CHAPTER IV.

COMMERCE.

"He hath an argosy bound toTripolis, another to the Indies:
I understand moreover upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico,
a fourth for England: and other ventures he hath."

Merchant of Venice.

There is no need to say much about the extent of the Commerceof the United States, since it is already the admiration ofEurope, and its history is before every one in the shape offigures. The returns of exports and imports annually publishedare sufficiently eloquent.

It will be seen, from these returns, how great a reduction inthe commerce of the United States was occasioned by the tariff,which attracted a large amount of capital from commerce, to beinvested in manufactures. The balance has been nearly restored bythe prospect of the expiration of the protective system; and bothcommerce and manufactures are again rapidly on the increase. Theforeign tonnage of Massachusetts has increased fifty-three percent. within the last five years, though, owing to a new mode ofship-construction, twice the quantity is stowed in the samenominal tonnage.

The commerce of the south-west was in high prosperity when Iwas there. When I was at Mobile, in April 1835, I was informedthat 183,000 bales of cotton had been brought down into Mobilesince the beginning of the year.* A friend of mine, engaged incommerce there, told me of the enormous interest on money thenobtainable. Eight per cent. is the legal interest; but double iseasily to be had. Another, a wealthy gentleman of New Orleans,speculates largely every season, for the sake of something to do,and makes a fortune each time, by lending out at high interest.He declares that he never loses, and never fails to gain largely;the commerce is so flourishing, and the demand for capital sointense. This is the region in which to witness the fullabsurdity of usury laws. They are evaded, as often as convenient,and serve no other purpose than to annex a kind of disgrace to adeed which must of necessity be done,--loaning out money athigher than the legal interest. The same evasion takes place inMassachusetts, where the legal interest is six per cent. Theinterest there, as elsewhere, rises just as high as the demandfor money must naturally bring it.

I was acquainted with a gentleman who had lost seventy-fivethousand dollars in an unfortunate speculation, and who expectedto retrieve the whole the next season. The price of everythingwas rising. For my own share, I had to pay twelve dollars for mypassage from Mobile to New Orleans: and twenty-five per cent.higher for my voyage up the Mississippi than if I had gone thepreceding year. The fare I paid was fifty dollars. These twofares were the only exceptions to the remarkable cheapness oftravelling in the United States and these would not be consideredhigh anywhere else.

The Cumberland river, on which stands Nashville, the capitalof Tennessee, and which empties itself into the Ohio, hasscarcely been heard of in England; yet, of all the tobaccoconsumed in the world, one-seventh goes down this river. Iascended it in a very small steam-boat, one of twelve, six largeand six small, then perpetually navigating it, and carryingcotton, tobacco, and passengers. Of these boats, one had carried,the preceding year, three hundred and sixty bales of cotton, ofthe value of three hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

When we look at the northern ports, and observe the variety,as well as the extent of their commerce, there seems good groundfor the expectation expressed to me by many American merchants,that the English language will finally become familiar, not onlyover all the east, but over all the globe.

Salem, Massachusetts, is a remarkable place. This "cityof peace" will be better known hereafter for its commercethan for its witch-tragedy-. It has a population of 14,000; andmore wealth in proportion to its population than perhaps any townin the world. Its commerce is speculative, but vast andsuccessful. It is a frequent circumstance that a ship goes outwithout a cargo, for a voyage round the world. In such a case,the captain puts his elder children to school, takes his wife andyounger children, and starts for some semi-barbarous place, wherehe procures some odd kind of cargo, which he exchanges withadvantage for another, somewhere else; and so goes traffickinground the world, bringing home a freight of the highest value.

The enterprising merchants of Salem are hoping to appropriatea large share of the whale fishery; and their ships arepenetrating the northern ice. They are favourite customers in theRussian ports, and are familiar with the Swedish and Norwegiancoasts. They have nearly as much commerce with Bremen as withLiverpool. They speak of Fayal and the other Azores as if theywere close at hand. The fruits of the Mediterranean countries areon every table. They have a large acquaintance at Cairo. Theyknow Napoleon's grave at St. Helena, and have wild tales to tellof Mosambique and Madagasca, and store of ivory to show fromthence. They speak of the power of the king of Muscat, and aresensible of the riches of the south-east coast of Arabia. Itentered some wise person's head, a few seasons ago, to export iceto India. The loss, by melting, of the first cargo, was onefourth. The rest was sold at six cents per lb. When the value ofthis new import became known, it was in great request; and thelatter sales have been almost instantaneous, at ten cents perpound: so that it is now a good speculation to send ice 12,000miles to supersede salt-petre in cooling sherbet. The youngladies of America have rare shells from Ceylon in their cabinets;and their drawing-rooms are decked with Chinese copies of Englishprints. I was amused with two: the scene of Hero swooning in thechurch, from 'Much Ado about Nothing;' and Shakspeare betweenTragedy and Comedy. The faces of Comedy and of Beatrice from thehands of Chinese! I should not have found out the place of theirsecond birth but for a piece of unfortunate foreshortening ineach. I observed to a friend, one day, upon the beauty of all thenew cordage that met my eye, silky and bright. He told me that itwas made of Manilla hemp, of the value of which the British seemto be unaware; though it has been introduced into England. Hementioned that he had been the first importer of it. Eight yearsbefore, 600 bales per annum were imported: now, 20,000. Themerchants doubt whether Australia will be able to surmount thedisadvantage of a deficiency of navigable rivers. They have hopesof Van Diemen's Land, think well of Singapore, and acknowledgegreat expectations from New Zealand. Any body will give youanecdotes from Canton, and descriptions of the Society andSandwich Islands. They often slip up the western coasts of theirtwo continents; bring furs from the back regions of their ownwide land; glance up at the Andes on their return; double CapeHorn; touch at the ports of Brazil and Guiana; look about them inthe West Indies, feeling there almost at home; and land, somefair morning, at Salem, and walk home as if they had done nothingvery remarkable.

Such is the commerce of Salem, in its most meagre outline.Some illustration of it may be seen in the famous Salem Museum.In regard to this institution, a very harmless kind of monopolyexists. No one is admitted of the museum proprietary body who hasnot doubled the Capes Horn and Good Hope. Everybody is freelyadmitted to visit the institution; and any one may contribute,either curiosities or the means of procuring them; but thedoubling of the Capes is an unalterable condition of the honourof being a member. This has the effect of preserving a salutaryinterest among the members of the society, and respect amongthose who cannot be admitted. The society have laid by 20,000dollars, after having built a handsome hall for the reception oftheir curiosities; but a far more important benefit is that ithas now become discreditable to return from a long voyage withoutsome novel contribution to the Museum. This sets people inquiringwhat is already there, and ensures a perpetual and valuableaccretion. I am glad to have seen there some Orientalcuriosities, which might never otherwise have blessed my sight:especially some wonderful figures, made of an unknown mixedmetal, dug up in Java, being caricatures of the old Dutchsoldiers sent to guard the first colonies. A reasonably graveperson might stand laughing before these for half a day. I had noidea there had been so much humour in the Java people.

The stability of the commercial interest in the United Stateswas put to the test by the great fire at New York. All thecircumstances regarding this fire were remarkable; no one more sothan that not a single failure took place in consequence.

For many days preceding this fire, the weather had beenintensely cold, the thermometer standing at Boston 17 degreesbelow zero. On the Sunday before, (13th of December 1835,) I wentto hear the Seamen's friend, Father Taylor, as he is called,preach at the Sailors' Chapel, in Boston. His eloquence is of apeculiar kind, especially in his prayers, which are absolutelyimportunate with regard to even external objects of desire. Partof his prayer this day was, "Give us water, water! Thebrooks refuse to murmur, and the streams are dead. Break up thefountains: open the secret springs that thy hand knoweth, andgive us water, water! Let us not perish by a famine of water, ora deluge of conflagration; for we dread the careless wanderingspark." I was never before aware of the fear of fireentertained during these intense frosts. It is a reasonable fear.A gentleman, bent upon daily bathing, was seen one morningdisconsolately returning from the river side; he had employedthree men to break the ice, and they could not get at a drop ofwater. What hope was there in case of fire?

The New York fire broke out at eight in the evening ofWednesday, the l 6th of December. Every one knows the leadingfacts, that 52 or 54 acres were laid waste; many public buildingsdestroyed, and property to the amount of 18,000,000 of dollars.

Several particulars were given to me on the spot, three monthsafterwards, by some observers and some sufferers. At aboarding-house in Broadway, where some friends of mine wereresiding, there were several merchants, some with their wives,who dined that day in good spirits, and, as they afterwardsbelieved, perfectly content with their worldly condition andprospects. At eight o'clock there was an alarm of fire. It wasthought nothing of; alarms of fire being as frequent as day andnight in New York. After a while, a merchant of the company wassent for, and some little anxiety was expressed. Two or threepersons looked out of the upper windows, but it was a night ofsuch still, deep frost, that the reflection in the atmosphere wasmuch less glaring than might have been expected. Another and thenanother gentleman was sent for. News came of the absolute lack ofwater, and that there was no gun-powder in the city--none nearerthan Brooklyn. The gentlemen all rushed out; the anxious ladieswent from the windows to the fire-side; from the fire-side to thewindows. One gentleman and lady in the house, a young Germancouple, just arrived, and knowing scarcely a word of English,were unaware of all this. None of their chattels, not even thelady's clothes, had been removed from their store in PearlStreet, where lay her books, music, wardrobe, and property ofevery sort. Pretty early in the morning the poor gentleman wasroused from his slumbers, could not comprehend the cause, wentdown to Pearl Street, and, amidst the amazement and desolation,just contrived to save his account-books, and nothing else. Inthe morning, the lady was destitute of even a change of raiment,in a foreign country, of whose language she could not speak oneword. There were kind hearts all around her, however, and she wasquite cheerful when I saw her, a few weeks afterwards.

The lady of the house was so worn, weary, and cold, by threein the morning, that she retired to her room; desiring herdomestics to call her if the fire should catch Broad Street; inwhich case, it would be time to be packing up plate, and movingfurniture. In a little while, there was a tap at her door. BroadStreet was not on fire, however; but some of the gentlemen hadcome home, smoked and frost-bitten, and eager for help and warmwater. One gentleman, who had nothing more at stake than threechests of Scotch linen, (valuable because home-woven,) of whichhe saved one, losing a superb Spanish cloak in the process, wasdesirous that his wife should see the spectacle of theconflagration. She walked down to the scene of the fire with him,after midnight. They took their stand in a square, in the centreof which an innmense quantity of costly goods was heaped up. Itwas strange and vexatious to see the havoc that was made amongbeautiful things;--cachemere shawls strewing the ground; horses'feet swathed in lace veils; French silks getting entangled andtorn in the wheels of the carts. The lady picked up shawls andveils; and when her husband asked her where she proposed to putthem, could only throw them down again. After she had left theplace, the houses caught fire, all round the square, fell in, andburned the costly goods in one grand bonfire.

There had been occasional quarrels between the merchants andthe carmen. The carmen conceived themselves injured by certainmerchants. Whether they had reason for this belief or not, Icannot pretend to say. They thought this a time for revenge. Somecrossed their arms, as they leaned against their carts, andrefused to stir a step, unless twenty dollars a load were paidthem on the spot. Some few refused to help at all. This must havebeen a far more deadly sorrow to the sufferers than the ruin thefire was working. One carman was very provoking when a Frenchgentleman had not a moment to lose in saving his stock. Thegentleman said coolly at last, taking out his money, "Forwhat sum will you sell your horse and cart?" The temptationwas irresistible to the carman. He named 500 dollars for hissorry hack and small vehicle, and was paid on the instant. TheFrench gentleman saved goods to the amount of 100,000 dollars. Itwas a good bargain for both.

At six in the morning, when the necessary explosions hadchecked the fire, the gentlemen of the household I havementioned, being completely ruined, for anything they knew to thecontrary, came home; and the ladies went to bed. Some of theleast interested consulted what should be done at dinner-time;whether the company in general could bear the subject; whether itwas best to talk or be silent. It was a languid, sorrowful meal:the gentlemen looking haggard; their ladies anxious. The nextday, they were able to talk,--to describe, to relate anecdotes,and speculate on consequences. The third day, all were nearly ascheerful as if nothing had happened: though some had lost all,and others, they knew not how much.

The report of the fire spread as news through the upper partof the city, the next morning. Some friends of mine had walkedhome from a visit, upwards of a mile, at eleven o'clock, andneither heard nor seen anything of the fire.

The larger proportion of the New York merchants were thusdeprived at a stroke of their buildings, stocks, in many cases ofall books and papers, and, lastly, of the benefit of insurance.The insurance companies were plunged in almost a generalinsolvency. The only relief proposed, or that could be offered,was an extension of time, without interest, to the debtors of thegovernment for payment of bonds given to secure the duties upongoods recently imported: and this small relief could not beobtained till too late to be of much use.

Happily, the fire occurred at one of the least busy seasons ofthe year. The merchants could concert together for the saving oftheir credit: and they did it to some purpose. Their creditsustained the shock of all this confusion, uncertainty, anddismay. The conduct of the merchants who had not directlysuffered, and of the banks, was admirable. They threw aside alltheir usual caution, and dispensed help and accommodation withthe last degree of liberality. The consequence was, that not onehouse failed. It seems now as if the commercial credit of NewYork could stand any shock short of an earthquake, like that ofLisbon.

Some merchants had the unexpected pleasure of findingthemselves richer than they were before. One was travelling inEurope with his lady, when the news overtook him that the hundredand fifty stores in which he had property were all burned down.He wrote that he and his lady were hastening to Havre, on theirway home, while they must live in the most economical andlaborious manner, to repair their fortunes. With such intentionsthey crossed the Atlantic; and on landing were met by theintelligence that they had become very wealthy, from their groundlots having sold for more than ground, stores, and stock, wereworth before.

I saw the fifty-two acres of ruins in the following April. Wetraversed what had been streets, and climbed the ruins of theExchange. The pedestal of Hamilton's statue was standing, strewedround with fragments of burnt calicoes, whith people weredisinterring. There was a litter of stone pannels, brokencolumns, and cornices. Bushels of coffee paved our way. A boypresented me with a half-fused watch-key from the cellar of whathad been a jeweller's store. The blackened ruins of a churchfrowned over all. The most singular spectacle was a store,standing alone and unharmed, amidst the desolation. It belongedto a Jew, was fire-proof, and contained hay, not a blade of whichwas singed. This square-fronted, elongated, ugly building,standing obliquely, and as clean as if smoke had never touchedit, had a most saucy appearance: and so it might, so manyerections, equally called fire-proof, having disappeared, whileit alone remained.

By the next July, the entire area was covered with newerections; and long before this, doubtless, all is to the outwardeye, as if no fire had happened.

But for the testimony afforded by this event, of thesubstantial credit in New York, the enormous prices given forland,--the above-mentioned ground lots, for instance,--mightcause a suspicion that there was much wild speculation. I trustit is not so. The eagerness for land is, however, extraordinary.A lady sold an estate in the neighbourhood of New York, for whatshe and her friends considered a large sum; and a few weeks aftershe had concluded the bargain, and soon after the destruction ofeighteen millions of the wealth of the city, she found she mighthave obtained three times the amount for which she had sold herestate. The whole south end of the city is being rapidly turnedinto stores; and it is obvious that the mercantile princes ofthis emporium have no idea of their conquests being bounded byany circumstance short of the limits of the globe.

Is there anything to be learned here, as well as to admire?any inference to be drawn for the benefit of other nations?

An English member of parliament wrote to a friend residing inone of the American ports, inquiring whether this friend couldsuggest any course of parliamentary action by which the commerceof England, or of both countries, could he benefited. TheAmerican replied by urging his friend to work incessantly at arepeal of the corn laws, and in any way which may keep the UnitedStates continually before the eyes of the commercial rulers ofGreat Britain. "You talk," said he, "of yourcommercial arrangements with Portugal. Well and good! but what isPortugal? She has two millions of priests and beggars, and at theend of the century she will have two millions of priests andbeggars still. What will the wealth and productions of the UnitedStates be then?" If the United States have now 18,000,000 ofpeople, and their population is increasing at an unexampledrate,--a free and an opulent population,--the interest of GreatBritain is plain;--to have a primary regard to the United Statesin the arrangement of her commercial policy.

ENDNOTES:

* The value of the cargoes which arrived at Mobile in 1830,was,

From Harriet Martineau, Society in America, VolumeII, Part II, Chapter IV, "Commerce." London: Saundersand Otley, 1837, pp. 256-272.

Forward to Society in America, Vol II,Part II, Chapter IV, Section I - "The Currency."

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