66 still "make a good thing of it." He expects to borrow the money at the lowest rate he can get it, on the same principle that he makes the buyer pay him the highest price for his corn, and he does not find it any hardship to be left to make his own bargain. But in some States, New York for instance, the farmer insists that the capitalist shall lend him his money at 7 per cent or not lend it at all, as if a fair rate could be fixed by law! The result is, that when money is worth more than that rate, the rural districts are drained of their surplus capital. The money goes to the city; part is invested in business paper," or in contracts more openly usurious; while part is spent in the purchase of bonds or stocks, which the high value of money has so depressed that for $750 or $800 the buyer may possess that which gives the legal interest on $1,000. The countrymen always possess the means of borrowing the cheapest, and if they would not stand in their own light, but would allow money to bring what it is worth, the rate would always be in their favor. City borrowers may be the most prompt in paying, but their circumstances are less easily ascertained, and their fortunes fluctuate more rapidly. In the country credit is more wisely given, and landed security is always at hand. In England, where the lower classes and the poor have no advantages in general, comparable to those enjoyed in this country, and where the want of usury laws would soonest result in oppression, if this was the tendency of such freedom, there is no such restraint, and for loans payable within twelve months the law of demand and supply regulates the rate. Even if the repeal of the usury laws should lead to higher rates of interest, such an advance would be only temporary, as the high price would attract capital to the locality, and the proper level would soon be reached. We trust that the day is not far distant when all such restraints will be removed, and the value of money be regulated like that of any other commodity, in open market. We noticed in our last the difficulty of making collections at the West and Northwest, and this has increased, rather than diminished, during the last month. The reason assigned by the local newspapers is, that the fever of land speculation has raged so wildly that the money has all been drained for that purpose, and the people are without the means of paying their debts to the East. There is doubtless something in this, and it may also be noted that all kinds of speculation have been started, owing to the thirst for the easy acquisition of riches, kindled by the instances of fortunes suddenly acquired which have been reported on every side. But there is a deeper cause at work, and this will not be cured in a single season. It is, that floating capital at the West is scarce, and would be so under any circumstances, now that the large expenditures for railroad purposes have been curtailed. Two or three years ago capitalists in the large cities, and even in England, were sending out their millions to build up these railroads, and the stream enriched all the West; merchants found it easy to sell goods and collect the pay; farmers had a ready and liberal market at their own doors for all their produce and prosperity seemed to roll in like a golden flood. Now comes the first reaction of the tide; it will leave high and dry many a bark which has ventured too far from the main channel, but its good effects will be felt in restraining the extravagance of speculation, and inducing a more sober estimate of the risks of aiming at sudden wealth. The trade of the country has been somewhat interrupted by the passage of the new tariff, which induces many importers to place their goods in bond, to await the reduction of duty, and holders of merchandise have wisely preferred to sell off the old stock before investing in new. At the large marts of commerce on the Atlantic seaboard there has been much complaint of the backwardness of the spring trade. The importers of dry goods have become impatient of the demand at private sale, and for several weeks the bulk of the business has been done through the auction-room. The facility with which immense quantities of the most valuable goods can be sold by aution in this country is quite astonishing to a foreigner. There are regular public sales of certain articles in each of the principal European markets, but the habit of throwing all descriptions of wares and merchandise into auction, the moment the demand slackens at private sale, is peculiarly American. It is probable that during the current season nearly half of the foreign dry goods imported for sale by the package in New York, have been knocked down to the highest bidder by the hammer of the autioneer. Most of these sales have resulted in a loss to the importer, and the general summing up of the season's business in dry goods will afford but little satisfaction to those who held large stocks of foreign fabrics on their own account. The receipts of gold from California continue on a moderate scale, but there is now a prospect of increased shipments, as the rainy season has produced an abundance of water. The following will show the business at the Assay Office, in New York, during the month of March :—- DEPOSITS AT THE ASSAY OFFICE, NEW YORK, FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH. STATEMENT OF THE DEPOSITS AND COINAGE AT THE MINT OF THE UNITED STATES AT PHILADELPHIA, DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH, 1857: Gold. Silver. Total. $36,000 00 7,000 00 1,316,000 00 12,000 00 19,000 00 11,000 00 1,327,000 00 $1,330,000 00 $52,000 00 $1,882,000 00 750,000 00 We append the following statement of the operations of the United States Branch Mint, in San Francisco, for February, 1857 : The total export of treasure from San Francisco to all parts of the world, by steam and sail vessels, for February, amounted to $3,809,614, which, added to the January shipment of $3,182,690, makes $6,992,304 for the first two months of the present year. The following is a statement of the deposits and coinage at the Branch Mint of the United States, at New Orleans, during March, 1857 :— $957,197 66 Total gold and silver deposits.... There was no coinage during the past month. The total deposits of gold, of domestic production, since the the establishment of the Mint of the United States, and branches, amounts to $378,880,713, and the entire coinage of the metals during the same time, that is since 1793, to $563,433,908.* The bank expansion in New York has gone on, since our last, as rapidly as ever; but the loans have been shortened very much in time, so that the banks have it in their power, at any time, to make a very rapid contraction. We annex a comparison of the weekly averages since the opening of the year :— WEEKLY AVERAGES NEW YORK CITY BANKS. The expansion of the New York city banks has been the theme of much comment, but it has been as great, in proportion to the capital, as in most former We shall publish full and carefully prepared tables of the coinage of the United States in the June number of the Merchants' Magazine.-Ed. years. Few realize that the bank capital of this city has far more than doubled in the last ten years, yet such is the case : 65,426,353 1856. 51,113,025 107,840,435 36,791,750 88,815,464 1857. 59,513,830 115,874,717 1852... There is a variation in the different dates given in the above statement, but we have given the nearest dates preserved in our record. For 1853, the date is the beginning of the Clearing House statement, (Aug. 6th,) and each year since is for the week in April corresponding precisely with the last weekly average. From the above it will be seen that the loans are usually more than two dollars for every one of capital, and that the present is not a period of “unusual expansion." In this connection we present a brief comparison of the loans, specie, circulation, and nominal deposits, on the 6th of August, 1853, when the Clearing House was opened, (June 3, 1854,) when the country bank balances were first included in the deposits, and in the corresponding week in April in each of the last three years :— Aug. 6, 1858. Circulation. Loans and Dis. $97,889,617 Specie. $9,510,465 Deposits. $58,418,756 71,702,290 77,282,242 91,081,975 96,518,908 April 14, 1855.... April 12, 1856..... April 11, 1857... ..... We continue our weekly statement of the averages of the Boston banks : We also annex a comparative statement of the New Orleans banks : The quarterly statement of the New Jersey banks, as rendered to the Secretary of State, April, 1857, compare with the January statement as follows: The imports of foreign goods, for March, were not much affected by the change in the tariff-the shipments having been made before the action of Congress was known abroad. The total at New York exceeded $21,000,000, being $878,546 larger than for March of last year; $10,962,447 larger than for March, 1855, and $4.578,430 larger than for March, 1854, as will appear from the annexed comparative summary :— FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK IN MARCH. $21,185.504 Total entered at the port.... $16,557,074 $10,173,057 $20,256,958 1,701,208 2,718,093 1,852,396 2,639,228 The great increase in goods entered for warehousing is owing, of course, to the prospective reduction in the tariff of duties. The total foreign imports at New York, for the quarter ending March 31st, 1857, are $13,795,423 greater than for the corresponding period of last year; $30,466,362 greater than for the same period of 1855, and $18,406,255 greater than that of 1854. It will be seen that, in comparison with 1855, (two years ago,) the imports for the last month have more than doubled, and the increase for the whole quarter is nearly in the same proportion. FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FOR THREE MONTHS, FROM JANUARY 1ST. Entered for consumption.... $37,989,365 $23,451,214 $40,859,557 $46,159,430 Entered for warehousing. 5,052,144 7,857,681 Free goods.... Specie and bullion.... ......... 5,834,168 10,898,097 Total entered at the port.... $47,260,473 $35,200,366 $51,871,305 $65,666,728 Withdrawn from warehouse. 7,839,298 6,245,071 7,814,674 6,544,729 As the month of March closes the third quarter of the present fiscal year, we have compiled our usual summary of the imports from the first of July. This shows that the aggregate at New York, for nine months, is $29,137,354 greater than for the same time of the preceding fiscal year; $19,163,005 greater than for the nine months ending March 31, 1855, and $27,399,866 greater than for the nine months ending March 31, 1854 : FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FOR NINE MONTHS, ENDING MARCH 31. Total for 9 months... $143,521,602 $121,758,463 $141,784,114 $170,921,468 The imports of dry goods at New York, for March, (included in the summary of general imports,) are $1,545,519 less than for March, 1856; but $4,290,405 greater than for March, 1855, and $319,804 more than for the same period of 1854, as will appear from the annexed comparison : |