iron, cordage, chocolate, gunpowder, umbrellas and parasols, gold and silver coin, and jewelry. The whole estimated value of exports of home manufactures is about $6,500,000, being about 13 per cent. of the whole domestic exports of the country. About $700,000 of this amount ought to be struck out of the list of domestic exports, being gold and silver coin, consisting, mostly, of metals imported from abroad, and, after being coined at the mint, again exported. The labor put upon these materials, in coining, is so inconsiderable a part of their value, that the value of the coin of the country exported ought not to be included in the estimate of the value of domestic exports. Considerable quantities of gold, it is true, have been produced in North Carolina, but by no means enough, as yet, to supply the demand for the consumption of the country, though it is to be considered, at the same time, that this article, as far as it can be supplied from the domestic mines, will tend directly abroad, being drawn into this channel by the higher price of gold, compared with silver, in England and France than in the U. States; the value being, in England, as 15, in France, as 156, and in the U. States, as 154 to 1. Consequently, the gold, whether in coin or bullion, tends strongly to leave the country. Some of it is arrested for use in jewelry and the arts, but very little in the currency, or in the vaults of the banks. Omitting this article, then, the other articles above enumerated, being the only ones the value of which is made up, in any considerable degree, of foreign materials, are valued, in the returns, at $683,000. The value of materials imported, and then wrought up in manufactured articles, and exported, and included in the list of domestic manufactures, may be estimated at about $200,000 or $250,000; leaving the net exports of manufactures from the raw products supplied by the country about $5,750,000. As cotton fabrics form a large item in this list of exported manufactures, and those fabrics are mostly of the coarser kind, the raw material will constitute a very considerable part of their value, and the proportional value of the direct wages of manufacturing labor, incorporated in these exports, will be proportionally less. If, for instance, a plough, or trunk, or quantity of combs, be sent abroad, almost the whole value of the export consists of the wages of the manufacturers; and a still greater proportion of the value of earthen and stone wares, which make a very considerable item in this list, is of this description; whereas an export of spirits distilled from West India molasses comprises a comparatively small proportional value of manufacturing labor. Taking the whole list of domestic manufactured articles together, and making allowances for the cost of the raw materials, in their rudest state, after they are taken from the ground or from animals, and assume the character of merchandise, by deducting their value from the gross amount of that of the exported manufac tures, the remainder, which is the result of the manufacturing labor, interest of capital and profits incorporated into these materials, to bring them into the state in which they are exported, may be estimated at about $4,000,000. We will now glance hastily at the descriptions of articles on which the arts of the U. States are employed for the supply of foreign markets; and the most considerable of them is cotton twist, thread and fabrics, the exported value of which, for the year 1828, was $1,000,000 and a fraction over, being one fiftieth part of the whole domestic exports, the principal markets of which are South America, Mexico and the Mediterranean. The value of leather, and its various manufactures, exported, is a little over $500,000, making one per cent. of the entire exports of the description of which we are speaking. The value of hats exported during the same year was about $333,300-a very large amount, considering the short period since this article has been sent to foreign markets. Soap and candles have long been supplied for the foreign markets, the amount for the year in question being about $900,000. The various articles manufactured, for the most part, of wood, such as furniture, or of wood, leather and iron, such as coaches and carriages, besides various agricultural implements supplied to the West Indies and South America, constitute a very important branch of trade, which amounted to between $600,000 and $700,000. The American glass begins to appear in the foreign markets. The value sent abroad in 1828 was $51,452, and it bids fair to be increased. The other exports consist of a variety of articles in small quantities, among which are, wearing apparel, combs and buttons, brushes, fireengines and apparatus, printing-presses and types, musical instruments, books, maps, paper and stationary, and trunks. It is apparent, from the above enumeration and estimates, that the manufactured articles, of which the export is most considerable and the most flourishing, are those of which the raw materials consist, mostly, of cotton, wood and leather. Foreign Exports. The foreign articles imported and again exported from the country, during the same year, amounted to $21,595,017. This transit trade thus appears to form a very important part of the American commerce. But one third of this whole amount consists of an article which affords very little freight, namely, specie, the export of which, during the same year, was about $7,500,000. Another large item in value, of this transit trade, consists of cotton fabrics, the exports of which were $2,000,000. The foreign silks exported amounted to about a quarter as much. The value of wines exported was about $333,300; that of teas about twice as much; and that of coffee and cocoa $1,500,000, and of sugar nearly $1,000,000. These are the most important articles of foreign export. The other exports of foreign articles previously imported amounted, during the same year, to about $8,000,000 in the whole; but it is not necessary to enumerate them. Imports. The imports, for the same period, according to the custom-house estimates, amounted to $88,589,824, and exceeded the estimated value of the exports by about $16,250,000. There should, of course, be an excess of value of imports, according to those returns, whether their value is estimated at the cost in foreign ports, or at the market-price in the American ports; for these goods are the returns for the exports, the value of which is estimated at the rate of the markets in the U. States; and, unless a greater value of merchandise can be obtained in exchange, in the foreign ports, the ship-owners would obtain nothing for outward freight: and still more ought the value of the imports in the American markets, after deducting duties, to exceed that of the exports; for this excess is the only fund for paying the two freights and interest on the capital employed. This excess, for the year in question, was about 22 per cent., which cannot, however, be considered very exact, but is probably below the actual rate. That it must be a large amount, in order to save the merchants from loss, is evident; for the registered tonnage, which is mostly employed in foreign trade, is about 750,000 tons, so that an excess of $16,000,000 in the value of imports over that of exports, supposing an exchange of one for the other, would give only about $21 per ton per annum for the shipping employed-an amount scarcely sufficient to defray the expenses of the navigation, including port-charges, and leave a surplus for interest on the capital invested in the cargoes, and a small profit to the merchant. But the rate per ton for the shipping actually employed in the foreign trade, if we estimate the accession at $16,000,000, and suppose the whole trade confined to American ships, will exceed that abovementioned, since the registered vessels are partially employed in the coasting-trade, as vessels often take a cargo from one home port to another, whence a cargo is taken for exportation. But a part of this trade requires none of the excess, of which we have been speaking, to defray the expenses of navigation, for about one thirteenth part in value is carried on in foreign bottoms, the imports in which were about $6,500,000. If the whole trade were carried on by foreign shipping, and the whole were a barter trade, without credits, as the trade between any two nations, or any number of nations, must, in effect, be, in the long run, the value of exports and imports, estimated at the prices in the home market, after deducting duties paid on importation, must be just equal; for, in the case supposed, all the expenses of transportation are defrayed by the foreign ship-owners. In proportion, therefore, as foreign shipping is employed in the trade, the excess of the value of imports over that of exports will be reduced; since, if a country employs foreign shipping in its trade, it must export an additional value of merchandise to pay the freights, or import a smaller value of merchandise in exchange for the same exports. In regard to the various kinds of goods imported, without pretending to great exactness, which is the less important as the proportions vary considerably from year to year, it appears that some of the principal articles have constituted nearly the following proportion of the whole imports, previously to 1828; viz.wool and woollen fabrics, 11 per cent.; cotton stuffs, 12; silks, 10; hemp and flax, and manufactures of them, 5; iron and steel, and manufactures of them, 5; spirits, 13; molasses, 24; teas, 4; coffee, 34; sugar, 54; and indigo, 1 per cent. The principal trade, both import and export, is with Great Britain and its dependencies, whence, in 1826, the imports were forty-two ninety-sixths of the whole importation. But to state, even in a general manner, the species of merchandise of which the commerce to and from each country principally consists, would extend this part of the present article to too great a length. Before closing it, however, we should not omit to remark, that the domestic trade of the country is more extensive and more important than the foreign. That it is more extensive, appears from the returns of the shipping, a greater quantity of tonnage being employed in the coasting trade and fisheries than in the foreign commerce; and as these vessels make from 3 to 10, 12 or 20 passages in a year, according to the distance of the ports between which they trade, the amount of commercial exchanges along the coast, and up the rivers to the head of sloop navigation, without including the trade between the coast and the interior, must greatly exceed the foreign com merce. From the official report of the treasury department, it appears, that the imports into the U. States, during the year ending September 30, 1829, amounted to $74,492,527, of which amount $69,325,552 were imported in American vessels, and $5,166,975 in foreign vessels; that the exports, during the same year, amounted to $72,358,671, of which $55,700,103 were of domestic produce, and $16,658,478 of foreign produce; that of domestic articles, $46,974,554 were exported in American vessels, and $8,725,639 in foreign vessels; and of the foreign articles, $15,114,887 were exported in American vessels, and $1,543,591 in foreign vessels; that 872,946 tons of American shipping entered, and 944,799 cleared, from the ports of the U. States; and that 130,743 tons of foreign shipping entered, and 133,006 cleared, during the same period. (See the valuable Statistical Tables, by Watterston and Van Zandt, Washington, 1829.) THE CANADAS, NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK. The trade of the two Canadas was long confined to the bare produce of the fisheries and the fur trade. But, in consequence of the improvement of the British colonial system, and of the embargo which was imposed on the American trade during the last war of the U. States with Great Britain, it has much increased. Its exports are wheat, flour, corn, biscuit, fish, oak and pine timber, staves, masts, lumber, Canadian balsam, spruce beer, pot and pearl ashes, cast-iron, furs and skins, castoreum, ginseng, &c. The imports are wine, rum, sugar, molasses, coffee, tobacco, salt, coal and British manufactures. Since 1825, the trade of Canada has increased rapidly. (See Canada.) The trade is mostly with the British West India colonies and with the mother country. They do some business, however, with the U. States. (q. v.) The trade which they have with the Indian tribes, consists merely of barter.-Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have nearly the same exports. In Haliburton's Nova Scotia, vol. i, p. 233, is an interesting table of the prices of different articles, estimated in spring beaver, as settled by government in 1761. The trade of Nova Scotia has lately again increased, particularly with the West Indies. (See the statistical table in Th. C. Haliburton's Histor. and Statis. Account of Nova Scotia, 2 vols., Halifax, 1829.) MEXICO. The commerce of Mexico is, at present, checked by natural and political causes. The want of river communication is a great impediment to its internal commerce. Roads lead from the plateaux to the seaports, but they are very imperfect, and beasts of burden, therefore, are preferred to carriages, which would not be able to make their way. A much easier communication between the Mexican Atlantic seaports and those on the coast of the Pacific, would be effected in case of the execution of the great canal across the isthmus of Tehuantepec, so much spoken of. The principal objects of export are gold and silver, either in bullion, coined, or worked up in various ways; cochineal, sugar, flour, indigo, salt meat, dried vegetables, tanned hides, sarsaparilla, vanilla, jalap, soap, Campeachy wood, and pimento of Tabasco. Among the articles imported are woollen cloths, silks of Lyons, linen from Germany, white and printed calicoes from France, England and the U. States, paper, china, spirits, cacao, quicksilver, iron, steel, wine, wax, jewelry, watches and clocks, and all kinds of ornaments. In 1826, 1267 vessels entered the ports of the republic. The chief port of Mexico is Vera Cruz. Mexico, the capital, is a commercial place, as we might easily suppose to be the case in a country in which very little is manufactured, and which is so fertile. A part of the commerce of the U. States with Mexico is carried on by means of caravans, which go from the state of Missouri to Santa Fé, in Texas. The smuggling trade in Mexico is very great. The chief commercial cities of Mexico are Acapulco and Vera Cruz. Acapulco, or Los Reyes carries on a considerable trade with the Philippines, and the coasts of Quito and Peru. To Manilla a galleon used to be sent from this port every year, freighted with silver, cochineal, cacao, sweet oil, Spanish wool and European toys. This brought back muslins, printed linen, silks, Chinese goods, groceries, spices and precious stones. Guatimala is celebrated for its indigo, which is noted for its hardness, lustre and weight. SOUTH AMERICA. South America has many articles of trade. The mineral treasures of the country are boundless. In the 16th century, gold and silver existed in such profusion, that, for 25 years, $13,000,000 are said to have been annually exported to Spain from Peru alone, exclusive of what was sent in bars. These precious metals are found throughout Peru, Chile, and the upper section of Tucuman, especially in the Cordilleras; but, in addition to gold and silver, this immeasurable chain of mountains affords copper, lead, iron and platina. The richest mines of South America are those of the province Las Charcas, in the territory of the former viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres. There are, in that district, 30 gold mines, 27 silver mines, 7 copper, 1 tin, and 7 lead mines. The richest of these mines are those of Potosi, which are situated near the sources of the La Plata. Acosta's account, that, during 40 years that the mines had been wrought, they had yielded $12,000,000,000, is much exaggerated. But we gather from official reports, that, from the time of the discovery of America till 1538, the fifth part, accruing to the king, of all the silver obtained from the mines of Potosi, and registered, amounted to $395,619,000, so that, when 39 years had elapsed from the discovery of America, $41,255,043 were obtained annually, exclusive of the considerable quantities which undoubtedly were conveyed from the country secretly, and without the payment of duties, and of that which was used for making silver vessels, images and ornaments for the monasteries and churches, which must have amounted to an immense sum, since all the religious establishments in the country, and especially in the city of Potosi, were very rich in silver vessels. But, whether owing to the exhaustion of the mines themselves, or the faulty management of them, the profits have since diminished. The other exports from South America, although the Spanish and Portuguese directed their chief attention to the obtaining of metals, are very considerable. The following are the principal: cochineal, indigo, cacao, the Peruvian bark, hides, ox horns, tallow, wax, cotton, wool, flax, hemp, tobacco, sugar, coffee, ginger, pimento, jalap, sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, guaiacum, dragon's blood, and various other medicinal gums, dye-wood, ebony, mahogany, emeralds, various kinds of balsams, &c. The chief commercial cities of South America are Rio Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, Lima, Carthagena, Caracas, Potosi and Bahia. Buenos Ayres was in possession of the transit trade of all the Spanish possessions in America, and, before the beginning of the revolution, was the mart of the trade of the mother country and its colonies. The principal source of gain for Caracas is the cacao plant, as it supplies nearly two thirds of the European demand. The hides and skins which it exports are superior to those of Buenos Ayres; and the rich ore from the copper mines of Aroa is superior to the Swedish, or to that of Coquimbo, in Chile. The internal trade of South America, especially between Buenos Ayres and Peru, is very considerable. That with the Indian tribes is chiefly in the way of barter; axes, knives, scissors, swords, necklaces, mirrors, and coarse cotton and woollen goods, being exchanged for the productions of the country, especially the celebrated Paraguay tea, and some fine furs. Brazil has three great commercial cities Rio Janeiro, Bahia, or St. Salvador, and Pernambuco. The exports are, chiefly, cotton, indigo, sugar, coffee, rice, tobacco, tallow, mahogany, Peruvian bark, ipecacuanha, hides, gold, cacao, vanilla, the diamond, the topaz, chrysolite, amethyst, and other precious stones, and a great variety of dye-stuffs, balsams and gums, dried beef, and India-rubber shoes. The greater part of the Brazilian trade is in the hands of the English. The imports are iron, steel, copper utensils, salt, woollen cloths, linen, calicoes, hats, shoes of all kinds, china, glass-ware, trinkets, books, paper, watches, clocks, and particularly East India goods, such as are not raised in Brazil. Portugal sends to Brazil wine, oil, spirits, hats; the U. States, flour, turpentine and furniture. Naval munitions, sailors' clothes and arms are likewise imported. Colombia, consisting of Venezuela and New Grenada, says Alex. Humboldt, has received from nature a greater and richer variety of vegetable products, suited for commerce, than any other country of Spanish America; yet its commerce has been declining every year since its separation from Spain. In Colombia, Peruvian bark is found of the best quality and in the greatest quantity. Coffee, indigo, sugar, cotton, cacao, ipecacuanha, the tobacco of Varinas, hides and dried meat, pearls, gold and platina, &c., are obtained in this highly favored country. Its imports embrace all kinds of manufactured goods, oil, soap, ropes, paper, in fact almost every thing which is wanted by the indolent inhabitants, and made by the hands of men; for the people themselves manufacture hardly any thing. Humboldt has estimated the exports of Colombia at $9,000,000, and its imports at $11,200,000. M. Mollien estimates the former at $8,000,000, and the latter at $10,000,000. The state of this country, at the present moment, prevents the possibility of obtaining accurate information on this subject. The ports of La Guayra (harbor of Caracas), Rio del Hacha, St. Martha, Carthagena, Chagres, Porto Cabello, Panama and Guayaquil are the most frequented by strangers. The English, from Jamaica, the Americans and French, are the nations who trade principally with the Colombians in the Atlantic ports; the Peruvian vessels carry on the coasting trade on the Pacific. Buenos Ayres, like all the other South American states, is in an unsettled condition. The chief exports of this country are horse and ox hides: in fact, Buenos Ayres may be called, by way of eminence, the country of cattle. Its imports include all the manufactured articles which the inhabitants make use of. England sends thither woollen and cotton cloth, cutlery, hardware, furniture, saddlery, hats, porter and cheese; the U. States, lumber, cod-fish, mackerel and herring, leather, gunpowder, provisions; from Brazil are sent sugar, coffee, cotton, rum; steel and iron from the north of Europe; and France sends her manufactures. The exports and imports are estimated at $9,000,000. The commerce of Chile is, at present, in a low condition. Its rich mines are poorly managed, and the political state of the country prevents its commerce from acquiring that activity which it might easily attain by the export of the precious metals of the country to the East Indies, to give in return for sugar and cotton. It could also provide Peru with salt meat, and take in return coffee, sugar, &c. Caldcleugh estimates the English importations into Valparaiso, in 1822, at 4,071,250 francs, and Lowe at 47,248,625 francs, for the same year. The U. States send thither flour. Peru trades with the U. States, with Europe, the Philippine islands, Guatimala and Chile, and, by land, with Buenos Ayres. Its exports are chiefly gold and silver, wine, brandy, sugar, pimento, Peruvian bark, salt, vicuna wool and coarse woollens. It receives, in return, from the U. States, bread-stuffs, and manufactures of various sorts; from Europe, manufactured goods, particularly silks, fine cloth, lace, fine linen, and other articles of luxury and show; from the Philippine islands, muslins, tea, and other East India goods; from Guatimala, indigo; from Chile, wheat and copper; and from Buenos Ayres, mules and Paraguay tea. Callao is the port of Lima. The commerce of Central America, or Guatimala, is increasing in activity. Colonial commodities, chiefly sugar, coffee, cacao, cotton, indigo, cochineal, ebony and logwood (from the bay of Honduras), are the principal exports sent to Europe and some of the U. States. The imports are linen, from Germany and France; woollen cloths, silks and wines, from France; English and French calicoes; flour, and some manufactured goods, from the U. States. This country is well adapted for commerce, on account of its fine harbors and several navigable rivers. A canal across the isthmus would be of vast benefit to this country; in fact, the execution of such a canal would bear a similarity to some of those great inventions, which have changed the face of the world. The English, Dutch and French possessions in South America are Demerara, Berbice, Essequibo, Surinam and Cayenne. From Cayenne are exported cloves, Cayenne pepper, annotta, sugar, cotton, coffee and cacao; from Berbice, rum, sugar, cotton, cacao, &c.; from Demerara, Surinam and Essequibo, sugar, rum, cotton, coffee and molasses. WEST INDIES. The chief islands which constitute the West Indies are Cuba, St. Domingo, or Hayti, Jamaica, Barbadoes, Dominica, St. Christopher, or St. Kitt's, Curaçao and Guadaloupe. They have all very nearly the same productions, viz. sugar, coffee, wax, ginger and other spices, mastich, aloes, vanilla, quassia, mamioc, maize, cacao, tobacco, indigo, cotton, molasses, mahogany, long peppers, lignumvitæ, Campeachy wood, yellow wood, gums, tortoise-shell, rum, pimento, &c. Before St. Domingo or Hayti became an independent government of blacks, it was the depot of the goods brought from Havanna, Vera Cruz, Guatimala, Carthagena and Venezuela; but, since that event, Jamaica has been the magazine of all goods from the gulf of Mexico. Trinidad is the great seat of the contraband trade with Cumaná, Barcelona, Margarita and Guiana. The imports are manufactures of all kinds, wine, flour, and, formerly, slaves, who are still smuggled into many of the |
