/v5 ISEO / ^H '* '^ •- A>^;i^^?^_'^ ))> ■mP.^-aa-JiK^. )ji~>2L>. B>- ;^ r> issl= ' ^ t^>>.^-^ ""is:x> LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. — UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, t w ■m jy JJM z>y^ — >k. " ~'^ b^^Tx"^^ "^ mr^M.- >2>3 r)T)) » RgQBI a^^^ra LETTERS ON THE -M^'fi CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE C T T e ^ NEW YORK: PRINTED BY GEO. W. WOOD, 15 SPRUCE-STREET. 1 w # IT LETTERS ON THE '> CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE COTTON: Editor of Hunt's Herohants' Hagazine. AND PUBLISHED IN THE NUMBERS OF THAT JOURNAL FOE FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1850, IN REPLY TO THE COMMUNICATIONS OF A. A. LAWRENCE, ESq., Originally published in the Merchants' Magazine for Dec. 1849 and January, 1850. BY CHARLES T. JAMES, CIVIL ENGINEKR, OF PROVIDENCE, R. I. CO NEW YORK: PRINTED BY GEO. W. WOOD, 15 SPRUCE-STREET. 1850. ^ \ - 1 Tl9 CULTUEE AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. To Freeman Hunt, Esq., Editor of the Merchant^ Magazine, etc. The readers of the " Merchants' Magazine''' will recollect that in the number for November, 1849, an article was published in relation to the cul- ture and manufacture of cotton at the South, furnished by me. That article has had the effect to call forth considerable discussion in the columns of the newspaper press, and, finally, a review from the pen of Amos A. Lawrence, Esq., of Boston, which appeared in the December (1849) number of the Merchants' Magazine., and that of January, 1850, under the head of " The Condition and Prospects of American Cotton Manufactures, in 1849," and to which the following remarks are intended as a reply. Before proceeding, however, to discuss the subject in question, the writer would beg leave to make two or three preliminary observations. 1st. The caption of Mr. Law- rence's review, as he pleases to term it, is a sort of rii^jin tended, no doubt, to lead the reader away from the true question. Mylffiicle was not based on the cotton manufactures of America for 1849, nor for any other paiticu- lar year. It was an abridgement of a pamphlet published at the request of others, and extensively circulated at the South and South-West, based on the general condition of the cotton manufacture in America and Great Brit- ain, for a series of years, and the '■'■prospect'''' as to what might be done at manufacturing in the South. Of course, in treating the subject, respect was had to the advantages the South possessed over the North for the j^rosecution of the business. Of all this, in his animadversions on my estimates of cost profits, &c., Mr. Lawrence takes not the slightest notice, but represents me as stating, as my prices of cotton, the value in the New York market. He may consider such conduct gentlemanly : I consider nothing gentlemanly that is unfair — and Mr. Lawrence must have known that he entirely misrep- resented me. In the second place, I consider Mr. Lawrence totally incompetent to dis- cuss such a subject ; and it is his name alone that gives his opinions res]3ect- ing it any weight. This I pledge myself to prove to the letter, before I have done with him. He is neither a mechanic nor a practical manufacturer ; and is probably not much better qualified to make up a correct judgment on the subject in question, than he would be to command a ship of war. In the third place, his pretended review is entitled to no sort of respect, because, 4 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. as I will show, it is false in many of its statements, and a portion of them •will be proved so by his own figures, and the statistics from which he pro- fesses to derive his tacts. From beginning to end it is illusive and deceptive ; whether ignorantly so on his part, or for the purpose of coimteracting my ef- forts, and to discourage southern competition with northern manufacturers, he best knows — and respecting which the candid reader is left to judge. On the whole, it is a sort of production for which a common school-boy would richly merit a rap on the knuckles, had he studied the simple rudiments of arithmetic, and learned the difference between a cotton spindle and a power loom. We will commence our review of the review, by noticing, first, one of his pretended corrections. Evidently struck with horror at the startling appari- tion of southern competition with northern manufacturers, in reference to the proposition to manufacture all our cotton at home, Mr. Lawrence, with apparent perfect confidence, exclaims — " From what source can labor and skill be derived, to set in operation an amount of machinery so vast as is here contemplated ? And from what quarter is to proceed the capital re- quired for the enterprise ?" Are not these very sage queries to be started by a financier, a political economist, and a manufacturer .^ Forty years since, in New England, it would not have sounded strange to hear such inquiries ; seventy or eightv years since, in Great Britain. But in both countries they have been satisfactorily solved, and now soxtnd perfectly absurd and ridicu- lous. With the exception of comparatively small beginnings, what has cre- ated the manufacturing capital, and called skill and labor into operation, but manufactories themselves 1 Can Mr. Lawrence tell ? And why should not the South do the same, especially with the enormously increased facilities Europe and America now afford, and her advantage of fiu'nishing the cotton- mill with raw material from its proprietor's own field, at the market value of one and a half cent, to two cents per pound less than it costs the manufac- turer at Lowell, an^at least three cents per pound less than is paid for it in Great Britain ? ^i^ f^i") "^ Europe and America, Mr. Lawrence's problem has found no difficulty of solution ; and still the looms and spindles increase by thousands, and the capital increases by millions — maugre all pretended apprehensions of the paucity of labor, skill, and money — as, witness the new city of Lawrence, and the mammoth establishment in progress at Iladley Falls, to say nothing of other smaller ones going up in various places. If Mr. Lawrence and his friends are so extremely fearful of a lack of labor, skill, and capital, they should be less earnest than their actions would seem to indicate, to transfer the manufacture of cotton goods from Great Britain to Neiv England. They should cease to erect their large manufactories, and petition Congress for a bounty on British imports, instead of a high protective duty. This might quiet their fears for a time. But the above queries, as far as they are intended to mean anything, are thrown out to mystify the reader, and, if possible, to intimidate the people of the South ; and thus to discourage them from the attempt to improve the advantao'es they possess for a successful competition with the North. He knows, and so does every manufecturer, that they have not even the sem- blance of fact. By the statement that manufacturing is a " legitimate " bu- siness for the South, and must extend there, he would seem inclined to give the southern people encouragement to go on ; but this is a seeming, only^ for throughout he iises every eftbrt in his power to neutralize their energies, and to cast obstructions in their way. Wliat is the character of his fears as re- Culture and Manufacture of Cotton, 5 spects labor, skill, and capital ? Does his sympatlietic soul take the alarm ? Is he very much distressed with fearful anxiety, lest " our friends of the South " should ruin themselves by the prosecution of a branch of business which has made Great Britain the banker of the world, and left New Eng- land but a short distance in the rear ? His tender soul certainly deserves commisseration, and it is hoped he will carefully bottle up his tears, as a memento of fraternal piety, to be handed down, as a sacred relic, to future posteiity. But it may he that the gentle- man's sympathies go with " our friends at " Lowell. It would not be won- derful, seeing he is one of the brotherhood. They may possibly extend them- selves to the new city of Lawrence, and to other regions of the North and East. Who knows ? Doubtless he must commisserate the poverty and suf- ferings of such men as the Lawrences, the Appletons, and a host of others, who have found the manufacturing business such a losing affair, that they have not probably made more than fifty or a hundred thousand dollars each by it per annum, for some time past. Poor souls ! Their doughty champion is probably fearful that the southern people, should they go largely into the business, may reduce those small incomes to still lower figures, and thus bring the poverty-stricken souls to absolute destitution ! It is hoped his fears may not be realized to such an awful extent ! But as a business-man, does not Mr. Lawrence know that capital will al- ways seek profitable investment ? That a lucrative business will command it at first, and Avill continue to create its own means afterwards ? Does he not know that labor, like every other commodity, will seek the best market, that skill will do the same, and that a lucrative business can afford good prices, and will command both ? He may have known a particular branch of busi- ness to suffer embarrassment for a time, from their scarcity, but he never knew, and never will know, any lucrati\ e business to fail entirely, or to suffer very material permanent injury, from the want of capital, labor, and skill. From the present state of the world, and the vast amount of wealth already accumulated, and being accumulated, and the rapid increase of population, especially in this country, the South has nothing to fear in these respects. Let the people there multiply cotton spindles as fast as New England has done, and is doing, and they will not be under the necessity of suffering a, defeat in the enterprise from the want of labor, skill, and capital. The his- tory of seventy years past will fully confirm this. The people whom Mr. Lawrence so affectionately terms " our southern friends," and of whose interests he appears to be so extremely careful, must feel themselves highly flattered by the picture of them which he draws ; and they must be very happily, not to say strangely, constituted, if, as he repre- sents them, they are " satisfied," as he says they are, with the state of things he has detailed. He says the planters of the South receive and are satisfied with a lower rate of interest than the British manufacturers, or even than our own ; an assertion, by-the-by, which Mr. Lawrence himself attempts to disprove on the very next page ! Yet it is true that they do receive a lower rate of interest than the British or American manufacturer either ; but that they are " satisfied " with it, is not true. This we shall show. He goes on to say — " Though there are many rich men in the large cotton-growing States, the number of moneyed men is very small. The planters are gene- rally in debt, more or less, either from having extended their business beyond their means, or from the habit of anticipating their incomes, by borrowing of their cotton factors, the banks, or by credit at the stores." This picture is 6 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. correct in most of its details ; and, if true of tlie four ^^ great cotton-growing States " which Mr. Lawrence particularizes, what must it be of the others such as North and South Carolina, Tennessee, &c. ? And what is the cause of this state of things ? Mr. Lawrence insists that there is not an over-prO- duction of cotton. If there were not, then the supply and demand would keep pace with each other. The planter would be, as he seldom is, one party in the establishment of a price, which would have relation to the cost of pro- duction, and some respect to a fair profit on the business. But it is not so. There has been nearly all the time, for ten years, a large redundant stock on hand. The planter has been compelled to sell for the prices offered him. And those prices have yielded him returns so small, that he has been com- pelled to keep in debt, and to anticipate his income. The cotton planter, as a general rule, lives in a much more frugal manner than the northern man- ufacturer, or even than the agent and chief officers of his establishment. Why, then, is he not rich ? Why is he not a moneyed man ? Why is he always in debt ? Simply, and for no other reason than, though a few very large operators on the very best lands make money, yet by far the greater portion are able, with the most prudent management, to do but little more than "make both ends of the year meet." This is no fiction. It is a picture drawn from personal observation and long acquaintance, and not sketched from fency, in Mr. Lawrence's counting-room or study. And, as to the large amount of lands remaining unsold in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas, for want of capital, this story is pure fiction, and carries incontro- vertible evidence of its fallacy on its own face. If those lands were wanted for the ]iurpose of cotton culture, were of pi'oper character for that purpose, and could be worked to a profit, how long does Mr. Lawrence suppose they would remain unsold in market for want of capital ? Any smart, active, and prudent man, at the South, with a few hundred dollars in his pocket, may obtain nearly as many acres of these lands ; and even if he has no money, he can obtain them on credit. Why, then, are they not taken up ? For tw^o or three simple reasons, whicli cotton planters know, and well understand. 1st. But a small proportion of them are adapted to the growth of cotton, even if more cotton lands were wanted. 2d. Because there is already more land appropriated to the growth of cotton than the demand for the article war- rants. 3d. As the consequence, a farther extension of the business would run it down still lower, and inevitably prove a losing operation to all concerned. These only, and not the want of caj)ital and population, are the reasons why the above-named lands remain unsold. If the culture of cotton had returned profits and created capital in an equal ratio with those of its manufacture, the cotton-growing States would, at this moment, have all the necessary cap- ital and population to carry out new enterprises, as well as New Euiiland. But they have not, and the reason is, that their business is not equally pro- ductive. In fact, as the history of ages fully attests, no people, purely agri- cultural, can make profits equal to those realized by manutacturei*s, nor create wealth as rapidly. As to the cost of cultivating cotton, I have but few words to say, but those will be sufficient. The estimates given by me are not my own. They are from planters who own and cultivate the best cotton plantations on the Mis- sissippi ; and taking theirs at the highest estimate, and others at the lowest, as to quantity the average will be smaller even than that I have given ; while it is well known that the smaller crop per acre on the medium and poorer plantations, as in all other agricultural operations, is produced at a higher Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. *J cost per pound than on the best. My average estimate, therefore, allows to the cotton planter a greater return than the facts would warrant. Mr. Lawrence undertakes to disprove my position that there is an over- production of cotton. Let us see how well he succeeds. He says, the quantity produced in 1845 has not been equalled since, till 1849 ; and what does this prove, even though, as he says, manufactories have much increased, both in Great Britain and the United States. In 1843 they might possibly have produced cotton enough to supply the factories for seven years, with all their increase, and raised none for the succeeding five years. What then ? Would not this have been an overproduction ? Yes : the planters might have suspended operations for seven years, and would not the quantity of 1843 been an overproduction of the very worst kind? Would it not have been a ruinous aftair to the planter to have had such a stock on hand, di- minishing only in the ratio of the annual consumption ? And yet, according to Mr. Lawrence's logic, this would not have been an overproduction, because it was all purchased and consumed in the course of seven years ! And how would prices have ranged ? Let us now look at the markets during those six years, from 1843 to 1848, inclusive. In 1843, the amount raised in this country was 2,378,875 bales. On the 31st day of December, 1843, there remained on hand, in the British market, 785,950 bales, including that from India, &c. In 1844, the American crop amounted to 2,030,409 bales. Here was a falling off in the crop ; but the entire stock on hand, as above, December 31st, had increased to 903,110 bales; an increase of 117,160 bales, the over production of 1843 and 1844 ; and, in 1845, by means of a still more redundant crop of 2,394,508 bales, the stock on hand December Slst, reached 1,055,270 bales. From that period to 1848, inclusive, the stock on hand December 31st, of that year, had only diminished to 496,050 bales. Every year of this period, therefore, the planter had to go into the market with his cotton, with that market already supplied with a quantity varying from one-fifth to nearly one-half his entire crop. During the first three years of this period the quantity of American cotton alone on hand in the British market, exceeded the entire consumption in the United States, by 667,771 bales ; and, during the last three years, it fell short of that quantity, by 567,876 bales. Thus, during the six years, the quantity of American cotton on hand in the British market, on an average, somewhat exceeded the entire consumption in the United States. Thus, up to the close of 1848, the European and American manufacturers combined, with all their increase of spindles and looms, had not relieved the American planters of the redund- ant production of the previous six years ; for there was then on hand 496,050 bales, of which 272,230 were American, besides those in continental Europe and the United States. But Mr. Lawrence admits that there was an over-production of 616,000 bales in 1843, which has not been entirely dis- posed of till 1849 ; yet he considers this as no overproduction at all. But, to my obtuse intellect, it appears to me that this must be something worse to the planter than a regular overproduction of 100,000 bales a year, for six years. He has had it to compete with in the market all the time, less 100,000 bales per annum, to press down prices, besides having so much pro- perty lying dead. Another hap-hazard statement of Mr. Lawrence is, that, in addition to the amount stated by me as being received by the planter for his cotton, there should be added $20,000,000 for " corn, potatoes, pork, &c.," sent to market. The cotton planters would rejoice, no doubt, to hear such a piece 8 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. of intelligence as this, provided they could believe it true, and Mr. Lawrence would just inform them where they should call for the money. They will find it in coined moonshine, on deposit in the invisible vaults of that gentle- man's air-built castle. It never had any other existence, as every cotton planter well knows. The estimated cost of the culture of cotton, contained in my article, included the cost of raising cotton only, and which embraced the cost of other products either to be purchased, or raised on the plantation, such as provisions, &c., necessary to the labors and laborers of the cotton- field. If Mr, Lawrence can find any " corn, pork, potatoes," &c., to abstract from these, without starving the laborers, he must be a keen economist. For one, I have not yet learned the art of feeding people at home with " corn, pork, and potatoes," and sending said " corn, pork, and potatoes " to market, too. But, if he will cast his eye back a few pages, to the article of Professor C. F. McCay, in the same number of the Magazine which contains the cele- brated veracious review before us, he will see that gentleman intimates a state of things something different from this snug little !^20,000,00 for corn, pork, potatoes, &c. The Professor says, when speaking of the cotton plant- ers, with the view to keeping up prices in market : " Let them continue their endeavors to divert their labor to other pursuits ; let their extra capital be devoted to the building of railroads, mills, and factories ; let them extend the cultivation of sugar, wheat, and corn ; let them raise at home their own pork, mules, and horses ; let them encourage domestic manufactures of all kinds." It would seem that Professor McCay, though located among the cotton-growers, and, as his article shows, a person of extensive observation and much intelligence, had a mighty notion, as we Yankees say, that the planters make too much cotton for the market, and too little corn, pork, &c., for themselves. He had evidently not yet had an inkling of the aforesaid imaginary $20,000,000, and probably never will have, unless the perusal of Mr. Lawrence's review should cause him to dream of them. Another serious " error^'' real or supposed, Mr. Lawrence has discovered and rebuked. He says that, in making my comparisons, the price of cotton is put at six cents, when it should have been put at the present rate of twelve or thirteen cents. To this I reply, in the fii"st place, when my article was written, no such price for cotton was known here, as he names, and, what- ever he may think on the subject, or would have done, it would not have been quite fair or honorable, in my view, to make a price in anticipation, to accommodate him, and to aid him in making out a case. The prices named by me, are quite as high as the average for the last ten years. In the second place, neither of the prices named by me was stated, or intended to be sta- ted, at any time, for " twenty days," or twenty hours, as the prices in the " New York market," as he seems to wish his readers to beheve. Had he read my article with one eye half open, he Avould have seen, and probably did see it. My estimate, based on actual results — results which I pledge to make good in my next — was intended, as the facts fully show, to a[)ply to a southern mill, with the cotton at the plantation value. My real estimate, or rather the estimate of the cotton planter, was six cents per pound retxirned to him ; but, to have it full high enough, in the estimate made in detail by me, it was put down at seven cents. So much for the honest fairness of the re- vieiv, (.?) and for the truth of what I have here stated, the reader is referred to my article. But to show still farther the sophistry, or something worse, of the review, its author admits the prices of cotton must fall, during the coming season, or the prices of cloth rise, or both. And yet, even under Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 9 this conviction, he finds fault with me for not having adopted almost the high- est price of cotton for ten years as its average value, when that price was un- known, which has even now prevailed but for two or three months, and which he confesses can continue but a short time, without a rise in the price of cloth ; and for not adopting a low price of cloth, which he confesses has not been the average for more than nine months past ! I must have been either a fool or a knave, to make such a statement, and yet such is the statement the author of the review seems to think I ought to have made ! Still, I care not what price cotton may bear, for the course of trade will, in the long run, regulate the prices of cloth accordingly. Though fluctuations do, and will, occur, as in all other branches of business, manufacturing in New Eng- land will, as it ever has done, pay a handsome profit ; and the southern manufacturer, all other things being equal, can make a profit as much greater as all the difference between the cost of cotton in the cotton-fields, and its cost at Lowell ; and this will be $20,000 per annum at least, on the quantity consumed in my "first class mill," in the manufacture of sheetings No. 14. On this subject, however, my next article will treat in full. Again : I am called to account for the comparison of the labors of 5*7,000 persons in the New England cotton-mills, in 1839, with those of the laborers in the cotton-fields in the South, or rather, the i)roducts of their labor, and in which I am accused of a tremendous error. And why this accusation ? How is this mighty error detected and exposed ? We shall see. He says, though the value of the cotton was put down at six cents per pound, the planter re- ceived thirteen cents for it that same year. And what does he suppose I have been about, for more than twenty years, that I should not know the prices of cotton as well as he, and especially with the same statistics at hand from which his own information is, or rather should be, derived ? Would it have been fair or honorable in me, in attempting to make out, for the inform- ation and at the request of others, a statement of what might be expected as the results of manufacturing ojjerations, under the best system, to point them to old mills running at a loss, and cotton, eleven years since, at " four- teen cents a pound in the southern market," when new mills can be erected at a reduction of cost of more than 25 per cent, and turn off more and bet- ter product by 25 per cent, and when, notwithstanding the high price of cot- ton in 1839, and a portion of 1849, its average value in that same market has not exceeded eight cents, nor returned to the planter more than six ? Such might have suited Mr. Lawrence's notion of honesty, and been appro- priate to his object ; but not so with me. My object, in that comparison, was the general relative amount of capital and value of product — not in the year 1839 in particular, but for a series of years ; and hence, without saying anything of prices in that year, either of cotton or cloths, a fair average for eleven years was made of the price of cotton, and the price of cloth taken at the low standard of 1849. Whether my course, or that pointed out by my reviewer, be the foir and honorable one, is left to persons of candor to judge. But I deny the statement that planters, in 1839, received thirteen cents per pound for their cotton. During that year, Georgia bowed cotton averaged but six and three-quarters pence per pound in the Liverpool market, (see Waterson's Cyclopedia of Commerce, Art. Cotton,) and the average price of this cotton was higher than that of any other description of American cotton, the small quantity of Sea Island excepted. Taking, therefore, all descriptions of American cotton together. Sea Island excepted, the average price for the year, in the Liverpool market, did not exceed thirteen cents per pound. 10 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. The duty alone was more than one cent per pound, to which add, for freight, commissions, insurance, drayage, &c., one and a half cent, and you leave the everage price in the American market ten and a half cents, instead of fourteen, with a return to the planter not exceeding nine and a half cents, instead of thirteen. So much for the assumed facts to correct my supposed error. During the entire period, up to this time, the price in the American market has fallen short of an average of eight cents ; and when I average the planter's return at six, I have the authority of his own estimate, as well as that of the best informed editors of New Orleans, Savannah, &c., who, in stating the value of the crops, state them at six cents per pound. Let the foregoing statements be tested by recurrence to official data, and then let judgment be made up between Mr. Lawrence and me. Will he now please to recollect, that in making my estimates for southern mills, his atten • tion is cited for the cost of cotton, not to Lowell, nor to the New York mar- ket, but to the cotton plantation. Whatever other silly notion he may at- tribute to me, he certainly cannot suppose me quite mad enough to think that the cotton planter would send his cotton to New York, for the pleasure of going there to purchase it at an advance of 30 per cent in price, to send back again with an additional cost of 30 per cent more, to supply his own spindles and looms. Suppose, now, one of Mr. Lawrence's " first class mills," with a capital of $360,000, (and some of them have less than that,) to man- ufacture, into sheetings No. 14, 1,800,000 lbs. of cotton per annum, as my "first class mill" will, and to make a dividend of 8 per cent, with cotton at the Lowell cost. Is it not a plain case, that could the cotton be had at the plantation price, if only one cent per pound less than its cost at Lowell, the difterence would be $18,000, or 5 per cent on the capital of $360,000 ? Add that to the average 8 per cent dividend, and you make it 13 per cent. If the Lowell manufacturer could realize such an advantage by having cotton grown in Massachusetts, instead of Alabama, why should not the southern manufecturer realize it, with the cotton-field almost within hailing distance of his own mill ? Again : my statement is disputed, that the value of the annual product of the British mills about equals the amountof capital employed; and, in order to correct me, the review states that the amount set down by me is only the value of mills and machinery, and there is employed, besides, a floating cajHtal of $110,000,000. On this point it is unknown to me whence Mr. Lawrence derives his information, but probably from the same, or a sim- ilar source, from which came the veracious statement that the planters, in 1839, received thirteen cents per pound for their cotton, and it is very pro- bably deserving of about the same degree of credit. Baines says that, in 1833, the value of product from the British mills was £31,338,693; and "the cajjital employed," about £34,000,000. Waterons, in 1840, taking Baines' statement as a guide, says that, though manufactures had very much increased, yet, by reason of quicker returns, &c., capital had not undergone a corresponding increase. Here is nothing said about '■'•fixed " and '•'■floating " capital — the expression is, " capital employed^'' and which common sense would dictate to mean the entire capital. This, however, be it as it may, is a matter of little importance to the subject ; for, if the British mill cannot be made to equal the amount of its entire capital, ^^ fixed'''' and ^^ floating^'' with its annual product, I am fully prepared to show, and to prove, and promise to doit in my closing number, to Mr. Lawrence's satisfaction, that an Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 11 American mill can do it. He may bear this in mind, and call me to account, if I fail to fulfill the promise to the letter. My calculation was to meet my reviewer in this number, on the subject of the cost of steam-mills ; amount of capital necessary, quantity of product, cost, &c. ; but, as he has devoted his second number, in a great measure, to those items, I shall pass over, for the present, Avhat he has said of them in his first, until my second number, that they may all come before the reader in their proper order, and that the fallacy of his visionary dreamings may be the more readily exposed. Let us noAv advert to his groans of agony over the hapless fate of the poverty-stricken manufacturers of Lowell, and else- where. The present high prices of cotton, and low prices of goods, seem to have afflicted him with nightmare. The cry of thirteen cents per pound, and six cents per yard, seem to stalk before him like frightful goblins, from which he has no means of escape. But, if he could only hear the sound of his own voice, he might derive consolation from the accents of his own lips. Hear him. The price of cotton, he says, must fell, or the price of goods rise, and perhaps both, the coming season. Did you ever ! — as Aunt Charity would say ; and yet this same Mr. Lawrence, the gentleman who has said this, is troubled almost to death about the high prices of cotton, and is some- what testy with me because I have not based my calculations on them, as though they had been the average ruling prices for the ten years past, and were certain to be^for half a century to come. My respects to the gen- tleman — I am not subject to nightmare. That some mills are noiv running at small profits, and others at a loss, is a fact as well known to me as to him. I will also whisper in his ear another fact equally true. There are some mills which always have run, and always will run, as long as they run at all, at a small profit ; and there are others, which, making little or nothing in the best of times, must lose money when the times are close and pinching. But all this is no more the fault of the manufacturing business, than it is the fault of wind and sails, that a common mud-scow will not cleave the bosom of the sea with the same velocity as the clipper-built pilot-boat. But, in order to show that even the best of cotton- mills make httle or nothing, Mr. Lawrence gives his readers a list of some twenty-four of what he terms " first-class mills," which, according to their declared dividends, as copied from their books, have earned, on an average, for eleven years j^ast, but little more than 8 per cent per annum on their aggregate capital. There may be some difference of opinion as to what con- stitutes a first-class mill, and some doubts whether declared dividends always represent the amount of profits. If a first-class mill means one that will turn off the greatest amount of product, of the best quality, with the smallest capital, and the lowest cost, he has not one in his list, as shall be proved, beyond the reach of doubt, in ray next number. And then as to dividends — what criterion do they afford, by which to judge of the amount of profits ? None at all. A company may wield a capital of $300,000, and owe one- halfof it. They may earn $150,000 in one year, or 50 per cent on the capital; and, instead of declaring a dividend, take the profits to pay the debts. There are a great many companies, one of them as wealthy and as successful as any in New England, which latter was established in 1808, and the others since, which have never declared a dividend ; but all have made money. And how with the " first-class" Lowell companies ? Have they di- vided all their profits ? Or have they reserved a a'reat proportion of them from year to year, to bring up a nominal capital to a real one, and to build 12 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. new and extensive cotton-mills, as most of them liave done ? Mr. Lawrence has given us no light from the books, on this point. One company, to be sure, he tells us, has made a stock dividend this year of 25 per cent, which amounts to 1500,000. This money has been expended in the erection of a new cotton-mill. This amount, and more, was on hand last year ; but, had Mr, Lawrence's statement been made out then, we should have heard nothing of it. Is it not true, that vast amounts of profits from Lowell mills have thus been reserved and invested, even within ten or five years past, for which not even stock dividends have been declared ? If so, what reliance can be placed on Mr. Lawrence's columns of declared dividends, as to the amount of profits ? Who can tell by them whether the profits have averaged 8 per ceut, 18, 28, or 50? Some of these mills are reported, in 1849, with two thousand more spindles than in 1845, and so on, up to twelve thousand more ; yet they represent no increase of capital stock. How is this, if the business has been so extended by means of new subscriptions ? In that case, would not the capital stock have been increased in the same ratio? There is some hocus-pocus about it, which we leave Mr. Lawrence to explain by reference to the " books of the company." If he cannot explain it, there are others who can. In this number, the attention of the reader will be invited to but one more paragraph contained in the review, and that near the commencement of the first part, as the calculations which the afiected shrewdness of its writer, be- fore alluded to, will be treated of in full hereafter. In that paragraph, he says : — " To carry out the plan of withholding cotton," (from the European market,) " it will be necessary to obtain the passage of a law imposing an export duty. Without this, it would be impossible to prevent it from going abroad, as soon as the withdrawal of a portion had produced its eftect of raising the price in Europe." Of all the laughable propositions ever made by a wise man, no one ever exceeded this in absurdity — no, not even that laid down by some other modern Solomon, the extraction of gold from ginger- bread. One would think that the southern planter, as a free American citi- zen, had the right to withhold his cotton from the European market, if he should think proper so to do, without an export duty. The planter, when he found he could make more money by working up his cotton, than by sending it abroad, would require no prohibitory duty but his own interest to induce him to keep it at home. The Yankee farmer requires no prohibition to induce him to refrain from sending to market the hay necessary to feed his own cattle, and the grain to fatten his own pork. And, as to the southern planter, much of a simpleton, and as easily gulled, as Mr. Lawrence appears to think him, he knows rather too much to send abroad the cotton required for his own cotton spindles, duty or no duty. But Mr. Lawrence intimates that the eftect of the withdrawal of a part from the European market would be to raise prices in that market, and hence induce the exportation of the article. What wonderful sagacity ! Would it not have suggested itself to the merest tyro in mercantile aftairs, that, if the European spinner should bid up a high price for cotton, the rise in this country would be proportion- ate \ Where the benefit to result to the planter from sending abroad, when he w ould realize for it, at his own door, as much as it would return him from a foreign market, while he would, by retaining it at home, either di- rectly or indirectly, participate in the benefits to be derived from its manu- facture ? A ain : in what way can a British manufacturer compete, now, with the Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 13 manufacturer of New England ? By the manufacture of fabrics requiring much hibor, and httle stock. The higher the price of cotton, then, the less able will he be to keep up the competition. Were cotton thirty cents per pound, instead of ten, in the southern market, now, insurance and commis- sions would be 200 per cent higher ; and the same would be true of insu- rance and commissions on the transport^ttion and sale of his goods. These would become a heavy entry on the wrong side of his ledger, and with which he could not compete with the southern manufacturer, whose cotton would, in such a case, come at from three to four cents a pound less than it could be obtained for by the British spinner. Indeed, at the average plantation value of cotton for the last ten years, and Avith " first class " steam " mills," the descriptions of cotton goods manufs^ctured in this country could be turned off as cheaply as in Manchester, England, and probably at lower rates, and defy all British competition in the markets of the world, unless prevented by for- eign prohibitory duties ; and the southern people would make a much more handsome profit by means of the operation, than by sending their cotton to Europe. Increase manufactories as fast as we please, and Mr. Lawrence need entertain no distressing apprehensions as to a deficiency in the supply of cotton for them. " Our southern friends," having once fj^irly embarked in the enterprise, and fully tested its advantages, will not, for the mere purpose of accommodating the British manufacturer, send him the stock required for their own mills, niaugre all attempts to frighten them out of their prop- erty with the stale old sing-song, now republished by Mr. Lawrence for the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time, of low dividends and sunken stocks. Having now said all that is necessary in this nimiber, we will dismiss the subject for the present, with a promise to the reader that in the March num- ber of the Magazine, all the estimates called in question by Mr. Lawrence shall be confirmed, all his objections answered, and all his fallacies exposed ; including that heterogeneous and contradictory tissue of false and deceptive statements which almost entirely make up his closing number. LETTER II. To Freeman Hunt, Esq., Editor of the Merchants' Jfagazine, etc. : — Having little time or space to spare for circumlocution, permit me, in contin- uation of my rejoinder to Mr. Lawrence, to come directly to the point, in a plain and straight-forward manner. In his last number he promises, in the outset, to "give some more f^icts," to confirm the conclusions already reached. If he had said "some more fallacious statements, to give color to conclusions already jumped at," he would have come much nearer to the statement of a fact than he has in almost any other statement he has made. Let us pro- ceed to examine '^ some more facts" of his, and ascertain how far they will stand the test of truth. Mr. Lawrence says that he does not admit steam-niill'=! into the " first class," because " they have a radical defect ;" hence, it is presumed, he selected twenty-six water-mills as the fitting representatives of that order, because 14 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. he supposed them to have no " radical defect." One would suppose that a " first class cotton-mill " should contain the best machinery, under the most perfect arrangement, with the most perfect combinations, and capable of turn- ing off the greatest amount of product per spindle in a given time, of the best quality, and at the lowest cost. That this perfection and capability can be created within the walls of one building as well as of another, without respect to the species of poAver to be applied, every man of common sense and discernment will at once see and admit. Mr. Lawrence's " radical de- fect," then, must exist in reference to steam-power, instead of water-power ; and if we can show that steam-mills Avill and do make more goods per spin- dle than water mills, in a gi\en time, of better quality, at less cost, and hence at a greater profit, we shall show, by the same process, that what he is pleased to call " a radical defect," that excludes them from his list of " first class mills," is truly an improvement that exalts them above that class. For the decision of this question, I rest on facts to be given by and by, and am ready to abide the result. For his show of facts.^ Mr. Lawrence has selected four steam-mills, which I shall name in the following order : — The Ports- mouth Mill, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Globe Mill, James Mill, and Bart- lett Mills, Newburyport, and Naumkeag Mill, Salem, Massachusetts. Of the Portsmouth Mill, the gentleman says it "was erected in 1845-6, after a course of lectures delivered in that town by General James." By the omission of any explanatory word, and without even a note of punctu- ation in the sentence, the writer has left it fairly to be inferred, under the circumstances, that not only the "lectures" were "delivered by General James," but also that the mill was built by him. The only comment I shall offer on this statement, is, that I neither built nor planned the Portsmouth Mill, have had nothing to do with it, and never saw it. The Portsmouth people were told by me, what were and still are, my views of the benefits to be derived from the operations of cotton-mills in seaport places. Very true, the business of the Portsmouth Mill has heretofore proved a feilure. The Naumkeag Mill, built at the same period, has made handsome profits. Why has not the Portsmouth Mill ? Because, unlike the Naumkeag, it has been appropriated to a branch of the manufacturing business new in this country, of which there was much to learn. The same difficulty occurred with the first attempt to manufacture moiissdine de laines, at Manchester, New Hamp- shire, and the losses were so great, that the capital stock of the company came down to more than 75 per cent beloio par. Yet the enterprising pro- prietors of the Portsmouth Mill, instead of being chuckled at for their losses, in the vein of Mr. Lawrence, are worthy of difterent treatment It is grati- fying to know that this company has entered into arrangements with the cele- brated J. DuNNEL, Esq., for printing their lawns, and, under their present management, are doing a good business. The business of the Globe Mill may or may not have proved a failure. If it has, so has that of many water-mills, in their infancy, in all respects as good as Mr. Lawrence's " first class mills." That is no proof of " a radical defect in steam mills.'''' The failure of that mill to do a profitable business is owing to no such cause, nor is it in the least attributable to me. True, the mill was built according to my plan*, though not under my immediate and sole supervision. I was employed merely as an engineer ; and the mill was never run a single week by me, nor under my direction, nor in accordance with my advice, in consequence of the rejection of my counsel in the matter, and the determined opposition to all my eftbrts, satisfied that I could exert no Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 15 influence for tlie benefit of the company, I left it to its fate. The fate wliicli Mr. Lawrence says overtook it, was predicted by me at the time, in a letter to the president and directors. That a profit might have been made by them is, however certain ; for, before cutting my connection with the mill, I ottered to take it to run on my own account, at a handsome rent, and to give a satis- factory guaranty for the fulfilment of the contract on my part. My ofi'er was rejected, and if the company has lost money by the mill, that is their fault. The James Mill. This mill, Mr. Lawrence says, is " sometimes held up as a model for all steam-mills." We will challange him to point out its equal among his " first class " water-" mills." He says — " It was put in operation in 1843 ;" and partially, it was so ; but was not completed and in full opera- tion, till the middle of October, 1845. And still, during the whole time, from its first start in 1843, to the date of Mr. Lawrence's article, he admits small dividends, regularly, amounting, in all, to 28 per cent. One would think this was pretty well, under the circumstances. But what are the facts with regard to this mill ? The plan on which it was first projected, included only from 5,000 to 6,000 spindles ; and estimates were made accordingly. From time to time, as new subscriptions were tendered, the plan was enlarged, until, in 1845, as above stated, it was completed and put in full operation, with about 17,000 spindles. Notwithstanding the gentleman's outcry about the excess of the cost of this mill over the estimates, yet it is well known that its new stock, to the amount of -$50,000, sold at auction in State street, Boston, at a handsome per centage above par. In the case of this mill, as in that of others, divi- dends do not tell the story about earnings. Since the mill went into opera- tion, a new and expensive reservoir has been constructed, and real estate pur- chased, ^a/o? /or /rom the earnings ; and, from the same source, an addition has been made to its cash capital. For the future, it is very probable, Mr. Lawrence may be satisfied with the amount of profits. " To show the uncertainty with which estimates are made," Mr. Lawrence goes on to state a variety of such, made, as he says, respecting the cost of the James Mill. Untrue as most, or all of them are, it is only necessary here to point out the Jesuitical course pursued by him, to reach a false con- clusion at last, and to leave a false impression on the minds of his readers. Eecollect — the gentleman, had already said that the James Mill had 17,000 spindles ; but, in detailing what he calls the estimates, he only comes up to 11,000 which were to cost $189,000, but which were found to have cost over $250,000. Now, the truth is, the entire mill, with nearly 17,000 spindles, in complete operation, cost something short of -$245,000 ; or more than $5,000 less than he has put down for 11,000. What dependence can be placed on any statement from such a source ? The dividends amount to 30 per cent, instead of 28, as stated by Mr. Lawrence. In saying that neither the James nor Naumkcag Mills had paid simple in- terest to its stockholders, Mr. Lawrence, in a note, says the Bartlett Mills, built before the others named, " have been more successful," though they cost $334,000, instead of $265,000, which is the first estimate. Have any of Mr. Lawrence's " first class mills " been more successful than the Bartlett, from their commencement ? This question he did not choose to decide, be- cause, forsooth, " steam-mills have a radical def ct," which excludes them from his " first class." By the way — Bartlett Mill No. 1 was erected before I saw it, and before I had anything to do with it, or with the company ; and I was employed merely as an engineer, to fill it with machinery, and put it in operation, and, as agent, to run it. Mill No. 2 was planned, constructed, 16 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. and started by me, and run under my directions for a length of time. Lest the gentleman should go otf in a paroxism, in contemplation of the fright- ful excess of $69,000 in this case over the estimate, as he says, I would con- sole him with two '•'■ more facts'''' in connection with it. One is, that a good deal more was added to the expenditure on the buildings, &c., than had been contemplated, at the instance of William Bartlett, Esq., a very large stock- holder, and who refused to have anything to do Avith the business unless he could be gratified in that respect. The other is, that there are 2,000 spin- dles more in the mills than the original designs and estimates included. Mr. Lawrence, if he did not know these facts, might have learned them, but he seems not to have cared much about collecting " more facts^'' unless they were such as would help to " confirm the conclusions " which he liad " already reached.^'' The Naumkeag Mill is another of Mr. Lawrence's subjects of animadver- sion, which he says was built at a cost very wide of its estimate, and which, though a " very fine mill," has not paid the stockholders simple interest (6 per cent) on the investment. Notwithstanding all this assurance, Mr. Law- rence is altogether wrong in the matter. The same process that will prove this, will also fully show that the Portsmouth and Globe steam-mills, built at the same time with the Naumkeag, might have been made profitable es- tablishments. He says the Naumkeag Mill contains 24,000 spindles. Cut he ought to have known that it contains something over 31,000 spindles. Were it true, as he says, that the mill cost '^080,000, with its appurtenances, then, with 24,000 spindles, its cost would have been $281 per spindle. But, containing, as it does, 31,000 spindles and upward, the cost per spindle would be reduced to a fraction less than $22. This is not a very trifling er- ror, inasmuch as it would make a difference of more than $60,000 in the cost of a steam-mill of 10,000 spindles. But Mr. Lawrence does not seem to have an eye to scan these small items. The Naumkeag Mill, with its appurten- ances, did not, however, cost $680,000. I am sorry to be under the neces- sity of so frequently conti-adicting Mr. LawTence ; but a writer who values his self-complacency, to say nothing of his credit, should be somewhat care- ful how he deals with truth. On the 19th of January, 1848, when the mill had been completed and put into full operation, and the bills, contracts, &c., gathered in, the annual report was made to the president and directors of the company, and in which were specified the various items of cost, and their amount. The footings of the amount was $621,199yVo; ^^ing about $00,000 less than Mr. Law- rence's statement. Again : in the above amount of $621,199jyi5- is included valuable real estate connected with that on which the mill is situated, but constituting no part of its a))puitenances, and in no respect necessary to it. The president and directors appointed an intelligent committee, who, after due deliberation, fixed on this redundant property the value of $56,483fyg. This valuation has since been reaffirmed. Deduct this from the full amount as above, .and you leave, as the actual cost of the Naumkeag Mill, with its appurtenances, $564,7 ISyVg-, instead of $680,000, as Mr. Lawrence has it, and making a difference against Ms facts^ of no less than $115,000 ! But he sjDeaks of the excess of cost, in this case, over the estimates. On this point, to satisfy the gentleman, if possible, I will here present a brief extract or two from the above-named report. The report says : — " Li a work of such magnitude, and when so much remained to be done, it will hardly be considered matter of surprise that an exact estimate should Culture mid Manufacture of Cotton. 17 not have been formed, and especially as one is liable to under estimate out- lays, in his anxiety not to surpass the limits he prescribes to himself." Tlie excess ofcost over the estimate was, as stated in the report, "12 per cent;" but this excess included the above amount of $5 6,4 8 3 y^^^, the value of the property owned by the company, and not an appurtenance to the mil. Again : the report says — " since that report (January, 1847) was made, sun- chy expenses have occurred, not then anticipated, and most of them heavy. For instance, the company has caused to be erected a large store-house for cotton, cipable of containing a full stock for a year. All the tools and fix- tures of a machine-shop have been purchased, including a steam-engine. Ad- ditional reservoirs for water have been formed, and a force-pump, hydrants, and a large quantity of iron pipes furnished, for the extinguishment of fires. A hydraulic press has been constructed, many valuable improvements made in the machinery, &c. The cost of all these has been heavy, and did not enter into the former estimate, though now included in the present statement of the actual cost," &c. After this report had been accepted, it was printed by the direction of the president, and widely circulated. This mill is the largest in the world, in which the entire process of con- verting cotton into cloth is carried on under one roof The undertaking was a gigantic one, and in much of its machinery there was combined, no- velty in construction, combination and arrangement. Under such circumstan- ces it will be deemed hardly surprising to any one but Mr. Lawrence that an exact original estimate should nut have been made. He speaks, however, of the original subscriptions having been swallowed up and new ones called for, &c., as though the mill and its appurtenances as first contemplated, were as they now are in reality ; but, with his usual candor, he somehow forgets to state that a much smaller mill was originally contemplated, and that increased subscriptions were called for in consequence of its increased size. But that others more directly interested in this work than he is, are much better satisfied ; I give in proof, below, a letter from the President of the Company, Hon. David Pingree, of Salem, Massachusetts. Perhaps Mr. Lawience may know something about such a gentleman. Salem, January 17, 1850. Gen. Charles T. James. Dear Sir : — Your esteemed favor of yesterday is received. And in reply, I can say that the Naumkeag Mill has come up to all you promised, both as to the quantity of production, and the cheapness of manufacturing. I have preserved the statement you gave me as to the cost of manufacturing ; and the cost, for the last six months, has been less, and the production more, than your estimate. And the stockholders are satisfied that you gave them as good a mill as can be found in the United States, if not the best. Anything farther you wish to know as to the mill, it will give me pleasure to communicate, as I have no wish to detract from the merits which so deservedly belong to you. Yours truly, DAVID PINGREE. On the above letter I have no other comment to make than to say, what Mr. Lawrence well knows that its writer is one of the heaviest stockholders in the " Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company," and occupies a place in the first rank as a gentleman and a man of business. Mr. Lawrence says, hoAvever, that the Naumkeag Mill has not paid to the stockholders six per cent on their investments, and that no considerable amount of their stock can be sold in market, except at a per centage below par, equal to the amount of dividends 2 18 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton, paid. What lias that to do with the earnings of the mill ? Of course the stock would hardly be expected to be up to par, as long as about one-half its earnings go to make up its capital ; and such is the case. Yet few, in- deed, of the stocks of liis twenty-six " first class mills," some of them, as he says, with $200,000 of surplus cash capital on hand, and all of them with some, will sell even as well as that. According to his story, the stock of the Naumkeag Mill cannot be more than twelve per cent below par, while most of those of his first class mills are twelve per cent below, and even more than that ; and some of them twenty, twenty-five, and so on up to forty per cent. Yet the Naumkeag Company reserve profits to add $200,000 to cash capital, while in those first class establishments, all of them, he says, there is some surplus cash capital, and in some of them $200,000. Suppose the Naumkeag Company had $200,000 surplus, how long would it take to bring the stock up to twelve per cent above par, in- stead of its remaining at twelve per cent below, as he says ? But, does the Naumkeag Mill earn no more than six per cent per annum on the invest- ments ? Unfortunately again for Mr. Lawrence the truth is antagonist to hh facts, as the following official exhibit will fully show : — " The net earnings for the year past, after paying upwards of $28,000 for in- terest, repairs, and new machinery, have amounted to $82,390 — not one dollar has been charged to " construction" account for the year's operations. A divi- dend of four per cent has been declared for the past six months, and a surplus reserved fund is left, amounting to $48,500. The last year's dividend has been eight per cent. The dividends amounted to $56,000 ; which, being added to $48,500, the amount of profits reserved, makes up the sum of $104,500 as the net earn- ings of the year. Thus Mr. Lawrence will perceive that, instead of less than simple interest, six per cent, the Naumkeag Mill, last year, earned but a fraction less than fifteen per cent over and above all cost3 and expenses. Again, this mill was not completed and put in full operation till the 1st of January, 1848 ; yet, even in 1847, while it was yet in progress, the portions of machinery put in operation from time to time earned enough over cost and expenses, to pay interest at six per cent on all assessments paid in. In 1848 the earnings of the mill were equal to those of 1849 ; and the capital on which the profits have been made, includes more than $56,000 for pro- perty already named of no service whatever to the mill. Thus, instead of less than six per cent on the investments, as Mr. Lawrence says, the Naum- keag Mill has netted, at least, double the average per cent of the twenty-six '"'■ first class millsP So much again for the accuracy of Mr. Lawrence's facts ; and yet, in 1847, besides great loss by delays in obtaining machinery, &c., the company sufiered a loss of $10,000 by the decline in the price of cotton. This statement the gentleman can compare with his own and make his own comments. He confines his remarks on steam-mills, to the Ports- mouth Mill and five others with which I have been in some way connected. He shall now be enlightened in relation to a few others. Between the commencement of the year 1843, and the close of 1845, two mills were erected at Gloucester, N. J., under the direction of some of the best talent in Massachusetts for the business. These were steam-mills, and are known by the name of " Washington Mills" Nos. 1 & 2. These mills were equal to the average of the twenty-six ^'■fi.rst class mills," and to the avernge of the mills now running in New England ; but thei proprietors became dissatisfied with them, and in 1848 they contracted with Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 19 me to overliaul, repair, and re-arrange mill No. 1, The work having been completed, the mill was again started with the same engine and machinery it contained before ; and the following statements from the books will show the results. The first statement includes the work of the mill for six months, ending April 30th, 1847, prior to the changes effected in it, and is as follows : — Cloth manufoctured, 186,490 pounds, or 1,006,430 yards. Cost of manufacturing, $63,645 32. Cost per pound, 34 13-100 cents. Cost per yard, 6 32-100 cents. The goods were shirtings and print cloths. No. 30. The second statement embraces the work of the same mill for six montlis, ending April 30th, 1849, after the alterations, &c., and is as follows : — Cloth manufactured, 282,775 pounds, or 1,645,430 yards. Cost of manufiicturing, $72,240 20. Cost per pound, 25 54-100 cents, or 4 39-100 per yard. The goods were shirtings and print cloths, No. 36. It will be seen that the difference, or saving, per yard, in favor of the lat- ter six months over the former, was lyVo cent per yard ; making, in the cost of manufacturing, the entire quantity of 1,645,440 yards, the difference of 131,756-j-Vo- in favor of the latter six months, or at the rate of |63,513yYo per annum. From this amount, however, is to be deducted $1 0,000, as the difference in the cost of cotton manufactured in the mill in 1847 and 1849, lea\dng the actual difference in the practical working of the mill, in favor of the latter year, $53,513yYo- This difference more than remunerated the proprietors for the entire outlay for the alterations. The fineness of the yarn was in- creased 20 per cent from No. 30 to No. 36. One-eighth was added to the number of spindles, and the number of looms was reduced so as to equahze the machinery. Thus, not only has the cost been reduced in the manufac- ture of the goods, but a much more valuable article produced. I have said this mill was, before the changes effected in it, as good as the average of Mr. Lawrence's " first class mills." Their dividends, he says, averaged a fraction less than 9 per cent last year. The above mill has a capital of $250,000. He may take the above statements respecting it, and make his own calcula- tions. True, to make the mill what it now is, something more than $40,000 has been expended. But that is not my fault. A mill as good, in all re- spects, as that now is, and of the same capacity, can be built for the sum which that cost at first. Since the Washington Company, to which the abqve mill belongs, has realized the great advantages resulting from the change, the president and directors have put their other mill into my hands, which has now neaiiy undergone a similar change, and is nearly ready to start anew. Thus Mr. Lawrence will see that, if he and his friends cannot be satisfied with any of my representations, there are those who are satisfied with my doings. AVe will now take up my statement in the November num- ber, as to the actual results of the working of a cotton-mill of 10,000 spin- dles, for a year. I will copy this statement, with a correction of the error of $10,000 in the footing : — Cotton (1,800,000 lbs.) at *? cents ?1126,000 Cost of steam-power 4,500 " carding 13,266 " spinning 14,7S4 " dressing and starch 9,086 " weaving, inchiding all expenses 26,598 20 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. Cost of repairs, wear and tear, machinists, &.c 17,002 " general expenses, officers' salaries, transportation, &c 20,642 " interest on capital of ?250,000 15,000 Making a total of $247,048 Against this total, we have 4,500,000 yards of cloth, (No. 14 sheetings,) at 7i cents per yard 326,250 And we find a balance, in favor of manufacturing, of f 79,202 jNIr. Lawrence doubts the occuiTcnce of such results, and calls for the name of the mill. I am quite happy to be able to gratify the gentleman, and will give him a few '•'"inor-e facts to confirm the conclusions already reached.'''' In the first place, however, let me jiremise, it was not stated by me that this mill was " in New England," nor that he knew anything about it. In the next place, as already stated, the price of the cotton was assumed, not as the price at that mill, but as a high average country price at the southern mill. The quantity of cloth manufactured, and the price per yard it sold at, were greater than stated by me, and the expense and cost of manufacturing less, or at least they have been so since that statement was first made out, as I am ready to prove beyond doubt. Thus shall my statement be made good, and even enlarged. If Mr. Lawrence will shut out from his view, for a moment, the vision of Lowell, Lawrence, ifec, and take a peep with me into the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he shall there find what he demands. In that city, a company erected, under my supervision, and in strict accordance with my plans, in 1844-5, a steam cotton-mill, called the " Conestoga Steam-Mill No. I ;" and so well were the proprietors satisfied with the doings of this mill, that they employed me to construct the second, which has recently been put in operation. I am now engaged on the third, which will be ready to go into operation in July next. These mills will contain 25,000 spindles, and the company has a capital stock of ^1^500,000. They are designed for the man- ufacture of sheetings No. 14, fine sheetings and shirtings, drillings, tickings, cotton flannels, chambrays, &c. These are the first cotton-mills erected in that vicinity, and nearly all the help has been obtained there, and instructed in the mills, in the routine of the labors of operatives. From the first start of mill No. 1., the company has regularly made semi-annual dividends of 5 per cent, or 10 per cent per annum ; and the dividend, for the last six months, was made on mills No. 1 and No. 2, though the latter had then scarcely gone into full operation. It is to the " Conestoga Mill No. 1 " that I now wish to call attention, that being the mill on the doings of which, up to June, 1849, the foregoing statement of quantity, cost, ]ease, like other persons, erect dwellings to rent. On water- courses, where there are neither cities, towns, or villages, to furnish them, it becomes, perhaps, necessary. But, even in that case, their cost is no portion of manufactuiing capital. They are rented. The rents are paid from the earnings of the operatives, and the cost of cotton, and the cost of its manu- facture, is neither enhanced nor diminished by it. It is merely so much cap- ital, that might otherwise be emjiloyed in manutiicturing, diverted to another object. It curtails the means of the manufacturer to prosecute his business — granted ; and on that point I have always and strenuously insisted. One of the advantages to be gained by the use of steam-power, as uni- formly stated by me, is, that with it, cotton-mills may be placed where you want them ; if you ]ilease, in cities, towns, and villages, where there are al- ready plenty of dwellings and boarding-houses for operatives, and where, if necessary, owneis of real estate are ever ready to increase them. There the amount they cost will not be diverted from manufacturing purposes. For the foregoing reasons, the cost of tenements are never taken into my estimates. Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 25 That I am fully borne out in this view, almost universal usage, in this country at least, will abundantly show. The Naumkeag Company, at Salem, chose to have boarding-houses. They erected them. There are six steam-mills at Newburyport, one at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, three or four at Provi- dence, three at New])ort, two at Bristol, and one at Warren, Rhode Island, three at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and so on ; and yet it is believed there are neither boarding-houses nor tenements for operatives, owned or needed by either of the companies to any extent. In estimating the cost and capital for steam-mills, therefore, I make no account of them. That, taking the cost of some of Mr. Lawrence's " first class mills " as guides, a steam-mill, with 10,000 spindles, tenements, &c., would cost near .^270,000, is quite likely ; but steam-mills can be built at much smaller cost at this time than they could have been a few years since, and at a cost much less than that of water-mills now. Take, for example, the Atlantic Mill, at Lawrence. I know the cost of that mill, and will come under bonds, loith satisfactory guaranties, to build a steam-mill of the same capacity, luith the same number of sjnndles, for tivo-thirds of the money which that mill cost. The steam-mill shall be furnished with everything complete, put in order for successful operation, and warranted to turn of, in a given time, more goods, of better quality, and at smaller cost, cotton only excepted. On the same conditions, I will take for a guide, as to size, number of spindles, and de- scription of goods, the Prescott Mill, the last mill erected at Lowell for coarse goods. These offers are made in good faith, and I pledge my honor to re- deem the promise, whenever called on to do so. With respect to the mill of 10,000 spindles, with the capital set down by me at $250,000, and re- specting which Mr. Lawrence seems so thoroughly skeptical, permit me to say — I am ready to contract with Mr. Lawrence, or any other person or com- pany, to construct such a mill, to furnish it with everything complete, in a convenient location to prevent extraordinary expenditure, to put it in order for successful operation, and warrant it to produce the result I have stated, as to Cjuantity, fineness, quality, and cost of production, cotton excepted, with the capital already named. As respects, therefore, any estimates, real or im- aginary, made by Mr. Lawrence, myself, or any one else, heretofore, their correctness or incorrectness is a matter of no moment, as respects the question at issue. I hold myself bound to carry out, when called on to do so, the statement made by me, and confirmed by data from the books of the Con- estoga Steam Cotton Mill No. 1 — this statement being, of course, always subject to variation, as to profits, with the variations in the relative values of cloth and cotton. On looking back to the commencement of the cotton manufacturing bu- siness in New England, and tracing its progress up to the present period, we shall find that our manufacturers have had difficulties to contend with, which the people of the South will not have to overcome. The business, at that period, was in its infancy, even in England. The machinery introduced here was very imperfect in form, finish, and operation. From that time to this, there has been kept up a continual race of improvement, which has ren- dered the expenditure of vast sums of money necessary to those who have kept up with the times ; while those who have refused to do so, have either broken themselves down by a spurious economy, or, at best, ploded on with little profit. The southern people will enter the field with all these improve- ments ready made to their hands ; and, what is also of vast importance to them, the new and improved machinery can, at this day, be had at smaller 26 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. cost than could have been that of former days, even but a few years since. Take, also, into account, the advantage of more than 20 per cent, on an av- erage, which the manufacturers of the South will have over those of the North, in the cost of cotton at Lowell, and no good reason can be assigned why the former should not find the business more profitable than the latter. The difl:erence in cost of cotton alone will pay more than 6 per cent per an- num on the capital employed, even if that difference were but one cent per pound. If the southern people cannot, under such circumstances, manufac- ture their cotton at a very handsome profit, certainly no other people can live by the business. We will now pay some attention to Mr. Lawrence's re- marks on the comparative cost of steam and water-power. From the facts already stated, it is very evident that the comparative cost of motive-power to drive the machinery of a cotton-mill is a question of no importance in this discussion, as relates to my estimates and statements. My proposition is, the manufacture of a certain number of yards of cloth, of a certain descrii^tion, in a year, at a certain cost per yard. I have shown, by incontrovertible data, that the quantity named by me has been exceeded, and the goods manufactured at a cost per yard even less than I stated. The cost of manufacturing embraced the cost of steam-power. I will now state, and challenge the trial, that in the whole number of Mr. Lawrence's twenty- six first class mills, there is not one which can turn off as many yards per spindle, in a oiven time, of cloth of the same description and quality, as the Conestoga Mill No. 1, nor at a cost as low. They are water-mills ; and I claim, and I have the right to claim, as will be by me shown, that a portion of the saving in cost by the Conestoga Mill is made by the use of steam- power. But we will not rest on this view of the case, and, to do away with all cavil on the subject, will go into a comparative estimate of the cost of the two motive-powers, giving facts in evidence. To make out a case, Mr. Lawrence lias obtained of Mr. James B. Francis, a letter, in which are contained some remarks on the cost of water and steam- power in Scotland. It is somewhat singular that the gentleman should have to cross the Atlantic to find out the diflerence between the cost of water- power at Lowell, and steam-power at Salem, and respecting which he has, it appears, learned nothing by means of his Scottish tour. He makes a com- parison, it is true, and sets down figures, showing the difference between the cost of water at Greenock, and what he assumes as the cost of water-power at Lowell ; but when he comes to speak of steam-power in America, all the light he deigns to give us on the subject is — " Taking into the account that coal in any part of Massachusetts costs at least three times as much as at Greenock, it will be readily seen that the cost of steam-power in Massachusetts is enormously greater than the rates paid at Lowell." This is a very sum- mary and convenient mode by which to dispose of an argument, to be sure, but neither a very logical nor convincing one. What has Greenock to do with the business ? And why did not either Mr. Francis or Mr. Lawrence give us some data on which this conclusion is founded ? Why, Mr. Lawrence cannot find a water-mill and a steam-mill situated side by side in this coun- try, to compare with each other, and so he sends a friend to Scotland, in or- der to make a comparison of the cost of water-power in that country, and places only a trifling distance apart, some thirty-five hundred miles, only, and, without a single inquiry about the actual cost of steam-power here or there, arrives at once at what he supposes " readily seen," that, because " coal costs three times as much in Massachusetts as at Greenock," steam power must be enormously dearer than water-power at Lowell ! As good Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 27 old Dominie Sampson would have said, " F-r-o-di-r/i-ous /" Mr. Francis or Mr. Lawrence either, might have left home after dinner, made a pleasant trip to Salem, obtained exact data relative to the cost of steam-power at the Naumkeag Mill, and returned home to supper. The comparison of these, with the true rates of water-power at Lowell, would have been of some use, but these would not have squared with Mr. Lawrence's conclusions. I will now say my estimates of the cost of steam-power have often been pub- lished. If he doubted its correctness, why did he not seek for the facts, in- stead of treating it in this loose manner ? He could have had them, on apphcation to the proper quarter. But now let us turn our attention, once more, to figures, and, in doing this, Mr. Lawrence shall have the aid of Mr. Francis. The Naumkeag Mill has 31,000 spindles, and all the necessary machinery. It uses an effective 400 horses-power. For that, and to heat the mill, cloth- room, offices, &c., and for all purposes, the consumption of coal averages six tons per day, or 1,860 tons per annum — 310 days, at $5 per ton |9,300 For first and second engineer, fireman and oil, |5 per day 1,550 Making the sum of. $10,850 Per annum ; or $27 \2\ per annum for each horse-power, heating mill, &c., as above. Mr. Francis' statement makes the annual cost of water-power for the Mas- sachusetts Mills, rated at — 592 horses power $'7,'741 44 To heat the four mills, offices, over, Woonsocket, Fall River, Lawrence, &c., &c., to which may be added commercial cities, such as Boston, Pi-ovidence, and others. With such examples as these before their eyes, one would think " our southern friends " might be forewarned, and forearmed. Let the southern capitalists heware of manufacturing^ lest they become Lawrences and Appletons, and build up Lowells in their midst. They must send their cotton to the North, and have it returned in cloth, with all expenses accumulated on it, including the cost of manufacturing. They must invest their capital in northern " first class mills," receive an annual dividend on it of ^-^-^ per cent, and leave behind more than YO 'per cent, each two years, of the amount of the cajntal, in ivealth created hy the labor it 'pa-ys for, to build up the fortunes of north- ern men, and to people and enrich New England. Let them do all this, and they have no reason to fear that the fate of New England will ever beflill them. Near the close of ^Ir. Lawrence's review, he ajipears to have wrought himself up to some slight degree of pugnacity. He speaks of " Lawrence, Amoskeag, Saco, and other places of less note," and finally concludes that the water-power of Massachusetts alone, now imoecupied, is sufficient to drive all the cotton mills in the United States. Well — what then ? Why, by holding a rod in terrorum over the heads of the southern people, by as- suring them that the mammoth corporations will occupy the water-power, any how, he tries to frighten those same southern "/r/mci's" out of their wits with the vision of this mighty competition, and to thus prevent them from embarking in the manufacturing business. But does Mr. Lawrence recollect that if Massachusetts and New Hampshire have water, the South has wood and coal quite as abundant, and at much lower rates ? Does he recollect, too, that the southern and south-western people have cotton, and that the saving to them, in the cost of that article alone, compared with its cost in New England, will be more than thrice the cost of steam-power to them to manufacture it ? Of what use, for instance, would the water-power he names be to the manufacturers on the banks of the Ohio ? — say at Can- nelton, where, with the best of coal at ninety cents per ton at the mills, they can have a motive power better than any water-power, and at a cost less than that of heating a water-mill at Lowell, and save, also, at least $20,000 per annum in the cost of cotton fur 10,000 spindles, com- Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 88 pared witli its cost at Lowell ? Can Mr. Lawrence tell what competition Cannelton, or other places with locations equally ftivorable, have to fear from New England water-power, or New England corporations ? And as to the time for the erection of cotton-mills — during an experience of more than twenty years in the business, I have never vritnessed a period more favorable than the present. Were it not that my business is so extended to almost all parts of the country, and my time so completely occupied, I would most assuredly embrace the present moment to erect a large mill to run on my own account. The prospect is as bright, too, as at any time in the history of ur country ;• and would our New England manufacturers remodel their mills, and vary their business, instead of adhering to the practice of manu- facturing plain cottons only, they would make much more money. A thou- sand articles might be made, in which the price of a pound of cotton would be magnified by its manufacture to fifty cents, and even to one dollar per pound, instead of twenty-five cents, and to great profit. The sooner the South monopolize the manufacture of coarse goods, the better will it be for the manufacturers of New England ; and however much I may be blamed for spreading the facts I have before the people of the South, the thne will come when the northern manufacturer will see that, as far as my feeble eflforts may have any eftect, as to their interests, that effect will be favorable. For years, the northern press has been loud and frequent in recommen- dations to the South, to enter the field of enterprise, and manufacture her own staple ; and, by way of encouragement, the success of New England in the same branch of business, with the enhanced cost of the raw material, has been held out as an example. No fault, to my knowledge, has ever been found with that course. During the time, however, the manufacturers have uttered no note of encouragement, keeping a continual studied silence, when their business was ])rosperous, and only opening their lips to give ut- terance to doleful complaints, if occasionally a reverse occurred. Though myself a New England man, I am also an American^ and claim brotherhood with the American people, as a whole. It gives me pleasure to witness the prosperity of New England ; but, as an American citizen, it gives me equal pleasure to witness the prosperity of the whole country. Hence, in what- ever has been written by me on the subject of manufactures at the South, my object has been to promote the interest of that section of our common country, without the most remote wish to injure that of any other. Busi- ness has never been sought by me there, nor ever will be. The pamph- let, of which the abridgment appeared in '■'• Hunfs Merchants' Magazine/or November., 1849," was written by the especial request of southern mep, and the abridgment was made also by request. The southern people wished for information on the subject of cotton manufactures, in order to kno"' whether it was, or was not, prudent for them to engage in the business. They ap- plied to me to impart that information. The call was, after ? time, respond- ed to by me, and, as in duty bound, I gave them facts in an nonestand truth- ful manner — facts that I have fully substantiated — and to establish which, on the basis of future operations, also, I hold myself wledged and bound to do. I have not only the ability., but the means iQ do it. Fully aware of the reluctance of northern manufacturers to have ihe details and results of their operations exposed, and wishing neither to excite their animosity, to alarm their cupidity, nor to injure their intejtsts, I carefully abstained from all interference with their concerns, and merely stated the general results ojf the buaifless io New England, and wiat eould be 4ope, m^ Jwd been 3 84 Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. done, with a steara-raill of my own construction. And what has been the result ? T have been attacked from all quarters, and in all forms — and why ? Evidently because my statements were calculated to give encouragement to manufacture? at the South, and to bring them into competition with those of the North. What other motives could have animated those who ha\e ■assailed me ? I pretended not, though I could have done it, to penetrate the veil hung over the doings of northern manufacturers. My eflbi-t was to show the southern people what thei/ might do — not by reference to ihe doings of a nvmiber of pretended " first class mills," but to others of my own building. Mr. Lawrence, and others, apparently alarmed at this, and fearing the result, entered the arena, and, by insinuations, innuendos, and broad statements, have endeavored to fix the falsehood upon me ; not be- cause I had misrepresented northern mills, or their products or pi'otits, but •because, as they would have it to be understood, I had made exaggerated statements relative to mills erected by me. And how have they succeeded ? There is scarcely a statement made by them that has not been proved falla- cious — not a statement of mine that has not been substantiated. Mr. Law- rence has driven me, in self-defense, to bring out facts relative to which, if let alone, I should have been silent. If they have a hea\y and injurious bearing on the northern manufacturing interest, those connected with it may thank their champion. I flatter myself that no one can tell me much that I do not know about the cotton- manufacture in New England, or the cost, condition, product, and profit and loss of a great number of New England cotton mills, and among them, most of the twenty six "first-class mills." Thus far, they have just been touched on by me, and there it is my wish to leave them ; yet much remains behind, that some would rather should be ])ermitted to rest undisturbed. So shall it rest, unless farther provocation shall call it out. Why all this hue and cry, like the cry of mad dog, after an humble indi- vidual like myself? It is envy, jealousy, hate ; because, without the pa- tronage of overgrown and aristocratic corporations, I have, after more than twenty years of patient and unremitting toil, by means of self culture alone, qualiHed myself, by erecting about one- eighth of all the cotton-mills in America, as an engineer and manufacturer, to construct a better mill than the best of ■theirs, at less cost, that will manufacture a grearer quantity of better goods, at less expense. This I proclaim to the world, without the intention of boasting, and appeal to my works as evidence. It is for this crime — because 1 ''.an heat Lowell — that attempts are made, and not now for the first time eithtr, to hunt me down ; but the pursuers are mistaken in their game, and in then powers. They may as well g"ive up the chase — the manufacturing spirit is tj.st gaining strength in the Middle and Southern States. Cotton- mills are r«)icl|y on the increase. As their owners begin to handle the profits, you oinnot cheat them out of the evidence of their own senses. Sotithern compeotion must come. The South can manufacture coarse goods cheaper, and at gieater profit, than the North. If the northern manufac- turers are wise, the; will, instead of fi-etting themselves on this account, make all necessary improvements in their manufacturing establishments, and supply the markets with such fabrics as the South will not find it to its in- terest to supply for many years to come. I now take leave of the subject, leaving the public to make up judgment between Mr. Lawrence and me. I harbor no imkind feelings to him. If plain language has been used by me, and some degree of asperity, they Culture and Manufacture of Cotton. 35 have not been aimed at him personally, but at his works ; and it is presumed he will understand my allusion, when I say, " the bloivs aimed at the hdmet were not intended for the head." Mr. Lawrence is a man of tnlents, and it is presumed has written as well as any one else would have done for his side of the question. Unfortunately for him, his case is a bad one — eveu much worse, as I know, and could readily prove, if occasion should require — much worse than I have labored to show. c. t. j. NOTE. Perhaps Mr. Lawrence may be able to account for a curious movement which occurred about the period when his article may be supposed to have produced its due effect on the market value of the stock of the Portsmouth Mill. It is quite well known that he and his associates were in the market as purchasers of this stock, and that they paid for it sixty cents on the dollar, when they could have purchased stock in some of their ^'first-rate water-mills,^'' with their " sur- plus cash capital,'" i^i fifty cents; and I would inquire of Mr. Lawrence if they did or did not, finally, run the Portsmouth stock up to seventy-five cents, and make offers to purchase at that price? It is somewhat singular that Mr. Law- rence should take so much pains to write steam-mills down, and at the same time should purchase stock in one he seemed to consider the most unfortunate among them, at a comparatively high price. H U N T' S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. established July, 1839, BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. PUBLISHED MONTHLY, At 142 Fulton-street, New York — at Five Dollars per annum, in Advance. E The " MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW" will continue to include in ita fdesign every subject counected witli Commerce, Manufactures, and Political Economy, as— Commercul 'Legislation, Commercial History AND Geography ; Mercantile Biography; Essays from the ablest pens on llie leading tojiics of the day, relatius to Commercial Affairs; Descriptive, JStatistical, and Histori- cal Accounts of the various commodities which form the subject op Mercantile Transactions; Port Charges; Tariffs; Customs and Commei>cial Regul,vtions; Treaties; Commercial Statistics of the United S^tates, and the dirterent countries of the world with which we have intercourse, incUiiiing their Physical Character, Population, Productions, Exports, Imports, Seaports, Moneys, Weights, Measures, Finance and Banking Associations; — Enterprises counected with Commerce, embraciiiis Fisheries, Incor- jroRATED Companies, Railroads, Canals, -Steamboats, Docks, Post Offices, &c. ; Principles of Commerce, ".iiNANcs AND Banking, with Practical and Historical Details and Illustrations; Commercial Law AND Mercantile Law Reports, and Decisions of Courts in the United States and Europe, including Insu- • rance, Partnership, Principal and Agenh", Bills of Exchange, Sale, Guaranty, Bankruptcy, Shipping and Navigation, (fee, and whatever eise shall tend to develop tiio resources of the country and the world, and il'istrate tlie various topics besirinj; upon Commerce and Commercial Literature ; and we may venture to ^say that no work heretofore published, embraces in its pages so large an amoiuit of information on all tliese E subjects, as the nineteen volumes now completed. ' Our means of enhancing the value of "The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review," are con- Btantly increjising; and, with new sources of information, an extending correspondence abroad, and other facilities, which nearly ten years' devotion to a single object have enabled us to make available, we shall be p'-le to render tlie work a perfect ifttdc niecum for the Merchant, Navigator, and Manufacturer, as well as to the Statesman, Comincrcial Lawyer, and Political Economist, and, indeed, ail who desire information on the tnultifarious operations of business life. EXTKACTS FROM LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THE EDITOR. s from Hon. Samuel R. Bftts, U. S. District Judge for the i, Southern District of xVeir York. * '• I have received the Merchants' Magazine since its entablisliment, and reRurd it as one oi the most valuable publications of I he day. As a Register of Facts con- iiectcJ Willi Political Economy and Imhistrift' Inierests, ; Commercial, Agricultural, amXjManufactturiug. it is, in ' my jiiUgment, not equalled by any work o( lis sizt' and cost, in fullness and accuracy ; and its collection of Cases and Doctrines in relation t<> AJaritime Law, will be found highly useful to professional men— often furnishing , American and English cases of great value, which are ' not to be found in any other publication. 1 inosi cheer- fully recommend the work as iiseiul in a high degree, to all professions studying the current liislory of the t tiiaec." I From Hon. Henry Clay. Ashland^ Kentucky. " I have long known the great merits of your Maga- ztiic, the most useful and valuable of all the publications kiiuvvn to me, published in the United States." ir.Fr»m tht Hon. Levi Woodbury, one of the Justices of the Umted States Court. " I have heretofore read most of the numbers of the Uerchants' Magazine with much satisfaction and advan- Iftge. It is exceedmgly useful to the politician and •cliolar. as well as those engaged fti commercial pur- •uits. to have the useful statistical inforrnation with whicli it abounds, collected together and jjresenled for Mieir perusal leasunably." From Hon. John Macpherson Rerrien, Senator of the United Sl'iles frovi Georgia. " I have been, for some time past, in possession of the several volumes and numbers of the ' .Merchants' Maga- aine,' and m the liHbit of referring to it. I can therefore unhe.sitatinglv say. that 1 con.sider it a very valuable ad- dition 10 the library of the Salesman, as well as llie mer- •Laut, and express, as I do cordiiiliy, the hope that its publication mav be continued with increased benefit to yourself, us I feel assured it #ill be with advantage to the public." From the Hon. Washington Hunt, Member of Congress from New York. " I am gratified to learn from your letter tiiat your valuable Magazine continues to receive a libera! support from the public. 1 have long considered it one of the most useful publications in the country. Indeed it may be regarded as indispensable, not only lo the statesman but to all who wish to be well-informed respecting the commerce of the world, and the rapid growth and vast importance of our own commeicial inierests. A work of so much interest and usefulness ought to have a place in every school district library in the tJnited Slates. 1 wish by some such means it might be brought within the reach of every intelligent man in llie country. I am convinced that it has done much to liberalize and n.itionalize the public mind, and 1 hope your circulation may continue to increase, until the patronage of the work shall be equal to its merits." Front the Hon. Edmund Burke, Commissioner of Patents. * * * * " When it first commenced I thought its contents presented a rich treat, but from that time to the present it has continued to improve in the variety, excellence, and value of the intellectual repast it has monthly pre- sented to its readers. Although professedly devoted lo the inierests of that enterprising and enlightened class of our countrymen, the merchants, it is not more valuable tolhem than it is to the statesman and political economist. 1 know of no work which equals it in the variety, co- piousness, and accuracy of the statistical information which it coniains. and which, in my view, constitutes one of ils most valuable features. Another feature in the Magazine which I like very much, is the spirit of free discussion which pervades its pages. You act wisely in permilting all parties to be heard upon the mooted theo- ries of trade and commerce, which involve to some ex- tent ihe great problem of modern civilization, thus keep- ing open and free from obstruction, the only direct avenue to truth. '■ Your publication is equally creditable to the periodical literature of the day. Its leading articles exhibit abun- dant proof of the ability, research and industry of their authors. In short, I esleem the Merchants' Magazine as second to no publication of the kind, pubUsheU in this or any other country." jvy- A few complete sets of the Merchants' Magazine, embracing nineteen semi-annual volumes, of more Umii (■'()!) large octavo pages each, bringing it down to December, 1848, may be obtained at the Publisher's Ofiice, 14'2 Fnltoii-sireet, New York, al the subscription pnce. ^g.(4 - c^^^ °a<'CMC<^^' <^^' ce c: cgcc- <2C CSC c2 C ':^'m>:^z^ ' J)^3S) . ^13^ -5"^ 3«i> ^D -) -:r5~3>3> f>^:^^^5>" )I> »?c ^- ?^?^ S3">^ ^Pli- ~vY-» 5,« 5> Sr^ mSg ^^Ifgf '^ )3> :r>3>::52> 33> 'fc"))^"*