The arrivals were as follows:-135 ships from Calcutta; 5 from Madras; 35 from Bombay; 14 from China; 9 from Ceylon; 28 from Singapore and Penang, (British settlements;) 12 from Philippine islands; 17 from Java and Sumatra; 75 from the island of Mauritius; 32 from New South Wales; 1 from Madagascar; 27 from Cape of Good Hope; and 11 from other ports. The clearances outwards comprised a total of 480 ships, 194,798 tonnage, and 9,983 men, which, as compared with the same period of 1840, gives an increase of 75 ships, 40,147 tonnage, and 1,480 men. COFFEE TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1821 to 1840. Samuel Hazard, Esq., of the United States Commercial and Statistical Register, in reply to an inquiry of a member of congress relative to the comparative prices of coffee for a series of years prior to, and since, the act of 1833, abolishing the duties, has prepared the following table, taking the annual reports of the Secretary of the Treasury as the basis of his calculations. "We know of no other mode of arriving at the facts, although we are aware, from the circumstance of the different qualities of coffee being all blended together, the average thus obtained will not, probably, correspond with the actual price of any particular quality taken separately. But, for the general purpose of the present inquiry, this mode of arriving at the desired information may be a sufficiently close approximation to the truth. The value and prices of the imports being obtained from the invoices, must show correctly the cost at the place of purchase. The value of the exports is, we presume, a general average of the prices throughout the year, as obtained at the Treasury Department--and, we learn, from the customhouse-is the value of the article at the short price,' that is, with the drawback taken off. By adding therefore 5 cents to the prices of exports from 1821 to 1833, the average price per pound based on the valuation by 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. Viz :-Previous to the 4th March, 33,326,120 lbs., valued at $3,570,248; after 4th March, 66,628,900 lbs., at $6 997,051; making the total import for 1833 as per table. 11,886,063 18,515,271 16,437,045 19,797,024 20,678,062 25,731,784 28,354,197 39,156,733 33,049,695 38,363,687 8 6.10 75,700,757 36,471,171 75,057,906 44,346,505 91,752,802 77,647,300 76,044,071 502,287 9 4-10 82,871,633 REMARKS ON THE PRECEDING TABLE. The importations from 1826 to 1832, both inclusive, were...... Do. from 1834 to 1840,.......... Being an increase of...... in the seven years succeeding 1833 over those prior to that year. ..lbs. 418,667,681 ....655,116,660 ..236,448,979 in the seven years succeeding 1833, as compared with the seven preceding it. The consumption from 1826 to 1832 was........ Do. 1834 to 1840,....... 141,836,657 96,283,071 45,553,586 .276,831,024 ..558,883,589 ..282,002,565 Being an increase of..... in the consumption of the last seven years over the former. The average price of the importations from 1826 to 1832 was 9 3-10 cents per lb.; and from 1834 to 1840 was 9 7-10, being a difference of 4-10 of a cent per lb. against the latter seven years. 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 seven 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 demand has sustained the price in the market. The increase of population between 1830 and 1840 has been about 39 2-10 per cent. 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 preceding calculations. Owing to the high prices of tea, is probable that the consumption of coffee will be further extended during the present year." AMERICAN WHALE FISHERY. The Nantucket Inquirer publishes monthly a compendium of all the vessels engaged in this pursuit. From the list it appears that the whole number of vessels employed is 588, of which 192 sail are from New Bedford; Nantucket, 84; Fairhaven, 42; New London, 38; Sagharbor, 31; Warren, 21; Edgartown, 12; Salem, 12; Newport, 11; Stonington, 10. The others are scattered along the coast from Portland, Me., to Wilmington, Del., the latter place having 3, and the others from 1 to 10. Most of these vessels are ships, and many of them are of the largest class. Taking $20,000 as the average cost of each ship and outfits, the capital invested amounts to $11,700,000. The importation of oil into the United States during the month of August, 1841, was-of sperm oil, 11,630 barrels, or 366,345 gallons; of whale oil, 16,250 barrels, or 511,875 gallons (in ten ships and two barks.) Of this amount 9,980 barrels of sperm oil and 6,700 whale oil were imported into New Bedford. STATISTICS OF POPULATION. POPULATION, ETC., OF ILLINOIS, IN 1840. A Table, showing the population of each county in the state of Illinois, taken at the census of 1840; also, the number of square miles in the several counties in that state; from official documents, compiled by J. A. TOWNSEND, Esq., of Alton, Illinois. Under- Males. 37,375. .33,909 50 Females. Under- Males. Females. Under- Males. Females. 5 years, 48,004......44,067 40 years, 31,075......23,367 .28,333 60 66 90 y'rs. 232...... 183 15,623... ..12,508 100 33.. 36 Number of white persons over 20, who cannot read and write,......28,780 MERCHANTS' TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. It is with great pleasure that we record on the pages of this magazine the establishment of a merchants' temperance society in the "commercial emporium." We ardently hope the example may be followed in every city of the Union, believing as we do, that temperance is one of the corner-stones of commercial success. The first meeting of the society took place at Clinton Hall, that monument of mer cantile liberality, on Wednesday evening, 1st September. At this meeting the following constitution was unanimously adopted : : CONSTITUTION. 1. This society shall be called "The Merchants' Temperance Society of the City of New York." 2. The objects of this society shall be to promote the cause of temperance, by entirely abstaining from the traffic and use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquors; and, by persuasion, as well as by example, to influence the great community of merchants in the United States, and in foreign countries, to adopt the same principle. 3. Any merchant of the city of New York, subscribing the following declaration, may become a member of this society: "Declaration.-I approve of the objects of the Merchants' Temperance Society of the City of New York, as set forth in the second article of the constitution of said society, and pledge my efforts and personal example to the promotion of those objects." 4. The officers of this society shall be a president, five vice presidents, a correspond ing and a recording secretary, and a treasurer; who, together with ten managers, shall constitute a board, whose duty it shall be to conduct the operations of the society. 5. The officers and board of management shall hereafter be elected at the annual meeting of the society, which shall be held in the month of December, each year. THE "BOOK TRADE." We have been compelled to crowd out a large number of notices of new works, in consequence of the great length of the three first articles in the present number. Our friends of the book trade" shall be attended to in our next, at the expense of an additional sheet, if necessary. THE BANKRUPT LAW. In order to furnish our readers with an authentic copy of this important document, for reference, we applied to Mr. Webster, the Secretary of State, for a revised copy, and we have great pleasure in acknowledging the courtesy and promptness of that gentleman in complying with our request. HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE. NOVEMBER, 1841. ART. I.-VENETIAN COMMERCE. THE history of modern nations presents in the strongest light, and illus trates with irresistible force the truth of the proposition, that their com. merce, and the political liberty they enjoy, have started into being, and hand in hand marched progressively onward; the one never declining without dragging the other along its downward course. Nor would it be difficult to explain why this mutual dependence exists, even were the reasons for it less perceptible than ages of experience have made them. Commercial employments, and the wealth and luxuries they bring, form the great lever by which those engaged in them are raised to the same broad platform before occupied exclusively by their superiors, who, having once enjoyed the rich fruits of mercantile enterprise, and the choice products of foreign climes, form new tastes, and indulge in pleasures before unknown, to which habit so strongly binds them, that they soon become dependent upon the class of men through whom these enjoyments are furnished, until, the scales of society gradually changing, the latter find them. selves occupying a higher elevation than they had ever hoped to attain. As commerce opens path after path along which fortune leads those engaged in it, sometimes plunging them into bankruptcy, at others elevating them to wealth, and perchance to influence and power, the great mass of mankind, before bound down to poverty, compelled to toil hopelessly on, wearing out their lives on the broad estates of their titled masters, deriving from severe labor barely enough to furnish a meager subsistence, with no cheering promise that a happier future would in this world ever dawn upon them, without one single avenue by which they could escape from the mean and lowly stations in which birth and circumstances had bound them; this part of the human race, comprising a vast proportion, are no longer confined to the degrading position occupied by their ancestors. Means are unfolded by which the humblest,-and who does not know that these are and ever have been, the most eminent as merchants,—may rise to opulence and distinction, may acquire honor, and share the intercourse VOL. V.-NO. V. 50 |