We commend the volumes of Dr. Monette, with which the present article opens, to the American people, as the first effort to furnish a complete history of their great western domain and territories, most signally successful, and the only work, at this time, which can in any degree satisfy the desire of information which is every where felt. (For later statistics of the West, see other heads.) extensive deposits of hydrated oxide of iron, an ore of the same kind worked in Tennessee, are also of frequent occurrence near the mar gin of this coal basin. The proximity of these ores to coal greatly enhances their value, since this is the material used most frequently for their reduction. The sandstone at the base of this formation affords materials for furnaces, grindstones, and buildings; while some of the slaty clays, when disintegrated, WEST-COMMERCE AND RESOURCES produce excellent fire clay. The materials OF. Coal Resources of the Northwest.for the production of copperas and alum are Take but a portion of our coal-field, embrac- also widely distributed amongst the slaty ing the southern and western counties of In-clays, under and overlaying the strata of coal. diana, part of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois, The importance of the limestone, (so abunwhat is commonly called the great" Illinois dant in the whole region,) as a flux for the Coal-field." "It equals in area the entire iron ore, for constructions and burning into island of Great Britain, extending from south-lime, are too well known to need comment. east to northwest, from Oil Creek and Rome, on the Ohio, to the mouth of Rock River on the Mississippi River, a distance of three hundred miles; and south to north, from the waters of Green River and Trade water, in Kentucky, to the waters of Little Vermillion, in La Salle county, Illinois, a distance of three hundred and twenty-five miles; and from southwest to northeast, from St. Louis and the waters of the west branch of Saline River, in Gallatin county, Illinois, to the forks of the Fox and Kankakee rivers, a distance of two Steamboat Business.-From the document above named, it would appear that the whole number of steamers built in the United States, for the last twenty-five years, was two thousand four hundred and ninety-two, viz. :— From 1824 to 1829.. From 1829 to 1834. From 1834 to 1839. From 1839 to 1844. Total..... 194 304 504 521 969 .2,492 Two thousand five hundred steamboats In 1846. Aggregate.. In the West. .130. 152. ..155 .437. Total in the U. S 175 225 .208 .608 hundred and fifty miles-a coal-field occupy built within twenty-five years! If we give two hundred tons as the average of these ing the greater part of Illinois, about onethird of Indiana, a northwestern strip of Ken-boats, (and it is probably below the mark), we tucky, and extending into Iowa, embracing find that the steamboat tonnage in that period every variety of bituminous coal. The thick amounted to five hundred thousand tons. ness of the entire mass is supposed to be Let us now see what part the West had in from 1,200 to 2.000 feet, and contains at least this business. From the reports on commerce seven workable beds of coal. If we assume for the years 1846, '48, '49, we find in three the average thickness of these coal-beds, col-years the steamboat holders of the West comlectively, at 21 feet, which is probably below pare with the total number as follows: the truth, and the area over which they extend at 200 miles square, or 40,000 square miles, then we have a mass of coal on lands of which the government is the largest proprietor, of 23 trillions, 417 billions, 856 millions cubic feet, or 867 billions, 328 millions cubic yards or tons of coal, (a cubic yard of coal being nearly equal to a ton.) Let us imagine this coal worked, and estimating the profit on a ton of coal at fifty cents, this would give, in round numbers, a clear income of four hundred thousand millions of dollars to be derived from the working of this coal-field. It may also be further remarked, that the strata of this coal-field is more easily accessible along the southeastern and south western margins, along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, than toward the northeast, by reason of the extensive diluvial deposits, which cover the strata in that direction. But coal comprises, by no means, the entire resources of these valleys. The slaty clays contain certain extensive deposits of clay iron-stone, an ore easily and profitably melted into pig iron. Great Britain produces annually 600,000 tons of iron from ore of the same quality, procured in a similar geological position. Valuable and Thus we see, that of the whole number of steamboats built the last three years in the United States, two-thirds were built on the Western waters; and, of this number, onesixth were built in Ohio, and one-seventh in Cincinnati. The largest number of steamboats built at any one place were built in Pittsburg. In 1836 there were 143 steamboats, carrying 24,000 tons, navigating the Western waters. In the last five years there have been built 1,000 steamboats, Of these, seven hundred were built on the Western rivers. The life of the steamboat does not average more than five years, but there are a large number which have been repaired, and are much older than five years. It is safe to say, then, that there are more than eight hundred steam. boats now running on the Western waters; and, averaging their tonnage at two hundred tons each, carrying one hundred and sixty thousand tons of freight. "Here we see one element of the growth of Western commerce -a commerce whose magnitude must, at an | greater increase; and the consequence is, inearly day, surpass anything the world has ever yet seen of commercial development." Commercial Statistics. It is impossible to approximate to anything like the truth in re ference to our commercial statistics. We can only aim at it by details furnished in solitary cases, by taking our own products and values, as furnished by the auditors' and assessors' books in the West, and to all of which we have not at present access. Take the article of pork, for instance, and the same may be said of beef. It is out of our power to give the aggregate quantity shipped on the Western waters in any one year. The amount is enormous, and would scarcely be credited if we had the figures. Some approximation, however, may be made by taking the State of Ohio, as au example of the number of hogs assessed for taxes for the last three years. In 1848, the number was 1,436,191; 1849, 1,730,466; 1859, 1,728,794. Of this quantity, it is fair to suppose that two-thirds are exported. We have spoken of the connections between the different points in the valley of the Mississippi. They are immense. Not less than twenty thousand miles of river coast are accessible to this point by steamboat navigation, and the effect of these vast communications on the whole West and Southwest is daily manifesting itself. What is the result? Cities are doubling and trebling their population, farms are opening in all directions, our forests are bowing before the axe of the settler, the green sod of our prairies is every where broken up by the plow of the husbandman, our corn and wheat fields teem with the rich abundance of their products. We are not, as we were a few short years since, laboring for our own sustenance, but freighting our products to every clime, where American and foreign ships can carry it; and, in return, receiving the products of other lands for our wants, and upon which duties are paid by us to the government, thus swelling their coffers to au amount, we venture to say, received from no other portion of the Union; for there is scarcely an article subject to duty but what enters into the consumption of the Western people; and the importation of these dutiable articles are swelling to an amount that would hardly be credited, did not the statistics of the West show that this was true. Take, for instance, the imports into Cincinnati twenty-five years since, and compare them with what they are now. We set down the value instead of the quantity: stead of paying duties, as we formerly did, at ports on the Atlantic, New-York, or NewOrleans, our own commercial towns are ports of entry and delivery, and the duties are paid here, and the result is now a direct importa tion of foreign merchandise to all the princi pal towns on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. These importations keep pace with our increase of population, and but a few years will elapse before the customs here will compare favorably with many cities on the seaboard. In former years the foreign goods imported had their duties paid at the cities on the seaboard where they were landed. They were then carried across the mountains, or up the Mississippi and Ohio, to their several destinations in the West. But the whole aspect of commerce in the West is now, in a very great degree, changed by the change of locomotion; and, as has been very justly and truly stated, “the merchants of Memphis, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg will be as much the merchants of America as the merchants of New-York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore." The growth of our cities, and the immense distribution of foreign goods here now, proves the fact conclusively, while every year the importation of foreign goods to the West directly is increasing. The table above shows what it has been to a single city. And this is but one among the great number that are to spring up in our valley. The fact is, and the statistical tables will prove it, that for the last ten years the commerce of the West has grown faster than its population, great as that is. Among the avenues which lead this population and this trade to the West and Southwest, the principal ones are the Ohio and Mississipi rivers, extending, with their tributaries, (many of which are as navigable most seasons as the streams into which they empty,) a distance of twenty thousand miles; running through a region unsurpassed in the world for its agricultural products and mineral resources; running from north to south through eighteen degrees of latitude, and having on their mar gin and along their borders thirteen states of the Confederacy, embracing a population five times as large as the good" old thirteen" at the first organization of our government. What has Congress done for their improvement? Nothing-absolutely nothing. And these great arteries, these great inland seas," which waft on their surface annually millions of human beings, and carry on their waters an inland commerce far exceeding that carried across the ocean by our whole domestic and foreign marine, are now, so far as naviga$1,080,000 tion is concerned-so far as improvement is 500,000 concerned, but little, if any, better than when the first "broadhorn" floated down the Ohio and Mississippi fifty years ago, and deposited her cargo of flour and whisky in a two months' voyage at the Spanish port of New-Orleaus. 1848 .1,629,000 And yet this is but a single point in the valley. We presume that Pittsburg, Louisville and St. Louis show an equal if not The action of Congress towards the West | favor; and besides this, our goods were the has been heretofore of the most anomalous best. character. Occasionally holding out the promise of some great benefit, of some act to be done which should promote, in some degree, a Western interest, they have so contrived it, that only some initiatory step should be taken, and then the matter has slumbered, or so worded the act conferring the benefit, that it has, in its effects, been rendered entirely nugatory. Since 1840, the British government has been obliged to take off the duty, but it could not lessen the cost of labor, of power, or of capital. The wages of the operative then were barely enough to support life; the cost of coal must increase as the seams nearest the surface are exhausted; and it is doubtful whether the capital then invested in the cotton mill was paying any interest. The changes that have since occurred on WEST-ADVANTAGES FOR MANU-this side of the water have all been in our FACTURES-MANUFACTURES ON THE OHIO favor; that is, so far as the cost of manuRIVER. Important elements of a manufac- facturing is concerned. More experience turing district, says a writer of papers in the has given us greater skill; we have more Louisville Journal, are facilities for moving system, and more economy; new facilities of man and matter, and proximity to the raw intercommunication have brought our promaterial and to the market. These are re- ducers and manufactures of cotton nearer to solved into cost of transportation. each other and lessened the cost of their mutual exchanges; but, more than all, the cost of labor, in which England had so much the advantage, has been lessened over onehalf; that is, less than one-half is now required. Besides, of late years the supply of cotton has been so near the demand, that the price has fallen from 14 cents per pound to an average of 8 or 9 cents; as the cost is reduced our relative advantage is increased. General impressions on this point are very erroneous; and, as the result of my statistics may far exceed the belief of those who have not investigated the object, I give the facts for the full examination of all who feel an interest in them. In these articles I refer specially to the cost of manufacturing and vending cotton goods, because this branch of manufacturing is of more importance and better understood than any other. Some years since a pamphlet was publish"The ed in England, by Mr. Graham, on Impolicy of the Tax on Cotton Wool." In this is an affidavit of Mr. Gemmell, of Glasgow, who states, "that, although he was for several years in the habit of supplying Chili with cotton domestics, he has latterly been obliged to abandon the trade, in consequence of being unable to compete with the manufacturers of the United States." Chili is a market equidistant from the two competitors for her trade. What gave NewEngland such an advantage over the cheap labor, cheap coal, and cheap capital of England? The difference in the cost of transportation on rhe raw material. In 1839-40, Montgomery gives this estimate of the cost of importation of cotton to the British manufacturer, the first cost of the cotton being 14 cents per pound. While the average cost of the New-England manufacturer is stated at 11 per cent. The estimate of the actual charges of manufacturing in the two countries gives an average of six mills per yard against us; yet, taking both charges into the estimate, the net advantage was three per cent in our 33' VOL. III. From these facts we have this corollary: that, as the cost of labor, power and material, is reduced, the cost of transportation rises in importance. If England cannot profitably compete with us in the Chili market, certainly she cannot compete with us here; for the width of the Atlantic gives us a protection, directly or indirectly, of at least 15 per cent. ad valorem, It is to In point of fact, just as fast as the American manufacturer is able to supply the home demand in any article, the English manufacturer is driven from our market, unless, to raise money or to break down a rival, he is prepared to sell at less than cost. be hoped that the wages of labor in this country will never be so low that we can compete with China in embroidered shawls or ivory trinkets; or with France and Germany in tapestry or laces made by hand. In such fabrics the cost of transportation bears but a slight proportion to the cost of labor. It is clear, then, that England cannot sell coarse, heavy, and cheap goods in this valley in competition with our own manufacturer. Let us see if New-England can. In 1821, I am told, the first mill for spinning cotton yarn on an extensive scale was established on the Ohio. Now, who sees in our stores a hank of English or Eastern cotton yarn? The same cause that has produced this result-that is, the cost of transportation-must, in a few years, build up all the mills we need to supply us with "domestics." To see what the precise inducements are to start such a mill here, I give the following | but, to be altogether within the mark, put it details of the cost of transporting cotton at $50,000; the interest on this is the first from its point of production to us and to the item of saving or advantage to be carried New-England mill, and of the goods from out-say per annum $3,000. As we can the mill to us. It is clear that the difference turn over our capital more than once a year, in the first and the amount of the last give and its earnings at each time will exceed 6 the sum of our advantages in this item, at per cent., we might with propriety make the least to the extent of our home market. item much larger. I base my estimates on a mill of 10,000 spindles for convenience, and because that is near the most economical size. It will be borne in mind that the calculation includes the cost of machinery for preparing the cotton and weaving the goods. At almost any point on the Ohio River the cost of building is less than in Massachusetts. We have stone, lime, clay, and generally, lumber on or near the spot. There the lumber and lime are brought from Maine; but few positions furnish good clay for brick; and granite is not as easily worked as our lime or sandstone. The moment there is a demand for it, machinery can be made here 20 per cent. cheaper than at the East. The cost now would be nearly this : The factory building of brick or square stone ruble.. House for superintendent Twelve boarding-houses for 225 operatives.. Warehouse and store.. Engine, gearing, and pipes for heating mill, Here a working capital, sufficiently large to At Lowell there are forty-five mills, containing 253,456 spindles, and with a capital of $11,490,000, or over $450,000 for every 10,000 spindles. If $50,000 is deducted for capital required to purchase the power, $50,000 more to cover the difference in communicating the power and the additional cost of buildings, the working capital would seem to be $130,000 over that required here by my estimate. But I am not advised as to how much of this capital is required to enable the mill to sell on credit, or whether the surplus fund, usually laid aside out of profits, is sufficient for this purpose. The Lowell corporations rarely publish the amount of their reserved funds, or even of their profits, unless when they are remarkably low. The mill in question will turn out on the $30,000 average, two tons of goods a day-say 600 3,000 tons per annum. The English estimate of 10,000 waste and loss is one sixth; our rule gives 2,500 89 pounds of goods for 100 pounds of cot120,000 ton; by this, the mill will require 666 tons of cotton per annum. 46,500 8,000 $220,000 This estimate is larger by $20,000 to $30,000 than that made by persons who have far more practical knowledge on the subject than I have. The following estimate of the cost of bringing dry-goods to Louisville from Boston, via New-Orleans, was obtained from one of our largest dry-goods houses, and I feel confident that the rates are below the average: Freight to New-Orleans per bale,. Boston wharfage per bale Insurance, 2 per cent. on $66, or on cost, and Exchange per cent.. to and at Boston, at least... The longer the material and its product are in transitu, or, in other words, the further the manufactory is from the raw material and the market, the larger must be the working capital; and the interest on the difference is fairly a part of the cost of transportation. And besides, as England and NewEngland are obliged to enter the cotton mar- Add average cost on the bale from the mill ket once a year, and at the same time, and at the very time when our other great staples are ready for shipment, prices and freights are then generally at their highest rates; sometimes, as we have seen, sufficient means of transportation cannot be had at all; to guard against this contingency, as well as the fluctuations of price, many mills keep a heavy surplus stock. We can command the market at all times; we are always ready to contract, and select our own time to receive the cotton. We are here, also, at the point of consumption; we cannot for years supply the home demand, and our goods will be taken as fast as they are made. With these facts in view, it is very safe to say that the New-England mill requires a working capital of $100,000 more than ours; $0,0% 045 0,30 1.32 0,40 0,30 0,62 $3,42 0,40 $3,82 The bale, 4-8 brown cotton, of 750 yards, average cost $60; 3 yards to the pound. This gives over cent. to the yard, 1 cents to the pound, and $30 per ton. There are, however, but few houses that ship by New-Orleans, and at times when freights are low; altogether the largest portion of the brown cottons and prints brought to the central West come from the Eastern agent or jobber, and by the lakes or across the mountains. This is the ordinary course of trade, and there is no reason why we should not base our estimates on what is usually done, if the same system is likely to continue. By these last routes, as every dry-goods merchant (wholesale) can satisfy himself by reference, to his books, the average freight from the eastern cities is from two-thirds to three-fourths of one cent per yard. If to this is added the coastwise freight, insurance, interest, profit of the jobber, or commission of the second agent, the cost will swell up to at least 1 cent per yard, 3 cents per pound, or $60 per ton. But, as I have often been told, the agent at Baltimore will sell domestics just as low as they can be had at Boston or Lowell, and the Philadelphia jobber will often sell lower to draw in customers, as he relies for his profits on other goods. All very true; but a moment's reflection will satisfy any man of the fallacy of his reasoning. The manufacturer may wish to get rid of his surplus, and find it his interest to pay the transportation to, and the commission of an agent in a remote market, but this does not lessen the actual cost of the transportation or agency. The jobber may entice a customer into his store by selling silver at fifty cents an ounce, but this does not prove that the ounce of silver is actually worth less than a dollar. The same kind of argument is often applied to cost of transportation on our river. The Peytona will ask $5 from a passenger to Louisville, who calls her in at Brandenburg, and the price would be the same if he got in at Cairo; yet the writer on the western carrying trade would be laughed at, were he to state that the cost of transportation from Cairo and Brandenburg to Louisville was the same. Coal often sells for a less price at St. Petersburgh than at Newcastle; yet no one has attempted to show that the shipment of coal a thousand miles lessens its cost, or that St. Petersburgh is the proper site of manufactures, because coal was sold there at a particular day cheaper than at the English coal mines. The balance-sheet of every business must show the profits or losses in each of its branches. The high prices demanded by the larger boats for way-passengers and freight have introduced the river packets, and the extra costs paid by the eastern manufacturer are now building up the western mills. But if we add the ordinary freight on the goods, or $60 per ton, we have the maximum advantage of $56,182 80, or an average of $47,182 80 on a capital of $220,000 or near 21 per cent. I say nothing here of the great saving in fuel and in food; to these points, and to giving an aggregate of advantages, I propose to devote another paper. I believe the foregoing estimates are within the truth, and that I have not been able to get at all the items of cost; indeed, many of these are of such a character that they cannot well be specified; such, for instance, as the expenses and time of the merchant who goes abroad to make his purchases, occasional loss on exchange, and all the contingencies to which a trade between distant points is subject. It will be noticed that nothing is said here of disadvantages; there are some, and I will endeavor hereafter to state them fairly, and then perhaps you will be surprised to see how few there are, and how easily these can be surmounted. I have been furnished with the following estimate, which nearly corresponds with the foregoing, and from a source perhaps more reliable than any other in New-England. The comparison is between Massachusetts and Pittsburgh: To return to the figures: the mill given will consume 666 tons of cotton per annum. Freight from the cotton districts of Nashville, Florence, Tuscumbia, and points on the Mississippi River in Tennessee and Arkansas, and on the Arkansas River, are about the same to Louisville as to New-Orleans. As the river packets multiply, the rates in this direction will probably be lower. Besides, as our agricultural exports increase, the return boats will run light and charge less. Our mill, then, will save the charges on the cotton at New-Orleans and the cost If there is but even 15 per cent. advantage between that city and the New-England mill. [(and I challenge the production of facts to A mill of 10,000 spindles will turn out 4,000,000 yards of No. 14 sheetings or shirtings, and consume 1,400,000 pounds of cotton in one year. The difference in the cost of the raw material and the cost of sending the manufactured goods to the West, including interest, is, as near as can be estimated, one cent per yard,.or $40,000 in one year's work. |