sel have been retained at Washington and elsewhere to prepare and present arguments against each of these measures, and in favor of an enlargement rather than contraction of the volume of the currency; and such other measures have been taken as were deemed proper to inform Congress of the wishes and interests of the whole community upon these subjects. Copies of the blank petitions which have been transmitted throughout the Union have also been forwarded to you, and, after procuring the signatures of your most influential citizens thereto, you are respectfully requested to enclose the same to your Congressional representatives, or to some other member, at Washington, with whom you are acquainted. Much good may also arise from communicating your wishes by letter to your acquaintances in Congress. Additional blank petitions, in any number desired, with printed arguments, in pamphlet form, by some of the most eminent counsel in the country favoring these views, will be forwarded to you, free of charge, upon application to this office. If you approve of the efforts thus made and to be continued in this direction, you are respectfully solicited to contribute to the expenses of the same, by transmitting to this office such retainer in the matter as you shall deem proper-say one-tenth of one mill on each dollar of your capital-being in the proportion of ten dollars on each one hundred thousand dollars of such capital-it being understood, of course that you incur no additional obligation whatever by so doing. Yours, &c., JOHN LIVINGSTON, Secretary, &c. M. W. DODD, 506 Broadway, sends us the following excellent books: 1. The Draytons and the Davenants. A Story of the Civil Wars. By the au thor of The Chronicles of the Schonberg-Cotta Family," &c. Mrs. Charles has long ceased to need any commendation as an authoress. Her writings, so well known and so heartily enjoyed in every household, require only the simple statement of their publication to insure them an immense circle of readers. The present volume is written in the charming style which characterizes all the works of this authoress and contains many well drawn characters. Job and Rachel Foster, the maiden aunts, cousin Placidia, sweet Lettice Davenant, and saintly Lady Lucy, are all excellent in their way. If there is somewhat less vivacity in this book than in several of its predecessors, there is much earnest thought, and an amount of historical information which greatly enhances its true value and interest. A sequel to the Draytons and Davenants will be published during the year, continuing the narrative through the times of the Commonwealth and the Restoration, and containing many incidents connected with the early Puritan history of our own land. 2. The Women of the Gospels; the Three Wakings and other Poems. By the author of "The Schonberg-Cotta Family." Some of these poems have already appeared as scattered pieces in our papers or periodicals, but many of them are now published in America for the first time. Among the shorter poems are some of peculiar beauty and sweetness, and although it is almost impossible to select the best out of so many that are good, we can name The Child on the Judgment Seat," "The Pathways of the Holy Land," and " merit. My Strength and My Heart Faileth," as having especial 3. The Brewer's Family. By Mrs. Ellis, author of "Women of England." "The Brewer's Family," as one might almost infer from the name, is a temperance story, very pleasantly told, and very forcible in its teachings. Mrs. Ellis's writings are always pure in style, womanly in feeling, and of high moral tone. The second story in the book, entitled "Rainy Days, and How to Meet Them," although shorter than the first, is quite as interesting and instructive. 4. The Brownings: A Tale of the Great Rebellion. By J. G. Fuller, author of "The Grahams," &c. This volume contains two stories. The first gives its name to the book; the second is entitled "Lucy Lee, or All for Christ." They are both exceedingly pretty and interesting. The former is a narrative of the sufferings and escape of a Union family at the South in the early part of the war; the latter gives the story of a young girl of intellect and talent who finally turns away from the path to fame, which seems to open before her, to enter upon one of arduous selfdenying Christian duty. The book is well fitted for a Sunday School prize, or, indeed, for a present to any young person. 7. Boston and New York Bank Dividends 276 8. Report of James W. Taylor to Secretary McCulloch.. Finance.. 320 277 20. Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chic go Railroad 322 21. Silver on Lake Superior.. 324 293 22. Railways in France for 1865 and 1866.. 325 299 23. Commerce of Boston... 326 00 24. National Banks and Currency Contrac- 326 327 9. Baltimore - Its Manufactures, Commerce, etc... 10. Railroad Earnings for February.. 11. Public Debt of the United States.. 12. Letter to the Secretary of the T.easury 301 The following advertisements appear in our advertising pages this month: MERCANTILE. Lillie's Fire & Burglar-Proof Safes-198 B'way Eugene Kelly & Co.-36 Wall St. L. Prang & Co.-Boston and New York-Hol-Duncan, Sherman & Co.-Cor. Pine & Nassau. iday Publicat ons, etc. Howard & Co.-619 Broadway - Diamonds, Lewis Audendried & Co.-110 Broadway-An- chines. A. B. Sands & Co.-139-141 William St.-Drugs BANKERS & BROKERS. Tenth National Bank-336 Broadway. L. P. Morton & Co.-30 Broad Street. INSURANCE. New York Mutual Insurance Co-61 William st Fidelity Insurance Co.-17 Broadway. Sun Mutual Ins. Co.-49 Wall St. U. S. Life Insurance Co.-40 Wall St. THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. MAY, 18 6 7. LOUISVILLE-ITS MANUFACTURES, TRADE AND COMMERCE. Louisville is the commercial depot of the middle portions of Kentucky and Tennessee, and by railroad connections, now in course of being made effective, will at no distant period become the important entrepot of an active commerce between the Southern Alantic coast and the valley of the Ohio River. The city is located in latitude 38 degrees 3 minutes, longitude 85 degrees 30 minutes, on the Onio River, above the falls, 400 miles from its confluence with the Mississippi at Cairo, and 600 miles below the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers at Pittsburg. The distance to Cincinnati, by river, is about 140 miles. To New Orleans the river route is nearly 1,500 miles. Altogether, the waterways tributary to the commerce of the city have a length of upwards of 4,000 miles. The railroads entering Louisville come from the south. The most im portant of these is the Louisville and Nashville. which has a length of 185 miles, with branches to Bardstown and Lebanon (the latter to be extended to the State line, and there connect with the Knoxville and Kentucky Railroad), and a branch from a point five miles south of Bowling Green towards Memphis, which city, by this route, is only 377 miles from Louis ville. By means of this road the city has, or will have, a very complete connection with the Southern system of roads reaching to the Gulf of Mexico, to the Atlantic Ocean, and to the West and Southwest as far as the railroad has yet penetrated. Another important railroad, the Louisville and Lexington, comes in from the southwest from Lexington and Frankfort. A railroad is also being constructed south of the Ohio, so as to connect Louisville directly with Cincinnati. The only railroads reaching Louisville from the North are the Jeffersonville and the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago; but through those the city has ample connection with the Northern system of railroads. The Jeffersonville Railroad, in connection with the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, forms the present route from Louisville to Cincinnati, but a more direct route is projected by a railroad following the river from Lawrenceburg to Jeffersonville. The Louisville and Portland Canal admits the passage of river steamers, and connects the upper and lower navigation of the Ohio. Louisville stands on a high, broad plateau, 70 feet above the river, and rising into back-ground hills. This area is so sloped and graded by nature as to afford excellent drainage. It is regularly laid out, the streets crossing at right angles, and the principal ones are threaded by passenger railroads, extending back to the outskirts. The town of Louisville and the County of Jefferson, of which it is the capital, were laid out in 1780. Kentucky at this time was a wilderness. The Indian perogue, the keel boat, and subsequently the flatboat, the Western broadhorn, were in those days the only means of transportation and travel on the Western waters. In 1812 Fulton built the steamboat Orleans, 400 tons burden, at Pittsburg, and this was the first that ever descended the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The subjection of steam to navigation exercised a most extraordinary influence on the prosperity and commerce of this as on all the river towns, and completely revolutionized the modes of locomotion, economizing time by speed, and making travel a pleasure, instead of being, as heretofore, a hardship. In 1828 the town was elevated to the dignity of a city, with enlarged limits. At this time the population was not more than 8,000. It has now upward of 120,000 inhabitants, and is valued at $43,108,569. The steps by which this great population and wealth have been acquired are shown in the following statement: The extraordinary increase in the valuation of 1840 was due to specu lation in real estate, which in the years immediately preceding had crazed the whole country. Manufactures generally centre at those points where power and fuel are cheapest and most abundant. Louisville in this respect presents advantages unequalled by any place in the Southwest. Its water power is beyond accurate measurement, while its facility of navigation by river are unsurpassed, and its railroad connections calculated to make it a grand centre of trade and commerce. The water power of the falls exceeds that of the present laboring population of the State, and if adequately used would turn a thousand mills. From returus collected in 1866 there were 421 manufacturing establishments in the city, a tabular statement of which is subjoined. The capital employed in these is more than twelve million dollars, and the number of hands nearly eight thousand, producing annually to the amount of 27 million dollars. The details of these interests are as follows: From this table it appears that the most important manufactories in Louisville are its saw mills, foundries, agricultural implement factories, saddleries, distilleries, flour mills, paper mills, tobacco factories and boat |