About Savannah daily republican. (Savannah, Ga.) 1818-1824 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1819)
:+ut 0AVANNAH. REPUBLICAN. t'RKDEltiiik' fi. FULL, t nr ntm«, Daily paper gH—country &6,.per annum, • nrttu l» anrasrs. (j5*AII AVim and Hen \<lvertiiementa appear in Uotti paper*—ami stopt by vnder onl) „£J) /•’em the Jf tUnt! Intelligencer. BKBATK OX"the 8AJVJC qUBSTlOX. IN TUE, JI0U5E OP HKPRESESTATIVE9. kk. u-ann'-rmn etmynicni. Mr. 'L. next adverted to that part of the report of Hie select committee which condemn* the arrangements which were -tnadu fur the payment of the dividends tipim the tyjiik stock in England. The committee “di nrtt undertake to decide boV farit was objectionable to afford in duceweuts to fureigners-tobecuiue interest cd m our stock.’* Bultliustocnnvpel A me Ecan «tockhold-rs. and the government; to contribute to tbejinsaible lost of paving the dividends, to those abroad appears ,(lhey MJ) “to be unjust. - ” Ijle thought that a vei y short enquiry would lead the committee whom,be addressed to a differ- cut conclusion. The. arrangement in Question involved two considerations. Ought tna national banc to deal in exchange,' and were the terms on which it sold bill* to “ill® .stock holders abroad” fair and advantageous? It drat- very plain, that, to make an arrange rpent wrtirthe foreig!istockholder,by which i t was stipulated to make the -psyiuent in E iglarni at par, six months after the divi dend was declared, was •substantially to » *il them at par bills payable six months alter d ite. On gbf -then the bank to deal itueachange? Jt is the business for which" ,the gharVir specifically provides; it per htps lor the country, one of the most use. dul operations in which a national bank cxti be engaged—its appropriate duty. It lyould do very wlj.tie committee seem to think, if it were not for “the possible loss” in the transaction. And i.*i exchange operations there is-certainly some risk.— in the case of the'bank, the sale of bills implies the purchase of them, and bills may be protested. But the risk a*f the "transaction was as good .treason against discounting notes as purchasing bills. lie could not think then, with the committee, “that it was unjust to oblige the American Stockholder to contribute to the .possible while he was ta share in the proba- ; blc gain “of .paying dividends to those abroad ” But were the terms unreasonable? If h<" hank deals in exchange, is the sale at j ♦ "I its bills, where they ars payable six in mths after dale, or four months after sight, a sale for too Iowa price? ■ JLet an ex »min«»ion of the usual state of exchange ■’‘ decide the question. An examination of (."exchange, since the kink had gone into -operation, might be objected to as furnish- ' ing no fair criterion of the prudence of the : inaasore. Its'state might-have been acci- tlflitallyfavorablo. But he held in his hmd two statements of -the aunual gain »«J la*. Of -achange in the payment of our debt in Europe-—by the one of which, it appeared that the whole gain, after de ducting occasional losses remittances fprthe Dutch loans, from 1701 to 1809, inclusive, was upwards ofg2G0,O00, and by the other, that the giin after the same deduction*, under the operations of the commissioners of the sinking fund, from Ibd’to ieir. inclusive was -upwards of ” 8050,000. The average nrice then, which r flie government had paid for its bills, in a -period of twenty six years, had been con siderably below par. If the bank then had ( Engaged (o sell bills at par, it would have •o id reason, from the experience Of twentv- r ,pix years, to think that the arrangement i would be a prudent one, but upon a fair vatimate of the time which it gained, its 1 price must be considered as being about J “'iini p5(’cent above par. But the committee suppose “that the .oKe reasons'* assigned in the report of the cnminittre (of the .bank) against the taea- f-rau:e 'should have.preueoted its precipi-. t ite aJoption.” Air. E.-raid that there , f »e.re but -two sentence* in the report, j- winch referred rtallSo this subject. He >“ re.il their., and asked whether the intima- ^Hion tl.at the existing unfuvurable balance . .of trade alone influenced the “committee is.du decline the unqualified r. commendation ■of »uch an agency,” was considered as fur- ? mishsog the able reasons in condemnation W the race sere? Jo truth, there was no . -rcasoKicg in the report. But tiie authori ty of .the committee was decidedly favora- •bW to the general propriety of the measure "Which had been adopted. Among the objections urged be the .committee, of which he had had the honor ito tie a member, against the conduct of the brtif:, some at the most serious wore those which regarded -the amount end character cl its discounts. He concurred with .cme •of the views of the committee lipcu this .-subject. He did not now mean to speak •oi discount* given-to enable the discounter ‘tt> pay the instalment*- upon stock. But, without Feletrence tn the object, for -which ■they were employed,-tire diu-ootits, with a -pledge of stock, were maiiyof-tlicia, as the coininitu e had stated, *‘cxcee>ive in auioaot:” -While-a pledge of stock ta fair-' .ly employed is a mere substitute for per sonal security, he would nut say that ever •when Valued- at 25 p--r cent, advance, ’it; • might not be safe to the bank, as we Ilia* couiunient to the merchant? As a .joe.-e SuOstitoto.f.i pstsodal -security, it would '-imply (hat no discount would lo- made on it sm«unt which Wuuul be refused to the A* ne'drawr .with a common endorser; But wmy <il Jhe stuck loons were so lai-gr t'l .t the pledge nf stnek !<ist its character "rot m-rre colate. ai-*<;cu'-ity v 'When a loan for a mil.ion of dollar, was seemed be a * flange of -stuck, it Va« obvruus that 'tin- n.Eick •-.vs»’ii" t considered urily as a .fuuJ " » supply any tleiuieucy w.ncli tha.ip,,. *ti,A Ssintoivi *cy of ,ioe rirawcr-migiit J,,e- _ cfi. o, but u»;>.'he pi “.Opal and almost,tn. cniy ioj„Jat.«>n Ati lue Ivan. 'J'tje’ sgoie loin would Indeed be much much more ob jectionable with the security only of ail endorser. There were expressions in the re port which might be construed to imply a partiality in the distribution of these loans, which perhaps it was not designed to con vey, and. which, as h seemed to him, the evidence would not support. It was said, that the loans were, not mrde (he un derstood that the committee meant to say, that most of them were not made) tm the merchants and traders but to a few persons consisting of directors, brokers, ar.d spec ulators. It was difficult for him, (a stran ger at Philadelphia) ta pronounce sentence on the character of those who had borrow ed money on a pledge of stock. OI the whole number, he knew personally but two or three, and neither of. these.were speculators or brokers. The committee had selected the names of fourteen, and had obtained evidence of their employ ment* in lile—seven were merchants, fivg were brokers, and two could not be class- ed in cither list. Mr, M'Euen’s testimony- which has been published by the committee, contains his “opinion that a considerable proportion of discounts on pledged stock was for live benefit of merchants, aud pot of speculation.” Major Butler says, Uikt “he.has never, know any good paper refused on secount of an umouut "oT stock note soflerred,” It is said, in the 10th page. .ujf.tj.ip' report, ihat.'“n*t an in stance lias occured of a'note secured by the pledge cl stock’ being rejected-.-” If the merchant ami Irader tlitfii, had’ out their share of the loans, if wag only because they did not apply for them. Tne partiality it their distribution, was not to individuals ^professors, or parties—meschants, farmers, artizans.obtaiiie'd tfiosediscounts whenever they wished them. The partiality was the whole body of holders of bank aqd fundcdstock throughout the U. States. He believed (here was notan 'instance of a note secured by a pledge of funded stock being rejected. Whilst his judgetnnt led him to the conclusion that many of the’stock loans were highly objectionable from their a- inouot, he thought it lair to add the view which had satisfied his mind that a consi derable proportion of those loaus was ne cessary. He should have occasion, in am other j: irt of his remarks, to examine the state of exchange between the Unitifd States and other countries since the es tablishment of the uationat bank,-fur the purpose of showing that the whole amount of its discounts was not excessive; alttmu gli their distribution was unequal' But lie wished now only to apply th« test which the rate ol exchange, as be'-thought. fur nished,in an inquiry into.the propriety nf the discountoperations of tne bank in Phil adetphia, in the months oi July and Ac gust, 1817, when the amount of stock loam first became cun-iderable. Front the statement which he held .’in hig-.lisiliL. appeared that the exchange with thcpriu ctpal countries of Europe cmitiogvdy- with very little vaifation, nearly at Jiar during the time. This fact was incompatible with the supposition ot an excessive cir culatiUn. The whole atnsubt of cotes with a pledge of stock, discounted in Piuf adelphia in July aud August, 1817, was about six miliiun* and a half. Tliejeuiir- niittee think it-'singuiar’ that at this tune htny business paper should have been re jected.’ The whole amount rejected -was less than one million and a halt. Suppos ing this sum to have been discounted whether the patties were insolvent or not and the stuck notes rejected, the amount ofdiscouutsin Philadelphia, in two months would have beec less by five millions than it actually was. Of these fire -millions, a part (he did not know what’part) was ein- pl iyed for the payment of subscriptions to the bank, and did not add. to the amount of money in circulation. Suppose half to have beeu so employed—aud a reduction ol two and-a half millions in the circulation nf Philadelphia, below the amount which kepi its exchange at par. would have sus pended mercantile business, and spread embarrassment and distress through every •own in the state, lie appealed to gen tlemen whose business or curiosity had led them to observe the effects which’ even an inconsiderable change in the quantity ol money produces in a commercial commu nity, to say whether there was any Lhiii, visionary or extravagant in -this view. It had been alleged as an excuse for the magnitude and permanence of-the loans which were made about tills time by the bank, that the redemption of its stuck by the government had made it necessary that it should invest the state bank paper, w inch it was paid in, in some other secur ities. He must however observe, that the embarrassment of the bank, fromlhe accu mulation of the paper or state banks in >oine parts of tbe Union, (lid nuLoriginate in the measure t<> which it had been exclu sively attributed. Its own errors were a principal cause. As early as March, 1 Si7, it suffered from a deficiency of resource at ’Button; .aud three mouths afterwards in Xew-Y.irk; while a large amount of ba lances against the banks to tie south and west of lliuse places hid accumulutcd, even at that early period of its.uperatiui Tne observations of the report Ou the subject of post notga, Mr. L; (nought liable to misconstruction. Alter referring to se veral transactions in ’which post notes- were .received.by those whohad : .ubt*ijied discounts, it is ossrrved, that nut-being; ik afts on other ofiicos, they cannot be coo- sidefec! ai exchange uperatiohs’Tisow eve-? i-y'postnote but or.e,. lo which, reference^ was made in the -report, was“a draft upon another office.’ The ' resolution under which they were given, would be found auiong. the documents, (page.92.) ."they were post notes’-of the baiik of .Philadel phia. Tiny-were obtained ny those who jitdisco .ntsat Baltimme. '1 Insappexced to him, therefore, tube a simple case ol ftxciiaugi.. . . .. .. , .; .I'll-.-visa-of the •’post notes mentior.eil ill the.fii si part iri:the paragraph, was dil- i.iri-nt; Tue’pO-t note Was p.yable iu tdr >ameplace in u-fiich-tlie discounted in-le was pa j abie. .There was tou, some am-. biguity in the rwolutiim tor granting tne discount, and it might possibly be tnfered if We had no other evidense, that it was a condition of the loan, that a post note, payable 60 days after date, should be re ceived by the discounter. But bad we no other pyidcncr? Mr. Smith swears, (do- curne.nts, pi 14^ that’post notes at 60 ilays date,.have Irequently been- issued on tlie application of persons wJiohave’had notes discounted, 4iff it has ntitir bfen the con- ditianef the discount ** To every man who knows whit po«t notes are, their con venience to mercantile men, (mi indeed to societ* geD#rally,’ can fi-quire no ex- planstibn. A post note ot tbe Bhdadel phia'bank is batter than a bill ol whang; upon Philadelphia. If the exchange -with New-Orleana t« m Ijvor of Phtladidpliia, a merchant who wisheff to make a purchase at Orleans will find a-post -note ol Phila- delphia/or a potter to Ur aw upon jt, among the best means of accomplishing his object. Bank notes indeed, migbtjanswer the same purpogi-; but fc a* they are payable to bearer the risk in their transmission is greater — In tbe instance rvierred to in 4l»e repot t the bai>k had oo.pnssibD interest in pre ferring -the is.sus of. p**t notes to binik notes, because.tbe„distjnce pf the place to which tlie notes.were to~pe sent, was an effectual security (bit batik notes would not liavo retnrnedtupon it, within 60 days* i Mr. Eo-'v tides faul that b.c bad dqtaiiif.d the comonttee very,loug'ot) topics which he did pot consider likely tq ‘-.fief t the de cision of any pf tho . resolutions. But he liaitfeared. that, If the.opinions of stfleft committee, on some of thvse points, hau passed withou’l objection, tney would {jfisaeu wiiiiuui uujetuuii^ .. J w ‘" ,v “’ be considered as havtug received the saucw 1 to the committee. The employment ot “ - " paper in any country, causes its specie to be exported, and, adding to the supply ol tion of the lioufe He came nuv te the question which he supposed should chiefly engage the atten lion of the committee!—liow far has the hank answered tbe great object of its in stitution? If, as a measure of polity, the disaplutton of tie charter would be unwise, congress woult not dissolve it, even tllo 1 such a penalty.were just, aiid such a’ pro- cceding legal.. ' •' .The great oiject of tlie gotrernment in cbarteiihg the bank, Was toprouidetf cur 3 cency which should have-that degree oi stability and imfunfiityin its value, which is required bj tne interests both of-- our commerce and revenue. A curceucy equally valuable at every jilace and every time, cannot be provided by Jiumaa w.is- ilom. The nearest approach to this baa oeen generally supposed to he afforded by the employment ul gold and silver as to*, measures of value. The 14th congress did not aim at ideal perfection; they .wished to combine with tie conveniences ol'uank circulation an und'uruiity of value equal to that -which was possessed by the preci ou* metals; aud tlie meaos winch they eui ployed to secure this uniformity, wert simple and effectual, by enjoining, unde a heavy penally, the payment ul all us notes iii coTa, t upon demand. ’ In tne re port, indeed, the notes uf the aaiioual bank are said, to -be now ‘ r oti the same fouling with tfiose oflocal bank.” Ot th’i' footing on Which local banks mites stood; he should speak frerealter; but tlie price current upon bis table informed hiui tnat the greatest -discount on branch notes of tne United States, was 3-4 of 1 per cent. This was a vaiue muc mere uniform than tiat.which coin could be expected to have in so extensive a country.' Ho had been lately looking in to a book ou political economy, which had been published here, with high, and, in respect to its clearness and precision, with just commendations—the work of Mr. Tracy. He inferred from one of his chap tors, that the difference of exchange be tween Marseilles and Paris, was often from 2 to 3 per cent. If, with all the ficilities afforded by the internal improve inents in which France is so rich —with u furi-cnry consisting almost exclusively ol gold and silver, the variation in the value of money is three times greater- in her territory than on our continent, can it be said that, in this respect, the bank haa not fulfilled (he objects of its institution.? -Be fore its establishment, the value of bunk notes, even iu the commercial states, had varied 20 per cent, from each other, and, as none of -them bore a fixed proportion to the precious inetals, or to any natural standard, it was impossible to assign any limit to their depreciation. You have re quired that the currency furnished by tbe national bank should be every where con vertible into silver, and it- is so. You have xpected that it should be as uniform as coin and it is more so. He would not de tain the coninittee by reading a paper which he had prepared with thatiatention, containing the state t>f exchange,'since the establishment of the bank, with Eng land, France and Holland; tor Ite found himself occupying muth more of their time, than he had expected. 'Bat iie believed’ that any member who should turn his at tention to the subject, would remark its steadiness duringthat period. He thought, himjelf justified iii drawing from .this fact 4 conclusion highly'favorable to the bank —that the whole amount of its discounts had generally been nearly right. The dit*- tnbation ot those discounts he had admit, ted to be.wrong. It was the total amount of discounts wnicli a- spirit of ’eager ami intempeFate-«psculation would. be’ most apt.to enlarge. It was the -total amount uf discounts -which a'just regard to tlie stability of our money made it most lm- porfoirt to restrain. ' ' ' The correspondence of the bank with 4he-western branciies_jiad_beeu adverted to in the report of the committer. Mr. L. Ui'iught,fliat it illustrated theg neral views which lie had submitted of the subj.-ct.— lie-read the 3th and-tilh rules prescribed ior 'life • government of a western office, (documents, p-29,) to show that the or- ler* i f-the parentjj.iard were sufficiently tfucing them by orders from -the mother batik, was ’radically wrong. ’lo do justice to the^nniluct cf the bank and fail Iy to estimate its services in main- taing specie payments, it was proper to cousiile'rttie pecuiiardifficuities of the time, lie would not enter into tlie enquiry how tar' the payment Of a large public debt must add, in evefy country, to the difficul ties uf batiks uf circulation, but, iQiifiiiing liidisejfto (he payment of about five mil lions of the Louisiana d?bt in one year, lie would ask whether a remittance uf this in-'iuot to foreign creditors must not press heavily upon the resources of a national bank? Its,arrangements, indeed, had been such as to relieve the country from much of-the embnrrasment which might have been anticipated; such as to illustrate veiy strikingly tlie advantage which a -na tional bank may produce in the manage ment of exchanges. By becoming the agent for the remittance of the principal part of tlie debt, it has been able to con duct, without much inconvenience, an op eration which might otherwise have pro duced a pressure upon the whole banking interest uf the country.. Among the diffi culties of maintaining .specie payments, the extraordinary extension of our trade to the East Indies could not be overlooked; and the demand for the prec.ous uietals in Europe, which resulted Irom tnq attempt by no nrSny nation* which, -itu'riug their la'te wars, had used otfly paper, to tecove a specie circulation, was fe'lt on this side of the Atlantic. Among tlie'efforts nf pa per m’oneyf that of its making the value of tueui'tals'more variable,even. in coun tries which da not use it, must be ubvtou that article in foreign states, reduces its value there. The restoration ol a specie currency, by upening a new demand lor tne article jruiu other countries, enhances its value, there. Such is the process utiuli is going ou in many parts of Europe. Tin diminution in the supply fruin the Soutb American mines, will be cui.sitleied astx- •rtuig a less questiunahle influence on our stock of the precious in- tals. It was in ippnsitioato uli these diffitulties—m de fiance of the discontent »hicu contracted -iisceunts must have been expected to pro duce among its debtors, aou a reduced di vjdeuil amongst its Stockholders, that the bank of the Unfed Stales performed it. great duty-tiiaf of ma.ntaini’ug specie pay meiitsjtiiruughout the wiiofe extent .ot tin country The safe keeping of the public deposits, which implies their prompt payment specie upon demand, must appear parties larly important to a goverinueui wlios* josses hate hitherto bei-a so heavy as ours, from the want of this prov.-ioo. Even now, alter the immense amount of paper which had been assumed by the national bunk, there remained, lie believed, mu; toaii gj(J0,OUO of bank paper belpnging the government of which it had lost tne use from the war to tins time; of some of which he was very certain that it would ose even the pruicipal The bank is admitted to have fulfilled the doty of transmitting the public money without charge, whenever it might be re quired. He believed that the answer to the resolution offcis friepd from Virginia, (directing an account of the money so transniitt.ed,) had not been received; and lie was sure that when received, it must De imperfect and unsatisfactory. The ac count must represent each office as re ceiviiig the amount lodged there, whether to limit its discounts evttry where, it ill- ccted a perference to bo i*i*en to custom house bonds. Thus we had proof that (ti the first business of the bank, a perferenco ".ad been given to (he notrs of government l.-btoru, *:'»t the petfi-rence continued when circumstances required a general 'imitation of discounts; ami if this was the ; use when the bank'va* straitened it would be extraordinary indeed that it should be less liberal at other times. Nor did hQ know any thii gto countenanceth e opinion that it was so. Perhaps we might infer timnething as tq the disposition of the bank to extend its accommodations to the public from the order in which its first loans had been made. It was then that it must have been most penurious and reluctant in its dis: counts. Its first loan made l)vf<;re Janua ry, 1817, was one of 500.000 dollars to the government. In Philadelphia it loaned in Jannary, 1817, 182,642 dollars to stock-, holders, and its next loans were 29S.50I* dollars to those who were indebted to cus tom bouse bonds. Indeed he rrincmber- ed no evidence of a discount being at any time telused i-i the notes n! custom house dibtors. And major Butler’s testimony, •ff which he had already spoken, luvd niff b--eri iaAiugned by that ol any other wit- oe,». The committee would recoll-ct the statement, “that he had never kiiowq 01-y good paper relusetl oil account of tilt? aiuuant of stuck notes offered.”' (to be cost-iarccn ] in its own bills or any other; and in prac tice, a large proportion of tlie bills which are paid where exchange is most favorable, will be those uf the states whose exchange is most unfavorable. For example,a large proportion of the revenue accruing in Boston, will be paid'in the notes of Ohio l’iiat the transmission of money on ac count of the government, must be very considerable, even in time ofpeace mustbe true, unless the expenditure uf the coun try id each littledistrictbesupposr.il tube nearly equal to the revenue collected there But the revenue and expenditure may be exactly equal—let us suppose that to be the .case in Boston—and yet the bank may have to transmit for the government the whole amount of such expenditure—that is, it may receive, upon the supposition riiicli l as been nude, the money of Ohio, nd pay to the government Boston money But, although the advantage was very con siderable in peace, it tvas, by considerinj its effect in war, only that we could estt mate its real inaguitude. if the direct duties which the bank owes to the government have beeu fuifiied, lie would inquire how far the institution had furnished those accommodations to public debtors, which had probably b en expect ed from it? These accommodations were pf two kinds—by its luans,' and by lit ’general circulation of its paper. There are two scnteucrcs iu the repoit, which seem to intimate that the Joa ,s to public debtors, by the bank of the United States, have been inadequate to their just expectations. The report represents the northern;offices as compelled “to denj to the debtors of the government any in dulgence, or accommodation ill their pay ments,” and in another page it states that “it does not appear that the notes ot those who had revenue bo,ids to pay, have at any time been discounted.exiens.vely.” lie Considered this quite as a minor sub- jeet^ff "‘•leutunj but he would state the „«.njei^e as it hai appeared tu Ins ipvea- -igaiiu?. la the,very commencement of the epe- ratioi.s of tne bank (on the Sd of January, 1817) the board r.esolvcd tiiat notes lor t tose who had revenue bonds.to pay should be discounted, aud might be paid iu the paper of other banks, while of the small ouot'd the notes discounted the whole. energetic. The method of securing their were to-fcc paid exc!ti»ively in specie. O ■ x xution bv order* directly issued-tu the ti.e 9th cl January a resolution authorized cashier, shewed no jvaitt ol decision. 'But the officer* t« discount notes-lor revenue, ’.'tie system, w.-ucit ent Out aged the board t oonds, at a time when they bad not cum*, ext od its discounts’t>y paving its bills in .menctdiny other business. On th* 4tn the AtUuUccKies, aud then aimed at re- -tpm, thtf, when the board was obliged DJfce cf Che A\rjttk Herald.,ip il 9—r.icr, AH b'UL C.it..L\m i! U> perform a trulj painful task, in ac iiounci g the occurrence of another and *. iqost destructive F1KE, which has laid a considerable portion ol our tqtvn in mins. The desolation commenced ,,n Wednesday {light last, u little beloie 10 o’clock, m q, wooden kitclieu attached to l>r. M irliii'o' medicine store and dwelling, on Main-, street, and is supposed t > hjve origiiiab d in the carelessness of some ol tine seivanto* in leaving a lignted torch aticki" g in tlie, weather boarding. It was not disci v.ered,* until the flames had made such piogresu ’ as to b..ffie every .ff.irt to cliei* t7i.-ffl # and in a little time tiny communicated to the duelling, and also to the rear ed tl,# two adjoining buildings on i«rb side of it, Vue building adjoining JJr. hlaftlo*., .oa the east sole, vas the one $„ |oug knoirS| y the appellation ol Bourk’s llotd, wIikE was then uotenanted, aud the’n.-jl bevonil mat being an elevated fire jiroof hojuxr, (owned and occup'ed by Air. George White, as a glass aud cli mature) formed a bariier to the ti -ry element, and stayed its progress in that diicction, while it met with no interruption on the iveff giile, (the houses being either entirely built of wood, or having sliinglcd roofs) until it reached the corner of Talbot street, when it was providentially prevented from c-x- t'. niliug iii fliat direction; every house, however, on, east side of Talbot-strcet, with the expectation .of Mr. Joseph Van- holts dwelling, (which owed its preser vation to a slated roof) waseither consum ed or blown up; and all those on MhehelJ’s and \V Block’s lanes, ' with one cxceutioju in the former) shared the same fate. The wind, w hich at the cuminencctnrnt of tlie conflagration, was about §. S.JJ. aftei wards veered round to the westward —this seasonable change prevented the fire from croosing Talbot-strcet, in which event, with the combustible materials of Bank-street, and the interven ng neigh.- tiorhood to feed upon, there is no telling where the desolation would hnve termin ated. With considerable exe. tion, aided by one of the engines, the fire was also prevented from crossing Main-street. The aggregate loss by this distressing calamity, cannot be stated with precision- There .were, as well as we could ascertain, forty-one Tenements, or probably about one hundred buildings of different disc: ip tions, destroyed; we should estimate tlie amount of the whole, agreeably to theevr rent value of that kind of property, at about 60,000 dollars. The principal pro- rrietors were, Mr. Andrew Martin, Miles iing, esq. Mr. Francis Smith,captain <>t,t*. Win. T. Niviso* • sq. Mr. Ttiomas lock, Airs. Cowan, Mrs Bousli, Mrs. C;.l,e,- man, and Mrs. Elbeck. We understand that not more -than one- fourth of the value of the houses destroyed was insured. The loss and destruction of property in moving, was also considerable, particularly in the case of Mr.- Ger,vnj«, who kept an extensive glass and chins store; Dr; Martin, Mr. E. Smith, and sever al others, were also more or teas sufferer? in similar way. The number of families who were thus dispossed of their d.wej? lings, and left without a home, was thirty- four—the distress and embarrassment of tiieir situatiou, will be as readily conceive ed as it will be commisserated by every " eling heart. ■> HUE! A fire broke out in lst-strect in this city [Washington] in the square on this ?irfe of tlie Franklin Hotel, between five and six o’clock yesterday afternoon. Four of five dwelling houses were burnt down he.- liire the progress of the fire was arrested. We were not able last evening to leaip the name of the sufferers!—.Vat. Intel. ,8(4 iust. General Jackson and suite, "^-ived -aJ Knoxville, Tennessee, on the 2uth ult.=- lle was met by two companies i f caval.- ry, some miles from town, and by them escoited in. The next day a dinaer given to iiint by the citizens.—.th. Wager of Battle.—The British parlia ment has abolished the cruel anti absurd law, sanctioning the .termination of d.is.- putos by personal .combat. Whateyqr miaht have been its uses in-the -barbacuHB ages, when it-found Its way into the British statute book, it was argued that it .tvaa.gpjy disgrace to .civilization.—ib. An example of peculiar atrocity .->cotte red in the state-prison .at Charlestown nht long ago, "vnich has out often been patral- Ided in regard to ferocity of temper. ’J\e Warden hail ordered one of the tn.oaJ. injO*
