.......................
B acon.........................
Bagging.....................
Bale rope...................
Butter.........................
B ra n .........................
Cotton.......................
C orn ...........................
Cheese.......................
Candles..................... .
C o a l...........................
F lo u r.........................
Glassware.................
H e m p .......................

1863-64.
39,693
33,421
2,208
14,495
31,045
44,093
131,044
410,138
35,744
48,262
265,298
399,897
612
213

1859-60.
67,416
88,816
21,427
125,429
39,851
274,277
2,255,448
1,722,039
95,305
IIP,405
2,900,000
974,340
68,879
4,883

Decrease.
27,723
55,345
19,219
110,934
8,806
230,184
2,124,404
1,311,901
59,561
62,143
2,634,702
574,413
68,267
4,665

* On the first of September the publication of the regular edition of the New Or­
leans P rice Current was resumed, the letter sheet only having been issued since
December, 1863. It is with great pleasure that we again welcome this old friend
W e see that the agent of the publishers in New York is Mr. J ames Y . R ich , 82
Nassau-street.— E d . Hunt's Merchants' Magazine.




320

.

H ides.....................
Lard.......................
Lard .....................
L ead.......................
Molasses.................
Onions .................
P n r t ..............._.....................................
Pork, b u lk .............
A le .......................
Packing yarn ___
Sugar ...................
T obacco.................
"W hisky.................
"Wheat.....................

[October,

T ra d e o f N e w Orleans.
22,256
18,027
9,655
so
148,460
13,822
1.162
150,615
67,022
8,325
83
75,15$
1,863
14,184
16,615
529

163,568
65,784
90,699
80,964
318,840
26,401
9,333
207,098
216,523
3,803,500
20,940 ,
3,748
195,185
80,955
14,544
185,042
13,116

141,312
47,759
81,044
80,934
170,380
13,079
8,171
67,083
144,501
3,803,500
12,615
3,665
120,032
, 79,592
360
169,657
12,587

The loss indicated by these figures does not of course fall on that city or State
altogether— it is a loss that is felt oyer the whole country. Take the cotton
crop for instance. What portion of the country was not benefited by or in­
terested in the cultivation of that crop. The planters’ cotton represented not
only his profits but idso the expenses attending the culture and sending to mar­
ket, and the side furnished the means to pay those expenses. If we look at the
details of the expense account we will find they were incurred in the support of
the planters luimly and of his servants and estates, and the proceeds of his sales
were distributed ad over the country. The pork and bacon and a large portion
of the corn .<quired to feed the negroes, most of the utensils used on the planta­
tion. sucli as ploughs, hoes, &c., the bagging and rope, as well as many other
articles too numeious. to mention but essential to the production of the crop,
were liuri uu by the farmers, packers, merchants, and manufacturers of the
"Western b n ;.is; while the clothing, shoes, hats, blankets, medicines, &c., were
received In u. ilie manufacturers and importers of the North ; and the coffee,
salt, and umr other articles from New Orleans importers. Then again, a large
part 0 1 tl.i i n.tly expenses of the planter were for articles received from the
"West ar.u ft North, or imported from Europe. The expense of transportation
from the Y\ usl gave employment to "Western boats, and thereby enriched Western
boatmen ami i oat builders, and many of the expenses accruing at New Orleans
were t.ivn.n. U-tween the merchants and artisans of the city and their Northern
and "W is h i . connections ; such as the cost of wagons, carts, and other similar
articits wl.u i, were imported from the North.
Then, tm , .ri.mthe time the crop was placed on shipboard it proved a constant
source of \\. iiiill throughout its progress and in all its various transformations.
The ship uv . r the merchant, the numerous class of persons engaged in hand­
ling it in n transit to the mills, and then the multitudes employed in spinning
it or maim
nriug it into frbrics or other forms for consumption, all derived
more or le
vantage from it as it passed through their hands. Resolving this
industrial i . .. incut into its primary elements, we find that so far from the bale
of cotton iv .. senting exclusively the Southern planter, his share in its produc­
tion was m •n le.-s than that of the farmers who furnished the food and the
manulacin
who contributed the clothiDg of the laborers engaged in the cul-




1864.]

321

Trade o f New Orleans.

ture. If a like enquiry were made with regard to other Southern crops, the
answer would be similar. We thus get an idea of what is being actually lost
by the war.
The following table shows the receipts, shipments, etc.; of cotton at New
Orleans during the past twelve years :
RECEIPTS, SHIPMENTS, ETC., OP COTTON AT NEW ORLEANS.

1852--5 3 ..
1853--5 4 ..
1854--5 5 ..
1855--5 6 ..
1856--5 7 ..
1857--5 8 ..
1858--5 9 ..
1859-- 6 0 ..
1860-- 6 1 ..
1861-- 6 2 ..
1862-- 6 3 ..
1863--6 4 ..

Total...

Receipts
New Orleans.
1,664,864
1,440,779
1,284,768
1,759,293
1.513,247
1,678,616
1,774,298
2,255,448
1,849,312
38,880
22,078
131,044

Aver.
price
per bale.
$41 00
38 00
40 00
40 00
57 00
52 50
63 00
48 50
50 00
45 50
231 32
356 20

17,683,724

Total value.
$68,259,424
54,749,602
51,390,720
70,371,720
86.255,079
88,127,340
92,037,794
109,389,228
92,465,600
1,769,040
5,107,082
46,677,872

Total crop.
3,262,882
2,930,027
2,847,339
3,527,845
2,939,519
3,113,962
3,851,481
4,675,770
3,699,926
.................

Date of
Rec'ts of
receipt of new crop
first bale. to Sept. 1.
A ug. 9
74
J u ly 25
1,391
July 26
23,282
July 15
1.166
Aug. 15
33
July 25
. 4,834
July 28
9,698
July
5
36,670
Aug. 11
61
. . . . ••.

Sept.. 7
Aug. 14

. •
..

12

$812,164,633

The additional obstacles and expenses to be met by the planters before ship?
ment, and the extra charges to be paid after it leaves his hands are a very great
tax. Not, however, to particularize the planters additional difficulties and ex­
penses before shipment, the subsequent charges are something as follows. On
the arrival of the cotton at New Orleans the factor has to pay from $5 to $10
freight, where the charge was formerly seventy-five cents to $1 50—also a hos­
pital tax of $5 per bale, and the internal revenue tax of two cents per pound or
$9 per bale; add to this three-fourths per cent for river insurance, and one per
cent per month for fire insurance, one-fourth per cent for brokerage, and tvvo-anda-half per cent commission, and the entire present charges after the cotton leaves
the planters hands to the time it is sold at New Orleans amount to about $50 or
$60 per bale, or considerably more than the average value of a bale of cotton
for many years before the war.
The following table shows the destination of the cotton and tobacco exported
from New Orleans since 1859-60 :
EXPORTS OP COTTON PRO M N E W ORLEANS.

■Whither exported.
Liverpool......................................
Loudon ........................................
Glasgow, Greenock, e t c .............
Cowes, Falmouth, etc................
Queenstown, Cork, e tc...............
H a v re ..........................................
Bordeaux......................................
Marseilles....................................
Hantz, Cette, and R ouen.. . . . .
Amsterdam.................................
Rotterdam and Ghent................
Bremen ......................................
Antwerp, etc...............................
Hamburg......................................
VOL. LI.— NO. IV.




1S63-64.

1862-63. 1861-62. 1860-61.
2,070
1,312 1,074,131
....
....
153
....
32,767
....
....
10,034
42,263
4•••
1,849
472
384,938
3,704
....
....
283
....

....

....
....
...
....
....
....
20

....
....

3,411
1,700
65,073
12,343
5,551

1859-60.
1,348,163

107
16,437
19,147
43,112
803,157
2,395
3,735
4,004
2,949
5,205
60,999
16,362
9,079

322

Trade o f N ew Orleans.

Gottenburg and Stockholm.........
Spain, Gibraltar, etc.....................
Mexico, etc................................. ..
Genoa, Trieste, etc................... ..
St. Petersburg, etc.......................
New Y ork............... .................. * •
Boston.............................................

....
....

....
372

145
162

...
109,149
12,793

....
Philadelphia.....................................
Baltim ore........................................
Other coastwise p o r ts ..................
Total ......................................

703

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

17,859
1,418
40
142

4,116
109

....

—

—

23,750

10,426
72,471
6,269
34,618
23,538
29,539
94,307
4,897
855
100
2,481

13,522
50,317
17,725
61,228
28,019
62,936
131,648
5,717
5,257
1,247
1,829

1,915,852

2,214,296

1860-61.
1,436
3,017

1859-60"
8,844
6,308

21,571

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

....
128,130

[O cto b e r,

....
98

....
—
27,678

EXPORTS OF TOBACCO FROM NEW ORLEANS.

■Whither exported'.
Liverpool............... . ••••*••»•••
Glasgow, Greenock, etc...............
Cowes, Falmouth, etc.....................
Queenstown, Cork, etc...................
Bordeaux..........................................
ifantx, Cette, aud R ou en ........... ..
Amsterdam......................................
Rotterdam and Ghent....................

18G3-G4.

1862-63. 1861-62.
669
....

....
....
....
....
....
7
....
....
....
....
....

Philadelphia....................................
Baltimore........................................
Portsmouth......................................
Other coastwise ports................ - .
Western States..............................

....
....
....
....
....
....
—

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

797

2,359
780
830

100

1,361
733

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

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

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

123

Antwerp, etc ...............................
Hamburg..........................................
Gottenburg and Stockholm. . . . . .
Spain, Gibraltar, etc.....................
Mexico, etc.......................................
Genoa, Trieste, etc.........................
St. Petersburg, etc..........................
Other foreign ports.........................

. . *»
....
...»

3

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

2,040

1,248

....

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

....
....
3,155
226

....
43
117

....
....
....
12,556

....
2,013

....

....

3,179
328
1,037

2,010
3,212
3,197

...
....

....
1,143
1,735
13,694
4,735
64
1,951
10,848

406
5,084
1,067
20

536

....
....

343

664

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

....
3,011

....
9,560

303

....
....

....

....

7,539

8,847

....

....

1,816
1,969
213

4,640
7,392
1,310

....

....

98

261
140

....
....

37

....
....
—

....

26

345

—

2,224

....

89,806

82,689

Below will be found the exports of sugar and molasses for three years :
E X P O R T S O F S U G A R A N D M O LASSES FROM H E W O R L E A N S— U P TH E

"Whither exported.
N e w Y o r k .................. ..
P h iladelph ia...................
Charleston, S. 0 . . . . . .
Savannah............. ............
P roviden ce & B r is to l...
B o s t o n ..............................
B a ltim ore.........................
N orfolk , R ichm ond, &
Petersburg, Y a ..........
M o b ile ..............................
Apalachicola, Pensacola
Other ports......................
T o ta l........................




E IT E R E X C E P T E D .

,---------1863-64.----------> ,---------- 1862-6J 3.----------, ,--------------- 1860-6 V.------------,
Sugar.
Molasses.
Sugar.
Molasses.
Sugar.
Molasses.
bbls.
hhds.
bbls.
hhds,. bbls.
bbls.
hhds. bbls. hhds. bbls.
34,185 1,218 63,312 81,645 8,037 145,066 21,436 607
40,088
2,836
114
8,340
5,064
555
4,201
18,427
3,876
7
....
.... ....
2r491
7,765
2
....
328
158
7
IT
7
5,623
393
4
1
6,735
9,856
2,336
138
941
10,344
151
4 185
22,120
774
85
4
5,752
120
086
2,8T0
90

__ __
...

7

....

*143
393

39,484

2,071

18
2

112
313

4
77

2,960
7,225
1,855
1,631

1,251
2,357
405

...

8,343
30,726
7,933
6,324

83,533 98,266

9,969

187,143

42,163

4,724

185

122,512

28
16

1864.]

323

M ilitary Force o f the States o f Europe.

M ILITARY FORCE OF M E STATES OF EUROPE.
T he following table, showing the military force of the different States of
Europe, and the consequent fiscal burden in each, is taken from the Annuaire
Encyclopedique for 1863:
Countries.
G erm any..............
A ustria.................
B elgium ................ .

Spain.................
Roman S ta te s .. .
France ................
G reece. ................ .
H ollan d ................ .
Ita ly .....................

Prussia.............
Great Britain . . . .
R u ss ia .................. .
Denm ark..............
S w e d e n ...............
N orw ay ................

•

Propor­
tion per
cent to
Total.

18
60
18
79
60

73
100
60
70
86

33

18
29
37
39
00

97
64
105
66

76 00
118 00
71 39

91

Population.

Expenses.

118,576
467.211
40,115
120,000
8,845

16,960,512
35,019,058
4,671,183
15,500,000
684,306

$16,539,735
67,310,840
6,450,525
25,132,370
886,965

Cost
per Man.
$92 60
144 00
160 29
209 20
100 00

613,349
10,291
59,431
314,285
214,482

37,500,000
1,096.000
3,569,456
21,920,269
18,500,446

137,729,075
1,084,500
9,381,580
65,934,225
31,346,730

268
69
158
209
147

300,823
1,000,285

29,193,319
64,000,000
2,605,024
2,855,888
1,433,734

135,485,875
105,848,000
3,507.720
3,417,320
1,689,540

446
105
71
50
93

20,000

39,000,000
4,000,000
985,000

80,000,000
2,360,000
178,880

—

—

67,867
18,157

Turkey..............
R o u m a n ia ...........
S ervia...................
Switzerland.........

Inhabit­
ants to
One
Soldier.
95
75
117
129
77

Army.

3,815,217

—

—

299,494,195 $644,283,880 $168 87

79
200
394

20
37
23
25

—
32
25
27
30

39
42
37
45
32

_
—

_

—

—

76

82

Note.— The francs of the original table have been changed into dollars and cents at
the rate o f 5 francs to 1 dollar.

LAAV FOR MEASURING TONNAGE OF SHIPS, & e.
A n A ct to regulate the Admeasurement of Tonnage of Ships and Vessels of

the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Stales
o f America in Congress assembled, That every ship or vessel built within the
United States, or that may be owned by a citizen or citizens thereof, on or
after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, shall be measured
and registered in the manner hereinafter provided ; also, every ship or vessel
that is now owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States shall be remea­
sured and reregistered upon her arrival after said day at a port of entry in the
United States, and prior to her departure therefrom, in the same manner as
hereinafter described : Provided, That any ship or vessel built within the United
States after the passage of this act may be measured and registered in the man­
ner herein provided.




324

Law f o r Measuring Tonnage o f Skips, <&c.

[October,

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the register of every vessel shall
express her length and breadth, together with her depth and the height under
the third or spar deck, which shall be ascertained in the following manner: The
tonnage-deck, in vessels having three or more decks to the hull, shall be the
second deck from below ; in all other cases the upper deck of the hull is to be
the tonnage-deck. The length from the forepart of the outer planking, on the
side of the stem, to the afterpart of the main sternpost of screw steamers, and to
the afterpart of the rudder-post of all other vessels measured on the top of the
4onnage-deck, shall be accounted the vessel’s length. The breadth of the broad­
est part on the outside of the vessel shall be accounted the vessel’s breadth of
beam. A measure from the under side of tonnage-deck plank, amidships, to the
ceiling of the hold (average thickness) shall be accounted the depth of hold. If
the vessel has a third deck, then the height from the top of the tonnage-deck
plank to the under side of the upper-deck plank shall be accounted as the height
under the spar deck. All measurement to be taken in feet and fractions of feet;
and all fractions of feet shall be expressed in decimals.
S ec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the register tonnage of a vessel shall
be her entire internal cubical capacity in tons of one hundred cubic feet each, to
be ascertained as follows : Measure the length of the vessel in a straight line
along the upper side of the tonnage-deck, from the inside of the inner plank
(average thickness,) at the side of the stem to the inside of the plank on the stern
timbers, (average thickness,) deducting from this length what is due to the rake
of the bow in the thickness of the deck, and what is due to the rake of the sterntimber in the thickness of the deck, and also what is due to the rake of the sterntimber in one third of the round of the beam ; divide the length so taken into
the number of equal parts required by the following table, according to the class
in such table to which the vessel belongs :—
TABLE OF CLASSES.

Class 1.—Vessels of which the tonnage length according to the above measure­
ment is fifty feet or under, into six equal parts.
Class 2.—Vessels of which the tonnage length according to the above measure­
ment is above fifty feet, and not exceeding one hundred feet long,'into eight
equal parts.
Class 3.—Vessels of which the tonnage leDgth according to the above mea­
surement is above one hundred feet long, and not exceeding one hundred and
fifty feet long, into ten equal parts.
Class 4.—Vessels of which the tonnage length according to the above mea­
surement is above one hundred and fifty feet, and not exceeding two hundred feet
long, into twelve equal parts.
Class 5.—Vessels of which the tonnage length according to the above mea­
surement is above two hundred feet, and not exceeding two hundred and fifty
feet long, into fourteen equal parts.
Class 6.—Vessels of which the tonnage length according to the above mea­
surement is above two hundred and fifty feet long, into sixteen equal parts.
Then, the hold being sufficiently cleared to admit of the required depths and




Law for Measurin'] Tonnaae o f Shivs, dtc.

325

breadths being properly taken, find the transverse area of such vessel at each
point of division of the length ag follows :—
Measure the depth at each point of division from a point at a distance of one
third of the round of the beam below such deck, or, in case of a break, below a
line stretched in continuation thereof, to the upper side of the floor-timber, at the
inside of the limber-strake, after deducting the average thickness of the ceiling,
which is between the bilge planks and limber-strake ; then, if the depth at the
midship division of the length do not exceed sixteen feet, divide each depth into
four equal parts; then measure the inside horizontal breadth, at each of the
three points of division, and also at the upper and lower points of the depth, ex­
tending each measurement to the average thickness of that part of the ceiling
which is between the points of measurement; number these breadths from above,
(numbering the upper breadth one, and so on down to the lowest breadth ;) mul­
tiply the second and fourth by four, and the third by two ; add these products
together, and to the sum add the first breadth and the last, or fifth ; multiply
the quantity thus obtained by one third of the common interval between the
breadths, and the product shall be deemed the transverse area; but if the mid­
ship depth exceed sixteen feet, divide each depth into six equal parts, instead of
four, and measure, as before directed, the horizontal breadths at the five points of
division, and also at the upper and lower points of the depth ; number them from
above as before ; multiply the second, fourth, and sixth, by four, and the third
and fifth by two; add these products together, and to the sum add the first
breadth and the last, or seventh ; multiply the quantities thus obtained by one
third of the common interval between the breadths, and the product shall be
deemed the transverse area.
Having thus ascertained the transverse area at each point of division of the
length of the vessel, as required above, proceed to ascertain the register tonnage
of the vessel in the following manner :—■
Number the areas successively one, two, three, &c., number one being at the
extreme limit of the length at the bow, and the last number at the extreme limit
of the length at the stern ; then whether the length be divided according to table,
into six or sixteen parts, as in classes one and six, or any intermediate number,
as in classes two, three, four, and five, multiply the second, and every even*
numbered area, by four, and the third and every odd-numbered area (except the
first and last) by tw o; add these products together, and to the sum add the first
and last, if they yield anything ; multiply the quantities thus obtained by one
third of the common interval between the areas, and the product will be the
cublical contents of the space under the tonnage-deck; divide this product by
one hundred, and the quotient, being the tonnage under the tonnage-deck, shall
be deemed to be the register tonnage of the vessel, subject to the additions here­
inafter mentioned.
If there be a break, a poop, or any other permanent closed-in space on the
upper decks, on the spar-deck, available for cargo, or stores, or for the berthing
or accommodation of passengers or crew, the tonnage of such space shall be as­
certained as follows :—
Measure the internal mean length of such space in feet, and divide it into an
even number of equal parts of which the distance asunder shall' be most nearly




326

Low fo r Measuring Tonnage o f Ships, <lr,.

[October f

equal to those into which the length of the tonnage-deck has been divided ; mea­
sure at the middle of its height the inside breadths, namely, one at each end and
at each of the points of division, numbering them successively one, two, three,
& c.; then to the sum of the end breadths add four times the sum of the evennumbered breadths and twice the sum of the odd-numbered breadths, except the
first and last, and multiply the whole sum by one third of the common interval
between the breadths ; the product will give the mean horizontal area of such
space; then measure the mean height between the planks of the decks, and mul­
tiply by it the mean horizontal area ; divide the product by one hundred, and the
quotient shall be deemed to be the tonnage of such space, and shajl be added to
the tonnage under the tonnage-decks, ascertained as aforesaid.
If a vessel has a third deck, or spar-deck, the tonnage of the space between it
and the tonnage-deck shall be ascertained as follows :—
Measure in feet the inside length of the space, at the middle of its height, from
the plank at the side of the stem, to the plank on the timbers at the stern, and
divide the length into the same number of equal parts into which the length of
the tonnage-deck is divided ; measure (also at the middle of its height) the in­
side breadth of the space at each of the points of division, also the breadth of the
stem and the breadth at the stern; number them successively one, two, three,
and so forth, commencing at the stem; multiply the second, and all other evennumbered breadths by four, and the third, and all the other odd-numbered
breadths (except the first and last) by two ; to the sum of these products add the
first and last breadths, multiply the whole sum by one third of the common in­
terval between the breadths, and the result will give in superficial feet, the mean
horizontal area of such space; measure the mean height between the plank of
the two decks, and multiply by it the mean horizontal area, and the product will
be the cubical contents of the space; divide this product by one hundred, and
the quotient shall be deemed to be the tonnage of such space, and shall be added
to the other tonnage of the vessel, ascertained as aforesaid. And if the vessel
has more than three decks, the tonnage of each space between decks, above the
tonnage-deck, shall be severally ascertained in the manner above described, and
shall be added to the tonnage of the vessel, ascertained as aforesaid.
In ascertaining the tonnage of open vessels the upper edge of the upper strake
is to form the boundary line of measurement, and the depth shall be taken from
an athwartship line, extending from upper edge of said strake at each division
of the length.
The register of the vessel shall express the number of decks, the tonnage under
the tonnage-deck, that of the between-decks, above the tonnage-deck; also that
of the poop or other enclosed spaces above the deck, each separately. In every
registered United States ship or vessel the number denoting the total registered
tonnage shall be deeply carved or otherwise permanently marked on her main
beam, and shall be so continued ; and if it at any time cease to be so continued
such vessel shall no longer be recognized as a registered United States vessel.
Sec. 4. And le it further enacted, That the charge for the measurement of
tonnage and certifying the same shall not exceed the sum of one dollar and fifty
cents for each transverse section under the tonnage-deck ; and the sum of three
dollars for measuring each between-decks above the tonnage-deck ; and the sum




1864.]

Law fo r Preventing Collisions on the Water.

327

o f one dollar and fifty cents for each poop, or closed-in space available for cargo
or stores, or for the berthing or accommodation of passengers, or officers and
crew above the upper or spar deck.
S ec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of this act shall not be
deemed to apply to any vessel not required by law to be registered, or enrolled,
or licensed, and all acts and parts of acts incousistent with the provisions of this
are hereby repealed.
Approved, May 6, 1864.

LAW FOR PREVESTING COLLISIONS ON THE W A T E R .
C h ap.

L X IX .—An act fixing certain Rules and Regulations for preventing
Collisions on the Water.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Slates
o f America in Congrees assembled, That from and alter September one, eighteen
hundred and sixty-four, the following rules and regulations for preventing colli­
sions on the water be adopted in the navy and the mercantile marine of the Uni­
ted States: Provided, That the exhibition of any light on board of a vessel-ofwar of the United States may be suspended whenever, in the opinion of the Sec­
retary of the Navy, the commander-in-chief of a squadron, or the commander of
a vessel acting singly, the special character of the service may require it.
PE LIM IN A RV .

Article 1. In the following rules every steamship which is under sail, and not
under steam, is to be considered a sailing-ship; and every steamship which is
under steam, whether under sail or not, is to be considered a ship under steam.
RULES CONCERNING- LIGHTS.
LIGHTS.

Article 2. The lights mentioned in the following articles, and no others, shall
be carried in all weathers between sunset and sunrise.
LIGHTS FOB STEAMSHIPS.

Article 3. All steam-vessels when under way shall carry—
{a) A t the foremast head, a bright white light, so fixed as to show an uniform
and unbroken light over an are of the horizon of twenty points of the compass,
so fixed as to throw the light ten points on each side of the ship, viz : from right
ahead to two points abaft the beam on either side, and of such a character as to
be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least five
miles.
(4) On the starboard side, a green light, so constructed as to throw an uni­
form and unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of ten points of the com­
pass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the
beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible on a dark
night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least two miles.
,
(c) On the port side, a red light, so constructed as to show an uniform un­
broken light over an are of the horizon of ten points of the compass, so fixed as




328

Lnw f o r Preventing Collisions on the Water.

[October,

to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the port side,
and of such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere,
at a distance of at least two miles.
(d) The said green and red side lights shall be fitted with inboard screens, pro­
jecting at least three feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights
from being seen across the bow.
LIGHTS FOR STEAM-TUGS.

Article 4. Steamships, when towing other ships, shall carry two bright white
masthead lights vertically, in addition to their side lights, so as to distinguish
them from other steamships. Each of these masthead lights shall be of the same
construction and character as the masthead lights which other steamships arerequired to carry.
LIGHTS FOR SAILING-SHIPS.

Article 5. Sailing-ships under way or being towed shall carry the same lights
as steamships under way, with the exception of the white masthead lights, which
they shall never carry.
EXCEPTIONAL LIGHTS FOR SMALL SAILING-VESSELS.

Article 6. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels during bad weather, the
green and red lights cannot be fixed, these lights shall be kept on deck, on their
respective sides of the vessel; ready for instant exhibition, and shall, on the ap­
proach of or to other vessels, be exhibited on their respective sides in sufficient
time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them most visible, and so
that the green light shall not be seen on the port side, nor the red light on the
starboard side.
To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy, they shall
each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain, and
shall be provided with suitable screens.
LIGHTS FOR

SHIPS AT ANCHOR.

Article 7. Ships, whether steamships or sailing-ships, when at anchor in road­
steads or fairways, shall, between sunset and sunrise, exhibit where it can best
be seen, but at a height not exceeding twenty feet above the hull, a white light
in a globular lantern of eight inches in diameter, and so constructed as to show
a clear uniform and unbroken light visible all around the horizon, and at a dis­
tance of at least one mile.
LIGHTS FOR PILOT-VESSELS.

Article 8. Sailing pilot-vessels shall not carry the lights required for other
sailing-vessels, but shall carry a white light at the masthead, visible all round
the horizon, and shall also exhibit a flare-up light every fifteen minutes.
LIGHTS FOR FISHING-VESSELS AND BOATS.

Article 9. Open fishing-boats and other open boats shall not be required to
carry side lights required for other vessels, but shall, if they do not carry such
lights, caj-ry a lantern having a green slide on the one side and a red slide on the
other side, and on the approach of or to other vessels, such lantern shall be ex­
hibited in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be




1864.]

Law fo r Preventing Collisions on the Water.

329

seen on the port side, nor the red light on the starboard side. Fishing-vessels
and open boats when at anchor, or attached to their nets and stationary, shall
exhibit a bright white light. Fishing-vessels and open boats shall, however, not
be prevented from using a flare-up in addition, if considered expedient.
RULES GOVERNING FOG-SIGNALS.
FOG SIGNALS.

Article 10. Whenever there is a fog, whether by day or night, the fog-signals
described below shall be carried and used, and shall be sounded at least every
five minutes, viz :
(a) Steamships under way shall use a steam-whistle placed before the funnel,
not less than eight feet from the deck.
(b) Sailing-ships under way shall use a fog-horn.
(c) Steamships and sailing-ships when not under way shall use a bell.
STEERING AND

SAILING RULES.

TWO SAILING-SHIPS MEETING.

Article 11. I f two sailing-ships are meeting end on, or nearly end on, so as to
invoke risk of collision, the helms of both shall be put to port, so that each may
pass on the port side of the other.
TWO SAILING-SHIPS CROSSING.

Article 12. When two sailing-ships are crossing so as to involve risk of col­
lision, then, if they have the wind on different sides, the ship with the wind on
the port side shall keep out of the way of the ship with the wind on the star­
board side, except in the case in which the ship with the wind on the port side
is close-hauled, and the other ship free, in which case the latter ship shall keep
out of the way. But if they have the wind on the same side, or if one of them
has the wind aft, the ship which is to windward shall keep out of the way of the
ship which is to leeward.
TWO SHIPS UNDER STEAM MEETING.

Article 13. If two ships under steam are meeting end on, or nearly end on, so
as to involve risk of collision, the helms of both shall be put to port, so that
each may pass on the port side of the other.
TWO SHIPS UNDER STEAM CROSSING.

Article 14. If two ships under steam are crossing so as to involve risk of col­
lision, the ship which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of
the way of the other.
SAILING-SHIP AND SHIP UNDER STEAM.

Article 15. If two ships, one of which is a sailing-ship and the other a steam­
ship, are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, the steam­
ship shall keep out of the way of the sailing-ship.
SHIPS UNDER STEAM TO SLACKEN SPEED.

Article 16. Every steamship, when approaching another ship, so as to involve
risk of collision, shall slacken her speed, or, if necessary, stop and reverse ; and
every steamship shall, when in a fog, go at a moderate speed.




330

Income and Expenditure o f Great Britain and Ireland. [October,
VESSELS OVERTAKING OTHER VESSELS.

Article 17. Every vessel overtaking any other vessel shall keep out of way of
the said last-mentioned vessel.
CONSTRUCTION OP ARTICLES

12, 14, 15,

AND

17.

Article 18. Where, by the above rules, one of two ships is to keep out of the
way, the other shall keep her course subject to the qualifications contained in
the following article :
PROVISO TO SAVE

SPECIAL CASES.

Article 19. In obeying and construing these rules due regard must be had to
all dangers of navigation, and due regard must also be had to any special cir­
cumstances which may exist in any particular case rendering a departure from
the above rules necessary in order to avoid immediate danger.
NO SHIP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO NEGLECT PROPER PRECAUTIONS.

Article 2D. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any ship, or the owner, or
master, or crew th.ereof, from the consequences of any neglect to carry lights or
signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper lookout, or of the neglect of any pre­
caution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the
special circumstances of the case.
Approved, April 29, 1864.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND FOR THE
YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1S64.
T he following is an account of the gross public income of the United King­
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in the year ending the 30th day of June.
1864, and of the actual payments within the same period, exclusive of the sums
applied to the redemption of funded or paying off unfunded debt, and of the ad­
vances and repayments for local works, etc. :
INCOME.

Custom s......................................................................................
Excise................................................ , ....................................
Stamps........................................................................................
Taxes (land and assessed)........................................................
Property tax...............................................................................
Post-office...................................................................................
•Crown lands, n e t.......................................................................
Miscellaneous—
Produce of the sale of old stores and
other military and naval extra re­
ceipts................................................
£644,094 X 1
Amount received from the revenues
of India on accouutof the effective
and non-effective charges of British
troops serving in that country, (in­
cluding £369,889 18s. 7d. arrear
charges............................................
1,164,889 18 1




£
22,821,000
18,666,000
9,462,000
3,260,000
8,635,000
3,820.000
305,500

s.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

d.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1864.]

331

Income and Expenditure o f Great Britain and Ireland.

Allowance out of profits of issue re­
ceived from the Bank of England,
per act 24 Viet., c. 3 .....................
Miscellaneous receipts, including im­
prest and other moneys.................
China war indem nity.......................

131,578

0 0

648,151 4 4
434,747
0 0
-------------------

Total revenue .... ...............................

3,023,460

4

0

69,992,960

4

0

26,297,219

9

9

1,936,463

15

3

88,409,394

17

3

66,643,078

2

3

900,000

0

0

67,543,078

2

3

2,449,882

1

9

69,992,960

4

0

E X P E N D IT U R E .

Interest and management of the perraanent debt....................................
Terminable annuities........................
Interest of exchequer bonds.............
Interest of exchequer bills...............
Charges on consolidated fund

23,714,810 11 7
2,174,350 12 4
92,500 0 0
315,558 5 10

:

Civil list...............................................
Annuities and pensions.....................
Salaries and allowances...................
Diplomatic salaries and pensions.. .
Courts o f justice.................................
Miscellaneous charges.......................

406,015 14
322,435 3
176,250 5
170,327 2
680,001 13
181,433 15

6
9
i
i
i i
n

—

Supply services.
A r m y .......................... ............................................................
N avy....................................................
Miscellaneous civil services .......................
Salaries, etc., of revenue departments
Packet service............................. ..............................
Kertch and Yenikale prize money..
Scheldt toll redem ption...................

14,650,154
10,909,602
7,360,833
4,548,883
679,396
85,925
174,598

6
7
19
10
18

i

0

9
1
1
2
0

16

i

—

Total ordinary expenditure ...............
Expenses of fortifications provided for by money raised
per act 25 and 26 Viet., c . 78 ...................
Total expenditure......................... .
Excess of income over ordinary expenditure, in the year ended 30th
June, 1864........................................
.Deduct,— Expenses of fortifications,
as a b o v e ..........................................




3,349,882
900,000

1 9
0

0

332

[October,

Commercial Regulations.

COMMERCIAL

REGULATIONS.

REVENUE LAW DECISIONS.
DECISIONS OP THE COMMISSIONERS UPON

“ RECEIPTS ”

AND BILLS OP LADING

IN INTERNAL TRANSPORTATION.

T he Commissioner of Internal Revenue made a decision, a few days since, to
the effect that the person to whom a receipt is given must furnish the stamp.
Commissioner L ewis says :—
“ Ordinarily at law no person is bound to give a receipt for money paid. The
receipt is an instrument of evidence, useful only to the person to whom it is
given. If lie-needs a receipt, it is necessary for him to furnish the stamp, or to
stamp the receipt, if required, before it is signed. The person who receives the
money is not obliged to give a receipt unless the other party furnishes the proper
stamp. If a person gives a receipt without requiring that the party to whom it
is given shall furnish the stamp, the maker of the reecipt must himself stamp the
the paper before he delivers it. If he fails to stamp it before he delivers it, he
is liable to the penalty provided by law for the omission ; but the other party
may stamp it immediately upon its being received.”
It would have been much simpler and better, as we think, if, by this new re­
venue law, every person were required, as is the case in England, to give on de­
mand a stamped receipt to any one paying them money over a certain sum.
The Commissioner has also made the .following decision respecting bills of
lading. W e give the correspondence in full:
N ew Y ork, August 8,1864.
H on. J. J. L ewis, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1
Washington, D. C.
j
D ear Sir ,— Herewith I hand you a pro-forma bill of lading or receipt, which
in character is about the same as is in use by all the railroad and transportation
companies doing business between New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Wes­
tern States.
Will you please inform me if it requires a “ stamp.” If yea, what denomina­
tion ?—Respectfully yours,
51. B. SPAULDING.
T reasury D epartment, Office of I nternal R evenue, 1
W ashington, August 18th, 1864.
j
Sir ,—In answer to your letter of the 8th inst., I have to say that receipts for
the delivery of any property are chargeable with a stamp duty of two cents, and
this applies to all dray receipts and all receipts issued or received by steamboats,
railroads or express companies.
Bills of lading, or receipts for any goods, wares or merchandise, to be trans­
ferred from any port or place in the United States, and to be delivered at any
port or place in the United States, are subject to the stamp of two cents.
Yery respectfully,

JOSEPH J. LEWIS, Commissioner.

The result of this decision is, that the railroads and all transporting companies
will require the shipping merchants to send receipts “ stamped.”

«



1864.]

The Booh Trade.

3 S3

DECISIONS IN REGARD TO DRAY RECEIPTS.
OFFICIAL

DECISION.

T reasury D epartment, Office of I nternal R evenue, )
W ashinqton, September 13, 1864.
j

;

G entlemen,—I reply to your letter of the 6th instant, that bills of lading or
receipts of goods, wares, or merchandise, to be transported from one port or
place in the United States, and to be delivered at any port or place in the Uni­
ted States, are subject to the stamp duty of two cents.
Duplicates or triplicates are subject to the same duty as originals.
The blank form submitted by you, called a “ dray ticket” appears to be only a
memorandum for sake of convenience, and not a receipt within the meaning of
the act of Congress, is not subject to the stamp duty of two cents.
Yery respectfully,

JOSEPH J. LEWIS, Commissioner.

Messrs. H amilton & D unnica, St. Louis.

REVENUE STAMPS ON FREIGH T RECEIPTS.
BOSTON BOARD OF TRADE.

A report has just been made by the Boston Board of Trade on this question
of stamping receipts, in which they propose the following rules. Whether the
Commissioner on Internal Revenue will review his numerous decisions is doubt­
ful, but that he ought to is evident:
That receipts given at railroad stations, on the delivery of freight for trans­
portation, be stamped by the railroad company.
That through receipts given by transportation companies or lines, be stamped
at the expense of the shipper.
That receipts, given by consignees to railroad companies on the arrival of
merchandise, be stamped by the consignees.
That receipts given at the ship’s side, usually called mate’s receipts, be stamped
at the expense of the ship.
That bills of lading be stamped at the expense of the shipper.
That receipts for freight money bo stamped at the-expense of the party to
whom the payment is made.

T HE

BOOK

TRADE.

Mercantile Dictionary; a Complete Vocabulary of Commercial Technicalities, in
English, Spanish and French. By J. b e V e it e l l e , D. A p p l e t o n & Co.
T h e Mercantile Dictionary of Mr. b e Y e it e l l e supplies one o f the greatest wants o f
the commercial community. The office of foreign correspondent is one of the most
responsible in a large firm, and requires such a complete knowledge of the mercantile
technicalities and idiomatic expressions in the different languages, as but few, even of
the most accomplished linguists, possess. He who realizes the importance of little
things in business life, and sees the serious results of apparently the most trivial errors
can readily understand what might .be the consequence of an idiom wrongly translated,




334

The Book Trade.

[October,

by giving to the receiver of the letter an entirely false idea. To prevent these errors
is the object of the Mercantile Dictionary. The correspondent, when brought to a
stand still, can refer to it, and is immediately set right; whereas, without it. he might
waste much time searching through the most comprehensive general dictionaries,
which, being prepared for an entirely different purpose, might fail at last to give
him the desired information. The bock itself is very well gotten up, and is too small
to be at all in the way, when standing, in a convenient place, on the desk. We regret
that the German does not also form one of the languages, as that is now so important
to the mercantile world.

Heath’s Infallible Counterfeit Detector at Sight, The only infallible method of de­
tecting counterfeit, spurious, and altered bank-notes, and applicable to all banks in
the United States and Canadas, as now in circulation or that may be issued, with
genuine bank note Resigns, by the 'American Bank-Note Co. Boston: L aban
H eath. 1864.
A nt reliable method of detecting spurious notes in these days o f paper currency,

when counterfeiting might almost be said to form a regular business, is a matter of
importance to every individual; how much more so is it, when the method is so
simple, a9 to be understood by every one, who will take the trouble to examine it»
and so infallible as to detect the most carefully prepared counterfeit, even on the first
application of the test. Mr. H e a t h ’ s method for detecting bad bills requires no
knowledge of the different banks, which are scattered, as thick as blackberries, all
over the country ; but the fineness of the work is made to tell whether the bill is good
or bad. Genuine bank notes are prepared by one or the other of the great Bank-Note
Companies, whose machinery is exceedingly costly, and whose engraving is of the very
finest description. No engraving done by hand can equal that done by this machin­
ery, and no counterfeiter would care to invest $75,000 to $150,( 00 in an illegitimate
business, which, if discovered— and on account of the bulk of the machinery it would
be difficult to conceal it— would not only result in a total loss of capital, but subject
him also to a criminal’s punishment. There are also ways given to detect altered
bills, and the book is illustrated by very beautiful specimens of bank note engraving.
It will be found very useful to those— and their name is legion— who would rather
carry good than bad money, in their pockets.

The Potomac and the Bapidan. Army Notes, from the Failure at Winchester to the
Reinforcement o f Rosecrans. By A lonzo If. Q uint, Chaplain of the Second Massa­
chusetts Infantry. C rosbt & N ichols, Boston, Mass.; O. S. F elt, N. Y.

Congregationalist, by one of its’clerical army corres­
pondents, after being carefully revised, forms the basis of this work. The author,
being the chaplain of one of the Bay State regiments, whose perils and privations he
has shared, and whose glories he has a right to be proud of, is, by his position, highly
qualified to tell us of those incidents which he himself has seen. His narrative extends
over some of the most interesting portions of the war. It embraces the period, when,
at the termination of the peninsular campaign, Gen. P ope in vain strove to stem the
onward current o f invasion, and after carrying us through the battle of Antietam, the
incidents of the following winter, and the disasterous defeat at Chancellorville, it shifts
the scene to Tennessee, and gives an account of army doings there. Thus this little
book presents a double attraction. By reading it' we kill two birds with one stoneW e obtain a knowledge of army life, both in Virginia and Tennessee; we are intro­
A series o f letters written to the




1864.]

The Book Trade.

335

duced to the armies o f the Potomac and of the Cumberland. Such notes as these—
giving the observations of intelligent eye-witnesses— cannot fail to be interesting to
the general reader now, and invaluable to the historian hereafter.

The Forest Arcadia of Northern New York, embracing a view of its Mineral, Agri­
cultural and Timber resources.
1864.

Boston: Published by T. 0 . H. P. B urnham

This little book, issued from the press of T. 0. H. P. Burnham, of Boston, does the
greatest credit to both author and publisher.
As may be gathered from the title, it is a narrative of sights and incidents, seen and
experienced, on visiting that portion of the great wilderness of Northern New York
lying in St. Lawrence County, on the Western slope of the Aderondac Mountains’,
The plateau, of which this section is a part, is said to embrace many thousand square
miles in extent, to be very fertile, and to have an elevation c f from fifteen hundred to
eighteen hundred feet above the sea. A country thus favored, watered by the Grass
and Oswegatctin Rivers, following by circuitous windings the stratification of the
country, studded with numerous lakes and ponds, adding a beauty of their own to the
silent wildness of the place, could not fail to draw out the enthusiasm of the ardent
lover of nature. Such an one the author seems to be, and it is not wonderful, there
fore, that he should be inspired by his subject, and that his impressions and thoughts
should well out with freshness, vigor and beauty. Thus, in his pleasant way, he gives
ns an account of the movements of himself and party from place to place, the little
incidents occuring, together with much valuable information respecting the resources
and attractions of the district visited, thoroughly innoculating the reader with his en­
thusiasm. The book will well repay one for reading it.
The publisher, also, deserves great credit for the beautiful style in which the book
is issued: the paper is excellent (tinted), the type clear, and the binding ex­
tremely neat.

The Destiny of Our Country. By C harles P. K irkland , of New York. Published
by A nson D . P. R andolph , 7T0 Broadway.
T his address is not precisely what its title would indicate, but rather an examination

into the causes, probable issue, and effects o f the present rebelion, and was delivered
before the Alumni o f Hamilton College at their last commencement.
Mr. K irkland is a very able writer, full o f enthusiasm, and particularly so on all sub­
jects connected with the war. Whatever he writes, therefore, is of decided interest
whether one agrees with his conclusions or not. Just how or why this war was b e.
gun and what will be its end, are questions upon which there must be different
opinions; and yet all will be glad to see the views presented in this address, knowing
that they are the earnest convictions o f one who has the true interests of his country
at heart.

1. The First Three Books of Zenophon’s Anabasis, with Explanatory Notes, Vocabu­
lary, Maps, etc. By J ames R. B oise, Professor in the University o f Michigan.
D. A ppleton & Co., 448 and 445 Broadway.
2. Progressive Lessons in Greek, with Notes, Vocabulary, and Epitome o f Greek
Grammar for the Use of Beginners. By W illiam B. S ilbu, A . M., New York Free
Academy. D. A ppleton & Co.

The above edition of Zenophon’s Anabasis has many excellent features to recommend




336

[October,

The Book Trade.

it to the student and teacher. The map which is given showing the rout of the ten
thousand Greeks, the very full notes and excellent vocabulary at the end of the vol­
ume are certainly extremely important aids, making the edition a truly valuable one.
To the younger student and the beginner of whatever age, the “ Progressive Lessons
in Greek” will prove very acceptable. Great care appears to have been used in the
arrangement, so that with this little book, one might by his own unaided efforts make
great progress in the study of the Greek.
1. A n Elementary Arithmetic.
New York.

By G. P. Q uackenbos, A. M.

2. First Book in English Grammar.
Co.

D. A ppleton & Co.

By G. P. Q cackenbos, A. M.

D. A ppleto^ <fe

T hese books are intended for children, and have been very favorably received.

The

Arithmetic is an agreeable combination of Slate exercises and mental operations'

THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
CONTENTS'
VO LU M E I I .

OF

N

OCTOBER,

o

. IV.,

1 8 6 4.

VOL.

LI.
NUMBER IV .

A rt.
pag e
I.
T IIE N A T I O N A L D E B T A N D N A T IO N A L R E S O U R C E S ................................................... 257
I I. T H E C O M M E R C IA L P R O G R E S S A N D R E SO U R C E S O F C E N T R A L B R IT IS H
A M E R IC A . [C ontinued from Page 192.]......................................................... 4........................ 262
III. TH E SAND W ICH ISLANDS. No. I V . - K I L A U E A . B y II. B. A ......................................... 273
I V . C O M M E R C IA L L A W N o . 15. T IIE S T A T U T E O F L IM IT A T IO N S .................................. 279
V . ON T H E AC TIO N OF O IL -W E L L S . B y P rop . E. W . E v an s , M a r ie t t a C ollege . . . 2S3
C O M M E R C IA L C H R O N IC L E A N D R E V I E W ....................................................................................... 289
J O U R N A L O F B A N K IN G , C U R R E N C Y , A N D F I N A N C E ........................................................... 296
P n eum atic R a ilw a y s ............................................................................................................................................ 303
Mineral Statistics o f G reat Britain and Ireland for 1S63.......................................................................... 306
T h e N ew A lm aden Q uicksilver M i n e s .......................................................................................................... 309
BreadstuflFs.— Exports to Great Britain and Ireland and the Continent from the U nited States
and Canada....................................................................................................................................................... 313
N ew Y ork C ity and County Resources, D ebt, Sinking Fu nd, e tc......................................................... 314
Trade o f N ew O rleans......................................................................................................
M ilitary Force o f the States o f E u ro p e ........................................ ................................................................
Law fo r Measuring Ton nage o f Ships, e t c .....................................................................................................
L a w for Preventing Collisions on the W ater............................................................................................
Incom e and Expenditures o f Great Britain and Ire'an d for the year ending June 30, 1864........
Com m ercial Regulations.—R evenue Law D ecisio n s...........................................................
D ecision s in Regard to D ray R e ce ip ts............................................................................................................

319
323
323
827
330
332
333

R evenue Stamps on Freight R e c e ip ts .............................................................................................................. 883
T H E B O O K T R A D E ........................................................................................................................................... 333