THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE, Established July, 1839, BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. CONTENTS OF NO. II, YOL. IX. ARTICLES. A R T . P A G E . I. The Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands— No. 2— Their Commerce and Agricul­ ture— Their Prospects— Chief Towns—Seizure by Lord George Paulet, etc. By James Jackson Jarvis, author o f the “ History o f the Sandwich Islands,” ..................................................................................................................... I l l II. Progress of Population and Wealth in the United States, in Fifty Years, as exhibited by the Decennial Census taken in that period. Chapter X IX — The Products of Industry. By Professor George T ucker, of the Univer­ sity of Virginia,......................................................................................................... 136 III. Our Railways. By W . R. Casey, Civil Engineer of N ew Y ork,.................. 144 IV . Inland Navigation of the State o f New York, icith a short account of its ' origin, and of the Trade and Tonnage of the Erie Canal. By H. S. Dex­ ter, Civil Engineer of New Y o rk ,..................................................................... 148 V. Commerce of the Mississippi. By James H . L anman, author of the “ His­ tory of Michigan,” ................................................................................................... 154 VI. Free Trade— Mr. Woodbury's View of the Tariff. By F. B. F isher,..... 161 V II. Mercantile Biography— Sketch of the Life and Character o f the late Jacob Ridgway......................................................................................................... 167 VIII. Story, on Bills of Exchange, Guaranty of Bills, and Letters of Credit,..... 169 MERCANTILE LAAV DEPARTMENT. Liability o f ships in case o f forced loan for repairs,......................................................... 173 Insurance— Maritime usage,................................................................................................. 173 Fire Insurance— Charter Party— Common Carriers,............................................... 174 Landlord and Tenant— Action of Trespass— Exemption Law of New York, 1842, 175 MONTHLY COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE, EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC., ILLUSTRATED WITH TABLES, AS FOLLOWS : Receipts o f Flour at tide water, in 1842 and 1843,................* ..................................... 176 Table o f Dividend paying Stocks,....................................................................................... 178 VOL. IX .-----XO . II. 10 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 110 Table o f Contents. PAGE. Imports into England, France, and the United States, o f tobacco and other articles, 179 Exports o f tobacco from the United States, from 1828 to 1841,................................... 180 Exports of manufactured tobacco from the United States from 1833 to 1841,......... 180 Exports o f cottons, linens, woollens, worsteds, and blankets, from Liverpool to the United States, from 1836 to 1842,.................................................................................. 181 COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. Import Duties at St. Johns,.................................................................................................. 182 Duties payable on and after the 5th July, 1843, on Imports by land, or inland navigation at St. Johns,.................................................................................................... 182 Valuation of Real and Personal Property of N ew York State and City,................... 183 STEAMBOAT AND RAILROAD STATISTICS. Description of the People’s Line, Night Boats, on the Hudson,.................................... 184 Boston and Worcester Railroad,........................................................................................... 185 Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad,........................................................ 185 STATISTICS OF POPULATION. ft* V.-.. Irish f^ensus for 1841,............................................................................................................. 186 Census of Upper Canada,....................................................................................................... 186 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. Quantity o f Indian Corn and Meal exported from the United States from 1791 to 1841,...................................................................................................................................... 187 Value of Indian Corn and Meal exported from 1803 to 1841....................................... 187 Consumption of Tobacco in England,................................................................................ 187 Exports o f Tobacco from the United States from 1791 to 1841,................................... 189 Value o f Tobacco exported from the United States from 1802 to 1841,..................... 189 Flour inspected in Baltimore in 1840, 1841, 1842, and 1843,....................................... 189 Imports at the port of Buffalo to July 1st, 1841, 1842, and 1843................................. 190 Exports from the port o f Detroit, Michigan, in 1842....................................................... 190 Exports o f Domestic Manufactures of Cotton from the United States to all parts o f the world, in each year, from 1826 to 1841,.................................................................. 191 THE BOOR TRADE. Tower’s Illustrations o f the Croton Aqueduct,.................................................................. 199 Leech’s Voice from the Main-Deck,.................................................................................... 199 Calhoun’s Speeches— James’s Marriage R ing,.................................................................. 200 Price’s Tables o f the worth o f Government and State Stocks,..................................... 200 Sweetser’s Mental Hygiene— Davis’s Manual of Magnetism,....................................... 201 Munsell’s Every-Day Book, or History and Chronology,................................................. 201 Maurice’s Kingdom of Christ— Livingston’s Catholic Imputation,............................... 202 Old Humphrey’s W alks in London and its Neighborhood,............................................ 202 Chalmer’s Lectures on the Romans— Marmaduke W yvil,............................................ 203 Introduction to Geometry— Devotional Exercises for Schools,...................................... 203 Church’s Antioch— Lessons on the Book o f Proverbs,................................................... 203 Hall’s Russia and the Russians— Life in M exico,............................................ 203 and 204 Johnson’s Farmers’ Encyclopaedia— Lee’s Letters to Cotton Manufacturers, etc.,... 204 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis HUNT’S MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE. AUGUST, 1 843. A r t . I.—THE SANDWICH OR HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. HUMBER II. THEIR COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE— THEIR PROSPECTS— CHIEF TOWNS— SEIZURE BY LORD GEORGE PAULET, ETC. P r e v io u s to the visit o f Captain Cook, the internal commerce o f the group was limited to a mere exchange, between the several islands or dis­ tricts, o f those articles which more abundantly grew, or were more inge­ niously manufactured in each. For this purpose, stated fairs were held, subject to certain general rules for their maintenance, and the preserva­ tion of good order. But they were not o f very frequent occurrence; and it is probable that their many wars prevented the inhabitants from enga­ ging in a constant trade, which otherwise their agricultural habits and enterprising dispositions might have drawn them into, and thus prepared them, in a still more favorable degree, for adopting civilized pursuits. Between 1535 and 1650, Europeans, most probably Spaniards, several times visited the group. Some of their number remained among the peo­ ple, intermarried with them, and their descendants became so thoroughly nationalized, that, one hundred and fifty years afterward, but faint traces or signs of their origin remained— but they were sufficient to identify them as being partly o f a different and lighter race than the present inhab­ itants. The cursory view which the Spaniards of that period took o f the islands, satisfied them that neither precious metals, or fruitfulness o f the soil, were inducements for them to found a settlement there. O f the for­ mer, not the slightest trace existed— o f the latter, it was mainly to be seen in the interior of the valleys, and far inland, where probably the warlike habits of the inhabitants deterred them from penetrating, as there appeared to be no prospect of gain to remunerate the toils and dangers which would have been encountered. Moreover, these visits appear to have been chiefly the result of accident, and by single vessels which had departed some­ what from their ordinary course in crossing the Pacific, and whose crews Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 112 The Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands. were not o f sufficient strength to allow of exploration. Be this as it may, it is certain that, beyond this occasional touching at a few points, or coasting their shores, during the period abovementioned, no use, either for purposes o f traffic or colonization, was made of the discovery. Either from their apparent insignificance, or from motives of selfish policy, the court of Madrid discouraged any