Slike strani
PDF
ePub

plaintiff had, in legal effect, licensed the making of these machines; and the question presented to the jury, under the Court's charge, was-" Did the defendants construct their machines under the belief, authorized by the plaintiff, that he consented and allowed them so to do?" A verdict of $2,000 damages was given to the plaintiff by the jury in half an hour after the case was submitted to them.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

COMMERCE OF RUSSIA.

We are indebted to J. PIERCE, JR., Esq., of the United States Legation at St. Petersburg, for the Journal de Sainte Petersbourg of November 11, 1856, from which we translate the following summary of the commerce and navigation of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof. It is interesting at this time, in connection with the establishment of the great Steam Navigation Company on the Black Sea :

[TRANSLATED FROM THE JOURNAL DE ST. PETERSBOURG FOR THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE.] An article published by the Journal of Moscow, about the Steam Navigation Company on the Black Sea, gives some very interesting data, drawn from official tables, of the commerce of Russia, which we deem it convenient to republish. These figures will give an appropriate answer to certain doubts raised on the question, to know whether the elements of commerce on the Black Sea are sufficiently important to support the employment of such a great navigation.

It appears from the statistical tables of the general movement of the mercantile navigation of different nations in the Russian ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof, that during the five years comprised between 1849 and 1853, inclusive, the total number of vessels arrived at and sailed from said ports was 6,591, measuring 661,415 tons, each year. Of this number, 648 vessels, measuring 79,578 tons, had the Russian flag. The number of vessels properly called loaded, arrived and sailed during the same period of time, was 4,120, measuring 400,969 tons; of which, 514 were Russian, carrying 48,287 tons. In these two cases, the share of the national tonnage does not exceed 12 per cent on the total. The total amount of our foreign commerce in the same ports having averaged about 37,000,000 of silver rubles a year, foreign vessels must have carried goods to the amount of 32,560,000 rubles, according to the established proportion of 12 per cent; and the vessels with the national flag, must have transported only a value of 4,440 rubles.

If we have to value the freight all round at 15 per cent, it will show that Russia would have made only 666,000 rubles in freights, whilst foreign vessels must have made a profit of 4,884,000 rubles. Besides, it must be observed in this account that a good number of the vessels navigating in the Black Sea with Russian colors, belong to Greeks or Sclavonians from the Adriatic, so that the actual profits of Russian vessels are below 666,000 rubles.

Multiplying the number of the annual voyages by the total tonnage of the steamboats which the company will put afloat, we obtain the general figure of 100,000 tons, or 12,000,000 poods. During the period from 1850 to 1852, inclusive, the Russian exportation from all the southern ports amounted to 33,000,000 poods, besides various articles, valued at 500,000 rubles; and the importation gives the figure of 1,500,000 poods, and, moreover, a value of 2,300.000 rubles. These figures are, we trust, sufficient to warrant a permanent employment of the company's steamboats. The establishment of this company gives founded hopes

1st. That the commerce of the south of Russia will leave its passive part, and take a more powerful action.

2d. That it will finally emancipate itself from the dependance of foreign vessels.

3d. That the rich mines of anthracite on the banks of the Don will become the object of a great and lucrative speculation.

4th. That nautical science and knowledge will soon spread among the inhabitants of the shores of the Black Sea and of the Sea of Azof.

The author of these remarks closes his article, quoting a part of the article published by Mr. Lerembert in the Revue des Deux Mondes, on the 15th of February, 1856 :—

"Commerce is the life of a great nation. Through it, more than through victories, great nations extend their influence and power across the world, and make the light of civilization shine on the extreme boundaries of earth."

THE WATCH: IRON MORE USEFUL THAN GOLD.

"I have now in my hand," said Edward Everett, "a gold watch, which com. bines embellishment and utility in happy proportions, and is often considered a very valuable appendage to the person of a gentleman. Its hands, face, chain and case, are of chased and burnished gold. Its gold seals sparkle with the ruby, topaz, sapphire, emerald. I open it, and find that the works, without which this elegantly furnished case would be a mere shell-those hands motionless, and those figures without meaning-are made of brass. Investigating further, and ask what is the spring, by which all these are put in motion, made of, I am told it is made of steel! I ask what is steel? The reply is that it is iron which has undergone a certain process. So, then, I find the mainspring, without which the watch would always be motionless, and its hands, figures, and embellishments, but toys, is not of gold, (that is not sufficiently good ;) nor of brass, (that would not do,) but of iron. Iron, therefore, is the only precious metal! and this watch an emblem of society! Its hands and figures, which tell the hour, resemble the master spirits of the age, to whose movements every eye is directed. Its useless but sparkling seals, sapphires, rubies, topazes, and embellishments, are the aristocracy. Its works of brass are the middle class, by the increasing intelligence and power of which, the master spirits of the age are moved; and its iron mainspring, shut up in a box, always at work, but never thought of, except when it is disorderly, broke, or wants winding up, symbolizes the laboring class, which, like the mainspring, we wind up by the payment of wages, and which classes are shut up in obscurity, and though constantly at work, and absolutely necessary to the movement of society, as the iron mainspring is to the gold watch, are never thought of, except when they require their wages, or are in some want or disorder of some kind or other."

THE TIME BARGAIN SYSTEM.

It is proposed in certain quarters to procure from the next Legislature a law abolishing the system of time bargains in stocks, flour, provisions, &c., &c., and making it a penal offense to buy or sell in that manner, punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary. We agree with the Herald, that it is all folly to attempt to prevent, by legislation, people from buying and selling, whether they have the article or not. Time bargains are unauthorized by law, and the winner at them can by no process known to the courts collect the proceeds. This is sufficient for all practical purposes. All attempts to legislate beyond this is like endeavoring to legislate as to the time when the sun shall rise or set.

CHARACTER BETTER THAN CREDIT.

We ofter hear young men who have credit means dolefully contrasting their lot with that of rich men's sons. Yet the longer we live, the more we are convinced that the old merchant was right, who said to us when we began to live," industry, my lad, is better than ingots of gold, and character more valuable than credit." We could furnish, if need were, from our own experience, a score of illustrations to prove the truth of his remarks. In all branches of business, in all avocations, character, in the long run, is the best capital. Says Poor Richard, "the sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy for six months longer; but if he sees you at a gambling-table, or hears your voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day." What is true of the young mechanic, is true also of the young merchant, or young lawyer. Old and sagacious firms will not long continue to give credit for thousands of dollars, when they see the purchaser, if a young man, driving fast horses, or lounging in drinking saloons. Clients will not entrust their cases to advocates, however brilliant, who frequent the card-table, the wine party, or the race-course. It is better, in beginning life, to secure a reputation for industry and probity, than to own houses or lands, if with them you have no character.

A facility of obtaining credit at the outset is often an injury, instead of a benefit. It makes the young beginner too venturesome-fills him with dreams of too early fortune-tempts him too much to neglect hard work, forethought, caution, and economy. Excessive capital is as frequently a snare to a young man. It has passed almost into a proverb, in consequence, that the sons of rich men never make good business men. To succeed in life, we must learn the value of money. But a superfluity of means at the outset is nearly a certain method of rendering us insensible to its value. No man ever grew rich who had not learned and practiced the adage, "if you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." Knowledge of men, self-discipline, a thorough mastery of our pursuit, and other qualifications, which all persons of experience look for, are necessary to give the world security that a young man is of the right metal. Capital may be lost, but character never. Credit once gone, the man without character fails. But he who has earned a reputation for capacity, integrity, and economy, even if he loses his capital, retains his credit, and rises triumphant over bankruptcy itself. A man with character can never be ruined. It is the first thing a young man should seek to secure, and it may be had by every one who desires it in earnest. A poor boy with character is more fortunate, by far, than a rich man's son without it.

AMERICAN MERCANTILE LIFE.

Lord Bacon says children sweeten labor; but little use, however plentiful the supply, do the Americans make of these sugar-plums of existence. It is told of a Wall-street pater familias, that having come, in the course of his rapid movements, accidentally upon his own child in the arms of a nurse, he stopped, and in a sudden paroxysm of tenderness, kissed the babe, and inquired very considerately about its paternity, being totally unconscious of his own flesh and blood. Children with us are treated as soon as they are born, as posterity; just as if they were devoid of all contemporary interest. A man's friends, too, in this country,

are merely counting-house acquaintances, and hospitality hardly expands beyond an invitation to "Brisk & Smart, No. Pearl-street, be glad to see you-always at home." Brisk & Smart are, indeed, always "at home" in their stores, but never in their houses. It is not our purpose to inquire, just now, how far the Mrs. Smarts and Mrs. Brisks may be responsible for shutting the door of hospitality in the faces of their husband's friends. We have an opinion of our own, however, in regard to the fashionable pretensions of our dames. We do not believe that the love of personal display, which robs the larder to enrich the parlor, and shrinks the stomach to expand the skirt, is favorable to hospitality. We, moreover, as we never go to parties, but are always open to an invitation to a good dinner, protest against the practice of concentrating all the surplus means of a household in one great annual display of expense, in which—that is, the expense, and not the dubious delights of the party-the husband, and perhaps his friends, alone participate. The ball of the season, however, is the town talk, which, although it is at the cost of a whole year's household comfort, and the ruin of all genial hospitality, is worth the sacrifice, in the opinion of the fashionable wife.

"Her beggar pride defrauds her daily cheer,
To boast one splendid banquet once a year."

THE DIRTY SHILLING.

The inordinate, or rather the miserly, insane love of money, is the root of much, if not all evil. Bishop Meade, in the Southern Churchman, gives an account of many of the old families of Virginia. Among these he mentions a man named Watkins, of whom the celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke, left a manuscript notice. A part of that notice is in these words :-" Without shining abilities, or the advantages of an education, by plain, straight-forward industry, under the guidance of old-fashioned honesty and practical good sense, he accumulated an ample fortune, in which it is firmly believed there was not one dirty shilling.” This is very homely Saxon language, but it is full of pith and point. In Randolph's mind there must have been running some faint reminiscence of the Apostle's phrase, "filthy lucre," used more than once in his epistles. Either term has wide application, in these days, when the race for riches seems to absorb all hearts, and few men care for the soil upon their shillings, provided only they have enough of them. Yet the wisest of men says that a good name is better than thousands of gold and silver; whereas, a few dirty shillings, a few unjust gains, a few sharp practices, will put a leprous taint upon the accumulations of a lifetime. It is worth while for any man, before he makes a new addition to his heap, to examine the color of his coin, and keep out the filthy lucre, the dirty shillings.

THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.

The gigantic

The charter of the Hudson's Bay Company expires in 1859. monopoly of trading privileges enjoyed by this company over upward of two millions of square miles of territory, is only equaled by that of the East India Company. A company purely commercial, and therefore to some extent necessarily mercenary in its calculations, is beginning to be felt to be unsuited to a region in such close proximity to an enterprising and flourishing colony such

as Canada. The expiration of the charter, with the fact that the British government have had it under consideration to make a portion of the Hudson Bay territory a penal settlement, has brought the subject prominently before the Canadian public. On the 3d of December the subject came prominently before the Board of Trade of Toronto, when the following resolutions were adopted :—

Resolved, That the claim of the Hudson's Bay Company to exclusive right of trade over a large portion of British North America, is injurious to the interests of the country so monopolized, and in contravention of the rights of the people of the British North American provinces.

Resolved, That a petition from the Board of Trade be prepared and presented to the three branches of the Canadian Legislature, praying that steps be taken to ascertain what are the legal rights of the Hudson's Bay Company to the territory and exclusive trade claimed by that company in the northern part of this continent, and to pray them to adopt such measures as may be necessary to protect the rights of this province.

66

THE TERMS "SHIP" AND "MERCHANT."

GEORGE ROBERTS, an Englishman, in his "Social History of the People of the Southern Counties of England in Past Centuries," has the following on the terms ship" and "merchant :"

Accurate investigation of the details of borough history has enabled us to attain some definite estimate of the important terms “ship" and "merchant." We now style a three-masted vessel, having square sails on each mast, a ship; and a a trader in an extensive way of business a merchant. In the Tudor reigns every kind of craft was set down under the general term of ship, as every dealer or tradesman was under that of merchant. This has misled many. There can be no fair comparison between the ship and merchant of Queen Elizabeth's and her present Majesty's reign. Shipping and trading community, or inhabitants that were engaged in trade, and some of these in a very small way, would be the modern equivalents. This point is dwelt upon, as much of the erroneous account about former greatness, as seaports and places of trade, has arisen from a misconception of these terms. Let these be wrongly interpreted, then accounts of seaport towns under the Tudor sovereigns, their "ships," and "many rich merchants," sound very grandly. Nineteen ships and fifty-four merchants at Lime, A. D. 1578, are an example of this use of words. Every detail is given in assessment towards the charge of the Queen's ship" at 5d. in the pound. This was the odious grievance known as ship-money.

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE ABROAD.

"an

The Commercial Bulletin of New Orleans, referring to the restless enterprise of the citizens of the great republic, says :-"In Mexico they are building railroads and cutting through mountains. In Lima they are projecting turnpikes, and teaching the people the best mode of conquering impossibilities. In Brazil people from the States are growing cotton and showing how it can be manufactured without taking it all the way to Liverpool or Manchester. In the States of the Plata, Edward A. Hopkins is building an "American Wharf." By the last advices from Buenos Ayres we learn that this company of the “ American Wharf" was in active operation, and the structure daily drawing to completion. The papers publish regular bulletins of its progress, and are loud in their praises of its American projector and engineer. The stock at latest advices was sold at 25 per cent premium.

« PrejšnjaNaprej »