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GEORGIA COURIEft.
J. G. JFWHORTER.
AND
HENRY MEALING,
PUBLISHERS.
nrlka.—'This V&pr.r is published every Monday ahd
V(iiir«ilj»y iii'iernoon, it $5 I)0 per annum, payable in ad-
*nce, or $C 00 ut thu expiration of the year.
Lj* Advertisement* no : . exceeding a iquare', inserted the
'Yit time for &! 1-2 ceute. and 43 3-4ceuts for eachcon-
tmuauce.
AUCTIONS.
, At a large and respectable nieeiing of
.. citizens, enlivened at Masonic Hall, on
Friday evening, 2d ir.st. for the purpose
_ of taking into consideration the ruinous ef-
**-Joels of the present Auction System,
Thomas II. Leggett. Esq. was culled to
the Chair, and Nathaniel Weed and
Charles If. Russell, were appointed
Secretaries.
The following Resolutions were offered
' and unanimously adopted, viz :
Resolved, That the existing System of
sale by auction is, in the opinion of this
nieeiing, subversive of the rights' & inter
ests of the citizens generally, and highly
injurous to the consumers of foreign mer
chandise; unit - to the commerce of the
foundry, by monopiiziug the sale of goods,
, and thereby defeating the industry, ahd
rendering nugatory the talents and enter-
prize of our own citizens, bv encouraging
the importation of deceptive and worth
less goods, by affoidiug to foreign c<>n-
^• signers of such goods great advantages
’ over regular American merchants ; by
’ promoting illicit transactions, and facili
tating frauds on the revenue and upon in-
- dividuals ; by causing continual fluctations
in the price of goods, and inducing a spi
rit of extravagant speculation ; and by im
pairing integrity & destroying confidence
in the ordinary course of mercantile trans
actions.
Resolved, That the Auction system,
existing under the circumstances which at
...present distinguish it, merits to bo cori-
f . sidered as a most oppressive grievance,
y and a reproach to this city and to the
country; not only on account of its immor
tal effects, its multiplied impositions and
abuse, but also because it constitutes an
obvious monoply, wholly incompatible
v Aith the free institutions of the conntry,
- Resolved, That in the opinion of this
meeting, the interests of trade and corn-
. merce and of the public revenue, the hon
our of the mercantile character, the impo
sitions and injuries sustained by the con
sumers of base and deceptive goods forced
apon the market by auction sales, the
equal rights and moralsof the citizens of
the United States, and the, wide spread
embarrassments and min consequent on
the excessive importations which are in
duced by this mode of sale, most urgently
demand that the practice of sales by auc
tion should be essentially restrained or
wholly done away.
Resolved, That in the opinion of this
meeting the laws of the different states
granting exclusive privileges to sell bv
auction, are at war with the principles of
free trade, and in a direct opppsition to
the Constitution, which vests in Congress
the sole power of regulatingcommerce.
Resolved, That we will use all legjil
-means to obtain our just and equal rights ;
and wo pledge ourselves to persevere, un
til we accomplish our objt cr. .
Resolved, That a committee, (with
power to add to their u.uhber,) be appoin
ted, who are hereby authorized to act in
behalf of this meeting, in furthering the
object contemplated by . the preceding
resolutions.
Resolved, That the following persons
conppose such committee, viz. Robert
Chcscbroitgk, Reuben Withers, David
Andrews, James I. Van Alen, Tames
Auckincloss, Joseph D. Varnum, Aaron
Leggett, Thomas If. Leggett, Nathaniel
Weed, and Charles If. Russell.
Resolved, That a corresponding com
mittee be appointed for the term of one
year, whose duty it shall be to open an
active correspondence with others, which
may be appointed by our sitter cities, for
the purpose of producing UnQUmity and
. concert of action throughout the country.
Resolved, That the following person^
compose sac:: committee, viz. Jas.M'Call,
Georg,, >' Robbins, Jonathan D. Steele,
Da u. ::’:son William Bums, Joseph
Barr* Crumby, and Robert Jafi
» ■ •
K _ . : •; it the pract*edi;>g s of this
meeting ogned bv the Chairman and
Secret i.-. ■ ••ublishetf iu the daily pa-
possible to it, you will please to Confide it
to the care of your Representative in
Congress before the ensuing autumn, or
forward it to this Committe.
—
i !IC.MAS l! LEGGETT, Chairman,
orr taries. '
1328.
Cherries fl ItUssciL )
*■ K -V. i k, U! ill ay
[CIRCULAR.]
New-York, 1828.
Sin,
The evils of the Auction System have
become s.» general, and so oppressive to
all classes of our citizens, that a public
meeting » »s convened on the 2d of May,
to adapt measures to obtain from our Na
tional Legislature,.a restrictive tax upon
sales by auction, that should remove tiiis
blight upon the industry and enterprise
of our country.
in furtherance of this plan, the accom
panying reasons have been drawn up, de
tailing minutely sotne of the evils of which
we complain, aud furnishing, as it is be
lieved, conclusive evidence of their ruin
ous tendency.
To this document we invite your atten
tion, and request that you will earnestly
cqoperate with us in such measures as
shall be deemed necessary to free us from
th* burthens of the unjust and oppressive
Gaoooply ; and we shall be happy to hear
ttom you on this subject.
WM BURN*? JAMES M’CALL. Chairman.
1 . S. Be pleased to give this sheet as
wide a circulation as ptacticable; aud if
you approve of this accompanying Mem-
1r:a • after h a* J »g obtained all the name*
The follow ing is published by Order of the Com
mute appointed at a meeting of Citizens at Ma
sonic Hall, on the 2d May.
REASONS WHY THE PRESENT SYSTEM
OF AUCTIONS OUGHT TO BE ABOLISHED.
1. Auctions are a monopoly; and,
like all monopolies, are unjust, by giving
to a few, that which ought to be distribu
ted among the mercantile community gen
erally. A single auction house dues as
much business as would support fifty re
spectable firms in private trade, each con
sisting of two partners, maintaining two
families, and two or three clerks. The
evident tendeocy of this mouopoiy is to
crush the middle ranks, and to divide so
ciety into the very rich and the poor.—
Under such a system how shall we be able
to introduce our children into active life ?
2. The commission under which an
auc ioneer acts, is believed to be unconsti
tutional. It never could be intended
that the business of selling goods, which
is the occupation'of a merchant, should be
confined to a few individuals, to the ex
clusion of all others. Yet, from the alar
ming increase of sales by auction, pf late
years, this distressing consequence'is al
ready taking place.
3. Auctions tend to concentrate the
.vhnle trade of the-country in a few large
cities, to the extinction of all other whole
sale niarkets. And, even in these cities,
the advantage is nearly confined to the
auctioneers themselves. Where are the
importers of Alexandria, Richmond, Pe
tersburg, Charleston, Savannah, and Au
gusta, who, only a few years ago, were
prosperous and useful ? The trade of
their respective states has greatly increas
ed, both in exportable produce and inter
nal consumption ; and their importations
ought naturally to have increased in the
same ratio: But they have ceased. The
auctions have swallowed up all.
4. Auctions are destructive to do
mestic manufacturers, who have acted
under a great and dangerous mistake, in
ascribing their difficulties to foreign com
petition. Misled by this error, they have
procured tariff after tariff—but in” place
of obtaining relief by this expedient, the
evil has become more and more pressing ,
till it is at last evident, that the true reme
dy has not been applied. The abolition
of auctions is their best remedy. It
would be worth ten tariffs. If importa
tions were wholly prohibited, ruin would
equally fall on manufacturers, under the
present system ; whereas the existing du
ties would be more than a sufficient pro
tection, in the absence of auctions, which,
alone, are fatal to native industry. If
Congress should impose a duty on the
sales oi«foreign merchandise at auction,
and leave those of domestic goods free,
this would inflict a direct injury on the
American manufacturer. Auctions are
not a benefit to bo kept for our own use
—but au abuse, equally hostile to manu
facturers as to merchants. While they
continue, needy and unprincipled manu
facturers can at all times derauge the bu
siness ofthe prudent and the experienced,
by forcing on the market more goods than
are needed ; and by filling the country
with inferior articles, purposely made in
imitation of those that are really good,
and sold amidst the bustle of an auction,
without the possibility of such an exami
nation as would detect the imposition.—
All inducement to excel is thus taken
away, aud the only emulation is to con
trive flimsy labrics, fitted to deceive the
eye by the semblance of what is better,
in the hurried glance to wh.ch alone they
can be exposed by this pernicious mode
of selling.
The extreme and rapid fluctuations in
price which are caused by auctions, and
which baffle the calculations of the a-
cutest minds, discourage prudent manu
facturers by the impossibility of selling at
regular prices, or of laying any plan for
the t«:ure. Who, that has any thing to
lose w« u id embark in a business which
presents bathing but a mass of contingen
cies, beyonothe sagacity of any uninspi
red man to for» se c or prevent ? If goods
were sold only a | private sale, the best
makers would soon become conspicuous
for the superiority of their goods, which
would command fair prices in o dinary
times; and it wo\fld be impossible to
coanterfe.it their fctmes and peculiar
marks on the defect^ and fraudulent
goods of others, a crime which, it is said,
is often practised, from tha facilities of
concealment given by auctions.
5. Auctions have been destructive
to the RF.nux.Aii American importers,
of whom we must now speak in the past
tense, as nearly all of that most respecta
ble body, have, as is well known, been
driven from their occupation ; aud thus
an important class in the community
whose Wealth, enterprize, and intelli
gence, adorned and elevated the mercan
tile character, has been extinguished.—
When such men issued their orders in for
eign countries, the manufacturers to whom
they were given, profiting by this infor
mation, often fraudulently hurried off
large quantities of the same kind of goods,
but of inferior quality, and had them sold
at auction here, before those ofthe Anter
ican importer could arrive ; thus glutting
the market and causing a loss to him iu
place ol profit. Without auctions this
could not have been done. If attempted
at all, it must have become known to the
importers at large, who would have at
once withdrawn from all connexion with
such nefarious dealers. So entirely have
the regular importers been superseded,
that more than three quarters of the
whole importation into the Union, are
now, it is believed, on account of foreign
Manufacturers, whose integrity has cot
improved by this change in their trade, as
most buyers have felt to their cost. The
mutual confidence and courtesy that sub
sisted, in our better days, between the re
sponsible importer and his customers, has
long sioee given place to a constant and
well founded fear o( beiug cjieatu'j by
in darkness—
men who are; shrouded ,
whose very names are unioown. and who
have not any character to lose. Is not
such a state of feeling sofovenive of all
the milder and - kindlier charities of our
uature, and unavoidably conducive to
progressive and indefinite depravity 1
6. Auctions injure consumers gene
rally, by enhancing prices. It is a
great error to suppose that goods are sold
cheaper at Auction than at Private Sale.
The principal buyers in New-York have
been consulted, and they affirm, with one
accord, that they purchase, on an aver
age of one year, cheaper at private than
at public sale. One of the largest and
most respectable auctioneers iu the Uni
ted States, who, not long since, was an
extensive dealer by private sale, stated
the same thing lately, as the result of his
experience. No doubt great bargains
are sometimes obtained, when the mar
ket is overstocked, or during a general de
pression of trade ; but this would equally
happen if Auctions did not exist. On
the contrary, it is well known that, when
an article is in demand, it sells much high
er at Auction than at Private Sale.
The excitement produced by the -:ompe-
tition of a crowd of buyers, assembled in
one room, and bidding against each other,
inevitably keeps up prices to the highest
point. Besides, it involves a contradic
tion to suppose that any srvne person
would send goods to Auction, and pav
the auctioneer’s commission, and lire
State duty—unless he got higher prices
there than he could obtain at private
sale. It is only in seasons of extreme
depression, that ruinous sales are made
by Auction to any extent.
Bui, what is of more importance, sub
stantial and really valuable goods are not
often seen at Auction. It is at private
sale that they are commonly to be found.
Both foreign and domestic manufacturers
ptepare, on purpose for auctions, goods
defective in every respect—in length,
width, qualify, colour, and pattern ; which
no reputable house would venture to im
port, and to offer at private sale—and
which would be dear at any price. Our
country has, in consequence, become the
great mart for the old storks, and refuse
fabrics, of tiigland, F ranee, Germany,
and other parts of (he world where un
saleable goods accumulate. Auctions
thus encourage complicated deceptions.
Even when a fraud is occasionally disco
vered—the owner is generally kept out
of view—the auctioneer is not responsi
ble, some compromise is quietly submit
ted to—or wholly refused on some tech
nical informality, and all exposure ofthe
guilty party is prevented. Will it bo be-
lieved that, at what are called piece or
shelf sales, which form nine-tenths of
Auction Sales-i-onc minute, or even less,
and scarcely ever so much as two minutes,
is all the time usually allowed to a large
company of perhaps two hundred buyers
to examine, in the twilight of an auction
store, amidst noise and confusion, goods
which they never saw before? The
woise the goods—the shorter will proba
bly be the time given ; and thus, where
caution is most needed, it can be least ex-
eicised. Yet it is the indispensable duty
of a merchant carefully to scrutinize eve
ry ariiele before he buys it.
Sales by Auction give an advantago to
the seller, which may not bo known
throughout the country, though merchants
are familiar with it. Those who send
goods to auction, commonly specify a giv-
on price, including the auctioneer’s com
mission and the state duty, and if that
price cannot be obtained, they direct that
the goods shall not be sold. The auc-
ioneer, consequently, exhibits at first
few pieces only as a trial, if these are
sold at the price limited, the sale goes'oii ;
but it not it is stopped. ' On the contrary,
before auctions were so prevalent, the im
porter frequently exhibited his original
invoice to the buyer, and the profit was a
matter ofagreement between thorn. This
effectually prevented large profits.
7. Three or four states, by imposing a
duty on sales at auction, make all the o-
thers tributary to them, in direct violation
oj their rights ■ of sovereignty. Every
consumer in the Union, of merchandise,
that has been bought at auction in New
York, pays a duty into her treasury. E-
ven the produce which is sent hither for
sale by auction, from all parts of the coun
try between the St. Lawrence aud the
Gulf of Mexico, pays the same degrading
tribute. What is this but one State levy-'
ing an impost on the rest? an abuse ex
pressly prohibited by the Constitution of
the confederacy. Such a revenue ought
to be paid into the treasury of the United
Bonus. If the State of New York has a
right to tax private sales ; and, as a large '
proportion of the whole merchandise of
the Union is sold in a few States, they
might make their tax as extensively ap- _
plicable as that of the General Govern
ment. Goods can be landed on our
wharves, no doubt without puying a state
duty, but no sooner are they sold, than
they may become liable to it. Will any
oue contend that the circumstance of the
money coming into our own treasury, is
a vindication of this injustice ? Is it to
be endured among a free people, that
three or tour priviledged states should be
quietly permitted to practice such exac
tions? Will the western and southern
states submit to this usurpation I
8. Al'feTroNS GIVE DANGEROUS FACILI-
™ RTHE SALE OF CONTRABAND GOODS.
1 he Chancellor of the Exchequer in En
gland, riot long since, stated in Parlia
ment, that, notwithstanding the army of
custom-house officers and soldiers, andthe
fleet of armed vessels, employed to pre
vent smuggling, and the excessive punish
ments inflicted on smugglers, prohibited
articles could be easily introduced from
the continent at en expense of only fif
teen per cent, including a guarantee for
their safe delivery. In this country, then,
with an irregular sea-cost of several ihou-
sand miles, in many places uninhabited,
and abounding in rivers and inlets naviga
ble by the smallest vessels—with an ex
tensive end thinly pbopled.ftoMier-*-rtith
laws imposing but trifling penatt&k, and
those rarely enforced, and whero probibi
tory duties present so strong a temptation
of large profits when the Smuggler suc
ceeds—bow easy must it be, to bring in
any quantity of foreign .manufactures ?
The expense and risk certainly would not
exceed five per cent. The usual charge
for conveying a box of tea across the Ca
nadian boundary; is said to be only two
dollars. By means of Auctions, all dan
ger ends so soon as the goods arrive.—
They can be instantly sold by public sale,
and tbe mantle of oblivion covers the
whole as it is a well known part of every
auctioneer's business to conceal tbe names
of those who employ him. It is not ne
cessary to suppose that the auctioneer
must be privy to such frauds He would
most likely be kept in total ignorance of
them—But the goods would be mixed up
and sold along with those of the fair deal
er—honorable men might buy them with
out suspicion, and all fear of detection
would be over.
But, if auctions were abolished, the
case would be widely different. What
could smugglers do with their goods f—
The danger would begin where it now
ends ; upright merchant’s would nut only
not buy from them, but would inform a-
gaiqst them. Dishonest men would ge
nerally be deterred by their fears, and* if
a small number did venture to buv, iliey
would be apt to give information for the
sake of the reward ; as the names of in J
formers are never divulged, and they
could do so with impunity. In exhibiting
such goods at private sale, tbo o^uer
would be kept iu constant alarm ; every
stranger that entered Im store might be a
sp\ or a Custom House officer, aud every
person in his employment would have ’a
strong inducement to betray him. Besides
he would be obliged to sell only for mo
ney, and this alone would make it difficult
to smuggle to any extent, as he would not
dare to ask prices much below the regular
trade, through fear of exciting suspicion.
9. Auctions have been found by the ei
facilities to rash yuaag men to-begin busi-
ness without experience, character or
““My ftilure, to an extent
that cool* not otherwise happen.
. ***, A s uctioneers, i Q many cases,
fnbt J 6 !! °* D T,” in P a y m em for goods
. T ,ein » w * II / e al •he same time they
“ use °f the very large amounts
which they receive from those who buy
the couatry possesses every CaDaKl »
becoming, when civilized/ 0 f ft™
importance It is re markable £**
ofihe large lakes of which there L *
i« the interior, are under ihe in«i ^
; a «.'iV. r risi "s* dugfiS*
ly several inches on the tide hears, i
shall endeavour to conanumicaie '
sons, who form
Syd
Pfc
Attend** th. n T d aris,ocrac y» »• derstood, to communicate with’ r 3t
fellmlr /ft Comrolliu g. by the ! Darling upon subjects connected ft
fear of their displeasure, tbe free expres- ; late expedition. In the cour,l ft *
riu^ftlbf 10 ^ and hoSli,e ‘K’ 3 * 8 Penetrated^"": 1 --
genius of Republican Government. large opening on the west cnJ
nature from their very , Holland, into which the Riv er jft
n e, the gross fraud «f fictitious : (as it is called j empties itself-
Biddings ; an abuse which, it is believed, his observations, he consider ^ “ r ®
is almost universal. *”’ tousinen, ..
_ . Who that knows any
thing of Auctions, can believe that all the Stevens, on the east coast
Sales made daily i n this city
sales? Who is there who does
—. — considers ,»
practicable to pass from thence 2"*
.... —not be- 1
believe that persons are sent by owners of
good and il may be without the know- !
ledge of the Auctioneers, to raise the 1
price on the ignoiant and unwary?—I
\Y here is the buyer who is not convinced
that many Auctioneers, while they are
se ling goods make fictious biddings them
selves, to obtain higher prices lor their
employers ?
j7- Auctions have given rise to a
most mischievous practice, which requires
to be explained to the unintiated. Left
by the remissness of our laws to the free
dom of their own will, (it is not so in any
other country,) and, therefore, fearless of
consequences, Auctioneers sell daily ma
ny more goods than they advertise before
hand. A single lot of any article is sold
at a given price, and^as it is the only one
in the Catalogue, or exhibited on the
shelves, the buyer has reason to believe
that he has got the whole. But no soon
er has he bought, than perhaps twenty or
thirty duplicate lots, carefully kept out of
view till that moment, are sold in rapid
succcessiou, and often at much lower
prices; rendering that which seemed to
be a profitable purchase only a few min-
' ujrj
city aro real poses to attempt, if encouraged,' Uepro '
TEXAS.—The following informat,
relative to Texas, is copied fft
New Orleans Halcyon and Literarv P
pository of the 25ih of May. I, c '
information which will, no doubt h
to many of our readers;
“ Although little more than seven v P
have elapsed since the Austins ^
their colony near the Rio Grande jt „
numbors from 12 to 15,000 souls ’ mo J
emigrants from the United States J.
Thousands of acres, however
with the patentee, and will afford
psricncc of other countries, to be pernicious Utes before > a source {pf heavy loss To
//i /rttprnnl trnrlo r Plw» I* i. rnnsiimm.'itu i «•
to internal trade. The English govern
ment has corrected this evil, not only by
a duty of five per cent on a large propor
tion of sales, but also by various restrictive
regulations. The corporation of London,
and the inhabitants of oilier largo cities’
petitioned parliament for a relief, statiim
the severe distress, and numerous’ frauds
that auctions had occasioned.
In France, this evil dees not exist. It
would be ruinous there to the credit of a-
nv person, to be known to sell his mer
chandise in this manner; and scarcely
reputable to be seen buying at auction.
It is only of late that an attempt has been
made to sell produce, such as cotton and
indigo, by public sale ; but the experi
ment is unpopular. A sale of manufac
tured goods is a thing unheard of. Auc
tions are chiefly, if not wholly, confined
to ihe disposal of the estates of bankrupts,
and of deceased persons ; to sales on ac
count of underwriters ; and generally, to
property sold under the decisions of courts
of law ; and even such sales are subjected
11 a duty. It is believed (hat the case is
nearly the same in Germany, and through
out the continent of Europe. Let us
benefit by their experience, and not post
pone the remedy till all the trading class
es shall be degraded to one level r.f vassa
lage to a few privileged auctioneers. Al
ready the oppression is intolerable, and,
in a few years more, not only the impor-
ter, but also the wholesale dealer will be
swept away.
10. Auctions, by creating an unnatural
competition unconnected with the wants
of the market, cause more goods to be
sold than ought to be, or than, otherwise,
would be sold ; and encourage, instead of
repressing, the great besetting frailty of
Merchants—overtrading.
consummate the fraud, these very duph
cates, though expressly stated to be in all
lespects equal to the first lot, are often
miserably inferior. Nothing short of in
spiration could guard against such treache
ry, and yet the practice is universal in
this country. I„ England, on the con-
trary, (it is believed) every article offer
ed must he expressed on a public cata
logue.
18. Auctions tend to destroy a re
gard for truth. It is loathsome to wit
ness the constant practice, at auction
sales, of extolling goods of all qualities
and. descriptions, and the unfounded as
sertions of their cost and value, to tempt
buyers. But we forbear to press this ob
jection, though it would admit of much
painful illustration. Its extreme notorie
ty renders further detail unnecessary.
19. The melancholy result of all that
wo have stated is a perceptible and increa
sing deterioration in the moral frelings ..f
mercantile men. This is lamentably ex
emplified in the variety of tricks daily re
sorted to, even at private sale. It has
become more and more difficult for con
scientious merchants to meet the compe
tition of the less scrupulous, and at the
same time to avoid what is mean and dis
ingenuous,
Is it possible that our wise legislators
can permit the continuance of such a com
plicated evil?
rf ‘tnai
wealth to himself and to his*(JescfS?„? S
“On the opposite of Texas, ft
quarter posssessinggreater advam*r e< "
nother colony is fast rising i m „ i mpo = n ’
under the patent of Col. Milam. There
are 300 families already settled on the a’
luvion of Red River, nearly over a^j ns '
Miller county, in Arkansas. The cotton
lands yield astonishing crops ofthe fines
cotton, tobacco, and corn, iniiumerab*
herds graze on the elevated prairies, n:
the mountains are known to contain fi.
precious metals. The law of
prohibiting slavery, is evaded by lmT
negroes bound to serve an apprenticeship
of 99 years. There are several places
who number 50 or 60 of such apprentice,.
New-Orleans will receive the productiiku
of this colony, by barges and steamboat)
descending Red River, and send bad
in exchange whatever the new settlctx
may be unable to divide among them
selves. These settlements, so high m
the Red River, may be viewed as the
links which shall, in time, connect us, in
trade, with St. F e, and other parts of
New Mexico.”
11. Auctions produce all the perni
cious ef ects of gambling, front the great and
sudden changes of price which they occa
sion. The same article often varies from
fifteen to twenty per cent in as many min-
tftes. Indeed it often happens, that goods
of the same quality are selling at a differ
ence of ten or fifteen per cent, at the same
time, and in the same street, iu different
auction rooms.
12. Auctions facilitate fraudulent
bankruptcies. Any one meditating such
a crime, may buy goods on credit at pri
vate sale, and, after erasing or tearing off
the marks, convert them into money at
Auction; aud when- he is no longer able
to do so, either abscond with the fruits of
his villany, or pay a small composition,
and retain an ample capital for future pur
poses. Without the aid of Auctions it
would be much more difficult to pursue
such a course.
13. By means of Auctions any rash oi
embarressed individual may, by sacrificing
at public sale a quantity of any article be
yond what the demand’ requires, destioy
all regular sales of that article for many
months; and thus render useless the calcu
lations of the prudent ami the experien
ced. Is it to be tolerated that the mercan
tile class should be placed continually at
tlie mercy of every pennyless speculator?
Does not this directly tend to deter pru
dent men from becoming merchants, and
to leave the trade of the country in tbe
hands of the unskilful, the unprincipled,
and the desperate?
14. Auctions have introduced an ex
traordinary system of injusticein the ap
propriation of the funds of Insolvent
Debtors—unknown in any other country,
and incompatible with public prosperity!
As if there was something peculiarly sa
cred in debts due to auctioneers, they re
quire security from every buyer, in tbe
shape of an endorser on hjs note. If the
buyer becomes Insolvent, he assigns bis
whole effects to protect his endorser, and
his purchases at private sale are frequent
ly almost a total loss. The Auctioneers
virtually absorb the whole estate.- Rely*,
ing on this preference, they aie proverbi
al, as a body, for trusting many dealers,
who, among merchants, are not consider-
ed trusworthy. They thus give roinious
We are indebted to a gentleman who
has just returned from China for files of
the Sydney Gazette and South Wales
Advertiser down to the 1st of June last.
They contain much curious information,
of which the annexed article is not ihe
least interesting.—Phil. Nat. Gazette.
MADAGASCAR.
“ We are enabled to communicate to
our readers, that the most interesting dis
coveries have recently been made iu the
interior of the important, but hitherto lit
tle known, Island of Madagascar, through
the laborious and indefatigable exertions
of captain Barnes, late owner and com
mander of tbe Minstrel.
This gentleman (who was employed
by government to settle the new estab
lished settlement of Melville Island,) had
the misfortune to lose his ship, which,
with the goverment brig, Lady Nelron,
employed on the same service, was cut off
by the Malays at one of the Molucca Is
lands. He then proceeded to the Mau
ritius, on his return to England; and, in
consequence of some suggestions from a
high quarter, hewras ordered to undertake
the arduous task into the interior of Mad
agascar, in order to ascertain the opening
which that beautiful island might afford
for British commercial enterprize.
He proceeded accordingly to that part
ofthe Island where the natives were ac
customed to carry on ;; sort of trade with
the Fechellcs for bullocks. It was not
without considerable difficulty that he ob
tained permission from the chief who
was in authority there, to proceed to the
capital of Rahama, the King of the whole
Island, situated near 500 miles in the in
terior. This journey over a country nev
er before passed by an European, amidst
trackless wastes, and over mountains and
morasses of indescribable difficulty, he
effected io safety ; and on reaching the
capital he was received with great cour
tesy by Rahama, with whom he became
so great a favorite that he remained with
him for Upwards of five months, in the
course of which period he acquired a mass
of information, of the most useful descrip
tion, relative to that extraordinary coun
try and people.
“ Rahama is described as a Prince of
great talent and power, governing an im
mense population with the most despotic
authority. The capital is of a very con
siderable extent, partaking much of the
Arabian character, to which origin also
Captain Barnes considers the natives of
the Island may be deduced.—Iron, cop
per, and silver ores, of the richest quality
abound in every part of tbe interior; and
Incidents of a nature scracwKtU caict-
lated to excite marvel, frequently occ6<
among our Cape Hwru friends, as they
travel the “ illimitable sea,” in pursuit oi
spermaceti and whalebone. A large fe-
male whale was tackled to by two Nan-
tucket ship masters, on the off-shore
ground, iu some part of the Pacific. The
tow-irou breaking, the whale made i'j
escape. Eleven months afterwards, the
same whale, with tlie broken iron iu his
body, was captured by one of the cap
tains here alluded to, at a distance of
eighteen hundred miles front the place
where first seen.
Some yeais ago, in Woolwich Bay,
Coast of Africa, a young wltala came
alongside oue of the boats belonging to
a whaling ship—whereupon, one of ihe
men :n the boat marked the initials of his
name on its back, and then let it go. Se
veral years after, the identical whale it
self, bea ing the seaman’s name wa3 taken
on the Brazil Banks, aud produced sixty
barrels of oil.
Voyages of Discovery.—Captain
Foster, it) the Chanticleer, and captain
Botcler, in the [Ida, with the Albatross
lender, have sailed on tlleir respective
surveying voyages. Toe Chanticleer
proceeds, in (lie first instance, to Rio dt
Janeiro, from thence along the east coast
of America to the Straits of Magellau;
she will then go through this channel, and
ascertain the bearings of different points,
with tbo rise and fall and set ofthe tides
and currents, aud the variation of the
compass. In November, and the early
part of 1829, she will push to the soatIF
ward, and endeavor to get round the is
land of New Shetland. Particular at-
tention is to be directed to the geology^
of the southern extremity ol America,
it being presumed that coal and metalic
ores are easily to be obtained there.—
The Hecla will explore the western"
coast of Africa, from tbe mouth of tbe
Straits of Gibralter to the line—a part"of
the world little known, and in which ma
ny dangers exist.—Hampshire Telegraph.
The Horbed Snake.—This beautiful
spotted reptile, is rarely to be found.—
Oue of extraordinary dimension, upwards
of 5 feet in length, and as thick as a man’*
arm, was killed last week at the Union
Forge. A gentleman who saw the ani
mal, describes the horn, not as a bluet
protuberance from the tail, but a flint hard
substance encased in a shield, and as
sharp as a needle, which when attacked,
the creature shoots from his scabbard and
inflicts a wound which would destroy ani
thing it encounters, Naturalists have un
iversally described tbe weapon of this
snake differently, we have now a correct
account of it.—Tbe skin has been taken
off, and no doubt Mf. Arthur, the propri
etor of the works, will present it to one of
the museums.
Singular Providence.—Mr. Dyer, a
cooper, hearing the cry of a child, about
8 years old, which had fallen overboard,
at Eastport, Maine, jumped into the wa
ter, and was bringing it to the shore, when
boat from the English brig Nimrod
came to him wbea be was nearly exhaust
ed, and relieved him of bis burden. He
returned to his work, and when 1 the lad
was brought to life, soon after, he was in*x
formed that it was his own son."