I. THE COMMERCE OF FRANCE IN 1848.-A GENERAL REVIEW OF THE COMMERCE OF FRANCE WITH ITS COLONIES AND FOREIGN POWERS DURING THE YEAR II. INTEREST OF MONEY: MONEY. BY DAVID FOSDICK, A. M., of Massachusetts........ 272 III. THE HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD: A SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY AND PROSPEC- TIVE INFLUENCE ON THE RAILROAD MOVEMENT. By JOHN B. JERVIS, Esq., IV. CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON: A second Letter to the Editor, in reply to the articles of A. A. Lawrence, Esq., in the Merchants' Magazine for December and January, 1849-50. By Gen. C. T. JAMES, Civil Engineer, of Rhode Island........ V. "BANKRUPTCY-BANKING :" a Letter to the Editor in reply to the Communication of "F. G. S.," in former numbers of the Merchants' Magazine.............. Of Bills of Exchange and Notes of Hand which are not Negotiable.. Notes of Hand made Payable to the Drawer's own order............... Bills of Exchange and Notes of Hand containing a Memorandum of Deposit of Collateral Security 316 Action of Assumpsit-Goods Sold and Delivered...... Consignees not liable for any loss on Consignments of Cotton by Debenture, etc... State of the Money Market-Banks of New York-Accumulation of Deposits-Lines of Discount -Banks of the Union-New Bank Law of Massachusetts-Commissioner's Report-Recom- mendations-California Gold Receipts-Amount received at the Mint-Mint Law-Branch Mint in New York-Effect of Gold Receipts-State of affairs in San Francisco-Extension of its Trade-Rise of Prices on a full Currency-Export of Produce-Production of Grain in Europe -Comparative Cost of Wheat in England and the United States--Consumption in England— Probable wants of Britain-Means of Transportation in the United States-Erie Railroad- Ability to carry Freight-Canals-Railroads-New Avenues of Trade-Government Finance- Customs Revenues, Actual and Estimated-Large Receipts at New York-Probable actual Ag- gregate--Customs Received at New York and Philadelphia, for January-Expenses of Collect- Importations of Sperm and Whale Oil and Whalebone into the United States in 1849.. Average Voyages made by Whalers, from 1847 to 1849, inclusive, with time absent, and quantity Quantity of Mackerel and other Fish, Inspected in Massachusetts in 1849... Statistics of the Rochester Flour Trade in 1849, as compared with previous years.. Imports of Virginia Tobacco into New York in 1849, &c......... Imports of Certain Articles into New York in 1849... Supply, Export, and Stock of Lumber at Quebec for the years 1848-9.. Of Collecting the Revenues from Customs: a Treasury Circular to Collectors, &c............... 337 of Weighing, Measuring, and Guaging Merchandise: a Treasury Circular to Collectors, &c...... 338 Wrecking at Key West, from the Report of the Agent of Boston Underwriters... Suwarrow's Islands, as laid down in the Charts-Rock or Shoal in the China Seas............... Light-House on Sankaty Head-Scattering Roads-Port Limerick.... Coinage and Deposits of United States Mint and Branches in 1849. United States Treasury Notes Outstanding February 1, 1850...... Condition of the Banks of Baltimore on the 7th of January, 1850... Bullion held by the Bank of England in each year from 1796 to 1849.. Prices of Stocks in New York, at close of each month of 1849.. Debt of the State of Louisiana in 1850..... Debt and Finances of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1849.. Of Manufactures at the South-Letter to the Editor, by Solon Robinson. Product of Cliff Mine, belonging to the Pittsburg and Boston Company.. On the Manufacture and Refining of Sugar... RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS. Commerce of the New York Canals in 1849, as compared with the years 1847 and 1848.......... 355 Operations of the Havana and Union Railroad in 1849-Decline in Prices of Railroad Stocks.... 357 Business, &c., of Reading Railroad (Pa.) in 1849-Condition of the L. I. Railroad January 1, 1850 358 HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. MARCH, 1850. Art. I-COMMERCE OF FRANCE IN 1848. A GENERAL REVIEW OF THE COMMERCE OF FRANCE WITH ITS COLONIES AND WITH FOREIGN POWERS, DURING THE YEAR 1848.* THE Annual Report of the French Department of Customs, for the year 1848, has been sent us, and we proceed to lay before our readers the general results, as exhibited summarily in the "Résumé Analytique," prefixed to the tables. This we have made it a point to do, for a number of years past, as this elaborate public document contains at once the fullest, the latest, and the most reliable information on the subject. We think this document the more worth translating entire, because it is an excellent specimen of the manner in which public documents of this kind are prepared in France; may we add, with all respect, an excellent example of the way in which they should be prepared everywhere? It is not enough that an immense mass of statistics be collected in order to give an idea of the state and progress of a branch of trade or industry-they must be arranged,analyzed, and the results compressed. The French genius for analysis is at home in such fields. And it is well exhibited in the following review, in which the classifications and comparisons are minute, thorough, and luminous; giving, in a few pages, the results of hundreds, and exhibiting, at a glance, the commercial movement of a great nation for a year. Hitherto we have only referred to some of the technical terms used in this report; but a knowledge of these terms, and the classifications adopted by the French Department of Customs is so necessary to the understanding of the statistics, and at the same time so interesting to the general reader who pays any attention to commercial subjects, that we translate them now at length, as they are given in the PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Administration des Douanes. Tableau General du Commerce de la France, avec les colonies et les puissances étrangères, pendant l'année 1848. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. Septembre, 1849. Folio pp. 479. The department deems it necessary, to the understanding of the commercial tables, to repeat the explanations previously published. General Commerce. ports as well as exports. Special Commerce. This distinction applies to im As applied to imports, general commerce embraces whatever comes from foreign parts, or colonies, by land or sea, without reference to original source or ulterior destination, whether for consumption or warehousing, for reëxport or transit. Special commerce is confined to what is imported for consump tion at home. As applied to exports, general commerce includes all goods going abroad, without reference to origin. Special commerce is confined to national goods, and such as, becoming naturalized, by paying import duties, are exported. Classification of Articles. Articles are classified, in the statistics of commerce, according to their nature or analogy, and the method adopted in the tariff. They are arranged in twenty-seven chapters, under four general di visions. ANIMAL. Living animals, produce of animals, fish, substances used for medicine and perfumery, materials hard to cut. VEGETABLE. Farinaceous food, fruits and seeds, colonial provisions, vegetable juices, medicinal ingredients, common woods, exotic woods, fruits, dye-stuff and tanin. MINERAL. Stones, earths, and mineral combustibles, metals. MANUFACTURES. Chemicals, prepared dyes, colors, corn, pounds of various elements, drinks, glass-ware, thread, woven fabrics, paper and articles of paper, articles made of various matters. Articles are also classified in the commercial statistics with reference to their species or their use. Thus imports are divided into 1st. Matters necessary in the industrial arts; 2d. Articles of consumption in their natural state; 3d. Articles of consumption manufactured. Exports are divided into 1st. Natural products; 2d. Manufactured articles. The division to which an article belongs is indicated in the tables by a particular mark. Thus: These classifications are no doubt to a degree arbitrary; but as they have been used since 1820 any modifications of them now would render comparisons very difficult. THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AND OF DESTINATION. The country of origin is that from which the article is directly imported into France. Thus, as respects articles brought by land, it is the adjoining country; as respects articles brought by sea, it is the nation from which the vessel arrives. So as regards exports, the country of destination is, on land, the adjoining country; and where goods are shipped, the country to which the vessel is bound. The value of merchandise is given in two ways in the commercial tables, either as official values, or actual values. The former indicate the averages established by ordinance of 27th March, 1827, after an inquiry instituted in 1826. Designed to establish a standard, a unit, uniform and invariable, by which the results of successive periods might be compared, it is plain that this tariff of official values, adhered to from the first, without interruption or modification, must remain permanent. This is not the case with actual values. They are as variable as the market. They are of course subject to every fluctuation of commerce and industry. They are fixed by Chambers of Commerce, with the aid of a commission permanently maintained by the department of agriculture and commerce, and their object is to fix the average value of every species, every group of articles, for the year of the report. They are formed, as respects both imports and exports, with reference to special commerce, but apply also to general commerce, with certain obvious modifications. The only exception is the case of foreign products the importation of which is absolutely prohibited, and which are only entered to be carried through the country, or reëxported, and consequently not interfering with special commerce, are subjected to a valuation which relates to general commerce alone. COIN. The tables give only the amounts of coin declared at the time of import and export as articles of commerce. They by no means fully exhibit the movement of gold and silver, which there are so many facilities and inducements to conceal-not in order to cheat the custom-house, but to ensure safety. They are therefore not taken into the account in the recapitulation of the amount of the commercial movement. They are placed, for reference, under a separate head, as imports and exports. The general commerce of France with her colonies and foreign nations, in 1848, amounted, excluding imports and exports, to 2,015,000,000 francs.* This is 599,000,000 fr., or 23 per cent less than the previous year; 384,000,000 fr., or 16 per cent less than the average of the five previous years.t According to the rates of appraisement for 1848, our exchanges only amount to 1,645,000,000 fr. Comparing this with the result obtained by applying the rates of 1846, we have a falling off of 370,000,000 fr., or 18 per cent. 36 Of the official amount, 2,015,000,000 fr., 862,000,000 fr. are imports1,153,000,000 fr. exports. The amount of imports is 481,000,000 fr., or per cent less than in 1847, and 382,000,000 fr., or 31 per cent under the average of five years. The falling off in exports is only to the extent of 118,000,000 fr., or 9 per cent, compared to 1847, and the very small amount of 2,000,000 fr., compared with the average of five years. At actual rates, the value of imports has fallen to 708,000,000 fr. instead of 862,000,000 fr.-a difference of 18 per cent. The value of exports was but 936,000,000 fr., to 1,153,000,000 fr. before; difference, 19 per cent. These are the results of general commerce. * According to the permanent official values, established in 1826. The official value is the basis of comparison in this review. The following table exhibits, in periods of five years, and in official values, the course of the foreign commerce of France, during the last fifteen years :— FIRST PERIOD. Years. Imp'ts. Exp'ts. Total. Years. 1834 Millions. SECOND PERIOD. Imp'ts. Exp'ts. Total. Years. Millions. 720 715 1,435 1839 947 1,003 1835 761 834 1,595 1840 1,052 1836 906 961 1,867 1841 1,121 1837 808 758 1,566 1842 1,142 1838 937 956 1,893 1843 1,187 1,950 1844 1,011 2,063 1845 1,066 2,187 1846 940 2,082 1847 992 2,179 1848 Total 4,132 4,224 8,356 Total 5,449 5,012 10,461 Total 5,895 2,015 5,938 11,833 |