This is certainly a hazardous operation. And if the building takes fire in consequence of this operation, the insurers are certainly discharged.

If the operation is conducted safely through, and the work is entirely finished, we consider it clear that this greater hazard for a time has no effect whatever on the policy after that time, and after all the greater hazard has expired. But let us suppose that while this operation is going forward, and the house is thereby certainly exposed to an increase of risk, the house is set on fire by an incendiary, without the slightest reference to this alteration, and burns down. It is not, perhaps, settled, either by authority or practice, whether the insurers are or are not discharged. We are, however, of opinion that the principles of insurance would lead to the conclusion, that, if the house be burned from a perfectly independent cause, during an increase of risk incurred for good cause and in good faith, the insurers are not thereby discharged. It is, however, certain, that it is always prudent to obtain the consent of the insurers to any proposed alteration. If such consent be asked and refused, we do not see that the insurers stand on any better footing, or the insured on any worse one; and if the alterations are made and a loss occurs, we should say that the insurers would not, generally at least, be discharged because of their refusal, unless they would have been discharged if the alteration had been made without their knowledge. For if they have a right to object or refuse, it could only be because the contract in effect prohibited this alteration; and then their refusal was not wanted for their defence. And if they have no right to refuse, they can acquire no rights by the refusal.

If the alteration be of a permanent character, and causes a material increase of the danger of fire, then it is a substantial breach of contract; and we should hold that the insurers were discharged as soon as the alteration was made, and indeed as soon as the making of it, or preparations for it, as scaffolding or carpenter's work, materially increased the risk. And they are discharged equally, whether the fire be caused by the alteration, or by the work done, or by some whole independent matter. But where an application for insurance upon a dwelling house described a store owned by the applicant, situated near the house, and the policy contained no prohibition against the rebuilding of the store, and when it was burned the owner rebuilt the same, and in doing so a fire occurred in the store which communicated to and destroyed the house, but there was no negligence on the part of the insured, the insurers were held, because the insured had the right of rebuilding the store, using proper precautions. We apprehend, further, that the insured retains his right to keep his buildings in good repair; and, indeed, it is rather his duty, or at least for the interest of the insurers, that he should do so. For any condition of disrepair would tend, more or less strongly, to increase the risk of fire, if only by causing a general neglect, or lowering the class of opponents. The insured, therefore, may repair without especial leave, and the insurers are liable, although the fire take place while the repairs are going on; and even if it be caused by the repairs.

So the insurers wonld be if this cause of the fire might seem to come within the express prohibition of the policy, if the cause were introduced merely for necessary repair, and the prohibition should be construed as intended to prevent a general employment of the buildins in a hazardous way. Thus, a condition avoiding the policy "if the buildings at any

time after the insurance be made use of to store or warehouse any hazardous goods," did not discharge the insurers of a barn which was set on fire by the boiling over and burning of a tar barrel brought within it for the purpose of repair. It may be added, that our fire policies now in use frequently give the insured the right of keeping the property in repair. In England, fire policies are often made with a right of renewal and many questions have risen there under this right. We are not aware of any such cases or any such practice in this country.

[To be continued.]

BREADSTUFFS.

The breadstuffs market just now presents a problem of unusual interest. The price of flour has for some time ranged unprecedentedly high, and is still advancing; and as the relief to the prevailing general expansion of prices must be retarded while we have dear bread, it becomes a matter of peculiar interest to ascertain what is likely to be the future course of this market.

It is not without reason that flour and grain rule at such extraordinary prices. Waiving the disputed question as to the comparative yield of the last crop, there will be no doubt in any quarter that the short supply of wheat and corn in the South has caused an immense demand from that section, sulting in a heavy draft upon the supplies at all points. In the absence of returns at some of the grain centres, we are unable to give a complete statement of the stock in the several markets; but from such statistics as are obtainable, it is evident that they are sufficiently low to account, to a large extent, for the prevailing high prices. The following comparison shows the stocks of flour, wheat and corn at the latest dates, at New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and in Minnesota.

These figures, we are aware, are very imperfect, but it may be stated in general terms that the stocks at the Western centres are only about one-fourth of the quantity on hand last year; at New York, however, they are, as will be seen, considerably larger. The consequence of this singular inequality is that, at the present time, the prices of flour and grain rule at the same figures at the East as at the West, and shipments are being made to some points in this State from this port. The supplies in the interior of the West are comparatively exhausted, the receipts having dwindled down to a merely nominal amount, and the prospect is clear that, until the new crop is gathered, the country must be fed to more than the usual extent from the stocks at the seaboard.

At the same time, the South is so bare of food, that in some sections it is a serious question, whether the planters will be able to feed their

hands until the harvest; and measures are in contemplation for procuring supplies upon a mortgage on the cotton crops. A certain amount may be expected from the large surplus of California, the current ship. ments thence to New York being reported to be very large; but the supplies from that source will be readily absorbed. There are yet about two months before any appreciable relief can be had from the new crops; and with such a meagre supply during the interim, it is not very apparent how there can be any important abatement from the current high prices.

The time, however, must soon be past when the supply in store will be the controlling consideration in the value of breadstuffs. The pros pect of the next crop will early make itself felt. The extraordinary prices prevailing during late months have produced the natural result of an extension of the wheat and corn planting, and thus far nature has favored the efforts of the husbandman to produce a plentiful supply of food. There is no prospect that the South will this year seek its supplies in the West. The general scarcity of breadstuffs in that section, and the consequent high prices, have induced the planters to lay out an enlarged area in wheat and corn. The cotton factors also, for their own protection, have, in some sections, made it a condition of their advances for cotton growing, that the planters should raise sufficient cereals and pork for their plantation consumption; while there is reason for supposing that the unsatisfactory result of the last cotton crop, and the present low price of that staple, will induce the smaller planters to substitute grain for cotton to a large extent. With the single exception of Arkansas, reports from every Southern State represent that an unusually large acreage has been placed under grain, and the crops are everywhere reported as looking very healthy and promising. It is not impossible, therefore, in the event of the continuance of high prices, that a portion of the Southern wheat crop may be hurried into our markets before the Western crops are gathered; and this contingency is the more probable from the fact that the supply of that section is likely to exceed its actual wants. In fact it is anticipated that Georgia wheat may be shipped to this market in considerable quantities by the latter part of June.

From all other parts of the country the reports are highly encouraging. The winter crops are large and unusually healthy. The western floods and the protracted cold weather, although they have delayed spring operations, appear to have produced no effects calculated to limit the general yield. The seed has been put in in good condition, and it is only in the exceptional cases of low wet lands that there is other than a flattering prospect. Reports from Wisconsin agree in estimating the area sown at one third larger than last year. As to the crop in Illinois, a correspondent of the St. Louis Republican, writing from Springfield, says: Wheat is growing magnificently. All over central and southern Illinois (in some sections, it is true, in spots) a glorious yield is anticipated. The promise is more than commonly good, and the breadth of land sown nearly double any before." From Ohio, reports generally accord with the following statement by a Cincinnati paper :"The wheat crop promises splendidly. The winter to be sure has been cold, but the fall sowings have been protected by the heavy

snows, and have weathered the winter well. We expect this year to see the heaviest wheat crop ever raised in this country." Indiana appears to have suffered more than any other State from the severity of the weather; but upon the whole the prospect there appears to favor a full average yield. The Fort Wayne Gazette says:- "It is very generally remarked by travellers that the wheat crop looks splendidly all over the west-never more promising of an abundant yield. Especially is this the case in northern Indiana, where an unusually large breadth has been devoted to this staple cereal." From Iowa the reports are meagre, but there is nothing to indicate that that State is likely to prove an exception to the rule. From Michigan we have no reports representing other than the prospect of an unusually large crop. In New York and Pennsylvania the wheat is represented as looking uncommonly healthy in appearance, and giving promise of a more than average yield. Reports from California indicate that there also the wheat crop is likely to prove unusually large, a fact of no small importance, since that State has become an important exporter of breadstuffs.

From this remarkable uniformity of testimony as to the favorable prospects of the growing crops, it would seem that, providing we escape the contingencies of drouth in the summer and of wet weather in harvest, the country will be enriched by an unusually abundant yield. So long as these adverse possibilities hang over the crops, the present favorable prospects cannot have their full effect upon the prevailing high prices. It would, however, be unreasonable to anticipate anything below an average yield; while it is not improbable that the result may far exceed that.

The generally healthy aspect of the winter wheat in the United States doubtless arises from causes connected with the extraordinary winter; and as the winter in Great Britain and on the Continent has resembled our own, it perhaps may not be unreasonable to expect that there also the crops will be similarly abundant, and this probably is confirmed by the tenor of reports so far as received. The conclusion, therefore, from the facts stated above, evidently is that although we may not look for any immediate relief from the present high prices, yet with a propitious season, our supplies this fall must be unusually large, and within two months at the most a favorable change in the market may be anticipated.

THE NEW YORK STATE TAX LEVY.

A few weeks before the final adjournment of the Legislature of New York, the Comptroller of the State addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the Assembly a letter depicting the alarming amount of taxation which seemed to be impending for the present year. It would approximate, if not exceed, one per cent, if all the contemplated measures became laws; a higher rate than had ever before been levied during the existence of the State. Now that the Legislature

has adjourned it may not be uninteresting to see what is the result of its labors, and what will be the probable State taxation this year.

We have, first, the requirements of the bounty State debt which demands a tax of three mills on the dollar of valuation. This increase from the rate of last year is due to the fact, that the law authorizing the indebtedness provides for an annual tax sufficient to pay the yearly interest, and to redeem the entire principal in twelve years. The amount levied last year was found to be insufficient for that purpose, and hence the Comptroller resorts to the present rate. Next, we have the Free School Bill, which calls for a mill and a quarter. Till the present season the annual tax for the support of schools was but three-fourths of a mill on the dollar; but the law of 1867, making common schools free from and after next September, adds one-half of a mill to the annual levy for that object. Then there is the canal floating debt, which, as will be remembered, was legalised in 1859, and adds its usual eighth of a mill to the tax levy. The law granting State aid to the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad imposed a tax of three-sixteenths of a mill; and the appropriation to the Whitehall and Plattsburgh Railroad required onethirteenth.

Besides there were a series of other projects pending, while still others were passed which involved a further addition to the public burden. The Assembly bill, making appropriations for canal claims—an unfathomable abyss for public money, required seven-eighths of a mill. The friends of the Chenango canal drove a bill through the Assembly which, however, was lost in the Senate, levying three-sixteenths of a mill for the extension of that canal from Binghampton to Athens in Pennsylvania. For thirty odd years that thoroughfare has not paid cost of superintendence and repairs, and could not to-day be given away; yet the supporters of the extension predict with great assurance that it will become remunerative by reason of the great business to be done in the transportation of coal. A bill in the Senate for the enlargement of the locks of the Erie Canal proposed a tax of seven-eighths of a mill; and another to enlarge those of the Champlain Canal, proposed two-fifths of a mill. These two projects were afterward united, made dependent on the action of the Constitutional Convention, and then failed of passage. Another bill for the improvement of the Oneida Lake Canal, levying a tax of one-fifth of a mill, did not get through.

But the unwise bill of Senator O'Donnell, after sundry amendments, succeeded in passing both Houses of Legislature, and now lies on the Governor's table. It authorises the grant of $5,000 per mile of new railroads, and levies a tax of one-third of a mill per dollar, in the years 1868 and 1890 (probably 1869) to meet the outlay. It is, however, the judgment of the Governor that all proposed grants to corporations may very appropriately be left to the action of the Convention, which will assemble at Albany in June; and it is not likely, therefore, that the bill will receive his signature.

The other demands upon the Treasury were extraordinarily numerous. The expenses of the Constitutional Convention were provided for by an appropriation of $250,000. The appropriation for the Soldiers' Home at the Ira Harris Hospital amounted to $100,000. The sum of $150,000 was asked and granted for the continuation of the improvement of the