Banks. Bank of Kentucky, Date. Loans. Specie. Circulation. Deposits. ..Jan., 1842, 4,232,147 669,247 1,614,827 363,273 ..Jan., 1842, 1,500,000 228,814 305,850 413,347 .Mar., 1842, 4,607,213 539,993 889,257 1,341,368 .Feb., 1842, 1,799,425 421,151 1,310,492 100,513 1,769,831 565,518 962,197 217,209 3,037,502 276,605 133,870 329,700 1,841,537 236,907 495,795 732,530 1,164,883 130,698 198,885 200,773 5,826,204 400,306 536,130 719,528 Banks of Ohio, Bank of Illinois,............... Bank of Cape Fear, N. C....Jan., 1842, Bank of Louisiana,........ City Bank,.. Mechanics' & Traders' Bank,. TOTAL,............. .$34,585,600 $5,146,480 11,268,436 $5,368,275 Loans. The following were the leading features of the New Orleans banks and other southern banks that remain suspended : Banks. SUSPENDED SOUTHERN BANKS. Places. Boston,..... Philadelphia, a 81 $5,066,247 $16,997,712 $7,575,300 The effect which resumption had upon the exchanges down to the moment of the New Orleans explosion is clearly distinguishable in the following table of rates :- RATES OF DOMESTIC BILLS AT NEW YORK SINCE THE RESUMPTION IN PHILADELPHIA IN MARCH, 1842. May 1. 4 a par a a On every point where resumption had been enforced the exchanges were reduced to very near their natural level, which is the cost of transportation of the precious metals, and which is always against the point to which payment is to be made. This reduction in the price of exchanges has, however, been attended with a pressure that has borne with great severity upon the Atlantic dealers, and has tended to diminish the spring business. The banks preparing to resume have been unable to discount the usual amount of business paper; and although exchange has been freely offered on New York, at all the points, the means of purchase have been diminished by the severe curtailment of the accustomed facilities. The consequence has been that the city merchants have been deprived of their remittances, and the failures anticipated in our May number have to a great extent been realized, and within a short time some unexpected stoppages among the grocers have transpired. The extent to which this reduction of the western currency has taken place may be indicated in the following comparative statement of the banks of Cincinnati, June 1, 1841, and June, 1842: $294,220 1,139,204 TOTAL,.....$3,134,730 $5,916,777 $1,433,424 $3,725,336 Notwithstanding this state of things in the interior, causing much embarrassment among the dealers who depended upon receiving their accustomed remittance, money with the banks and capitalists has been abundant in the city, arising from the fact that the call for money for mercantile purposes has by no means kept pace with the receipts of the banks. This has produced an increased inquiry for stocks for investment, and has continued that upward tendency in values which we noticed in our last. We then stated that the new United States loan had not been taken. Since then, however, an arrangement has been entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury with certain broker houses, by which money was obtained upon a portion of the $3,500,000 of stock offered. The price did not transpire, but some sales of the stock were subsequently made in the market at par. The New York seven per cent stock commands a premium of 21 per cent. There is yet, however, no appearance of any movement on the part of the delinquent states to restore their credit; on the contrary, the difficulties seem to increase around them. The state of Virginia did not succeed in negotiating a loan of $250,000 that was appropriated to the payment of the July interest on the state debt, and fears are entertained on that ac. count. The interest was, however, fully provided for. An extra session of the Pennsyl vania legislature has been convened to take into consideration the means of meeting the payment of the interest due on the debt of that state in August. As yet no means whatever have been provided, and the governor, in his message, has called the attention of the legis lature to the subject in an energetic manner. He represents that the people of Pennsylvania, who number 1,700,000, now pay town and county taxes amounting in the aggregate to $4,000,000, of which but $700,000 comes into the state treasury. The interest on the state debt is about $2,000,000, and a deficiency in the current expenses of the govern ment also exists. To meet these, the present imposts must be nearly doubled, and the taxes must be promptly levied. This state of affairs places the credit of Pennsylvania in a very critical condition. The state of the banks in New Orleans will also have a great influence upon the credit of that state. The public debt of Louisiana consists almost altogether of bonds issued on the faith of the state to different banks, which bonds have been sold in Europe, and the proceeds constitute the capitals of the banks, and is by them loaned out to the stockholders on mortgages of their landed property. The interest received for the loan of the stock is supposed sufficient to pay the interest on the bonds sold abroad, and to form a sinking fund for their ultimate redemption. The is sues have been as follows: These bonds are guarantied by cotton lands supposed to be worth $25,400,000. It has long been the opinion of many of the shrewdest practical financiers of that section of the country that the expenses attending the borrowing of money, wherewith to pursue the banking business, were greater than the profits of planting would warrant. The facts now developing seem to warrant that conclusion. The amount of interest due in Europe for money borrowed for various purposes in this country has been computed at $11,000,000 annually. This is full ten per cent of the whole exports of domestic produce, and must absorb all the profits of those exports. Many of the states have declared their inability to continue those payments, but it is to be hoped that, with the removal of those general causes of depression which have of late years overshadowed the whole commercial world, such an alleviation of business may take place in this country as will enable its citizens to redeem their honor. The great question of national interest now pending before congress is the adjustment of the tariff on such a footing as shall yield a revenue sufficient for all the purposes of government, and at the same time impose the least burdens upon commerce. For the last few years it has been apparent that the customs did not yield a revenue sufficient even for an economical administration of the government. This deficiency has been supposed to be temporary in its nature, and has been supplied by expedients. At the close of the present month, however, the final reduction in duties as provided by the compromise tariff goes into effect, when a general duty of twenty per cent is to be levied upon all articles. The reduction under the compromise act has been biennial, commencing in 1834. The following table will illustrate its operation :— BIENNIAL REDUCTION OF DUTIES UNDER THE COMPROMISE ACT. Years ending Dec. 31. Reduction. 25 per c. 30 per c. 35 per c. 40 per c. 50 per c. 1834-35 .1 241 29 33 38 47 The manner of reduction is by tenths of the difference between twenty per cent and the original duty. Thus, if the duty was fifty per cent, the difference between that and twenty per cent would be 30, one tenth of which is .3, which, deducted from 50, gives forty-seven per cent as the duty for 1834-5; and so on, until, after June, the reduction becomes complete. Three propositions have been made to increase the revenues: — one by the secretary of the treasury; one by the committee of ways and means; and one by the committee on manufactures. All of these plans propose duties to average nearly thirty-five per cent instead of twenty. This is to restore the rates of 1834, before any reduction took place. While this is going on on this side of the water, in England arrangements have been made to reduce the duties levied there on imported goods, particularly on American produce. These contemporaneous movements will, doubtless, have a great effect upon the trade between the two countries. In order to form some estimate of the change, we have compiled the following table, showing the trade between the United States and Great Britain for several years, with the rates of duty heretofore existing, and those proposed to be levied in both countries: COMMERCE BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES. Specific,.. 6,505,547 9,710,479 8,751,244 8,972,556 5,334,861 Ad Val. 24,337,110 43,569,774 23,894,498 35,771,700 17,674,030 Free,... 16,600,150 25,365,715 12,240,201 21,227,215 10,670,802 GRAND TOTAL,...47,242,807 78,645,968 44,885,943 65,971,471 33,679,693 In Am. ves.42,467,326 72,602,500 40,813,882 59,339,422 20,240,078 In For. do. 4,775,481 5,953,458 4,073,061 6,625,166 4,497,621 Vessels arr. 908 931 828 878 1,094 Tonnage,... 344,523 381,092 405,722 412,544 582,424 EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC PRODUCE TO ENGLAND IN 1839 AND 1840, WITH THE ALTERATION |