The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE, E s t a b l i s h e d J u l y , 1 8 3 9 , BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. VOLUME X X III. S E P T E M B E R , 1850. CONTENTS OF N O . I I I ., HUMBER III VOL. X X III. ARTICLES. A rt. P age. I. IN T E R N A L IM PROVEM EN TS IN TH E S T A TE O F N E W Y O R K : A SKETCH OF TH E RISE, PROGRESS, A N D PRESEN T CONDITION OF IN T E R N A L IM PRO VE MENTS IN TH E STATE OF N E W Y O R K .—No. I — B y Hon. A . C. F l a g g , late Con troller o f the State o f N ew Y o rk .......................................................................................................... 259 II. TH E PRECIOU S M E T A LS , COINS, AN D B A N K NOTES.— P a r t II.—By E z r a C. S e a m a n , Esq., o f the United States Treasury D epartm en t; Author o f “ Essays on the Pro gress o f Nations in Productive Industry, Civilization, Population, and W ealth.” .................. 268 III. A D M IR A L T Y L A W —ITS JURISDICTION, H IS TO R Y , AN D PRACTICE. By A b n e r B e n e d i c t , Esq., o f the New Y ork Bar............................................................................................... 284 IV . INTEREST OF M ON EY.—No. V .—By D a v id F o s d ic k , A . M., o f Massachusetts.................. 295 V . TH E R A I L W A Y S OF M ASSACHUSETTS. By E. H. D e r b y , Esq., o f M assachusetts.. . 304 V I. M A R IN E AN D N A V A L A R C H ITE C TU R E .................................................................................... 310 J O U R N A L OF M E R C A N T I L E L A W . Com m ercial Code o f Spain.— N o. X lV .-^ O f Captains, Officers, Seaman, and Supercargoes o f Ships and Vessels. Translated from the Spanish b y A . N a s h , Esq., o f the N ew Y ork Bar.................... 312 C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W : EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL R E V IE W OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC., ILLUSTRA TED W IT H TABLES, ETC., AS FOLLOWS : Fall Business—M exican Indemnity— Abundance o f M oney—Foreign Demand for Stocks—Banks o f the United States—Leading Features o f Banks— Banks and Business o f New Orleans—L e gitim ate Banking—Receipts o f G old at the Philadelphia Mint— Accum ulation o f Precious Met als in E urope—Influence o f California G old—The Crisis in the Com m ercial W orld—Revenue and Expenditure o f United States Government— Estimates o f the Secretary o f the Treasury, and Receipts for a Series o f Years—The Accum ulation o f M oney, e t c .................................... 318-324 V O L . X X I I I .-----N O . I I I . 17 258 CONTENTS OF NO. III., VOL. X X III. PAGE. COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. Statistics o f California C om m erce..................................................................................................................... Com m erce o f each State and Territory from July 1, 1848, to June 30, 1849 ........................................... Navigation o f each State and Territory from July 1, 1848, to June 30, 1849.......................................... Export o f oil from the United States to different Countries in 1848-9 ................................................... Export o f British W oolen Manufactures........................................................................................................ Im ports o f Sugar into the United States from different Countries in 1848-9........................................ Im ports o f Coffee into the United States from different Countries in 1848-9 ........................................ Profitable Commission Business........................................................................................................................ British Trade in Foreign W ines and Spirits................................................................................................... Comparative Navigation o f London, Liverpool, and Glasgow.................................................................. 324 325 326 328 328 329 329 330 330 330 J O U R N A L OF B A N K I N G , C U R R E N C Y , A N D F I N A N C E . Condition o f all the Banks in Rh ode Island.................................................................................................... State Mutual Life Assurance Company o f Worcester, Massachusetts.................................................... Condition o f the London and Westminster Bank.......................................................................................... Leading Features o f the Banks o f South Carolina....................................................................................... Bank Circulation o f the United K in gd om ...................................................................................................... Commercial and Financial Progress o f Great Britain.................................................................................. Proposed new Coins o f the United States.— G old Coinage o f the United States Mint, Philadelphia California State Debt and Revenue.................................................................................................................... California G old Dust.— San Francisco City Finances.— Am endment o f Banking Law o f N. Y ork . The Scotish Exchange Banks.............................................................................................................................. The Value o f G old and Silver.— Finances o f the British East India C o m p a n y .................................. 331 331 332 333 334 334 335 335 336 337 338 COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. O f the Temporary Issue o f Papers to Vessels o f the United States.......................................................... O f Passenger Vessels Coming to the City o f New Y o rk ............................................................................ O f the Treaty between the United States and C hili...................................................................................... Telegraph Tariffs on Morse’s Line to Boston, e tc ........................................................................................... JOURNAL 339 340 341 341 OF M I N I N G A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S . Cotton Manufactures at the W est....................................................................................................................... The Industrial Progress o f the N ation.............................................................................................................. T he W orld’ s Exhibition o f the Products o f Industry.................................................................................. Manufacture o f Needles in N ew Jersey.— Ores Brought to Swansea, England.................................... Cotton Manufactures in the Southern States.— New Cotton Factory at M obile.................................... Iron Mountain in W isconsin...................................................................... ....................................................... 342 343 344 344 345 346 R A I L R O A D , C A N A L , A ND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S . Providence and W orcester R a ilroad...........................................................................................•.................... Eastern Railroad R ep ort...................................................................................................................................... Operations o f the Railroads o f Massachusetts from 1842 to 1849............................................................ T olls on the New Y ork State Canals in 1848 and 1849.— U. S. Mail Steamers Atlantic and Pacific. Philadelphia, W ilm ington, and Baltimore Railroad...................................................................................... The late Railroad Law o f New Ham pshire.................................................................................................... A System o f General Night-Signals.................................................................................................................. 347 348 349 350 351 352 356 NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE. Light-house on the Island o f Nord Koster.— St. Andrew ’ s Shoals, Coast o f Georgia.......................... Navigation o f the Colum bia River.—The Harbor o f Astoria, O regon.................................................... R ocks at the Entrance o f the Bay o f San F r a n cis c o .................................................................................. F ixed Light on K yholm Island, Great Belt...................................................................................................... 357 358 358 358 MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES. The Argument for Cheap Postage...................................................................... ............................................ Marine Painting.—The Periwinkle T rade........................................................................................................ Passage o f the Steamer Washington.—Trade between Cincinnati and L iv e r p o o l.............................. The Importance o f Punctuality.— First Arrival at New Orleans from Calcutta.................................... A Curious Salvage Case.— A London Trick in Trade.................................................................................. Statistics o f Collisions at Sea.— Consumption o f Tea in England.............................................................. 359 360 361 361 362 362 T H E BO O K T R A D E . N otices o f 35 N ew W orks, or New Editions o f Old W orks........... ................................................ 363-368 HUNT’ S MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. SEPTEM BER, 1 850. Art. I.— INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. A SK E T C n O F TH E RIS E , P R O G R E SS, A N D PR E SE N T CO N D ITIO N O F IN T E R N A L IM PRO VE M EN TS IN TH E STATE O F N E W YO R K . NUM BER I. I t is now (July 4, 1850,) thirty-three years since the breaking o f ground for the Erie Canal was celebrated at Rome, and twenty-five years will have elapsed, in November next, since the first boat passed from Buffalo to the city o f New York, freighted with a few of the products of the country around the lakes, and enough o f the water of Lake Erie to be used in the ceremony of mingling the waters o f the lake and the ocean, in the great celebration in commemoration o f the completion o f the “ navigable commu nications between the great Western and Northern Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.” The present sketch is intended to show the commencement and completion o f the several State canals, with a brief allusion to the financial arrangements and regulations for their construction and maintenance ; also the condition o f the country, and the mode o f intercourse previous to the Revolution, and a short reference to the several works undertaken by incor porated companies, the aid rendered them by the State, and the effect o f these operations on the public finances. A t the close o f the Revolutionary W ar, the western part o f this State was almost an unbroken wilderness. In 1784, the name of the county o f Tryon was changed to Montgomery, and at that time Johnstown was the county-seat of all the territory west to Lake Ontario and Erie, and south to the line of Pennsylvania. The county of Ontario was set off' from Mont gomery, five years from that time, and the organization of Herkimer fol lowed two years after. In the latter year, 1791, Otsego and Tioga were also set off from Montgomery. Comfort Tyler, one of the early settlers o f Onondaga, in a letter to R o bert Troup, dated in 1820, says:— “ In April, 1 7 8 8 ,1 removed from Johns town to Onondaga Hollow, by consent o f the Indians. There were no mills 260 The Rise, Progress, and Present Condition o f west o f German Flatts, and little or no improvements. W here Utica now stands, Bellinger had a log-house. There were others in Whitesborough. Judge Sanger commenced the same year where New Hartford now stands, and some settlements in Clinton also. Judge Dean was a frontier settler, and he had two or three settlers on his land. From thence westward the Indians owned all the lands.” * A tax o f £50,000 assessed on the State by an act o f 1787, the year pre vious to the one alluded to by Mr. Tyler, was apportioned among the or ganized counties as follow s:— New York.................................... Albany.......................................... Columbia....................................... Dutchess...................................... Ulster............................................ O ran ge........................................ W estchester................................ Suffolk.......................................... £13,000 5,500 2,400 5,000 3,400 2,500 3,400 4,500 Queens........................................... Kings............................................. Richmond...................................... Montgomery................................ Washington.................................. £4,500 2,300 1,300 1,600 600 Total.................................... £50,000 The preceding statement shows that the sum assessed on the county o f Kings in 1787, exceeded by £ 1 0 0 the whole sum levied on the counties o f Washington and Montgomery, the former extending to the 45th degree of north latitude, and the latter embracing the entire territory from Johnstown to the lakes and to the line of Pennsylvania, as before stated ; a territory which now contains 39 counties, 647 towns and wards, and in 1845 had an aggregate population o f 1,483,793 ; 107 academies, 8,050 common schools, and an assessed valuation of real and personal estate o f more than two hun dred and ;even millions o f dollars. W h en Canada was occupied by the French, and this State was a colony o f Great Britain, the W o o d Creek o f Lake Champlain, and the W ood Creek o f the Oneida Lake, were the routes by which there was intercourse, in time o f peace, between the establishments on the Lakes and St. Lawrence, and those o f the Hudson. In the wars between the French and English, these water courses and the intervening portages were traversed by the hostile parties o f the colonies. The white men were indebted to the Indians for the mode o f traversing these channels o f intercourse, if not for the discovery o f the routes. In this way the topographical features o f the country became well known to the early settlers, and the facilities for its improvement must have been obvious to those who had occasion to follow these rude lines o f communica tion, either as trading or war parties. As early as 1724, the Surveyor General o f the province o f New York, Cadwallader Colden, in a report to the Governor, describes the routes to Lakes Ontario and Champlain with entire accuracy. The main object o f the report was to show that the fur trade could be carried on by the English on the route from Albany by the Mohawk, the Oneida, and the Onondaga Rivers, cheaper than by way o f the Hudson, Lake Champlain, Montreal, and up the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario to the mouth o f the Oswego River. This report states that the method o f carrying goods upon the rivers of North America, into all the small branches, and overland, from the branches * In Colden’ s M emoir o f the Canals, page 7, it is stated that the population o f the State o f New Y ork, at the peace in 1783, was only 200,000; and that in 1788, when a treaty with the Indians was held at Fort Stanwix, there was not a white inhabitant from that point, now 'R o m e , to the Western Lakes. Mr. Tyler had rem oved to Onondaga in A pril o f the same year. Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Y ork. 261 o f one river to the branches o f another, was learned from the Indians, and is the only method practicable through such large forests and deserts as the traders pass through, in carrying from one nation to another. A n Indian canoe, “ made o f the bark o f a birch tree, and capable o f carrying a Qoren men, can itself be carried on two men’s shoulders ; so that, when they have gone as far by water as they can, which is further than is easily to be im agined, because their loaded canoes don’t sink six inches into the water, they unload their canoes, and carry both goods and canoes upon their shoulders overland to the nearest branch o f the river they intend to follow.” After alluding to the route to Lake Ontario, the report says :— “ But beside this passage by the lakes, there is a river which comes from the country o f the Senecas and falls into the Onondaga River, by which we have an easy car riage into that country, without going near the Cataraqui Lake, (Ontario.) The head o f this river goes near to Lake Erie, and probably may give a very near passage into that lake, much more advantageous than the way the French are obliged to take by the great falls o f Jagara, (Niagara.) But as this passage depends upon a further discovery, I shall say nothing more o f it at this time.” * In 1768, Sir Henry Moore, in a message to the Colonial Assembly, refers to the complaints o f those engaged in the Indian trade as to the delay and expense at the carrying places, and intimates that without the aid o f the Legislature, “ the commerce with the interior part o f the country may be diverted into such channels as to deprive this colony of every advantage which could arise from it. The obstructions on the Mohawk River, between Schenectady and Fort Stanwix, occasioned by the Falls o f Canajoharie, has been constantly complained of, though it is ovious to all who have been con versant in matters o f this kind, that the difficulty is easily to be removed by sluices, upon the plan o f those o f the great canal o f Languedoc, in France, which was made to open a communication between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.” The importance o f connecting the western country with the Atlantic ports by navigable communications and good roads attracted the attention o f the statesmen who achieved our independence, as soon as their minds were re leased from the pressure o f the war. Soon after the ratification o f the treaty o f peace, General Washington made a tour to the north ; and in a letter to one of his foreign correspondents, he says:— “ I have lately made a tour through the Lakes George and Champlain, as far as Crown P oin t; then, re turning to Schenectady, I proceeded up the Mohawk River to Fort Schuy ler, crossed over to W o o d Creek, which empties into the Oneida Lake, and affords the water communication with Ontario.” In 1784, he also made a tour as far west as Pittsburg, and on his return wrote a letter to the Gov ernor o f Virginia, in which, after enumerating the difficulties to be surmount ed in bringing the trade o f the west to different points on the Atlantic, he expressed, unequivocally, the opinion that the rivers o f Virginia, the P o tomac and the James, afforded a more convenient and a more direct course than could be found elsewhere, for that rich and increasing commerce. This was strongly urged as a motive for immediately commencing the work. H e alluded to measures which unquestionably would be adopted by New York and Pennsylvania to secure a monopoly o f this trade. Adding at the same * The w hole o f this interestiug report is given in Dr. Hosack’ s M emoirs o f D e W itt Clinton, p. 232' 262 The Rise, Progress, and Present Condition o f time, “ I am not for discouraging the exertions o f any State to draw the commerce o f the western country to its sea-ports. The more communica tions we open to it, the closer we bind that rising world, for, indeed, it may be so called, to our interests, and the greater strength shall we acquire by it.” H e alludes to the fact that the United States were “ flanked by the Spaniards on their right, and Great Britain on their left,” and presses on the Governor “ the necessity o f applying the cement o f interest to bind all parts o f the Union together by indissoluble bands, especially o f binding that part of it which lies immediately west o f us to the Middle States.” To effect this he proposed to “ extend the inland navigation o f the eastern wa ters ; communicate them as near as possible with those which run westward; open these to the O h io; open also such as extend from the Ohio to Lake E rie; and we shall not only draw the produce of the western settlers, but the peltry and fur trade o f the Lakes also, to our ports; thus adding an im mense increase to our exports, and binding those people to us by a chain which never can be broken.” * General Washington attended the sessions o f the Legislatures in Virginia and Maryland, and acts were passed in accord ance with his plans for the improvement o f the James and Potom ac Rivers, as early as P784. Mr. Jefferson also took a deep interest in- the subject o f opening inter course between the Atlantic and western territory by means o f navigable communications. In his notes on Virginia, written in 1T81—2, he alludes to three principal connections between the western waters and the Atlantic— the Hudson River, the Potomac, and the Mississippi. H e calculates that flour, timber, and other heavy articles will be floated down the Mississippi, but in consequence o f the difficulties of the navigation in the Gulf o f Mex ico and up the Mississippi, merchandise will not take that route, and that “ there will be a competition between the Hudson and Potomac Rivers for the residue o f the commerce o f all the country westward o f Lake Erie, on the waters o f the Lakes, o f the Ohio, and upper parts o f the Mississippi.” To go to Hew York, the trade o f the lakes, he says, must first be brought into Lake Erie. H e then alludes to the portages at Niagara, the Falls of the Onondaga near Oswego, W o o d Creek to the Mohawk River, Little Falls, and from Schenectady to Albany. H e alludes to the superiority o f harbors on the south side o f the lake, and supposes a cargo to be transport ed, to have reached Cuyahoga, (Cleveland)— “ to proceed to New York it will have 825 miles and five portages; whereas it is but 425 miles to Alex andria, its emporium, if it turns into the Cuyahoga, and passes through that, B ig Beaver, Ohio, Yohoganey, (or Monongahela and Cheat.) and Potomac, and there are but two portages; the first o f which, between Cuyahoga and Beaver, may be removed by uniting the sources o f these waters, which are lakes in the neighborhood o f each other, and in a champaign country; the other, from the waters o f Ohio to Potomac, will be from fifteen to forty miles, according to the trouble which shall be taken to approach the two navigations. For the trade o f the Ohio, or that which shall come intp it from its own waters or the Mississippi, it is nearer through the Potomac to Alexandria than to New York by 580 miles, and it is interrupted by one port age only.” H e also alludes to the fact that the route through New York is shut up by ice three months o f the year, “ whereas the channel to the Ches Marshall’s L ife o f W ashington. Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Y ork. 263 apeake leads directly into a warmer climate, so that vessels may pass the whole winter, subject only to short delays.” In a letter from Paris, in 1785, after General Washington had sent him the act o f 1784, for improving the Potomac, Mr. Jefferson sa ys:— ‘‘ I place an immense importance to my own country on this channel of connection with the new western States.” In another letter to General Washington, in 1785, after expressing his gratification that the Potomac River, James River, and Dismal Swamp improvements were to be carried through, he adds, “ there is still a fourth, however, which I had the honor, I believe, o f men tioning to you in 1784 : it is the cutting a canal which shall unite the heads o f the Cuyahoga and Beaver Creek. The utility o f this, and even the ne cessity o f it, if we mean to aim at the trade o f the lakes, will be palpable to you.” Again, in 1788, he refers to the same subject and says :— “ It will infallibly turn through the Potomac all the commerce o f Lake Erie, and the country west o f that, except what may pass down the Mississippi; and it is important that it be soon done, lest that commerce should, in the meantime, get established in another channel.” Mr. Jefferson visited and examined the canal o f Languedoc through its whole extent, and made notes on the spot, which he forwarded to General Washington in 1788, to “ aid him in the prosecution o f the Potomac Canal.” In 1789, he writes again to General Washington from Paris, urging the same views as before, and in allusion to the connection between the Potomac and the Ohio Rivers, he says :— “ I con sider the union o f those two rivers as among the strongest links o f connec tion between the eastern and western sides of our Confederacy.” About the time o f the enactment o f the first law in Virginia, Christopher Colles, o f the city o f New York, presented a memorial to the Legislature o f this State in the winter o f 1784, for removing obstructions in the Mohawk River, and opening a water communication with Lake Ontario. The next year a small appropriation was made, $125, and Mr. Colles explored the country as far as W o o d Creek, and published a pamphlet setting forth the advantages of a water communication between the Mohawk and Lake Ontario. In this pamphlet he says :— “ Providence, indeed, appears to favor this design ; for the Alleghany Mountains, which pass through all the States, seem to die away as they approach the Mohawk River, and the ground between the up per part o f this river and W o o d Creek is perfectly level, as if designedly, to permit us to pass through this channel into this extensive inland country. The amazing extent o f the five Great Lakes, to which the proposed naviga tion will communicate, will be found to have five times as much coast as all England.” In 1786, Mr. Colles again petitioned the Legislature, and Jef frey Smith reported a bill to the Assembly “ for improving the navigation of the Mohawk River, W o o d Creek, and the Onondaga River, with a view o f opening an inland navigation to Oswego, and for extending the same, if practicable, to Lake Erie.” This bill did not become a law.* In 1791, Governor George Clinton called the attention o f the Legislature to the importance o f “ continuing to facilitate the means o f communication with our frontier settlements.” A committee was raised on this part o f the Governor’s speech, which resulted in the enactment o f a law authorizing the Commissioners o f the Land Office to cause a survey to be made for a canal * In alluding to the praiseworthy efforts o f Christopher Colles, Mr. Colden in his M emoir says:— u W e iray all rem ember him as the projector and attendant o f the telegraph erected during the war o f 1812 on Castle Clinton.” 264 , , The Rise Progress and Present Condition o f t o connect the Mohawk with W o o d Creek in the county of Herkimer, and the Hudson with W o o d Creek in the county o f Washington. The Com missioners employed Abraham Hardenberg and Benjamin W right, (the latter was afterwards a chief engineer on the Erie Canal,) to explore the routes and give an estimate o f the cost. The report was highly favorable, and the sub ject was again introduced to the Legislature by Governor Clinton in 1792. This resulted in the passage o f an act, prepared by General Schuyler, to open “ a lock navigation from the navigable part o f the Hudson River to be extended to the Seneca Lake, and to Lake Ontario.” The act o f 1792 marks an important era in the canal policy o f this State, and the success o f the measure in the Legislature is attributed, in a great degree, to the untir ing efforts and great influence o f General Philip Schuyler. Previous to the passage o f this act, and in the year 1791, Elkanah Watson, with Stephen N . Bayard, of New York, and others, explored the route from Schenectady to Geneva, in reference to opening a water communication from the Mohawk to the Seneca and Ontario Lakes. Robert Troup, in a letter to Brockholst Livingston in 1822, contended that the lake canal policy, as embraced in the act of 1792, and extending to Ontario and Seneca Lakes, originated with Mr. W atson ; but it is conceded by him that Mr. W atson’s views did not extend to the interior route to Lake E rie; and in a letter to Dr. Hosack in 1829, Mr. Troup gives an extract from Mr. W atson’s own history o f the matter, in which the latter says :— “ The utmost stretch o f our views was, to follow the track o f nature’s canal, and to remove natural or artificial ob structions ; but we never entertained the most distant conception of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson.” * Mr. W atson kept a journal o f his tour in 1791, which is appended to the letter o f Mr. Troup, and also given in the history o f the canals, published by Mr. Watson. The State loaned money to the W estern Inland Lock Navigation Com pany ; and when the charter was surrendered, the State was the owner o f 350 shares, equal to $92,000 ; then valued at $60,000. The company ex pended about $450,000, as stated by its president in 1812, Robert Bowne. The transportation from Schenectady to Oswego Falls, and to Seneca Lake, was in boats, carrying from 5 to 10 tons. Improvements were made at Little Falls and Rome, by locks and short canals, so as to admit the passage o f boats, but there was a portage around the falls of the Oswego, twelve miles from the lake. A t Little Falls, the company, in 1796, completed five locks, and two and three-fourths miles o f canal; a canal o f a mile and a quar ter at German Flatts; and, in 1797, a canal from the Mohawk to W o o d Creek, o f a mile and three-quarters— in all, less than seven miles, with nine locks. Some years afterwards the company built several wooden locks on W o o d Creek. From Oswego, the products o f the country were carried in vessels and boats constructed for the navigation of the rapids o f the St. Law rence to Montreal; and salt and merchandise were carried up Lake Ontario to Lewiston, from which place they were taken by land to Schlosser, above the falls o f Niagara, and there put on board o f boats carrying from 20 to 25 tons, manned by six or seven men, and taken to the store-houses o f the port age company at Black Rock, and there transferred to lake vessels, or carried by land to the interior. The charges of the portage company, from Lewis ton to Black Rock, 28 miles, in 1809, as stated by Mr. Geddes, were 75 * Hosack’ s M em oir o f De W itt Clinton, A ppendix, page 293. Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew York. 265 cents per barrel for salt, and $1 for merchandise generally. The cost o f transporting a barrel of flour from Buffalo to Albany, has averaged, by the canal, 7o cents per barrel for the last twenty years. O f this sum, the State has received at the rate o f 37 cents per barrel, and the forwarder 38 cents. For fifteen years after the incorporation o f the Western Inland Lock Navi gation Company, the attention o f the Legislature and the people seems to have been occupied in facilitating intercourse in our own State by the incor poration o f turnpike companies, and the construction o f common roads ; by the aid o f legislative appropriations, the contributions o f land-owners, and the efforts o f the inhabitants. In many cases, special privileges were grant ed to persons, as an encouragement for the establishment of stage routes. Such a grant was given from Catskill to the Susquehanna River. In 1804 an act was passed giving to two persons the exclusive right of running stage-wagons for passengers, from Utica to Canandaigua, and pro hibiting other persons from interfering, under a penalty o f $500. The re cipients of this legislative favor, were, however, required to g o through twice a week. Even with all these efforts, the channels o f intercourse, in many parts o f the State, were very rough and imperfect, at the period o f commen cing the surveys for the canals. Mr. Geddes, in one o f his reports to the Surveyor General, in 1809, says:— “ I was surprised, when at Schlosser, to see a wagon taken apart, and put on board a boat, to be carried to Black Rock ; and, on inquiry, found there was no road between those places. In traveling up on horseback, I was obliged to drive my horse into some o f the creeks, and swim him over before me. The mail-carrier is obliged to quit our territory, to get the mail from Buffalo to Niagara garrison.” Forty years have wrought great changes in the facilities for transportation and travel in the region referred to. The ancient portage from Lewiston to Schlosser now has a railroad which extends to Buffalo, and there connects with a chain o f railroads to Albany. A nd one of the creeks across which Mr. Geddes swam his horse in 1809, now forms a link of twelve miles in the Erie Canal, affording another channel o f communication between the section referred to and tide-water. In October, 1807, Jesse Hawley commenced the publication o f a number o f essays in the Genesee or Ontario Messenger, published at Canandaigua, in favor o f a canal from Buffalo to Utica, and thence down the Mohawk to Hudson River. In a letter to Dr. Hosack, dated at Rochester, in 1828, he says:— “ My plan was a canal o f 100 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, laid on an inclined plane, from Buffalo to Utica, and thence down the channel o f the M ohawk; with improvements in it at Schenectady, and thence across the portage to Albany, for a time— to be constructed by the national govern ment, rather than by an incorporated company o f individuals— not conceiv ing, then, the State Treasury or finances adequate to the undertaking.” These essays were fourteen in number, and their publication extended to April, 1808. In February, 1808, Joshua Forman, a member o f Assembly from Onon daga, introduced a resolution for a joint committee, “ to take into consider ation the propriety o f exploring and causing an accurate survey to be made o f the most eligible and direct route for a canal to open a communication between the tide-waters o f the Hudson River and Lake Erie.” This resolu tion was adopted by both houses; and the committee o f the Assembly con sisted o f Messrs. Gold, Gilbert, German, Gormand, and Hogeboom ; that of the Senate o f Messrs. Taylor, Nicholas, and W ard. 266 , , The Rise Progress and Present Condition o f On the 21st of March, Mr. Gold, o f Oneida, made a report, in which he expressed high satisfation with the recommendation o f Mr. Jefferson, for an appropriation o f a portion of the surplus revenue of the United States, “ for improving, by canals, the inland navigation o f the country.” The report alluded to the importance o f the measure in a national point o f view, “ in draw ing together and preserving in political concord the distant parts o f a widely extended empire,” and closed with a resolution that “ the Surveyor General cause an accurate survey to be made of the rivers, streams, and waters, in the usual route of communication between the Hudson River and Lake Erie, and such other contemplated route as he may deem proper.” A copy o f the survey and maps to be transmitted by the Governor to the President o f the United States. The sum o f $600 was appropriated to defray the ex penses o f the survey. In June, 1808, the Surveyor General, Samuel De W itt, appointed James Geddes, and instructed him to examine “ the best place for a canal from Oneida Lake to Lake Ontario, in M exico; also between Oneida Lake and Oswego.” The next object will be an examination o f “ the most eligible tract for a canal from below the Niagara Falls to Lake E rie; and,” he adds, “ as Mr. Joseph Ellicott has given me a description of the country from the Tonnewanta Creek to the Genessee River, and pointed out a route / o r a canal through that tract, it is important to have the continuation o f it ex plored to the Seneca River.” Mr. Geddes made his report to the Surveyor General in January, 1809. After surveying the route from Oneida Lake to Ontario, and around the Falls o f Niagara, he explored the interior route “ from Oneida Lake, along the track at present pursued by the navigation to the Cayuga marshes; thence up the valley of the Mud Creek, and across the country to the Genesee River ; thence up Black Creek to the Tonnewanta Swamp, and down the Tonnewanta Creek to Niagara River, and up the same to Lake Erie.” By the examinations o f Mr. Geddes, as stated by the Surveyor General, “ the fact was satisfactorily established, that a canal from Lake Erie to Hudson’s River was not only practicable, but practicable with uncommon facility.” In March, 1810, Jonas Platt, a Senator from the Western District, who had been a candidate for governor in opposition to Daniel D. Tompkins, in 1807, introduced a joint resolution for the appointment o f Governeur Morris, Stephen Van Rensselaer, D e W itt Clinton, Samuel De W itt, W illiam North, Thomas Eddy, and Peter B. Porter, commissioners for exploring the whole route o f the inland navigation from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario and Lake E rie; examining the present condition o f said navigation, and consid ering what further improvement ought to be made therein. The sum of $3,000 was appropriated to pay the expense of surveys, &c. In a letter to Dr. Hosack, in May, 1828, Judge Platt states that his reso lution was introduced, after a long conversation with Thomas Eddy, who, as a director o f the Western Inland Lake Navigation Company, was in Albany to solicit aid in extending the operations of the company from Oneida Lake to the Seneca River. Judge Platt unfolded the plan covered by his reso lution, and Mr. Eddy readily came into the measure. They then made a list of commissioners, and Judge Platt says:— ■“ Our object was to balance the opposing political parties, as nearly as possible; and as De W itt Clin ton was then a member of the Senate, possessing a powerful influence over the dominant party in the State, it was considered by Mr. Eddy and myself o f primary importance to obtain his cooperation. W e accordingly request Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew York. 267 ed an interview with Mr. Clinton, and unfolded to him our plan. He lis tened to us with intense interest, and deep agitation o f mind. He then said that he was, in a great measure, a stranger to the western interior of our State; that he had given but little attention to the subject o f canal navigation, but the exposition o f our plan struck his mind with great force; that it was an object worthy o f thorough examination; and that if I would move the reso lution in blank, he would second and support it.” Judge Platt ad ds:— “ From that period Mr. Clinton devoted the best powers o f his vigorous and capacious mind to this subject, and he appeared to grasp and realize it as an object o f the highest public utility, and worthy of his noblest ambition.” The commissioners appointed by the resolution o f Judge Platt, made a report to the Legislature in March, 1811. This report was written by Gouverneur Morris, and advocates a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson, as pro posed by Mr. Geddes in his reports o f 1809 and 1811. In this report the commissioners seem to have been influenced by the suggestion o f Mr. Haw ley, in favor o f a canal on an inclined plane, giving an average descent o f six in ches in a mile, and feeding the canal, in its entire length, from the waters of Lake Erie. On this plan, the canal, as stated in the report, would cross the Gen esee River by an aqueduct, at an elevation o f twenty-six feet from the sur face o f the water; cross the outlet o f the Seneca Lake also by an aqueduct eighty-three feet high ; and be carried across the outlet o f the Cayuga Lake on an embankment, one hundred and thirty feet in height, and one mile in length. A t Rome, the elevation above the Mohawk was estimated at fortyseven feet; at Little Falls, eighty feet; at Schoharie Creek one hundred and fifty feet; and an elevation o f seventy feet above the height of ground be tween Schenectady and Albany. From this elevation, a descent was to be made by locking down three or four hundred feet, to the level of tide-water. This report proposed that the work should be executed by the State, or the Union, and not by individuals, so as to retain the power o f reducing the cost o f transportation. The suggestion o f a canal on an inclined plane produced an unfavorable impression on the public mind, and in the discussions in regard to the canal policy in 1820, a writer over the signature o f “ Tacitus,” supposed to be Mr. Clinton, ascribes the project to Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the report, and stated that the other commissioners allowed it to be retained in the report from motives o f delicacy to the author. This discussion was after the death o f Mr. Morris. Mr. Jesse H aw lej, in a letter written after the death o f Mr. Clinton, states that the commissioners, in exploring the route of the canal in 1811, took his essays with them ; “ and, in their report of 1811, they em braced several leading points which I had advanced in my essays, nam ely:— o f its being a national work, and proposing to construct it on an inclined plane.” A nd, referring to the remark attributed to Mr. Morris, in 1 8 03 -4, in re gard to “ tapping Lake Erie,” * Mr. Hawley declares that “ there was no wri ter on the idea o f tapping Lake Erie, or the overland route for the canal, * Sim eon De W itt, w h o was uninterruptedly Surveyor General from 1784, until his death, in 1834, and familiar with all the early operations connected w ith internal im provem ents, as well as with the history o f the canal policy, in a letter to W illiam D arby, in 1822, says that “ the merit o f first starting the idea o f a direct com m unication by water betw een Lake Erie and Hudson River, unquestionably belongs to Mr. G ouverneur Morris.” H e refers to a conversation with Mr. Morris in 1803, when the latter “ m entioned the project o f ta p p in g Lake Erie.” Joshua Forman, the author o f the resolution o f 1808, in a letter to Dr. Hosack, dated in O ctober, 1828, after alluding to the suggestion o f Mr. Mor ris, s a y s “ N ow 1 d o most solemnly declare that the idea o f a direct canal was original with me, w h o ever else had thought o f it b e fo r e ; that I had never heard o f Gouverneur Morrris’ suggestions, nor o f Mr. Hawley’ s essays.” 268 The Rise, Progress, and Present Condition o f publicly known in Ontario at the time I wrote my essays.” And he adds :— “ Mine was a public correspondence, without obscurity ; and, I can say, with great sincerity o f heart, that I knew o f no competitor with me for the repu tation of both the conception and publication o f the idea o f the overland route, until after the work was commenced, and became a popular theme.” It is due to Mr. Hawley to state that the general sketch of the route given in his essays, approximates very closely to the one surveyed by the engineers, and finally adopted by the commissioners. Mr. Hawley states that he loaned his essays to Mr. Clinton, in 1812, who returned them to him in 1820. A n d Mr. Clinton himself, in a letter to Mr. Hawley, dated March 4th, 1822, says:— “ The first suggestion o f a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson River, which came to my knowledge, was commu nicated in essays, under the signature o f ‘ Hercules,’ on internal navigation, in the Ontario Messenger.” In 1811, Mr. Clinton presented a bill to the Senate, adding the names o f Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton to the list o f Commissioners, and empowering them to apply to the Congress of the United States, and to the Legislatures o f other States and Territories, to cooperate and aid in the con struction o f the canal, and to ascertain whether loans could be advanta geously made on the credit o f the State, and the terms on which the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company would surrender their rights to the State. It also authorized them to employ engineers, and appropriated $15,000 to defray expenses. The commissioners made application to Congress, to the President o f the United States, and to the several States and Territories, and Mr. Morris and Mr. Clinton attended at Washington to urge the application upon Congress. On the 23d o f December, 1811, Mr. Madison, in a special message, called the attention o f Congress to the application, on the part o f New York, and took the occasion to remind that body o f “ the signal advantages to be de rived to the United States from a general system o f internal communication and conveyance.” The message was referred to a large committee, and there was much discussion on the subject o f a general appropriation o f lands for internal improvements in the several States, but no aid to the canal was granted to this State by Congress. Several o f the States gave a favorable response to the letter o f the commissioners, but none gave encouragement o f pecuniary aid. Massachusetts and Tennessee instructed their represen tatives to support an appropriation by Congress; the acting governor and judges o f the territory o f Michigan answered the letter of the commissioners by a resolution:— “ That in their opinion, the canal contemplated by the commissioners in the State of New York, from Black Rock to Rome, would not be so desirable as a canal round the cataract o f Niagara, and another by the falls o f the Oswego.” In their report in 1812, the commissioners made estimates o f the prob able tonnage and tolls. They sa y :— “ Viewing the extent and fertility o f the country with which this canal is to open a communication, it is not ex travagant to suppose that when settled, its produce will equal the present export o f the United States.” A nd they look forward, at no distant period, to the receipt o f toll to the amount o f a million o f dollars. The report adds :— “ will it appear improbable that, twenty years hence, the canal should annu ally bring down 250,000 tons ?” Twenty years after the completion o f the Erie Canal, there came to tide water on that canal, separate from the Champlain Canal, 1,107,000 tons; Internal Improvements in the State o f N ew Y ork . 269 valued at more than forty-five millions o f dollars; and the tolls o f that canal alone, the same year, amounted to two millions and a half o f dollars. In the report o f 1812, the inclined plane was adhered to from Lake Erie to the Seneca River, and from the east end o f the Rome Level “ to a basin near the Hudson River.” The cost is estimated at six millions o f dollars; and the report urges the immediate commencement o f the work, and the policy of having it done by the State, insisting that the cost, considering the great object to be accomplished, could not be a serious consideration with a million o f people, enjoying one o f the richest soils and finest climates under heaven.” The commissioners made a short report in 1814, in which they state that the declaration o f war had prevented the consummation o f a loan. They allude to the opposition to the direct canal to Lake Erie, and the advocates o f the natural route by Oswego, and give the opinion o f Mr. Weston, the engineer employed by the Lock Navigation Company, in favor o f the in land route. Such part o f the act o f 1812 as authorized the canal commissioners to bor row five millions o f dollars, was repealed in 1814. The proposition to re peal was brought forward in the Senate by General Root, who was opposed to the canal policy. Mr. Van Renssellaer, a member o f the Assembly from Columbia, proposed, as an amendment, to suspend the operations o f the sec tions referred to “ till one year after the termination o f the present war." This was carried, 49 to 47. Subsequently Mr. Van Renssellaer proposed to add a section to the supply bill, appropriating $15,000 to pay engineers, Ac., which was rejected, 53 to 22. Mr. Van Horme then moved the original proposition o f General Root, to repeal the third, fourth, and fifth sections o f the act o f 1812, which was adopted, 45 to 27. The Senate concurred, 15 to 7. The fifth and sixth sections o f the act o f 1812, without setting apart funds for the payment of interest, or establishing a suitable system o f finance, au thorized the commissioners to make a loan o f a total sum o f five millions o f dollars; and, as the whole o f the sum, at the rate o f progress then consid ered prudent, would not be required short o f ten years, the commissioners were directed to invest the sum so to be borrowed, in public stocks, or such other fund as in their opinion, and that o f the Governor, was considered most safe and productive. The repeal o f this provision was regarded as a mea sure of hostility to the canals, and it undoubtedly was urged on by those who were hostile; but the wisdom o f borrowing five millions, and exposing this sum to the hazards o f investing it in productive securities, when the largest sum proposed to be expended in a year was half a million, may well be questioned. It is probably fortunate for the success o f the canal policy, and the interest and credit o f the State, that this law was repealed, and that no loans were made until such a system o f finance was matured as command ed the confidence o f capitalists, and enabled the State to borrow, on favor able terms, such sums as were required from time to time to meet its en gagements. The first loan was made in June, 1817, and for the sum of $200,000 o n ly ; the commissioners being limited by the law o f 1817 to bor rowing a sum, which, with the auction and salt duties, should not exceed $400,000 in any one year. , 270 The Precious M etals Coins, and Bank Notes. Art. II.— THE PRECIOUS METALS, COINS, AND BANK NOTES. PART n. ON T H E O R IG IN A N D P R O G R E S S OF B A N K IN G , A N D T H E E S T IM A T E D A M O U N T O F P A P E R -M O N E Y IN C IR C U L A T I O N IN T H E D IF F E R E N T C O U R T R I E S OF E U R O P E , A N D IN A M O U N T OF B A N K IN G C A P IT A L , C O IN IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S A T C O IN , A N D T H E D IF F E R E N T P E R IO D S , F R O M IN F L U E N C E OF F O R E I G N A M E R IC A IN 1810 AND 1830— ON TH E B A N K S , C IR C U L A T IO N O F B A N K -N O T E S A N D COIN IN T H E 1810 TO 1849— ALSO TH E E X P O R T S AND IM P O R T S OF C O M M E R C E ON B A N K IN G A S W E L L A S ON T H E S P E C IE IN T H E C O U N T R Y — ON T H E D E P R E C IA T I O N O F P A P E R -M O N E Y — T H E L O S S E S OF T H E P E O P L E — E V IL S R E S U L T IN G F R O M I T , A N D R E M E D I E S S U G G E S T E D . The first issue o f paper-money in Russia consisted of 40,000,000 roubles o f assignats in 1759 ; the second consisted o f 60,000,000 roubles in 1787. The silver rouble is equal to about seventy-five cents. NO. i. The amount o f assignats in circulation in Russia, and the per cent o f de preciation at different periods, is stated by Storch as follow s:— Years. 1 7 9 0 ... . 1 7 9 5 ... . 1 8 0 0 .. . . Circulation. I l l m illion rou bles. 150 “ “ 212 “ “ Per cent discount. 18 31£ 35 Years. 1 8 0 5 ... . 1 8 1 0 ... . 1 8 1 4 ... . Circulation. 292 m illion roubles. 577 « 577 “ Per cent discount. 23 6 6£ 75 Mr. Jacob states that the paper-money o f Austria had increased, prior to 1810, to 1,060,000,000 o f florins, and had at one time so depreciated, that a silver florin would purchase ten or twelve paper florins, and that they were worth in 1810 only about one-fifth part of their nominal value. Calling their nominal value about two shillings sterling, and their real exchangeable value in 1810 one-fifth part as much, he estimated their total exchangeable value in 1810 at 21,000,000 pounds sterling. A bout the year 1825 they were redeemed at two-fifths their nominal value, and specie payments re sumed, and he estimated the amount o f paper in circulation in 1830 at 100,000,000 florins, equal to £10,000,000 sterling. H e says the notes of the Bank o f England in circulation in 1810 amounted to about £24,000,000 sterling, and estimated the notes o f the private and joint stock banks, and the other banks o f Great Britain and Ireland at the same amount— that is, at £48,000,000 in all. The tables in Brande’s Encyclopoedia o f Science and Art, title bank, show that the circulating n >tes o f the Bank o f England in 1810 amounted to £21,019,600, and the coin and bullion in the bank £ 3 ,5 0 1 ,4 1 0 ; excess o f circulation over coin and bullion, £ 1 7 ,5 1 8 .1 9 0 ; and that in 1830 the circulation was £20,050,730, the coin and bullion £9,171,000, and the excess o f notes in circulation but £11,556,730. The country bank-notes o f England and W ales in circulation in 1810 are estimated in the Commercial Dictionary at £ 2 3 ,8 9 3 ,8 6 8 ; in 1833 they were reduced to £10,152,104. The notes o f the Bank o f Ireland in circu lation in 1810 are stated at &3,170,064, and in 1832 at £3,975,322. After the suspension of specie payments by the Bank o f England in 1797, the excessive issue o f bank-notes occasioned their decline in value, and their depreciation in 1810 was nearly 13 per cent, and in 1814 over 25 per cent. The basis o f the private and joint stock banks relied upon to redeem their notes was not specie nor bullion, but notes o f the Bank o f England; so that nearly the whole amount o f their circulation was an addition o f so much to the money or circulating medium o f the country. The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. 271 As the Bank o f Russia, and also that o f Austria, were both in a state of suspension in 1810, and the former also in 1830, they probably had very little specie or bullion to redeem with, and I shall estimate the same at but 10 per cent. Mr. Jacob remarks that in the smaller states o f Germany, in Italy, except that part o f it which is under the dominion of Austria, and in Spain and Switzerland, the currency has been invariably metallic; and in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, a paper currency existed in 1810, and still circulated; but the whole amount, as well as the variations in those coun tries, has been so small that they affect, in a very trifling degree, the view here taken. There was no bank in the United States until the Bank o f North America was established in Philadelphia in 1781. The first banking association formed in the State o f New York was a joint stock company organized in the year 1784, under the articles o f association, under which it did business as a bank nearly seven years, when it was incorporated in March, 1791, by the name of the Bank o f New York. In 1792 the Bank o f Albany was chartered, and in 1793 the Bank of Columbia. N o other banks were char tered by the State o f New York until the year 1800, when the Manhattan Company was incorporated. The first United States Bank was established in 1 7 9 1 ; after the year 1800 banks began to increase in all parts o f the United States; and we have pretty accurate information of the amount of banking capital and o f bank-notes in circulation at different periods, from December, 1810, to the present time. There is much less positive evidence o f the amount o f paper-money in circulation in Europe and America in the year 1800, than in the year 1810, and since that time. The circulation o f the Bank o f England in August, 1800, was less than £15,000,000 sterling, but was nearly £24,500,000 in August, 1810. Though the United States was flooded with what was called continental money during our Revolutionary W ar, and some o f the New England colonies issued great quantities o f paper-money before the war, yet from the close o f the war until after the year 1800, we had comparatively little paper-money in our country. Paper-money was increased immensely in many countries o f Europe between the years 1800 and 1810, and there was probably nearly twice as much in circulation at the latter, as at the former period. no. ir. Estimates in millions o f pounds sterling, taken mostly from Jacob’s in quiry o f the exchangeable value o f the paper circulation o f Europe and America in 1810 and 1830, the depreciation from which the nominal amount may be calculated, the amount o f specie and bullion in the vaults o f the banks, and the increase o f the circulating medium by means of bank-notes:— Bank o f England___ Private and j ’int-st’ck banks i n ............... Do. ............. Banks of Ireland. . . it Banks of Scotland. 1810 1830 1810 1833 1810 1830 1810 1830 Exchangeable value o f bankDepreciation, notes in cirper cent. culation. 14 18 p ar 20 14 par 14 p ar 14 par 20 10 2 .7 5 3 3 .5 Excess o f Bullion bank-notes and specie in over specie and the banks. bullion. 3 .5 1 4 .4 9 .1 7 1 0 .9 1 .5 2 .1 5 .5 2 .6 1 .4 1 8 .5 8 2 .2 3 2 .4 2 .1 172 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Motes. Exchangeable value o f bankDepreciation, notes in cir- Bank of France. . . . it .. Bank of Russia . . . . M .. Bank of Austria . . . “ .. Holland i n ........... . . .. Portugal............... “ .......... . . Prussia................. . . “ .......... . . United States...... . . ft .. 1830 1810 1830 1810 1829 Total......... . . «( .. U ..... . . 1810 1830 1800 per cent. par par 72 75 80 par 1810 1830 1810 1830 1810 1830 1810 1830 Excess o f bank-notes Bullion and specie in over specie and bullion. the banks. .8 1 .2 3 .5 5 .5 2 .3 2 0 .7 2 2 .6 2 .5 2 19 3 .5 6 .5 culation. 2 9 23 25.2 21 10 par 80 1 1 .4 2 .4 .2 .5 .5 1 .2 1 .5 par par par 2 6.8 12.8 3 .2 4 .6 1 .3 2 .6 8 .2 £ 1 4 .6 3 0 .3 £ 8 2 .4 7 0 .2 £97 1 0 0 .5 estimated at £46 N O . I I I. STATEMENT OF THE CIRCULATION OF BANK-NOTES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AT DIFFERENT PERIODS, STATED IN MILLIONS OF POUNDS STERLING. Decem ber, Decem ber, Decem ber, December, 1841 1841 1S48. 1849. Bank of England. . . . £19.5 millions. £20.2 millions. £16.9 millions. £17.9 millions. 5 .0 4 .5 3.5 Private banks, Engl’d. 3.5 Joint-stock banks.. . . 3.0 3.1 2 .5 “ 2.6 Banks in Scotland.. . . 3.0 3.3 3 .3 “ 3 .2 5 .2 7 .4 4 .8 Banks in Ireland........ 4 .7 “ Tot., United Kingdom. £35.7 “ £38.5 £ 3 1 .0 “ “ £ 3 1 .9 “ Mr. McCullock estimates the amount o f coin in circulation in the United Kingdom o f Great Britain and Ireland in 1833 at £30,000,000 sterling; but when we reflect that they have a large bank-note circulation, and that nearly all the merchants keep their deposits in, and do their business through banks, I doubt if the average circulation o f coin during the last twenty years has exceeded £20,000,000, and have estimated it at that sum. The notes o f the Bank o f England constitute the principal means o f all the other banks and bankers o f the kingdom, with which to redeem their notes; and hence they are used as a substitute for coin to the amount of perhaps £6,000,000, which should not be treated as any portion o f the circulation o f the country. This amount should therefore be deducted from the gross circulation o f Eng land, and the deduction is made in the following table. The average circu lation o f bank-notes in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1840 was about the same as from 1841 to 18 49 :— N O . IV . STATEMENT OF THE AVERAGE CIRCULATION OF COIN AND BANK-NOTES AMONG THE PEOPLE, FROM 1841 TO 1849, AND THE AMOUNT TO EACH PERSON, AFTER DEDUCTING £6,000,000 STERLING, BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES SUPPOSED TO BE HELD BY OTHER BANKS. England and Wales............ Scotland............................... Ireland................................. Bank-notes. Coin. Total. £21 millions. 3i “ H “ £14 millions. 2J “ 3f “ £36 millions. 5f “ 9* “ Each person. £10£ 9£ 5 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. 273 The circulation o f the Bank o f France ordinarily fluctuates from 210 to 240,000,000 francs:— Its circulation in July, 1830, was a b o u t................................................ In October, 1839, it was............................................................................ “ 1845, it was............................................................................ 3543,200,000 39,931,000 48,589,000 It is most probable that the amount o f paper-money in Europe and Ameri ca was very nearly the same in 1840, and but little more in 1845 than it was in 1830. NO. i. ESTIMATE OF MR. GALLATIN OF THE CAPITAL, NOTES IN CIRCULATION, AND SPECIE IN THE BANKS OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE END OF THE YE AR Capital. 281 banks, ascertained.............. 4 8 banks, estimated............... United States B ank................. Total............................... $95 millions. 1 5 .2 “ 34 “ $ 1 4 5 .2 1829. Notes. “ Specie. $ 3 9 .2 millions 9 .1 “ 1 3 .0 “ $12 millions, 2 .9 “ 7 .2 “ $61.4 $ 2 2 .1 “ It is obvious that if the capital of the forty-eight banks is properly esti mated, the notes in circulation are estimated too high, by more than $2,000,000, and the specie in them too high by about $1,000,000, to cor respond with the 281 banks, whose condition was ascertained. I shall, therefore, reduce the estimate, to make all the parts correspond, and shall call the circulation but $59,000,000, and the specie $21,000,000. Mr. Gallatin estimated the amount o f specie in the banks o f the Unit id States at the end of each year as follows :— 1810 at $15,400,000 ; of 1814 at $17,000,000; o f 1815 at $19,000,000; and o f 1819 at $19,800,000. The commercial records o f the exports and imports of the precious metals, show that the amount in the country, from 1824 to 1828, must have been about $9,000,000 less than it was in 1 8 2 0 ; and about $5,000,000 less in January, 1830, than it was in 1820. W e cannot reasonably assume that the amount o f coin in circulation in January, 1830, was less than $4,000,000, which, taking the exports and imports o f specie into consideration, and Mr. Gallatin’s estimate o f the amount in the banks, would make the amount in circulation in 1820 over $10,000,000, and may be illustrated as follows, (the amount brought in by immigrants, not entered at the custom-house, be ing estimated at from $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 each, on an average;— ) Estimated amount of coin and bullion in the United States, Oc tober 1, 1820......................................................................................... Imported in four years to September 30, 1825..................................... Estimated amount brought in by immigrants...................................... $30 millions. 24.9 “ 2 “ Total of imports and supply...................................................... Exported during the same four years.................. $34.67 millions. Estimated amount used in the arts and made into plate, utensils, jewelry, and other ornaments, over and above old metal used and the pro duce of our own mines....................................... 1.23 “ Total export and consumption................. ........ $56.9 Leaving in the United States but.............................................. October 1st, 1824, when the tariff of 1824 took effect:— Imported in four years, to September 30th, 1828............................... Estimated amount brought in by immigrants....................................... $21 « $28.67 2 “ “ $61.67 “ Total import and supply V O L. XX11I.-----N O . I I I . 18 35.9 274 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. Exported during the same four years ................... Estimated amount used in the arts....................... Total export and consumption................... $29.4 millions. 1.27 “ ........ Leaving in the United States only.......................... .................. 30.67 mil’ons. $21 October 1st, 1828, when the tariff of 1828 went into operation:— Imported in six years, to September 30th, 1834................................. Amount brought in by immigrants, estimated a t ................................ Total imports and supply ........................................................ Exported during the same six years.................... Used in the arts...................................................... $53.75 4 “ $78.75 $26.46 millions. 2.29 “ 28.76 Leaving in the United States...................................................... $50 “ October 1st, 1834, soon after the free trade compromise. Act of March, 1833, made the first reduction of duties on foreign manufactures:— Imported in three years, to September 30th, 1837............................. Estimated amount brought in by immigrants...................................... $37 2 Total imports and supply............................................................. $89 Exported during the same three years............... Amount used in the arts, over and above pro duct of our mines during this extravagant pe riod of speculation............................................ “ $16.78 millions. 9.22 ------ “ Leaving in the United States.................................................... 26 $63 “ October 1st, 1837, when nearly all the banks in the nation were in a state of sus picion. A s the imaginary wealth o f the people of the United States was greatly increased during the speculative period from 1834 to 1837, hy the multi plication and expansion o f the banks, the increase of paper-money, and the increase o f prices, which was the necessary consequence; the extravagance o f the people, and the increase o f gold and silver made into plate, watches, chains, and other ornaments aad utensils, was also immensely increased. The value o f the products o f the precious metals manufactured in the United States in 1839, according to the returns o f the census, amounted to $4,734,960, which must have consumed an amount o f gold and silver ex ceeding $3,000,000. The products o f our gold mines in 1839 amounted to only $529,605 ; and the amount o f silver was so small that it was not returned separately from other metals. The amount used in the arts for ten years, from 1837 to 1847, over and above the pr.oducts o f our mines, and the old gold and sil ver worked over, has probably amounted to over $2,000,000 per annum. Estimated amount of specie and bullion in the United States, Octo ber 1, 1837, brought forward.............................................................. Imported in one year, to September 30, 1838 ........ ........................... Amount brought in by immigrants, estimated at .. ........................... $63 millions. 17.75 .50 $81.25 Exported during the year......................................... Used in the arts.......................................................... Leaving in the United States, October 1, 1838 $3.5 millions. 1.75 “ ------ 5.25 $76 , 275 The Precious M etals Coins, and Bank Notes. Imported in four years, to September 30, 1842 ................................. Amount brought in by immigrants, estimated at................................. 23.55m il’ons. 2.45 “ 1102 Exported during the same four years................... Used in the arts, estimated at................................ $32.3 millions. 7 .7 “ ------- 40 Leaving in the United States.................................................... $62 Coin and bullion, October 1, 1838, when the tariff of 1842 went into operation. Specie imported in three and three-quarters years to June 30,1846, under the tariff of 1842...................................................................... Estimated amount brought in by immigrants...................................... $36 5 $103 Specie exported during the same period............... Used in the arts and loss by friction, <fcc., esti mated at................................................................ $19.5 millions. 8 .5 ------ “ 28 Leaving in the United States, June 30, 1846 ......................... Specie imported during the year ending June 30,1847, in consequence of the short crops in Europe and the great demand for our flour and grain................................................................................................ Amount brought in by immigrants, estimated a t ................................ $75 24.1 1 .4 “ “ “ $100.5 Specie exported during the same year.................. Specie expended abroad by the navy, and by the army in Mexico, estimated at.............................. Used in the arts and lost by friction, & c ............... $2.5 millions. 4 3 ------ “ “ Leaving in the United States, June 30, 1847.......................... 9.5 “ $91 Of coin and bullion of over $80,000,000 on the 1st of December, 1846, when the freetrade tariff of 1846, took effect. Specie imported in two years, to June 30, 1849.................................. Amount brought from California, about................................................ Estimated amount brought in by immigrants....................................... $13 2 4 millions. “ “ $110 Specie exported during the same period........... Used in the arts and loss by friction................... Expended abroad by the army and navy........... $21.25 millions. 5.75 “ 3.00 “ ------ Leaving in the United States, June 30, 1849.......................... 30 $80 “ Of coin and bullion, of which over $45,000,000 was in the banks, and the balance hoarded and in circulation. There is much reason to believe that there never was more specie in the United States, in proportion to their population, than there was during the general suspension o f specie payments by the banks, from May, 1837, to May, 1838 ; and consequently, the suspension could not have been caused by the small amount o f specie, but by the excessive amount o f paper-money, the wild and extravagant spirit o f speculation, the excessive imports o f foreign goods, which served to paralize the industry o f the country, and the rapid accumulation o f a foreign debt; all o f which causes contributed to alarm ‘276 The Precious M etals, Coins, and B ank Notes. capitalists, bankers, and business men ; to destroy confidence and credit; to depress property, and to derange business. W hile the several States were making loans, and selling their bonds in Europe, and to the agents o f European capitalists in America, from 1833 to 1838, in order to establish banks, make canals, railroads, and other improve ments, and were increasing their debts in Europe about $100,000,000, the specie o f the United States was increased, by means o f importations, about $10,000,000, and the balance o f the loans was imported in the shape of European manufactures. After our debts became so large that European capitalists became alarmed, and would not loan us any more money, nor buy our State stocks and bonds at scarcely any price less than a discount of from 20 to 80 per cent, the merchants and foreign manufacturers still con tinued to glut our markets with foreign g ood s; and during four years under the operation of the free trade compromise act o f 1833, they drained the United States o f specie, and reduced the quantity in the country from $76,000,000, October 1st, 1838, to $62,000,000, October 1st, 1842. From October 9th, 1839, when the most o f our banks suspended specie payments the second time, to the passage o f the tariff act in August, 1812, was one o f the most gloom y periods in the history o f our country; about as gloom y as the six years next prior to the passage o f the tariff act o f 1824, immedi ately after the heavy importations o f 1815, 1816, and 1817 ; and exceeded only by the general embarrassment, depression, prostration, and suffering of the country during the period from 1784 to 1789, after the heavy importa tions o f foreign goods at the close o f our Revolutionary W ar, when the coun try enjoyed, to the fullest extent, that glorious system o f free-trade which the nullifiers have long been sighing after. W hile the tariff act of 1842 was in operation, (from October 1st, 1842, to November 30th, 1846,) it operated to check and lessen the importation o f foreign goods, to secure the home-market, to a considerable degree, to the laborers and producers o f our own country, and to increase the industry o f the nation. The balance o f trade was in our favor, a part of which was ap plied to the payment o f the interest and principal o f our large foreign debt, and a part paid to us in specie; the specie o f the country increased about $18,000,000 ; and, at the end o f that period, our commerce, finances, banks, mining, manufacturing, and agricultural industry, were in a very flourishing condition. NO. I I. STATEMENT, IN MILLIONS OP DOLLARS, OP THE CAPITAL AND GROSS CIRCULATION OP THE BANKS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE SPECIE IN THEM, AT THE TIME OF THEIR REPORTS, THE NEAREST TO THE 3 1 S T OF DECEMBER OF EACH OK THE UNDERMENTIONED TEARS J ALSO, ESTIMATES, IN ACCORDANCE W IT H THE BANK REPORTS AND THE FOREGOING CALCU LATION OF THE COIN IN CIRCULATION, AND THE W HOLE CIRCULATION OF COINS AND BANK NOTES, THE POPULATION, AND THE AVERAGE CIRCULATION TO EACH PERSON AT EACH PE R IO D .* Capital..................................... Bank-notes issued................. Specie in banks..................... “ circulation............. Total circulation.................. .. Population, (millions)........... Dollars to each person......... 1810. 1814. $52.6 28.1 15.4 15 43.1 7 .3 $6 $82.5 45.5 17 11 56.5 8 .3 $6f 1815. $89.8 68 19 8 76 8 .4 $9 1819. $137 44.8 19.8 10.2 559 .6 $5£ 1824. 1829. .. .. $18 3 50 11 $4f- $145.2 59 21 4 63 12.6 $6 * A portion o f the amount o f bank-notes in circulation, and specie in the banks at the end o f the years 1810, 1814, 1815, 1819, and 1829, are estimates o f Mr. Gallatin, w hich have been generally adop t e d and contained in our official reports since 1834. The w hole colum n for 1824 are estimates o f m ine. 277 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. i8 a Capital........................ Bank-notes issued___ Specie in bank........... “ circulation.. Total circulation___ Population, (millions). Dollars to each person $200 94.8 15 no 14 $7£ 1886. $290£ 149.1 37.9 22 171 15* $11 1843. 184,5. 1846. $234 66 35.4 26.6 92.6 18.3 $5 $202 108* 43 32 142* 20 $209 m 1849. $218 132 112 38 45.4 42 34 166 154 22* 20£ $7f $7 2-5 Our foreign commerce has not only affected the specie in our country, but it has had a general influence also upon the circulation of our banks. Prior to the acquisition of California in 1848, the production of gold and silver annually by our mines, was but little over half a million o f dollars. About $2,000,000 more than the products o f our mines were needed annually to satisfy the pride of the people, and supply them with utensils and ornaments; and to keep pace with the increase o f our population, requires an increase o f coin o f $2,500,000 annually ; so that we needed about $5,000,000 annually to supply the wants o f the country, and have a sufficient specie basis to sus tain our banks, and maintain the credit o f our paper currency. The amount o f specie in the United States is so exceedingly small, in proportion to the population and commercial wants of the country, that large importations o f foreign goods, and an exportation of specie to the amount of $4,000,000 or $5,000,000 a year, for two or three years in succession, will inevitably weaken the banks very much, produce a panic, and run upon many o f them, aud cause many failures, if not a general suspension o f specie payments. This is verified by the commercial revulsion from 1837 to 1842. In May, 1837, nearly all the banks in the United States suspended specie payments; during the year ending September 30th, 1838, our imports amounted to but $108,486,616, including $17,747,116 specie, and but little over $90,000,000 in merchandise and foreign products; our exports the same year amounted to $113,717,404, including but $3,508,046 in specie— that is, we exported, exclusive o f specie, over $110,000,000 in amount, and imported but little over $90,000,000 ; paid off several millions of debts, and got a balance of over $14,000,000 specie to sustain our banks. This enabled nearly all the banks in the old States, and many in the new ones, to resume specie pay ments during the spring and summer o f the year 1838, and to go on for some time prosperously; but the free-trade compromise act again invited large importations o f foreign goods, amounting during the year ending Sep tember 30th, 1839, to $162,092,132, including only $5,595,176 in specie ; while our exports were but $112,251,673, exclusive o f specie to the amount o f $8,776,743 ; showing a nominal balance o f trade against us that year o f about $44,000,000 ; a drain o f over $3,000,000 o f specie from the country, and a large increase o f our foreign debt. This large balance o f trade against us and drain o f specie, occasioned a second suspension o f specie payments on the 9th of October, 1839, by Mr. Biddle’s United States Bank o f Pennsylvania, which was soon after followed by nearly all the banks south and west o f the State o f New York. N o other country ever felt so quickly and sensibly, and suffered so severely, the disastrous effects of excessive importations o f foreign goods, and an unfavor able balance o f trade; for no other country ever had so small an amount o f specie in proportion to the extent of their commerce ; and in no other coun try was the credit system ever carried to so great an extent, upon a founda tion so slight and frail. The amount o f specie in the United States, October 1st, 1839, being about 278 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. $73,000,000, and October 1st, 1842, but $62,000,000, in round numbers ; the quantity in the banks $45,000,000, in 1839, and but $33,545,000, De cember, 1842, averaging about $39,000,000 left in circulation, including what was hoarded up and withdrawn from use, from $28,000,000 to $29,000,000. W h en specie is exported, it is withdrawn entirely from the vaults o f the banks in the commercial cities, and they draw the specie from the banks o f the country and the interior cities, and the amount in circulation is scarcely affected at all. Export two years in succession to pay for foreign goods, $5,000,0000 each year more specie than is imported, accompanied by a great increase of debt by means o f heavy importations, these $10,000,000 being withdrawn from the banks, reduces their specie to about $30,000,000, and this, o f itself, will often produce a panic and a run upon the banks, and cause a draw upon them o f $5,000,000 or $10,000,000 more, and thereby occa sion a failure o f many o f them, and perhaps a general suspension o f specie payments. The suspension o f October, 1839, was occasioned by the ex portation o f specie, and the heavy importations o f goods the previous year, though the balance of specie exported was but little over $3,000,000 ; and the suspension of May, 1837, was in consequence o f the immense importa tion o f foreign g o o d s; the rapid accumulation of a heavy foreign debt, and the anticipation of large exportations o f specie to pay i t ; the great expan sion o f the banks, and their heavy loans to speculators who could not pay. All these things contributed to create a panic, and induce a withdrawal of deposits, and a run upon the banks, and soon led to a general suspension of specie payments in self defence, and before the anticipated exportation of specie to pay our foreign debt had commenced. STATEMENT OF THE AMOUNT OF BANK-NOTES ISSUED TO EACH INHABITANT, AND TOE ESTI MATED AMOUNT OF COIN AND BANK-NOTES IN CIRCULATION, IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING DIVISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, AT THE DATE OF THEIR REPORTS NEAREST TO THE LAST DAY OF DECEMBER OF EACH OF THE UNDERMENTIONED YEARS. 1816. 1842. 1842. 1845. 1845. 1849. Coin and Coin and B'k-notes. B’ k-n’ts. B ’k-n’ts. B ’k-n’ ts. B’k-n’ts. B’k-n’ ts. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...................................... New York, New Jersey, and Pennsyl vania .................................................. Ohio, and other North-Western States, including Iowa................................. Delaware, Maryland, Dist.of Columbia, Virginia, and North Carolina.......... Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri.. Slave States south of 35° of latitude. United States........................................ $53 $2 3 $4 $4 $53 $5 15J- 93 11 18 193 16 12 43 ®t H 63 n 43- 21- 14|94 43 33 53 63 93 7 33 2 33 23 43 7 6 5 63 53 43 4 53 5 5 4 53 63 63 73 For some months, annually, after harvest, including the fall and forepart o f the winter, the bank notes o f the commercial and manufacturing States are sent into the agricultural States to pay for agricultural products; and during that portion o f the year, the circulating money o f the agricultural States is greater than is indicated in the above table; but the merchants soon collect the greater portion o f it and send it to the commercial cities to pay for g o o d s; so that during half or more o f the year, it is much less, and perhaps does not average more than above stated during the years re ferred to. The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. 279 Bank paper being a cheaper currency than coin, its natural tendency is to displace coin, and induce its exportation and consumption in the arts. The balance o f trade being generally in favor o f manufacturing and commercial, and against agricultural States, the tendencies o f trade are to drain the latter o f their coin, and to transfer it to the former. The products o f manufactu ring labor, when sold in the markets o f the commercial world, amount to about twice as much as those o f agricultural labor employed in either cold or temperate climates; but not so when the latter is employed in the culture o f cotton, sugar, coffee, and other tropical products, in a soil and climate adapted to them. Labor employed in mining and manufacturing in Great Britain, or in the United States, is more than twice as productive as agri cultural labor can be made in Ohio and the North-western States. In fact, the 'average income o f the people o f the manufacturing States of Massachu setts and Rhode Island, and o f Great Britain, is more than twice as great as that o f the agricultural State o f Ohio, and nearly twice as great as that o f the agricultural State of Vermont. A majority o f mankind are inclined to spend all they can earn, and all they can get credit for, and as the wants o f agricultural communities are generally greater than their incomes, they often buy more than they can pay for with their crops within the year; and hence agricultural countries are usually involved in d eb t; the balance o f trade is almost universally against th em ; and this drains them o f their precious metals, and tends to depress their industry and the price o f their products still more. Poverty, and noth ing but poverty, a want o f ability to pay promptly, and a loss or diminution o f credit, tends to check importations, and to restore the balance o f trade, by lessening the demand for, and the price o f goods, and the inducement to im port them. A s long as the balance o f trade is against a country, it must either ex port its specie to pay such balance, or buy on credit, accumulate a debt, and eventually be drained o f its specie to pay interest, as well as the principal o f the debt. Bank-notes may, for a time, supply the place o f coin, and thus afford a temporary rem edy; but in the end, they aggravate the evil. By inflating the currency in some instances, and in others keeping it full, they keep up, and often raise the price o f both domestic and foreign products, and thereby tend to prevent the exportation o f domestic products; to encourage importations; to increase both the quantity and value o f goods imported, and exports o f specie to pay for th em ; and to diminish the industry of the country by depriving its own citizens o f the benefit o f its markets for their products. The necessary consequence is, a run upon the banks for coin, a great diminution in their circulation, many failures o f banks, and numerous bankruptcies among the people, attended with a depression o f property and industry, and wide-spread embarrassment throughout the country. Such a revulsion necessarily checks importations for a time, and as exportation goes on as usual, the balance o f trade is eventually turned in its favor; specie again flows in, and the country partially recovers from its embarrassments. Any measures which tend to increase the productive industry o f a country, by securing its markets to its own laborers and producers, tends also to in crease its wealth and domestic com m erce; to lessen its imports of such arti cles as are, or may be produced at home ; to turn the balance o f trade in its favor; and to attract to it, and retain, a large amount o f the precious met als as a necessary means o f carrying on its domestic commerce. Hence every country, taking a long series o f years together, attracts and retains an 280 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. amount o f the precious metals, and maintains an amount o f money in circu lation, just in proportion to its condition, and the value of its productive in dustry and commerce ; and hence you can readily deduce the amount o f its productive industry and commerce from the average amount o f its circulating m on ey : and vice versa. Compare the average circulation o f Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, from 1836 to 1850, with that o f Ohio, and the other North-western States, or even with that of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the reader will have a complete illustration o f this truth. This is the principle upon which Gregory King in 1696, and Humboldt in in 1804, estimated the amount o f money in circulation in each o f the countries o f Europe; and this is the principle upon which many of the esti mates in the following table, and in table number IV . of this section, are formed. As nations are now accustomed to beep records o f their foreign commerce, and as the record evidence o f the circulation of paper-money in the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland, is nearly perfect, these records furnish data for an estimate approximating to accuracy, o f the amount o f circulating money in every country o f Europe, such as was not possessed by Humboldt when he wrote, nor by any author before his time. N O . IV . ESTIMATES FOUNDED PARTLY ON OFFICIAL ESTIMATES AND RECORDS OF THE POPULATION AND CIRCULATING MONEY, INCLUDING COIN AND BANK-NOTES, IN EACH COUNTRY OF EUROPE AND 1840. CircuAmount to each lating money. person. $ 19 2 m illions. $ 10 4 44 H 8 272 “ 9 6 7 .5 “ 5 79 1 2 3 .5 “ H 4 60 75 5 65 “ 44 24 “ 4 24 2 2 .5 “ AMERICA, AND THE AMOUNT TO EACH PERSON AT THE END OF THE YEAR Great Britain........................................ Ireland.................................................. France................................................... Holland and Belgium......................... Spain and Portugal............................. Italy, (including Lombardy).............. German Austria................................... German States.................................... Prussia................................................. Denmark, Sweden, and N orw ay.. . . Turkey.................................................. Russia Hungary, and other eastern nations of Europe........................... Total of E u rop e..................... United States...................................... West India Islands.............................. British North American provinces... Brazil..................................................... Mexico, and all Spanish American nations................................................ Total o f Europe and America Population. 1 8 .2 millions. (( 8 .2 « 34 (« 1 .5 ft 1 5 .8 it 2 2 .5 “ 15 It 15 it 1 4 .5 “ 6 it 9 6 9 .3 “ 243 “ 2 3 5 .0 1 7 .3 3 .0 1 .6 6 .4 ft « « « «( 1 ,2 6 7 .5 138 30 8 38 “ 1 6 .9 •« 6 8 .5 280 tl 1,540 “ 34 8 10 5 6 “ 34 “ 54 NO. V. STATEMENT OF THE RESULT OF THE FOREGOING FACTS AND ESTIMATE OF THE AMOUNT OF COIN AND PAPER-MONEY IN CIRCULATION IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, AND THE AVERAGE AMOUNT TO EACH PERSON AT DIFFERENT PERIODS FROM A. D. Years. 1 5 0 0 ................... 1 6 0 0 ................... ____ 1 7 0 0 .. ............ 1 8 0 0 ................... 1 8 1 0 ................... 1 8 3 0 ................... 1 8 4 0 ................... Coin. 369 1 500 TO 1840. Paper-money. “ $5 m illions. tl 220 it 395 it 336 u 340 Total. $ 256 m illions. tt 369 a 695 “ 1,439 “ 1,730 it 1,522 1,540 “ Amount to each person. $ 1 .5 0 3 .0 0 4 .5 0 7 .0 0 7 .9 5 5 .8 5 5 .5 0 The Precious Metals, Coins, and BanJc Notes. 281 As there was a vast amount o f paper-money in circulation from 1805 to 1815 in several countries of continental Europe, as well as in Great Britain and the United States, which was really depreciated from 10 to 50 per cent below specie, and yet passed nominally at par in the purchase o f merchandise and other property, we may treat the circulation o f paper-money in 1810 sis equal, in the common transactions o f trade, to $450,000,000, and the whole circulation as equal, nominally, to $8 to each person. Here we can see a good cause for a great decline o f the prices o f manufactured goods since 1810, independent of the less amount o f labor required to produce them. The largest amount of money, including bank-notes and coin, in propor tion to the population, which ever existed in the civilized world, or probably ever will exist, was during the existence of the bloated paper currency in Great Britain, Russia, and Austria, from 1805 to 1815 ; when half o f Europe seemed deluded with the idea that mere promises to pay were as good as payment itself; and they sought to aid themselves with their miserable paper currency to conquer Napoleon. The paper, however, rapidly depre ciated from 10 to 80 per cent, in proportion to the excess put in circulation beyond the commercial wants of those countries respectively, and their abili ty to redeem it in coin ; and their golden and delusive dreams were soon dissipated. Nothing less than the frosts of a Russian winter gave the first check to the increasing and colossal power o f Napoleon. The invention o f paper-money seems to have been made by the English, the latter part o f the seventeenth century, and first carried into effect by means o f the Bank o f England. It gained but little credit for many years ; but such has been the mistaken confidence and delusion o f the public in many countries on this subject, at several periods, that it has served to stim ulate a wild spirit o f gambling speculation, and has probably done more to foster reckless extravagance, fraud, and knavery, and to promote dishonesty and corruption in busines, during the past century, than all other causes combined. Nearly $2,000,000,000 must have been lost by the holders o f paper-money during the last century and a half. The great Real Estate Bank was got up at Paris by John Law, in 1719, usually known as the Mississippi schem e; the stock of which was puffed into consequence, and rose several hundred per cent in its exchangeable val ue ; all Paris, and a large portion o f the capitalists and business men o f France became excited on the subject, speculated largely in its stock, and fancied that they had made themselves r ich ; but in a few months the bub ble burst, the bank exploded, and the circulation o f the notes o f the bank, (which was extensive,) as well as its stock, became worthless, and embarrass ment, ruin, and bankruptcy, was suddenly spread, and extended throughout the nation. This disastrous experiment entirely cured the French people o f their mania for pa_per-money, and they confined themselves to a specie cur rency for more than two-thirds o f a century; until the madness o f the dem ocratic party, during the French revolution, the latter part o f the eighteenth century, induced the government to issue many millions o f paper-money, called assignats, which were payable in the confiscated lands o f the clergy and nobles. This experiment failed also, and was very disastrous in its con sequences, though not equally so as the great Mississippi scheme of Law. During the American revolution, our forefathers resorted to the expedient, which had become very prevalent in Europe, o f issuing government notes, called continental money, to aid them in their emergency. From 1776 to 1781, $359,547,027 were issued by order o f the American Congress, and it 282 The Precious Metals, Coins, and Bank Notes. depreciated so rapidly that in 1Y80 it was not worth more than two and a half cents on the dollar, and in 1782 less than one cent on the dollar. The result was most distressing to the army, and very disastrous and ruinous to a large portion o f the whole nation. It was funded in 1790 at only one cent on the dollar. As heretofore shown in table number II. o f section 6, the paper-money of Russia, Austria, and Portugal, as well as that of England, France, and the United States, has been greatly depreciated, and great losses have conse quently been sustained by the holders of it in each and all of those countries. It is stated in Brande’s Encyclopedia that no fewer than two hundred and forty of the country banks failed in England and W ales during the years 1814, 1815, and 1816, occasioning nearly as much distress, loss, bankruptcy, and suffering, as the great Mississippi scheme o f France in 1719. During the years 1816 and 1817 a great number o f banks failed in the United States; many failed in 1825 also; and the failures in the United States during the revulsion from 1837 to 1842 amounted to over one hun dred and sixty, with a nominal and pretended capital o f over $132,000,000, and a circulation of over $43,000,000. A paper currency, which the maker is not able and legally bound to re deem in coin at the will o f the holder, whether issued by the government, by incorporated or joint stock banks, or by individual bankers, is one o f the greatest evils which can afflict any country. But notwithstanding the nu merous frauds, losses, and evils, resulting from paper-money, the conve niences and advantages arising from well managed banks are very grea t; and banking is so interwoven with our system o f doing business, that it is difficult, and perhaps not advisable to attempt to dispense with bank-notes, as a part o f the circulating medium o f the country. Something, however, should be done to secure the public, and to prevent, as well as to punish fraud. The individual liability o f bankers, without more speedy and effi cient remedies to enforce such liabilities than the common law affords, and different judges from some we have in the United States, proves to be almost worthless. I entertain no doubt, however, that remedies may be devised which would make the individual liability o f bankers available to promote the security o f the public. The public mind seems to be tending towards the following points, as ne cessary safeguards in our system of banking:— First, that government stocks in good credit should be deposited with some government officer, in pledge to redeem their outstanding notes; secondly, that such officer should keep the bank-plates, have all the notes struck off, countersigned and registered in his office, and delivered to the bankers, and that uniformity, as far as practicable, should be preserved in the plates o f all the notes o f the same denomination in the State; thirdly, that every bank should keep on hand in specie, and in specie funds subject to draft at sight, an amount equal to from 30 to 50 per cent o f all their liabilities to the public, to enable them to pay their debts in coin, or its equivalent, whenever called o n ; fourthly, that none but those who have capital to lend, and do not wish to borrow money, should become bankers, and to secure this object, that no bank should be allowed to make loans to its directors, officers, or stockholders, either directly or in directly ; fifthly, that the directors and other managing officers should be personally liable for all the debts o f the institution, and that the private prop erty o f the stockholders should also be holden to an amount equal to their stock; sixthly, that the power to alter and amend the charter, in order to The Precious M etals, Coins, and Bank Notes. 283 correct abuses, should be reserved; and seventhly, that all violations o f law by the stockholders, as well as the officers, should be declared and punished as crim es; and that neither the bank, nor any stockholder, director, or other officer thereof, should be allowed to set up any violation o f law as a defense to a suit on any contract o f such bank, bank-officer, or stockholder. The first point stated is substantially the basis on which the Bank o f Eng land (the first bank which ever issued notes) has always done business, and the same principle o f banking is now in operation in the States o f New York and Ohio. The second point is important to secure the stockholders of banks, as well as the public, against fraudulent and excessive issues; and also to guard against counterfeits. This provision also is in operation in New York and Ohio, under their general banking laws. The third point seems abso lutely necessary to secure at all times the redemption o f bank-notes in gold and silver; and notwithstanding the opposition o f bankers, it appears to be increasing in importance in the public mind. A s to the fourth point, the case o f the late United States Bank o f Pennsylvania, as well as of numerous others, has created a very general impression in this country, that the pay ment o f the capital stock o f a bank in coin, to any amount whatever, affords but little security to the public, if the directors and officers o f the bank can take it half or all out again, in the shape o f loans to themselves; that when the directors, managing stockholders, and officers, have thus loaned to them selves perhaps two or three times as much as the amount o f their stock, it is often for their interest to have the bank fail, and its notes depreciated, to enable them to buy them up at half price, or less, and apply them in pay ment o f their own obligations; their indirect gains by such failure being much greater than the loss o f their stock. To allow speculators, as well as business men who want money, to manufacture paper-money at pleasure, and loan it to themselves, presents too many, and too great temptations for over-issues, and improper loans, to be consistent with a sound currency, and the security and safety o f the public. The fifth and seventh are also im portant, to deter selfish and cunning men from attempting to make bankpaper an instrument to defraud the pu blic; and also to prevent them from setting.up their own violations o f law, to defeat the honest claims o f their innocent, confiding, and deluded creditors. But what appears to me equally as important, and perhaps more so, than any o f the points above named, is a radical change in the mode o f electing director's, so as to give all the stock holders a fair voice in the election o f directors, and the management o f the bank, and not allow a few, who own a majority o f the stock, to combine to gether and control the whole, for their own private advantage, regardless o f the safety o f the public, and o f the rights o f the other stockholders.* It is very difficult to sustain banks in agricultural States, against which there is a constant balance o f trade; but very easy to sustain them, with ordi nary prudence and good management, in manufacturing States, in whose favor there are generally heavy debts, as well as balance o f trade. Hence the necessity o f greater checks, and greater prudence in the former than in the latter. * See chapter V. section 9, where this subject of elections is discussed. 284 A dm iralty Law— Its H istory, &c. Art. III.— ADMIRALTY LAW — ITS HISTORY, &c. T h e admiralty law o f the United States, in its theory and practice, has re ceived less attention, considering the intimate relation it bears to the com mercial interest, than any other branch o f our jurisprudence. In New York, where a greater number of admiralty cases are tried than in any other A t lantic city, probably not over fifty of the sixteen hundred resident lawyers pretend to practice in the court having original cognizance of this class of cases— many o f these appearing there but seldom, while the greater portion o f the practice is confined to one-third o f that number. This is also true o f the profession in England. Chief Justice Abbott, in the preface to his valu able work on the law of merchant ships and seamen, mentions, with sur prise, the tact that no English lawyer, since the first publication of the work o f Molloy, which was a century and a half ago, had written on the subject treated in his book. Mr. Benedict, in his treatise on the American admir alty, observes that “ with the exception o f a few lawyers in our large com mercial cities, the whole bar make no secret o f their ignorance o f this branch o f legal learning.” W hile these remarks are true of the legal profession, they apply with force to that large class o f merchants engaged in foreign commerce whose transactions and property are the peculiar objects of admiralty jurisdiction, and who, it would seem, should be induced, from motives of pride as well as interest, to acquire a knowledge o f the history and peculiarities o f that system o f regulations which is the especial guardian of their rights— a sys tem which refers to the necessities and the very discovery o f navigation for its origin, and which, as Sir W illiam Blackstone wrote of the darling o f his affections, the common law, “ is built upon the soundest foundations, and ap proved by the experience o f ages.” Since the publication o f Justice Abbott’s work, however, the bar and bench in England and in this country have taken the subject more seriously in hand, and on both sides o f the Atlantic books o f much merit have appeared, discussing the law, the jurisdiction, and the practice o f admiralty courts. Notwithstanding this, the student continued to encounter obstacles in the pursuit o f this department of law which obstructed his progress in no other. In acquiring a knowledge o f its widely scattered principles he was left to voluminous commentaries oh general law, and to translate the earlier trea tises from foreign languages. In addition to this, and owing to causes which we shall have occasion to notice, the jurisdiction and practice o f the admi ralty courts presented questions o f much controversy and doubt in the Uni ted States and in England. A volume* _has recently appeared calculated to obviate many o f these difficulties, and to call more general attention to a much-neglected but deeplyinteresting study. Its author is a member o f the New York Bar, at which he has practiced for many years, devoting himself particularly to those branches o f commercial law embraced within the jurisdiction o f the Federal courts. In this, essential service has been rendered to the student and prac titioner, as well as to admiralty law and general truth. W e propose offering some reflections upon the leading points o f the vol * The Am erican Admiralty—Its Jurisdiction and Practice, with Practical Form s and Directions. By E r a s t u s C. B e n e d i c t . N ew Y o r k : Banks, G ould & Co. , Adm iralty Law— Its H istory &c. 285 ume alluded to, -with such considerations o f a practical nature as may be suggested by them- and the subject generally, and in such a manner as to give them interest with the general reader. It is needless to dwell upon the importance which the sea, the lakes, and other water communications have sustained as instrumentalities in the growth o f nations. In order to render the water which covers so large a portion of the globe available, energies which otherwise could have no field for their exercise were brought into requisition, and a new species o f property was created, which had but little connection with the land. A ship, plowing the trackless ocean laden with the products o f different climes, is the emblem of that new interest, which, directing itself at first to conquest and afterward to peaceful discovery and commerce, has come at last to embrace all others in its comprehensive designs. As an incident to this new employment o f nations there arose customs and regulations peculiar to the sea— to the property, the rights and duties o f persons employed in navigation: these differed as widely from those found necessary in controlling other interests as the ocean differed from the land. The sea, freely embracing all countries alike, and affording equal advantages to all, impressed a peculiar character upon the transactions and the property connected with, and the being devoted to, its service. These usages affect the mutual relations o f the vessels o f different nations meeting upon the highway o f the world, and determine the rights and liabilities of those who build, own, or navigate ships, and o f those who sail in them or use them for any o f their manifold purposes. The maxims o f reason or policy which at first grew out of, and afterward, in the progress of organized society, came to control the ordinary industrial pursuits on land, resulted from the peculiar character and condition o f each people. Each State required municipal establishments adapted to foster and control its own local interests; while all nations have found the same or a similar system of regulations necessary for their mutual protection, in treat ing and trading with each other. Many o f the customs, upon which these regulations rest, are as old as commerce itself, having accompanied naviga tion throughout its history— conforming to its character, and regulating its course. Wherever navigation exists, these are known, forming a part of the jurisprudence, extending over every sea, and requiring the application o f such comprehensive principles o f justice and equity as are suggested by the com mon necessities, and tend to the common benefit o f all nations. In their idea and scope, therefore, they are everywhere the same. Originating in the voluntary compacts entered into by merchants, and grounded in the law o f nature and o f nations, they are universally received as representing, in the most perfect manner, the peculiar interests connected with the employment o f ships, and as embracing the general commerce o f the world within the compass o f their comprehensive jurisdiction. These usages, many o f which relate back to the ancient regulations of Rhodes, and o f the ancient mari time nations o f Southern Europe, having been recognized as authoritative by the wise legislators o f succeeding times, and having received amendments and alterations as the interests o f navigation multiplied, finally resulted in a distinct code, known as that o f the sea. This body o f laws, deriving its most ancient ordinances from the celebra ted Rhodian code, enacted nearly a thousand years before Christ, and the remainder from the enlightened policy o f the sovereigns o f ancient and mo dern Europe, who have been ambitious to acquire the commercial or military 286 Adm iralty Law — Its History, dec. dominion of the sea, has come to be binding in all civilized countries, and to afford the ground for a peculiar jurisdiction. In order to form a distinct notion o f this peculiar system o f law which has thus grown up in the progress o f navigation, as well as of the structure •and utility of the tribunals to which it has given rise, it will be necessary to refer to the two great originals o f law, which, having their foundations in different interests, and proceeding upon different grounds, have extended themselves to all parts o f the civilized world, influencing each other, and ap pearing everywhere in one form or another, as parts o f the organization and protection o f society. They are what are termed the common and the civil law. These differ as much in their spirit and mode o f administration as do the distinct interests upon which they were founded. The former had its origin in the rough customs o f our Saxon progenitors, when passing from barbarism to a condition o f unnatural refinement, when agriculture was hon orable, and navigation and commerce were despised; the latter among the enlightened nations o f Southern Europe, under the enterprising spirit o f the Roman people, and at a much earlier period when conquest, discovery, and commerce were the chief concern. The one, in its idea, is the law o f real property, and prevails throughout the British Empire and the countries where the English language is spoken; the other, o f personal property, o f trade and navigation, which, upon the overthrow o f the Roman Empire, was re ceived by the Gothic invaders, and thus came to be the type o f the laws o f the kingdoms on the continent of Europe, and o f their American dependencies. The French, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies in America, and the States which grew out o f them, adopted the civil code, while those of England re tained the spirit and letter o f her favorite common law. The civil law con sisted, originally, o f the judicial decisions o f the Roman senate, praetors, emperors, and lawyers. These were made upon the broad basis o f natural justice, and to meet the circumstances o f each particular case. Questions, as they arose, were not disposed of by referring them to the artificial classifica tion o f some arbitrary statute, but by applying to them, in full view of their general relations, the sure tests o f right reason and enlightened conscience. They were made in the tribunals to which the Roman suitors went as to the confessional of their church; to which is to be attributed their acknowledged simplicity and pervading equity, as well as the fact that they survived the decay o f the empire, and have come down to us constituting the basis of much o f modern jurisprudence. In seeking an apology for the common law o f England it would be necessary to trace it to its source among the arbi trary establishments o f the Feudal barons. In this search, little would be found to convince the common sense o f mankind, at large, o f the wisdom o f its peculiar regulations affecting real estate, or o f the necessity o f that com plexity o f detail by which this law is throughout encumbered: artificial in its beginnings, through all its history it has exhibited a want o f the adapt ing power, simplicity and equity of the Roman code. The common law rests upon arbitrary enactments, while the civil law is founded in reason and necessity. Local expediency dictated the former— abstract right the latter. The one can only be studied in its history— the maxims o f the other appeal with equal distinctness to the understandings o f men in all ages. These two great originals, for the most part at war with each other, have passed to every country where law is known, each in its own way protect ing and controling industry; one owing its existence and extension no less to a certain adaptation to agriculture and the arts than to that veneration A dm iralty Law— Its H istory, 6cc. 28 1 for all that is peculiar to its history, characteristic o f a people “ whose morn ing drum-beat follows the sun in its course;” the other to the growth o f trade, commerce, and navigation, with which it is inseperably connected, and, in meeting the necessities of which, it has acquired practical simplicity and masculine energy. That system of regulations which claims, as its appropriate jurisdiction, control o f the transactions arising from navigation and commerce upon the high seas, and known as admiralty and maritime law, derives its idea and institution from the civil code. They are the same in their origin, spirit, and method o f administration. Although the power o f Rome upon the sea was military, rather than commercial, yet it was the commerce o f the opulent trading cities of the Mediterranean which supplied her with the means of carrying out her purposes of conquest. In the protracted wars waged for eleven hundred years by the Roman emperors against the power o f Carthage, the motive was to conquer and appropriate the rich fruits of Phoenician com merce ; it was the commercial, and not the physical world which Rome sought to overcome. Though affecting to despise traffic herself, her glory rested upon i t ; and her statesmen discovered, though too late for the pre servation o f the empire, that its spirit was one o f peace, and not o f war. W h ile despising it in its practice, no nation ever reaped so abundant a har vest from it, or brought a greater degree of wisdom to bear upon the devel opment o f its theory. A t the same time that her treasury was being filled with the confiscated wealth of other nations, her law-givers were enriching the imperial code with the maxims o f prudence and wisdom which had ele vated the flourishing cities against which her military power was directed to the pinacle o f prosperity. Her generals, like those o f Napoleon, were taught to consider the arts and sciences of the people they conquered not the least valuable trophies o f victory. In this manner the arts o f trade, architecture, ship-building, and navigation, which had already attained so high a degree o f perfection in the cities settled by Phoenician merchants, came to be known to the Roman people. Particularly was the Roman jurisprudence profited by the usages received from the Carthagenian and Rhodian ordinances affect ing navigation, many of which remain to this day unchanged, as the most unquestionably beneficial o f the rules forming our modern admiralty law. Azuni, in his history of the maritime law of Europe, says:— “ It is not with out reason that Floras calls the inhabitants o f Rhodes a nautical people, and that Eusebius terms them the masters o f the sea ; for the naval laws they promulgated are so full o f wisdom and equity, that they have served for the maritime law o f nations throughout the whole extent o f the Mediterranean. Rom e respected them, following a wise practice o f adopting whatever she found excellent among foreign nations.” Tyre, AEgina, Crete, Rhodes, Per sia, Greece, Macedonia, Egypt, and Carthage, all o f which in turn claimed the empire o f the sea, which they covered with their fleets, either transmit ted or yielded up to her something o f the spirit and practice o f maritime commerce. This spirit successively elevated them to their lofty position of refinement and power, while its abuse brought Rom e to her fall, and the practice, which was made up o f the rales and usages o f their merchants and mariners themselves, is not the least satisfying proof o f the commercial en terprise o f the renowned colonies o f Egyptian origin. The jurisprudence o f the Romans, thus embracing the customs and regu lations o f periods as truly commercial as any others in history, was the great fountain o f admiralty law for the nations that succeeded them ; for Pisa, Ye- 288 , Adm iralty Law— Its H issory &c. nice, and Genoa, the splendor of whose naval achievements lights up the gloom resting upon the middle ages. Upon the revival of learning, the invention o f the mariner’s compass, and the discovery of America, gave a new impulse to commercial pursuits, and created a demand for all the experience and wisdom o f the ancients, in order to establish upon a permanent basis the interests gaining strength under the inspiration of great discoveries. The nations on the continent, actuated most by the new spirit o f improvement, now turned to the Roman code with in creased veneration and respect. They discovered in it all those equitable maxims necessary for the protection o f industry. They considered it as the embodiment o f political sagacity; as the safe standard o f right reason; and in delineating the principles o f natural justice, as well as in inter preting their positive institutions, they resorted exclusively to the Pandects, the N ovel* o f Justinian, the Institutes, the Theodocian Code, and to the compilations o f the emperors succeeding Justinian, and which constituted the body o f the Roman law. This was particularly true o f the emperors o f Germany, whose highest pride was gratified in being recognized as the suc cessors to the Roman power in the W est— as the high-priests into whose hands had passed the ark o f Roman politics and law. The imperial code thus came, and has continued to be, the common law o f the continent o f Europe. Though at. the close o f the middle ages considerable attention in England was directed to the study o f the civil law, through the writings o f Fleta, Bracton, and Glanville, who entertained for it the most profound respect, yet the municipal law soon expelled it from the island, as a foreign system, incapable of being engrafted upon the local institutions. The universities o f Oxford and Cambridge, which had constituted the asylum o f the civil law in the island, and which were sustained by the choicest talent in the kingdom, had to surrender their influence to the inns o f court, and to the seminaries o f common law, to which they gave rise. To these antagonistic establish ments, and to the spirit of jealousy which they fostered throughout the em pire, is to be traced that long controversy, which, to this day, characterizes English jurisprudence, and that hurtful spirit of rivalry which has followed the history o f their civil and common law tribunals. Adm iralty law, deriving its origin, most o f its maxims, and all of its spirit and forms, from the Roman civil code, has followed, in all its progress, the fortunes o f the latter. On the continent of Europe, the exclusive authority o f the peculiar tribunals through which it was administered, over the transactions and property connected with the commerce o f the seas, has never been called in question; on the other hand, it has ever been considered a rightful and indispensible jurisdiction. In Great Britain, and, to some extent, in the United States, it has been left, like the un certain element upon which its authority terminates, to follow the re straints of a more popular establishment; in both, it has shared the vicissi tudes of the equity jurisdiction generally. In England, from the establish ment o f the admiral’s authority, in the beginning o f the fourteenth century, until the institution was nearly demolished by the attacks made upon it in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the changes to which it was sub jected were no less numerous and radical than those which during that peri od effected so great a revolution in the equity branch proper o f English juris prudence. As under the Roman emperors, centuries before, a distinction existed between law and equity, without any separate judicial organization, Adm iralty Law— Its H istory, &c. 289 so in England, previous to the reign of Edward I., authority upon the sea was distinguished from that on land, though there was no separate delega tion o f authority. A t the beginning o f this period, we find the chancellor in possession of supreme equity power, and the admiral, a Saracen term, signifying governor o f the sea, the great naval officer of the kingdom ; both were o f the greatest dignity, exercising despotic power in connection with the king. Between them was divided the equity power, the ju s prcetorium, or discretion o f the praetor, as distinguished from the leges, or standing laws o f the Romans. Notwithstanding the early settled prejudice o f the English against the en croachments of the civil law, from reasons of controlling necessity, they became subject, in a great degree, to the authority o f the jurisprudence they affected to despise. The chancellor and admiral, the one upon the land and the other on the ocean, made the civil law their model, and in their de terminations proceeded according to its method and spirit. As it was the office o f the chancellor to supply the deficiences and mitigate the severities o f positive law, so it was o f the admiral to superintend the naval establish ment by providing such regulations as would not follow in the rigid course o f the common law, and as were alone adapted to that establishment. By whatever names he was at first known, whether admiral, warden o f the sea, captain o f seamen, or any of the numerous titles given to him in different maritime countries, though it was his province to decide all questions aris ing in the employment o f ships, his command was strictly military. In theory, the sea coast was the boundary for the jurisdiction o f the courts o f common law, and the commencement o f that of the admiral; if a transac tion occurred without the body of a county, or in connection with a matter essentially maritime in its nature, it was cognizable in the court o f the ad miral, or, technically, in the admiralty ; if within the body o f a county, or in connection with “ land matters,” at common law. This distinction, which was established so early, and which has continued throughout the history o f English jurisprudence in connection with the question of the jurisdiction o f admiralty courts, is yet retained in the suggestion o f the pleadings used to allege that jurisdiction— “ within the ebb and flow o f the tide, and within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction o f this honorable court." It is in the highest degree interesting to follow out in English history, the successive modifications which resulted in the transfer o f the admiral’s au thority to regularly constituted judicial tribunals, in which that ancient un disputed governor o f the sea came to occupy the position o f a subordinate officer. In these changes we are led to the central idea o f progress and de velopment which has been the life o f English institutions. W e see civiliza tion overcoming the lust of a nation for military and naval conquest, and introducing a love for commerce and peaceful industry. In the establish ment o f the offices o f chancellor and admiral, we discover the avenues through which the civil law with its long established maxims o f justice and equity was introduced to the observance of a barbarous people. W e see the equity jurisdiction proper, following close upon the footsteps o f the common law tribunals, by degrees softening their asperities, until finally having at tained equal influence, it preserved its identity on the ground o f the policy, if not necessity, o f a distribution o f judicial la bor; influencing and beingitself affected, it imparted life to the determinations o f positive law, while it received, in turn, form and practical power. The irresponsible authority o f the admiral come thus to give place to the VOL. X X III.— no. h i. 19 290 Adm iralty Law— Its H istory, &c. admiralty court, a tribunal o f the greatest importance, sitting in judgment upon the vast interests connected with navigation. Though from the begin ning, the idea of this institution was obnoxious to the officers o f the muni cipal courts, it, nevertheless, acquired an expression, in one form or another, in every period of English law, as an independent feature o f the judicial es tablishment. This court, in its idea, in the ground of its determinations, in the measure o f its jurisdiction, and as to the objects upon which its authority terminates, is not, to the same extent as others, the slow growth o f time and circumstances. As a vessel, though modified in form, passes through the waves now in virtue of the same physical adaptation as it did centuries ago, so the peculiar authority o f which that vessel is a token, and which is now vest 'd in the admiralty courts, has its sanction in the same necessities which introduced the a ju s prcetorium," and the consul o f the Romans, and the creation of the offices o f admiral and chancellor in the infancy o f English law. W e find the admiral, in the sixteenth century, in possession o f an authority as broad as the ocean, and as peculiar as the interests that had grown up upon i t ; he defined all contracts, settled all controversies, and sat in ju dg ment upon all crimes connected with the commerce of the seas and the em ployment o f ships, as well in time o f peace as o f war. Though before this, and from the time o f Richard the Second, it had all along been an object of jealous scrutiny on the part o f the common lawyers and judges, it continued in possession o f its venerable jurisdiction, and in the exercise o f its peculiar authority, until, under Lord Coke, that jealousy succeeded, through the in fluence o f this great jurist, in depriving it o f many o f its distinguishing fea tures as an independent tribunal. Becoming subject to the prohibitions o f the courts of common law, its authority came to be as uncertain as their ca prices ; fettered by arbitrary restrictions, its utility was lost sight o f in the desire for power which actuated those courts in wresting from it much o f its freedom and energy. During this controversy the vice-admiralty courts were established in the American Colonies, where, o f course, they could expect no better fortune, while a part o f the English admiralty, and existing in connection with the ancient rival which carried to the New, all the prejudices it had matured in the Old W orld. It must be admitted, however, that the royal commissions through which they were constituted, involved a delegation of the powers most essential to them as admiralty courts ; and that, had the object o f these commissions been fully realized, the consistent advocates o f the admi ralty prerogative could have asked but little more. .Previous to the adoption o f the Constitution o f the United States, the commerce and the shipping interest had not attained that character, which, since that period, has attributed importance to all the subjects relating to the American admiralty. In the Constitution, the judicial power o f the United States was declared “ to extend to all cases o f admiralty and mari time jurisdiction.” The phraseology o f this grant, though it would seem to be sufficiently comprehensive and determinate, was made an occasion for a difference of judicial opinion which has continued to be greatly embarrass ing. Since the adoption o f the Constitution, the controversy in this country has terminated upon a construction of this provision bestowing admiralty powers upon the national judiciary. W h at is the limit o f the grant? W hat are “ all cases o f admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ?” These questions in volving the repose of the most important tribunals o f our country, have re Adm iralty Law— Its H istory, &c. 291 ceived different answers from the ablest jurists presiding in them, and are not yet settled, although a greater uniformity o f opinion prevails, than at any former pa-iod. On the one hand it is urged that “ all cases o f admi ralty and maritime jurisdiction-” include those, only, which the vice-admiralty courts o f the colonies claimed cognizance o f ; and on the other, that they embrace ai. that such courts of right ouyht to hold jurisdiction of. Those who have adopted the f irmer construction, are o f the class, who, adhering tenaciously to the course o f the common law, have come to view the admi ralty court as a fact o f the past— as a relict o f the barbarous institutions of the ancients; at best, assigning it a limited jurisdiction over a small class of unimportant cases, arising under the relations existing between the persons directly employed in the service of ships. These owe their prejudice to the jealousy so strong, and at the same time so unaccountable, on the part o f the Engli.-h courts o f common law, which was incorporated into the writings o f the judges who presided in chose tribunals, and which has been perpetua ted here, tor the most part, out o f veneration for those with whom it origin ated. Those who advocate the latter construction, claim to discover in the navigation of the seas die permanent grounds o f a peculiar jurisdiction, which has been known through all past time as admiralty and maritime ; and ihat this embraces every matter and thing directly or necessarily con nected with the employment o f ships as instruments o f commerce. They claim this to be the ancient and rightful measure of the admiralty preroga tive, and that the grant to the federal courts contemplated this, well under stood and long established at it was, rather than the narrow boundary within which the prejudices o f a powerful tribunal had temporarily confined it. Thus the uncertainty which attaches to the course o f admiralty law, under our government, is to be referred directly to that foreign controversy which, unfortunately, has followed our language, as an alloy in our generally rich inheritance o f settled principles. But while this cause has rendered the au thority of these tribunals fluctuating, there are others, o f a local character, originating in conditions peculiar to the United States, which have had their w eight; these are to be found in the peculiarities of our State and General governments, and in the circumstances o f the respective districts. State boundaries, as a general thing, standing as the limits o f the respective dis tricts, the several district courts are more or less influenced by the spirit and working of State governments and tribunals ; thus, the district court, for the northern district of New York, having no sea-coast proper, must necessarily possess a different spirit and practice from that of the southern district, which feels constantly the quickening impulse o f growing commerce, and which, since the establishment of our government, has been employed in ad ministering that law, an occasion for which, until recently, could have arisen uuder no other relations. The judges, too, appointed from States more or less favorable to the civil law, must enter upon the discharge o f their duties better prepared as to prejudice and discipline, than such as are selected from the ranks o f those whose sympathies run exclusively in the current o f the common law. Another ground for this uncertainty, important in itself, though growing out o f those already stated at length, exists in the want of convenient prac tical treatises in which the principles and practice o f the law are methodic ally arranged. Although as we have seen, a tribunal possessing admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, has existed as a function of the judicial establish ment o f every commercial nation, it has come down to us in want, not only 292 Adm iralty Law— Its H istary, &c. o f a conceded jurisdiction, but o f a uniform and settled practice. On the one hand, the measure of its authority, as to subject matter, is questioned; and on the other, its rules o f procedure continue, to a great extent, unwrit ten— existing for the most part in the mind o f the court and o f a few prac titioners. Thus it is, that while all nations, possessing maritime influence, have attained it through the protective policy o f admiralty law, with its ven erable and equitable provisions extending over the sea, the extent and meth od o f its application are discoverable only through a toilsome balancing o f conflicting judicial decisions which stand of record “ as the evidence o f things not seen.” W hile this may be regarded to a considerable extent a condi tion o f that system which depends upon equity with its adapting spirit, yet it would seem to be reasonable that the machinery through which the prin ciples o f admiralty law are applied, should involve the practical uniformity which characterizes the principles themselves. But this question remains— can the jurisdiction o f the American admiralty be freed from the vexatious controversy it has inherited from its English an cestor, and which has been revived here, where it requires all the freedom possessed before the encroachments of feudal institutions, in order to foster a commerce for which all former time furnishes no parallel ? Can the law overcome the prejudices by which it has been so long encumbered ? Can its jurisdiction be established on a firmer basis, and a more general interest be engaged on the part o f the profession, merchants, and the intelligent o f all classes, in extending a knowledge of, and respect for, this salutary system ? These questions are answered nowhere so fully as in the work to which we alluded at the commencement o f this article. Mr. Benedict approaches the subject o f jurisdiction as an American, and not as an Englishman ; and writes as though impressed more by the necessities and destiny o f the com merce o f his own country, than by a blind veneration for that peculiar English construction, for which another motive is to be assigned than one originating in settled conviction. His object is to determine what this should be through a diligent survey o f the history o f admiralty law, and an inquiry into the necessity and ground o f its establishment. Prophecying for the United States a future o f gigantic commercial achievement, and discov ering in the simple, speedy, and equitable action o f these courts, as they ori ginally existed, the surest pledge for the realization o f this prophecy, he claims for them their ancient measure o f jurisdiction, through a liberal con struction o f the constitutional grant o f authority. H e shows that the Con stitution could not have contemplated, in the phraseology o f that grant, the circumscribed limit o f the English admiralty, nor yet that larger measure al lowed to the vice-admiralty courts previous to the establishment o f the Federal governm ent; and while he would be satisfied with the extent o f the prerogatives prescribed in the commissions to the latter, he repudiates every standard, as such, save that recognized by the most commercial nations o f ancient and modern times, and suggested by the immemorial and manifest interpretation o f the phrase, '•'■admiralty and maritime.” In advocating what he terms the American view o f the question, he holds that the words admiralty and maritime, in the grant, “ relate simply to the subject matter, and were used in that general sense which embraces all those cases w-hich arise under the municipal maritime regulations o f each nation, and those which arise under the general maritime l a w a n d that by “ all cases affecting ambassadors and other public ministers and consuls,” and “ all , Adm iralty Law— Its H istory &c. 293 controversies between citizens o f different States, and all cases in law and equity, arising under the Constitution,” is meant to be involved a most comprehensive delegation o f jurisdiction to the Federal courts, the right view o f which should not be influenced by any foreign interpretation. It is made clear -that these courts should have cognizance, in their admi ralty and maritime capacity, of so much o f all this as relates to naviga tion and commerce, without reference to the question whether a tide, or fresh or salt water, exist ill connection with the matter in controversy. H e argues that the fact that a particular contract was consummated upon the high seas, or in the term used to charge jurisdiction, “ within the ebb and flow o f the tide,” can no more bestow that jurisdiction, when the contrac t does not relate to navigation and commerce, than the fact that another con tract, which does hold such a relation, can deprive it o f jurisdiction, though it may have been effected a thousand miles inland. In this view, our bays and harbors, our inland rivers and lakes, furnish as legitimate a field for admiralty jurisdiction as the open sea, with its tides and salt. The policy, no more than the right, to this extension, can be doubted. A quarter of a century ago, Judge Story, in view o f the rapid growth of the shipping interest on the western lakes, considered it a matter o f expediency, which would, sooner or later, force itself upon the consideration o f Congress. Since then, the commerce o f the western lakes has increased an hundred fold, and with this increase has come the necessity which the distinguished advo cate o f the admiralty prerogative in America, predicted. The tonnage o f the ports on the western lakes amounts to nearly a fourth o f the registered and enrolled tonnage o f the port o f New Y o r k ; an amount greater than that possessed by the greatest maritime nation o f antiquity. Shall this great interest, forming so important an element o f our national wealth, be deprived o f that equitable system o f regulations, which the com mercial experience o f all nations has proved to be so salutary ? Shall the countless sails that whiten our inland lakes and rivers, be separated from the fostering care o f their appropriate legal protection, only because the waters lack the brine and the tides o f the sea ? Let no mistaken policy, or ground less prejudice, in answering these, impair the prospects o f the mighty West. There would be no danger, if merchants and the profession would examine the subject in its bearings, and in the spirit o f candor, and with the industry o f the author o f the work under consideration. W ith him they would look on a ship, on whatsoever waters she may float, as the great agent o f com merce, and as the point o f departure for the jurisdiction o f admiralty la w ; and they would comprehend the policy o f allowing the constitutional pro vision o f which we have spoken, to attach to that jurisdiction every matter and thing necessarily connected with the vessel, under the idea o f naviga tion and commerce ; including the building, outfitting, furnishing, naviga ting, and repairing o f ships; the acquiring o f property in them ; the convey ance o f passengers; the carriage o f g ood s; together with an almost infinite variety o f others growing out o f the manifold relations connected by mari time principles with a vessel, and which, though often times discoverable only upon a discriminating application o f these principles as the “ animate or inanimate” agents of commerce, are yet found to be the proper objects o f admiralty jurisdiction alone. The vessel herself becomes the standard to which all questions are to be referred. If the jurisdiction o f the American admiralty shall ultimately find per manent repose upon this basis, with the intelligent sympathies of merchants 294 Adm iralty Law— Its H istory, <&c. o f the profession in its favor, incalculable benefit will result to the nation. W h o can calculate the value o f our commerce ? W e owe no more to com merce than commerce owes to the fostermg care o f admiralty law. France owes everything to her commerce, and her commerce everything to the maritime ordinances o f Louis X IV . A ship has always been considered an object of the most enlightened curi osity ; and when considered in connection with the disastrous capabilities of winds and waves, which constitute alternately its dependence and peril, it be comes one of indescribable interest. W hen we look at her as a mechanism, the result o f the united science and skill o f three thousand years expended upon her under the munificent patronage of kings, we must discover in the wonderful combination o f all her elements a degree o f perfection which has not been realized in any other human contrivance, and constituting her the crowning triumph o f art. Or if we see her in her character as an engine o f war, with her hundred guns, and manned by a thousand warriors, she is the embodyment o f the grand and terrible. But it is in her history, and in the character and extent of her influence as the peaceable agent and instrument o f commerce, busy, for centuries past, in vast enterprises o f discovery and national aggrandizement; in disseminating culture, population, and the pro ducts o f industry, that a ship can be made the object of the most profitable reflections. W hether considered as beariug the timid mariner o f Rhodes along the shores o f his little island; or the Roman general in his bolder pur suit of conquest; or the Genoese navigator in his fearful enterprise o f dis covery ; or those companies o f merchants in general that have carried com merce over every sea; and that one, in particular, “ which, commencing with a factory on the shores o f India, has overthrown kingdoms, and upon their ruins cemented a splendid e m p i r e a n d when, at the same time, it is borne in mind that art, culture, and religion, have gone hand in hand with commerce, each fortified by and fortifying the other, we cannot fail to recog nize in a ship the idea which unites all ages and countries in the sam i ex pression o f progress. It was the boast of the Athenians, and the glory o f their greatest statesman, that he caused twenty new ships to be built, each year ! During the last year, three times this number o f vessels, with an ag gregate tonnage at least two hundred times greater, were launched in the port o f New York alone; and in the United States, over seventy times the number, with an aggregate tonnage one thousand times greater 1 W h o, then, will fix a limit to the growth of this interest for the future ? W ith the grandest commercial revolutions passing in review, and with still greater in prospect; with a sea-coast o f thirty-three thousand miles, encircling vast un appropriated territories, yet to be planted and watered, and with a position midway between Europe and the rich commerce o f the Pacific, the future growth o f our shipping is manifestly beyond the power o f prophecy. In this connection, the maritime regulations, and the theory and practice o f the admiralty tribunals of the United States, became o f the first moment. The commerce o f the States must continue to depend upon these regula tions, protected and enforced through these tribunals, founded, as the former should be, upon a basis of justice as peculiar and comprehensive as the ocean, and made up o f the long established maxims of equity and policy. If such regulations are to exist, it must be through the instrumentality o f thetribunals, in which, as well as in the necessities o f the interests they have fostered for so many centuries, the law found its first establishment. Let those, then, who have yielded to groundless prejudices, remember that they are A m eri Interest o f Money. 295 cans and not Englishmen, and that, as such, they have none of the motives which provoked the hostility of the English judges against the admiralty courts. Let them rather cherish the interpretation o f Justices Marshall and Washington, and of Judges Peters, Winchester, and Betts, essentially the same which is advocated in Mr. Benedict’s treatise. Let them take a view o f the question which is truly American, and say, with the greatest Ameri can jurist, Story “ W hether it is fit that the admiralty jurisdiction of the United States shall be a 'ministered upon its just and original principles, or whether it shall be bound down and crippled by the arbitrary limitations o f the common lawyers, it is not for me to decide. I have no desire to extend its boundaries, oi by any attempt to amplify its justice, to encourage usur pation. But, believing, as I do, that it is a rightful jurisdiction, highly pro motive o f the best interests of commerce and navigation, and founded in the same enlightened wisdom which has sustained the equity jurisdiction through all the earlier as well as later perils, I cannot consent to bo made the instru ment o f surrendering its powers consistently with m y own conscientious dis charge of duty.” A r t . IV.— I N T E R E S T OF M O N E Y . NUM BER V . S t ran g e prejudices have existed, and now exist, concerning money. Tn the most cultivated states of ancient times, the industrious pursuit of wealth was considered degrading by philosophers. Plato represeuts gold and vir tue as invariably weights in opposite scales. Hence he excludes commerce from his perfect republic.* W ere I to see a man counting his money in supposed secrecy, a feeling o f contempt would very probably be excited in my mind. W h y should it be thus excited rather than when a man conducts me over his ample do main, and points out to me all the embellishments which his hand has Scat tered through it, plainly cherishing pride in his possessions, and showing a disposition respecting them closely akin to idolatry ? W h y is it that the monied man, so called, is always viewed by the general eye with less kind ness than the owner of a vast landed estate ? Questions relative to this dis tinction, in popular estimation, between money and other property, might be almost indefinitely multiplied, and they will appear, to one of thoughtful character, very difficult o f solution. A broad distinction, however, actually exists. My readers may decide for themselves, without my help, as to its grounds. Special odium has been, and is still, attached to loans o f money on in terest. The Hebrew word for interest is derived from another, signifying to bite, to $ting.\ In Europe, in the middle ages, and in early modern times, * Aristotle also considered com m erce an evil. Even M ontesquieu has a chapter in his Spirit o f Laws entitled, “ T o what Nations Com m erce is Hurtful.” (L . 20, c. 21.) Raynal objected to com m erce, that it produced nothing. Rausseau maintained the hurifulness o f the right o f property. And even this has been surpassed by Proudhon, w ho asserts that all property is robbery. “ L e Propriete c ’est le vol.” + A s the interest o f money in R om e was usually paid on the Kalends, these are termed b y Horace tristes, sad, (Sat. 1. 387,) and b y O vid celeres, swift, (R em ed. Am or, 561.) A n old English writer. D ecker, in his “ English Villanies,” speaks o f w the cold day o f repayment.” 296 Interest o f Money. to take any interest was infamous, as well as illegal. One peculiar ground o f tlie detestation o f this practice in those days was, undoubtedly, that loans were then made almost exclusively to satisfy urgent w ant; not as frequent ly (perhaps most commonly) in our time, to be invested in profitable busi ness. This difference in the grounds o f demand for money, makes it prob able that in those days, extortion, real, manifest, unmitigated extortion, was much more prevalent, comparatively speaking, than in our own time. The Old Testament law respecting usury, was, as I have before stated, considered obligatory, in Christian times, and was interpreted as prohibiting any gain whatever from pecuniary loans. It was thought to give a religious sanction to the popular odium against those who had recourse to this method o f accumulating wealth. On what principles of logic such an application o f the Old Testament law proceeded, it is difficult to see. By that law the Jews were commanded not to take interest from each oth er; but they were allowed to take it from strangers, and to pay it to them. It is a singular fact that though the divine prohibition to the Jews has been so much relied on by the opponents o f freedom as to the loan o f money, the Jews have, in all ages, been the greatest usurers. W ere Christians to pursue a course pre cisely analogous to that prescribed by the Jewish law, they would only ab stain from taking interest of each other, without scrupling to receive or pay it in transactions with heretics, sceptics, or pagans. But there is no reason at all for supposing the Jewish regulation o f this subject binding upon us. Indeed, the circumstance that usury was prohibited only between Jew and Jew, and usually stated to be proper between Jew and foreigner, proves that it was not considered malum in se, an evil in itself; that the prohibition was a merely civil, not a moral one. Hence it would be as reasonable to con clude that it is an irreligious act to eat the flesh o f swine or hares, because these animals were forbidden food to the Jews, as to conclude from the Jew ish regulation referred to that it is sinful for modern nations to countenance loans at interest. It is worthy o f notice that the immorality o f usury, or interest, has always been regarded as pertaining to the lender alone; yet, in truth, were it im moral to lend, it would also be immoral to borrow on interest. W ere there any crime in the case, the lender and the borrower would be alike parties to it. It being clear that the objection to interest derived from the interdiction o f it by the Jewish law, is not tenable, I proceed to maintain that other grounds o f objection, which are often assumed, are equally wanting in val idity. Aristotle, as was stated in the first article o f this series, thought it a good argument against interest, that money was in itself barren, had no selfproductive capacity. Such an argument, however, is most absurd. D id houses ever evince this fecundity, so essential to value in Aristotle?s estima tion ? A n d yet who objects to the payment o f rent for their use 'i The rea son why no one does so is, that the use o f a house is valuable, although it has no such self-multiplying power. This power, in fact, belongs only to animals, and the fruits o f the earth, and to those only in a particular condi tion. Everything but these, and these in that particular condition, would be valueless, on the principle o f Aristotle; for, if their use is valueless, they themselves must be so, it being the real or supposed benefit o f using them which gives them all the value they possess. Use is all that anything is good fo r ; and to rob me permanently o f the use o f a thing, is to rob me o f the thing itself. It is an invariable principle, that if a thing is valuable, its Interest o f M oney. 29T use is valuable; if its use is worth nothing, it is itself worth nothing. A c cording to Aristotle’s objection, then, in the first place, all unorganized mat ter, not only gold and silver, but iron, lead, and other metals, precious stones o f every description, marble, granite, coal, &c., &c., are totally without val ue ; f o r they are barren. Again, vegetable substances o f all kinds are worth nothing, if they have lost the vital principle on which their prolific character depends. Mahogany, rosewood, ebony, and all other woods, after they are felled, cotton, hemp, &c., in bales, flour, meal, &c., are worth nothing for any purpose; f o r they are barren. Houses, ships, railroads, telegraphs, bridges, canals, are worth nothing; f o r they are barren. Watches are worth nothing; mechanical instruments are worth nothing; furniture is worth nothing; manufactures o f every description are worth nothing; oxen are worth nothing; they are all barren. W hat a principle this for a famous philosopher ! It will be said, perhaps, that there is one characteristic by which money is distinguished from commodities generally, nam ely; that it may be used without depreciating in value; and thus there is not so much reason why recompense should be demanded for its use as in the case o f other articles. This is true; but the remarks which have just been made respecting Aris totle’s reasoning are not thereby invalidated; for, in the passage referred to, he rests his reprobation o f interest barely on the fact that money is barren, and not at all on the circumstance that its value is not destroyed by use. I admit the importance o f this circumstance in fixing the amount o f recom pense to be received for the loan of anything; but I deny that the use o f an article can be considered o f no value, and not requiring any recompense, merely because that article is just as valuable when returned as when bor rowed. I f a thing have exchangeable value, the use o f it must likewise have exchangeable value, whether it be injured by use or not. W ere a man to hire a horse for six months, employ him constantly during that period, and at the end o f it refuse to pay the owner anything, on the ground that the horse was in as good condition as when he took him, every one would re gard his refusal as unreasonable. So, too, it is no good reason why he who hires a farm should not pay rent for it, that he returns it into the hands o f its owner in no worse condition than that in which he received it. The oc cupant has had opportunity to derive from the farm a certain amount o f val ue, and it is therefore reasonable that he who afforded him the opportunity, should be remunerated for relinquishing it himself. W h at would be thought o f a man who refused to pay wages to those whom he employed as laborers, alleging that they were just as vigorous when they had finished their work as when they began ? W ou ld it not be said, “ W h at you assert is true, perhaps, but these men might have worked for their own benefit instead o f yours, and therefore it is reasonable that the sacrifice they have made should be recompensed.” Just so it is in the case o f money. The man who lends it, parts, for a while, with the productive power or other value which it possesses, and is it not reasonable that he who has temporarily the benefit o f its value, should recompense the former for his loss ? I say its productive power, because it is certainly proper to speak o f the productive power o f anything by means o f which production is accomplished, even though it do not itself possess such fecundity as that which Aristotle considered essential to value in use. Nails are mostly manufactured by the agency o f certain machinery; and to speak o f the productive power o f that machinery is as proper, I sup pose, as to speak o f the productive power o f man’s labor, by which, chiefly, Interest o f Money. 298 nails wore once manufactured; or o f that o f kernels o f corn, from which other kernels are derived by a process o f vegetation. I have spoken of “ other value” of money besides its productive power, because it may be em ployed for oih a' purposes than production, and possesses a value tor those purposes. All its value, for any purpose, is, for a time, transferred to another by the l nder. Mon y will command every species o f productive agency. H e who pos sesses it, can, by a wise use of it, add to what he possesses. It is, as has been nlr-ady said, the use o f it which gives it all its value. If the ownership o f it, which is nothing but a right to the permanent disposal of it, be considered valuable, the temporary use o f it is of some value. Money will buy a farm or a house: what is the difference, then, between interest for the money, and rent for the farm or house ? Money represents capital: interest is the rent o f that capital. In some places money will buy a slave: what is the differ ence, then, in principle, between the interest o f money, and the wages of labor? In fine, it will buy anything capable o f transfer; for the use o f which hire is commonly demanded, and readily paid. W h at difference is there, then, betwen interest and any olhe.r species o f hire? There is, therefore, undeniable reasonableness in the demand o f recom pense for the use of money. Ulpian, the celebrated Roman jurist, was right in saving, “ The later the payment, the less a saying which contains, in a condensed form, all that can be said to show the reasonableness of interest on loans. The principle that “ time is money,” is applicable to this subject. To lend without interest is charity, not mere equity. It was enjoined upon the Jews by their law not to violate the principles of charity, in this respect, by anjT o f their dealings with each other. This injunction was extended to other matters than the loan of money. “ Usury o f victuals,” or of anything else, was as much prohibited as usury o f m on ey f The particular prohi bition, just mentioned, probably had reference to a practice which existed of lending a certain quantity of victuals, or other things, with a stipulation that a larger quantity should be returned at some future day. It was on the same principle that the beautiful precept was given to the Jews not to glean their sheaves, their grapes, or their olives, so thoroughly as to leave none be hind ; but to permit some o f them to remain for the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.}; As has been said, usury o f money was allowed between Jew and foreigner; but this was only when the stranger was able to pay it. It was expressly forbidden to take usury o f a poor man, even though he were a stranger.§ This prohibition stands in immediate connec tion with an injunction to bestow relief on any such poor man, clearly show ing that to dispense with usury was considered an act o f charity. W h at we have said indicates how irrational are the prejudices which ex ist against capitalists as a class. W ealth, honestly amassed, is the result of past industry and merit, either on the part o f the owner, or on the part of those from whom it is inherited. The employment of this wealth in the pro duction of new value is the most desirable disposal o f it'which could be made, with a view to the public welfare. This disposal of it is made by the capitalist. Instead o f squandering it unproductively in the gratification of his own private appetites and tastes, he either invests it himself in schemes o f enterprise, by which multitudes are supported, and not only his own, but* * Leg. 12, ff„ De verb signif. f Deut. 23 : 1 9 ; Levit. 25 : 37. x Levit. 19 : 1 0 ; Deut. 24 : 19-22 § Levit. 25 : 35,36, 37. Interest o f Money. 299 the general wealth is augmented, or, for a reasonable recompense, he trans fers the use o f it to others, who accomplish a like result. To such a man the public should be grateful, instead o f regarding him askance, as one de riving an unjust revenue, and therefore deserving popular odium. To abolish loans at interest would be to withdraw from productive em ployment all the capital which is owned by persons not disposed to employ it in business themselves. W h at a downfall of industry and prosperity would take place in every country, and especially in the countries of the Old W orld, were such a prohibition to be put into effectual operation from this time for ward. It is not without reason that Montesquieu ascribes the wretched con dition o f commerce during the middle ages to the prescription o f loans at at interest.* Blackstone says that “ unless money can be borrowed, trade cannot be carried on ; and if no premium were allowed for the hire o f money, few persons would care to lend it.” f A t least, it may be said with truth, that trade could by no means be prosecuted to such an extent as it is at present, were it impossible to borrow money. The exaction o f high rates o f interest through oppression or fraud o f any description, is equally censurable with extortion in other cases o f price. In this light, all prices stand upon the same ground. He who takes interest at a rate which, ev;ry circumstance considered, is exorbitant, must be pro nounced dishonest. As to compound interest, or interest not only on the principal, but also on the interest after it becomes due, I cannot but assent to Paley’s remark re specting i t :— “ Compound interest, though forbidden by the law o f England, is agreeable enough to natural equ ity; for, interest detained after it is due, becomes, to all intents and purposes, part o f the sum lent.J Cicero informs us that when he was pro-consul of Celicia, he issued an edict that compound interest should be allowed in case o f failure to discharge the interest when due.| Hitherto we have only considered the reasonableness o f interest in gene ral, without inquiring into the expediency or inexpediency o f regulating its rate. It follows, undeniably, from what has been said, that all laws prohib iting the reception o f any interest whatever are grossly impolitic and unjust. But besides those laws which pronounce all interest usury, in the odious sense commonly attached to the term, there have been, and are, other usury laws, which certainly wear a more plausible aspect, the object o f which is to confine the rate o f interest below a certain limit. Governments have thought it for the benefit o f society that some restriction should be put upon the sup posed tendency of interest, when left to itself, to rise to an exorbitant pitch, and absorb the wealth o f a community. N ow I maintain that the appre hension thus manifested is an idle o n e ; and that the attempt to fix a gene ral rate o f interest by legal enactment cannot be proved to have ever result ed in any o f the beneficial effects which it has been designed to secure; but that, on the contrary, it is, and must be, invariably characterized by folly, injustice, and manifold mischief. Such a position does, it is true, directly contravene the sentiments and practice o f nearly every civilized nation, not only in the olden time, but the present more enlightened period. The cir cumstance, however, is not o f very great consequence in the determination o f truth on this subject. The question is not always now-a-days, nor should * Esprit des Lois, L. 21, c. 16. f Comment, Book II., c. 30. t Paley's Moral Philos., B ook III., part 1, c. 10. | Epist. ad Attic., L . V ., Ep. 21. # 300 Interest o f Money. it ever have been, whether or no a statement contradicts preconceived no tions, and accordingly is, or is not, bold, but simply whether or no it be true. Boldness may be pronounced a principal part o f the moral costume in which the present age, particularly our own country, is clad. It is exhibited in truth and in falsehood, in virtue, and in vice.— in fine, in everything right, wrong, and indifferent. It is a characteristic which does houor to our age and our country; for it is the main spring o f improvement. Very many bold truths have been uttered among the nations, and have, in part, accom plished their mission. In small part, however; for the voice o f truth, once uttered, sounds on without intermission forever, and it can never be said that its work is fully accomplished. Many more bold truths are yet to be utter ed, and the minds o f men are, day by day, preparing to receive them, and adjust their action accordingly, not only as private individuals, but as mem bers of political Communities. Such is the nature o f truth, that, however still and small her voice at the outset, it accumulates vigor and volume in the lapse o f time. It has already become trumpet-toned in some portions o f the earth, and will ultimately pervade the universe with a sound like the roar o f ocean; a mighty anthem, the veritable music o f the spheres! The prejudices o f individuals, o f governments, o f nations— yea, o f the world, (for the whole world is undoubtedly imbued with some prejudices,) must yield before its influence. The errors which affect the civil policy o f even the most enlightened nations in our own day, are neither few nor trifling. In vestigation and argument, however, will disclose and annihilate them one after another; and the framework of civilized society will become more and more deserving o f a moderate measure of that panegyric which is not unfrequently lavished upon it already without stint, though, in truth, almost with out foundation. The laws which form the topic o f this article, are, in my opinion, far from being an index o f great intelligence on the part of those who enact them, or of those who assent to them. They are the offspring o f darkness, not o f light. Let us proceed to develop their real character with more particularity. It is plain that a law fixing the rate o f interest which shall be received is such a restraint upon the natural course o f things as can be justified only by the most cogent reasons. N ow it can be clearly proved, I think, that the reasons assigned want validity; that the special objects aimed at, are, in gen eral, undesirable; that such even as are desirable, are not to be attained by the method in question; and, in fine, that the operation o f the restraint is, in every point o f view, evil, only evil, and that continually. Since every species o f price (interest as well as the rest) depends upon three things, cost, demand, (considered in relation to the supply,) and se curity o f paym ent, each o f which must be indefinitely different at different times, and in different cases, the complex results from these three operating principles, must, o f course, be correspondency variable. It is admitted by everybody that it is in general best to leave price to find its own le v e l; but it has been thought that the species of price termed interest might properly constitute an exception to this freedom from restraint. For my own part, however, I am unable to see the least shadow of foundation for the exception. The more I consider the matter, the more clearly does it appear to me that the price paid for the use o f money stands, in the view we are now taking, upon precisely the same footing as any other species of price; that there would not be a whit more folly or mischief in a law fixing an invaria ble price upon flour, for instance, or any other article, than there is in a law % Interest o f Money. 301 determining the rate o f interest; nay, not so much, for this, among other reasons, that there is no one article o f food with which a man cannot dis pense, while to dispense with money is impossible, in civilized society. Money represents every other article* and it is, therefore, the most unfit o f all to be selected as the subject o f such restriction. W ith a view to sustain the exception we are considering, it is often said, that money is not merchandise. The assertion denotes either extreme stu pidity or extreme impudence. If merchandise be, as our dictionaries inform us, any article o f traffick, we may certainly venture to regard money as merchandise, at least while the traffick in it continues to enliven our marts as it does at present.* But we mean, it may perhaps be said, that money should not be merchandise. It would, in m y opinion, be as difficult to prove this as that it actually is not merchandise. But if we suppose it true, it would involve more than the assertion is meant to sustain, it would prove too much for its purpose. It would necessarily follow that money ought not to be bought, sold, or hired, on any term s; while usury-laws only aim at the limitation, not the abolition, o f interest. It would seem, however, that money should not by any means be merchandise, and yet that the use o f the money may be purchased if the price be reasonable! But if, say some, money be merchandise, it is unlike other kinds o f mer chandise. This remark is very common-place, and utterly futile. Money is, indeed, unlike other species o f merchandise, and so are all other species of merchandise unlike each other. Corn is unlike cloth, and iron is unlike cot ton. Before the dissimilarity mentioned can be properly alleged in favor o f usury-laws, it must be shown that money is unlike other merchandise in such particular respects as make it expedient to disturb the natural course o f traffick in it by means o f peculiar restrictions. This has never, to my knowledge, been shown. It is true, the great utility, the indispensableness of money is frequently dwelt upon as a point o f difference betw'een it and other articles o f merchandise, which makes it expedient to limit the price o f its use. But, as I have already intimated, the philosophy o f the matter, in view o f this circumstance, seems to me to tend in the opposite direction. Shall we say that the greater the utility o f money the less the value it should bear ? Besides, as will be shown more fully hereafter, legal limitation of the rate o f interest, so far as it is effectual, works injury to those who through sad experience feel the indispensableness o f money. It narrows their resour ces, by preventing them from borrowing o f those who are unwilling to lend at a rate o f interest so low as that established by law. I f money is then indispensable, should we not be careful to lay no obstacles in the way o f its being diffused as circumstances require ? It is often said, that the borrower o f money does not stand on an equal footin g with the lender; and that for this reason the law should interpose in favor o f the former. In reply, I remark first, that the relative condition which this argument supposes the borrower and lender to sustain is by no means universal. It is not unfrequently the case that the capitalist is at least as desirous to make loans as others to obtain th em ; and there is competition as to terms among dealers in money as well as among dealers in other arti cles. Perfect equality o f footing between the buyer and seller o f any article seldom, if ever, exists. The advantage, in this respect, is sometimes upon one side and sometimes upon the other ; more often perhaps upon the side o f the Compare Art. II. o f this series, in the N o. o f this Magazine for March, 1850, p. 276. 302 Interest o f Money. seller than upon that o f the buyer. Still, such is the present state o f affairs in civilized communities, in our own country especially, that tbe difference o f footing between the borrower and the lender o f money is much lers at all times than is often thought. W h en the rate of interest is very high, it is usually the case that the risk of lending is proportionally great. The footing o f the borrower is impaired by his unusual need of money, and the footing o f the lender by the peril of loans in such disastrous seasons. Further, if the cir cumstance that when money is scarce (to use a brief and current mode o f designating difficulty in the money market,) the borrower must endure harder terms than he would assent to in circumstances o f greater independence, jus tifies the limitation o f interest by law, then, on the same principle, the cir cumstance that when there is a scarcity o f any article he who wants it must give an unusual price for it, will justify the limitation o f all prices. There can be no escape from this inference. In truth, all that the law can do to promote equality o f footing between the buyer and seller o f any article is, to prevent either party from being fraudulently entrapped into a variation from the market value, whatever that may be. Usury-laws, instead of tending to equalize the footing of the borrower and the lender o f money, invariably do much to increase the existing inequality. This fact will be more fully de veloped in the sequel. Usury-laws are often pronounced necessary as checks to prodigality and speculation, and as safeguards against improper exaction from the necessitous or the unwary. I shall notice this particular allegation briefly here, as its futility will be clearly apparent, I hope, from the explanation to be given hereafter respecting the actual operation o f usury laws upon both borrower and lender. I remark here, however, in the first place, that whatever inci dental benefit of the kind denoted may be supposed to accrue to individual prodigals and speculators, or to persons in necessitous circumstances, no one can deny that it must constitute but a trifling portion o f the effect produced by these laws upon the whole body of dealers in money, and can do but lit tle to palliate their general evil influence, if, as I maintain, they do exert such an influence. Further, I ask m y readers to consider whether there is not plausible rea son, in this point of view, for determining the price o f all commodities as well as that o f money. Prodigality, speculation, extortion, surely may and do occur in relation to other commodities besides money 2 A nd why not fix all prices in order to prevent these evils entirely ? W h y not fix the price o f provisions, for instance, that men may not pay a high price for these, either from extravagance or simplicity, or for purposes o f speculation 2 The market-value o f provisions is perhaps less commonly and less easily known than the market rates o f interest, and it would therefore seem, in this view, more necessary to fix the former than the latter. Lastly, I deny that laws fixing the rate o f interest have any influence in suppressing the evils designated. On the contrary, while inefficient to occa sion good, they are also exceedingly efficient in occasioning the very inju ries to individuals which they are often supposed to obviate. The correct ness of this position will, I think, appear plain from what follows. The statements made in a former article of this series as to the true theory o f interest, show that it is in vain to determine its rate by law, unless the law can and does at the same time compel capitalists to lend at the legal rate. W hen the value o f money exceeds the legal estimate, men will not voluntarily part with it on legal terms, any more than the owners o f any other species o f property will accede to offers o f purchase at a price below Interest o f Money. 303 the market value o f the property. The causes which make mrmey worth more than the legal interest will, also, at least in general, make it worth the owner’s while to embark it in enterprises on his own account, rather than lend it without an adequate requital. There may be individual exceptions to this remark, but we are to reason from general principles, not from exceptions. Some few persons might, from their peculiar circumstances, be induced by an effectual legal limitation o f the rate o f interest to lend upon unfavorable terms, rather than employ their capital on their own account. This, however, would seldom be the case, for it is so easy to procure productive real estate, and to prosecute every species of business by silent partnership or other representative agency, that even though some should be unable or unwilling to devote personal attention to the particular management o f their capital, nearly all these very men would decline loans at a rate much below the rate of profit in business. Thus, when the value of money is inferior to the legal esti mate— that is, when there is comparatively little demand for it, there will probably be an abundance of it in the m arket; and when its value rises above the legal estimate, that is, when the demand for it is most urgent, the supply will be most rapidly diminishing. Can it be that enactments pro ductive o f results so evidently adverse to the first principles o f political economy are o f a salutary nature ? The natural and most desirable course o f things in regard to demand and supply is, as almost every tyro student o f economics is aware, that they should keep pace with each other ; and, on the contrary, the very worst course o f things, in this respect, is that the one should diminish precisely in. proportion to the increase o f the other. Y et such is the effect which usury laws tend to produce. The remarks just made proceed upon the supposition that the legal re striction of the rate of interest is scrupulously respected, and this not only in its letter, but in its intent. This, however, has never been the case. There never was a law devised to limit interest which proved effectual, even to any considerable degree, against transgression and evasion. The tide of o f business, unnaturally pent, will find or force a channel of egress. Laws against usury are flatly transgressed by knaves, and at least evaded by men who think themselves honest. No one possessed of much acquaintance with commercial affairs will deny this statement, although the downright trans gressions o f law, in this respect; and, moreover, the most glaring evasions are often sedulously concealed from the general eye. Notwithstanding this frequent effort for secrecy, enough transpires to justify the conclusion that the law does nothing to prevent what is called usury. It does, indeed, com pel men to resort to privacy and deceit in pecuniary transactions; but is this a result which should be earnestly desired ? It is ridiculous to infer, as has sometimes been inferred, from the mere fact that the number of openly usurious contracts is diminished by the operation o f law, that therefore, usury itself is on the whole diminished. W hile the law denounces usury, it o f necessity flees the lig h t; when no law exists against it, it is open. W e are specially required to look beyond the surface o f things when we wish to ascertain the efficiency exerted by laws o f this nature in accomplishing their object. W e must sometimes infer what is hidden from what appears, rea soning from the nature of men and things, and not trusting merely to the palpable evidence of our senses. Any man o f business will testily to the ingenuity, multiplicity, and universality of the modes by which laws against high interest are evaded with impunity ; to say nothing o f flat, though se 304 The Railways o f Massachusetts. cret violations o f them, which would he punished if disclosed. I would de scribe some o f these modes were they not so generally known. It appears, then, that usury laws would do harm, and harm only, did they compass the end immediately intended, viz : that o f preventing rates of interest from being settled according to the free consent o f parties. W ere these laws effectual, men could not help seeing the folly o f them, because they would see, if not experience, such suffering through their operation. It appears further, however, that the object intended is so far from being fully attained that it is almost entirely defeated. In m y next article, which will close this series, I propose to consider what is the actual operation o f usury laws under their various bearings, seeking to combine in one view their inherent mischief so far as they are effectual, and the influence o f their failure to secure observance. It may be made clear, I think, that these laws are just so far effectual as to occasion all the mischiefs o f restriction upon business, and at the same time just so far violated as to render completely abortive all the purposes with which they were created, and to produce additional mischiefs. Art. V.— THE RAILWAYS OF MASSACHUSETTS. B e l g i u m , the ancient center o f commerce and arts, has acquired great rep utation by her system of railways, which open to her commerce the interior o f France and Germany, and connect her cities with the sea. But when we compare her railway system with that o f Massachusetts, less than four hun dred miles, with more than one thousand ; when we consider that Belgium has four millions o f people, and thirteen thousand five hundred miles o f sur face, while Massachusetts has a superficies o f seven thousand miles, and less than one million o f inhabitants; when we reflect that the former has de voted to railways her public credit and revenue as a sovereign State, while the latter has relied principally on private enterprise; that the one State was enriched by the slow growth o f centuries, and a cultivation carried to the highest point on an alluvial soil, while the other is comparatively young, rough, and sterile, the achievement o f Massachusetts is still more striking. This railway system presents two aspects to the philosophic m in d :— First. Its effect upon the country. Second. Its results as a pecuniary investment. W h en judiciously conducted, its effect on a community is almost electric ; creating new value, giving a new impulse to industry and wealth, and pro moting social intercourse. These are primary objects. To effect these, the State delegates its power to companies, and constitutes them its trustees; clothes them with its right o f eminent domain, and power o f collecting im posts, with a right to determine the hours and manner o f traveling. Attention to the great interests o f the State is essential to the security and well-being o f a railway; is a duty to the power from which it derives its be ing ; and it may be laid down as a cardinal principle in the government of railways, that the public welfare is not to be disregarded. W hen railways were first opened in Massachusetts, immediate results were first regarded; high charges were established ; but, o f late years, after some significant hints from the State, moderate tariffs have been adopted, and im mense benefits conferred. The Railways o f Massachusetts. 305 The census now in progress will show a growth in Massachusetts, in the last decade, without precedent in her history. She is no longer an emi grating State. Her population has increased 45 per cent, and her valuation at least 65. W hile the inhabitants o f Boston and her environs, at the cen ter o f her railway system, have grown 70 per cent in numbers, and 100 per cent in wealth, in the same brief period. W h en we view these railways in their other aspect, as an investment, the results have far surpassed those o f Belgium. The whole investment yields larger returns than the average o f capital, and promises a future growth and stability. A t the commencement o f 1849, the entire investment in Massachusetts, in nine hundred and forty-four miles o f railway, was 840,941,616 ; which pro duced, in the twelve months following, a net income o f $2,850,981; or, in round numbers, 7 per cent on a capital consisting in part o f bonds issued at 5 and 6 per cent. W h ile the investment, as a whole, has produced such returns, individual lines have, o f course, varied in success, and occasional errors been committed. The success o f routes judiciously chosen and well managed, with great local resources, have, o f course, started others o f inferior capacity. Iron and labor have fluctuated from 50 to 100 per cent. New cities have sprung up at some points, and great water-power been temporarily neglected at others. Neiv lines have been opened; the routes to New York multiplied from one to four, and the lines to Portland and Burlington, from one to two or three. The villages and cities without railways have found they could not exist un less rails were laid down to them. A n d gradually railways have increased until they are, on an average, but seven miles apart. W here their progress has been rapid, they have sometimes diverted direct from other lines more than the local growth has replaced, and so strong a demand has been made on capital as to raise the rate o f interest, and swell the cost by sacrifices upon the debt. This was to be expected, for it was a necessary consequence o f great prosperity. From the spring o f 1843, to the winter o f 1847, was a period o f activity in Massachusetts. Commerce, shipping, factories, and railways, gave large returns. Great outlays were made on vessels and buildings; the people were in motion, and vast quantities o f materials transported by railways. The tariff o f 1846 gave some check to the manufacture o f iron, wool, and cotton ; but much was in progress, and two-thirds o f the manufactures o f the State still flourished.* The famine o f 1847 brought in gold for breadstuffs, and the wealth accumulated sought investment. Dividends were large. Railway stocks popular, and new railway enterprises were begun. Boston followed with an aqueduct to cost five millions; the United States with a popular loan : and it has been estimated by judicious men, that Massachu setts embarked, in 1846 and 1847, in new enterprises to the amount o f sixty millions. It soon became apparent she had overtasked her strength. For two years, money rose to 15 per cent; stocks became depressed; the banks protected the trader; the capitalist suffered; but energy, frugality, and perseverance, have, as usual, triumphed. Money has fallen in value, and this autumn will bring nearly all her new enterprises to completion. * The manufacture o f boots and shoes, o f w o o d and m iscellaneous articles, form nearly two-thirda the manufactures o f Massachusetts. V O L . X X I I I .-----N O . I I I. 20 306 The Railways o f Massachusetts. Some o f the old lines out o f Boston also were overwhelmed with business in 1846 and 1847, and made commensurate dividends. Animated by an increase o f 30 to 50 per cent in a single year, they made large purchases o f land, constructed new stations, branches, and second tracks, and incurred large liabilities. But with 1849 came sickness, and a falling market. Build ing and trade were checked, and traveling curtailed. New lines languished, and with its close came a large increase o f railway debt, sacrifices to fund it, and a check to the growth o f income. The growth o f the capital had been more rapid than the increase o f trade. W ith the pressure and disappointment came also, in natural course, a dis position to censure, and a strong desire to curtail expenses, and to increase incom e; and various companies appointed investigating committees o f new men, not remarkable for railway experience. In the mercantile world, the great specific for profits is an advance o f prices. If the merchant can sell at an advance, his profit is certain, and this is the first remedy which occurs to merchants for a railway; but it is by no means infallible; for as certain branches o f trade are sometimes lost in a rise o f prices, so high charges often deter traveling, or throw th traveler into other channels. Steamboats, wagons, gigs, and other routes, come in competition, and sanguine hopes o f gain are often demolished. Men grow wise, but as they pass from the stage, novices succeed and try the experi ment over; but the constant tendency o f our lines is like that o f the Erie Canal, to moderate prices, generally followed by a growing net income, checked only by excess o f construction. In the August number o f this Magazine is a communication over the in itials o f D. M. B., on the management o f railways. The writer has fallen into some natural and prevalent errors, obviously from a want o f familiarity with the subject. It is not surprising that gentlemen who have not been connected with the direction, should arrive at erroneous conclusions as to railways; but it is due to the public to notice them, when they appear on the pages o f an influential journal. The writer remarks that the net income o f railways in Massachusetts has declined in the last four years, and ascribes this decline to the reduction of passenger fares. But the tables to which he refers, page 190 and 192, n eg ative this opinion, for they exhibit the net income o f Massachusetts railways as follow s:— 1816. Net income..................... $1,945,595 1847. $2,592,079 1848. 1849. $2,666,411 $2,850,981 A nd the passenger income as follows :— 1846. Passenger receipts......... $2,018,163 1847. $2,509,784 1848. 1849. $2,849,722 $3,035,691 These tables, in the face o f reduced charges, give us a growth o f both net income and passenger receipts, in three years, not far from 50 per cent; an increase nearly, if not quite, commensurate with the increase o f miles o f rail ways ; and this, too, although many new and branch lines run to small vil lages. The tables, if they prove anything, prove the reverse o f his prop osition. It is doubtless true that the net income per mile run was 83 cents in 1846, and 75 cents in 1849 ; but the reason o f this is obvious. More miles were run. The new lines and branches through less populous districts, call on new trains, less patronized than trains on the old lines, and thus reduce The Railways o f Massachusetts. 307 the averages. New and competing lines to distant points demand express, in addition to regular trains, and thus divide the traffic; while the aggre gate, and net results are still progressive. But the writer cites the Boston and Lowell report to fortify his opinion, and gives us a fact, which, “ solitary and alone,” might sustain his theory. The fact that the Boston and Lowell passenger receipts have been as follow s:— Receipts. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1849. $165,224 $176,951 $1S5,235 $209,612 $201,219 $179,190 The rate having been reduced from 4 cents per mile in 1844, and from 21 cents in July, 1848, to 2 cents in 1849. But if the reduction o f fare has caused a decline, how does he explain the increase o f income after the 4 cent fare o f 1844 was abolished. A n d why does he omit the material elements which affect the question. From 1845, to July, 1848, many new mills were in progress at L ow ell; but, more than this, five competing lines have been opened, which divert many passengers from the Boston and Lowell line. First and second. The Worcester and Nashua, and the Stony Brook Rail ways, finished in 1848, which divert the passengers from Vermont, and the Valley o f the Merrimack, destined for Worcester, Providence, Springfield, Albany, and New York, who formerly took the Boston and Lowell Railway via Boston. Third. A new competing line between Boston and the Valley of the MerT rimack, the great feeder o f the Boston and Lowell Railway, nam ely:— the Manchester and Lawrence, which shortens the journey between Boston and Concord nearly four miles, and gives a better entrance into Boston. This was opened in 1849. Fourth. The Cheshire Railway, which opened in 1849 a n e w route to Vermont from Boston. Fifth. The Lowell and Lawrence Line, which superseded the Lawrence train on the Boston and Lowell. The diversion, by these enterprises, will more than account for diminished income, both on the Boston and Lowell, and Boston and Worcester railways.* But he says the rate has been raised to 2 i cents per mile, and what does that prove ? I f he will refer to the record, he will, as is currently reported, ascertain that since the rise a further decrease o f income on this particular line has occurred. The truth is, that it is still an open question in Massachusetts whether 2 cents, or 21 cents a mile, produce the largest revenue. It is generally con ceded 21 cents works well, and the advance from 2 cer ts this year may prove the lower rate works better. It is sincerely to be hoped that rate will be most successful which gives the greatest good to the greatest number. It is, too, but just to add, the 2 cent fare was not adopted by the friends of low fares; they were content with the established rate of 21 cents for the long, and 2 to 21 for the short travel. The reduction occurred thus:— The Boston and Lowell Railway being menaced by competing lines, and having a plethora o f income, reduced its fare to 2 cents per mile, while these lines were struggling for existence, and when they were finished, rose to its former price. The Boston and Maine, * The t r a v e l s over the Nashua and Low ell Railway, the principal feeder o f the Boston and L ow ell, were 24,2^2 le»? last je a r than the year preceding. 308 The Railways o f Massachusetts. the Fitchburg, and Boston and Worcester, were thus necessarily obliged to follow in self defense, and when the Boston and Lowell rose, the others went back to their former standard. The decline, and the rise, will furnish new and valuable statistics. But Mr. D. M. B. refers to the Fitchburg Railway. Upon this successful line, the passenger income has been as follows :— FITCHBURG PASSENGER RECEIPTS. 1845. 1846. $100,817 $126,772 1847. $159,492 1848. $179,199 1849. $204,668 This line, located between the Boston and Lowell and the Boston and Worcester, averaging about ten miles from each, where few thought a rail way could live, is emphatically a freight lin e; but under a 2 cent fare, in 1849, its passenger receipts were more than doubled upon those o f 1845. Does 105 per cent gain in four years prove anything against low fares ? If the rate per mile run be less, the P . and S. branch and express trains reduce the average passenger earnings on each mile run, but swell the aggregate and net results. But this correspondent refers to a report o f a certain investigating com mittee on the Old Colony Railway. They approve an advance o f fares from 2 i cents to 3 cents per mile, in January last. It is undoubtedly true this advance was made in defense to those shareholders who felt sore at the loss o f a dividend; but was he not aware that this report, now deemed very light authority, was, in this particular, most signally disproved, at a public meet ing o f the stockholders, where it was shown that after the advance from D e cember to April, the passenger income had materially declined, although it had continued to increase at lower rates through the preceding year. A nd if low fares are, on any hypothesis, the cause o f a decline in railways, why does your correspondent suppress the returns o f the Boston and Providence Railway, whose income has gone down from 8 per cent to 5-i in the last six years, and which has maintained the highest rates out o f Boston, namely, 3 cents per mile. W ith respect to the Eastern Railway, a large portion o f their through travelers to Portland are taken at 11 to 2 cents per m ile; and the growth o f the shoe business, Salem and Newburyport manufactures, has given it prosperity, apart from the question o f fares. Again, with respect to branches, this correspondent deals in other falla cies. N o doubt errors have been made in some o f them, but is it just, where he speaks of the A . and Bridgwater Branch, to cut off the revenue o f a short branch at the point where it enters the main line where the business it brings is almost a clear accession to the main line, and is rapidly increasing ? In considering branches, the benefit to the main line will often treble the net income from a branch. But Mr. D . M. B., when he deals with freight, falls into more signal er rors. Does he not recognize the difference between a mile run and a mile o f railway ? and how does he make out that “ our freights” are too low, or “ the superior profitableness,” as he expresses it, “ o f passenger over freight income,” when our reports give us the following results FREIGHT EARNINGS OF MASSACHUSETTS RAILW AYS. Miles run. $669,682 Freight receipts of 443 miles of railway in 1842................... “ 944 “ 1849.................. 2,411,307 Expenses of all trains run per mile, 1842...................................................... “ “ 1849 .................................................. 420,583 1,243,739 72 cents. 76 “ 309 The Railways o f Massachusetts. B y this table it appears that freight has at rates fallen from 8 to 3 or 4 cents per ton per mile actually become more profitable than it was eight years since, and that the freight trains have, during the last year, earned $1 96 per mile run, while the freight and passenger trains together have averaged but $1 51. It is apparent that the freight business, as a whole, is the most lu crative business on our Massachusetts lines; for it can be concentrated into four trains. But this gentleman, after this singular display o f his familiarity with pas sengers and freight, deals out a more grave accusation against some o f our most solid and substantial lines— the Fitchburg, Lowell, Nashua, Taunton, and Providence— when he charges them with dividing, in 1849, $40 on $37 07 net earnings. It is a little amusing to trace the misapprehension on which this serious charge is founded. H e takes the cost o f the lines, on which he casts the per centage, not at the commencement or middle o f the year, but at the close, and makes this the basis o f the dividends. But rail ways do not divide on this basis. They divide on the capitals o f January and July, semi-annually. Suppose, for instance, the Fitchburg, to provide for the future, has, in the last half o f 1849, expended four hundred thousand on a second track, and funded it in new stock at the close o f the year, what has that stock to do with the dividend, particularly that o f July. This expen diture has not earned, and cannot partake. It is the new capital o f 1850. This is self-evident, and shows the fairness o f the dividends in question. Take the case o f the Fitchburg itself. Its capital, at the commencement o f four consecutive years, its net earnings and dividends, have been as follows :— FITCHBURG RAILW AY. Y ear. 1846 1847 1848 1849 Capital. ............. ............. ............. ............. $1,477,477 1,875,318 2,406,724 2,945,631 Net earnings. $169,198 223,011 200,219 237,900 True per cent. Dividends. 11.45 11.89 8.31 8.03 10 10 . 8$ 8 The prosperity o f their dividends thus speaks for itself; nor is this all. In three years past, the Fitchburg Company have earned more than $40,000 pro fits, principally from land sold, to the credit o f construction. But this gentleman deals also with the report o f an investigating committee on the Boston and Maine Kailway. This line had been managed with signal ability by Mr. Minot, now in charge o f the New York and Erie Railway ; but an investiga ting committee, being misled as to a large part o f the amount spent for con struction o f track, platforms, <fcc., at their machine-shop, reported against the policy o f building cars and engines, in which report Mr. D. M. B. fully con curs. Had he read the reply of Mr. James Hayward, now a director, he would have seen a full and clear demonstration o f the fallacy o f the report, in this particular. A demonstration no one has attempted to confute; not even the committee. The Boston and Providence Railway have also proved, by their experi ence, that cars and engines can be built with advantage at the shop o f a railway com pany; and the London and Northwestern, the largest and best conducted line o f England, turn out a new engine and new cars weekly at their establishments. The policy o f such manufacture must depend on the size and capital of the company, and sagacity o f the managers o f a railway. W ith respect to the “ reserve” o f Massachusetts lines, it springs from the mode o f keeping the accounts. Capital cannot be divided. Income can, with propriety; but is often (to save interest) lent to construction. The Marine and Naval Architecture. 310 term “ reserve,” in railroad accounts, does not imply cash on hand, hut indi cates the amount o f income undivided, although it seems mysterious to D. M. B. As respects a floating debt, it is doubtless politic to fund i t ; but its existence is no inseperable barrier to a dividend. A small floating debt is often convenient, and makes but a small demand for interest, as it is extin guished twice a year, by the accumulation o f revenue; and thus interest paid may be met by interest received. A road, like the Western, may pay only 5 per cent on a loan, and thus divide 8 per cent to her stockholders. The sacrifices incurred in funding the cost o f a railway, imaginary deterior ation, and small floating debts, however much they may alarm investigating committees, should not deprive the stockholder of his dividend. It would be idle to follow Mr. D. M. B. into his curious essay on English postage, which has realized all the hopes o f its friends; or to his citation from the reports o f a few fretful stockholders, whose acquaintance with the subject is less than his own, and who are querulous because a painter, after working all the week on cars, charged extra for painting an engine, at un reasonable hours ; and because a treasurer, without a clerk, took care o f half a million floating debt, beside his other duties, at a salary o f one thousand per year, and did not keep his books with proper neatness; and because a country director did not charge less for his own wood taken by the company than he paid to others; and because a finance committee issued some stock, as collateral for the company’s debts, without a special vote of the direc tors. It is undoubtedly proper that officers should not deal with their respective companies, and that books should be kept with accuracy, and votes duly recorded. It is, undoubtedly, wise to provide funds in advance, and make exact estimates; and I well kuow, from personal experience, how difficult it is for pilots, called in during a storm, to save the ship struck by the gale, with all her sails standing. But it seems to me remarkable, and highly honorable to Massachusetts, that after a period o f so much excite ment, followed by a time o f so great and continued pressure, so little has been found to impugn the management o f her railway directors. E . H . D. Art, VI.— MARINE AND NAVAL ARCHITECTURE* W h e n we remember that it is to commerce we owe a debt o f gratitude for the boon o f civilization, and that commerce is the great engine by which its blessings are diffused throughout the world, we cannot contemplate the subject within the narrow limits o f barter or exchange, but upon a platform broad as the extent o f civilized life. W e were led to the foregoing reflec tions after having examined eight o f the twelve parts o f a work now in course o f publication in the city o f New York, upon the subject of building ships. The leading and strikingly characteristic features o f this work is its purely American style, and combination o f practice with theory, a quality rarely met with in the works on naval architecture published in the old w orld; but, apart from this universal practice o f linking all science in ship-building with the naval operations o f government, is not followed in this treatise; and * Treatise on Marine and Naval A rchitecture; or Theory and Practice blended in Ship-building. By J o h n W . G r i f f i t h s , marine and naval architect. Marine and Naval Architecture. 211 while naval construction receives a proper share o f the author’s attention, the great hulk o f the work is adapted to the merchant service. This is as it should be. It is notorious that the construction o f war vessels is much less difficult than the construction o f merchant ships, adapted, as they are supposed to be, to all the varied wants o f commerce. There are certain particular principles attached to every a rt; these principles must be found to depend on certain truths, which, recognized and indisputable, oblige the mind to concur in the deductions that result from them. This is beautifully portrayed in the author’s connections between science and practice. His ex positions on the slumbering apathy o f our legislators in holding within their iron grasp the commercial interests of the United States, by continuing in force a code o f tonnage laws, that has done more toward making the ocean one great charnel-house than everything beside, are worthy o f the attention o f every commercial man. It is not a little surprising that American me chanics have been able to sustain themselves, much less to successfully com pete with those o f England, who, under the influence o f wholesome laws, are furrowing every sea both by wind and steam, under the fostering care of that commercial policy which characterizes British nationality, and against the tide o f rivalry that is bearing down on the western world. It requires but a glance at the geographical position of the United States, to satisfy the thinking man that they have more to win or lose in this gigantic race than all the world beside; and notwithstanding the warping influence o f the restrictive laws upon American commerce enacted in a barbarous age, the historic page has never shown an equal amount of improvement in any sci ence or art, (under similar oppressive influences,) as is exhibited in the com plete adaptation o f American ships to all the purposes o f commerce. W ithin a period of thirty years her packet-ships have grown in size from 400 to 2,000 tons, and her ocean steam-ships from 300 to 3,000 tons bur den. It should not be forgotten, in connection with this, that although to Americans belong the honor of first navigating the ocean by steam, yet they relinquished the main field o f enterprise to embark more largely into more lucrative investments in sailing ships, and, after a lapse o f near thirty years, they again launch forth on the billowy tide o f competition, and, in less than six years, are enabled, by their success, to silence the roar o f the British lion, whose bombastic bellowings were echoed through the entire English press; and all this, let it be remembered, has been accomplished in the very face o f the most unfavorable laws for the measurement of ships— laws that ac tually invite fraud, and encourage avarice to endanger the lives o f confiding passengers, and those whose home is on the deep, while her rival has the best laws that are now known in the commercial world. The author o f this truly American work has fully and clearly set forth this most important sub ject o f building ships on a firm basis, and has fairly and fully shown that he possesses a mind o f sufficient calibre to grasp this subject in all its bearings. Ilis style is simple, his illustrations forcible, apt, and sufficiently intelligi ble to enable the mechanic to lay off1a ship upon the floor of the mould-loft, without having had a previous knowledge o f the same. W hile it is a noto rious truth that all European works on the subject of ship-building have been universally acknowledged as complex in their character, needlessly abstruse, and too exclusively devoted to naval operations, why should Americans ad here to the exploded dogmas o f the old world, and become wedded to hab its that have long since been proved to be unworthy o f a place in the cata1ogue o f arts in the middle o f the nineteenth century ? 312 Journal o f Mercantile Law. The author o f this treatise has been eminently successful in bringing out the only work upon the subject o f building merchant-ships now extant, that is not tainted with the hereditary notions of an absolute age. H e has clearly shown that the mind, like the body, acquires strength by exertions, showing, conclusively, that he who has passed over the ground superficially will find that the obstructions to his future progress are yet to be rem oved; having himself filled every position in his profession, from the boy at the grind-stone to the experienced builder, eminently qualifying him for the responsible po sition he occupies. His treatise begins at the root o f the matter, and deline ates the subject in a style peculiar to himself. The engravings are well cal culated to illustrate the subjects, more than fifty o f which are distributed through the work. JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW. COMMERCIAL CODE OF SPAIN. N U M BER X IV . W e conclude from the last number o f the Merchants’ M agazine our transla tions from the Codigo de Comercio of Spain, and conclude that portion relating to— C A P T A IN S , O F F IC E R S , SE A M E N , A N D S U P E R C A R G O E S O F SH IP S A N D V E SSE LS. A r t i c l e 677. The captain who has been condemned for having acted with fraud in his functions shall remain incapacitated from obtaining any charge in ships or vessels. 678. No exception shall be admitted in the discharge from responsibility in favor o f a captain who has taken a route contrary to what he ought, or varied the course o f his voyage without just cause in the opinion o f a Junta o f the offi cers o f the vessel acting with the assistance o f the shippers or supercargo o f the vessel who may be on board. 679. Captains are responsible civilly for the embezzlements and thefts o f the crew committed on board o f the vessel, saving to him his redress against the guilty persons. The captains are also responsible civilly for the losses, fines, and confiscations which may occur on account o f the contravention o f the laws and regulations o f the custom-house, or o f the police o f the ports, and for those which may be caused by disturbances raised in the vessel, or the faults which the crew may commit in the service and defense o f the vessel, if the captain shall not prove that he strove in time, to the whole extent o f his authority, to prevent it, and to impede and correct the crew. 680. Also, the captain shall be charged with the damages which may result from the non-observance o f the articles 642, 648, 649, 654, 655, and 667 o f this Code. 681. The responsibility o f the captain in respect to the cargo commences from its delivery on the beach or mole o f the port where it is delivered, and until it is placed on the beach or mole o f the place where it is to be discharged, if the con trary is not expressly agreed upon, or it should not be to the account o f the shipper to deliver it on board and to receive it in the same way. 682. The captain is not responsible for the damages which may happen to the vessel or cargo through a greater and insupperable force, or accidents which he cannot avoid. 683. No captain can enter voluntarially into a port different from that o f his Journal o f Mercantile Law. 313 destination, except in the cases o f misfortune and accidents, and under the form alities provided for in articles 968 and 969 o f this Code. Should the captain coutravene these articles, or if the arrival should proceed from the fault, negligence, or unskillfulness o f the captain, he shall be responsi ble for the expenses and damages which may be caused to the naviero and ship pers o f the cargo. 684. A captain o f a vessel who takes up money upon the hull and apparel o f the vessel, who pledges or sells merchandise or provisions without the formalities and the cases which are hereafter mentioned, and he who permits frauds in the accounts o f the ship, beside returning the amount defrauded shall be punished as a criminal for theft or robbery. 685. Captains shall also comply with the obligations prescribed in this Code, and also with those which may be imposed by the regulations o f the marine and custom-houses. 686. The obligations which the captain contracts to attend to the repairs, fit ting out, and provisioning the vessel shall fall upon the naviero, and such contracts shall not make the captain personally responsible for their fulfillment unless his personal responsibility is expressly committed, or he signs a bill o f exchange or a promissory note in his ow n name. CONCERNING THE OFFICERS AND C R E W OF A VESSEL. 687. No person can be a mate, boatswain, or other officer o f a merchant vessel, under whatever denomination such officer may come, without having obtained the authorization which the Ordinances o f the Sea-Matriculation prescribe, and every contract made by a naviero or a captain for sea-officers with a person who may lack such authorization shall be null— with respect to both parties. 688. Am ong the persons who may hold the authorization necessary to exercise the offices, which the preceding article points out, the naviero may select the one who may be to his satisfaction, without being obliged by any authority to select any particular individual, saving what has been provided for in article 639 o f this Code, with respect to the intervention which the captain o f the vessel ought to have in these appointments. 689. B y the death, sickness, or abscence o f the captain the command and gov ernment o f the vessel devolves upon the mate, until the naviero provides a per son to replace him, and in consequence he shall have the same responsibility as the captain in the fulfillment o f the obligations which belong to the latter. 690. The mate should go to sea provided with letters or books o f navigation, and instruments necessary for the discharge o f his duty, and is responsible for the accidents which his omission in this respect may occasion. 691. T o change the course o f the vessel the mate must act with the consent o f the captain, and if the latter should object to take that course which would give the ship a good voyage, the mate shall state to the captain the proper objec tions which he makes in presence o f the other sea-officers o f the vessel, and in case o f the captain persisting in his resolutions the mate shall enter a proper pro test in the book o f navigation or log-book o f the vessel, without failing to obey the captain, who shall be responsible for the results o f his mal-disposition. 692. The mates shall keep particularly, for themselves, a book on board o f the vessel, in which they shall note daily the altitude o f the sun, the courses, dis tances, latitudes and longitudes, in which they are found to sail, the collisions which they may encounter with other vessels, and all useful particulars which they may observe during the voyage. 693. If, by the unskillfulness or want o f care o f the mate, the vessel should be stranded or wrecked, he shall be responsible for all the damages which may be caused to the vessel or cargo. If such damages should proceed from his acting with fraud he shall be prose cuted criminally according to law— remaining incapacitated from exercising the functions o f mate in any other vessel. The private responsibility o f the mate does not include that o f the captain in the same cases, according to articles 676 and 694 o f this Code. 314 Journal o f Mercantile Law. 694. On account o f the responsibility and inability o f both the captain and mate performing their respective duties, the boatswain shall succeed in the com mand and responsibility o f the vessel. 695. It is the duty o f the boatswain to wateh over the preservation of the ap parel of the vessel, and to propose to the captain the repairs which he may believe necessary. 696. It also belongs to the boatswain to keep the cargo in good order, to have the vessel ready for the maneuvers which the navigation may require to maintain order, discipline, and good service among the crew— asking o f the captain the or ders and instructions which, concerning all this, he may deem most proper, giving to the captain prompt and punctual notice o f every occurrence on board, in which the intervention of the captain’s authority may be necessary, according to the same instructions. He shall detail to each mariner the work which he is to do on board, and shall take care that he performs it properly. 697. When the vessel is dismantled the boatswain shall be charged by inven tory with all the apparel and rigging o f the vessel, taking care that it he preserved and safely kept, unless by order o f the naviero he is relieved from his charge. 698. In respect to the qualifications o f those who are to compose the crews o f merchant vessels, there shall be observed what is required by the Ordinance of the Matriculation o f Seamen. 699. The contracts made between the captain and crew ought all to be entered in writing in the book o f accounts o f the vessel, and signed by those who know how to do it. Those who do not know how to write may authorize another person to sign for them. This book having the requisites provided in the article 646 of this Code, and there not appearing any alterations in any part o f the book, entire faith shall be given to it, concerning the difference which may occur between the captain and crew in regard to the contracts contained in it, and the sums o f money paid on account o f such contracts. Each individual o f the crew can exact o f the captain a note or memorandum, signed with his hand, o f the contract entered in the account book of the vessel. 700. A seaman contracting for services in a vessel cannot rescind his engage ment, nor omit to fulfill it, unless some legitimate impediment should prevent the fulfillment o f the contract. 701. Having contracted for service in a vessel, if a seamen shall contract for service in another vessel, his last engagement shall be null, and the captain shall have the option to oblige the seamen to perform the service in the first vessel, or he may look for indemnity from him who is his security for the performance o f the contract— beside, the seaman shall lose his wages which he may have earned under his first engagement, and such earned wages shall accrue to the benefit of the vessel in which he had at first contracted, without prejudice to the Correc tional Penalties to which the Military Authority o f the Marine may condemn the seaman. The captain who makes a contract with a seaman for service in a second vessel, while a prior contract is running in another vessel, shall incur a fine o f 1,000 reals, whenever he was knowing to the fact that the seaman was under engagement in the other vessel. 702. To enable a seaman to pass from the service o f one vessel to that o f an other without legitimate hindrance, he shall obtain permission in writing from the captain o f the vessel in which he may last have served. 703. No fixed time appearing for which a seaman contracts to serve, it shall be understood as being for the outward and homeward voyages; that is, until the vessel returns to the port o f her matriculation. • 704. A seaman cannot be discharged without just cause during the time o f the running of his contract. The just causes to discharge the seaman during the term o f his contract are— First. The perpetration o f any offense which disturbs discipline or order in the vessel. Journal o f Mercantile Law. 315 Second. Acts o f insubordination in the discipline or fulfillment o f the service which belongs to the seaman to perform. Third. The habit of intemperance. Fourth. Any occurrence which incapacitates him from performing the labor which is required o f him. 705. Should a captain arbitrarily refuse to take on hoard a seaman with whom he has contracted, he shall pay the seaman his wages in the same manner as though the seaman had performed the services for which he contracted. But if the captain makes the seaman indemnification, he shall not he obliga ted to take the seaman on board, provided he leaves him on shore before the com mencement o f the voyage. Such indemnification shall he made from the funds o f the vessel if the captain acts from prudential motives, founded in what may he the interest and the secu rity of the service of the vessel. But this not being so, the indemnification made to the seaman shall he a private charge against the captain. 706. After the voyage commences and until its termination the captain cannot abandon any one o f his ship’s company either on shore or at sea, unless he is guilty o f some crime or offense, and committing any crime or offense the captain shall send the seaman to prison, or deliver him up at the first port where he ar rives thereafter to the proper authority, and then only in the manner and cases prescribed by the Ordinances o f the Marine. 707. If, after a contract shall have been made with a crew, the voyage o f the ship shall be revoked arbitrarily by the naviero, or from motives o f his private interest, there shall be allowed to all the seamen one month’s wages each respect ively, by way o f indemnification, over and above what is due to them, according to their contracts, for the time they may have served in the vessel. In case o f a contract being made with a crew at a gross sum for the voyage, and the voyage being revoked as abovementioned, the wages, diet, and provisions shall be graduated for indemnification, pro rata, according to the days which the voyage was to have continued. This calculation shall be made by tw o skillful men named by the parties, or if the parties shall not do it, then officially by the Tribunal o f Commerce. When the voyage projected is calculated to be o f so short a duration as not to continue for one month, the indemnification shall reduce the wages to fifteen days for each individual o f the crew. From the indemnification and diet shall be deducted all the advances which may have been made. 708. A revocation o f the voyage occurring after a ship shall have put to sea, the seamen hired at a gross sum for the voyage shall receive that which corre sponds to each the same as if the voyage had been concluded, and those who shall have been hired by the month shall receive wages corresponding to the time during which they may have been embarked and which might be necessary for arriving at the port where the voyage ought to have terminated. It shall be also the duty o f the naviero o f the cargo and the captain proportion ally to provide the crew with a conveyance to their destined port, or to the port where the vessel fitted out according as the crew may elect. 709. W hen the naviero (or the person who controlls the destination o f the ship) gives a destination to the vessel different from that which shall have been determined in the hiring o f the crew, and they shall refuse to conform to this^va riation, he shall not be obliged to pay more than the wages for the days passed after the hiring o f the crew ; but if they do conform to the making o f the voy age newly determined on by the naviero, and a greater distance or other circum stances shall give a right to an increase o f compensation, the same shall be regu lated amicably by the parties, or, in case o f dispute, by arbitration. 710. The regulations prescribed in the three preceding articles shall also be ob served when the revocation or variation o f the voyage shall be caused by the freighters o f the ship, saving the right o f the naviero to reclaim from them the indemnification, which shall correspond to justice. 316 Journal o f Mercantile Law. 711. If a voyage o f the vessel be revoked for a just cause, independent o f the will of the naviero and freighters, the right o f the crew to any indemnification ceases, and they can only demand the wages earned up to the day on which the voyage is revoked— always when the ship shall remain yet in port. 712. The just causes for the revocation o f a voyage are— First. In case o f a declaration o f war, or the interdiction o f commerce with the power to whose territory the voyage was to have been made. Second. When then; shall be a state o f blockade o f the port where the vessel is destined, or a pestilence which may happen in it. Third. When there may be a prohibition to receive in the same port the goods ladened in the ship. Fourth. A detention or embargo o f the ship by order o f the Government, or another cause independent o f the will o f the naviero, (the person who is the managing owner o f the ship.) ' Fifth. Any accident in the vessel which incapacitates it for navigation. 713. Occurring after the commencement o f a voyage, any o f the first three causes which are stated in the preceding article, the crew shall be paid in the port where the captain shall think it most convenient to arrive for the benefit o f the ship and her cargo, according to the time which they have served in the vessel, and when their contract shall have been recinded. But if the vessel should have to continue the voyage, both the captain and the crew can mutually demand the fulfillment from each other o f the time agreed upon. In the fourth case the crew shall continue to be paid one-half their wages as they may have been hired by the month, and if the detention or embargo shall exceed three months their engagement shall be rescinded without a right to any indemnification. Those who have been hired by the voyage are bound to fulfill their contracts in the terms agreed upon until the conclusion o f the voyage. In the fifth case the crew shall have no other right with respect to the naviero than to the wages earned, but if the incapacity o f the ship shall proceed from the fraud o f the captain or the mate, the guilty party shall be responsible for the in demnification o f the damages which may have resulted to the crew. 714. If, for the benefit o f the ship or the cargo, the voyage should be extended to points more distant than those agreed upon with the crew they shall receive an increase o f wages in proportion to their contracts. If, on the contrary, for the same reasons o f convenience to the naviero or the freighters, the voyage should be reduced to a port more near, for this reason no deduction shall be made in the settlement o f the wages o f the crew. 715. A crew navigating on shares shall have no right to other indemnification on account o f a revocation, delay, or greater extension o f the voyage than the proportional share which corresponds to those persons who may be responsible for such occurrences, holding the common fund o f the ship. 716. A vessel being entirely lost on account o f capture or shipwreck the crew shall not have a right to claim any wages, nor shall the naviero exact a return o f the advances which may have been made to them. If any part o f the ship shall have been saved, the wages due the crew shall be made effective against it to the amount o f its product or value, and if only a part o f the cargo be saved, they shall have the same right against the freights to be received for its transportation. In both cases the captain shall be comprehended for a distribution o f the pro portional part which corresponds to his wages. 717. The seamen who navigate on shares shall have no right against the rem nants o f the vessel which shall be saved, but they shall have a right against the freight o f that part o f the cargo which may be saved. In case o f having labored to collect the remnants o f the vessel wrecked, they shall be paid, on account o f the value which they may have saved, a gratification proportional to their exertions and risk to which they were exposed. 718. A seaman who falls sick during the voyage shall not lose his wages agreed on, unless the sickness is caused by his own culpable act. Journal o f Mercantile Law. 317 In every case the expenses o f assistance and care o f the sickness shall he paid from the common funds o f the ship, the sick person remaining obligated to repay such expenses with his wages, and these not being sufficient, with his goods. 719. When the sickness shall proceed from a wound received in the service or defense o f the ship, the seaman shall be assisted and cured at the expense o f all those who may be interested in the earnings o f the vessel, deducting from the freights before all things the expenses o f the assistance and cure. 720. A seaman dying during the voyage there shall be paid to his heirs the wages corresponding to the time which he may have been embarked, if the hiring shall have been by the month. If the hiring shall have been made for the voyage it shall be considered that he had gained one-half o f his wages, he dying on the outward voyage, and the whole o f his wages if he should die on the return voyage. When a seaman shall go on shares there shall be paid to his heirs all that which corresponds to the case, should he have died after the voyage commenced, but the heirs shall have no claim should the seaman die before its commencement. 721. Whatever may be the contract with the seaman dying in the defense of the vessel, he shall be considered living to earn wages and participate in the ad vantages which correspond to the remainder of his class on the conclusion o f the voyage. In the same manner a seaman who may be taken a prisoner on the occasion o f the defending the ship, shall be considered present to enjoy the same benefits, but it happening through the want o f care or other accident which has no relation to the service o f the vessel, he shall only receive the wages agreed upon up to the day o f his capture. 722. The ship, her apparel, and freight, shall be responsible for the wages due the seamen who may be hired either by the month or by the voyage. CONCERNING TH E SUPERCARGO. 723. The supercargoes shall exercise over the vessel and cargo the part o f eco nomical administration which shall have been expressly and determinately con fided to them by their consignors, without interfering in the attributions which pertain to the captains, for the direction, profession, and the command o f the ships. 724. The faculties and responsibility o f the captain ceases with the presence o f the supercargo in all that part o f the legitimate administration which shall have been conferred upon him, there remaining for his control all the transac tions which are inseparable from his authority and employment. 725. The supercargo ought to record a narration and reason for each and every o f his opperations in a book folioed and rubricated in the form which governs ar ticle 646 o f this Code. 726. The dispositions o f the articles in section 3, title 2, book 1 o f this Code, which determines the capacity, the method o f making contracts, and the respon sibility o f factors, are to be observed in the same way by surpercargoes. 727. Supercargoes are prohibited from the making o f any negotiation on their own proper account during the voyage beyond his private adventure, which, by the express agreement with his employers, or by the custom of the port where the vessel may be despatched, shall be permitted. 728. In return for the venture no larger amount than the product which it yielded shall be invested without special authority from the same employers. A. N. Commercial Chronicle and Review. 318 COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW. FALL B U S I N E 8 S — M E X IC A N B A N K S OF T H E U N IT E D O R L E A N S •— L E G I T I M A T E T I O N OF P R E C IO U S IN D E M N IT Y — A B U N D A N C E S T A T E S — L E A D IN G B A N K IN G — R E C E I P T S M E T A L S IN TH E M O N E Y— F O R E IG N OF D E M AN D FO R STOCKS— B A N K S — B A N K S A N D B U S IN E S S OF N E W OF G O L D A T T H E E U R O P E — IN F L U E N C E OF C O M M R R C I A L W O R L D — R E V E N U E A N D E X P E N D IT U R E OF OF FEATURES P H IL A D E L P H IA C A L IF O R N IA M IN T — A C C U M U L A GOLD— TH E O F U N IT E D S T A T E S C R IS IS IN T H E G O V E R N M E N T — E S T IM A T E S S E C R E T A R Y OF T H E T R E A S U R Y , A N D R E C E I P T S F O R A S E R I E S OF Y E A R S — T H E ACCU M U L A T IO N OF M O N E Y , B T C . T h e business o f the fall season has this summer been as was that o f the win ter, one month earlier than was the case in former years— that is to say, the re ceipt o f the importations, which formerly arrived in August, this year came to hand in July, and were quite large in amount, causing not only a demand for over four millions o f dollars for customs, hut also o f considerable sums for remit tances, at a moment when the Mexican indemnity, and the foreign dividends on the United States, were also required to he remitted. The large demand for money thus occasioned, did not, however, effect the rate, hut the sources o f supply seemed to multiply on all hands; and it has been a remarkable fact, that notwith standing repeated efforts on the part not only o f banks, whose line o f discounts is full, but o f all lenders, to raise the rate o f interest, they have not succeeded, and consider able sums, say in lots o f $100,000, have lain for more than 60 days at a rate o f 4 per cent per annum through the busy season. Such an instance o f continued abundance of money, at such a rate, probably never before occurred in this mar ket. The foreign demand for stocks has continued, to a greater or less extent^ and an average o f $100,000 per week goes abroad; but there is also a continued demand for money here, and among others the following loans have been taken during the month:— City o f Rochester b on d s .......... Northern Railroad (mortgage) U W U « Central M ichigan R a ilr o a d ... Redeem able. Int’st. Taken by. Rate. Am ount. 1861 to 1873 6 Camoran & W hitiker $160,000 500,000 1859 7 W ard & C o ................. 90 a 93 1859 7 B o s t o n .............................. par 750,000 1859 7 Contractors...................... par 250,000 1860 8 Thayer and o th e rs.. . 95 a 97 1,000,000 Total for A u gust............................................................................................................. $2,660,000 This is a pretty large sum for the market, and indicates the growth o f railroad securities. In fact, although the better descriptions o f American stocks are rap idly finding their way abroad, securities, to as large an extent, are being created here. W e alluded, in a former number, to the effect o f the large bank profits in promoting the creation o f those institutions. The following table, showing the securities held by the Controller o f New York for new banks, is illustrative of the progress in this direction:— SECURITIES FOR FREE CIRCULATION IN THE HANDS OF THE CONTROLLER. No of hanks. D ec, 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 Aug., 1850 48 52 58 65 67 70 88 104 113 120 Bonds. $1,629,176 1,486,194 1,525,540 1,580,526 1,655,589 1,552,265 1,559,362 1,514.979 1,653,044 2,021,389 W estern States stocks. $1,686,500 2,025,254 1,900,663 1,819,293 1,704,293 1,667,700 1,453,924 1,834.204 1,342,697 1,322,654 United States stocks. N ew Y ork stocks. $52,000 105,000 105,000 105,000 114,000 114,000 1,232.605 2,224,022 $979,500 1,225,837 1,774,484 3,064,905 3,805,462 4,472,845 7,900,229 7,627,692 7,539,214 7,766,709 Total securities. $4,927,671 4,737,285 5,252,638 6,569,726 7,270,344 7,797,811 11,037,525 10,590.186 11,707,470 13,334,774 Commercial Chronicle and Review. 319 This increase arises partly from the expiration o f charters, compelling those banks to organize under the new law. This has created a demand for $1,000,000 United States stocks. Under the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan laws, this demand is enhanced. From returns received at one o f the bureaus at Washington, from all the banks o f the Union, an interesting summary has been prepared, by a competent hand. The results are instructive, when considered in connection with the returns o f former years. With the view o f giving the leading features of these institutions in as concise, yet as comprehensive a form as possible, we may first mention the leading epochs. The first, 1830, was one o f comparative quiet. The high tariff o f 1828 had just come into operation, and by its exclusion o f imports had im parted confidence in the stability o f exchanges, and thereby relaxed restraint upon credit. At the same time an impulse to these was received through the abun dance of money, and the multiplication o f joint-stock banks in England, under the law then coming into operation. The expansion o f credits in England, from this cause, was encouraged by the British government, with the view o f carrying through the W est India loan for £20,000,000. In the United States, many causes combined to swell credits unduly; among these, the removal o f the government deposits to the pet banks, promoting an emulation among lenders. All these causes carried bank credits to the point o f failure in 1837. The continuation o f the credits was attempted through the support o f State stocks, and an attempt at resumption on such a basis, January, 1839, resulted in a second failure in the fall o f that year, involving the solvency o f many States, and the existence o f the national bank. Resumption was finally effected in 1842, when one-half the bank credits had been liquidated by failure, and the general bankrupt law. From 1842 the progress has been upward to the present year. With these remarks, we give the leading features o f the institutions at the epochs narrated:— BANKS O F THE UNITED STATES. 1 8 3 0 ... . . 1 8 3 7 ____. . 1 8 3 9 ... . . 1 8 4 3 ..... . 1 8 4 7 ..... . 1848 . . . . 1 8 5 0 ... . . Loans. Specie. Capital. No. 330 $145,192,268 $200,4 5 1 ,2 14 $22,114,917 525,115,702 37,915,340 788 290,772,091 327,132,512 492,278,015 45,132,673 840 28,440,423 228,861,948 254,544,937 691 35,132,516 203,070,622 310,282,945 715 344,476,582 46,369,765 204,833,175 751 364,204,078 45,379,345 829 217,317,211 Circulation. $61,323,898 149,185,890 135,170,995 58.563,608 105,519,766 128,506,091 131,316,526 Deposits. $55,559,928 127,597,185 90,240,146 56,168,623 91,792,533 103,226,177 109,586,595 From 1830 to 1837 there was an increase o f $325,000,000 o f loans. These were nearly all on credit— that is to say, there was no productive property to repre sent it. The imported and manufactured products had been sold on credits to individuals, who had consumed them without producing equivalents; hence the bank credits and individual paper which had represented their purchase was val ueless. Holders o f speculative property wanted time, in hopes o f a rise, and a general notion seemed to prevail that it was want o f bank capital that produced the pressure. In the two following years, this was consequently increased $37,000,000, producing still greater pressure, and utter failure overtook a large proportion, and $300,000,000 o f loans disappeared. From that moment, the in dustry o f the country has been productively active. Exchangeable products have annually poured forth in greater abundance, and these have, in their progress to market, created a greater amount o f discountable paper, giving legitimate em 320 Commercial Chronicle and Review. ployment to the banking institutions which have thus followed, and not attempted to lead the business o f the country. Thus it occurs that while $364,000,000 of discounts, o f the speculative character o f former years, would be pregnant o f speedy revulsion, they are now perfectly safe. The amount o f loans and divi dends which grow out o f the production and purchase o f farm produce, for the most part, cancel those which result from the purchase o f manufactured and im ported goods. An element o f safety exists in the apparent magnitude o f the loans. The business o f New Orleans, for instance, compares as follow s:— BANKS AND BUSINESS OF N EW ORLEANS. Bank capital. 1840........... 1849........... $47,736,768 14,468,150 Loans. Specie. Value o f produce Circulation, rec’d via rivers. $56,856,610 11,762,134 $3,480,100 8,622,737 $6,280,588 5,560,765 $45,176,045 81,989,692 Decrease. $33,268,618 $45,094,476 Increase....................................................... ................. $5,142,637 $719,823 ............... ................. $36,813,647 O f this capital, nearly $3,000,000 is about to expire, and the want will not be felt in that locality. The quantities o f produce which come down supply fully the demand for exchange to meet importations from the North, and from abroad. This state o f affairs is entirely different from that when merchants were clamor ous for bank accommodation, to enable them to buy largely and sell on credit, without receiving anything in return. All over the country, similar elements are active, and every locality furnishes, in produce, the means o f meeting the payments for the goods it consumes. The figures for the year 1848 show an uncommon increase over those for the prece ding year, and this increase, as well as that o f the amount o f floating credits given out, not o f an importation o f goods on credit, but o f the forwarding o f produce from the interior, for sale for cash in England. The notes discounted at country banks furnished money, which was paid out for produce, and this produce sent down to the city, produced the means o f taking up the notes with profit. A cir cle o f short, safe, and legitimate paper thus swelled the line o f discounts, without jeopardizing the stability o f the institutions. When their operations are confined to this species o f business, nothing can be more safe and beneficial than their op erations. It is only when they depart from commercial discounting, to assume the functions o f loan offices, or o f “ supplying capital” to dealers, that danger arises. They can never, in any degree, furnish capital to business. Their only function is to furnish paper, which represents capital in its passage from hand to hand. Capital is created by industry only, and when once created, banks are o f service, like railroads, in facilitating its transfer from one person to another— con sequently the greater the production o f industry, and the more active the inter change o f its products, the more demand will there be for bank-paper. The proper function o f these institutions is, therefore, to follow the operations o f in dustry, and by no means to undertake to lead. As long as the bank credits out standing represent actually existing wealth or capital, there can be no scarcity of money; because every exchange o f products cancels the paper which previous transactions created, and usually with some profit. Where the export trade is active, there must be always an increase o f means proportionate to the outstand ing paper. The present abundance o f money, in face o f the high line to which discounts have reached, the community owe the banks near $110,000,000 more Commercial Chronicle and Review. 321 than they did in 1843; yet the means o f payment are greatly more abundant. Capital has been produced by industry in large amounts, and the banking move ment has only followed its interchange, confining discounts to strictly business paper. The line o f discounts now, therefore, shows the value o f the property in terchanged, at an average o f 60 days. This will give $2,184,000,000 for the year; whereas, in 1837, the loans being on credit, for speculative purposes, were renew able, and constantly extended; therefore representing an amount o f transactions for the year no greater than their face— say $525,000,000, against $2,184,000,000 now, or less than one-fourth the business now done. It is in this view that differ ence in the bank movement is now to be regarded. The specie basis o f the bank operations has also, by a combination o f circumstances, been greatly extended and strengthened. The receipts o f gold at the Philadelphia Mint have progressed as follow s:— BECEIPTS OF GOLD AT THE UNITED STATES MINTS. California gold. At New Orleans. Philadelphia. $44,177 $175,918 1,740,620 489 ,16 2 3,740,810 938,050 2,974,393 365,869 1,296,321 298,130 1,813,002 317,181 6,740,677 In 1 8 4 8 ........................................... January 1 to August 81, 1849 August 31 to January 1, 1850 January 1 to February 28 . . . To March 3 1 ............................... March 31 to May 1 ................. May 1 to July 3 1 ...................... Total............................. . $ 2,584,310 $18,350,000 Total. $44,177 1,916,538 4,229,972 3,912,443 1,662,190 2,111,132 7,157,858 $20,934,310 O f this very considerable amount, over $17,000,000 has been received in ten months, being at the rate o f more than $20,000,000 per annum. Since January, the receipts have been at the rate o f $26,000,000 per annum, and for the last quar ter at the rate o f $32,000,000 per annum, showing a constantly augmenting ratio. The excess o f imports for the year, as per custom-house books, was, to the close o f June, nearly $6,000,000, at this p ort; and the influx, from all sources, could not have been less than $35,000,000. Should the exchanges for the coming year indicate a net export o f $20,000,000 o f specie, that amount would scarcely cause a stringency in the markets. But it would seem, from official returns, that great as is the accumulation o f the precious metals, it is equally as great abroad, and in W estern Europe, as well as in London, there is a tendency to increase in abun dance ; as an instance, we reduce to dollars the amounts o f coin held by the banks o f four cities, Jan. 1st, 1849, and June, 1850, as follow s;— B’ ks o f N. Orleans. January, 1849 June, 1850 $6,192,376 6,302,715 Increase........................ N ew Y ork. $7,213,000 13,878,212 $ 6,665,212 London. France. Total. $71,071,950 $52,500,000 $136,977,326 81,161,494 84,472,500 184,814,921 $10,08 9 ,5 4 4 $31,972,500 $47,837,595 A t these centers o f commerce have accumulated in eighteen months nearly $50,000,000 o f specie, or more than the product o f California in that period, while at the same time the £5,000,000 o f Russian contracts in London has been paid, and also the £800,000 Danish loan. These have both influenced the movement o f silver towards the north o f Europe, aided by the efforts o f Holland, to sub stitute silver for gold, to the extent o f some £3,000,000. The clouded political aspect o f France has also induced the Bank, having escaped the coercion o f the revolutionary government, to fortify itself in the most effectual manner; and VOL. XX11I.— NO. III. 21 322 Commercial Chronicle and Review. it appears a steady current o f silver, to the extent o f $1,750,000 per month, has, for a period o f eighteen months, poured into its vaults, until its reserve now exceeds that o f the unprecedented hoards o f the Bank o f England. This accu mulation in this quarter has been very extensive to French industry, the proceeds o f which have sold at very low specie prices, drawing silver from all parts o f the world to swell the private hoards o f dealers as well as the large reservoir o f the Bank, which fills from those private hoards as returning confidence induces greater enterprise on the part o f the leaders o f industry. The great centers o f the com mercial world are thus prepared with large stocks o f bullion and limited credits, and also well stocked warehouses and fair harvests in general, while prices are not inflated, hut rule near what may be conceived as the natural prices. At the same time, the commotion which the California discoveries has made in those markets most remote from the old business center, but more contiguous to that wonderful region, is now beginning to be felt in increasing billows at the commercial focus. The countries bordering the Pacific were always apathetic until the gold influence has excited them to extraordinary activity, promoting a consumption of, and a de mand for, those goods usually furnished by the Atlantic nations, altogether unpre cedented. It would seem that from Oregon, the old American Pacific coast, em bracing both continents with Australia, is delivering up its golden treasures, while the old silver mines are redoubling their products. The stimulus already given in those regions to business has aroused the energies o f all nations, even the ex clusive Chinese; and, like a started locomotive, a new impulse is perceptible with every arrival o f Pacific steamers, which, like the pulsations o f the engine, add new vigor to the movement. T he fiscal year o f the Federal Government closed on the 30th o f June, and the results show a degree o f prosperity never before attained in the financial his tory o f the government. The report o f Mr. Meredith, as Secretary o f the Treas ury, in December last, estimates a deficit in revenue for the year ending June 30th, 1850, at $5,82$,121, after absorbing the amount on hand June, 1849— $2,184,964 — and the available loans, making a deficit o f $9,251,585 in the current revenues, to meet the current expenditures. The actual ordinary receipts and expenditures are as fo llo w s :— UNITED STATES REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES, TEAR ENDING JUNE $39,500,376 Civil 1,863,744 W a r.......... 1,877,311 N a v y .. . . , Customs . . . . Lands ........... Miscellaneous. Interest.., Total............................ 30, 1850. EXPENDITURES. REVENUES. $14,875,021 12,798,978 7,908,830 3,784,993 $43,241,431 Total. Loans.................................... 4,053,950 Excess of ordinary revenue......................... $39,367,822 3,648,760 3,873,639 The excess o f loans received was $405,190, and the amount in the Treasury, at the close o f the year, was very nearly $10,000,000, instead o f a deficit o f nearly $6,000,000. But the Treasury report o f December, 1848, estimates a balance o f $5,040,542 on hand at the close o f the year 1850. Between the reports o f these two officers, therefore, there was a difference o f over $10,000000, and the actual state o f affairs differs from both o f their statements as much as they differ . from each other. The chief difference arises from the operation o f the customs. Commercial Chronicle and Review. 323 Mr. W alker estimates them at $32,000,000, and Mr. Meredith at $31,500,000— being $8,000,000 less than the truth. It is to he remembered, however, that the figures we name, the gross revenues, the expenses o f collecting, he included in the expenditures under the “ civil ” head. This makes a difference o f nearly $2,000,000 in the apparent amount o f customs revenues. The operation o f the loans has been merely to fund outstanding Treasury notes under the law, allow, ing them to be received for stock o f 1867. The ordinary receipts for several years have been as fo llow s:— UNITED STATES RECEIPTS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. Miscellaneous. 1 8 4 2 .......................... 1843, 6 m o n t h s . . , 1 8 4 4 ........................ . 1 8 4 5 ........................ . 1 8 4 6 .......................... 1 8 4 7 .......................... 1 8 4 8 .......................... 1 8 4 9 ........................ . 1 8 5 0 .......................... Lands. Customs. 897,818 2,059,939 2,077,022 2,694,452 2,498,355 3,328,642 1,688,959 1,863,744 7,046,844 26,183,571 27,528,113 26,712,668 23,747,865 31,757,071 28,346,739 39,500,376 Total. $19,643,966 8,065,325 28,504,518 29,769,133 29,499,247 26,346,700 35,436,750 31,074,347 43,241,461 In the year 1842 the year ended with December 31. A change was then made by law, so that the fiscal year should close with June 30. The table embraces, therefore, the whole o f the tariff o f 1842, and a similar period o f the operation o f that o f 1846. The customs revenue for 1850 has been larger by far than ever before. The year 1831 was the highest o f any previous year, and that reached $36,304,342, being rather more than $3,000,000 less than o f the year just closed. T he year 1831 was that o f the full effect o f the tariff o f 1828; and subsequently the compromise act continued to reduce, biennially, the rate o f duties, until it completed its operation in the 20 per cent horizontal duty in 1842. But in that year— 1842— although the 20 per cent compromise maximum was repealed, all articles before free were brought under its operation. The present tariff averages but about 25 per cent all round, and it yields more than double what the com promise tariff did in 1842. The reason o f this is undoubtedly that which did not sufficiently enter into the considerations o f secretaries when making up their es timates for the revenues o f the past year, namely— the altered condition o f the whole country. From 1836 to 1842, although biennially, the tariff underwent such reduction as reduced the average levy from 40 to 20 per cent, neither the importations nor the customs underwent any correspondent improvement, because in that period, from financial causes, the condition o f the country was very disas trous. Speculations had unsettled industry, retarded its productions, and promo ted the consumption o f wealth. The means o f expenditure were well nigh ex hausted, and credit was gone. The slow process o f accumulating wealth by in dustry, and o f restoring credit by promptness o f payment was to be gone through with, and these objects have been eminently aided by the circumstance o f our in tercourse with Europe. The purchasing power in the country is now probably greater than ever before, and the demand for goods such as manifest itself in the swelling revenues o f the government. It is no doubt the case that, to a very considerable extent, the demand for articles o f luxury which was so conspicuous in 1836, has revived, and that these figure largely in items o f importation. For instance, silks, which had reached $23,000,000 in 1836, fell to $9,000,000 in 1838 reached $16,000,000 in 1839, and then, for several years, averaged $9,000,000, Commercial Statistics. 324 are again at 120,000,000 this year. W atches were imported in value $1,239,000- in 1836, and but $399,000 came in in 1842, are $1,676,000 in value. W hile this remark pertains to most articles o f luxury, it is the case that almost all classes wear finer goods— that is to say, goods which employ more labor and require less raw material, and amid the more wealthy, o f whom the number is annually in creased, the taste for luxury is more indulged, and we see the result in the swell ing revenues o f the government, without, however, producing adverse exchanges, which, without the support o f credit hills or exchange drawn against uncovered credits, as was the case when the United States Bank affected to regulate the ex changes, remain at par, which is always a healthy point. In view o f this state o f affairs, however, and the prospect o f continued pros perity during the year, the accumulation o f money in the government vaults through excess o f revenue becomes matter o f uneasiness. Last year the excess o f reve nue in the September quarter was nearly $4,000,000; a similar amount this year will swell the specie on hand to $15,000,000. uberance o f prosperity should be devised. Some means o f checking this ex COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. STATISTICS OF CALIFORNIA COMMERCE. The California Courier publishes, on the authority of Colonel Collier, the Collector at the port of San Francisco, the following aggregate of duties paid on foreign mer chandise, from November 12th, 1849, to May 31st, 1850, together with a statement of arrivals, clearances, <fcc.:— November 12th to December 31st, as per general account current.......... $201,435 22 January 1st to March 31st............................................................................... 268,981 66 April 1st to May 31st, monthly abstract....................................................... 285,637 84 Total......................................................................................................$755,974 72 Sail vessels now in the harbor......................................................................... Steamers.............................................................................................................. Sail vessels at SacramentoCity, Stockton, and other places up the rivere Steamers.............................................................................................................. 623 12 140 8 Total .................................................................................................... Of this number, there are foreign................................................................... 783 120 Total American.................................................................................... 663 Since March 28th, 1850, to June 30th, the American arrivals are :— Ships, 72; barks 115 ; brigs, 97; steamers, 10; schooners, 74; total in all, 368. Foreign arrivals since the above date;— Ships, 26; barks, 32; brigs, 54; schooners, 25; total in all, 137 ; grand total, 505. Amount of tonnage at this time in the port of San Francisco................. In towns and cities on the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers............... 1,020,476 100,000 Total foreign and Am erican.............................................................. Of this amount there is now unemployed, at least...................................... 1,120,476 800,000 Leaving only employed on the whole Pacific and the bays and rivers flowing into it ............................................................................................... 326,476 COMMERCE OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY FROM JULY 1, 1848, TO JUNE 3 0, 1849. --------------------- V A L U E 1 OF E X P O R T S .----- Domestic produce. In American In foreign vessels. vessels. Total. $ 1,214,113 Mississippi. Tennessee.. Missouri. . . Ohio........... Kentucky . Michigan. . Illinois........ Texas........ 438 ,25 5 42,671 3,938,242 4,122,667 915,682 5,348,855 14,600,291 8,464 141,260 149,124 111,156 33,722 23,089 10,088 54,690 59,102 127 ,84 4 88,412 82,791 196 41,303,641 182,666,955 9,169,815 299,938 6,818,580 110,835 262,912 28,504,356 91,363,308 1,296,081 1,856 1,028 8,233,859 355 155,215 1,271,106 $3,565 388,931 1,422,343 5,461 6,164,866 479,189 379 117,016 $3,723 26 667,852 3,060,019 8 13,360 96,889 $7,288 26 888,931 2,090,195 5,461 9,224,885 8 492,549 379 213,965 4 ,3 1 6 4,316 1,301 1,301 581,692 72,957 654,549 $1,286,681 5,878 688,869 10,264,862 178,152 264,000 45,963,100 363 5,343,421 38,229 8,000,660 111,607 3,373^738 270,076 9,701,176 6,857,806 2,518,027 12,823,725 37,611,667 149,724 4,211 5 3,919,050 5,007 5 132,851 88,417 82,791 In American vessels. $ 57 7 ,4 0 3 51,029 147,721 18,367,959 230,147 220,350 76,148,308 3,360 10,008,073 898 4,613,219 35,668 2 23 '21 8 105,975 996,168 176,437 42,811 108,913 7,853,664 2,433 15^145 130’ 382 137^552 79,738 98^141 5,173 2,267 13,088,865 145,755,820 .120,382,152 In foreign vessels. $ 144,006 13,322 6,377,958 7,331 14,393 16,419,061 893 637,427 502 363,512 18,717 7,171 479,527 194,587 20,400 548 ,23 4 2,197,033 12,287 4,593 14,333 Total. $721,409 64,351 147,721 24,745,917 237,478 234,743 92,567,369 4,253 10,645,500 1,400 4,976,731 35,668 241,935 113,146 1,475,695 3 71,024 63,211 657,147 10,050,697 2,433 15,145 130^882 149'839 79,738 98^141 9,766 16,600 27,475,287 147,857,439 325 4,095,591 31,850 6,514,989 111,607 2,931,161 221,405 5,161,133 2,135,139 1,602,345 1,474,810 22,356,821 $1,219,393 5,852 299,938 8,114,667 172,691 264,000 36,738,215 355 4,8 5 0,87 2 37,850 7,186,695 111,601 3,369^422 270,076 9,699,815 6,851,806 2,518,027 12,823,125 36,951,118 Total. Total American and foreign produce. Commercial Statistics. New Hampshire. . . . Vermont..................... Massachusetts............ Rhode Island............ Connecticut............... New Y o rk ................ New Jersey.............. Pennsylvania........... Delaware.................. Maryland.................. Dist. of Columbia.. . Virginia.................... North Carolina......... $ 6 5 ,22 0 5,852 Foreign produce. In American In foreign vessels. vessels. TO N N A G E E N T E R E D IN TO T H E <---------------- Amer can.------STATES. No. T o ta l........................... Crews. Men. Boys. 65,333 3,688 98,986 329,094 19,960 23,355 1,500,456 145 113,825 338 86,485 786 19,270 13,064 52,662 12,910 10,379 20,858 229,245 2,139 122 3,837 14,136 963 1,398 58,209 7 4,632 18 3,506 41 843 633 2,084 485 529 661 8,631 13,640 781 34,723 6,620 2,499 1,733 265 115 2,658,321 105,718 5 8 7 405 51 76 2,633 90 2 6 3 1 .... 35 7 .... 3,329 U N IT E D S T A T E S . ,----------------Foreign.-------No. Tons. •v ,— Tot i l American and foreig n.— , Crews. Men. Boys. 940 94 6 2,723 22 42 3,467 8 185 2 115 67,564 5,959 370 247,614 2,521 4,714 834,923 841 28,798 854 23,583 4,151 388 14 15,604 137 243 43,061 59 1,544 34 1,076 55 20 133 83 44 101 412 10,300 3,430 45,744 51,244 9,397 66,213 196,204 486 159 1,714 1,435 544 2,628 7,280 117 10,843 ' 639 403 11 9 95,076 2,397 1,926 5,634 114 90 1 8,992 1,710,515 87,033 81 57 N o. Tons. Crews. Men. Boys. 1,170 106 399 3,973 129 141 10,249 9 606 5 484 5 146 123 298 127 126 156 1,098 132,897 9,647 99,356 676,708 22,481 28,069 2,335,379 986 142,623 1,192 110,068 786 29,570 16,494 98,406 64,154 19,776 87,071 425,449 6,290 510 3,851 29,740 1,100 1,641 101,270 66 6,176 52 4,581 41 1,329 792 3,798 1,920 1,073 3,289 15,911 248 24,483 1,370 1 544 35 23 129,799 9,017 4,425 7,367 379 205 1 2,651 20,200 4,868,836 192,761 5,980 60 1,724 11 2 250 298 29 137 86 65 7 465 51 76 4,357 101 4 6 253 299 29 172 8 Commercial Statistics. Maine.................................... New Hampshire.................. Vermont.............. Massachusetts............ Rhode Island........ Connecticut........... New Y ork .............. New J e r s e y ....................... Pennsylvania........ Delaware............ Maryland.......... District of Columbia............. Virginia..................... North Carolina.................. South Carolina............ Georgia......................... Florida.......... Alabama.................. Louisiana........... Mississippi......... Tennessee___ Missouri......... Ohio............. Kentucky . . . Michigan___ Illinois....... Texas............. Tons. ... ^ 326 NAVIGATION OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY FROM JULY 1, 1848, TO JUNE 30, 1840, NAVIGATION OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY FROM JULY 1, 1848, TO JUNE 30, 1849, TO N N AGE t ---------------- ------------ Amen can.--------------- --------------X STATES. No. Tons. 127,368 1,023 97,218 280,187 15,568 20,440 1,358,643 ........... 7 ........... ........... 14 261 ........... 261 ........... 149 93,322 1,091 118,276 2,320 58,989 26,030 88,738 31,150 20,507 76,523293,456 4,832 26 3,729 12,697 772 1,317 53,691 22 5 9 493 33 64 2,529 3,806 51 4,857 107 2,413 1,204 3,303 1,031 802 2,280 10,191 98 O hio......................................... 6,957 415 Michigan................................... Illinois....................................... Texas........................................ 33,919 964 1,035 1,735 44 46 Total................................. 2,753,724 109,349 ----------------------------- No. 912 92 5 2,698 20 31 3,320 4 179 3 143 FROM T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S . Foreign.--------------- Tons. 66,081 5,819 325 244,067 2,315 3,719 784,514 428 27,005 1,599 31,652 7,946 378 12 15,048 126 187 41,887 30 1,417 63 1,478 . . . . 7 10 3 10 132 .... 7 .... 3,422 ' A Crews. Men. Boys. 107 56 266 1,689 . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . , — Total American and foreign.— No. Tons. 1,497 95 390 3,806 107 114 9,699 4 539 10 634 14 319 204 438 173 121 256 1,131 193,449 6,842 97,543 524,254 17,883 24,159 2,143,157 428 120,327 2,690 149,928 , 2,320 69,578 29,910 147,139 84,863 31,429 148,116 487,690 12,778 404 3,741 27,745 898 1,504 95,578 30 5,223 114 6,335 107 2,898 1,381 5,532 -2,475 1,369 5,045 17,316 58 24 177 90 41 107 417 10,589 3,880 58,401 53,713 10,922 71,593 194,234 485 177 2,229 1,444 567 2,765 7,125 110 9,821 591 196 16,778 1,006 395 13 8 90,605 2,796 1,631 5,397 153 74 535 18 13 124,524 3,760 2,666 7,132 197 120 8,847 1,675,709 89,579 20.313 4,429,433 198,928 2 . . . . 150 247 24 147 i 2,704 , C rew s . Men. Boys. 129 61 9 759 33 64 4,218 113 . . . . 9 10 153 257 24 279 Commercial Statistics. Maine....................................... New Hampshire.................... Vermont................................... Massachusetts.......................... Rhode Isla n d ......................... Connecticut.............................. New Y ork............................... New Jersey................ ........... Pennsylvania......................... Delaware.................................. Maryland................................. District of Columbia............. Virginia.................................. North Carolina........................ South Carolina........................ Georgia................................... Florida..................................... Alabama.................................. Louisiana.................................. Crews. Men. Boys. CLEARED , 7 . . . . 1 6,126 CO to 328 Commercial Statistics. EXPORT OF OIL FROM THE UNITED STATES. The following statement, showing the quantity and value of spermaceti, whale, and other fish oil exported from the United States, distinguishing the countries to which it was exported, during the year ending June 30tli, 1849, has been compiled for the M e r c h a n t s ’ M a g a z i n e from the annual report of the Register of the Treasury:— Russia....................................... Prussia...................................... Sweden and N orw ay............. Swedish West Indies.............. Danish West Indies............... Hanse Towns. . .............; . . . . Hanover.................................... H olland................................... Dutch West Indies................. Dutch Guiana ......................... Belgium.................................... England...................... ............. Scotland..................... ............. Gibraltar................................. British East Indies.................. Honduras.................................. British Guiana......................... British West Indies................. Canada...................................... British American colonies . . . France on the Mediteranean . French West Indies............... Miquelon and French fisheries French Guiana......................... Teneriffe and other Canaries.. Cuba......................................... Other Spanish West Indies... Madeira.................................... Fayal and other Azores.......... Tuscany.................................... Hayti........................................ ' M exico...................................... Central Republic o f America , New Granada . . . . . . . . . . Venezuela............................... Brazil........................................ China..................... .................. Europe generally................... . Africa generally..................... South Seas and Pacific Ocean. Total.............................. Spermaceti. 1,262 Value. $1,578 6,864 31 491 7,150 35 529 225 183 162 224 4 46,104 19,520 496,527 19,351 393 25,121 582 386 19,014 479 31 37 • • ... 18,477 42 18,891 27 7,050 7,888 85 56 94 69 ■ . . ,. 300 322 526,817 $ 572,763 Whale and other fish. Value. 33,085 122,740 79 3,833 350,324 $11,018 36,907 50 1,899 115,647 1,085,878 13,057 3,577 278,848 496,049 80,853 6,123 4,515 176 7,855 32,092 21,063 2,675 3,804 84 960 4,087 2,556 143,553 5,622 2,042 1,970 2,014 1,340 6,355 200 126 920 1,529 158 63,008 335 362,188 4 ,9 0 4 1,392 91,460 170,941 27,934 2,127 1,839 119 3,880 15,762 13,941 1,682 1,172 53 432 1,720 931 69,561 2,339 708 508 644 549 3 ,064 140 50 435 669 103 18,588 241 2,783,480 $965,597 It also appears that 1,198,250 pounds of whalebone, valued at $331,714, and 503,911 pounds of spermaceti candles, valued at $159,403, were exported during the same pe riod to the above named countries. i ---------------------------------------------------------------- EXPORT OF BRITISH WOOLEN MANUFACTURES. From a return made to an order of the House of Commons, it appears that the de clared value of British woolen manufactures exported from the United Kingdom in the year 1849 was £ 7,3 42 ,7 2 3 , upwards of one-third of which was to the United States o f America. The next largest recipient was the Hanseatic Towns, to which goods were sent to the value of £ 6 5 8 ,4 1 3 . Holland received goods to the value of £ 4 3 2 ,3 3 1 ; 329 Commercial Statistics. Italy, of £403,244; China, of £370,879; the British North American Colonies, of £354,147, Ac., Ac. France imporied British goods to the value of £131,436 ; Russia, of £70,672; Prussia, of £7,692; Turkey, of £142,859; Spain and the Canaries, of £42,492, Ac., Ac. Foreign and colonial sheep and lambs’ wool to the amount of 75,113,347 lbs. was imported into the United Kingdom in 1849, New South Wales sending more than double the quantity sent by any other country. The Hanseatic Towns sent 14,789,570 lb s ; the Cape of Good Hope, 5,377,495 lbs.; Van Diemen’s Land, 4,999,043 lb s; Russian ports in the Black Sea, 4,786,120 lbs.; British territo ries in India, 4,182,853 lbs., Ac., Ac. Of 12,324,415 lbs. re-exported from the United Kingdom, more than nine million pounds were sent to Belgium. The export of British sheep and lambs’ wool in 1849 amounted to 11,200,472 lbs., and of British woolen and worsted yarn to 11,773,020 lbs. Wool of the Alpaca and Llama tribe to the amount of 1,655,300 lbs. was imported, and 126,082 lbs. of it re-exported to European countries. 2,536,039 lbs. of Mohair (or goats’ wool) were imported, and 130,145 lbs. o f it re-exported. IMPORTS OF SUGAR INTO THE UNITED STATES. COMPILED FOE THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE FROM THE REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF THE TREASURY ON COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE Brown. Danish West Indies................. H o lla n d ................................... Dutch West In dies................. Dutch East Indies.................... Dutch Guiana.......................... Belgium..................................... British East Indies.................. British West Indies................. British American Colonies__ Canada ..................................... French West Indies................. Manilla, e tc............................... Cuba.......................................... . Other Spanish West Indies... . H ayti......................................... Mexico....................................... New Granada........................... Venezuela................................. B ra zil........................................ China......................................... Asia generally......................... Africa generally....................... Total. Pounds. Value. 2,696,899 36,710 737,855 122,836 209,755 $97,689 1,255 17,459 5,428 4,239 82,705 1,245,492 1,637 12,927 1,983 6,649,132 179,754,020 51,412,387 4,617 212 15,493 302,206 9,516,004 1,060,372 2,983 260 1,374 30,749 42 529 76 200,434 5,600,621 1,437,935 76 16 1,020 8,941 355,764 29,824 135 10 253,815,485 $7,793,616 » 30TH, 1849. W hite, clayed, or p ow d ’ d. Pounds. Value. 75,182 $3,596 84,603 4,226 3,257,724 70,779 152,073 1,820 1,615,453 59,492 5,103,741 $221,206 IMPORT OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED STATES. A STATEMENT OF THE QUANTITY AND VALUE OF COFFEE IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30TH, 1849, COMPILED FOR THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE FROM THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY ON COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. Hanse Towns . . . . Holland................. Dutch W. Indies.. Dutch E. Indies.. . Dutch Guiana___ British E. Indies .. British W. Indies.. Manilla, etc........... Cuba....................... Total Pounds. 714 2,554,092 18,196 4,208,078 21,540 194,884 665,092 428,041 4,000,986 Value. 56 200,353 949 232,302 1,517 10,050 33,009 28,041 221,168 Pounds. Value. 302,367 $18,684 13,384,474 649,134 New Granada.. . . 28,783 1,731 V enezuela............ 16,685,308 864,996 Brazil.................... 122,581,183 6,776,727 Chili....................... 127,200 8,790 Asia....................... 4,030 45,300 6,915 88,462 Oth. Spanish W. I. 165,334,700 9,058,352 33 0 Commercial Statistics. A PROFITABLE COMMISSION BUSINESS. The Liverpool S t a n d a r d pualishes the following account of sales of nett proceeds of sixteen crates earthenware, received per Treaty, from Rio de Janeiro, for account of the concerned, as follows:— 16 crates earthernware for........................................ $450.00 CHARGES. Entry at custom-house, <Scc...................................................................... 15.00 17.50 Certificate of landing...................... Duties on the same......................................................................... .......... 151.80 Freight and primage............................................................................... 319.50 Lighterage on the same........................................................................... 87.00 Cartage and wharfage.............................................................................. 15.00 Incidental expenses, boat-hire, & c .......................................................... 11.95 Premium on coin, $617.85 at 6 per cent................................................ 37.07 Interest on $718.52— 3Jms., at 5 per cent............................................ 113.57 Storage, 3 months..................................................................................... 95.00 Commission to the house 6 per ct. 1 Deleredere do. 5 per ct. >•20 per ct................................ 90.00 Supercargo’s commission, 10 per c t ) 953.39 $503.39 Per 31st Jan., 1850, to debit of the concerned.................................... The “ account sales” are dated “ San Francisco, 31st January, 1850,” and the result of the sale may “ point a moral” to many an intending adventurer to California. BRITISH TRADE IN FOREIGN WINES AND SPIRITS. The annual circular of Messrs. Matthew, Clark, cfc Sons contains a Parliamentary re turn, moved for at the instance of their firm, of the imports and deliveries in detail of foreign wines and spirits for the United Kingdom during the years 1848 and 1849. As regards wine, the importations for 1849, which amount to 7,970,067 gallons, show an increase, as compared with the preceding year, of 433,537 gallons, the increase on the deliveries for home consumption being 116,315 gallons. With respect to spirits, the total importation of rum, in 1849, was 5,306,827 gallons, showing a decrease of 1,552,154 gallons. In the home consumption, however, there was an increase of 52,883 gallons. The returns, as to brandy, show, in both cases, a large augmentation. The total importation in 1849 was 4,479,549 gallons, against 2,429,089 gallohs in the pre ceding year; and the home consumption was 2,187,358 gallons, against 1,609,004 gal lons. Of Geneva, the importation was 471,232 gallons, which is an increase of 105,505 gallons; the home delivery showing also an increase of 3,178 gallons. Of British spirits generally, the consumption in 1849 was 22,962,012 gallons, which is an increase of 727,633 gallons, this increase being from Great Britain; Ireland showing a decrease of 99,600 gallons. The following is the proportion per cent which each description of wine bears to the total home consumption of all sorts for the year 1849:— Cape, 3.87 ; French, 5.30; Portugal, 42.36 ; Spanish, 39.16 ; Madeira, 1.14; Rhenish, 0.74; Canary, 0.32; Sicilian and other sorts, 7.11; total, 100.00. With regard to the total stocks of wine and spirits in bond on the 1st of January, it appears that the stock of wine was 8,983,557 gallons, being 235,712 gallons less than last year, and that the stock of spirits was 8,998,174 gallons, which is an increase of 1,034,473 gallons. COMPARATIVE NAVIGATION OF LONDON, LIVERPOOL, AND GLASGOW. The comparative statement of the number of British ships, with their tonnage, which have entered inwards, and cleared outwards, from and to places within the limits of the East India Company’s charter, from the 1st of January to the 30th of June, in the years 1849 and 1850, has just been issued by the British government. It appears, from the statistics of the entries inwards, that the return for the port of London pre sents an increase on the last half year of seven vessels, with 11,646 tonnage, the re spective numbers being 306 vessels, with 148,134 tonnage; and 313 vessels, with 169,780 tonnage. In the case of Liverpool, the increase is 12 vessels, with 10,061 ton nage— the difference between 110 vessels, with 53,760 tonnage, and 98 vessels, with 43,699 tonnage. The return for the Clyde and other ports, presents an increase of 9 vessels, with 3,830 tonnage— the figures for 1849 being 24 vessels, with 7,927 tonnage; and for 1850, 33 vessels, with 11,757 tonnage. Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance. 331 JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE. CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF RHODE ISLAND. W e are indebted to His Excellency, Henry B. Anthony, Governpr of Rhode Islandfor the report of the Secretary of State, exhibiting the condition of the banks of the State of Rhode Island, on the 22d of September, 1849. This document is made from the returns to the General Assembly at its annual session, in compliance with the act of June, 1849. From this document we extract the aggregate of twenty-three banks in Providence, and thirty-eight banks out, as follows :— Resources of the banks. Debts due from directors....................... Debts due from stockholders................ Debts due from all others..................... Specie actually in bank......................... Bills of other banks................................ Deposits in other banks......................... Amount of its own stock held by bank Amount of other stocks owned by bank Real estate............................................... Other property........................................ 38 banks out o f Providence. Total, 61 banks. 00 $3,079,602 50 $11,297,552 50 2,525,549 25 25 1,178,857 00 126,034 91 96 28,385 95 1,282,714 65 39 366,661 26 588,295 68 53 34,884 15 28,396 42 30 11,539 12 684,563 58 06 190,645 52 49 $4,890,575 50 $16,533,106 99 CO VO Total amount of liabilities........... 23 bank in Providence $8,217,950 1,346,692 97,648 916,053 553,411 16,857 493,918 of Due from the banks. Capital stock actually paid in............... Bills in circulation................................... Deposits on interest............................... Deposits not on interest......................... Debts due to other banks..................... Dividends unpaid......... ........................ .. Net profits on hand................................. 281,962 287,595 10,104,315 181,454 839,286 213,632 34,938 41,354 152,875 6,116 41 30 58 13 09 89 50 15 69 75 447,288 250,484 3,450,863 109,841 104,159 271,285 50,210 114,125 83,734 8,591 93 59 57 43 06 29 26 48 91 98 $729,251 538,079 13,555,169 291,295 443,445 484,918 85,148 155,479 236,610 13,708 34 89 15 56 15 18 76 63 60 73 Total amount of resources........... $11,642,531 49 $4,890,575 50 $16,533,106 99 Bills in circulation................. ............... Increase of capital since last return.. . Amount of dividend............................... Suspended paper, bad or doubtful___ Reserved profits at time of last dividend Amount loaned on pledges of stock. . . Stock as collateral security for loans.. . Debts due and not p a id ......................... $483,290 25 58,962 50 282,643 33 71,248 13 304,453 33 115,112 50 2,000" 00 177,551 42 $299,512 52,462 104,076 82,429 122,107 219,357 39,955 310,135 50 50 35 84 42 76 68 09 $782,802 111,425 386,719 153,677 426,560 334,470 41,955 487,686 Average semi-annual dividend of banks in Providence................................... “ “ “ out o f Providence............................. “ “ “ aH the banks................................................ 75 00 68 97 75 26 68 51 3.439 3.319 3 .4 STATE MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY. The fifth annual report of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, of Worcester, (Massachusetts,) has been published. It exhibits a very satisfactory statement of the condition of the company at the close of the fifth year of its business transactions, June 1, 1850. It appears from this report that the number of policies issued in the year ending June 1, 1850, was 315 ; the amount at risk, 12,243,375. The receipts of the company during the same period for premiums amounted to $51,162 59 ; and for interest, $9,419 68— showing a total of $60,535 50. The net assets of the company on the 1st of June, 1849, amounted to $107,163 33, making the total assets on the 1st 332 Journal o f B anking , Currency , and Finance. o f June, 1850, $167,135 50. After paying losses, ($14,300,) interest on guarantee capita], salaries of officers, <fcc., commissions to agents, premiums returned to assured on policies surrendered, amounting in all to $23,308, the company show a balance of net assets, on the 1st of June, 1850, o f $144,427. The funds of the company, including the guarantee-capital stock paid in, are invest ed as follows:— Loans on mortgage of real estate................................................................. Loans on personal securities and stocks...................................................... Balances in the hands of agents.................................................................... Cash in the hands of the Treasurer.............................................................. $58,725 17,121 4,505 4,074 00 68 92 31 The leading items of the business of the company in the four preceding years are exhibited in the following table, given in the report for the year ending June 1, 1849 : ABSTRACT OF POLICIES FOR FOUR TEARS. No. of policies. 1st y ea r 530 2d u 440 u 3d 547 4th u 316 1,893 Am ’t of risk. $ 900,725 674,020 863,050 507,500 Notes. $3,446 21 2,811 65 3,551 04 1,973 92 Deposit. $ 861 77 689 70 903 32 492 89 Premiums. $14,291 94 11,430 38 14,965 09 8,172 58 Fees. $ 138 00 88 00 87 00 126 00 Total cash. $15,291 71 12,208 08 15,955 41 8,791 47 2,945,295 11,782 83 2,947 68 48,859 99 439 00 52,246 67 In regard to the premium notes required by this company the directors remark in their report, by way of explanation:— “ The cash premiums of this company are calculated on the most approved tables of the probability of life, at the lowest rates which were deemed safe, and in addition to these cash premiums, cash deposits of 6 per cent on these premiums is demanded to defray the expenses of-management. As there was some apprehension that the reduction of the cash premiums below the prices heretofore demanded would not furn ish funds to meet the liabilities of the company, it was determined to require also from the assured a premium note, the amount of which is calculated as follows :— Notes on lives between the ages of 15 and 25, amount to 15 per cent on the cash premiums paid; from the ages of 25 to 45, the notes amount to 25 per cent; and above the age o f 45, the notes amount to 30 per cent on the cash premium paid. These notes are taken to provide for a possible deficiency in the amount of the cash premiums, but in the five past years the cash premiums have been found to be sufficient, and no demand has been made on the premium notes.” This company has a guarantee cash capital of $100,000, the interest on which is limited to 7 per cent per annum. LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK. W e are indebted to Henry T. Fairland, the Secretary of the London and Westmin ster Bank, for a copy of the report of the directors of that institution to the proprie tors at the half-yearly meeting, held July 17th, 1850. From this report it appears that the net profits of the last half-year amounts to £33,339. Out of these profits the directors have declared a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, leaving £3,339 to be added to the surplus fund. That fund now amounts to £111,183. Most o f our readers are aware that this bank and its branches are under the general management of J a m e s W i l l i a m G i l b a r t , F. R. S., the author of a “ Practical Treatise on Banking,” “ Lectures on Ancient Commerce,” etc., and a gentleman of rare accomplishments as a practical banker. The progress of the bank, however, furnishes the best evidence of its efficient and judicious management. The following table, showing the amount of paid-up capital, annual profits, dividends, and surplus fund of the London and West minster Bank on the 31st of December in each alternate year, from the opening of the Journal o f Banicing , Currency, and Finance. 333 bank, conclusively exhibits the remarkable success of the institution. from “ Gilbarts’ Practical Treatise on Banking,” (vol. ii, page 469.) Years. 1 8 3 4 ... . . 1 8 3 6 .. . 1 8 3 8 ... 1 8 4 0 ... 1 8 4 2 .. . 1 8 4 4 .. . 1 8 4 6 ... 1 8 4 8 .. . 1 8 4 9 .. . Paid-up capital. £ 18 2 ,2 5 5 0 0 597,255 0 0 597,280 0 0 800,000 800,000 998,768 £1,000,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Profits of the year. £ 3 ,5 4 0 6 6 1 32,483 14 43,635 12 11 8 10 48,951 55,118 14 2 51,081 18 11 72,175 15 9 0 62,076 65,120 17 7 4 7 £ 753,771 0 Dividends. £ 2 ,3 3 4 18 1 29,864 0 0 29,864 0 0 35,836 16 0 48,000 0 0 48,000 0 0 ( 48,000 0 0 ( 16.000 Bonus. 60,000 0 0 60,000 0 0 £ 6 4 5 ,9 2 6 10 1 It is derived Surplus fund. £1,205 8 5 0 6 4,527 20,839 4 1 48,215 3 11 63,126 10 10 69,904 15 4 98,424 12 1 102,723 16 11 107,844 14 6 £ 1 0 7 ,8 4 4 14 6 LEADING FEATURES OF THE BANKS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. W e publish below a comparative statement o f the leading features of such of the banks of South Carolina as have accepted the provisions of the act of December 18th 1840, from returns made to the Controller of that State, July 31st, 1850. We also subjoin the amount of the capital of six banks in South Carolina which have not ac cepted the act referred to above, and which only make their reports annuaUy:— ASSETS. Loans and discounts. Exchange. Bank o f the State of South Carolina. ___ Branch, Columbia............................... ___ “ Camden................................. ___ South-western Railroad B a n k ........... ___ Planters and Mechanics’ Bank........... ___ Union Bank.......................................... ___ State B a n k .......................................... ___ Bank of South Carolina..................... 11,437,051 896,356 360,646 352,138 826,620 746,464 990,834 Specie. $429,423 9,361 1,170 282,784 249,564 167,693 322,039 411,231 $330,116 5,003 1,945 147,507 353,562 102,554 154,776 79,075 Total.............................................. ___ $6,351,932 $1,873,265 $1,174,538 LIABILITIES. Capital. Circulation. Deposits. Bank of the State of South Carolina. ___ $1,122,461 $1,097,842 South-western Railroad Bank............. ___ Planters and Mechanics’ Bank............ Union Bank........................................... State B a n k ........................................... Bank of South Carolina.......................___ 869,425 478,755 511,990 156,425 407,489 172,443 $622,055 112,988 29,491 223,345 315,449 246,205 326,115 428,985 $2,824,944 $2,304,633 Total............................................... 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 The foUowing (being the balance of the banks in South Carolina) have not accepted the act referred to above, and only make their reports annually:— Bank of Charleston.......................................................... capital 13,290,000 Commercial Bank, Columbia...................................................... 600,000 Bank of Camden........................................................................... 300,000 “ Hamburg............................ 500,000 “ Georgetown................................... 200,000 , Merchants’, South Carolina, Cheraw.......................................... 400,000 Total................................. ..................................................... Capital of banks that are required to make monthly reports to the Controller........................................................................ Banking capital in South Carolina............................................. 15,290,000 5,501,820 $10,797,820 33 4 Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance. COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL PROGRESS OF GREAT BRITAIN. A correspondent of the R a i l w a y T i m e s has gathered the following comprehensive statement, from new works published in London since the commencement of I860, for the purpose of exhibiting the fact that, while the United States is advancing the mother country is by no means stationary:— The expenses of administration in Great Britain since 1818 have been reduced by— A retrenchment in the appropriation for the army o f ................................. “ “ “ “ navy....................................... “ “ “ “ ordnance............................... “ “ “ “ miscellaneous....................... “ “ “ “ extraordinary expenses . . . £98,000 980,000 744,000 181,000 1,100,000 Total..................................................................................................... £3,103,000 The excess of income over expenses in 1849 has been........................... ; . The balance in the Exchequer, January, I860, was................................... 2,098,000 9,748,000 Since the peace of 1815, the annual charge of the debt of England has been re duced from £32,938,741 to £28,323,961. This charge will be further reduced in 1867 £3,924,000, by the termination of annuities in which the same is funded. This will be equivalent to the extinguishment o f one-fonrth of the entire debt. Since 1815 the population of Great Britain has increased 48 per cent. The amount of tonnage from 2,616,000 tons to 4,052,000 tons. The value of real and personal es tate from £2,000,000,000 to £3,600,000,000. The annual exports from £36,000,000 to £58,848,000. The investment in railways has been £200,000,000. Since 1815 the progress of the country has enabled the government at various pe riods to remit taxes to the amount per annum of £37,000,000. During the same time the revenue has, in the aggregate of thirty-five years, exceeded the expenses and in terest of the debt by £36,000,000. The agricultural productions of Great Britain are annually £180,000,000, of which one-third is grain— the residue cattle, sheep, wool, roots, dairy produce, <fcc. The progress of Great Britain under the burthen of an oppressive debt and taxation is highly encouraging; and as the weight of that debt is now reduced more than onehalf by the growth of wealth, population, and commerce, and consequent repeal of taxes, we may reasonably anticipate a more rapid progress for the future. The repeal of the duty on grain has undoubtedly depressed the value of all cereal products; but to compensate this the duties on grass seed, oil cake, and manure have been abolished, great improvements made in agriculture, and the cost of transporta tion between the farm and the market greatly reduced by the creation of the railroad system. Some of the productions of the farm, for instance, wool and horses, are now higher than they have been for a series of years in England. In the ten years, from 1839 to 1849, the increase in the metropolitan districts of London have been:—Increase of population, 324,000 ; new houses erected, 64,000; miles of new streets, 200. The annual rental of London is now £10,000,000. BANK CIRCULATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. The circulation returns of the several banks of issue in the United Kingdom, for the month ending the 15th June, 1850, and for the corresponding period of 1849, have been as follows:— June 15th, 1850. Bank of Fngland.................................................... Private banks......................................................... Joint-stock banks................................................... Total in England............................................ Scotland................................................................... Ireland..................................................................... United Kingdom £19,220,639 3,553,041 2,745,227 25,518,907 3,471,528 4,241,811 £33,232,246 June 16th, 1849. £18,231,040 3,615,657 2,661,306 24,407,903 3,380,902 4,046,475 £31,835,280 Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance. 335 PROPOSED NEW COINS OF THE UNITED STATES. The weight of the cent piece is only 25 grains, while that of the copper cent is 168 grains. The hole in the center, which makes the coin annular, beside affording a dis tinguishing mark by which it can be recognized in the pocket, will also render it diffi cult to be counterfeited. The weight o f the three cent piece is 12f grains. This coin is proposed as a con venient adaptation to the prices of many things, and to making change ; but there is also a special object contemplated in relation to it. The country is weary of the wornout Spanish money, which, for the last century nearly, has had so prominent a place in its currency, and which is ill adapted to our decimal system. A t the same time, every plan for forcing them to the crucible, as long as people hold them at their nomi nal value, or even a slight fraction under it, is sure to fail. The only resource left is to c o a x them to-the mint, by exchanging them at the nominal value for national coin. This, however, could not be done with justice to the public treasury, without issuing, as many countries do, a minor coin, with a legal valuation somewhat higher than the intrinsic; as the present cent is, and as the new cent will also be. The director of the mint issued circulars last winter to dealers in various parts of the country, and from the answers it appears that there are now six millions of dol lars worth of small Spanish silver in our currency. The following is the total amount of small American silver coined to the beginning of this year:— In quarter dollars................................................................................ In dimes......................................................... In half-dimes.................................................................................................. $3,713,075 3,311,710 1,595,975 Total.................................................................................................... $8,620,760 The weight of the proposed three-cent piece is so adjusted as to enable the govern ment to make the exchange without loss to itself, and there will be none to the party applying. The bill provides that the three cent piece shall be paid out at the mint, and its branches, in exchange for those and some other varieties of small foreign silver coins current among us, but f o r n o other k i n d s o f coin or bullion. GOLD COINAGE OF THE UNITED STATES AUNT, PHILADELPHIA. Colonel Snowden, the Superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia, has furnished the Inquirer with the following particulars in relation to the gold coin age. The total amount of California gold received thus far at the Philadelphia Mint, and at the New Orleans Mint, is $20,934,310. UNITED STATES MINT, PHILADELPHIA. Gold deposits received in July, 1850....................................................... Gold coinage, same period......................................................................... Silver deposits, “ Silver coinage, “ Copper coinage, “ ......................................................................... Amount of gold deposits received in 1850 ............................................ “ “ coinage for 1850........... ................................................. “ silver deposits received in 1850........................................... “ “ coinage for 1850.......................................................... “ copper coinage for 1850 ...................................................... Total amount of California gold received at the Philadelphia M int.. Ditto at Branch Mint at New Orleans.................................................... $2,600,000 1,927,835 40,837 24,860 1,236 13,791,210 12,669,466 286,342 224,037 8,183 18,350,000 2,584,310 00 00 14 00 03 81 50 62 14 90 00 00 CALIFORNIA STATE DEBT AND REVENUE. “ W e have no means at hand,” says the California Courier, “ to get hold of the State debt and the receipts into the Treasury, since the organization of the govern ment. The debt, however, cannot be far from $650,000, while the receipts to date are not over $ 150,000. The taxes have been levied by the Legislature without judgment The miners’ tax on foreigners has been as yet the principal source of revenue; but that tax being $20 for each man per month, renders this means of raising money a Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance. 336 total failure. Most of the foreigners are abandoning the mines. As yet the assessors over the State have not completed their labors, and on this account but few collectors have commenced their work. If all the revenue should be collected as provided for by the tax bill, the amount would exceed that of the State of New York.” CALIFORNIA GOLD DUST. The California Courier publishes the following statement in regard to the amount of gold exported, and on hand to July 1st, 1850:— Amount on hand in San Francisco and Sacramento, is estimated at. To leave by the steamer.......................................................................... $2,000,000 00 800,000 00 Still on hand................................................................................. $ 1,200,000 00 Estimated amount shipped to the United States to July 1 ............... By the Pacific Mail Steamers from April 11,1819, to June 1, 1850.................................................... $13,329,318 62 By passengers.......................................................... 5,000,000 00 In all other vessels.................................................. 4,610,621 38 T o ta l............................................................ ................................. Of this amount the house of Adams & Co. have shipped to date. . . 23,000,000 00 23,000,000 00 1,438,926 08 Clean gold is held at $16 a $16 25. SAN FRANCISCO CITY FINANCES. W e copy from the San Francisco papers the subjoined statement of the finances of that city:— The condition of all the records of the city renders a correct statement of its affairs totally impossible. As far as it is intelligible, we make it thus:— Amount due on the 3d instalment, for the sale of city lots, July 1, 1850. $101,602 00 Due on the 4th instalment, October 3, 1850......................................... . 101,602 00 Total..................................................................................................... $215,204 00 The admitted debt, as per Controller’s statement, up to May 8th, 1850, including the purchase of the Graham house, i s ...................................... 199,114 19 Excess over liabilities........................................................................... $16,029 81 AMENDMENT TO THE BANKING LAW OF NEW YORK. The Legislature of New York passed at its last session the following “ act to amend the act entitled an act to amend the act entitled an act to authorize the Business of Banking,” passed May 14th, 1840. The present act was passed April 10th, 1850, and was to take effect, as will be seen by the last section, immediately after its passage:— S ection 1. The fourth section of the act entitled “ an Act to amend an Act entitled an A ct to authorize the Business of Banking,” passed May 14th, 1840, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:—No banking association, or individual banker, as such shall issue or put in circulation any bill or note of said association or individual banker, unless the same shall be made payable on demand, and without interest, except bills of exchange on foreign countries, or places beyond the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States, which bills may be made payable at or within the customary usance, or at or within ninety days sight; and every violation of this section by any officer or member of a banking association, or by any individual banker, shall be deemed and adjudged a misdemeanor, punish able by fine or imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the court having cognizance thereof. S ection 2. This act shall take effect immediately. Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance. 33V THE SCOTCH EXCHANGE BANKS. Amongst the train of evils which have followed the disastrous decadence in the market value of railway shares, one has borne with peculiar severity on Scotland; al though indirectly many parties on this side of the Tweed have been, and are, involved with the sufferers. We refer to the failure of the “ Exchange Banks,” than which noth ing has happened more commercially disastrous for Scotland for at least a quarter of a century. These banks were the direct result of the railway mania. In 1844, when it com menced, the effect of the demand for calls was unforeseen by the greater portion of the speculators. They entered into the wildest and most extravagant undertakings, with out attempting to estimate their capability o f fulfilling their engagements. Calls were to be paid by the sale of shares, and the sale of shares was, in every case, to bring an enormous profit to the operator. Towards the end o f 1845, and in 1846, more rational views of railway liability began to prevail. The first instalments of calls had been m ade; others were falling d u e; and those who were liable to provide for them began to look around for the means by which they were to obtain the temporary loan of funds for the purpose. Of course the loans were only required for a short period. The market had become flat. The holders of shares could not realize quite so large a profit by the immediate sale of stock as they expected, and intended to obtain; and temporary accommodation was required to enable these holders to meet present de mands, without sacrificing their profits by selling shares. Accordingly, the banks were besieged by applicants for advances. Some of the banks in the country saw no objec tions to make the loans, and did s o ; but the majority of bankers, from the first, were shy of railway property. They could not exactly see their way to its ultimate value; and though it might greatly advance, they rather believed that it would fall. Hence the applications for loans on railway shares were generally declined; and some large railway capitalists determined, in consequence, to attempt the formation of a bank, for the express purpose of lending its capital and deposits on railway shares. This was the commencement of the exchange banks. When the proposal was made known, the Scotch public eagerly adopted it. In the course of five or six months, half a dozen exchange banks had been projected, and were in course of formation. The Scotch, who had been the last to feel the influence of the railway mania, were more severely affected by it than any other portion of the community; and they were, perhaps, more in want of the accommodation which the exchange banks were intended to afford. The principles on which these banks commenced were, that they would make ad vances on the deposit of railway stock o f every description, provided that a fair mar gin was kept between the amount of the advance and the market value of the shares, and that they would also act as banks of deposit for those who wished to have their spare capital invested at a fixed rate of interest; the rate given by these banks being higher than that paid by ordinary bankers. In a short time the banks were full of business. Those who had been wise enough to keep their capital disengaged from railway shares, purchased the shares of the ex change banks, and not a few of those who had been so fortunate as to realize money by their railway speculations did the same thing. A very respectable proprietary for nearly all the banks was therefore obtained, and the directors began to make advances on shares, and to receive money on deposits. The first half-yearly meetings were of the most satisfactory character. The business was described as pre-eminently safe. I f a loan was made, a railway security was deposited, which could, at any time, be sold and realize more than the advance; for there was a large margin kept to provide for contingencies. Then the rate of interest taken for these loans was a little higher than the ordinary bank rates. A railway speculator did not mind 1 or 2 per cent above the market rate of discount, if he could obtain the money when he wanted it. Hence the dividends declared were highly satisfactory to the shareholders, and the stock com manded a premium; for there were bonuses in prospect, which must, of course, be cal culated upon in estimating the value of the shares. So things continued for some time. When the crash came in the railway market, it made some o f the shareholders look grave, but still the m a r g i n on the loans was a sheet-anchor, which, it was hoped, would prevent any injury to the banks. Unfortunately, it turns out that this sheet-anchor only existed in idea; or where it actually did exist, the directors have allowed it to slip from them, so that the astound ing fact has now been made known to the shareholders, that all these b a n k s are insolVOL. XX III.— n o . h i. 22 Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance. 338 and that the most fortunate of them -will lose four-fifths of their entire paid-up capital; in other words, a shareholder who invested £ 100, will, perhaps, be able to ob tain a return of £20, when the concern is finally wound up.— L o n d o n Atlas. vent; THE VALUE OF GOLD AND SILVER. W e copy from the London E c o n o m i s t the following letter addressed to the editor of that journal. Without, perhaps, imparting any new light on a subject of great gen eral interest, it may lead to suggestions o f importance, at the present time. g IBj— Those persons who consider that the value of our currency i n E n g l a n d may be affected by extraordinarily large imports of gold from California or elsewhere, must be presumed to be ignorant of the incontrovertible fact which heretofore has not been much, if at all, noticed, but whose effects have been silently in operation ever since value was first calculated by m o n e y . 1st. That value is estimated f r o m a unit, or one, i n n u m b e r , as a symbol. 2nd. That a s y m b o l invariably denotes a n other thing. 3rd. That things w h i c h are e q u a l to the s a m e t hing are equal to o n e another. T h e unit o f time for instance, as a number, we acknowledge, is equally one, whether it be figured fractionally by centuries, years, days, hours, minutes, or moments— it is a unit__the unit of time. Talmudian, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindoo, or Gregorian numbers, in time, when summed up respectively, denote but one and the same— unit i n time. T h e unit o f value, as a n u m b e r , is equally one, whether figured as a fraction or as a series of fractions, it is still but o n e w hole— a unit o f value. England says that 1 ounce of Troy weight of gold, of a certain purity, denotes in value £3 17s. 10|d. France says that 1 kilogramme of gold, of a certain purity, denotes in value 3094 francs. Spain says that 1 ounce of Spanish weight of gold, of a certain purity, denotes a certain number o f Spanish dollars in value. The United States of North America, Mexico, Peru, and Chili, and every country in the civilized w o r l d respectively say that a given weight and p u r i t y o f gold or silver denotes a unit, or o n e ; which again may be denoted by certain other numbers, or figures, or signs, which serve as symbols to represent value. Everyw h e r e , in every country, figures, as numbers, are s y mbols designed to denote another thing. E v erywhere, in every language, words are s y m bols designed to denote a n other thing. Our Bullion Bill of 1819 is grounded upon, and may be upheld against, all controversalist opponents by these truths; and as long as the human understanding sees reason to believe that p u r i t y in quality and weight can be eliminated from gold and silver more perfectly than from other metals, or from other matter, so long will it be found that, in every country throughout the world, those metals will be availed of by man as his s t a n d a r d unit, or s t a n d a r d one, o f value. FINANCES OF THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY. It appears by the home accounts of the East India Company, that the total receipts of the company for the year ending the 30th April, 1850, including a balance in hand on the 1st of May, 1849, of £1,344,431, was £6,390,526 ; and the disbursements £4 283,541, leaving a balance in favor o f £2,106,977. The estimated receipt of the home treasury of the company, from the 1st of May. 1850, to 30th of April, 1851, is, including the above balance, £5,872,977 ; and the disbursements £4,223,207, leaving it is presumed, a balance on the 30th of April, 1851, of £1,649,770. The debts of the company in England, on the 1st of May, 1850, were £5,328,240; and the credits £4,177,163, leaving debts in excess to the amount of £1,151,077. The salaries and allowances paid by the directors on account of the establishments of the company in England in the year ending 1st of May, 1850, was 126,304 ; and the number of persons employed was 512. Commercial Regulations. 339 COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. OF THE TEMPORARY ISSUE OF PAPERS TO VESSELS OF THE UNITED STATES. CIRCULAR TO COLLECTORS AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS. T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t , July 25th, 1850. In consequence of frequent inquiries addressed to this Department, respecting the issue of temporary papers to vessels of the United States, in the cases provided for by law, it is deemed proper to make it the subject of a special circular, in order that the legal requirements may be complied with at the several ports of the United States, and the proper uniformity of practice be maintained. With this view, an extract from the circular of the first Controller of the Treasury, under date of the 25th of August, 1823, and a circular from the same office, under date of the 29th of August, 1794, are subjoined, to which the attention of the proper officers of the customs is directed for their information and government. TH O M A S CO RW IN , Secretary o f the Treasury. Extract from Treasury circular, dated Treasury Department, Controller’s Office, August 25th, 1823. “ Having reason to know, that notwithstanding the instructions communicated in a circular from this Department, under date o f the 29th of August, 1794, there still exists a diversity of practice, in the course pursued, when the enrollment and license of a vessel expire whilst she is absent from the district to which she belongs, it has been concluded to subjoin hereto a copy of the circular in question, to which your particular attention is requested. “ According to that letter, a t e m p o r a r y certificate of registry is to be granted for such vessel, with which she is to proceed on her voyage ; and according to the third section of the act for enrolling and licensing vessels, passed the 18th of February, 1793, such certificate of registry is required to be surrendered within ten days after the ar rival of the vessel within the district to which she belongs, and in no case is a surrender to be made before such arrival; but, if it is understood, that in some districts t e m p o r a r y certificates of registry are received by collectors of districts, other than those to which the vessels belong, and t e m p o r a r y enrollments and licenses issued in lieu of them, which is considered to be irregular. “ There are cases, however, in which the law requires t e m p o r a r y enrollments and li censes to be issued. For instance, when an enrolled vessel is purchased by an agent, being in a district more than fifty miles distant, taking the nearest usual route by land, from the one comprehending the port to which, by virtue of such purchase, and by force of the provisions of law, such vessel is to be deemed to belong; when the en rollment of a vessel shall have been lost, destroyed, or mislaid, and she shaU be in a district other than the one to which she belongs, die. “ It therefore becomes proper that due attention be paid that the requisite discrim ination be made in the different cases aUuded to.” CIRCULAR TO THE COLLECTORS, NAVAL OFFICERS, AND SURVEYORS. T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t , C o n t r o l l e r ’ s O ffice , A u gu st 29th , 1794. It is understood to be the opinion of some of the officers of the customs that the penalties imposed by the sixth section of the act concerning the enrolling and licensing of vessels, do not extend to the case of a vessel which may depart from a port of the United States with a license which shaU have expired during the absence of such ves sel from her proper district; or in other words, that a license, although the term for which it was granted be expired, is sufficient to protect a vessel from the penalties of the law, during her absence from and until her return to the district to which she be longs. This opinion being erroneous, and having a tendency to create embarrassments in the execution of the law, requires to be corrected. The true construction is, that the penalties of the sixth section extend to all vessels except such as are registered, which may be found employed in the coasting trade or fisheries, without a license in force, and the exemption in the proviso respects only the case of a vessel whose license shall have expired while such vessel w a s at sea, or o n her p a s s a g e f r o m o n e district to another. Commercial Regulations. 340 It cannot, therefore, be safe or proper for a vessel, not being registered, to depart from any port without a license in force. When a vessel is in this predicament, w i t h out her p r o p e r district, it will be lawful and necessary that her enrollment a n d expired license be surrendered to the collector of the district where she may happen to be, and that she take out a t e m p o r a r y certificate o f registry, with which to proceed on her voyage. The authority for this mode of proceeding is contained in the third section of the law, and it is deemed to be the regular course, as it appears to be the design o f the law that all vessels s h o u l d be licensed in the districts to w h i c h they belong, ex cept in cases where temporary licenses are to be issued to accompany temporary en rollments. The trouble and expense incident to a temporary register may, in most cases, be avoided if the owners will take due care to avail their vessels of new licenses, under the provision contained in the tenth section, whenever the licenses of their vessels are ready to expire, and it is proposed to proceed on voyages of considerable length. As there is reason to believe that vessels have in some instances been subjected to the payment of foreign tonnage duties and others to forfeiture, in consequence of the misconstruction of the law herein noticed, I have to request that the opinion now given may be properly communicated to the owners and masters of vessels employed in the coasting trade and fisheries. It has been made a question, whether the seventh section of the registering act re quires that two sureties should in all cases join in a bond for a certificate of registry, where the master of a vessel is the sole owner. On this point my opinion is, that one sufficient surety will satisfy the law, even though the characters of master and owner concur in the same person. The interests of the public and of individuals being equalley concerned in an im partial and proper execution of the law, I have to request, that all points on which a difference of opinion and practice is known to obtain may be seasonably communicated to this office. I am, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, O L IV E R W OLCO TT. OF PASSENGER VESSELS COMING TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK. The following act passed the Legislature of New York April 10th, 1850. It is en titled “ An A ct to amend the Act entitled 1an Act concerning Passengers in Vessels coming to the city of New York,’ ” passed May 5th, 1847 ; also to amend the act en titled “ An A ct to amend certain Acts concerning Passengers coming to the city of New York, passed April 11th, 1849 :— T h e people o f the State o f N e w as f o l l o w s :— York, represented in S e n a t e a n d A s s e m b l y , d o enact S ection 1. The thirteenth section of the act entitled “ An Act concerning Passengers in Vessels coming to the city of New York,” passed May 5th, 1847, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:— “ Any ship or vessel, whose master or commander, owner or owners, shall have in curred any penalty or forfeiture under this act, or under the act of 11th April, 1849, amending the same, entitled ‘ An Act to amend certain Acts concerning Passengers coming to the city of New York,’ shall be liable for such penalties or forfeitures, which may be a lien upon such ship or vessel, and may be enforced and collected by warrant of attachment, in the same manner as is provided in title eight of chapter eight of the third part of the Revised Statutes, all the provisions of which title shall apply to the forfeitures and penalties imposed by this a ct; and the said commissioners of emigra tion shall, for the purposes of such attachment, be deemed creditors of such ship or vessel, and of her master or commander, and owner or owners, respectively.” S ection 2. The fifth section of the act entitled “ An A ct to amend certain Acts con cerning Passengers coming to the city of New York,” passed April 11th, 1849, is here by amended so as to read as follows:— “ If any owner or consignee, as aforesaid, shall refuse or neglect to give any such bond or bonds as hereinbefore required, according to the second section of this act, for each person or passenger landing from his ship or vessel, within three days after the landing of such persons or passengers, or shall not within that time have paid the moneys authorized by said second section to be received in cases where such bonds are herein authorized to be commuted for, or shall refuse or neglect to give the bonds re Commercial Regulations. 341 quired by the third section of this act to be given in certain cases, on the requirement of the mayor of the city of New York, or other person discharging the duties of his office, made according to the provisions of said section, within six days after such re quirement being so m ade; every such owner or consignee of such ship or vessel, sev erally and respectively, shall be subject to a penalty of five hundred dollars for each and every person or passenger on whose account such bond may have been required, or for whom such commutation money might have been paid under this act; such pen alty to be sued for as provided for in the twelfth section of the said act hereby amend ed. In every case where any fine, penalty, or forfeiture, shall be incurred by the own er or owners, consignee or consignees, master or commander of any vessel arriving at the port of New York, under any of the provisions of the acts concerning passengers coming to the city of New York, passed 5th May, 1847, and of this act, by reason of their neglect or refusal to give the bonds of any of them, required by law, the consignee o f such passengers, in relation to whom such neglect or refusal shall have occurred, all be liable in the same penalties, and may be sued and recovered against in the same manner as is by law provided in relation to the owner or owners, consignee or consignees of the vessel.” S ection 3. The fifth section of the aforesaid act, passed 5th May, 1847, and amended by the tenth section of the aforesaid act, passed April 11th, 1849, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:— “ In all cases in which minor children of alien passengers shall become orphans by their parents, or last surviving parent dying on the passage to the port of New York, or in the marine hospital, or in any other establishment under the chaige of the commis sioners, the personal property which such parents or parent may have had with them shall be taken in charge by the commissioners of emigration, to be by them appropri ated for the sole benefit of said orphan children; and said commissioners shall give, in their annual report to the Legislature, a minute statement of all cases in which prop erty shall come into their possession by virtue of this section, and the disposition made of the same, unless it shall appear that there are other children or persons, entitled by will, or otherwise, to such property, or a distributive share thereof. Whenever it shall so appear, the portion only to which the said minor orphans would be legally entitled to, shall be applied to their use, and the remainder shall be received, held, and distrib uted to the parties severally entitled thereto, in the same manner, and with the same authority, as by law provided in respect to public administrators. OF THE TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHILI. CIRCULAR TO COLLECTORS AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS. T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t , A p ril 25IA, 1850. This Department has been officially notified by the Secretary of State, under date of the 24th instant, that the treaty between the United States and Chili, of the 16th May, 1832, terminated on the 20th of January last, the notice given by the Minister of Chili, in pursuance of the 31st article of said treaty, having taken effect on that day. In consequence o f the termination of said treaty, the provisions of the laws of the United States which apply to vessels and their cargoes of nations between which and the United States there are no subsisting treaties of commerce and navigation, wiU be applicable to Chilian vessels and their cargoes arriving in ports of the United States from and after the 20th of January, 1850. Chilian vessels will be subject to a ton nage duty of one dollar per ton, (including light-money,) and ten per cent additional duty on their cargoes. W . M . M EREDITH, Secretary o f the Treasury. TELEGRAPH TARIFF ON MORSE’ S LINE TO BOSTON, ETC. 0. J. S m it h , the President of Morse’s Telegraph Company to Boston and Portland, and all intermediate stations, published on the 1st of May, 1850, the follow ing notice, reducing the rates of tariff:— F r a n c is On and after May 1st, 1850, the charges for transmission of ten words (or less) to Boston, or any of the intermediate stations; namely, Stamford, Bridgeport, New Ha ven, Meriden, Middletown, Hartford, Norwich, New London, Springfield, Worcester, Providence, Pawtucket, New Bedford, Bristol, Warren, Woonsocket, Fall River, and 342 Journal o f M ining and M anufactures. Taunton, will be twenty cents, and for each added word, two cents. The charges on the line from Boston to Portland is also reduced to twenty cents for the first ten words, (or less.) and one cent for each added word. The date, address, and signature of com munications are not charged for, and patrons will oblige by giving each in fnll The words “ answer by telegraph ” not charged for. JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES. COTTON MANUFACTURED AT THE WEST.* Most o f our readers have, no doubt, taken more or less interest in the controversy which has been going on, partly in our own pages, respecting the comparative advan tages of steam-power and water-power for manufacturing purposes, and particularly for the cotton manufacture; and in connection with this question, the comparative ad vantages for manufactures of the North and the South. A new party to the contro versy now steps in— the West— and in the pamphlet before us, from the pen of H am ilton S m ith , E sq ., of Louisville, Kentucky, the advantages for manufacturing by steampower presented by the coal-fields of the West, are pointed out with much force. The coal of the West, we must remember, is not the anthracite, to the use of which we of the seaboard are as exclusively accustomed as they are in England to the bituminous kinds; but it is the same bituminous coal which has made England the great iron and cotton manufacturer of the world. There are two great beds of this coal in the United States; one running along the Alleghanies from Pennsylvania to Alabama. The State of Illinois is the other. A t the point where this bed comes to the Ohio River, and enters Kentucky, stands the town of Cannelton, in Perry county, Indiana. A noble factory has already been erect ed there. The coal measures in the immediate vicinity of the town are of great rich ness, and excellent quality. Whether Cannelton, and the enterprises of which it is the pioneer, will be able to sustain the rivalry of England, and New England; whether the advantages of immediate proximity to the cotton-field will countervail the advan tages of great capital, and long experience, time will soon show. But if any reliance can be placed upon calculations— if there is any truth in figures—the following state ments from Mr. Smith’s very able pamphlet, must convince every one of the advantages for manufacturing cotton possessed by Cannelton:— A cotton-mill of 10,000 spindles, and corresponding machinery, for making coarse brown cottons, will require a fixed and working capital of less than $300,000; will operate with 43 men and 229 women and children; will require say 50,000 bushels of coal, and work up 1,800,000 pounds cotton yearly. This cotton can be laid down at the mouth of the Tradewater, at Bon Harbor, or at Cannelton, as cheap as at New Orleans. The freight, insurance, interest i n transitu, wastage, commission, &c., from the New Orleans levee, and through the cotton-press, to Manchester, Glasgow, Lisle, or Bruges, will average over 1£ cents per pound. Our mill'saves this, or........................................................................................ Difference in coal in our favor over 4 cents per bushel................................ Difference in starch, oil, wood, &c., <tc., over................................................... $21,000 2,000 1,000 $30,000 England has no advantages over us, in making those coarse fabrics, save in the abun • Cannelton, Perry County, Indiana, at the Intersection o f the Eastern Margin o f the Illinois Coal Basin, by the O hio R iv e r ; its Natural Advantages as a Site for Manufacturing. Published by the Am erican Cannel Coal Company. L o u isv ille : printed at the Journal Office. 1850. Journal o f Mining and Manufactures. 343 dance and low rate of her capital, and this is nearly, or quite, neutralized by her dis tance from the raw material, and the necessary use of a greater capital in its conver sion, either in the hands of a ship-owner, factor, or manufacturer. But, for the argument, we will suppose that the Englishman only requires $300,000 for the m ill; that he is satisfied with 4 per cent dividends, and we require 8 per cent. In this item, then, he has the yearly advantage of $12,000. There is abundant evidence to show that the New England mills can make a pound o f coarse cottons cheaper than their Manchester competitors; and there is abundant evidence that we can make up the same quantity cheaper than the New Englander; yet, as this question of wages is a stumbling-block to our people, who have not ex amined the subject, we will show the doubters the weakness of their doubts, by sup posing that our Ohio River mill will pay Lowell wages, and that the English mill-own er can get his work done at half our prices. However, when we are clothing the Eng lish army in India, and against a differential duty of 15 per cent, this supposition would really seem absurd. Well, at the Lowell rates, the yearly cost of the 45 men, at 80 cents per day, is for 300 days............................................................................................................... $10,820 And of the 229 women and children, at $2 per week, for 52 weeks, is ... . 23,816 Or total................................................................................................................. One-half of this is............................................................................................... To which add the supposed difference against us in the use of capital, or.. $34,136 17,068 12,000 And we have....................................................................................................... $29,068 as the sum o f the advantages o f the English manufacturers, and less than the sum of our known, and certain, and u n c h a n g e a b l e advantages of $932 per annum; and this not for our home market, but for markets equally near to both. For our home mar kets, we have the further advantage of the cost of bringing four and a half millions yards of cotton, or over $45,000 per annum. By the time that we have supplied our home market with the coarse cotton fabrics, we shall have the skill, machinery, and capital to produce these at a lower relative cost, and to compete with foreign manufacturers in the finer fabrics of cotton. THE INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS OF THE NATION. We have received a copy of a truly splendid oration delivered by the Hon. Robert Rantoul, Jr., at Concord, in Massachusetts, on the celebration of the seventy-fifth anni versary of the battles of Concord and Lexington* This was the occasion of the shed ding o f the first blood in the war with Great Britain. In the glowing language of the orator, “ The site of the Old North Bridge at Concord is the pivot on which the history o f the world turns. The volley fired for freedom there, reverberated through a series of revolutions. The route which then begun, was but the beginning of the disasters and retreats of despotism, not yet ended. Before the first shot had been fired that morning to repulse the regulars, self-government was a dream; since that moment, it has grown to be a fact fixed as the everlasting hills.” Thus comprehending the occa sion in all its greatness and grandeur, and momentous results, the eloquent orator has not only presented us with a graphic sketch of the exciting scenes of that ever-memorable day, but as if inspired by the contemplation of them to still loftier themes, he has unfolded before us, with translucent clearness, the secret and hidden manner by which these events are aU interwoven in the great drama of human existence. On this subject the oration is unsurpassed. Progress, and the laws of progress, with its incidents, are illustrated with great force from the records of the past. Accompanying the address, there is a running sketch of the other proceedings at this celebration, which will thrill the bosom of every son of Massachusetts with intense emotions of * A n oration delivered at Concord on the celebration o f the seventy-fifth anniversary o f the events o f April 19th, 1775, b y K obeit Rantoul, Jr. Delivered before the Massachusetts Legislature, and pub lished b y their order. Journal o f Mining and Manufactures. 344 pride and gratification. The remnant of the old veterans was there, and rehearsed the deeds of that fearful day. Mr. Rantoul, the author of this address, is one of the distinguished men of his native State. A lawyer by profession, he has no superior at the bar, where Webster and Choate appear as antagonists. As a public man, and a statesman, he is less known to the public, from having been constantly attached to the party of the minority; but, on all occasions, he has proved himself a man of pte-eir.inent ability, and of wonderful advancement of mind. The following extract, which is more peculiarly appropriate to our pages, presents a surprising statement of the wonderful progress of some branches of the industry of the United States since the day on which the conflict at Lexington and Concord took place:— Our present population is nine times that of the day of the Concord fight, and a con tinuance of the same ratio, for the same period, to the year nineteen hundred and twenty-five, will extend the blessings of this Union over more than two hundred mil lions of souls. Then the orator who shall stand upon this spot, will show that all these are not crowded, but that there is room for more. There is no probability that this aggregate will be less than double the whole population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, together with the French Republic. Our present wealth is more than forty times that of the colonies seventy-five yeai s ago. The annual income of the nation is at least twenty-five times as great as it was then. Our annual income was then about one-tenlh part that of France; now it is nearly equal to that of France, and is gaining very rapidly upon that of the British Empire. Of the great element of power over physical nature, coal, our production is now greater than that of the world seventy-five years ago. Of iron, the chief instru ment with which mhn subdues nature to bis purposes, our product is greater than that of all the world seventy-five years ago. Of gold, the other main sinew of war, and the negotiator of the exchanges of peace, we produce more than the rest of the world now does. Our cotton manufactures exceed those of the whole world seventy-five years ago. Our tonnage exceeds that of the world seventy-five years since. It will soon surpass that of the British Empire, and, in a few years, much short of threequarters of a century, it will far surpass that of the rest of the world. W e have more printing-presses in operation, and more printed volumes in the hands of our people, than the whole world had on the day of the Concord fight More newspapers are printed in the city of Boston every day than the whole world then produced. Since that day, America has produced the steamboat, and adopted the locomotive, and there are more steam-engines employed in Massachusetts than were then used in the world. THE WORLD’S EXHIBITION OF THE PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY. It will be seen by the following statement which we compile from the English pa pers, that the long deliberations as to the buildings to be erected for the exhibition of 1851, have been terminated by a decision in favor of Mr. Paxton’s design and esti mate:— Mr Paxton suggests a building chiefly of glass— in fact, a huge but elegant glass house. The great feature in its erection is, that no stone, brick, or mortar will be ne cessary. A ll the roofing and upright sashes will be made by machinery, fitted to gether, and glazed with rapidity, most of them being finished previous to being taken to the place, so that little else will be required on the spot than to fit the finished ma terials together. The whole of the structure will be supported on cast iron columns, and the extensive roof will be sustained without the necessity for interior walls for this purpose. I f removed after the exhibition, the materials may be sold far more advan tageously than a structure filled in with bricks and mortar, and some of the materials would bring in full half the original outlay. Complete ventilation has been provided by filling in every third upright compartment with luffer boarding, which would be made to open and shut by machinery ; .the whole of the basement will be filled in 'after the same manner. The current of air may be modified by the use of coarse open canvass, which by being kept wet in hot weather, will render the interior of the build ing much cooler than the external atmosphere. In order to subdue the intense light Journal o f M ining and M anufactures. 345 in a building covered with glass, it is proposed to cover all the south side of the up right parts, together with the whole of the roofs outside, with calico or canvass, tacked on the ridge of rafters of the latter. This will allow a current of air to pass in the valleys under the calico, which will, if required, with the ventilators, keep the air of the house cooler than the external atmosphere. To give the roof a light and graceful appearance, it is to be on the ridge and furrow principle, and glazed with sheet glass. The ridge and the valley rafters will be continued in uninterrupted lines the whole length of the structure, and be supported by cast iron beams. These beams will have a hollow gutter formed in them to receive the rain water from the wooden valley raf ters which will be thence conveyed through the hollow columns to the drains. These drains will be formed of ample dimensions under the whole of the pathways through out. The floors of the pathways to be laid with trellis-boards three-eights of an inch apart, on sleeper joists. This kind o f flooring is both economical and can always be kept clean, dry, and pleasant to walk upon. The gallery floors are to be close board ed. No timber trees need be cut down, as the glass may fit up to the boles of the trees, leaving the lower branches under the glass during the exhibition; but Mr. Pax ton does not recommend this course, as, for the sum of £250 he would engage to re move and replace every living tree on the ground, except the large old elms opposite to the Prince’s gate. Only a few yea-rs ago the erection of such a building as the one contemplated would have involved a fearful amount of expense; but the rapid ad vance made in this country during the last forty years, both in the scientific construc tion of such buildings and the chief manufacture of glass, iron, <fcc., together with the amazing facilities in the preparation of sash-bars and other wood-work, render an erec tion of this description, in point of expense, quite on a level with those constructed of more substantial materials. MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES IN NEW JERSEY. It appears from the N e w a r k Advertiser that Mr. William Essex, formerly of the cel ebrated establishment of E. Hemming <fe Son, of Reddich, Eng., and who was the first to make the celebrated drill-eyed needles for that house, has a manufactory in the vi cinity of Newark for manufacturing needles on that principle, which are said to be equal to “ Hemming’s best,” now imported. The wire used is made in England expressly for the purpose— the manufacturers of this country not having yet accomplished the manufacturing of wire suited to this purpose. It is first cut into suitable lengths, according to the size of the needles to be made, when they are straightened and pointed on a stone, which is required to be turned with great velocity: they are then stamped, or an impression made upon them where the eye is to be made ; after which the eye is punched by means of a press in vented for that purpose. The burr made by stamping the eye is filed smooth, after which the hardening and tempering is performed, and then they are again straightened, so as to make their shape perfect. By means of machinery they are scoured and brightened, and the closing processes are, the assorting them by placing the heads and points their respective ways, the eyes blued, or the temper at that point taken out, that they may not cut, and the drilling, countersinking and burnishing the eyes. This peculiar branch of manufacturing, although not entirely new, is nevertheless of somewhat recent origin in this country; and so much inclined are the manufacturers of England to stop its progress in this country, that they have, as we understand, repeat edly attempted to induce Mr. Essex to return to England; and it is a matter of impor tance to them, inasmuch as he is said to be not only the first inventor, but the only person employed by Hemming & Sons who has emigrated to this country for the pur pose of establishing this business. Not only does he manufacture the ordinary sewing needles, but he makes points of different kinds used in machinery. ORES BROUGHT TO SWANSEA, ENGLAND. A correspondent of the L o n d o n M o r n i n g Chronicle says that “ the only foreign ores used in this country are imported from South America, the foreign West Indies, and Australia. The mines in those countries are worked chiefly by English adventurers, the head-quarters of the several companies being in London. These companies char ter vessels of large burden to convey the ores from Chili, Cuba, and Australia to Swan sea, where they are stowed in yards, crushed, sampled, and sold to the respective cop per-masters at the “ ticketings,” one of which I described in my last communication. Journal o f M ining and Manufactures. 34 6 The vessels engaged in this trade are almost entirely ships and barks o f from 500 to 1,000 tons burden, manned by crews numbering from 16 to 25 hands, whose pay is the same as that of the seamen engaged in other branches of our maritime commerce. A ship trading round Cape Horn with Chili makes a voyage out and home in from eight to ten months; a vessel trading with Australia makes one voyage, and a vessel trading with Cuba two voyages a year.” COTTON MANUFACTURES IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. The Savannah R e p u b l i c a n says it has been estimated that there are now in opera tion in Georgia 40 mills, employing nearly 60,000 spindles, and consumes 45,000 bales o f cotton annuaUy. This estimate the editor of the R e p u b l i c a n considers below the true mark, as no calculation is made of the Georgia paper mills, bucket factories, iron establishments, flouring mills, etc. In Tennessee it has been reported to the Secretary of the Treasury that there are 30 factories, employing 36,000 spindles. In South Carolina the Hon. William Gregg says that there are 16 factories, containing 36,500 spindles, and about 700 looms, consuming 15,000 bales of cotton per annum. He estimates the capital in vested in these establishments at about one million of dollars, and the number of op eratives they give employment to at 1,600. There are in Alabama 12 factories, with a capital of $500,000, containing 12,580 spindles, and 300 looms, and consuming about 5,500 bales of cotton annually. It is said that machinery for others is contracted for sufficient to make the number o f spindles 20,000, and the looms 550. Thus we have in f o u r States ninety-eight manufactories of various descriptions of cotton goods, containing 140,000 spindles. The R e p u b l i c a n expresses the opinion that “ at the end of the next five years there will be, perhaps, two hundred cotton factories in operation in the Southern States, con suming nearly 250,000 bales per annum, and giving employment to 25 or 30,000 oper atives. The effects of such a diversion of labor upon the productions of the South, the price of the cotton, and the habits of those who will likely be employed as opera tives must be immense. A ll the cost o f the transportation of the raw material to England, of its manufacture there, and its transportation back to this country, will be saved to our people. The general price o f cotton will be increased by the competition which will ensue between the manufacturing establishments of Europe and the North ern and Southern States; and great good to society must result from the employment of thousands of idle and immoral persons, who are now consumers and not producers.” NEW COTTON FACTORY AT MOBILE. W e learn from the M o b i l e T r i b u n e that the factory building is of wood, one hundred feet long by thirty-six feet wide, and three stories high, all well lighted and ventillated by numerous doors and windows. It is calculated for 2,700 spindles. A ll the m a chinery has not yet arrived, but within a month or two it will be in Mobile, when the whole will be arranged in place and go fully into operation. The proprietor is now putting up 1,200 spindles, 36 looms, and the requisite machinery, battling cards, Ac., also a machine-shop for repairs. When completed, and in operation, the factory will require from four to five hundred bales of cotton a year, and find employment for about 75 operatives. The motive power is steam. A superbly finished engine, of four horse power, is now in operation. The boilers, engine-room, and chimney, are all strongly and well built; the latter being a massive brick structure, seventy-five feet high. IRON MOUNTAIN IN WISCONSIN, A few days since, says the M i n e r a l P o i n t T r i b u n e of July 12, we were shown a specimen of iron ore, brought from Black River, Crawford county, the quality of which surpasses any iron ore which we have before seen. So pure is it that it is thought by good judges that smelting-furnaces will be unnecessary for obtaining the pure metal— it yielding about ninety per cent pure iron. The amount of ore is said to be very great, it covering at least forty acres. Other veins have been discovered near by, and, if our 347 Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. informants are not very much deceived, this discovery is sure to add much to the al ready extensive mineral wealth of Wisconsin. Specimens have been sent to experi enced iron-masters at the East, who pronounce it of a superior quality. An abundance of timber and water-power is near at hand, for carrying on furnaces— and, as it is near navigable water, it must soon become a source of profit to the enterprising gentlemen who have surveyed and located the land for the purpose of erecting iron-manufactories at no very distant day. RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS. PROVIDENCE AND WORCESTER RAILROAD. This road extends from Providence to Worcester, a distance of 43 miles; passing through a number of flourishing manufacturing villages. As the road has been in ope ration but a short time, comparatively, we here subjoin a table of places, distances, fares, <fec., compiled from the A m e r i c a n R a i l w a y G u i d e :— Places. Miles. Fares. Providence*............. Places. M illville..................... . ... 4 Valley Falls............. ____ Lonsdale................... A shton..................... Albion....................... Manville................... Hamlet..................... Woonsocket............. Waterford................ ____ Blackstonef.............. ____ 6 18 18 $0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 25 30 35 40 55 60 75 80 80 Whitins...................... Northbridge............... Farnmns..................... Grafton....................... Sutton......................... Millbury..................... Grand Junction........ Worcester.................. Miles. 20 25 26 31 33 34 35 37 42 43 Fares. $0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 85 85 95 00 10 20 20 25 30 .... The bonds of the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company, which were issued three years ago to procure funds for completing the road, as we learn from the P r o v i dence J o u r n a l — good authority— matured in August, 1850, and were promptly met. The amount outstanding was $424,000. The funds to meet the payment were pro cured by a re-issue of the bonds o f the company for $400,000— equivalent to a renewal o f a like amount of the old bonds. The residue of the amount ($24,000) was taken from the net earnings of the road on hand. The new bonds are payable as follows:— $50,000 in one year; $50,000 in two years; $300,000 in ten years; and bearing an interest of 6 per cent per annum. They were all negotiated at par. It is the inten tion of the Board, we learn, to pay off that portion of the bonds becoming due in 1851 and 1852, in amount $100,000, by applying for that object a similar amount o f the net earnings of the road during the years 1851 and 1852. This being accomplished, the directors feel confident that there will be sufficient funds in the treasury remaining, of the net earnings of the road, to enable them to pay to the stockholders a cash divi dend at the close of the year 1852, with every reasonable expectation of paying there after regular semi-annual cash dividends from the income of the road. It appears from the fifth annual report o f this company, as returned to the Legisla tures of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, that the capital stock paid in amounts to $1,46*7,500; the total cost of the road and equipment to the close of 1849 amounted to $1,939,666. The gross income in 1849 amounted to $217,253; and the net earnings, after deducting expenses, to $116,022. A dividend of 40 per cent on stock was made * Trains connect at Providence w ith the Boston and Providence Kailroad, and also with the Stonington and Providence Road. f The N orfolk County R oa d connects at Blackstone w ith the Prov idence and W orcester. 348 Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. in May, 1849, and 8 per cent in cash, December, 1849— the stock dividend amounting to $116,600, and the cash to $43,'725. The total expenditures for working the road during the year was $101,231, and the interest paid on the bonds of the company was $33,784. EASTERN RAILROAD REPORT. The annual report of the directors of the Eastern Railroad Company to the stock holders for the year ending June 30th, 1850, furnishes a minute and very satisfactory account o f the condition of the affairs of the company in every respect. It appears from this report that in 1843 the road was considered as completed. The property on hand was then valued, and its amount taken out of the construction ac count, to which it did not properly belong, and the whole amount of the latter, on the 30th o f June of that year, was $2,128,324 18; it is now $3,120,391 67. In 1843, there were in operation 66 miles of track— now there are 89. In the year ending June 30,1843, there were carried 439,720 passengers, and 19,262 tons of freight. In that ending June 30, 1850, there were carried 1,037,610 passengers, and 79,450 tons of freight. In the year 1842-3, the gross receipts were $266,455 11. In 1849-50, they were $535,414 44. The construction account then has increased 47 per cent. The length of track is now 33 per cent, passenger business 150 per cent, freight 400 per cent, and gross receipts 100 per cent above those of 1843. By an accurate investigation of the accounts it appears that the expense of operat ing and maintaining the road, the cost of renewals, and the amount paid for accidents incident to the business, exclusive of interest, during the seven years last past has been.............................................................................................................. $1,331,258 09 Of which for operating and maintaining the road................................. 1,106,840 08 Renewals of rails, bridges, stations, and equipment, contingencies, ac cidents, <fec................................................................................................ 224,418 01 The number o f miles run by trains during this period has been......... 1,708,247 Showing the cost per mile run of the aforenamed items to have been, for maintaining and operating the road............................................... For renewals and contingencies................................................................ 64.794 13.137 Making a total cost per mile o f ................................................... 77.931 The expenses and income of the branches of the Eastern Railroad have been, in 1849-50, estimated as follows:— Cost o f operating. Marblehead.............................................. Gloucester................................................ Salisbury................................................... $5,187 12 8,439 05 4,659 93 Gross incom e from it. $6,438 22 27,220 39 4,211 63 The average, therefore, for miles run on the main road would be somewhat greater, and that for branches less, than the general average before shown. The result o f the last year’s business, whether we consider the actual profit in a season o f great pressure, or its relative income to the stockholders upon its cost, as compared with other roads in this State, ought to be satisfactory. The per centage profit on the amount paid in by the stockholders, in the year 1849, of the seven prin cipal railroads in Massachusetts, as appears by the legislative reports, have been on each $100 as follows:— Boston and Providence............... Boston and Worcester................ Boston and M aine.-................... Boston and Lowell..................... Fitchburg...................................... W estern ...................................... Eastern......................................... 5.836, and on the total cost o f the road 6.086 “ “ “ “ 6.715 “ “ “ “ 8.330 “ “ “ “ 8.979 “ “ “ “ 9.187 “ “ “ “ 9.494 “ “ “ “ 5.66 6.07 6.71 8.00 6 90 7.61 8.40 Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. 349 This statement is not made to show the relative value of the stocks of these several roads. A single year’s work affords no adequate criterion of their capabilities. There are many considerations besides an immediate income that enter into a correct estimate .of their value. There probably are many circumstances that if known would qualify materially the impression that these annual reports may give. Such comparisons may tend to bring them out, and are here introduced with that view. Full tables of receipts, expenses, &c„, of the road for the year ending 30th of June are given in the appendix to the report. The Eastern Railroad is one of the best managed roads in the country. John Kinsman, Esq., the superintendent of this road, has no superior in a similar capacity. To large experience he unites great energy and untiring industry. He is, we believe, a self-made and thoroughly practical engineer. OPERATIONS OF THE RAILROADS OF MASSACHUSETTS— 1842 TO 1849. COMPILED FROM MASSACHUSETTS RAILROAD REPORTS FOR THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE. Years. 1 8 4 2 ... 1 8 4 3 ... 1 8 4 4 ... 1 8 4 5 ... 1 8 4 6 ... 1847.. . 1 8 4 8 ... 1 8 4 9 ... Years. 1 84 2 . 1 84 3 . 1844. 1845. 1 84 6 . 1847. 1848 1849 Y ears. 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1843 1849 Years. 1842. 1 843. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1849. Length, including branches. Cost. 433 $19,241,858 460 19,971,593 460 20,396,055 . 462 21,572,820 619 27,034,927 712 32,796,363 778 40,941,676 944 45,125,768 Roadbed. $ 19 0 ,8 4 4 182,530 217,454 247,033 313,798 480,040 484,009 579,430 Passenger trains. 824,062 886,183 939,598 1,010,510 1,438,737 1,789,038 2,112,496 2,330,891 Receipts, Freight. Mails, &c. $ 669,682 $84,239 783,416 81,137 963,863 80,343 1,163,010 100,323 1,467,969 119,217 2,205,840 196,721 2,335,407 176,753 252,991 2,411,307 Expenses. Motivepower. Miscellaneous. $ 163,330 $60 5 ,2 2 6 151,964 666,819 670,836 219,290 246,878 786 ,87 3 351,562 1,050,604 438,088 1,434,790 498,556 1,754,419 530,949 1,679,613 Number of miles run. Other Freight trains. trains. 90,056 420,583 92,252 480 ,44 4 66,940 549,065 606,288 94,630 145,708 746,547 1,181,432 206,673 261 ,77 4 1,220,319 232,122 1,243,739 No. of passengers carried in the cars. .............. ............... 4,752,818 . 5,341,341 .............. 8,336,854 Passengers. $1,217,866 1,236,231 1,498,026 1,612,625 2,018,163 2 ,509,784 2,849,722 3,033,701 Total. $ 95 9 ,4 0 0 1,001,313 1,107,580 1,281,031 1,696,576 2,372,453 2,741,604 2,890,818 Total. 1,334,701 1,458,879 1,655,603 1,716,538 2,339,484 3,177,143 3,598,089 3,806,752 No. of passengers carried one mile. 82,024,265 99,870,187 118,005,742 136,090,360 Total. $1,971,787 2,118,284 2,559,969 2,895,219 3,642,171 4,964,532 5,405,845 5,741,799 Net income. $1,012,387 1,116,971 1,452,389 1,614,188 1,945,595 2,592,078 2,666,411 2,850,981 Net income per cent on cost. $ 5 26 59 12 48 20 94 Total Total Net receipts expenses income per mile per mile per mile run. run. run. $1 48 $ 0 72 $ 0 76 1 47 0 70 0 77 1 65 0 72 0 93 1 63 0 75 0 88 1 56 0 73 0 83 1 56 0 75 0 81 1 50 0 76 0 74 1 51 0 76 0 75 No. o f tons o f merchandise! carried in the cars. 1,140,265 1,661,218 1,894,182 2,025,727 No. o f tons o f merchandise carried one mile. 39,395,040 66,898,693 64,577,165 66,734,812 Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. 35 0 Weight, in tons, of passenger trains, not including passengers, hauled one mile. Years. 1 8 4 2 .......... 1 8 4 3 ............ 1 8 4 4 ............ 1 8 4 5 ............ 1 8 4 6 .......... 1 8 4 7 .......... 1 8 4 8 .......... 1 8 4 9 .......... .................... .................... .................... 61,440,637 79,208,113 107,236,614 108,141,392 Weight, in tons, of freight trains, not including freight, hauled one mile. Total number o f tons, not including passengers, hauled one mile. .................... .................... .................... 71,030,160 108,345,834 119,604,791 124,045,927 ...................... ...................... ...................... 171,865,837 254,452,640 291,418,570 298,922,131 TOLLS ON THE NEW YORK STATE CANALS. A statement of the returns made to tl o f tolls, &c., received on all the canals in 1848. Offices. $131,442 90 New York................ 359,110 17 Albany. . . '. ............. 21,686 75 Lyons......................... 50,026 65 Palmyra................... 202,808 61 Rochester................. 38,579 33 Brockport................. 26,125 56 A lbion...................... 94 Lockport.................. 260,022 10 Black Rock................ 672,618 09 Buffalo....................... 25,048 82 Corning..................... 63 Dresden..................... 16,228 35 Penn Pan ................. 24 Scottsville................. 13 DansviUe................... The entire receipts from all the offices o f 116,013 84. _________ Canal Department, exhibiting the amount le State during the years 1848 and 1849 :— 1849. Increase. Decrease. $213,707 26 $82,264 36 ............... 328,777 30 $30,331 87 19,225 70 2,461 05 58,178 08 8,151 43 ............... 191,894 97 10,913 64 64,060 10 25,480 77 ............... 21,629 46 4,496 10 223,081 24 95,398 30 ............... 63,689 34 196,332 67 757,491 36 84,873 27 ............... 23,707 15 1,241 67 2,808 78 1,188 15 ............... 18,495 19 2,266 84 ............... 20,508 92 84 32 18,857 03 1,709 90 ............... an increase in 1849 over the year 1848 UNITED STATES MAIL BY THE STEAMERS ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC, AND INSTBUCTIONS TO POSTMASTERS. The departure of the United States mail steam-packets “ Atlantic” and “ Pacific” (Collins’ line) will be continued through the months of September and October, from the ports of New York and Liverpool, and made at the several dates following:— FROM N E W YORK. Atlantic......................... Pacific............................ Atlantic......................... FROM LIVERPOOL. September 7 Pacific............................ September 28 Atlantic......................... October 12 Pacific............................. Atlantic......................... September September October October 11 25 16 30 A ll mails on hand at the New York office for Great Britain, the continent of Eu rope, and countries beyond, are to be made up and despatched by the abovenamed packets, agreeably to the provisions of the postal treaty between Great Britain and the United states. Postage on letters to Great Britain is 24 cents the single letter, which can be pre paid or left unpaid, at the option of the writer. Postmasters are reminded that letters and papers for Great Britain, and for countries beyond it, can be sent by these packets in the same manner as by the Cunard steamers with this difference, that paid letter to the places and countries beyond Great Britain, which are named in the 3d article of “ table and instructions,” appended to the settle ment of details under the postal treaty with Great Britain, are subject to a postage of 2 cents the single rate instead of 5 cents. The postage to be collected of the person addressed to the foreign country will he 16 cents lest, in consequence of the payment of that amount here. The postage on newspapers beyond Great Britain will be 4 cents; to Great Britain, 2 cents. To be prepaid in all cases. N. K . H A L L , Postm aster General. Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. 351 PHILADELPHIA, WILMINGTON AND BALTIMORE RAILROAD COMPANY. The public are not generally aware that the stock of this railway, the main line be tween Philadelphia and Baltimore, is owned principally in Boston. The company having been deeply indebted to the United States Bank, and poorly managed, became embarrassed, and during the finapcial difficulties of Pennsylvania was greatly depressed in value. In 1846 its debt exceeded its capital, and nearly half a million became due and re mained unpaid. Under these circumstances its bonds fell to fifty cents on a dollar, and its stock fluctuated from ten to twenty dollars per share. In this state of affairs an association of capitalists, principally residing in Boston, bought up four-fifths of the stock— indeed, all that could be bought under thirty-five dollars per share— and all the floating debt, and converted the latter into new shares, at par. The stock-capital of the company was thus increased from two and a half to three and a half millions, and the debt reduced from thirty-three hundred thousand to twenty-two hundred thousand dollars. The parties who purchased, not content with improving the finances of the road, were determined to render it more efficient, and to effect this subscribed for a further capital of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in new stock, at par, to finish and improve the line— so that the capital of the compa ny now stands— 77,000 shares of $50 each................................................................ Convertible to 6 per cent bonds, due in 1860................................. $3,850,000 2,161,776 T ota l.................................................................................................... $6,011,776 This capital of six millions represents the cost of the main line—graded in great part for a second track— and also of the Newcastle and Freuchtown lines, both of which are now the property of one company. The financial condition of the company has thus been entirely reformed: the debt reduced from fifty-seven to thirty-four per cent on the whole investment, arid funded, while the cash assets exceeds the cash liabilities. The income of 1847 and 1848 has not been divided, but has, with the proceeds of the new stock, been expended for the improvement and renovation of the line. Under the judicious and skillful management of Col. Swift, the President, the Chief Engineer of the Western Railroad, and of the accomplished Superintendent, Mr. J. R. Trimble, one of the Engineers of the Boston and Providence, great changes have been effected. A new rail of sixty pounds to the yard has been laid for thirty miles, from Philadelphia to Wilmington, in place of a light strap rail, a new and costly viaduct has been erected at Principio, to supply an original defect; the entire line has been relaid, so that no rail is to be found less than forty pounds to the yard; a new machineshop, car and engine-house constructed, adapted to the growing traffick; new engines and cars purchased, and the old rebuilt; the ferry boat renovated, and new stations pro vided at Baltimore and Philadelphia, which will save twenty thousand dollars yearly expended for horse power. When the line was first opened the way-business was considered of no moment, but commodious way-stations are now provided along the entire line, which have nearly doubled the way-business. Last year the way-passengers had increased to 226,616. The speed and comfort of traveling on this line have improved, and are still im proving. Nor has the income o f the line, under these improvements, remained stationary. It has risen from half a million, a few years since, to six hundred and twenty-eight thou sand dollars last year, when it was depressed by cholera. It promises the present year to exceed seven hundred thousand dollars. The last-named sum will pay interest, deterioration, and furnish a dividend of six per cent on the capitaL The company resumed dividends on the first of October last, and have divided for the year ending April 1, 1850, four and one-half per cent, and doubtless would have divided more had uot the cholera checked the income last summer fifty thousand dol lars, as appears by the directors’ report. The road is now highly improved, and has a growing business. This must eventual ly increase with the growth of Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia, the extension of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, now in progress, and the renovation and extension with heavy rails of the great southern line from the Chesapeake to Charleston, which another year will effect. This will change the travel from the sea-steamers to the rail way. Railroad , Canal, awe? Steamboat Statistics. 35 2 There seems, then, to be no doubt the directors will conform, henceforth, to the votes of the stockholders, which require them to difide the income regularly, and apply the surplus over six per cent to improvements— the principal of which will be the gradual exchange of the fifty-pound rail for one of greater weight. There is no haste in ac complishing this, as the route is not a freight line, and the present rail admits of a speed of thirty-five miles per hour. With regulur six or seven per cent dividends the stock must go to par. It is now nearly all settled down for a permanent investment. Instead of being a foot-ball for brokers, floating from hand to hand, as it was a few years since, it is now held by strong men, and rarely finds its way into the market, where, from its rarity, it is scarcely known. Once or twice a month a few shares only are sold at $24 to $28 per share. The bonds, however, occasionally appear in the Philadelphia Market, where they command the price of State Fives— now 92 to 93 per cent. The courage and perseverance of the stockholders, who have continued to hold this stock through adverse times, entitle them to their reward. The income for June, 1850, has been............................................ Against for June, 1849................................................................... $55,623 68 45,267 21 THE RAILROAD LAW OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. W e publish below a correct copy o f an act of the Legislature of New Hampshire in amendment of the laws of that State in relation to railroad corporations.* The most complete law in relation to the formation, regulation, <fec., of railroad corporations passed the Legislature of New York, April 2, 1850. Its great length compels us to postpone its publication for the present, but we hope to have it in our power to com ply with the solicitations of several of our most respectable subscribers by publishing it entire in an early number of the M e r c h a n t s ' M a g a z i n e :— AN ACT IN AMENDMENT OF THE LAWS IN RELATION TO RAILROAD CORPORATIONS. 1 . B e it enacted b y the S e n a t e a n d H o u s e o f Representatives i n G e n e r a l C o u r t c o n vened , That no person shaU be allowed to pass or be carried over any rail S e c t io n road in this State without first paying the customary fare, excepting the stockholders going to and returning from the annual or any special meeting of said railroad corpo ration ; the directors, treasurer and clerk of said company on their own road, the su perintendent and conductor of such road and such other roads as shall have a business connection and contract with such road, persons actually engaged in running the cars, in charge of baggage or in repairing the road, or persons in charge of freight forward ed by express, in pursuance of a contract with the corporation, or in charge of the mail, or accompanying their own freight on a freight train. Piovided, however, that if any person shall apply to the president, superintendent, conductor, or a ticket-mas ter of any road for permission to pass free, and it shall appear that such person is poor or in misfortune, and unable to pay the usual fare, and that it is necessary such person should pass over the road, it shall be lawful for such president, superintendent, con ductor, or ticket-master to give such person a written permit to pass free over such road, and such permit may include the wife and children of such poor person. A re cord of all such permits shall be made by the person giving the same, which shall at aU times be open to the inspection of the stockholders, and a return thereof made at the annual meeting. * The Am erican Railway Times com m ents with great severity, but w ith equal justice, on som e o f the provisions o f this law, “ in relation to railroad corporations.” In reference to the fli%t section o f the bill, the Tim es says:— “ The section in reference to ‘ free passes’ is the most arrant nonsense, and to our m ind the Legis lature had no m ore business to legislate concerning it than they had to regulate the same matter re garding stage-coaches, baggage-wagons, and other means o f conveyance. The Legislature w ould seem to say that the officers and directors o f railway com panies have no know ledge o f their business, and lack the necessary discretion to regulate the affairs o f their different trusts. W e can see a great many ways that the roads themselves will be losers by this folly o f over-legislation, and even the State itself. T o our m ind the w hole railway legislation o f New Hampshire, excepting the adoption o f a system o f returns, used b y Massachusetts, is one mass o f inconsistencies. They make meat o f one and flesh o f another o f the com panies, with reference to the issue o f bonds and preferred stock, and by the folly o f restricting them from the use o f any discretion with regard to the granting o f ‘ free passes.’ Had the Legislature ordered the different com panies to publish w eekly or monthly statements o f their earnings and expenses, it w ould have been vastly o f m ore practical use.” Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. 353 S ec. 2. It shall be the duty of the conductor on each railroad, immediately after the cars start on their road, to examine the tickets of the passengers, to ascertain if all have purchased tickets, and examine the tickets of all persons entering the cars by the way, and if any person who is not hereby excepted is found who has no ticket, to re quire such person forthwith to pay the usual fare over such road, or such part of it as the person proposes to travel, and in case of neglect or refusal to pay, it shall be the duty of the conductor to cause the train to be stopped, and the person or persons so neglecting or refusing to pay to leave the train, and in case of refusal it shall be law ful for said conductor to use such force as may be necessary to remove such person from the train, and the conductor shall have the same power to command assistance in removing such person as sheriffs by law have when serving process, and under the same penalty in case of refusal. Any person refusing to pay the fare, and refusing to leave the train as aforesaid, shall be liable to a fine of ten dollars. S ec . 3. Any conductor who shall refuse to perform the duties required of him by this act, or any president, director, superintendent, ticket-master, or conductor who shall pass or knowingly allow any person to pass or be carried over their road, or furnish any person with a ticket to pass over their road in violation of the first section of this act, shall be punished by fine not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars. S ec. 4. Every railroad corporation in this State shall, in the month of August in each year, agree upon and fix their rate of tariffs of toll for the transportation of freight and passengers over their road. The toll shall be rated by the mile for each passen ger, and by the ton per mile on freight, except timber, lumber, bark, and wood, which may be rated by the thousand feet, or by the cord per mile. Such corporation shall, on the first day of September in each year, post up at all the stations and depots on their road, a copy of such rates or tariffs of tolls, and shall cause said copy to remain so posted through the year. They shall also post up a statement of the whole cost of freight per ton, thousand, or cord, and the fare of each passenger over their road between the several stations on their own road, and between the stations on their own road and other roads for which they assume to execute any agency or joint contract, whether within or without this State. Such corporation shall not for one year after the rates of toll are posted as aforesaid, or uDtil after sixty days notice has been given, charge or receive any higher rates of toll, fare, or freight than shall be fixed upon and posted as aforesaid. S ec. 5. Every railroad corporation in this State shall make and maintain all neces sary cattle-guards, cattle-passes, and farm-crossings, for the convenience and safety of the land owners along the line of their road, and in case the corporation and land owner cannot agree upon the place, number, or manner in which such guards, passes, or crossings should be constructed, the land owner may by petition apply to three dis interested justices of the peace, two of whom shall be of the quorum “neither of whom shall be resident in the same town with the applicant, or who shall have been previ ously advised with by the petitioners in relation to the matter to be submitted, who shall notify the parties by giving each at least fifteen days’ notice in writing of the time and place they will meet to consider said petition, and shall examine and deter mine the place or places where such passes, guards, or farm-crossings, and the time in which the same shall be constructed, and make a report thereof in writing, and file a copy of their report with the town clerk of the town where paid land is situated; and in case the corporation shall refuse or neglect for sixty days after the report is filed as aforesaid, and after the time fixed for building the same by said justices, to construct asses, guards, and crossings, agreeably to the report made as aforesaid, they shall be able to a fine of five hundred dollars, and a fine of one hundred for each month they shall refuse or neglect to construct the same, after the expiration of the said sixty days. Provided, that the said justices to whom said land owner shall apply as aforesaid shall be selected as follows:— One by the land owner, one by the railroad corporation, and the third by the two first, selected as aforesaid; and if said railroad corporation shall refuse to select one of said justices, it shall be the duty of the selectmen of the town in which the land is situated to name the person in behalf of said corporation. Pro vided, however, that the provisions of this section shall not apply in any case where the corporation have settled with the land owner in relation to such guards, passes, and farm-crossings. S ec. 6. That whenever any railroad company shall unreasonably neglect or refuse to establish reasonable and proper depots or stopping-places for the public accommo dation after being thereto requested, the persons aggrieved thereby may by petition V O L. XX U I.----- N O . I I I . 23 E 354 Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. represent their said grievance to the Governor, who shall refer the same to the railroad commissioners, and if said commissioners shall, after hearing the several parties, be of opinion that such railroad company have unreasonably neglected or refused to estab lish such depots or reasonable or proper stopping places, they shall in writing declare what such railroad company ought to do in the premises, and fix and order the time when the same shall be done, and make their return to the Secretary of State; and if said company shall neglect or refuse to comply with such order they shall forfeit the sum o f one hundred dollars for each and every month’s neglect, to any petitioner for such accommodation who may sue for the same. The fees of said commissioners and other reasonable expenses of the petitioners shall be taxed by said commissioners, and in cases where they determine that such railroad company have thus neglected and refused to make such necessary accommodation for the public, the same shall be paid by such company, and may be recovered in the name of such petitioners by action for money laid out and expended. S ec . 7. If the life of any person not in the employment of the corporation shall b e lost by reason of the negligence or carelessness of the proprietor or proprietors of any railroad, or by the unfitness, or gross negligence, or by the carelessness of tbeir_servants or agents in this State, such proprietor or proprietors shall be liable to a fine not e x ceeding five thousand dollars nor less than five hundred dollars, to be recovered by indictment to the use of the executor or administrator of the deceased person, for the benefit of his widow and heirs, one moity thereof to go to the widow and the other to the children of the deceased; but if there shall be no children, the whole shall go to the widow, and if no widow, to his heirs, according to the law regulating the dis tribution of intestate personal estate among heirs. S e c . 8 . No contract between two or more railroad corporations for the use of their roads shall be legal or binding on either party unless such contract shall be sanctioned in writing by the railroad commissioners and approved by the Governor and Council. And in no case shall such contract be for a longer term than five years, and no such use of another road shall be allowed unless by contract in writing executed by both parties, and a copy filed with the Secretary of State. S ec. 9. The treasurer and clerk of any railroad corporation in the Stale, except such whose road is connected with a railroad in some other State by the acts of two or more States, shall reside within this State, and all the books, papers, and funds of said corporation, with the foregoing exceptions, shall be kept therein, or shall provide for the payment of all dividends to the stockholders in this State at the place of business of the corporation in this State. S ec. 10. The directors of every railroad corporation shall from year to year make report to the Legislature, under oath, of their acts and doings, receipts and expendi tures under the provisions of their charter, which report shall be made in the month of May in each year, and shall contain full information upon the several items hereafter enumerated, to w it:— Return of the capital stock; increase of capital since last report; capital paid in per last report; capital paid in since last report; total amount of capital stock paid in ; funded debt per last report; funded debt paid since last report; funded debt, in crease of since last report; total present amount of funded debt; floating debt per last report; floating debt paid since last report; floating debt, increase o f since last report; total present amount of floating debt; average rate of interest per annum paid during the year; maximum amount of debt for each month during the year, v iz : January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, No vember, and December. C ost of R oad and E quipment .— For graduation and masonry per last report ; for graduation and masonry paid during the past year; total amount expended for gradu ation and masonry; for wooden bridges per last report; for wooden bridges paid du ring the past year; total amount expended for wooden bridges; for superstructure, in cluding iron, per last report; for superstructure, including iron, paid during the past year; total amount expended for superstructure, including iron; for stations, buildings, and fixtures, per last report; for stations, buildings, and fixtures paid during the past year; total amount expended for stations, buildings, and fixtures; for land, land damages, and fences per last report; for land, land damages, and fences paid during the past year; total amount expended for land, land damages, and fences ; for locomotives per last report; for locomotives paid during the past year; total amount expended for lo comotives ; for passenger and baggage cars per last report; for passenger and baggage cars paid during the past year; total amount expended for passenger and baggage Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. 355 cars; for merchandise cars per last report; for merchandise cars paid during the past year; total amount expended for merchandise cars; for engineering per last report; for engineering paid during the past year; total amount expended for engineering; for agencies and other expenses per last report; for agencies and other expenses paid du ring the past year; total amount expended for agencies and other expenses; total cost of road and equipment. C haracteristics of R oad .— Length of road; length of single main track; length of double main track; length of branches owned by the company, stating whether they have single or double track; aggregate length of sidings and other tracks, excepting main track and branches; weight of rail per yard in main road; weight of rail per yard in branch road, specify the different weights per yard; maximum grade, with its length, in main road; maximum grade, with its length, in branch roads; average grade per mile of main road ; total rise and fall in the main road; total rise and fall in the branch roads; shortest radius of curvature, with length of curve, in main roads; short est radius of curvature, with length of curve, in branch roads; total degrees o f curva ture in main road; total degrees of curvature in branch roads; total length of straight line in main road; total length of straight line in branches; aggregate length of wooden truss bridges; aggregate length of all other wooden bridges; aggregate length of stone and iron bridges; whole length of road unfenced on both sides; number of pub lic ways crossed at grade; number of railroads crossed at grade; remarks; way sta tions for express trains; way stations for accommodation trains; flag stations; whole number of way stations; whole number of flag stations. D oings during the Y e a r .— Miles run by passenger trains; miles run by freight trains; miles run by other trains; total miles run; number of passengers carried in the cars; number o f passengers carried one m ile; number of tons of merchandise car ried in the cars; number of tons of merchandise carried one m ile; number of passen gers carried one mile to and from other roads; number of tons of merchandise carried one mile to and from other roads; rate of speed adopted for express passenger trains, including stops; average rate of speed actually attained by the express passenger trains, including stops and detentions; rate of speed adopted for accommodations trains; rate of speed actually attained by accommodation trains, including stops and detentions; average rate of speed actually attained by special trains, including stops and detentions ; average rate of speed adopted for freight trains, including stops and detentions; estimated weight, in tons, of passenger cars (not including passengers) hauled one m ile; estimated weight, in tons, of merchandise cars (not including freight) hauled one mile. E xpen ditu r es fo r W o rking th e R oad .— For repairs of road, maintenance of way, exclusive o f wooden bridges and renewals of iron; for repairs of wooden bridges; for renewals of iron, including laying down; for wages of switchmen, average per month; for wages of gate-keepers, average per month ; for w iges of signal-men, average per month; for wages of watchmen, average per month; for wages of conductors, average per month; for wages of ticket-masters, average per month; number of men employed, exclusive of those engaged in construction; for removing ice and snow, (this item to in clude all labor, tools, repairs, and extra steam-power used;) for repairs of fences, gates, houses for signal-men, gate-keepers, switchmen, toolLouses; total for maintenance of way. M otive -p o w e r and cars .— For repairs of locomotives; for new locomotives to cover depreciation; for repairs of passenger cars; for new passenger cars to cover deprecia tion ; for repairs of merchandise cars; for new merchandise cars to cover deprecia tion; for repairs of gravel and other car?; total for maintenance of motive-power and cars; number of engines; number of passenger cars; number of merchandise cars; number ®f gravel cars. M iscellaneous .— For fuel used by engines during the year, namely, wood and coal; for oil used by engines and cars ; for waste and other material for cleaning; for sala ries, wages, and incidental expenses chargeable to passenger department; for salaries, wages, and incidental expenses chargeable to freight department; for gratuities and damages; for taxes and insurance; for ferries; for repairs of station buildings, fixtures, furniture; for amount paid other companies in tolls for passengers and freight carried on their roads, specifying each company and the amount to each; for1amount paid other companies as rent for use of their roads, specifying each company and the amount to each; for salary of president; for office expenses; for salary of treasurer; office expenses; for salary of superintendent; for office expenses; number of legal counsel retained, and amount paid them; number of actions in court each year in which the cor poration is a party, the expense of each action, the nature of the controversy, and the 356 Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics. amount in question; all other expenses not included in the foregoing items; total mis cellaneous ; total expenditure for working the road. I ncome durin g th e y e a r .— For passengers— 1. On main road, including branches owned by company. 2. To and from other roads, specifying what, and amount from each. For freight— 1. On main road and branches owned by company. 2. To and from other connecting roads, and amount from each; United States mails; rents; in terest ; from all other sources; total income; net earnings, after deducting expenses. D ivide n ds .— Per cent, total; surplus not divided; surplus last year; total surplus. E stimated D epreciation beyond the r e n e w a ls , na m e ly :— Road and bridges; build ings ; engines and cars. E stimated I ncreased V alue beyond D epr ecia tion , n a m e ly :— Road and bridges; buildings; engines and cars. N umber of fre e P assengers th e last y e a r , n a m e l y :— Number of directors and officers (except superintendent) of the corporation when not engaged in the immediate management o f the cars and care of the road; number of persons connected with and in the employment of other corporations; number of other persons, except stockhold ers when attending meetings of the corporation. S ec. 11. I f any railroad corporation shall violate any of the provisions of this act, or shall permit any such violation, for which violation no mode of punishment is pro vided, such corporation shall be liable to an action upon the case in the name of any party injured thereby, to recover his damage, and shall also be liable to indictment and fine not exceeding one thousand dollars for each offense. And if any officer, agent, or servant of any railroad corporation shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of this act, where no other remedy is provided against such officer, agent, or servant, he shall be liable to indictment and fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, according to the nature and aggravation of the offense. • S ec . 12. Each passenger over any railroad shall be entitled to have taken with him by the same train, as part consideration of the fare paid by him, a reasonable amount of personal baggage, exclusive of specie and bills: Provided, that no road shall be re quired to carry such baggage to an amount valued beyond one hundred dollars, without notice being given and extra charges paid for such risk and liability, and such corporation shall be liable for the safe transportation and delivery of all such baggage at the sta tion for which the same was received, or for the payment of the value thereof, if they neglect or refuse to pay for such baggage as aforesaid, on demand, after the expiration of said thirty days. S ec . 13. Whenever any land may have been or shall be entered upon and taken for the construction of a railroad, any party shall appear entitled to any estate, right, or interest in or charge affecting said land which was not adjusted by purchase or ap praisal thereof at the time of the laying out and construction of said road, in such cases said land, on petition to the railroad commissioners, may be laid out and appraised in the same way and manner as is provided for the original laying out and appraisal of land, and if the road is in operation, it shall not be obstructed in the use of said land after written application has been made to the commissioners to lay out the same, and notice thereof has been served on the land holders, until such appraisal shall be made. S ec . 14. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of August next. ______ __ _______ A SYSTEM OF GENERAL NIGHT SIGNALS. W e are indebted to W il l ia m WiNTHRor, E sq ., United States Consul at Malta, for a pamphlet entitled “ S y s t e m o f N i g h t Signals f o r the u s e o f H e r Majesty*s S h i p s a n d S q u a d r o n s , a n d a d a p t e d to M e r c h a n t Ships, E n g l i s h a n d F o r e i g n , Yachts, M i l itary Stations , R a i l r o a d s , I n l a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , Light-houses, dec? By Mitchel Thomp son, surgeon H. M. Ship Odir. The very inadequate and defective state of night signals induced Dr. Thompson to make an effort to provide a remedy, in order, if pos sible, to render the means of communication by night less difficult, and more extensive. The British system is now so limited, that not more than twenty signals can be made satisfactorily, without either rockets or gun«. The system, as laid down by drawings in this work, has, it appears, been examined anfl tested by Admiral Sir William Par ker, Bart., Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean squadron, and that distinguished navigator acknowledges its utility and importance. The system is clearly explained, and in addition to the approval of Admiral Parker, it is commended by a number of officers in the British navy. The copy received at the office of the M e r c h a n t s ’ M a g a zine is at the service of any of our friends, who may take an interest in the subject. Nautical Intelligence. 357 NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE. LIGHT-HOUSE ON THE ISLAND OF NORD ROSTER. D epartm en t of S t a t e , W ashington , July 27<A, 1850. F re em an H unt, E sq ., N e w York. S i r :— The enclosed information, respecting the erection of two new light-houses o n the Island of Nord Eoster, or Kosterkullen, on the coast o f Sweden, has been commu nicated to the Department of State, by our Charge d1Affairs at Stockholm, and is now transmitted to you for publication in the M e r c h a n t s’ M a g a z i n e , should you deem it o f sufficient interest. I am, Sir, respectfully, your obedient servant. D A N IE L W E B S T E R . COPT. The Royal Board of the Navy hereby make known to all seamen, that in conse quence of His Majesty’s command, two light-houses, of similar hight, and of stone, have been erected on the highest point of the island of Nord Eoster, or what is called Eosterkullen, situated off the province of Bohus, North Coast, 200 feet over the sea, in latitude 58° 54' 12", north, and longitude 11° 4' east of Greenwich, and 29° 18' 45" east of Terro. These light-houses are 17 feet high to the cornice, and 20 feet to the lantherns, which therefore shine at the hight of 220 Swedish feet (about 212 English feet) above the water, and which, in a dark, but clear night, can be seen from the deck of a common vessel at the distance of four to five geographical or German miles. The light houses are situated by the compass 240 feet (about 230 English) north and south of each other. In the southern tower is placed a steady lentille, of the third class, and in the northern a shining revolving light, which performs its round in two minutes, and gives in that time a short but strong light. The lights will begin on the 1st of Sep tember next, and will be kept lit at those times of the year, and of the day, which is ordained in all the other light-houses of the kingdom. S t o c k h o l m , 31s£ M a g , 1850. ST. ANDREW’S SHOALS, COAST OF GEORGIA. It appears, by an official report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey to the Secretary of the Treasury, that the sketch of the reconnoisance of St. Andrew’s Shoals, at the entrance of St. Andrew’s Sound, Georgia, by Lieutenant Com manding John Rodgers, tJ. S. N., assistant in the Coast Survey, has been engraved, and is ready for publication at the Coast Survey Office, and for gratuitous distribution, by the agents for the maps, to navigators and others. It further appears, from the report of Mr. Bache, the Superintendent, that the coast steamer Hetzel touched lightly, on her passage southward, last month, on part of this shoal, St. Andrew’s light-house bearing W. N. W., and distant about eight miles; the vessel was going carefully at the time, the position being taken by bearings and sound ings frequently. The English ship J a n e , of about seven hundred tons burthen, bound for Savannah, fell to leeward, and in beating up struck upon these shoals in broad day light, bilged and went to pieces. The following sailing directions and notes are given by Lieutenant Commanding Rodgers for entering St. Andrew’s Sound:— Sailing Directions. — To run in by the buoy.— Eeep in no less than six fathoms water, until the light-house bears by compass W . by N. £ N., then steer for the light house until the buoy comes in sight. Eeep it and- the light-house in range until up with the buoy, which should be passed close to either side. Then steer N. W. by "W. £ W., until the light house bears W. S. W. Haul in for the anchorage under the N. W. end o f Little Cumberland Island, and anchor when convenient. To run in by the compass.— Eeep in not less than six fathoms water, until the light house bears as above, W. by N. £ N., then steer for the light-house. When the south point of Jekyl island bears N. W. £ W., steer N. W. by W. £ W., until the light-house bears W. S. W. Then haul in for the anchorage under the N. W. end of Little Cum berland Island, and anchor when convenient. High water near Cumberland Light-house, in St. Andrew’s Sound, 7h. 55m., at full and change. The only spring tide observed rose seven feet. Nautical Intelligence. 358 NAVIGATION OF COLUMBIA RIVER. O regon Cit y , A p ril 30th. :— As there appears to be much excitement and interest expressed by the peo ple of Oregon on the subject of Trinidad Bay, I deem it well to state there is already a settlement there by the people of California; a town is laid off, and officers of the peace, cfec., elected. The latitude of the place is 41° 5' 50", and affords a good shelter from the north and north-west winds— it is open to the southward. Two small rivers empty into the ocean between the bay and Cape Mendocino. As much interest is also felt on the subject of the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River, I beg leave to say, that since the discovery of a south channel by Captain Charles Wliite, now a pilot at the mouth of that river, I deem the dangers and delays diminished at least 75 per cent. In fact, since Captain Wliite has been acting as a pilot, no vessel has been detained twenty-four hours at the mouth of the river, either outward or inward bound. Buoys will soon be placed, and a light-house erected, in order to facilitate navigation at that point; and I am o f the opinion that the difficul ties will be so far overcome as to place it, beyond a doubt, as easy and safe as the en trance to New York Bay, at least as long as the channel discovered by Captain White remains open. Very respectfully, &c. S ir W . P. M’ A R TH U R, Lieut. Commanding U. S. Survey. THE HARBOR OF ASTORIA, OREGON. The following letter from W. P. M’Arthur, Lieut. Commanding U. S. N., is dated Astoria, Oregon Territory, May 21st, 1850:— To G en . J ohn A d a ir . S i r :— Yours of the 8th instant is received, in answer to which I beg to say that I consider the harbor of Astoria quite good and secure. Vessels are quite as well shel tered as they are in most good harbors I have visited. As far as I have learned, no vessel has ever been driven on shore by the action of the winds and waves— conclu sive evidence of its safety. With regard to the new south channel discovered by Captain Charles White, I have already expressed my opinion. The additional experience I have received since only enables me to be more confident. The difficulties, dangers, and delays, of navigating the mouth of the Columbia River have decreased at least 25 per cent since their dis covery. I am respectfully and truly yours, W . P. M ’A R TH U R , L ieu t. Commanding U. S. JV*. ROCKS AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO. A reef o f rocks lies off the southern and western point of the “ sand bluff,” which puts off at nearly right angles from the main land, about fourteen miles to the northward and westward o f the entrance of the Bay of San Francisco, and twelve miles to the eastward of Point de Rais. The rocks composing this reef are generally of pinnacle form, and scattering, and although their points are within six or eight feet of the sur face, it does not show any breakers at full sea more than half a mile from the shore. Schooner Laura Virginia struck at about two miles from the beach, and received se vere injury ; and ship Sea also touched on it, but passed over without damage. The soundings are bold on both sides of the outer part of the reef, and vessels should be cautious in approaching this part of the coast, as the wake of the land does not indi cate the existence o f such danger. Respectfully your obedient servant, D O U G L A SS OTTINGER. FIXED LIGHT ON KYIIOLM ISLAND— GREAT BELT. The Danish government has given potice that the intermitting light on the Island of Kyholm, in the entrance of the Great Belt, was superseded on the 17th May by a fixed light, which stands close to the northward of the former light, and which, being of the same hight, 57 feet above the level of the sea, is visible in all directions at the distance of eight or nine miles. Mercantile Miscellanies. 359 MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES. THE ARGUMENT FOR CHEAP POSTAGE. W e are content to leave the case in regard to a liberal administration o f railroads in hands so competent as those of Mr. D erby; but we wish to express our dissent from the view which was presented by Mr. Balfour, in our last number, in regard to the proper ground of the demand for cheap postage. He represents the British Pos tage System as having failed, because it has not yet produced “ an increase of in come.” Now it has been abundantly shown by Mr. Leavitt, both in his Boston pamph let, and in his contributions to our pages, that the statesmen who adopted the British system of cheap postage, never anticipated an increase of income. On the contrary, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Francis Barring, declared his conviction that the loss of revenue would be “ very considerable indeed.” Lord Ashburton declared that the loss “ would amount to a sacrifice of the whole revenue of the post-office ;” and the Earl of Lichfield declared that “ in neither House had it been brought for ward on the ground that the revenue would be the gainer;” but that “ he assented to it on the simple ground that the d e m a n d f o r it w a s universal .” The system was adop ted for its public benefits, and these anticipated benefits have been realized to a de gree exceeding the most sanguine anticipations. The “ surplus revenue,” under the old system, was £1,600,000; after deducting the entire “ cost of management,” which was then about £686,000. The “ gross receipts” from postage were £2,340,000. Now it is a fact which Mr. Balfour unjustly kept out of view, that the “ gross receipts” for the year 1848, the n i n t h year of the new sys tem, were £2,192,000; only £148,000 short of the “ gross receipts” at the old high rates. This is the only fact which is properly pertinent to his question of railroad fares; and this would not have suited his purpose. The “ cost of management” has increased, under the new system, to £1,336,000; but this is chargeable to the increased accommodation of the public, and not to the reduc tion o f the rates. It is not true, as Mr. Balfour aUeges, “ that the whole charge of packet service” was paid out of the postage receipts under the old system. But if it were so, the only just inference would be, that at that time the cost of packet ser vice must have been very small, since it was aU included in the £686,000 returned as the “ cost of management.” The cost of the packet service ought not to be charged to the post-office, for it is not incurred on account of postage, but for other governmental objects. The great burden is the expense of the ocean mail-steamers ; and every one who has read Mr. Butler King’s reports in Congress, knows that these were got up mainly for the object of securing the construction of a class of steam-vessels which the government can arm and use in time of war. The same consideration governed in Congress in establishing our ocean mails; and therefore the expense ought not to affect the question of cheap postage. Mr. Balfour’s “ real account” is incorrect in another particular: he gives no credit for the postage of newspapers, which goes directly to the treasury under the head of stamps, amounting to £360,000, which ought to be added to the net revenue of £803,000; making the true “ real account" of surplus £1,163,000. The unfairness of Mr. Balfour is equally seen in his statement of the results of cheap postage in this country, in confining his comparison to the first two years of the act of 1845. Why does he not compare the gross receipts of 1849, which were §4,905,000, with those of the last year of high postage, $4,289,000 ? 360 Mercantile Miscellanies. The friends of cheap postage place their demand upon the merits of the system— its general benefits, and the wishes of the people. They see no reason why it should not yield a regular increase of income, as in Great Britain; in which case they are confident that in five or six years, or ten at fartherest, the Post-Office Department will support itself, while conferring upon the people the inestimable blessings of cheap postage. But, in any event, they are sure the change will be worth whatever it may cost, and the people who demand it can very well afford to pay for it, be the expense what it may. MARINE PAINTING. 5: That the arts have a softening and refining influence, every one will readily admit. That they tend to intellectualize all who come within the sphere of their influence; that they stimulate the ingenuity of a people ; that they are, moreover, valuable as aids to in dustry, is evident enough, without adducing proof in support of the position. A ques tion then naturally arises, why have they not been more cultivated and encouraged. Simply because their true application has been misunderstood, and the genius of the youthful artist has been misdirected in the outset of his studies. Our art education has hitherto been d o w n w a r d ,, instead of u p w a r d . The student, instead of beginning with the more palpable and more easily understood productions which are so largely spread around us, and which carry the mind onwards and upwards, by imperceptible gradations, from one degree of perfection to another, is called upon to appreciate the great works of the great masters, without having first received those intermediate les sons in taste which convey to the mind a sense of the beautiful and grand. Hence it is that many have been discouraged in the very outset of their career, and the efforts of those who have been induced to persevere have been so cramped and fettered by “ copying the model,” that after years of studious application, their best production is only a fine imitation. These remarks have been suggested to us by a visit to the studio of W il l ia m M ax sh , E sq ., of Brooklyn, a self-taught artist, who has never re ceived a single lesson, nor paid a dollar to an instructor ; yet who, in one department o f art, marine painting, has few equals, and no superior. Impelled by the force of his genius, by that vivida vis a n i m i which leads poets, orators, and mathematicians, to seek for those objects by which their peculiar taste is nourished and strengthened, he has devoted himself with unwearied energy to the prosecution of his fiivorite art; and abandoning all other pursuits, has become c o n a m ore, an artist by profession. In all the paintings of Mr. Marsh, which we have seen, not merely the general outlines, but the minutest details, are faithfully delineated. A ll the parts of the vessel, “ from stem to stern,” are exhibited in exact proportion, and with mathematical precision. The most trifling arrangement even of the ropes or the rigging, have been copied with the nicest accuracy. The freedom, truth, and vigor of his drawings are only equalled by the singular beauty and freshness of his coloring. The artist evidently paints from a thorough study o f his subject. His vessels are genuine salt-water ships. His wavefoams are all true to nature. There is sound and motion in every picture he paints. Many of our ship-builders, and owners of vessels, have already secured the services of Mr. Marsh; and if, as it is said, “ a ship is the mistress of a sailor,” we would think that every one who has the “ means and appliances to boot,” would, as a matter of pride and gratification, secure her likeness. We would seriously advise Mr. Marsh to select some naval historical subject on which to exercise his powers, as we have no doubt that his efforts would be crowned with the most signal success. d . s. THE PERIWINKLE TRADE. A Glasgow (Scotland) paper says :— “ It would hardly be supposed that so trifling an article of consumption as periwinkles could form a matter of extensive traffick; but so it is. Sometimes as many as fifty or sixty tons of these little shells are brought at a time to our quay from the island of Kervera, opposite Oban, where they abound, and are gathered by the poor people, who get 6d. a bushel for collecting them. From this they are shipped to Liverpool, and thence by rail to London, to satisfy the insatiable maw of the modern Babylonians. Very few are retained here in transit, as the popu lar taste for “ whilks and buckies” is not so strongly marked in our population, and better profits are consequently obtained in London, even after paying so much sea and land carriage.” 361 Mercantile Miscellanies. PASSAGE OF THE STEAMER WASHINGTON. B Y G . P . R . JAM ES. / [The following beautiful lines were written b y Mr. James, the novelist, w hile on board the steamer W ashington, during her late voyage to the port o f New York.] The W ashington, the W ashington! How gallantly she g o e s ; Green fields she finds before her steps, She leaves them clad in snows. Nor sordid triumph was the chief’s, Nor sordid triumph thine, Though war, unwilling, was his task, A n d thine aim peace divine. The green field o f the ocean, The snow flake o f the foam, R eceive and follow, as she treads Her pathway to her hom e. The links his good sword severed, W hen heavy grew the chain, Even o f England’s brotherhood, Thou shalt unite again. G od speed thee noble W ashington, Across the mighty main, A n d give thee wings to traverse it A thousand times again! But links o f love the bond shall form T o bind the East and W e s t; W hile child and mother, long estranged, Fly to each other’ s breast. N ot wrongly hast thou taken The glorious chieftain’ s name, W h o w on his country’s liberty Am idst the battle’s flame. A n d m ay’st thou, as thou tread’st the sea, Till thy long wand’ rings cease, Be, like the patriarchal dove, A messenger o f peace. TRADE BETWEEN CINCINNATI AND LIVERPOOL. The Cincinnati Price C u r r e n t notices as “ a new feature in trade ” the fact that a sale recently took place in Cincinnati of twenty casks of English linseed oil, at one dollar per gallon. We quote from the P r i c e C u r r e n t as follows :— “ This lot of oil was shipped from Liverpool via New Orleans, consigned to S. M. Haughton, merchant, o f Cincinnati, and sold as above, for the benefit of the consignor. W e predicted some months ago that the East would this year contribute to supply the West with this description of oil—owing to the high prices in the latter, consequent upon a deficiency of seed— but we did not suppose that the wants of our market would attract the attention of Liverpool merchants. This shipment, we learn paid but a small profit. The oil cost in Liverpool about 48 cents; to this add the American duty of ten cents, and 42 cents remain to pay freight, commission, and other charges. With present prices in Liverpool, and 105 a 110c. here, the business of shipping hither might be made profitable. This matter is only important in showing that higher prices than are now current cannot prevail at the West while in England there is an average supply of the article. The correspondence between Liverpool and Cincinnati are as regular as between our city and New York or New Orleans, and the condition of our markets is always well understood by the American merchants abroad.” THE IMPORTANCE OF PUNCTUALITY. Punctuality is “ the life of business,” or should be a mercantile virtue. The laconic lecture of the Quaker, which we copy from an exchange paper, will commend itself to the conscience o f every right-minded business man in the community. A committee o f eight gentlemen had appointed to meet at 12 o’clock. Seven of them were punctual; but the eighth came bustling in with apologies for being a quar ter of an hour behind the time. “ The time,” said he, “ passed away without my be ing aware of it. I had no idea of its being so late,” &c. A Quaker present said— “ Friend, I am not sure that we should admit thy apology. It were matter of regret that thou shouldst have wasted thine own quarter of an hour; but there are seven be sides thyself, whose time thou hast also consumed, amounting in the whole to two hours, and one-eighth of it only was thine own property.” FIRST ARRIVAL AT NEW ORLEANS FROM CALCUTTA. The New Orleans C o m m e r c i a l Bulletin of the 2d of July, 1850, notices, under its marine head, the arrival of the ship St. Petersburg, Captain Plumer, in 182 days from Calcutta, with a cargo of saltpeter, gunny bags and bagging, as the first direct arriv al at New Orleans from the port of Calcutta. 362 Mercantile Miscellanies. A CURIOUS SALVAGE CASE. A salvage suit of a very peculiar character was recently tried in the British Admi ralty Court. It appears that the Maria Jane was chartered by Mr. Lilly to proceed from Liverpool to Africa for a cargo of palm oil, he engaging to provide a sufficient crew, to provision the ship, and to pay the owners a lump sum of £720. The vessel having taken the cargo on board, in descending the river Rio Bento struck upon the bar, and sustained some trifling damage. Whilst in that situation services were ren dered by two vessels, the Rapid and the Mary, both of which belonged to Mr. Lilly. By the adoption of various measures, extending from the 24th of July to the 24th of August, 1849, the Maria Jane was got over the bar and despatched for Liverpool, where she arrived in December. During the time that she was in Africa she lost part o f her crew by death, and some hands from the Rapid were put on board. To obtain a reward for these services the present action was brought, and was resisted on the ground that the Maria Jane was, pro hoc vice, the property of Mr. Lilly. In the first instance the cargo was arrested, but bail was afterwards taken for the ship only, the value of which was estimated at £550. Dr. Lushington, after remarking that it was a question novel in many respects, reserved his judgment. A LONDON TRICK IN TRADE. It would seem, from the following statement, which we copy from the L o n d o n A t las newspaper, that honest John Bull’s “ nation of shopkeepers” are not altogether free from “ Yankee tricks:— ” , T icketing S hops in O x f o e d -stkeet .— A t Marlborough-street, two ladies applied for advice to Mr. Bingham in the following matter:— They were passing through Oxford-street, when they stopped to look at some dresses at No. 16, a linen-draper’s, which they thought were marked 1 l|d. each. A person from the shop invited them to look at the dresses, and they went into the shop. The dresses were produced, and, instead of ll|d., they were informed the price was Is. ll^d., and that the length was only five yards. They told the shop-man, or whoever he was, that five yards would not make more than half a dress, and he admitted that was true. They then declined to buy a dress, and were leaving the shop, when they were induced to return and look at some corded petticoats, which were to be had at the low price of two for half-acrown. They agreed to take two, and put down half-a-crown. As soon as the man had got possession of the money, he said it was not the practice to sell petticoats alone— they must take three of the dresses at Is. lld|d., or he would neither give them the petticoats, nor return the money. Mr. Bingham told the applicants that the county court would very soon procure restoration of the money obtained under such circumstances. STATISTICS OF COLLISIONS AT SEA. A statement has been prepared by Mr. John A. Rucker, underwriter to the London Assurance Company, giving a classification of the number of collisions at sea reported in Lloyd’s lists during the five years from 1845 to 1849 inclusive. From this it ap pears that the annual numbers were 603, 564, 699, 633, and 565 ; so that there has been a decrease, notwithstanding the increased commercial traffic of 1849. The total collisions of the five years amount to 3,064. Of these, 279 were cases in which a ves sel was sunk, run down, or abandoned; 189 were cases in which there was serious damage ; 686 in which the damage, although less, was still considerable ; and 1,910 in which it was only slight. The average of steamers in contact with steamers during each year is about 11 ; of steamers in contact with sailing vessels about 37 ; of sailing vessels in contact with steamers 36 ; and of sailing vessels in contact with sailing ves sels 533. CONSUMPTION OF TEA IN ENGLAND. In 1847 the quantity of tea retained for home consumption was 46,314,821 lbs., on which the duty, at 2s. 2^d. per pound, was £5,066,494. In 1848 the quantity retained for home consumption was 48,374,789 lbs., on which the duty was £5,329,992, being an increase of 2,419,968 lbs. on the preceding year; whilst in 1849, the year ending the 5th January last, the quantity retained was 50,021,579 lbs., and the duty paid £5,471,422. The Book Trade. 36 3 THE BOOK TRADE. 1. — T h e Literati: s o m e H o n e s t O p i n i o n s about A u t h o r i a l M erits a n d D e m e r i t s , with Occasional W o r d s o f Personality ; including Margi n a l i a , Suggestions, a n d Critical Essays. By the late E d ga r A. P oe . 1 vol., 12mo. New Y ork: J. S. Redfield. This volume comprises the most characteristic and remarkable writings of a man of genius, who will probably continue to be ranked among the most genuine and creative authors of this country. The tales and poems of Mr. Poe, previously published by Mr. Redfield, are already, by the common consent, for the creative energy displayed in them, and for the exquisite finish of their style, admitted to be classical. They form a portion of the prominent literature of the English language. These “ opinions,” crit ical and personal, are likely to provoke controversy. Mr. Poe had astonishing acute ness, and he delighted in a caustic severity. The faults of our authors he seemed to have deemed it his mission to detect and explore. But he was not altogether ungenial. This work embraces much of the most delicate appreciative criticism, and it evinces on almost every page a large knowledge in literature, and unsurpassed skill in literary art. The series of papers entitled “ Marginalia,” and that called “ suggestions,” are full of curious learning. Principle is one of the finest pieces o f aesthetic writing pro duced in our time. The memoir prefixed to the work has a melancholy interest. It furnishes a key to the author’s temper, his misfortunes, and the direction of his genius. The book will probably have an immense sale. 2. — T h e Architecture o f C o u n t r y H o u s e s ; I n c l udiny D e s i g n s f o r Cottages, F a r m Houses, a n d Villas, with R e m a r k s o n Interiors, Furniture, a n d the Best M o d e s o f W a r m i n g a n d Ventilating. With three hundred and twenty illustrations. By A. J. D ow n in g . New Y ork : D . Appleton Co. This elegant work appears to contain all that may be necessary to enable the builder of a house to combine taste with comfort. It has plans for every style, from the cheapest dwelling of the laborer, and the house of the farmer, to the millionaire. These are accompanied with every explanation that can be required, and embellished with all the ornaments that the most correct taste can suggest. And what is the most essential of all, each plan has annexed a careful estimate of all the expense that it may cost in construction. A ll the latest improvements in the manner of finishing the various parts of a building are so carefully explained that any one can execute them. In looking over the work, we have been struck with the cheapness and ease with which the simplest dwelling, by the addition of a few ornaments, can be rendered an object of taste and neatness, and an expression of comfort and happiness on the part of its occupant. If it is true that there is no place like home, this work will add ten fold force to its correctness, by introducing among our citizens various styles of dwell ings which may truthfully be called neat and happy homes. W e cannot hesitate a moment to urge in its behalf the attention of every one who possesses the smallest desire to see an improvement in the domestic architecture of the country, and in the refinement and comfort of the people. — T h e E a r l s Daughter. By the author of “ Amy Herbert,” “ Gertrude,” Ac. Ed ited by the Rev. W. S e w e l l , D . D . 12mo, pp. 340. New Y ork : D . Appleton & Co. The writings of Mrs. Sewell are too well-known, and too favorably received by the public to need any commendation. In this volume she has portrayed with great fervor the strength of principle which may be sometimes found combined with the utmost delicacy and gentleness of woman’s spirit. This combination forms a character which is rare, but of an exceedingly lofty and noble nature. It could not be more skillfully or truthfully drawn than it appears in this volume. 3. 4. — T h e Deserted Wife. By E m ma D . N e v itt S o uthw orth . 8vo., pp. 116. New Y ork : D . Appleton & Co. This is one o f those few works in which character is portrayed by a master hand. A single stroke of the pen will often cause the deepest sympathies to burst forth in an in stant; and with many readers the countenance will glow with smiles and tears at the same moment. Simple and artless as the story appears, it yet obtains a degree of power and control over the mind that is irresistible. The scenes are laid chiefly in Maryland, and are drawn from incidents in real life. 364 The Book Trade. — L i f e a n d Letters o f T h o m a s C a m p b e l l ? Edited b y W m . B eattie , M. D . 2 yols. 12mo., pp. 550. New York : Harper & Brothers. W e do not know as we can speak of the character of this work in a manner that will be half so agreeable to our readers as to quote the remarks of Washington Irving respecting it. “ It is a great act of justice to the memory of a distinguished man, whose character has not been sufficiently known. It gives an insight into his domestic as well as his literary life, and lays open the springs of all his actions and the causes of all his contrariety of conduct. We now see the vast difficulties he had to contend with in the early part of his career; the worldly cares which pulled his spirit to the earth whenever it would wing its way to the skies; the domestic affections tugging even at his heart-strings in his hours of genial intercourse, and converting his very smiles into spasms; the anxious days and sleepless nights preying upon his delicate organization, producing that marked sensitiveness and nervous irritability which at times overlaid the real sweetness and amenity of his nature, and obscured the un bounded generosity of his heart.” 5. 6. — Harpers' N e w M o n t h l y M a g a z i n e . This new periodical was commenced on the 1st of June, and has now reached its fourth number. Each number contains about one hundred and forty-four pages, octavo, in double columns, at three dollars a year, or twenty-five cents a number. The leading features of this magazine are, that it will trans fer to its pages, as rapidly as they may be issued, the continuous tales of Dickens, Bui; wer, Croly, Lever, Warren, and other distinguished contributors to British periodicals; articles of commanding interest from all the leading Quarterly Reviews of both Great Britain and the United States; speeches and addresses of distinguished men upon top ics of universal interest; notices of events in science, literature and art, in which the people at large have an interest, &c., &c. A t the same time, it is issued in a very hand some style, and at such a very low price as to place it within the reach of every one. The subscription already exceeds thirty thousand, and, at this rate, it is not easy to conceive the limits to it. If we regard all its features, it may justly be declared to be one of the cheapest literary periodicals of the present day. 7. — E l e m e n t a r y Sketches o f M o r a l P h i l o s o p h y : Delivered at the R o y a l Institution in the years 1804, 1805, a n d 1806. By the la te R ev . S id n e y S m ith . 8 vo . pp. 391. New Y ork : Harper & Brothers. These lectures, and parts of lectures, from the noted Sidney Smith, are marked by all the peculiar features of his intellect and style. The book is full of good sense, acuteness, and right feeling— very clearly and pleasantly written— and with such an advisable mixture of logical intrepidity, with the absence of all dogmatism, as is rarely met with in such discussions. Some of the conclusions may be questionable, but gen erally they are just, and never propounded with anything like arrogance, and the whole subject is treated with quite as much, either of susceptibility or profundity, as is com patible with a proper exposition of it. 8. — T h e C o m p l e t e W o r k s o f W i l l i a m S hakspeare. London and New Y ork : Tallis Willoughby. W e have received parts 1 and 2 of this edition of the works of the great English poet. This edition is revised from the original edition, and embraces historical intro ductions to each play, and notes explanatory and critical, together with a life of the poet, and an introductory essay on his phraseology and meter. The notes, biography, <fcc., were prepared by James 0. Halliwell, F. R. S., Member of the Council of the Shakspeare Society, author of the Life of Shakspeare, the Dictionary of Archaic Words, and other works. Each number contains two illustrations, beautifully engraved on steel, representing the principal scenes in the play. The engravings are fine origi nal designs by artists of the first eminence in England. Aside from the typographical excellence of this edition, it will, when completed, form a series of pictorial illustra tions “ as yet unrivalled.” It promises to be one of the most, if not the most, elegant and desirable editions of Shakspeare’s complete works produced either in England or the United States. — T h e H i story o f the D e cline a n d F a l l o f the R o m a n E m p i r e . By E d w a r d G ibbon . With notes by H. H. M ilm an . Yol. 4. 12mo., pp. 636. New Y ork: Harper & Brothers. W e have already spoken of the respective volumes of this edition as they have ap peared. It is issued in handsome style, and at such a low rate as to place it within the reach o f every one. 9. 305 The Booh Trade. 10. — T h e Gallery o f Illustrious A m e r i c a n s ; containing Portraits a n d B i o g r a p h i c a l Sketches o f twenty-four o f the m o s t E m i n e n t Citizens o f the R e p u b l i c since the D e a t h o f Washington. Daguerreotypes by Brady; engraved by D. Avignon. Edited by C. Edwards Lester. New York: G. P. Putnam. The sixth and seventh numbers of this work are before u s; equal, in every respect, to the preceding issues, which is saying all that is necessary to those who have been so fortunate as to secure copies of one of the noblest works of art our country has pro duced. Number Six contains a portrait of Col. Fremont, and Number Seven of Au dubon, men equally distinguished in the different departments of scientific research and enterprise; the one as a bold and adventurous traveler, the other as an enthusiastic, devoted, and intelligent ornothologist. A more proper or judicious selection of sub jects for this great work, could not well have been made. The brief, compendous nar ratives of their remarkable lives, are written in a singularly felicitous and condensed style. Mr. Lester has contrived to crowd a vast number of facts in a very few words, without sacrificing that elegant and perspicuous diction which characterizes every line from his polished pen. 11. — T h e W a s h i n g t o n Irving. New edition. Revised. Vol. xiv. Con New Y ork: George P. Putnam. After a lapse of two or three months, Mr. Putnam sends us the fourteenth volume o f his new and beautiful edition of the complete works of Washington Irving. What more can we say of the present work, “ The Conquest of Granada,” than Prescott has said. “ It has,” says that accomplished historian, “ superseded all fur ther necessity for poetry, and, unfortunatety for me, for history. He (Irving) has fully availed himself of all the picturesque and animating movement of this roman tic era; and the reader who will take the trouble to compare his chronicle with the present more prosaic and literal narrative (Ferdinand and Isabella) will see how little he has been seduced from historic accuracy by the poetical aspect of his sub jects. The fictitious and romantic dress of Irving’s work has enabled him to make it the medium of reflecting more vividly the floating opinions and chimerical fancies of the age, while he has illuminated the picture with the dramatic brilliancy of coloring denied to solemn history.” W o r k s of quest o f G r a n a d a . 12. — E u r o p e , P a s t a n d P r e s e n t : a Comprehensive M a n u a l of E u r o p e a n G e o g r a p h y a n d H i s t o r y : W i t h S e p a r a t e Descriptions a n d Statistics o f each State, a n d a copi o u s Index. By F rancis U n g e w itte r , LL. D. 12mo., pp. 670. New York: Geo. P. Putnam. The author o f this work is a German by birth, and has previously written several geographical works, which have been very favorably received iiA is own country. In this volume he has presented us with complete information of all the States of Europe in those branches of knowledge which come within its province. This information has been attained from the latest and most authentic official reports in the various coun tries ; and it is probably more accurate than any work of the kind which has ever been presented to the American public. The order observed is to present, first, the state ments about area, population, surface, soil, natural products, manufactures, commerce and trade, public finances, form of government, strength of the army and navy, orders of honor, &c. Secondly, the history ; and thirdly, the topography of the State. 13. — The B e r b e r ; or the M o u n t a i n e e r o f the Atlas. S tarbuck M a y o , author of “ Kaloolah,” etc. A By W illia m New York: George tale o f Morocco. 12mo., pp. 453. P. Putnam. This is an exceedingly agreeable book, and it has for its object the illustration of Moorish manners, customs, history, and geography, and Moorish life as it exists at the present day, as well as to introduce to the acquaintance of the reader a people who have played a most important part in the world’s history, but of whom very little is generally known more than their mere name. It is written with much vigor and ani mation of style, and will absorb the attention of the reader. 14. — Christ a n d the P h a r isees u p o n the Sabbath. By a student of Divinity, sometime student at Law. Boston : Bela Marsh. This “ Latter-Day Pamphlet,” as it is called, contains “ more truth than poetrv,” It is extremely radical, and will be regarded as extremely hetrodox by “ the church.” The writer contends that the “ Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” It is written in a bold and vigorous style. 366 The Booh Trade. 16.— Christian T h o u g h t s o n Life. I n a iSeries o f Discourses. By H en ry G ile s , au thor of “ Lectures and Essays.” Boston : Ticknor, Reed <Ss Fields. Mr. Giles is well-known throughout the country as an eloquent and popular lecturer. He is also clerically connected with a denomination of Christians, that numbers many o f the most finished scholars and purest minded men. The present discourses, how ever, we are told by the author, were not written in “ pastorial relations or for pastorial purposes.” Unrestrained by those relations and those purposes, Mr. Giles has gathered into compact form fragments of a rich moral experience, and given “ some record and some order to desultory studies of man’s interior life.” Hot pressed by oc casions which compel brevity, he has followed, as he moved, the promptings of his feelings and his theme. The volume contains twelve discourses, with the following general titles:— The Worth of Life— The Personality of Life—The Continuity of Life — The Struggle of Life— The Discipline of Life— Prayer and Passion— Temper— The Guilt of Contempt— Evangelical Goodness— The Spirit of Christian Forgiveness— Spir itual Incongruities— Weariness of Life, and Mystery in Religion and in Life. A more earnest, ardent-minded teacher of the great moral and religious truths of our being is rarely to be found among men, and we venture to say that this volume contains more “ Christian thoughts on life ” than can be found in a hundred volumes of dogmatic theology. 16. — Confessions o f a n E n g l i s h O p i u m - e a t e r , and S u s p i r i a de Profundies. By T homas de Q uincy . 12mo., pp. 272. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. This is the first volume of a series which is intended to embrace a complete collec tion of De Quincy’s writings. In this one we have an episode in the life of a scholar, during a period in which he became a confirmed opium-eater to an extent greater than is recorded of any other man, and yet afterward struggled against and almost entirely \ recovered himself from this fascinating enthralment. In these confessions we have something of the grandeur which belongs potentially to human dreams. There is also added some “ passages” from the author’s childhood, which were of such a nature as to add greatly to these vast clouds of glowing grandeur which overhung his dreams at all stages of opium, and which grew into the darkest miseries at last. The style of the work is that of a scholar of no ordinary literary attainments. 17. — I n M e m o r w n . By A l f r e d T en nyson . Boston : Ticknor, Reed & Fields. The admirers of Tennyson are under great obligations to the American publishers for reproducing another and later (the third) volume of his works in a form so beau tiful. The E d i n b u r g R e v i e w is of the opinion that Tennyson can be compared with few living poets in Iliose peculiar, distinctive qualities which raise the true poet to that quick apprehension of spiritual beauty which furnishes him with perpetual in spiration, and to the glad world an overflowing soDg. Dr. Griswold regards Ten nyson as holding, at this time, the highest rank among the living poets o f England. 18. — T h e A m e r i c a n E d i t i o n o f B o y d e l V s Illustrations o f Shakspeare. Hew York : S. Spooner. The twenty-third part of this great work has been published. It contains two plates, representing two scenes from the fifth part of King Henry IV., with full letter-press illustrations. W e have, in former notices o f this work, expressed the opinion that Dr. Spooner had succeeded in restoring the plates to all the “ pristine beauty of the first proofs.” That opinion was formed after a careful examination of impressions taken in England prior to the restoring of the plates, and in re-affirming it we are fully sustained by artists of repute and men of taste who have examined the engravings. Dr. Spooner’s enthusiastic zeal, as manifested in this enterprise, should be liberally rewarded. 19. — T h r e e Y e a r s i n California. By Rev. W a l t e r C olton , U. S. N. With illustra tions. 12mo., pp. 456. New Y ork : A. S. Barnes. The author of this book is already well known to the public by many pleasant works. His arrival in California was at the time the United States flag was raised at Monterey, in July, 1846. On that occasion he was appointed Alcalde of Monterey; and the present work consists of a journal of what took place during the three years subsequent to that period. There is no book published on the subject of California which will convey to the reader a more correct or graphic account of that country ; the past and present customs and manners of the population, or the growth and im provement which has taken place. It is written in a very agreeable style, and orna mented with a number of handsome engravings, of individuals and scenes, and presents us with a picture of life at the mines in its true and real aspect. v The Book Trade. 367 20. — T h e Night-Sick o f N a t u r e ; or, G h o s t s a n d Ghosts-Seers. By C atherine C r o w e , authoress of “ Susan Hopley,” “ Lilly Dawson,” “ Aristodemus,” etc. 12mo., pp. 451. New York: J. S. Redfield. The term “ night-side of nature ” is borrowed by the author of this volume from the Germans, who derive it from the astronomers, the latter denominating that side of a planet which is turned from the sun its night-side. The subjects discussed in this work, apparitions, troubled spirits, spectral lights, haunted houses, wraiths, warnings, etc., “ are frequently either denied as ridiculous and impossible, or received as evidences of supernatural interference—interruptions of those general laws by which God gov erns the universe,” which latter mistake the author maintains, arises from our only seeing these facts without the links that connect them with the rest of nature. The author disclaims the pretension of teaching or of enforcing opinions. Her object is to suggest inquiry and stimulate observation— “ to discover something regarding our phys ical nature.” 21. — T h e Art-Journal. London and New Y o rk : George Virtue. The number ef this beautiful journal for July fully sustains its reputation which may now, beyond all question, be regarded as permanently established. The “ Vernon Gal lery ” continues to supply the work with its exquisite attractions. The two steel en gravings copied from the originals in that gallery, namely, “ The "Windmill,” engraved by J. C. Bentley, from the picture by Linnell, and “ The Duet,” engraved by R. Bell, from the picture by W. Etty, are among the most elaborate and highly finished pic tures that have graced the pages of this journal “ Eve Listening to the Voice,” from the statute in marble by E. H. Baily, is in a style that we have never seen, that we are aware, surpassed. The wood engravings, illustrating “ passages from the poets,” the “ Evangeline ” of Longfellow, and the “ Seasons ” of Thompson, are really beautiful in design and execution. There is not an engraving on steel in this work that is not richly worth the price charged for the number. But the work does not owe all its value to the illustrations; the letter-press papers will compare in style with the choicest pro ductions published in the best English or American literary journals. 22. — Spectacles: their Uses a n d A b u s e s in L o n g a n d Short-sightedness, a n d the P a t h o logical Conditions resulting f r o m their Irrational E m p l o y m e n t . B y J. S ichel , M. D , of the Faculties of Berlin and Paris. Translated from the French b y H en ry W. W ill ia m s , M. D. 8vo., pp. 200. Boston: Phillips, Sampson it Co. The catalogue of medical literature contains no work on the important subjects dis cussed in this treatise, and the large class of diseases in the production or amelioration of which spectacles exert an important influence. This work contains a description of several important maladies of which no one has previously spoken. It is, therefore, well-deserving of the attention of the physcians aud any one under the disagreeable necessity of wearing spectacles. 23. — L a t t e r - D a y P a m p h l e t s . Edited by T homas C a r l y l e . Boston: Phillips, Samp son & Co. This singular serial has reached its eighth number. The last published is devoted to “ Jesuitism.” The previous issues are “ The Present Time “ Model Prisons “ Downing S t r e e t “ The New Downing S t r e e t “ Stump Orators “ Parliaments and “ Hudson’s Statue.” Many more read the “ dark sayings ” of Carlyle than com prehend them. 24. — T h e History o f the D ecline a n d F a l l o f the R o m a n E m p i r e . B y E d w a r d G ib bon . Vol. 6. 12mo., pp. 542. Boston: Philips,Sampson,& Co. This volume completes this edition o f the work. It contains the notes of Milman, and a oomplete index to the whole. It is published in very good style, and at a price so cheap that every one can obtain a copy of this great historical production. 25. — Conscience a n d the Constitution, with R e m a r k s o n the R e c e n t S p e e c h o f the H o n . D a n i e l Webster in the S enate o f the U n i t e d States o n the Subject o f Slavery. By M. S tuart , lately Professor in the Theological Seminary at Andover. 8vo., pp. 1 1 9 . Boston: Crocker and Brewster. Professor Stuart is regarded as a very able theologian, and the present work which exhibits him in the light of a politician and as the defender of the “ Defender of the Constitution,” will be regarded as able and ingenious by the pro-slavery men of the North. The Book Trade. 368 26. — T h e Directory o f the City o f B o s t o n ; e m b r a c i n g the City Record, etc. Boston : George Adams. A directory is as important to the merchant and business man as a dictionary of the English language is to the scholar, and man of letters. The Boston Directory for 1850-61 is a model of its kind, containing, as it does, an accurate general directory of its citizens, besides a vast amount of information relating to the “ Literary Emporium,” of general and permanent interest. Mr. Adams, the compiler, has made improvements in this “ kind of literature,” from which even Doggett might gather some valuable hints, were he capable of appreciating industry, intelligence, and enterprise. 27. — “ 16mo., pp. 131. “ O l d Joliffe." 16mo., pp. 66. “ S e q u e l to O l d Jo16mo., pp. 81. Boston : James Munroe & Go. These are charming little works, or rather lyrics of human life, in which the author has beautifully illustrated these sentiments— “ The danger of temptations which are thought to be too small.”— “ Cheer up and despond not.” Of the same character is the little work from the same publishers entitled “ L ucy's Half-crown. 16mo., p p . 141. By C. M. A. C oupee , which illustrates the “ art of making people happy without money.” Only." life” 28. — D i e s Boreales ; or, Christopher u n d e r Canvass. By P rofessor J ohn W ilson , au thor of “ Naetes Ambrosiae,” <fec. 12mo., pp. 363. Philadelphia : A. Hart. No one who has ever seen Blackwood’s Magazine can be ignorant of “ Christopher North,” the chief speaker in the dialogues which have embellished so many numbers of that publication. This volume comprises one of the series from the pen of Professor Wil son, which have been received with great eclat by the literary world. They are issued in a neat and not expensive style by the Philadelphia publisher. 29. — T h e N a g ' s H e a d ; or, A S e a s o n A m o n g “ T h e B a n k e r s ' ' A Tale o f Sea-shore Life. By G r e g o r y S e a w o r t h y . 12mo„ pp. 180. Philadelphia: A. Hart. This volume is one of the “ Library of Humorous American Works,” in course of publication, and is full of entertaining scenes and stories. 30. — Pictur e s q u e Sketches i n Greece a n d T u rkey. By A ub rey D e Y e v e , E sq . 12mo., pp. 335. Philadelphia: A. Hart. These entertaining sketches comprise scenes at Athens, Delphi, and Constantinople, and are among the most agreeable of any that have recently issued from the press. 31. — . T h e Illustrated Atlas. London and New York: John Tallis. W e heve noticed this work as it has appeared in parts in terms of high commenda tion. But not higher than an examination of its character seemed to warrant. Parts 27 and 28, just published, contain four maps, embracing the “ Overland Route to In dia,” the “ Isthmus of Panama,” “ British India,” #md the “ World on Mercator’s Pro jection.” 32. — T h e British Colonies. By R. M ontgom ery M a r tin . New York : J. Tallis tfe Co. W e have received parts 12 to 15, inclusive, of this useful and beautiful work. Each part is illustrated with a map or portrait. The statistical and geographical information is brought dowu to the present time. 33. — Studies i n Religion, By the author of “ Words in a Sunday School.” 18mo., pp. 230. Boston : Munroe & Francis. This little work displays considerable vigor of mind and condensation of thought, and presents some new views of subjects which are familiar to every religious mind. 34. — G e m s b y the W a y s i d e ; or, Offering o f P u r i t y a n d Truth. By Mrs. L. G. A bell . 12mo., pp. 408. New York: Wm. Holdredge. This is a collection, from various authors, of beautiful extracts, both prose and verse. They inculcate the purest sentiments of virtue, and form a very agreeable volume to place in the hands of youth of either sex. The book is published in a very handsome style, and ornamented with many beautiful illustrations. 35. — E a r n e s t n e s s ; or Incidents in the Life o f a n E n g l i s h Bishop. By C h arles B. T a y l o r , author of “ Lady Mary,” “ Mark Wilton,” <fcc., &c. 12mo., pp. 368. New York : Stanford and Swords. This volume is based upon characters and incidents in real life, and although true to nature, it aims likewise to portray society, and especially Christian society, as it ought to be. It delineates the pure and devotional feelings of the Christian heart witli great skill, and in a style that is graceful, easy, and pleasant.
@FedFRASER