ence. the country, when the change in the nominal value of this description of property has been so gradual, under a prosperity so marked and so long continued. The appreciation of landed and improved property has been confined almost exclusively to localities affected by unusual enterprise, and has not extended in any considerable degree to lands or other property beyond this range of influThose who have retained a vivid remembrance of former inflations, will find nothing in the present at all analogous to the speculations then in vogue. New cities laid out under water, and commercial depots staked off upon wild prairie lands, would not now prove inviting investments. We have it is true, now and then, a scheme almost as chimerical, and here and there a railroad project has a foundation about as hopeful; but the majority of our business men are clear from any hallucination upon these subjects, and rash speculations are not in the fashion. The money market too, has been less excited than might have been anticipated with such an influx of gold. There have been neither extraordinary expansions or fluctuations in the currency, and much less disturbance than usual in monetary affairs. The supply of capital has been abundant and during most of the time at a range rather below the legal rates of interest; but there has been no such plethora as to glut the market, and lead of necessity to doubtful investments. The amount of coin added to the circulation of the country during the last four and a half years, or since the gold in California was discovered, (besides what has been taken for export,) is nearly $100,000,000. This includes the foreign coin which has been brought here within that time, as well as that of domestic production. This large amount of specie has been distributed through the country, and has exerted a very healthful check upon the circulation of banknotes. Our readers may be curious to know in what proportion the amount on deposit at the great commercial centers has kept pace with the supply, and for this purpose we annex a tabular comparison at the periods named. The fluctuation between the banks and sub-treasury is caused by the withdrawals from the former for the payment of duties, and the deposit of the amount again when it is disbursed to public creditors. The large amount as shown at the few latest dates given above, is about as much as can be profitably employed, with the present amount of capital. There is however a manifest advantage in the introduction of the increased circulation of coin among the masses of the people. The exports of the pre cious metals have not kept pace with the supply, the latter having increased during the present year while the former has diminished, as will be seen by the following comparison :— We also annex a monthly statement of the shipments of specie from New York to foreign ports, since the discovery of gold in California : Total........ $11,034,786 $4,803,450 $9,982,948 $43,743,209 Since our last, the annual statement of the cotton crop of the United States has been prepared, and we annex some particulars, compared with the summary of former years: TOTAL RECEIPTS OF COTTON INTO THE VARIOUS PORTS OF THE UNITED STATES. New Orleans.. Mobile..... Florida.. Texas Georgia... S. Carolina.. N. Carolina.. Virginia, &c... 261,752 350,200 251,405 476,614 387,075 384,265 458,117 12,928 11,861 10,041 16,242 Total crop... 3,015,029 2,355,257 2,096,706 2,728,596 2,347,634 1,778,651 2,100,537 TOTAL FOREIGN EXPORTS OF COTTON FROM UNITED STATES. 1851-2. 1850-1. 1849-50. 1848-9. 1847-8. 1816-7. 1815-6. Great Britain... 1,668,749 1,418,265 1,106,771 1,537,901 1,324,265 France......... 421,375 301,358 289,627 368,259 279,172 N. of Europe.. 168,875 129,492 72,156 165,458 120,348 Other for. ports. 184,647 139,595 121,601 156,226 134,476 830,909 1,102,369 241,486 359,703 75,689 86,692 93,138 118,028 Total..... 2,443,646 1,988,710 1,590,155 2,227,844 1,858,261 1,241,222 1,666,792 603,029 bales in 1851-52, an increase of nearly 50 per cent. This branch of home manufacture is now prosperous, and nearly all of the mills are fully engaged. The average price of cotton at Mobile for the last season, taking the grades of ordinary to middling fair, as compared with former seasons, has been as follows: The receipts of gold from California are as heavy as usual, but owing to a delay in the arrival of one of the steamships throwing a large shipment forward into September, the total for the previous month appears less than was anticipated. We annex a statement of the deposits and coinage at the Philadelphia and New Orleans mints, for the month of August; a more extended statement of the total receipts and coinage at all the mints up to the 1st August, will be found in another part of the present number: 1,585,300 $61,498 Three-cent pieces Total silver coinage... Total coinage. ..... 100,000 $10,000 There was no copper coinage during the month. The total deposits of California gold for coinage at our mints since 1848 is about $138,000,000, and the total production of the mines since their discovery is about $205,000,000. The increased demand for foreign goods, as already noticed, has tended to increase the imports. At New York the value of merchandise (exclusive of specie,) received from foreign ports during the month of August, is $1,976,344 greater than for August 1851, and $4,228,027 greater than during the same month of 1850. We annex a comparison for three years: IMPORTS ENTERED AT NEW YORK FROM FOREIGN PORTS FOR THE MONTH OF August. The item of specie under the date of 1850 includes the receipts of California gold, which up to November of that year, having cleared from Chagres, were entered as from a foreign port. Of the increased imports as shown above in comparison with the previous year, $679,290 were in dry goods, and the remainder in general merchandise. We annex a comparison of each item: IMPORTS OF MERCHANDISE AT NEW YORK FOR AUGUST. Dry goods.. General merchandise.... Total merchandise..... ... $11,023,744 $13,275,427 $15,251,771 The increase for the month of August, however, is not sufficient to make up for the previous decline, and the falling off in the total imports since January 1st is $10,810,765, as compared with the previous year, and $13,131,620 as compared with 1850. IMPORTS ENTERED AT NEW YORK FROM FOREIGN PORTS FOR EIGHT MONTHS ENDING AUGUST 31. The large amount of specie as shown in the statement for 1850, is owing to the California gold then included in the returns. We annex a statement of the relative receipts of merchandise : IMPORTS OF MERCHANDISE AT NEW YORK FOR EIGHT MONTHS. It will be noticed, that the entries for warehousing have fallen off materially, the receipts being wanted for immediate consumption: while the withdrawals have been larger, leaving the stock of merchandise in bond much smaller than usual. This is especially true in the receipts of dry goods: the entries for warehousing in the month of August, being but $252,896, against $1,142,567 for August, 1851, and $798,787 for August, 1850. The following is a correct classification of this description of imports: IMPORTS OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS AT NEW YORK FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST. The difference in the comparative value thrown upon the market, as already explained, is much greater than the difference in the total receipts, owing to the fact that the former includes a portion of the arrivals of the preceding year, which were suffered to lie in warehouse owing to the glut of foreign goods in the market. The following is a classification of the total imports of dry goods since January 1st: IMPORTS OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS AT NEW YORK FOR EIGHT MONTHS FROM JANuary 1st. |