COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Value of Exports from each State for ten years, ending 30th September, 1838. piled from tables appended to a Report of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Com

* For Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana, none put down; and for Mississippi, the value for 1837 only, stated at $304,831.

BANKRUPTCIES IN FRANCE.

From the 1st of January, 1839, to the 1st January, 1840, 1,013 bankruptcies were declared for the department of the Seine; viz.: 58 in January, 68 in February, 79 in March, 84 in April, 86 in May, 100 in June, 91 in July, 107 in August, 84 in September, 103 in October, 79 in November, and 76 in December. The total amount of these failures was 60 millions of francs.

VALUE OF EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES,

To each of the following Foreign Countries, for ten years, ending 30th September, 1838. From a Report of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Years.

Great Bri- France and Spain and Netherland Sweden

dependen

dependen- and depen

Denmark & dependen- dependencies

The following statistical notes of the industry of France are given in the Journal Général: "In 1819 the quantity of merchandise conveyed in French vessels was only 726,000,000 kilogrammes. In the year 1838 it was 1,206,966,000. In 1819 the duties upon public carriages amounted to only 3,101,358 francs; in 1838 they were 6,200,000 francs. The amount of machinery exported in 1820 was only 216,500 francs; in 1838 it was 3,980,607 francs. In 1818 there was only sufficient cotton machinery in France to spin 16,914,217 kilogrammes of cotton in a year, but in 1838 it had so increassed that 51 millions were spun."

COTTON TRADE.

Table showing the equality of prices in Charleston, Savannah, and Havre, laid down at the latter place, with charges as at foot. The charges noticed at the bottom of each table are included in the prices.

At Savannah.-Commission for purchasing, 24 per cent.; commission for drawing, 1 per cent.; insurance against fire, 1-6 per cent.; rope, mending, and drayage, 25 cents per bale; insurance over sea, 1 per cent.

At Havre.—Freight, lc. per lb., and 5 per cent. primage; duty, 22 francs for 50 kilogrammes; landing charges, storage one month, and delivery, 2 francs per bale; and all other charges at Havre, including loss of interest, commission, and brokerage, 5 per cent.; tare bonification, 3 kilogrammes per bale, and ropes at 3.

Remarks.-c. difference in the freight, is 1 centimes; c. in the price of cotton, is from 1,75 to 1,80 centimes. 100 lbs. at Savannah yield 41,20 kilogrammes at Havre. N. B. The above table also applies to Marseilles.

Table showing the cost of Cotton bought at Savannah, laid down in Liverpool, with charges, as annexed.

Commission for purchasing, 2 per cent.; commission for drawing, 1 per cent.; insurance against fire, 1-5 per cent.; rope, mending, and drayage, 25 cents per bale; insurance to Liverpool, 1 per cent.; loss of weight, 5 per cent., from weight paid for to landing weight; freight, d. per lb., and 5 per cent. primage; duty, 5.16 per lb., or 2s. 11d. per 100; landing charges, 3s. per bale; brokerage in Liverpool, per cent.; two months interest and commission, 4d.

Table showing the equality of prices in Liverpool and Havre, for American Cottons.

The following statements, (says the Baltimore Patriot,) as exemplifying the practical operation of the banking system in Maryland, will, of course, command attention. As regards the relative amount of specie and circulation possessed by the banks, the statement, in its aggregate, shows the Maryland banks to be in a condition which would have been deemed one of undoubted soundness and safety. Their aggregate specie, to their aggregate circulation, as shown by the annexed tabular statement, made up from these returns, is about as one to two. Ten years ago, one to three was generally held to be a safe proportion. The reflection that naturally arises is, that banks which, in a period of suspension, are able and willing to contract their issues and to maintain their circulation at so low a point as two to one, compared with their specie, must be, in the main, conducted with prudence and caution, and are, therefore, likely to deserve the public confidence.

Condensed View of the condition of the several Banks of the City of Baltimore, on the 6th January, 1840.

Total.

*Of which sum,

9,499,004 1,807,004 11,784,338 1,036,765 2,198,867 3,224,498

$194,844 is a deposit of the state.

+ Of which sum, $366,543 is a deposit of the state.

BANK OF ENGLAND.

Quarterly average of the weekly liabilities and assets of the Bank of England, from the 10th of December, 1839, to the 34 of March, 1840, both inclusive, published pursuant to Acts 3 and 4 William IV., chap. 98:

This return shows an augmentation in the currency to some extent. Compared with the last account, there is an increase upon each item-on circulation, £167,000; on deposits, £326,000; on securities, £242,000; and on bullion, £307,000. The actual stock of bullion in the Bank at this moment, is estimated to be about £4,500,000.

INSURANCE.

ANNALS OF INSURANCE IN THE WEST.

The first Insurance Company established in the west, was at Lexington, Kentucky, which went into operation about 1816, but ceased to exist in one or two years. The second was the old Cincinnati Insurance Company, established in 1818, which issued some fifty or sixty policies, and in one or two years closed up its concerns. The third was the old Louisville Marine Insurance Company, which was established in or about the year 1818, and issued two hundred policies or upwards, and some years afterwards wound up its affairs. The fourth is the Cincinnati Equitable Fire Insurance Company, established in 1825, and is now in operation, and conducted on the principles of mutual insurance. The fifth was the Ohio Insurance Company, established in 1827, at which period there was no local insurance company in the west, with the exception of the Equitable Fire Insurance Company referred to, the Fire and Marine Insurance being at this period confined to the eastern offices, and their agencies in the west. To those familiar with the history of that period, it will be recollected that for several months pending the establishment of the Ohio Insurance Company, it was exceedingly doubtful whether it could be put in operation, from the difficulty of disposing of a sufficient amount of the stock; but having commenced its operations, its success was decided, and two years afterwards arose, in 1829, the Cincinnati Insurance Company.

These two companies had, by their charters, a capital of $250,000 each. The same year, the Louisville Marine and Fire Insurance was organized, and went into operation, capital, $200,000. In 1830, three new offices were established in the west, viz.: the Louisville Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Louisville Merchant's Insurance Company, and the Wabash Insurance Company, with an aggregate capital of $100,000. In 1831, two more were added, viz.: the Madison Insurance Company in Indiana, and the Missouri Insurance Company at St. Louis-aggregate capital, $200,000. In 1832, three more were added, viz.: the Firemen's Insurance Company at Cincinnati, the Lansingburgh Insurance Company, and the New Albany Insurance Company in Indiana -aggregate capital $100,000. In 1833, but one was added to the number, viz.: the Franklin Fire Insurance Company, at Frankfort, Kentucky—capital, $100,000. But in 1834, seven new offices were chartered at Warren, Dayton, and Cleveland, in Ohio; at Maysville and at Louisville, in Kentucky; and at Jeffersonville and Rising Sun, in Indiana— aggregate capital, $300,000. In 1835, nineteen additional offices were established, viz: seventeen in Ohio, and two in Kentucky-aggregate capital, $1,600,000. In 1836,

VOL. II.-NO. V.

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