62 Coffee Trade of the U. S. from 1821 to 1840. ral purpose of the present inquiry, this mode of arriving at the desired information, may be a sufficiently close approxi In reply to an inquiry of a member of Congress relative mation to the truth. The value and prices of the imports to the comparative prices of Coffee for a series of years prior being obtained from the invoices, must show correctly the to, and since, the act of 1833 abolishing the duties, we have cost at the place of purchase. The value of the exports, is, prepared the following table--taking the annual reports of we presume, a general average of the prices throughout the the Secretary of the Treasury as the basis of our calculations. year, as obtained at the Treasury Department—and we learn We know of no other mode of arriving at the facts, although from the Custom-House, is the value of the article at the we are aware, from the circumstance of the different quali- "short price," that is with the drawback taken off. By ties of Coffee, being all blended together, the average thus adding therefore 5 cents to the prices of exports from 1821 obtained, will not probably correspond with the actual price to 1833, the average price per lb. based on the valuation by of any particular quality taken separately. But for the gene- the Secretary may be ascertained. Imports, Exports, and Value of Coffee. Statement showing the imports, exports, and value of Coffee into and from the United States, with the quantity left for consumption or exportation, for each year from 1821 to 1839, ending September 30, and the average price. The average price of the importations from 1826 to 1832, was 9 3-10 cents per lb. ; and from 1834 to 1840, was 97-10, being a difference of 4-10 of a cent per lb. against the lat.418,667,681 ter 7 years. ...655,116,660 The Importations from 1826 to 1832 both inclusive, were Do from 1834 to 1840. The average price of exportations from 1826 to 1832, was 10 5-10 cents, and from 1834 to 1840, was 11 5-10, being 1 cent per lb. against the latter 7 years. It would appear from these statements, that since 1833, the amount of coffee imported, has increased 56 47-100 per cent., while that exported has diminished 32 12-100 per cent. That the amount consumed has increased 101 40-100 per cent. That the cost of the article in the places of growth has advanced, as has also the price in the United States. The great increase of consumption therefore would seem, to have been induced by some other cause than the removal of the duties, probably the increase of population; and perhaps the facilities of transportation enabling it to reach the consumer in the interior at a diminished expense, while the reason for supposing the deposit in New Hampshire to be demand has sustained the price in the market. large, which I should have doubted had the crystalline forms been those of rare occurrence elsewhere. I return the best The increase of population between 1830 and 1840 has crystals I could select from the specimens you were so kind been about 32 9-10 per cent. as to give me. Your's sincerely, Dr. C. T. Jackson, Boston. The amount consumed from 1826 to 1832 would furnish to each individual in the United States according to the census of 1830, 3 7-10 lb., per annum; and the quantity consumed from 1834 to 1840, according to the population of 1840, would allow to each individual 4 7-10 lbs., being an increase in the latter period of 1 lb. to each, per annum. This is independently, in both cases of the consumption of 1833, which year has been excluded from all the preced-portion of tin. ing calculations. Owing to the high prices of Tea, it is probable the consumption of Coffee will be further extended during the pre sent year. We have already noticed the discovery of tin ore in New Hampshire-the following description of the mineral, and its locality, &c. is extracted from Dr. Jackson's first Geological Report of New Hampshire. Tin Ore of Jackson, On the estate of Mr. Eastman, of Jackson, I discovered a large mass of tin ore which was blasted out while obtaining specimens of the arsenical pyrites which occur on that estate. The ore consists of the massive, crystallized and granular oxide of tin, and is associated with the arsenical iron, but is not mixed with it. Having reduced a few of the crystals to metallic tin while in the town of Jackson, I subsequently made a minute chemical analysis, and several assays of the ore in mass, and obtained, after pulverizing and washing, from 30 to 50 per cent. of tin. By assay in a brasqued crucible, I obtained from 57 grs. of the washed and toasted ore 22 grains of pure metallic tin, which would be equal to 37 per cent. of tin in the ore. By washing the pulverized ore I found that on an average, 53 per cent. remained, which was composed of fragments and grains of oxide of tin. The pure crystallized oxide of tin, according to Beudant, consists of Below you will find a drawing,* much enlarged, of the form of most of the crystals in the specimens of tin ore discovered by you in New Hampshire, which I have examined. The planes are not sufficiently free from striæ to permit the use of the Reflecting Goniometer in ascertaining the angles; the measurements are therefore those of Phillips, of the accuracy of which I entertain no doubt. The form is that of a macle of the square prism, with a pyramidal summit, arising from modifications of an obtuse octahedron with a square base, the primary form of tin oxide, the only remains of this primary. The figure represents a macle of only two crystals; the originals are composed of several united in the same way. This is, I believe, the most common of the crystalline forms in the tin deposits of other countries, and appears to me a *This we are compelled to omit.-ED. J. E. TESCHEMACHER. From the foregoing remarks it will appear that we have satisfactorily proved the existence of an ore of tin in New Hampshire, and I believe that, although some minute grains have been seen on the garnet rock of Haddam, in Conthat has yet been found in which there was a notable pronecticut, that this may be considered the first proper tin ore This should stimulate to renewed search for other veins of this valuable ore which I doubt not will be found in workare made familiar with the appearance of an ore which has able quantities in some parts of the State when more eyes not the least semblance to a metal, and hence has probably been heretofore overlooked by those not conversant with minerals. Thus far the small tin vein of Jackson must be looked upon only as a valuable guide, for it does not contain an adequate quantity of the ore for supplying a furnace. By exploring the arsenic veins more tin ore may yet be found, and the arsenic ore will re-pay the expense or labor works, where it is used for the manufacture of arseniate of of extracting it, since it will sell for $40 per ton in chemical potash. The arsenic ore of Jackson is found on the estate of Mr. and is of unknown but great length. Eastman, and is a vein varying from 1 to 8 inches in width, This ore, on chemical analysis, yields 60 per cent. of arsenic, 38 per cent. of iron, and a small proportion of sulphur. remainder being combined with the iron so as not to volataOn distillation, it gives up more than half its arsenic, the lize. I obtained readily by distilling the ore in an earthen retort, 35 per cent. of brilliant crystals of pure metallic arsenic, and some octahedral crystals of sulphuret of arsenic in the states of orpiment and realgar, those sulphurets crystallizing farther down the neck of the retort, they being more volatile than metallic arsenic. The arsenic ore is very heavy, and occupies so little bulk in proportion to its weight, that it may be transported to market at a sufficiently low rate. It will prove valuable as an ore from which pure metallic arsenic may be obtained for use in the arts, especially in the manufacture of shot, arsenic being always mixed with the lead to make it granulate when poured through the scives in the shot towers. Finances of Kentucky. FRANKFORT, Kr. Kentucky to declare its usual dividend, the cause of which is well known to be in consequence of the fraud of the Schuylkill Bank of Philadelphia." The three dividends thus withheld, are estimated at $157,788; and for the year 1840, at 105,192. The deficiency in the Sinking Fund for the next year, the Commissioners estimated would be $110,207. To meet this deficiency and preserve the faith and honor of the State inviolate, the Legislature, at their late session, passed an act raising the State tax from ten cents upon every this proviso-"That the additional tax hereby authorized to one hundred dollars worth of property, to fifteen cents, with be raised, shall, when paid into the Treasury be carried to the credit of the Sinking Fund, to be applied to the payment of the principal and interest of the debts now owing by the State of Kentucky for works of Internal Improvement. Dear Sir-I take pleasure in responding to your note of the 24th inst., in which you remark, "it is to be regretted that, notwithstanding the detailed and voluminous reports and documents spread upon the Legislative Journals--their wide dissemination, and the various publications that have been made on the subject of the indebtedness of the State, and of its ample means to meet its engagements--there yet exists, at home and abroad, misapprehensions and misconceptions of its actual fiscal condition" and requesting me, in my official capacity, as Secretary of State and Secretary of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, to present you with a condensed statement of the fiscal condition of the State. I regret that pressing engagements, at this moment, will The whole value of the taxable property in the State in not permit me to enter into the subject as fully as I feel dis- 1840, as reported by the Second Auditor, was $272,250,027. posed to do, from a conviction, that more widely disseminat- Under the former law, he estimates the nett amount of reveed the information asked for, the more highly will the secu-$245,354. Under the present law, therefore, the additional nue collectable by sheriffs for the current fiscal year at rities of this State be appreciated and sought after by capi- tax raised will be $122,677-the whole of which is to go to talists. The following synopsis, however, extracted from an article on this subject, signed "S," and published in "The the Sinking Fund-and it thus appears evident that ample Commonwealth" of the 23d of March last, and which, provision has been made to meet the estimated deficiency of upon a careful comparison with the Legislative Documents, $110,267 for the current year. So soon as the Bank of I find to be strictly accurate, will, it is hoped, be acceptable Kentucky resumes the payment of dividends, there will be in response to your inquiries. I find, moreover, that it eman annual surplus of upwards of $100,000 to be vested and braces all the documentary facts necessary to a full and in- re-invested in the purchase of our own bonds, or other unpartial understanding of this subject, and in as condensed a doubted securities, thus compounding this annuity at a rate of at least 6 per cent. shape as the subject will admit of, and I therefore feel the less hesitancy, under all the circumstances, in substituting them in place of a statement of my own. Finances of the State. The bonds sold by the State for Internal Improvement purposes, are as follows, viz: Total, $3,750,500 66 66 66 (six year bonds,) 1,385,000 5 per cents.-annual interest, $ 69,250 1,765,500 6 105,930 600,000 6 36,000 Total annual interest, $211,180 If to this be added a temporary loan of $40,000 from the Banks, the total liabilities of the State will be $3,790,500, and the annual interest, inclusive of $8,420 exchange on interest payable in the East, will be $222,000. Those bonds, with the exception of the six year one hundred dollar bonds, are made redeemable at various periods from 1865 to 1872. They have been disposed of at an aggregate nett profit of $54,868 over and above their par value, after deducting the expenses of negotiation, as follows: To American Life Insurance and Trust Co....$1,250,000 States received by the State of Kentucky, was $1,433,757 58. The whole amount of the surplus revenue of the United Of this, $850,000 was set apart as a permanent school fund. and invested in Internal Improvement Bonds. A portion of the dividends have been re-invested in the same manner, and the accumulated amount now is $937,500. The residue of the surplus was subscribed and paid into the Bank of Kentucky, as a part of the fifth million in the capital stock of that Bank. The subscription of the State, at this time, amounts to $700,000 in the fifth million, exclusive of the original subscription of one million. In addition to this, the State has acquired by purchase, through the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, 2,399 shares, and the Board of Education 735 shares in the same Bank. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund also held 400 shares in the Northern Bank, and 175 shares in the Bank of Louisville. The whole number of shares of Bank Stock held by the State, by purchase, is 10,709, which at par value would be worth $1,070,900. The State also holds of her own bonds $937,500-making upwards of two millions in bonds and stocks as an offset against her comparatively light indebtedness. 100,000 Such is the fiscal condition of the State, as exhibited by 165,000 the public records, and it is not hazarding too much to say, 335,000 "that Kentucky, in conjunction with enterprising and public 330,000 spirited individuals, has accomplished more than any other 937,500 State in the Union in proportion to the amount of her State 33,000 debt. What she has done has scarcely cost her an effort; 600,000 what she may yet accomplish, will depend upon the extent to which she may put forth her latent energies, and call into more useful activity the clements of her ample resources and growing prosperity." Public sentiment and legislative action, however, would indicate her policy to be, not to cmbark in any new enterprise, at least until the works now in progress shall have been completed and their usefulness fully tested by experience. $3,750,500 The interest on those bonds has been heretofore paid exclusively from the income of the Sinking Fund, established for that purpose, and without any aid from taxation. The resources of this fund are-tax on the capital stock of the Banks; excess of dividends on two millions of stock owned by the State in the Banks, after paying the interest on the five per cent. scrip issued to those institutions and held by them for the original subscriptions; dividends on the bank stock purchased by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund; revenue from the public works; profits of the State from the Penitentiary; profits of the Commonwealth's Bank, and the proceeds of the State stock in the Old Bank of Kentucky. The income of this Fund, heretofore, has not only been sufficient to meet all demands upon it for interest on loans, but has left a large annual surplus for re-investment. Last year, however, the Commissioners report a deficiency of receipts to meet the expenditures of $10,802. This, they report, "is attributable mainly to the failure of the Bank of The examinations already made by the Second Auditor, of the assessments of taxable property for the present year, show that the estimates made by that officer, of the amount which would be received by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund under the act of the last session, will be fully realized. I am, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, JAMES HARLAN, Secretary of State and Secretary of the Commismissioners of the Sinking Fund. M. R. STEALEY. Esq. COMMERCIAL AND STATISTICAL REGISTER. VOL. V. EDITED BY SAMUEL HAZARD. PHILADELPHIA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1841. SPEECH ON THE REVENUE BILL. The Revenue Bill having been read through in Committee of the Whole, and the first section being under consider ation Mr. FILLMORE arose and said, in substance, that he would avail himself of that occasion to speak of the necessity and object of the bill. That what he had to say on the merits of the bill might as well be said at that time as any other. Indeed, the principal provisions of the bill were embraced in the first section. The other parts of it were merely intended to carry out in detail the principles there asserted, and prevent some frauds that were now practised upon the revenue; and he would explain those, if desired, when they came up for consideration. In the first place, he continued, I desire to solicit the undivided attention of the members of this House to the facts and figures to which I feel it my duty to call their attention. I deem the subject under consideration of vast importance to the country, and one that demands the sober deliberation of every member of this committee. It is a business matter of facts and details-and were I ever disposed to make a speech for "Buncom," this is certainly not the time or the occasion which I should select for that object. The little that I have to say will be unadorned with the flowers of rhetoric, and confined directly to the subject under consideration, and addressed to those who hear me. The first section of the bill declares in substance that a duty of 20 per cent. ad valorem shall be levied on all articles imported which are now free, or which bear a less duty than that proposed in the bill, except certain articles which are left at their present rates of duty, and certain other excepted articles which are to remain free. These duties are to be levied and collected in the manner now provided by law, with some slight modification as to teas. It will therefore be seen that the main object and scope of the bill is to raise revenue, and that its provisions are strictly within the terms of the Compromise Act. The chief questions, therefore, that present themselves for our consideration are First. Will there be a deficit in the revenue for the current four years under the laws as they now stand, and if so, what additional amount will it be necessary to provide to meet the ordinary demands upon the Treasury? Secondly. What is the best mode of supplying this deficit, and to what extent will the bill under consideration do it; and is it necessary or expedient now to act upon this subject? I proceed, then, in the first place, to consider the probable amount of deficit for the four years of the present administration, and in doing this I shall take no notice of the loan of $12,000,000 that has been authorized, but not yet made, to relieve the present urgent wants of the Treasury, because if it is made, it is intended to be repaid during the current four years, and it therefore adds nothing to our means for the whole time. In judging for the future, we must draw instruction from the experience of the past; and as our object now is to ascertain, if practicable, the probable demands upon the Treasury for the four current years, we will see what they have been for the four past years during the preceding administration. Before proceeding to this investigation, it is proper that I should here observe that, in the remarks which I may have VOL. V.-9 No. 5. occasion to submit in reference to the past administration, no party allusions are intended. I shall speak of that administration freely as matter of history, without one opprobrious epithet or one unkind allusion. The People have passed upon it, and I am content with their verdict, It is also proper that I should say that, in stating amounts, I shall generally content myself with giving the round numbers, seldom going below thousands, as a multiplicity of figures in debate rather serves to confuse than enlighten. And I shall proceed slowly that every member who desires may have time to take down my statements, for I neither desire to deceive myself nor the members of this House; and if I have committed any error, either in fact or inference, no one will be more gratified than myself to have it corrected. What then, have been the ordinary expenses of this government for the past four years? I have before me, House Document No. 31 of this session, which, at page 18, contains a table headed as follows: "Statement of the appropriations and expenditures each year, from 1829 to 1840 inclusive, for the civil list, foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous objects, for the military establishment, pensions, fortifications, internal improvements, Indian department, and the naval establishment, exhibiting also the excess of appropriations over expenditure." At page 25, the total of expenditures for these objects in each year is given, and I desire to call the attention of the committee to them for the past four years. They are as fol. lows: Thus showing, if the experience of the past is to be the guide for the future, that our annual expenditures for the current four years will be near twenty-eight millions of dol lars. The next inquiry is, what amount of revenue we may reasonably expect for the current four years under existing laws, assuming, as I do for this purpose, that the bill for the distribution among the States of the proceeds of the public lands will become a law. Our only source of revenue, it will be recollected, will then be from customs. We have no available debts due us worth mentioning, and no funds on hand worth taking into the account; but over and above the ordinary current expenses of the government, we owe several millions of Treasury notes, and there are large arrearages and unliquidated claims, which accrued under the past administration, many of which will doubtless have to be provided for during the present. Besides, liberal appropriations have been called for and made by this House during the present session for fortifications and for the Navy, and to put the country in a proper state of defence. But I pass by these for the present, and proceed at once to consider the probable amount of revenue that will come into the Treasury from customs under the laws as they now stand. In order to determine this, it must be borne in mind that the Compromise Act goes fully into effect on the first day of July next, and that, after that day, no article imported will pay a higher duty than 20 per cent. ad valorem, and it must also be borne in mind that there is a long list of articles that pay a duty, and are, therefore, classed among dutiable articles; nevertheless, by existing laws the duty is less than 20 per cent. But even if we should suppose that all goods imported that pay any duty paid one of 20 per cent. ad valorem, what would be the probable amount of revenue derived from this source? Here again we must recur to the past to judge for the future; and, in determining this, I think it more safe and just to rely upon the average amount of imports for a series of years than to attempt to select for any one year. In document No. 2 of the House of Representatives for the present session, usually called the " Finance Report," at page 20, may be found a table giving the whole amount of imports from 1834 to 1840, inclusive, distinguishing between those "fee of duty" and those "paying duty," and giving the average result for the whole seven years. The entire table reads as follows: 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 Ag. value .... $68,393,180 $58,128,152 $126,521,332 $502,098,186 $488,239,195 $990,337,381 Av. of 7 years. $71,728,312 $69,748,457 $141,476,769 I am the more disposed to rely upon the average result of this statement because the seven years embrace some of the most prosperous and some of the most disastrous known to our commercial history in times of peace. It will be scen that the fluctuations in different years have been very great, ranging from $107,000,000 to near $190,000,000. But the average result shows that the whole amount of imports "paying duty" over and under 20 per cent. is only $69,748,000, being a little less than $70,000,000; and when all these duties are reduced to 20 per cent, as they will be on the first day of July next by the Compromise Act, then, even sup posing all paid that duty, which all will not, the whole amount of gross revenue derived from this source would be $13,959.000, or less than fourteen millions of dollars. But even all this, limited and small as it is, is not available for the ordinary wants of the Treasury. That the Committee may see the amount of drawbacks, deductions, bounties, and expenses of collection, all of which ought to be taken into the account in determining the nett amount of revenue received into the Treasury, applicable to the ordinary expenditures of the Government, I beg leave to call their attention to a table, to be found in Document No. 31, of this House, of the present session, at page 29. This table reads as follows: A statement exhibiting the amount of duties which accrued on merchandise imported; the deduction under the Compromise Act of the 2d March, 1833; the drawback paid on foreign merchandise exported; drawback on domestic refined sugar; on domestic distilled spirits from molasses exported; bounty on salted fish exported; allowances to vessels employed in the bank and cod fisheries; the expenses of collection, and the nett revenue which accrued annually from duties on merchandise from 1834 to 1839, inclusive. Year ending Gross amount December 31. of duties. Duties re- Bounty on Allowances merchandise On domestic On domestic pickled fish 4,663 52 $256,558 86 $1,422,755 21 $18,404,059 23 $149,950,566 38 $10,889,326 77 $139,061,239 61 $4,031,086 75 $13,536,873 47 $892,209 45 $56,168 39 $44,661 71 $1,539,353 18 $8,536,531 27 $110,124,355 40 Av. of 6 years... $24,991,761 00 $1,814,887 79 $23,176,873 27 $671,847 79 $2,256,145 58 $148,701 58 $9,361 40 $7,443 62 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Register's Office, July 10, 1841. T. L. SMITH, Register. |