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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF
THE TREASURY ON THE STATE
OF THE FINANCES.
Treasury Department, December 6,1858.
Sir: Incompliance with the act of Congress,
entitled ‘‘An act supplementary to an act to es
tablish the Treasury Department.” approved May
10, 1800, I have the honor to submit the following
report:
On the 1st of July, 1857, being the
commencement of the fiscal
veer 1858, the balance iu the
treasury was...... $17,710,1 i4 27
The receipts into the treasury dar
ing the fiscal year 1858 were
$70,2738*69 59, as follows;
For the quarter ending September 30,1857—
From customs....$18,573,729 37
From public lands. 2,059,449 39
"From miscellaneous
■ sources,...---.-- 296,641 05
20,929,819 81
For tbe quarter ending December 31, 1857—
6,237,723 69
498,781 53
From customs....
From public lands-
■From miscellaneous
sources .....
356,159 78
7,092,665 00
For the quarter ending March 31, 1858—
■From customs 7127,000 69
From public lands.. 460,930 83
From miscellaneous
sources........-- 393,680 /8
From treasury notes
issued11,087,600 00
19,090,128 35
For the quarter ending June 30, 1858—
From customs 9,650,267 21
From public lands.. 474,558 07
From miscellaneous
sources 207,741 15
■From treasury notes
issued............ 12,628,70000
23,161,256 43
The aggregate means, therefore for
tbe service of the -fiscal year
ending June 30. 1858, were —. 87,983,933^86
The expenditures during the fis
calyearending June 30, 1858,
were $81,585,667 76.
Being for the quarter ending Sep
tember 30,1857 • •
Being for the quarter ending De
cember 31, 1657,
Being for tbe quarter ending
March 31,1858
Being for the quarter ending June
30,1858..... 22,730,570 58
Which were applied to the various
branches of the public service
as follows:
Civil.foreign intercourse, and mis-
cellaueons -•
Service in charge of tbe Interior
Department
Service in charge of tbe War De
partment
Service in charge of Navy Depart
ment
Public debt and redemption of
treasury notes 9,684,537 99
As shown in detail by statement
No. 1.
Deducting tbe expenditures from
the aggregate means during the
fiscal year 1658, a balance re
mained in the treasury on the 1st
July, 1858, of
During the first quarter of tbe cur
rent fiscal year, from July 1 to
September 30, 1858, the receipts
into tbe treasury were as fol
lows :
From customs....$13,444,520 28
From public lands... 421,171 84
From miscellaneous
sources 959,987 34
From loan of 1858.-10,000,000 00
From treasury notes
issued............ 405,20000
23,714,o28 37
17,035,653 07
18,104,915 74
26,387,822 20
6,051,923 38
25.485,383 60
13,976,000 59 j
6,398,316 10
The estimated receipts during
the three remaining quarters of
tbe current fiscal year to June
30, 1850, are—
From customs.... $37,000,500 00
From public lands. 1,000,000 00
From miscellaneous
sources ....... 500,000 00
Estimated ordinary means for cur
rent fiscal year. ......
Tbe expenditures for the first
quarter of the current fiscal
year ending September 30, 1858,
were—
For civil, foreign intercourse, and
miscellaneous services
For service in charge of Interior
Department
For service in charge of War De
partment ^,224,490 04
For service in charge of Navy De
partment. -
For public debt, including redemp
tion of treasury notes......
Tbe estimated expenditures during
tbe remaining three quarters of
the current fiscal year to Jnne
30,1859, are
Ordinary means as above
Deficit of ordinary means to meet
expenditures...
Tbe deficiency in the ordinary estimated means
to meet the estimated expenditures during tbe re
mainder of the current fiscal year ending June 30,
1859, are therefore $3,936,701 43.
There are extraordinary means
within the command of the depart
ment as follows:
Treasury notes which may be is
sued previous to the 1st Janua
ry, 1859, under the 10th section
of the act of December 23,1857,
say
Balance of loan authorized by act
of June 14, 1858..
Which added to the ordiuary esti
mated means
Makes the aggregate means to
June 30, 1859 81,129.195 56
Deduct the actual and estimated
expenditures as heretofore sta-
t«(f. 74.065,806 99
Leaves an estimated balance in tbe
treasury July 1, 1859,of........ 7,063,298 ;>7
Estimates from (he fiscal year from July 1, 1859, to
July 1, 1860.
Estimated balance in treasury..
Fstimated receipts from custom*,
for the fiscal year ending Juno
30,1860
Estimated receipts from public,
lands
Estimated receipts from miscellan
eous sources. ......
Aggregate of means for year end
ing June 30, 18(50 .....
Expenditures estimated as fol
lows-. . .
Balance of existing appropriation,!.
Amount of permanent ana indefi
nite appropriations............ ..
Estimated appropriations to b 3
made by law for the service cf
tbe fiscal year, to June 30, I860.
the imports for the same time were $282,613,150
being $26,276,991 less than the year before —
This balance in favor of exports over imports was
doubtless appropriated to the payment of out
foreign debt, thus relieving the country, in part,
of that source of embarrassment. It exhibits a
large margin for an increase of importations when
the business and necessities of the country shall
demand it. The restoration of confidence and re
action of trade have already been manifested in
this regard.
By referring to the receipts from customs at the
port of New York for the months of October and
November, 1856, the year preceding the revulsion,
the same months of 1857, the year of the revulsion,
and the same months of the present year, 1 find
that the receipts of those two months in 1856 were
$6,202,227; in 1857 were $2,028,210; and in 1858,
were $3,8)0,819. Whilst the country has not
recovered ent.relv from the disasters of the last
year, the increased receipts of the present year
indicate a decided reaction, and tbe promise of
a certain and speedy return of prosperous times.
The foregoing estimates contemplate a defi
ciency in the means of the government which, by
the 30th Jnne, 18(50, will amount to the sum of
$7,914,576. Provision should be made by Con
gress at its present session tc supply the defi
ciency. Iu what manner shall it be done? A
loan for this purpose is not deemed advisable, in
view of the addition already made to the public
debt. A revision of the tariff of 1857, and the im
position of additional duties, is the only remedy,
unless Congress shall take some, action to relieve
the treasury from a portion of the expenditures it is
now required to meet.
In revising the tariff, the same principles should
directand central the action of Congress that would
be considered in the adoption of an original act
I do not deem it proper to enter into any ex
tended discussion of the theoretic principles on
which a tariff'act should be framed.
They may be briefly stated. Such duties should
be laid as will produce the required revenue, by-
imposing on the people at large the smallest and
the most equal burdens.
It is obvious that this is most effectually done
by taxing, in preference to others, such articles as
are not produced in this country; and among ar
ticles produced here, those in which the home pro
duct bears the least proportion to the quantity im
ported are the fittest for taxation. The reason is.
that in taxing articles not made in the country the
whole sum taken from the consumer gees into the
treasury, while in the other class the consumer
pays the enhanced value not only on the quantity
imported, but on the quantity made at home. This
last tax is paid not to tho treasury, but to the
manufacturer, thereby rendering such a duty not
only more burdensome, hut grossly unequal; the
home producer being benefited at the expense of
the consumer.
If these principles are sound, it is obvious that
no tariff, strictly for revenue, has ever yet been
enacted in the United States.
The early legislation of the country' contemplated
other objects, such as fostering our then infant
manufactures, and encouraging the production of
indispensable articles, so as to render our country
independent of foreign governments in case of
war.
The objects which originally led to our system
of duties have long since beeu attained; but un
der that system large interests have grown up
which have always claimed and received such con
sideration from Congress as te prevent the aban
donment of the idea of protection.
I do not expect that a tariff will be now framed
on rigid revenue principles, bat in all changes an
effort should be made at least to avoid a further
departure from them.
Assuming that the general principles of the
present tariff act will be adhered to, all will admit
that, having ascertained the additional revenue
required as accurately as possible, the least in
crease of duty that will raise the sum is the proper
rate to be adopted.
i Iu determining, however, on what articles the
, duty is to he increased, a strong appeal will doubt
less be made so to discriminate as to afford relief
to certain interests said to be unusually de
pressed.
In a period of general financial distress, such as
we have not yet entirely passed, each interest in
the country naturally feels the want of any aid that
would relieve its embarrassments and restore its
, prosperity. In responding to such a demand, care
should be takednot to afford the required relief at
the expense of another interest equally in want
of assistance, and equally entitled to receive it at
the hands of the government. When a general
calamity has paralyzed the hand of industry- and
cramped the energies of the people, it is unfor
tunate that at such a time, when the country is
least able to hear it, the wants of the government
should force an increase of taxation. Iu yielding
to the necessity which compels the imposition of
the burden, let it be done with that spirit ofjus-
tice which regards with equal care and protection
all the varied interests of the country.
In connexion with this branch of the subject, I
would respectfully refer to the view's presented in
my last annual report to Congress.
It is also a subject of regret that a public neces
sity requires a revision of the tariff act of 1857
before a sufficient time has elapsed to test its legi
timate effects upon the business of the country as
well as the revenues of the government. False im
pressions, as to its operation must be carefully
guarded against. The fact that this act went into
operation on the 1st of July, 1857, and was followed
so soon by the disastrous revulsion of that year, has
induced many persons to believe that the one was
the necessary cause of the other. The advocates
of a high protective tariff have not failed to avail
themselves of this circumstance to press upon the
public mind their peculiar system of affording relief
to a distressed people, by increasing their taxes.
Every interest in the country which suffered in
the general calamity has been earnestly appealed
I to, and no efforts have been spared to induce
each and all to believe that their misfortunes have
. been produced by the passage of the tariff' of 1857.
There is, however, one important point in the
argument where the logic of the protectionists is
wholly at fault. The revulsion was nut confined
to the" United States, or even to this continent. It
u qur xni ri swept over the world, and was felt with equal and
* i ’ perhaps greater severity in other conntries than
our own. These results have been too universal to
have been brought about by a reduction of about
five per cent, upon our importations. The argu
ment of tho preteclionists is, that a reduction of
our duties stimulates the foreign trade, and in this
instance its legitimate effect should have been to
relieve the embarrassments of the countries with
whom we trade, by opening a larger market for
their productions. They charge that the increased
importation of foreign goods into the country is
disastrous to the business of the home producer and
manufacturer, by depriving them of the markets
of their own country. Such is the theory of the
f irotectionists. Let us apply to it thecfacts w hich
iave transpired upon the operations of the tariff of
1857.
The foreign producer and manufacturer have not
been benefited by the reduction. At all events
they have not been preserved from the general
calamity which has come upon the producers and
manufacturers of similar articles in our own
country.
The importations for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1858. the first and only year ot the present tariff,
amount te $282,613,150. being $78,276,991 less
than the importations of the last year of the tariff
of 1846.
These two facts alone furnished a strong refuta
tion of the theory we are combatting.
For the purpose, however, of a more thorough
examination of the questions, I propose to coil-
sider the operations ot the iron interest during the
same period. I have selected iron for two reasons;
first, it is one of the most important interests iu the
country, deserving the care and protection of the
government to as great an extent as any other: and,
secondly, because it has suffered as much, if not
more, than any other interest from tho recent re
vulsion.
Heinp
....36
Sugar 20 *
Molasses
....31
Pig iron.
.15 ‘
Bar iron...
....12
Leather.
.17 “
Wool
...16
Whale oil
.19 ‘
Rice
■••134 “
Tobacco.
.12 •
Pork
...9 “
Copper..
.17 •
Butter
...10
Cheese...
-.26 •
25,230,879 46
38,500,000 00
70,129,195 56
6,392,746 38
1,994,304 24
4.086,515 48
1,010,142 37
52,357,698 48
74,065,896 99
70,129,295 56
if the price of any commodity falls in the markets
of the world, our people, as consumers,are entitled
of the benefit of the reduction, and it is not just that
the price should be unnaturally sustained by legis
lation. .
This is especially true when the same causes
have produced a like decline in almost every im
portant product of our country. , .
A table is appended, (marked 8.) compiled from
the most reliable sonrees accessible in the absence
of any official record, showing the average price
for the three last fiscal years, and for each month
of each year in the market of^New ^ orkof a
number of leading articles. I* rom this table
it will appear that from tho year ending June
30 1857, to that ending June 30 1858, there was
a decline in leading articles as follows, viz:
Wheat flour 24 per cent. Hay 20 per cent.
$1,000,000 00
10,000,000 00
70,129,195 56
$7,063,298 57
56,000,00000
5,009,000 00
1.000,000 00
69,063,298 57
12.478,90726
8,497,724 50
52,162,515 08
73,139 147 46
69,063,298 57
4,075,848 89
The estimated receipts being.
Deficit ......
To this estimated deficiency on the 30th June,
I860, should be added the sum of $3,836,/2 ,
which will be required for the service ot the Post
Office Department during the present fiscal year
This latter amount is not taken into tbe foregoing
estimates, but is asked for by that department, as
will appear from the letter of the Postmaster Gen-
eral accompanying the annual estimates.
When my last annual report was submitted to
Congress. I explained the embanassments under
wh : ch the estimated receipts into the treasury
were made. A new tariff act had just gone into
operation, under circumstances growing out of
the then recent revulsion in trade and business,
which made ali calculationas to lU effects doubt
ful and unsatisfactory. This opinion w as frankly
No class loses more heavily or sustains greater
privations iu a period of general revulsioti than
the agriculturists, and it is asking too mueh of
them to submit to additional burdens in order to
exempt a favored portion of their fellow-citizens
from the common calamity.
The above list also shows how little the decline
in prices can be ascribed to the change in the tai-
itf made in 1857. It occurred indifferently, in
articles imported in the most trivial quantities,
and iu those most largely imported, in articles the
duty on which was unchanged, and in those on
which it was diminished; proving that the cause
was outside of all tariff regulations and beyond
the control of legislation.
But it it be alleged that although the changes
made iu 1857 did not injure tho American manu
facturer, yet that such lias be< n the result of the
tariff of 1846, which was based on the same prin
ciple, the answer is, that it does not appear that
thu manufacturing interest has suffered from that
tariff. While some particular branches, prema
turely or improvideutly entered into, may have
failed, yet the fact is well known that all the great
manufacturing interests have largely increased
since 1846, more rapidly than the population and
general production of the country.
An examination of the statistics published un
der the authority of various States, among which
may be specified Massachusetts, New York, and
Ohio, will abundantly prove the proposition. One
mode of ascertaining the comparative prosperity
of the several industrial interests of the country at
different times; is by comparing the amounts of
products exported to foreign countries, it being
obvious that those who can compete in the com
mon market with the like products of other
countries can certainly maintain themselves at
home.
Applying this test to the facts wefind the follow
ing results:
The export of American manufac
tures for the year 1847 was..... •••• $10,4/6,34o
For the year 1858 30,372,180 ,
Increase, ^19,^95,835, equal to 190 per cent
In the same years the exports of cotton
were, 1847 53,415,848
Id J858 131,386,661
Increase, $77,970,813, equal to 146 per cent.
Tobacco, 1847 7.242.086
In 1858 .... 17,009,767
Inci ease, $9,767,681,equal to 135 percent.
Tho exports of agricultural productions, except
cotton and tobacco, during the same period, show
au actual decrease, which, however, is not a fair
comparison, as 1847 was a year of famine in Eu
rope, but the increase of those exports by a lair
comparison of the two periods is about from 75 to
100 per cent.
Of the export of manufactures, those of irou
and the manufactures of Iron are found to he:
1647, $1,167, 484; 1858, $4,729,874; increase, $3,-
562,390 equal to 305 per cent.
I am aware that large exports of an article may
sometimes result from adversity instead of pros
perity, as when the holder unable to make sales
at home; ships goods abroad, as a last resort. But
it is taxing out credulity to be told that exports of
a large class of articles will go on from year to
year, while tho manufacturers are unable to com
pete at home with the importer, though protected
by twenty-four or even nineteen per cent. And,
if it be said that the year 1858 was one in which
the state of things referred to especially existed, a
comparison of the exports of the preceding year,
conceded to be one of remarkable prosperity, will
show the same result.
It will not suffice to say that this prosperity is
owing to the influx ot gold from California. That
has been a cause of a general rise in prices and of
increased activity in all industrial departments;
but no reason is perceived why the agriculture of
the country should not be as much stimulated by
that cause as the manufacturer. Yet, while both
have'increased, the manufacturers have increased
faster, whereas if they had been seriously injured
by the tariff of 1846. they would, at most, have
improved more slowly than other interests not so
affected.
1 proceed to reconsider the question of the best
mode of revising the present tariff with a view to
raising a sufficient sum to meet the demands cf
the public service. It has been proposed to re
peal the act of 1857, and restore the act of 1846.—
To this suggestion there are serious objections,
which, to my mind, are insuperable. I am well
satisfied that the wants of the government do not
require a permanent increase of the taxes to the
extent of reviving the tariff of 1846 The duties
of forty and one hundred percent, imposed by that
act are, in the present condition of trade andcorn-
meice, wholly indefensible.
The public mind of the country will scarcely be
brought again to acquiesce in any higher schedule
than thirty per cent, the maximum of the present
law. It would certainly require some more ur
gent necessity than exists at this time to justify
such a measure. ...
It has also been proposed to adopt the principle
of home valuation, with a view, first of increasing
the rates of duty, and secondly of guarding
against undervaluation and other frauds, which
are alleged to exist under our present system.
As a measure for increasing the revenue, this
proposition possesses no merit. It seeks to do
indirectly shat can be better effected directly. If
the sole object is to increase the taxes, it is better
to do so in a bold and manly way. At present the
duty is imposed upon tho market value of the
merchandise in the principal markets of the coun
try from which the importation is made, including
all costs and charges of shipment.
To substitute for this rule the principle of home
valuation would be to add to such value of the
merchandise the insurance, cost of transportation
duty levied, aud profits of the inipoiter.
It ought to be a sufficient reply to tho proposi
tion that some of these elements entering into the
home vaiue are not legitimate subjects of taxation.
Other and more serious objections will be consid
ered in another connexion. The reason in favor
of home valuation, which has been pressed with
the most earnestness, is that it will protect tho
revenue from fraud by undervaluation. The ad
vocates of the change allege that, under our pres
ent system, the government is defrauded by va
rious means, of its legitimate duties upon a large
portion of the imports. In proof of this charge a
comparison has been instituted between the value
of our exports and imports for the last three years
showing that the imports were less, by a large
amount, than the exports.
This difference is charged to under valuation —
The remedy proposed is either home valuation or
specific duties. It is true that the exports for the
last few years have exceded the imports, but the
inference which has been drawn from it is not nec
essarily correct. Other causes have contributed
to bring about this result. It should be borne in
munications of consuls and other
agents.
3d. The invoice of the importer made under
oath, and also mad • in view of heavy penalties in
curred lor fraud and under valuation.
4th. A comparison of the invoices of the various
importers engaged in the same business, and not
unfreqoently ot the same date.
5th. The experience derived from daily exam
inations of the character, value, and price of the
article.
These, with other ordinary channels of informa
tion common to the public, furnish, it would
seem, ample means for the correct and faithful
discharge of duty.
The additional element of cost and charges of
shipment cannot be calculated with the same cer
tainty. It however, constitutes a small portion of
the dutiable value, and the experience of the ap
praisers will enable them to guard against any se
rious injury from that quarter. To substitute for
this plan a home valuation would be to require
the appraisers to ascertain the value of the article
by an inquiry into its value at the port of importa
tion. In what manner shall we proceed to do so
He must take the price current of the market, fur
nished in the ordinary mode, and such information
as he can gather from his intercourse with com
meroial men, and his knowledge of the trade and
business of his port. The result would be that
the duty levied on the same article would be differ
ent in the different ports of the country; and this
would happen, though the appraisers might dis
charge their duty honestly and faithfully. Sueh
would be the case under the most favorable view
of the subject; but we cannot close our eyes to the
fact that the adoption of the system of homo val
uation would inevitably lead to difficulties and
embarrassments.
it would become the interest of importers to
control the market value at their respective ports
with a view to tin- amount of duty to be paid hv
them. In what manner, and to what extent com
binations for this object would bo made, espe
cially at the smaller ports, it is impossible toan-
ticipate. The men who are enabled to evade the
present law, and defraud the treasury in spite of
its restrictions, and with the checks now thrown
around them, would not find it difficult to estab
lish, when it suited their purposes, a fictitious
market value for the most, it not all, of our ports.
If the appraiser, convinced that by such combina
tions ot other means a fraud was attempted,
should find it necessary to ascertain the lone fide
market value, Ins most efficient means of doing
so would be togo to the same sources of informa
tion that he now uses.
Ha would be compelled.then, as now to look to
the foreign market, aud the cost and charges of
shipment, but he would be required to extend his
investigation to the other elements which go to
make up the whole value of the article. After as
certaining the dutiable value of the goods, as at
present he must ascertain tbe insurance, the
i freight, the profits of the importer; and, adding
all these together, with the amount of duty to be
paid, he would arrive at the home market value.
To my mind this process would constitute the fair*
est and safest check against fraud.
As, however, all these elements, except the rate
of duty, would differ according to the different
modes of transportation to the different ports.it
leads in the end to the same objectionable result
which I have already considered. Not only so,
but each new clement entering into the calcula
tion adds to the difficulty of ascertaining the true
value, and opens a new door for imposition. If,
as charged, we cannot ascertain the value of an
article in a foreign market, aud the cost of putting
it on shipboard, it would he still more difficult to
find out not only that, hut the additional amounts
of insurance, freight, and the profits of the impor
ter. Iu this view of the subject it will be perceiv
ed that the change is objectionable for two palpa
ble reasons. 1. By inveitably causing different
valuations of the same goods at the different ports;
thus violating both the spirit and letter of the con
stitution, which declares that ‘‘all duties, imposts,
and excises shall be uniform throughout the Uni
ted States,” and that no preference shall be given
(by any regulation of commerce or revenue) to the
ports of oue State over those of another. Though
lie may not be able under any system to have the
same precise valuation in every port, yet that one
which most nearly approximates to it should bo
adopted.
2. A second objection is, that so far from pre
venting existing frauds, it offers greater opportu
nities for fraud than the present law.
It is sought to avoid these difficulties and em
barrassments by making the market price at New
York the standard of value, and to levy duties
not only on there but throughout the United
States upon that basis. I do not see that it meets
the objections which have beeu presented against
the system The same danger of affecting the
market prices by improper combinations would
exist. It woujd ho attended with like difficulties
iu reaching the true valuation of merchandise.
The appraisers at other ports would encounter the
same attempts at fraud and undervaluation, without
possessing equal means of detection. Its operations
would be unequal and unjust; the importer at
New York paying a duty upon the real value of
his merchandise, whilst at all other ports he would
he required to pay upon a fictitious value; as the
actual value of an article in New 1 ork on one day
would often be very different from its actual
value in New Orleans and San Francisco on
another or even the same day. The importer at
New York would pay his duty upon the real value
of liis goods at the time he receives them, whilst
at all other places he would he requited to J>ay
upon a fictitious value ascertained at some previ
ous period at another point. These objections
would seem to be sufficient to reject the proposi
tion, but the impracticability of working such a
plan is conclusive against it. The difficulty of
ascertaining in Boston. Philadelphia, Charleston,
New Orleans, and other points upon the Atlantic
and Gulf, the market value of merchandise iu
New Yoik would he great; but when the rule is
extended to the Pacific, its enforcement would be
not only violative of the constitutional provisions
to which I have referred, but of evety principle of
justice and equality.
Adhering to the principles of the present tariff
act. I would recommend such changes as will
produce the amount required for the public ser
vice. In accordance with the suggestion contain
ed in my last annual report, I .recommend that
schedules C, D, F, G, II be raised, respectively
to 25, 20, 15, 10, and i ' per cent. I see no good
reason for having departed in the act of 1857
from the system of decimal divisions. The pres
ent state of things affords a .fit opportunity of cor
recting the error. This change will increase the
revenue from customs $I,8UO,000, upon the basis
of the last fiscal year.
To raise the additional amonnt needed will not
require an increase of all the rates of duty of the
present tariff. It will become necessary, there
fore, to select certain articles to be transferred
from lower to higher schedules. In making such
changes, the true principles governing the imposi
tion of duties for revenue should be kept iu .view,
and such discriminations made as, -consistently
therewith, will best promote the various interests
of our country without doing injustice to'any.
The information contained in table 7 will afford
Congress the necessary data for their action —
That table contains the importations, with the
rates of duty and amount of revenue d-rivab e
therefrom, "lor each of three last fiscal years.—
When the amount which the legislation of Con
gress shall make it necessary to raise shall have
been ascertained with anything like reasonable
certainty, the information contained iu this table
will render the work of making such transfers
simple and easy.
The public debt on the 1st July* 1857, was $29,-
060,381 • 90. as stated in my last report. During
the last fi-cal year there was paid of that debt the
sum of $3,904,409 24, leaving the sum of $25,-
By reference to table six, appended to this re
port, it will be seen that tlm importations of iron
and steel of all kinds amounted, m the year ending
June 30, 1857, to $25,954,1 II. In the year ending
June 30, 1858, it amounted to $16,328,039; being
a reduction Of $9,1)20,(172- This reduction is ne
counted for in part by the reduced prices of the
last year; but there is shown by the same table a
large reduction in the amount of imported iron and
all manufactures of iron. Whatever cause, there
fore, may have produced the great depression of
the iron interests during the last year, it is very
clear that it is note wing to an increased importa
tion of foreign iron under the act of 1857. If, as
alleged, the price of iron in this country liad been
reduced by the increased importations caused by
the reduction of duties, then the price of the article
in those countries from which we import ought to
have been beneficial'liy affected. A comparison of
the prices in this and foreign countries during tbe
last year will allow that such was not the fact, as
the price fell not only in the United States, but in
Europe also. The price of big-iron, on hoard, at
Glasgow, on December 31, 1856, was 74s (<!.; on
December 31,1857 52s. Od ; being a decline of twen
ty-nine per centum. The average price at New Voik,
for January, 1857, was $25; for January, le58. was
$20 50: showing a decline of eighteen per ceutum.
The difference between the highest ami lowest
prices iu New York for the year 1857, being $31
in April, 1857, and $23 in December, is less than
twenty-six percent., whilst the difference between
• V . , OU111 yj A V " J*' *» * — * 7 ” -w '
mind that our exports are valued at the port ot ex- 1 155,967 66 outstanding on tho 1st July, 1858.
portation. When these exports reach a falling T 0 this amount must be added the sum of $10,
market abroad the return cargo will exhibit in the ooo.out), negotiated during the present fiscal year,
diminished value of the importation the loss sits- of the loan authorized by act of June 14, 1658.
tained by the person on whose account the exports 'i ij ere was issued under the provisions of the act
have been shipped. This often constitutes an im- 0 f December 23, 1857, during the last fiscal year,
portant element in accounting for that excess of ; treasury notes to the amount of $23,716,309, of
expressed to Congress at the time. The present es- t | |e i,i K h est ail( j | owust f or the same year at Liver-
, e , ...mnwhiit more favor- i J
timates are submitted under somewhat more favor
able circumstances, and consequently with greater
confidence in their correctness.
The tariff of 1857 lias been in operation more
than a year, and in ordinary times the experience
of that year would aff ord reliable data to judge of
its effect as well upon the trade of the country as
the revenues of the government. The continu
ance of financial difficulties during a large portion
of the time, however, and the effects of it, opera
ting to a great extent during the whole period,
create serious difficulties in formiug a satisfactory
judgment upon the question. The preseut esti
mates are based upon the opiroon that a reaction
in tbe tiade and business of the country has com
menced, and that we are gradually, but steadily,
returning to a healthy and prosperous condition.
There seems to be a concurrence in the public
mind on this subject, if we may judge from the
general tone of public sentiment. The files of
the department furnish strong evidence of its
truth. Our exports for the year ending 30th Jane
1858, were $324,644,421—being a reduction from
the preceding year of only $38,316,261; whilst
pool was thirty per centum
f he average price of bar iron at Liver- £ s <1.
pool for January, 1857, was 8 2 6
The average price of bar iron at Liver
pool for January, 185-, »vas 6 12 6
Difference, 18 percent.
The average price of bar iron at New
J'ork for January, 1857, was $55
The average price of bar iron at New
York for January, 1858. was
Difference nearly 13 per cent.
Now, it will hardly he contended that a.reduc
tion of six per cent, in q^r tariff depressed the
price of irou in Glasgow and Liverpool. The
argument of the protectionist contemplates a dii-
ferent result. These facts show that the prices
have been as well sustained in America as in Eu
rope, and that the depression which occurred must
have been brought on by causes common to both
countries, and independent of the tariff of 1857.
It may be said that tbe prices in America would
have been better sustained with a higher tariff by
excluding the importation of iron from England at
the low prices ruling there. The answer is, that,
por
exports which has been attributed to fraud. '1110
payment by our citizens of their debts in Europe,
w liich for two years past has been largely done,
the transactions of hankers and brokers in ex
change, and smuggling, a species ol fraud common
to every system, all affect the comparative amounts
of exports and imports.
If it were true that the difference in labor of ex
ports over imports was chargeable to the ad valor
cm system and the present mode of valuation, then
tho faet^iould bo found to exist not only during
the last few years, but during the whole period of
tho existence of the present system. An examina
tion of our exports and imports (as will be seen by
reference to table 4) for a series of years, will show
that such is not the case. The tariff of 1846 was
m operation over ten years. During that period
the whole amount of our exports was $2,512,681 ,•
327, and our imports during the same period
amounted to $2,566,250,328. The advocates of
home valuation have fallen into the error by con
fining their comparison to a limited number of
years.
The general result which I have stated indicates
that if frauds have been practiced upon the reven
ue it is not owing to our present ad valorem sys
tem. This will appear from a coni|uirisoii of the
exports and imports (hiring the operation of the
tariff act of 1812. That act, the distinguished fea
tures of which were specific duties and minimum
valuations, was in operation nearly four years.—
During that time our exports amounted to $423,-
661,648, aud our imports |to $412,135,165. If tho
argument drawn from theexcess of exports over
imports be correct, this statement would indicate
that greater frauds have been committed under a
tariff of specific duties than under the ad valorem
act of 1846. If, however, it be true that frauds
are committed under our present system to the ex
tent charged will a change to home valuation pre
vent the i-evil I ....
To furnish a satisfactory answer to this inquiry,
it will he proper to examine the manner of ascer
taining the dutiable value of imports under exist
ing laws, and what would bq required to be done
under the proposed change. At present the ap
praiser is called upon to ascertaiu the value of the
the article in the principal markets of the country
from which it is brought. The data upon which
he is to make up his judgement are: 1st. The
prices current which every commercial communi
ty supplies.
2d. The information to be derived from the com-
i-asury I
which there was redeemed, and the department
informed thereof, during the same period. $3,961,-
500, leaving the sum of $19,754,800 outstanding
on the let July, 184"*. The details are shown by
statements marked 1 and 5. I11 estimating the
receipts and expenditures for the present aud
next fiscal years, it is not contemplated to redeem
the outstanding treasury notes. As these notes
w ill become due and payable during the next fiscal
year, some provisions should be made to meet
them. 1 am opposed to the policy of adding this
amount to the permanent public debt by funding
the notes. On the other hand, their entire re
demption in one year would call for an increase of
the tariff to a point which would render necessary
another revision of it in the succeeding year. -
The true policy is to look-in the present revision
of the tariff "to their gradual redemption, com
mencing with the next fiscal year. To carry out
this policy, Congress should provide for tho raising
of such amount of revenue as will enable the
department to redeem a portion cf them, and, at
the same time, exiend for one year the provision
ol the act of December 23, I8i'»7, authorizing the
rc-issue of such portion of them as the means of
the government will not enable us to redeem.
By this course we shall gradually discharge this
part of the public debt without placing upon the
people au enormous additional burden in the un
necessary increase of their taxes.
The operations of the independent treasury
system have beeu conducted during the last fiscal
year with the usual success. Another year s ex
perience confirms the opinions 1 expressed 011 this
subject in my former annual report. 1 am well
satisfied that the wlwlesome restraint which the
collection of the government dues in specie ex
erts over the operation ol our preseut banking
system contributed in no small degree to miti
gate the disasters of the late revulsion. The op
portunity which it afforded at an eariy period of
relieving the financial embarrassments of the
country by the policy of redeeming a portion ol
the public debt, and furnishing the country there
by with the specie used in its redemption, was at
tended with the happiest results. It is difficult to
estimate the extent of the relief which was thus
afforded, though 1 believe that the intelligent
judgment of business men occurs in according to
it the most beneficial effects. The adoption of a
similar system of the different States, as suggest
ed in my last report, wonld afford additional pro
tection to the country against the ruinous effects
commercial c f over banking, and consequent derengement of
the enrrenev. A remedy so simple and just for
an evil so great must commend itself to the fa
vorable consideration of those to whom the sub
ject is intrusted.
The attention of Congress is again called to the
provisions of the act of March 3. lo5i, on the
subject of deposits by the disbursing agents of the
government.
In my last report I stated in general terms that
it was impracticable to execute the law according
to its literal requirements, and the reasons were
briefly set forth. The objects which the act
sought to accomplish meet the entire approval of
the department, and it has been carried out to the
utmost extent that was practicable. A few illus
trations will show the impossibility of executing
the law as it now stands. By its provisions a
purser in the uavy would be required to deposit
the funds placed in his hands for the payment of
the officers and crew of his hands for the payment
of the officers and crew of a vessel, in mte of the
public depositories, and he could only draw it out
by a draft in favor of the person to whom he de
sired to make payment. A vessel on a foreign
station is absent not uufrequently for two and
three years, and whilst thus absent the purser
wonld have to pay the officers an/l men by drafts
on a public depository in the United States. He
would also have to pay all other expenses, which
exceeded the sum of twenty dollars, by similar
drafts in favor of the person to whom the pay
ment was to be made A disbursing agent i . the
Indian Department would be required to pay the
Indians their annuities by similar dratts. The
disbursing agents of the army would have to set
tle with the officers and meu of tlicarmy, at their
distant posts, in the same manner. A collector of
the port of Eastport, in thd State of Maine,
would have to transport the funds with which he
is to pay the employees of the government at his
port to Boston or some ether place where there is
a public depository, and there give drafts on the
public depository "to each person to whom the
payment is to be made. These cases illustrate the
impossibility of executing the law as it now
stands on the statute book. There are serious
and almost insurmountable difficulties in the way
of executing it, even in the immediate neighbor
hood of a public depository, 'lake, for illustra
tion, a case which can be brought within the per
sonal observation of members ot Congress. There
are paid monthly in Washington city more than
a thousand persons. This law requires that each
of these persons should receive a draft from the
disbursing agent who settles with him, and pre
sent it to the treasurer’s office. The time that
would be occupied by the treasurer in identifying
the applicants, and the number of additional
clerks which would be required to keep the neces
sary books, independent of the usual responsibili
ty which would be put upon the treasurer of iden
tifying so many persons, render the execution of
the law, even in this case, impracticable. For
all this additional trouble and difficulty there is no
compensating advantage over the present mode
of making such payments, which has been found
by practice both safe and expedient. It can
scarcely he necessary to point out all the difficul
ties which exist. Congress is again referred to
the circular regulations which were adopted by
the department on this subject, and the recom
mendation of amending the law, as suggested in
my last report, is repeated.
The report of the director of the Mint is here
with transmitted, marked 9. It appears that the
amount of Bullion received at the several mint es
tablishments during th-fiscal year ending June
30, 1856, was $51,494,311 29 in gold, and $9,196,-
954 67 in silver; and that the coinage during the
same period amounted to $52,889,800 29 in gold,
and $8,233,267 77 in silver, and $234,009 in
cents.
The director recommends that the law be so
amended as to make silver a legal tender to the
extent of fifty or one liundri d dollars. I am not
aware of any serious complaint against the law
as it now stands, and can see therefore no urgent
necessity for a change.
He also recommends the issuing of mint certifi
cates to depositors for sums as low ns fifty dollars
payable to bearer, with a view of creating a
sound paper currency. This suggestion does not
meet the approval of the department. I have
many obiections to the propositions, but do not
deem it necessary to enter upon the discussion, as
I feel quite confident that there will be no serious
disposition on the part of Congress #0 give it a fa
vorable consideration. The operations of the
Mint during the last fiscal year have been conduc
ted with energy and ability by the officers in
charge of this important branch of the public ser
vice.
The accompanying report of tho engineer in
charge of the Bureau of Construction will exhibit
the progress of the various public buildings under
the direction of this department. Many of them
have been completed, and are ready to be occupied
for the various purposes for which they were erec
ted. In all of them as much progress has been
made as was anticipated at the commencement of
the year. No new buildings have been begun since
the adjournment of Congress. In my last report
I called the attention of Congress to the fact that
owing to the condition of the treasury, the depart
ment had postponed the building of a portion of
public works authorized by previous acts of Con
gress. To have commenced them at that time, or
at any period since, would have required the bor
rowing of the means to construct them. The si
lence of Congress on the subject indicated their
approval of the policy.
The condition of the treasury at present is not
more favorable for the construction of such build
ings. At a time when the necessities of the gov
ernment demand an increase of taxation, I should
not fed justified in recommending the construc
tion of such works as are not urgently demanded
for tho public service. It will be for Congress to
decide, in providing the necessary means for the
next fiscal year, whether or not they will impose
an iucrease tax for such a purpose.
The occasion is an appropriate one again to
call the attention of Congress to the system 01
erecting public buildings. They are referred to
tables (Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) appended to the en
gineer’s report. These tables will show the num
ber of public buildings erected at different periods
the cost of their construction, and the necessity
which existed for their erection.
The revenue received at any port indicates the
amount of business which requires a custom house.
The amount received at a post office indicates the
necesfity of a building for that object, and the
number of days of the sitting of the courts will
show the necessity for a government building for
that object. It will be for Congress to say wheth
er a system which has led to the building ot a
custom house at a port yielding $139 93 of rev
enue, and a post office which pays $197 65, and
of a court house where tho federal courts were in
session four days in a year, is entitled to their
continued sanction and approval. It is said that
some of these buiklihgs arc used for all three of
these purposes, This is true; but a reference to
the tables alluded to will show that, in that view
of the subject, the expenditure in many cases
cannot be justified as the combined services were
not of sufficient importance to require the erection
of such buildings. If the amount of business
done at the places where these buildings have
been erected justified the expenditure, then com
mon justice would demand that similar buildings
should be put up at every other place in the Uni
ted States were on an equal amount of business
is doue. To do this would require an expenditure
of money which the warmest advocate of the sys
tem will not approve.
The recommendations of my last report on this
subject are again submitted to your consideration.
In the present state of our finances, it will hardly
be proposed to add to the public expenditures by
authorizing the erection ot any more public build
ings. In no event however, should such works be
directed without first subjecting the application
for them to a rigid inquiry into their necessity and
propriety; and whend tound necessary, the depart
ment should be required to submit to Congress
suitable plans and estimates ot thu cost, before an
appriopriation is made.
Your attention is particularly invited to that por
tion of the engineer's report which refers to the
subject of marine hospitals. Each year’s experi
ence adds to the objections which have been pre
sented to Congress to the system of .building and
maintaining these hospitals. The relief afforded is
not moreample, w hilst the expense is much great
er than exists under the old system. The infsrma-
tion which is communicated on this subject must
attract tbe serious attention of Congress, and
should lead, in my judgement, to a radical change.
The amount now annually drawn from tho treas
ury to supply the deficiency in the fund for the
relief of sick and disabled seamen cxceds the sum
raised out of tho wages of the seamen for this
purpose. It was not so formerly, and the fact is
iu 110 small degree attributable to tin- increased and
unnecessary .expenditures growing out of the
building and keeping up marine hospitals. Be
sides, tlu-re is no fund disbursed by the govern
ment which possessnsjliiglir elaimes lor a just and
economical expenditure than the ore under con
sideration. The law compells the collection of
this money from the wages of tlie seamen, and the
government undertakes to expend it for their bene
fit and protection. The trust is a sacred one, and
cauonlybc faithfully discharged by exercising
the greatest care and economy on its dishursment
I renew the recommendations of my last report on
this subject.
1 deem it my duty to call tho attention of Con
gress to the hill for the ie virion and consolidation
of the revenue laws, reported by me iu obedience
to a resolution of the House of Hepresentativcs at
the last session of Congress. For the reasons
then suggested. I deem it important that the bill
should receive the favorable action of Congress at
the present session.
Instead of that portion of the bill as originally re
ported regulating the collection districts, and ap
pointment and compensation of officers, I propose
to submit, at an early day, a substitute suggested
by the experience of an additional year in this de
partment, which, it is believed, will obviate many
existing inconveniences, and very materially re
duce theexpenses of collecting the revenue.
In this connexion it is deemed proj er to refer
to a misaprebension which semes to exist, to
some extent, in regard to the receipts at.d expen
ditures at certain ports.
While the amount of foreign merchandise impor
ted at a given point would clearly indicate the
necessity for au adequate provision there for the
collecting of the revenue, it by no means fol
lows that the intrests <Sf the revenue do not
require the services of officers at points where few
or no duties are collected. A judicious disposition
of a preventive force is indispensible to the collec
tion of a revenue from imports. Especially is
this true in regard to tho United States, along
whose extensive seabord and frontier boundaries
there are so many points through which foreign
merchandise might be thrown intothe interior
free of duty, but for the vigilance of a preventive
corps. Upon the principal avenues of trade with
foreign countries, provision has been made by
law, at ports of entry, for the collection of duties,
and at those ports our revenue from customs is
mainly collected or secured Other chanels
through which foreign merchandise might clandes
tinely reach the interior are, of necessity, guarded
by a preventive force, and often at points where
the expenses exceed the amount of collections -
Such a force could not be withdrawn withou leav-
the laws and regulation exposed to evasion
and the public revenue to incalculable loss.
Take the districts of Champlain aud A ermont
on the Canadian frontier as an illustration.—
There is a large number of officers stationed at
various points along tho frontier 111 these districts,
and the expenses of collection exceed by more than
one-half the amount of revenue received.
What would be the effect on the revenue of the
withdrawal of this force from these points may be
preceived by a glance at the connexions of those
districts, and of the water of Lake Champlain,
ith tho principal markets and Territory of Canada
One of theses stations, Rouse’s Point, where a
large portion of Canadian commerce first enters
the United States, communicates by railroads and
the river St. John’s with Montreal and the St.
Lawrence. If uo preventive force were stationed
at those points, merchandise of provincial and
European origin might be introduced into the
United States by those routes, and the various
points along the Canadian and A ermont fiontier,
without the possibility of prevention, and to the
serious injury of the revenue trom customs.
Where articles are taxed by oar tariff, but made
free by the Canadian, or where the difference ^of
duties in Canada and the United States wouid in
sure a profit on the adventure, merchandise might
be exported in bond from our own warehouses to
Canada, to be thrown thence upon onr market
without the payment of any duty whatever to the
United States. Merchandise so imported might
supply, to a large extent, the consumption of New
England and New York, in whose ports so large
a portion of the public revenue is now collected.
At the ports of Pensacola, in Florida, and
Shic'dsboro’ near the month of Pearl river, in Mis
sissippi, on our Gulf coast, revenue officers are
stationed, but no duties of any considerable a-
inount collected. But for the presence of a reve
nue force at those points, the valuable products of
European and West Indian commerce might be
introduced, free of duty, into the interior through
the waters commanded by those ports, with hardly
a possibility of prevention, and to the serious
diminution of the revenue collected at the ports
of New Orleans and Mobile
Other instances of the necessity of a preventive
service might be readily suggested, but it is not
deemed necessary. It is believed that the ex
pense of maintaining it might, at some points, be
reduced without impairing its utility; and the de
partment has that subject now under considera
tion.
At the last session of Congress appropriations
were made for the purchase ot the best self-right
ing life-boats, to be placed on the coast of New
Jersey, and the best life-boats tor use on the coast
of Long Island. As the government had already
provided life-boats for those stations, the object
of the law was evidently to ascertain a better boat
than those already employed, and, if found, to
substitute it for those now in use. Takingthis
view of the subject, I appointed a commission to test
the qualities of the various kind of boats that had
been constructed, aud which were offered to the
government. The report of the commissioners has
been received within tne last few days—too late
for any action of the department before the meet,
ing of Congress. It is herewith submitted-
(marked 44) with a view of placing before Con
gross all the information on the subject in the pos
session of the department, and also that such ad
ditional action may be had at the present session
as may he deemed advisable.
The report of the superintendent of CoastjBur-
vey, giving a statement of the operations of this
service during the last fiscal year, will be submit
ted to Congress at an early day.
The report of the supervising inspectors (marked
12) is herewith submitted.
A report from the president and diretors of the
Louisville and Portland Canal Company is expec
ted to reach the department in a short time, and
when received will be submitted to Congress.
The accompayning reports from the various bu
reaus of the Treasury Department (Marked A to
L) will furnish detailed statements of the business
transacted in each of them.
In addition to the regular annual report of the
Light House Board, (marked No. 13,) I transmit a
report from the board, (marked No. 45,) which
has been prepared in answer to a resolution of the
Senate ofFebuary 1, 1858. The information con
tained in it will be interesting to both houses, and
is therefore communicated at this time.
Aii of which is respectfully submitted.
HOWELL COBB.
Secretary of the Treasury.
non, John C. Breckinridge,
Vice President of the United States, and
President of the Senate.
—
BUSINESS CARDS.
BRISCOS dtdeORArrLNRIE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW.
JIILLEDCEYILLE, CEO.
W ILL practice in the courts of tho Ocnn,lg e8
circuit.
Milledgeville, Ga., March 1.1858. 40 ly.
Messrs. A. II. & L. II. KENAN,
Are Associated in the Practice of Law
Office 1st Door upon 2d floor of
MA SOX 1C HALL.
Jan. 23d, 1857 . 35 tf.
DIC A- II CUMUIINg' '
Irtpinlon, Wilkinson County Ga
Tenders his Professional services te the citizen*
of Wilkinson county. [Jan. 6, 57, ]y
THOMAS J. COX,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
NEWTON, Baker county, Ga.
March 18, 1856. 42 tf
J. BRANHAM, Jr.,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
EATONTON, GA.
March 1.1858. 40 ly|
OKIE VC A GJK1EYE,
ATTORNEYS AT L A W,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GA.
MILLER GRIEVE, SEN. MILLER «IF.VE. JR.
Oct. 7th. 1856. 19 tf
GENERAL ADVERTISEMENTS.
Dny Curly Copies—Row Kcady.
THE POETICAL WORKS OF
EDGJVR ALLAN POE,
Beautifully Illustrated with marc than
ONE HUNDRED ORIGINAL DESIGNS
By Darb y, Birket, Foster Pickersgill, Tenniel, Crop-
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by
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Edited by
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With notices of his Life by J 11 Lowell and N P
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Sent by mail, postage prepaid, upon receipt of the
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October 25 J 858 22 2m.
SOUTH-WESTERN
TRiilllL It
NEGROES WANTED.
T HIS Company is now prepared to hire Negroes
to work on repairs ot their Road, for 1859.
Contracts can be made with J. M. Walden, Fort
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Road, Win. S. Brantly or the Undersigned atSu
perintendi nt’s office, Macon.
GEO. W. ADAMS, Snp’t.
Nov. 3rd, 1858. 24 6t.
NOTICE.
4 GUKKABLZ to an order of the Inferior Court of Coffee
county, Georgia, will he let out to the lowest bid
der, before the court house door, in the town of Doug
las, in said county, on the FIRST Tl ESDAY IN
JANUARY next, the building of a jail in Douglas, in
said county.
PI.AX OP THE JAIL.
The jail to be built of the of heart of Yellow Pine, 20
feet square; the timbers to be 10 inches square; two tears
of 12 inch square timber to be laid on the ground for
tin- floor; two wulls to he made out of It) square timber
and dove-tailed together, the out side wall to be 29 feet
square, and to be 10 inch space between the two walls,
to be filled up with 10 iueli square timber; to be set on
end, and there to he two windows iu the dungeon 18
inch square, and to have 1-12 inch square burs of iron
for the grading, substantially put in tlm floors, to be 9
fei t apart, the floor over the dungeon to be made of 12
inch square timber, amt the door to the dungeon to
open on the upper floor in the centre of the house and
the « Ut side wail to be made 9 feet high above the dllli-
eeoii; for the debtors ns Oil out of 10 inch timber and 10
inch floor of square timber. The roofto he covered with
heart shingles aud to extend all round so as to box the
eaves; and covered hip roof and to be two windows anil
they gr.nVd as the lower windows. And to be a stair
ease To go up to the door in the debtors room. The
trap door is to be fixed with a good irou liar across the
door, and it to be substantially locked so as to be safe.
The step or stair ease to run up on the out side, aud to
be made of the best of ligbtwood or cypress; and the
house to be wealit her boarded on the out side with 6 or
7 inch weather boarding, and both floors to lie laid
with 1-12 inch flooring, and the flooring to be well
spiked down; and the door to the debtors muni is to have
two shatters one on the out side, and one on the inside,
and both to be hung with substantial hinges, and each
door is to have a sulistantial lock.
The clerk of the court is to advertise in the Federal
Union, a public Gazette at Milledgeville, Ga ; to be
let out to t! 0 lowest bidder on the first Tuesday in
January next. DANIEL NEWBORN, J. I. C.
MARK LOTT, J. I. C.
HARDY HALL, J I.G.
HIRAM SEARS, J.I. C.
C. A. WARD, J. I. C
A true extract from the minutes of the court, this
Nov. 0, 1853.- 26—Ct
J. K. HILLIARD, C. J. C.
P.S.—Seeded proposals will bo received by the clerk,
ami carefully kept unbroken till the day of letting out.
The word proposals for building jail to be wrote on the
envelope.
Thomas Hardeman, Jr. J. W Griffis.
HARDEMAN A GRIFFIN,
WHOLESALE GROCERS,
D ealers in wines, liquors, tobac
co, SEGARS and Groceries of every de
scription.
Corner of Cherry and Third Sts.,
MACON, GA,
Sept. 2d, 1856. 14 tf
ETHERIDGE 8c SON,
Factors, Commission and Forwarding
MERCHANTS,
HA VANN All, «A.
D ETHERIDGE. W. D. ETHERIDGE, Jr
July 15th, 1856. 8 tf
JANES C. BOWER,
ATTORNEY AS LAW.
OFFICE, lrwinton, Wilkinson Count), Ci,
W ILL practice in the Superior Courts of the
Counties of Wilkinson, Washington, Lau
rens, Twiggs, Bibb and Baldwin; iu the Supreme
Courts, and the United States’ Courts for the Dis
trict of Georgia. [feb. 9,’58.—37 *ly
HINES 8c HOBBS.
ATTORNIES AT LAW,
ALBANY, GA.
Practice in Dougherty and the surrounding CouuJ
ties, in the U. S. Circuit Court, for the South
ern District Georgia, and in any couuty
in the State by special agreement.
New York—Carhart, Brother & Co., Wolfe &
Bishop; Alexis, Bragg &. Warren; E. & R. K.
Graves; Havilland, llarral & Kisley ; A. P. Hal
sey, Cash’rB’k N. Y.
Savannah, Ga.—Belden & Co.; Bacon & Levy;
Cheever &. Co ; Patten, Hutton & Co.; Rogers &
Norris; C. H. Campfield, Esqr.
Charleston, S. C.—Dewing, Thayer & Co.;
Chamberlain, Miler & Co.; J. & E. Bancroft; E.B.
Stoddard & Co.; T. N. Horsey & Co.; P. A.
Moise, Esqr.
Macon, Ga —E A. & J. A. Nisbet; Poe &
Co.; J. L. Jones, Esqr.; I. C. Plant, Esqr., Edwin
Grans, Esqr,; Asher Ayres, Esqr. 33 tf
V. A. GASRILL.
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
Fairburn, Ga.
March 1st, 1858.
'40 (im.
WASHINGTON HALL
accommodation ol
I S open to the public for the
TRANSIENT as well as EEGULAL BOAR
DERS.
Being centrally located is convenient both to
the Capitol and the business part of the city. Ac
commodations good. Charges liberal.
N.C. BARNETT.
Milledgeville Dec. 7, 1858. d3t wly.
C* INTY days after date application will be made to
Othe Court of Ordinal)-of Wilkinson county for leave
to sell throe negroes to-wit, Emeline Antouett and
Asa, belonging to William,Richard,Ransom Sc Eugenia
Breedlove minor children of Benjamin H.. Breedlove
late of said county deceased. SoM for adi v wion.
JOHN H. BREEDLOVE G’n.
Nov. 251858. 27 9t.'
The following remedies are offered to the public as
the best, most perfect which medical science c;m
afford. Ayf.r’s Cathartic Pills have been pre
pared with the utmost skill which the medical pro
fession of this age possesses, and their effects show
they have virtues which surpass any combination of
medicines hitherto known. Other preparations io
more or less good; but this cures such dangerou.
complaints, so quick and so surely, as to pro\e an
efficacy and a power to uproot disease beyond any
thing which men have known before. By removing
the obstructions of the internal organs and stimulat
ing them into healthy action, they renovate the foun
tains of life and vigor,—health courses anew through
the body, and the sick man is well again. They are
adapted to disease, and disease only, for when taken
by one in health they produce but little ctfcct. Thu
is the perfection of medicine. It is antagonistic to
disease, and no more. Tender children may take
them with impunity. If they are sick they wiJ curs
them, if they are well they will do them no harm.
Give them to some patient who has been prostrated
with bilious complaint: see his bent-np, tottering form
straighten with strength again ; see his long-lost appe
tite return; see his clammy features blossom into
health. Give them to some sufferer whose foul blood
has burst out in scrofula till his skin is covered with
sores; who stands, or sits, or lies in anguish. Be ha*
been drenched inside and out with every potion which
ingenuity could suggest. Give him these Pills, and
mark the effect; see the scabs fall from his body; see
the new, fair skin that has grown under them ; see the
late leper that is clean. Give them to him whose
angry humors have planted rheumatism in his Joints
ana bones ; move him and he screeches with pain ; he
too has been soaked through every muscle of his body
with liniments and salves; give him these Pills to
purify his blood; they may not cure him, for, alas,
there arc cases which no mortal power can reach; but
mark, he walks with crutches now, and now he walks
alone ; they have cured him. Give them to the lean,
sour, haggard dyspeptic, whose gnawing stomach has
long ago eaten every smile from his face and every
muscle from his body. See his appetite return, and
with it his health; see the new man. See her that
was radiant with health and loveliness blasted and too
early withering away ; want of exercise, or mental an
guish, or some lurking disease, has deranged the inter
nal organs of digestion, assimilation, or secretion, till
thev do their office ill. Her blood is vitiated, her
health is gone. Give her these Pills to stimulate the
vital principle into renewed vigor, to cast out the ob
structions, and infuse a new vitality into the blood.
Now look again — the roses blossom on her cheek,
and where lately sorrow sat joy bursts from every fea
ture. See the sweet infant wasted with worms. Its
wan, sickly features tell you without disguise, and
painfully distinct, that they are eating its life away.
Its pinched-up nose and ears, and restless sleeping^,
tell the dreadful truth in language which every mother
knows. Give it the Pills in large doses to sweep
these vile parasites from the body. Now turn again
and see the ruddy bloom of childhood. Is it nothing
to do these things ? Nay, are they not the marvel of this
age ? And yet they are done around you every day.
Have you the less serious symptoms of these dis
tempers, they are the easier cured. Jaundice, Costivc-
ness, Headache, Sideaehe, Heartburn, Foul Stomach,
Nausea, Pain in the Bowels, Flatulency, Loss of Ap
petite, King’s Evil, Neuralgia, Gout, and kindrea
complaints all arise from tho derangements which
these Pills rapidly cure. Take them persevermgiy.
and under the counsel of a good Physician if you can.
if not. take them judiciously by such advice as we
give you, and the distressing, dangerous diseases they
cure, which afflict so many millions of the human race,
arc cast out like the devils of old — they must bur
row in the brutes and in the sea. Price 25 cents per
box—5 boxes for $1.
Through a trial of many years, and through every
nation of civilized men, Ayer’s Chf.uky Plctoeai-
has been found to afford more relief, and to cure more
cases of pulmonary disease, than any other remedy
known to mankind! Cases of apparently settled con
sumption have been cured by it, and thousands of suf
ferers, who were deemed beyond the reach of human
aid, have been restored to their friends and usefulness
to sound health and the enjoyments of life, by this
powerful antidote to diseases of the lungs and thro^-
Here a cold had settled on the lungs. The dry, hack
ing cough, the glassy eye, and the pale, thin fen^jj
of him who was lately lustv and strong, whisper to
but him Consumption. He tries every thing;
the disease is gnawing at his vitals, and shows f .
fatal symptoms more and more over all his u '
He is taking the Cherry Pectoral now; > ^
stopped his cough and made his breathing ea N
sleep is sound at night; his appetite returns, ^
it his strength. The dart which pierced his s ^
broken. Scarcely any neighborhood can '
which has not some living trophy like " ‘ Wc-
forth the virtues which have won for the (hi. , nf5 j
tokal an imperishable renown. But its u. ^ p
does not end here. Nay, it accomplishes »o -5,
vention than cure. The countless colds■ ,;,,<.ncd
which it cures are the seed which would ha' 1 1^.
into a dreadful harvest of incurable diseas s.^_^^^
enza, Croup, Bronchitis, Hoarseness, , ] ttiur <
ing Cough, and all irritations of the throat a. ; n
are easily cured by the Cherry Pectoral > ‘ aIi 1
season. Every family should have it *9. "V ,u e in-
they will find it an invaluable protection > r0 “ j fn ,, u
sidious prowler which carries off the parent sa>
many a flock, the darling Iamb from many a
Authenticated evidence of these facts, is
for the treatment of each complaint, may J h ‘ t hre«
Ayer’s American Alifianac, of which we I 1 ' 1 ®' 1 ’ ft ^ i
millions, and scatter them broadcast over to' ^ ore
in order that the sick every where may hav ^ ^
them the information it contains. tr ibu-
dealers in medicine generally have them for _ ^
tion gratis, and also for sale these remedies, P JTJpj.
by Dr. J. C. Ayer, Practical and Analytica
ut, Lowell, Mass.
8035X7 B-sr ,
K.J. WHITE, also by GRIEVE &CLABK. »
edgeviile, Ga., and by all deal <!« m Medicine