are met with, which are manufactured into chewing tobacco, but it is generally converted into cigars. In Europe, nearly all the tobacco which descends the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and brought to that market, is denominated Kentucky. 66 Early attempts to prepare Kentucky tobacco for chewing having failed, other efforts have not since been made. The objection arises, it is said, to chewing, that the tobacco assumes a spongy property--the quid increases to an unusual size; and besides, however favorable the appearance, soon after the leaf is manufactured into ' lumps,' it loses its blackish rich color, and becomes, soon after exposure to the action of the atmosphere, to what is termed 'frosted.' This unfavorable mutation is supposed to be occasioned from the quantity of nitrous fluid it imbibes during the process of vegetation. These latter remarks are intended to apply solely to the product of Kentucky. In the New England States, the article of tobacco is also cultivated to a kind of fanciful extent, and little is sent abroad-Connecticut forming an exception; for in this State is grown what is termed the 'seed leaf,' the product of the Cuba seed, and the yield is probably half a million of pounds annually. The flavor approximates very nearly the Cuba tobacco, and the leaf will command the highest prices; and, besides that which is manufactured into cigars at home, considerable portions are exported to the north of Europe. "The quality degenerates, however, in the course of three or four years, and then recourse is again had to the foreign seed for sowing. "Tobacco for chewing is furnished almost exclusively by Virginia; certainly the best' is from that State. "That portion of North Carolina by which it is bounded, and whose waters have their sources in the higher regions, and which mingle with those of the former, produce, to a small extent, an article which loses very little, probably, in comparison with the Virginia weed.' "The soil and climate appear peculiarly adapted to its cultivation; the leaf is rich in color, and heavy in consequence of its 'fatness.' "The foreign exports have always been large, and considerable portions are also exported for smoking and for the manufacture of snuff. "The loss in its manufacture is very small, for there is a market ever for the offals. The stems will generally bear freight, and are exported to Germany, where they are flattened and cut into small fibres for smoking, and are so used by the peasantry. "In all the States not hitherto named, among which is Maryland, (which grows annually 30,000 hogsheads or upwards,) the article is almost exclusively adapted for smoking, or for the manufacture of snuff; in the former in pipes, or by being converted into cigars. "There is a want of uniformity in the weight of hogsheads: the average of the smaller, as Maryland, Ohio, &c., being about 800 lbs., while those of the larger, in which Virginia is the more prominent, average about 1,400; those of Kentucky, and some other Western States, are about 1,300. In speaking of hogsheads generally, the average of the producing States is called 1,000 lbs. per hhd. "Manufactured tobacco, for chewing, which is mostly to be met with in boxes, (instead of kegs, as formerly,) is selected and compressed with great care the average of the boxes about 140 lbs. net; and a bale or seroon of foreign averages about 100 lbs. net." Consumption of tobacco.* Various estimates have been made of the consumption of tobacco in the United States. The great difficulty in arriving at a fair result as to the quantity consumed arises from the want of proper returns by the tobaccogrowing States, showing the quantity grown, the number of hogsheads inspected and exported. In the absence of this data, and from the general use of tobacco in this country, it may easily be imagined how erroneous opinions are formed and extravagant views taken of the quantity consumed, when the extraordinary growth of other staples is made the standards of comparison; and the rapid increase of the population, at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum, supervenes to stimulate the mind in its conjectures on the subject. In no instance has the basis been given on which the estimate of consumption was made; and the reason is, no data existed, or, if in existence, it was not accessible. The exports and imports of tobacco, taken from the records of the Government, afford the only approximate test of the consumption, and that is solely a matter of inference. Thus it is we have to grope in the dark for statistical conclusions upon a subject affecting the interests of a million of people connected with the cultivation and manufacture of this important staple. The probable quantity consumed, however, may be approximated, by assuming the difference between the growth and the quantity exported as the amount consumed; and, with this view, the average growth of tobacco of five of the States, (taking a series of years, say from 1820 to 1840,) compared with the total exports for the same period, will come as near to the amount consumed as any other basis can afford. Averaging the growth, therefore, of Maryland North Carolina Tennessee at 22,600 hhds. for 20 years. "It has been stated that the annual consumption now amounts to upwards of one hundred millions of pounds-giving seven pounds to every man, woman, and child. The sum annually paid by the consumers of this quantity of tobacco, in its manufactured state, has been computed, by a writer in the Portsmouth Journal,' at $20,000,000." Dr. Mussey, in his "Essay on the Influence of Tobacco on Life and Health," says: "Eighty thousand dollars' worth of cigars, according to estimate, were consumed in the city of New York in 1810; at that rate, the present annual consumption would amount to more than $200,000.” "The Reverend O. Fowler, from considerable attention to the statistics of tobacco consumption in the United States, estimates the annual cost at $10,000,000; time lost by the use of it at $12,000,000; pauper tax which it occasions at $3,000,000. "This estimate I believe to be considerably below the truth; it has been estimated that the consumption of tobacco in this country is eight times as great as in France, and three times as great as in England, in proportion to the population. "According to the editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser,' 100,000 persons in the city (about one third of the whole population) are supposed to be smokers, and the average cost to each smoker is computed to be 10 cents a day; total daily $10,000, and the annual cost $3,650,000."-American Almanac. "In 1834, the consumption of tobacco in value was estimated by Mr. Hunt (editor of 'Hunt's Merchant's Magazine') at $16,000,000, of which $9,000,000 were supposed to have been for smoking Spanish cigars, $6,500,000 for smoking American tobacco and chewing, (equal to the value of the annual export,) and $500,000 for snuff. In 1838 the consumption of tobacco had increased to 100,000,000 of pounds, valued at $20,000,000 cost to the consumers." It is to be regretted that no data is given on which the above estimate is made. Mr. Lyford estimates the consumption at one-fourth of the quantity grown in the United States. for the home consumption, being nearly one-fourth of the quantity grown. The export of 1841 was 147,793 hogsheads-being an increase over the export of 1840 of 23 per cent.; over 1839, 87 per cent.; over 1838, 47 per cent.; and, when compared with the quantity grown in the United States and its Territories, which, according to the census of 1840, amounted to 185,136 hhds., will show the consumption to be one-fourth, viz: The quantity grown in 1840 185,136 hhds. Export of 1841 147,793 Amount of consumption 37,343 Mr. Dodge estimates the consumption at 75,000 hhds., which he believes to be far below the quantity. The consumption in England of tobacco, in 1786, was 6,846,606 lbs. ; in 1825, 14,510,551 lbs.; in 1838, 23,149,726 lbs.-being an increase of consumption over the first period of 338 per cent., and over the latter 59 per cent. Owing to the system of smuggling tobacco into the kingdom, caused by the high duty, the official statements do not afford a safe data as to the amount imported or consumed; but there is no doubt the importation and consumption would be one-fourth part greater if the duty was less. The total importation into Great Britain, from 1786 to 1838, was 1,242,972 hhds., allowing 1,200 pounds for each. The total re-exportation for the same period was 682,385 hhds., and the consumption 391,379 hhds. The duty paid upon 601,797 hhds., imported into England, Ireland, and Scotland, from 1790, was £97,088,448, equal to $346,024,558; the original cost of the tobacco charged with this enormous amount, at 6 cents the pound, being but $43,329,384. The average importation into France of American tobacco, from 1820 to 1840, was 7,341 hhds. From a French memorial on the commerce and navigation between France and the United States, communicated by A. De Bacourt, the French minister, to the Secretary of the Treasury, and submitted to the Committee of Ways and Means in July, 1841, I find that the American tobacco forms four-fifths of the whole imports of foreign tobacco into France; that, from 1828 to 1838, there has been a continual imcrease in the quantity imported, with the exception of the year 1831. The import in 1828 was 952,851 kilogrammes, and in 1840 it reached 6,249,627 kilogrammes, equal to 14,060,411 lbs. The editor of the "Register" says "that the consumption of American tobacco was far from attaining in France, at the time when that branch of commerce was free, the amount to which it has now reached. During the period from 1806 to 1810, under the free 'regime,' the average *Hazard's Register. quantity introduced every year was but 2,742,029 kilogrammes, while that average, from 1826 to 1835, went up to 3,242,883 kilogrammes; and that, in the ten years between 1830 and 1840, it reached 6,249,627 kilogrammes. It must be remarked, besides, that the free regime' existed during the French empire, when France had a much more extended territory, and a population much larger than at the present time." However this may be, it appears, from a memoir presented to M. De Vergennes in 1785, the value of the consumption was estimated at ten millions of livres, nearly equal to two millions of dollars, while, in 1836, the supply furnished for that year had reached only to the value of $907,000. Manufactured tobacco. In the absence of any authoritative source in relation to the quantity of tobacco manufactured in the United States, reference may be had to the table of exports for the quantity and value therein stated, and leave the consumption of the same by the people of the United States to be inferred from the average growth of a number of years, and the amount exported, as has already been observed. The manufacture of tobacco has increased four-fold.since 1790. The quantity exported from 1821 to 1840 shows an increase over the preceding thirty years of 483 per cent. From 1821 to 1830, the export was 22,867,262 lbs., valued at $1,946,410; from 1830 to 1840 the export was 35,117,369 lbs.-an increase of 53 per cent., and valued at $3,620,171. From 1833 to 1840, the quantity of tobacco of foreign growth, imported in a manufactured state, amounted to 638,857 boxes of cigars, containing 1,000 each, and valued at $7,006,788; snuff 72,839 lbs., and crude tobacco 121,133 lbs., valued at $63,619. A very small quantity is exported. From a review of the subject as above detailed, the great inequality between the return made to the planters and the enormous amount levied by European Governments upon our staple, is very evident. What would be the effect upon the tobacco interest, if foreign restrictions were removed and free importation allowed, is a matter about which a diversity of opinions may be entertained. The capacity to grow tobacco in the United States has been shown. An open and free competition, in the absence of onerous duties abroad, might lead to such an extensive culture as to depreciate the article, unless the demand kept pace with the supply. With these few remarks, I submit the following tables, taken from official data, together with documents having a bearing on the matter: List of documents. A. Statement of tobacco imported and exported annually into and from England and Scotland during the period from 1761 to 1775. B. Statement showing the quantity of tobacco exported from the United Colonies from 1772 to 1782, inclusive. C1 and C 2. Statements showing the quantity of tobacco exported from the United States from 1787 to 1789, inclusive, and from 1790 to 1620, of leaf and manufactured. D. Statement showing the number of pounds weight of tobacco imported into and re-exported from the United Kingdom in each year since 1785. E. Statement of the number of pounds of tobacco charged with duty, and amount of duty paid on the same, from 1789 to 1838. F. Statement of the tobacco, snuff, and manufactured tobacco, exported from the United States annually from 1821 to 1840, inclusive. G1 and G 2. Statements showing to what countries the larger portion of tobacco is exported annually from 1821 to 1840, inclusive. H. Statement of manufactured tobacco imported into the United States from 1820 to 1840. I. Number of pounds gathered in each State and Territory in 1840. K. Statistical table showing the aggregate amount of manufactures of tobacco, number of persons employed, and capital invested in the United States. L. Statement showing the quantity of tobacco inspected in the State of Virginia from 1821 to 1841. M. Account of the number of pounds weight of leaf and manufactured tobacco that paid duty in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, for the year ending 5th January, 1840. N. Statement showing the distribution of the tobacco in pounds reexported in each year since 1826 to 1831 from Great Britain. O. Statement showing the number of hogsheads of tobacco actually consumed in Europe, and the estimated amount of revenue derived by each Government from the same. P. Statement showing the quantity of tobacco grown in Europe and elsewhere, &c. Q. Tariff of import duties on tobacco in the United States and in foreign countries. R. Report on the legislation, &c., of foreign countries on tobacco. T. An analysis of the constituent parts of tobacco. |