THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. Established July, 1839. EDITED BY J. SMITH HOMANs, (secretary oF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK,) AND WILLIAM B. DANA, ATTORNEY AT LAW. VOLUME XLV. OCTOBER, 1861. NUMBER IV. CONTENTS OF No. IV., VOL. XLV. ᎪᎡᎢ, I. SEA AND UPLAND COTTON versus FLAX AND HEMP,........ PAGE II. JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.-1. Commission Merchants-Consignees' Advances on Bills of Lading. 2. Bill of Sale. 8. Negotiability of Rail-Road Bonds. 4. Tolls on Rail-Roads,.. ........ 887 342 III. COMMERCIAL PROGRESS IN EASTERN ASIA. BY PERRY MCDONOUGH COLLINS, Commercial Agent of the United States for the Amoor River.-1. Russian Settlement of the Amoor. 2. Statistics of Present Commerce and Navigation of the Amoor. 8. Modes of Conducting Commerce between the Amoor and the Central Provinces. 4. Classes of Foreign Merchandise Required for Consumption in Asiatic Russia. 5. Native Productions Adapted for Export. 6. Importance to Russia of Commercial and Telegraphic Communication between the Amoor and Central Provinces. 7. Extent and Nature of the Amoor Region, Mongolia, Manchooria and Eastern Siberia. 8. Commercial and Boundary Treaties between China and Russia,.... 353 ................. IV. SURVEY OF THE NORTHERN WATERS, COASTS AND ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, &c.-Report of Hon. JOHN COCHRANE, from the Committee on Commerce, February 18, 1861,.. 861 V. COMMERCE WITH AFRICA.-New Trade in Ivory and Barwood-Cape Lopez-Tobacco Plantations-Sugar Cane-Cotton,.... 369 VI. TAPESTRY-ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY. BY CHARLES TOMLINSON, Esq., Lecturer on Natural Science, King's College School, London.-(From the Encyclopedia Britannica,)........... VII. THE COTTON QUESTION.-1. Cotton in Georgia. 2. Report of the Cotton Supply Association. 8. Cotton Growing in Jamaica. 4. Supply of Cotton and Paper Material. 5. Cotton in Queensland. 6. Cotton in England,.......... 373 37S VIII. SHIP TIMBER AND ITS VARIETIES. By ROBERT MURRAY, Engineer Surveyor to the British Board of Trade.-1. Acacia. 2. Alder. 3. Birch. 4. Box. 5. Cedar. 6. Chestnut. 7. Cypress. 8. Hornbeam, 9. Lignum Vitæ. 10. Maple. 11. Mahogany. 12. Poplar. 13. Sycamore. 14. Walnut.-(From the Encyclopedia Britannica,)..... IX. PRINCIPAL PLANTS AND THEIR USES.-Eaglewood-Barwood-BrazilettoWood-Cassia-Gum Copal-Acacia,.... JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 1. Iron and Wooden Naval Vessels. 2. Iron Ships. 8. Revolving Ships' Rig. 4. New Patents. 5. Light-House Service in Great Britain. 6. Contributions to Nautical Science. 7. Steam Ram, Defence. 8. Masts of the Warrior. 9. Ship Great Republic. 10. Names of New Gun-Boats. 11. New Light-Houses,.. STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE. ........ 1. Sandwich Islands and Japan. 2. Boston Imports from Liberia. 8. The Ice Trade. 4. Failures in the Leather Trade. 5. The Sugar Pines of the Sierras. 6. Banka Strait. 7. Trade with Thibet. 8. The American War and German Commerce. 9. Decline of Salmon. 10. Curious Japanese Documents. 11. France and America. 12. Scottish Commerce. 13. Trade of Kurrachee. 14. Trade with Turkey. 15. Trade and Products of Siam. 16. New French Treaty. 17. French Treaty with Turkey. 18. Mexican Coast Trade. 19. French Wines. 20. Persian Cotton. 21. Sugar and Coffee Trade, 1858-1861,..... JOURNAL OF INSURANCE. 1. Statistics of Fire Insurance in New-York. 2. London Fire Insurance. 3. Fire-Proof Warehouses, 883 889 893 401 416 COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. 1. Decisions of the Treasury:-Canary Seed-Window Glass-India Rubber in Strips-Human Hair-Tyrian Dye-Caustic Soda-Tanned Calf-Skins-Yarns of the Tow of Flax-Tare on Segars Swedish Iron. 2. Oath of Allegiance. 3. Repudiation in Tennessee. 4. Cotton in New-Orleans,... 419 BOARDS OF TRADE AND CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE. 1. Monthly meeting of New-York Chamber of Commerce. 2. Annual Report of Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati,.. 426 RAIL-ROAD, CANAL AND TELEGRAPH STATISTICS. 1. The Galena and Chicago Rail-Road Company. 2. Watertown and Rome Rail-Road. 8. French Railways. 4. The Great Northern Railway of France. 5. English Railway Dividends. 6. British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph. 7. The Atlantic Cable. 8. Telegraph to Siberia. 9. Rail-Road Telegraph Lines,.. 430 COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW. Imports at New-York-Exports of Flour, Wheat, Corn, Provisions, &c., from New-YorkDry Goods Trade-Amoor Region-Naval Stores, &c., in New-York,.... 434 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE. Changes in Bank Rate of Discount-The Cotton Question-Stock of Cotton in LiverpoolRates of Premium of Insurance-Mail Facilities with other Countries-Steamship Building, 440 THE BOOK TRADE. Notices of New Publications in the United States, &c.,... 414 THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. NOVEMBER, 1881. OUR MERCANTILE MARINE. THE TONE OF THE SERVICE DEGENERATING-CAUSE OF THIS DEGENERACY-EVIDENCE OF THE SAME-FRAUDULENT SHIPWRECKS-OPINIONS OF HAMBURG UNDERWRITERS-COMPARISON OF PER CENTAGE OF DISASTERS IN ENGLISH SERVICE WITH OUR OWN-CERTIFICATES OF SERVICE AND COMPETENCY ISSUED IN THESE COUNTRIES-A SIMILAR SYSTEM NECESSARY HERE-ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM TO SHIPMASTERS, SHIP-OWNERS AND UNDERWRITERS—Suggestions ABOUT THE COLLECTION OF STATISTICS OF DISASTERS, AND BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED THEREFROM-RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION. ARCHBISHOP WHATELY says, what hardly any thinking man will now deny, "If oaths were abolished-leaving the penalties for false witness (no unimportant part of our security) unaltered-I am convinced that, on the whole, testimony would be more trustworthy than it is." It will be admitted that there is an amazing difference between the facility with which oaths are broken, when there is no penalty, or an insufficient one, attached to their forfeiture, and when the penalty for perjury is sharp and severe. The records of our custom-houses and our courts bear witness to the truth of these assertions. Many a man will run the risk of having his goods confiscated, who would hesitate to perjure himself in a witness' box. Hence it is evident that it is the penalty, and not the oath that most people respect. That this should be so does not, indeed, argue well for human nature; but then we must always take men as they are, and not as they ought to be, in providing checks against possible misconduct. It is true that a sense of honor has sufficient influence in many men's minds to keep them in the paths of rectitude; but the experience of daily life too clearly proves that with most men the fear of punishment has greater influence. A self-approving conscience is, by no means, always sufficient. Merit must be distinguished from incompetency, or men will cease aspiring to attain it. The truth of these remarks is clearly demonstrated by the present condition of our mercantile marine service. It is generally admitted that the tone of that service, both for character and efficiency, has greatly degenerated from its former standard. The reasons for this degeneracy are undoubtedly to be found in the facility with which incompetent men obtain commands, and the absence of any distinction between good and bad masters. Competent men and careful navigators must now be satisfied with the approval of their own consciences; and have, at the same time, the mortification of seeing others totally unfit for the responsibilities they assume, or careless and even dishonest in the discharge of them, entrusted with commands almost as readily as themselves. As the practice of insuring ships is now universal, and as competition among insurance companies has rendered the facilities for obtaining this protection from the hazards of the sea very great, it will be seen that ship-owners have not the same direct interest in the loss of their ships that they would have if compelled to bear the burden of it themselves. And, consequently, they are not so careful in the choice, or so strict in the dismissal of their masters as they would be under a different system. It is true that merchants do really bear the burden, for if losses are unnecessarily increased by the acts of inefficient or dishonest masters, insurance premiums must be increased accordingly; and, therefore, although insurance companies seem to be the only sufferers, it must be remembered that they in reality only distribute the losses among their customers. It is, therefore, a matter of the highest importance, both to shipmasters and ship-owners, that reforms should be adopted. Some system should be inaugurated by which competent and worthy men should have the preference in obtaining commands, and by which dishonesty could be exposed and punished, thus insuring greater protection to life and property at sea, and diminishing a serious burden upon commerce. Any one who will take the trouble to consult the records of marine losses published in our daily papers, cannot fail to be struck with the fact of their enormous magnitude. The annual estimates for 1860 were over twenty-eight millions of dollars, and for the year before thirty-seven and a half millions; and a careful perusal of the circumstances of these losses will make it evident that many of them need never have happened. Many ships have been abandoned at sea and afterwards picked up and brought into port, and some vessels have been forsaken by their captains and brought home by their mates. A very graphic and forcible writer in one of the daily papers* remarks, that "the dishonesty of some masters is believed to be a prolific cause of losses. Instances of this kind are to be met with in all parts of the world, but there are some particular quarters where they seem to occur more frequently, owing to facilities for collusion and fraudulent shipwrecks. Those who read the columns of our paper devoted to marine news cannot fail to have noticed the great number of wrecks taking place in the vicinity of the Bahama Islands. The navigation there is undoubtedly beset with difficulties, but they are so well known and understood, and so many light-houses and marks have been erected, that watchful, skillful and honest shipmasters have passed and repassed, at all seasons of the year, and for many years, without disaster, unless under such extraordinary adverse circumstances of wind and weather as clearly and reasonably accounted for their misfortune, while their conduct after shipwreck has *Courier and Enquirer, January, 1860. left no suspicion as to their integrity. But there is another side to the picture; and we are pained to say that the instances of shipwreck are numerous in which the circumstances plainly show that the cause has not been the perils of the sea,' but a deliberate and wilful intention and collusion to commit fraud for personal gain, abetted, connived at, screened and shared by wreckers and disreputable persons residing on some of the Bahama Islands, an exorbitant salvage on the cargo being agreed upon among themselves by private arbitration, and the wreck subsequently burned to prevent her recovery or to avoid investigation. And notwithstanding the disposition evinced by the governor of the Bahamas, the magistracy and many of the best citizens to suppress these disgraceful and piratical proceedings, their efforts are very seldom successful, and the dishonest shipmaster, whose acts have not been investigated by the consular representative of his own country, escapes unpunished to enjoy the fruits of his fraud, throwing a heavy loss upon the merchant or insurer, and a disgrace upon the profession of shipmaster." In other countries, where stricter rules for the appointment and stricter investigations into the misconduct of shipmasters prevail, the losses are neither so heavy nor are fraudulent ones so frequent. Thus, it is asserted, that in the trade between Cuba and Hamburg, although directly in the path where some of our worst losses occur, no Hamburg ship has been lost in twenty years.* It is notorious, that in that country shipmasters have to undergo strict examinations as to character and capacity before obtaining commands; and a proof of the care they take of their ships is to be seen in the low rates of insurance there. The American consul at Hamburg makes the following remarks on this subject in his official report, published in the "Commercial Relations" for 1859: "In reply to certain questions which, at the request of the President of the Atlantic Insurance Company, of New-York, I had asked of a Hamburg insurance broker, the following replies were received, giving information as to the rates and customs which obtain here in regard to marine insurance, and the estimation in which American shipping is held by Hamburg underwriters: "The premium charged on first-class, A No. 1 vessels is 7 per cent. per annum; but underwriters here would refuse to take at this rate any American (United States) vessel, because they know that there are few hands on board who are thorough sailors, many of them never having been to sea before, and even their captains very often knowing nothing of seamanship, leaving the whole command in reality to the mates. 666 Hamburg masters, as well as mates, have to undergo very strict examination before they are allowed to take command. The same is true of Denmark, Sweden and Prussia; their vessels are, consequently, considered by Hamburg underwriters just as good risks. "The premium from Hamburg to New-York and home is, in the summer season, two per cent., and rises in the winter to three and a half." " A similar system of examining masters and mates before intrusting them with commands prevails in England, and is attended with like beneficial results. The British Board of Trade report for the year 1860 gives the per centage of disasters as compared with voyages, as follows: * This assertion is made upon the authority of a foreign consul at Key West. |