COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.

REGULATIONS OF THE TOBACCO TRADE IN NEW ORLEANS.

THE following arrangement has been agreed upon between the parties interested in the tobacco trade of New Orleans:

The committee, appointed by the tobacco factors, assembled at the counting-house of Messrs. Fellowes, Johnson & Co., on the evening of the 3d of March, 1846, to report some plan by which the present system of inspecting, weighing, coopering, &c., of tobacco can be so guarded as to remedy the evils complained of by the purchasers of tobacco in this market, have had the subject under serious consideration, and beg leave respectfully to report:

That your committee are fully persuaded that great evils do exist under the present loose system of conducting the trade in New Orleans; that the door is open to the perpetration of great frauds, both upon the buyer and seller of tobacco; that the complaints made by the buyers have too much foundation in truth; that justice to the buyers, to our own character as merchants, to the character of the New Orleans market, as well as the interests of our country correspondents, calls loudly upon us to do all in our power to prevent the frauds complained of.

With this view, in the absence of the requisite legal enactments, your committee cannot recommend any means promising greater efficacy than the regulations herein proposed1st. It shall be required of the inspectors to draw the samples themselves, or cause it to be done by a person under their control, who shall not be in any way connected with the warehouses; and that the tobacco shall be broken in four places, and an equal proportion from each break shall be used in making up the sample.

2d. It shall be required of them, in making up the sample, that the tape or twine used, shall pass through the hands of the tobacco, and a seal of wax shall be put upon each sample, with the initials of the inspectors; and that all marks upon the sample card shall be with ink.

3d. A weigher shall be appointed for each tobacco warehouse in the city, who shall be a sworn officer, and shall give bond and security, in the sum of five thousand dollars, for the faithful performance of his duties.

4th. He shall be present at every inspection in the warehouse where he may be located; he shall weigh each cask after it is taken off the tobacco, and mark the weight thereon; he shall return the cask to the tobacco from which it came, and after it has been coopered, he shall weigh the hhd. of tobacco and mark the weight on the same.

5th. He shall see that every hhd. is coopered in a proper manner, either under a screw or a lever, and that all the loose tobacco be put back into the hhd. from which it came ; and that every hhd. is put under a sufficient pressure to close the breaks caused by inspecting, sufficiently to prevent injury from mould or dampness.

6th. He shall certify to the gross and tare weights upon the certificates issued by the warehouses, and shall countersign the same. He shall superintend the delivery of all tobacco from the warehouses when called by the holders of the certificates, and shall be responsible for all errors of delivery. He shall see that all tobacco shall be coopered up the same day that it is opened, and that before sundown.

7th. The weigher shall furnish his own laborers to weigh the casks, place them back on the tobacco, and weigh the hogshead of tobacco.

8th. Either buyer or seller shall have the privilege of requiring the weigher to re-weigh any tobacco when called on previous to or at the time of delivery; and if the certified weights (making due allowance for shrinkage) shall be found correct, he shall be paid his usual fee by the party requiring the service-if otherwise, he shall not be paid, but held responsible for the error. But it is distinctly understood that his responsibility ceases when the tobacco leaves the warehouse.

9th. The compensation of the weigher shall be twenty-five cents per hogshead, which shall be deducted from the charges now allowed to the warehouses; and he shall have the privilege of the assistance of deputies, but shall be held responsible for their acts. 10th. The weigher shall remain in office twelve months, unless for misdemeanor the Board of the Tobacco Trade shall see proper to remove him.

11th. A Board shall be appointed, to be denominated "The Board of the Tobacco Trade," consisting of six members-three to be chosen by the buyers and three by the factors which board shall have the power of appointing all tobacco weighers, and to

which all difficulties arising in the trade shall be referred. Four members shall constitute a quorum to transact business.

12th. Warehouse-keepers shall without delay break out and deliver all tobacco when called on by the holders of the certificates.

13th. No one shall have the privilege of choosing inspectors, but it shall be left optional with themselves to allot the duty to any two of their number.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF MONTREAL.

We have received from the President and Directors of this Institution, a copy of their fifth annual report; a plain, business-like document. We are pleased to learn that the directors have good ground to look forward with confidence, not merely to its continuance, but to a constantly advancing measure of prosperity and usefulness. It appears that ninety-seven volumes have been added to the library, by donation, during the past year, and that the library now comprises 3,934 volumes. The reading-room is supplied with two reviews, fourteen monthly magazines, and forty-four newspapers. Of the fourteen monthlies but two are from the United States-the Merchants' Magazine, and the Journal of the American Temperance Union. A course of lectures was delivered during the past season. At the fourth annual meeting a prize was offered for the best essay on the Advantages to a Commercial Man of a Literary Education." There were, however, but few competitors for the prize, which was unanimously awarded to Mr. J. H. Winn, the Corresponding Secretary of the Association. The subject adopted for the prize essay is, "Commerce; its objects and history." The plan pursued by this association, of offering prizes for the best essay on some commercial subject, is a good one, and we hope to see it adopted by similar institutions in the United States. The list of members, presents, in comparison with former reports, very gratifying evidence of a progressive increase. The present number is 469; last year it was 392, and the previous year 319. The Board of Directors conclude their report by urging the members to avail themselves of the means of improvement offered through the association; so that they may thus gather the information, and lay the foundation of "that intelligence, uprightness and honor, which characterise British merchants."

ABOLITION OF IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT IN NEW SOUTH WALES. The friends of humanity, and a liberal and enlightened policy everywhere, will be gra tified in reading the following statement, which we copy from the "Colonial Times :" "The British and colonial press has been united in awarding to the Legislative Council of New South Wales the merit of being the first legislature in the British dominions which had the fortitude to wipe away from the statute-book that most monstrous legacy of the barbarous ages-imprisonment for debt. In these commendations we most heartily join; indeed, we consider the fact of his having been the member at whose more immediate instance this admirable step was taken, the brightest feather in Mr. Lowe's cap; but, however heartily we approve of this measure, we cannot allow it to be assumed that the Legislative Council of New South Wales was the first to lead in the matter, for it is a highly interesting fact, that, so long ago as the year 1699, the same step was taken, and on precisely the same principles, by the then parliament of New Caledonia, better known probably to our readers as the ill-fated Scotch colony on the Isthmus of Darien. The following, being No. 27, of the rules of ordinances for the good government of the colony, promulgated by the colonial parliament, was the law which abolished imprisonment for debt: All lands, goods, debts, and other effects, except the working tools of a mechanic, the books of a student, or man of reading, and the wearing clothes of any person,) shall in the most ready manner be subject to the just and equal satisfaction of debts; but the person of a free man shall not, in any sort, be liable to arrests, imprisonment, or other restraints whatsoever, for or by reason of debt, unless there shall be fraud first proved upon him.''

NOTE TO "THE CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES OF 1850,"

PUBLISHED IN THIS MAGAZINE, IN FEBRUARY, 1846.

We cheerfully give place to the annexed communication from Thomas Gregg, Esq., of Warsaw, Illinois. It will be seen that the article which Mr. G. refers to, was from the pen of William Kirkland, Esq., and that his name is given in the table of contents as the author. It has been our endeavor from the start, to avoid party politics, but, at the same time, to let our correspondents express their views, if done courteously and in good taste, with perfect freedom. The following extract from our prospectus, clearly defines the course we aim to pursue in the management of this Magazine :— "It has been, and will continue to be, the aim of the Editor and Proprietor of the MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE, to avoid everything of a party, political, or sectional bias or bearing, in the conduct of the work-opening its pages to the free and fair discussion of antagonistic doctrines connected with the great interests of Commerce, Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Currency."

To the Editor of the Merchants' Magazine:

WARSAW, Illinois, March 20, 1846.

SIR-In the February number of your valuable periodical, in the article on the Census of 1850, page 116-17, the following paragraph occurs:

"That the spirit of unadulterated democracy-understanding by this term something far other than the enlightened freedom which is contemplated by the constitution-is exceedingly prevalent in that wide region called the West, is but too clearly proved by the Mormon contests. This spirit, fully received, demands that the will of the people, to-day, should be the law for to-day, in spite of any musty, antiquated records, called laws, and the like, which are merely the opinions of people who lived years ago, and, like the precepts of our religion, well enough for those times, but not at all adapted to ours. Hence, the undisguised murder of Smith, with the absolute impunity of the murderers, notwithstanding the governor's pledge of honor for his safety, and his strenuous efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. The people of Illinois have gone on to burn out a population of fifteen or twenty thousand people, consuming house after house, with systematic deliberation, in order to rid themselves of a portion of the people whom they do not like; and there is no power in the state to stop them. The constitution, the laws, and the magistrates, are as if they were not. The sovereign will of the people—that is, their will for to-day-is not to be resisted. Such is the actual construction of the doctrine of majorities in the second state of the West."

Now, it is not my intention or desire to enter into any controversy with the author of the above paragraph; neither is your journal the proper medium for such a controversy. But I think that such a paragraph requires notice and correction. In a periodical such as yours, which will find its way into hundreds of public and private libraries, and descend to posterity, a chronicle of the present time, it is highly necessary that its statements should approximate, as nearly as may be, to the truth. Without supposing that the writer committed an intentional error, I shall now proceed to show that, in point of fact, the above paragraph is extremely deficient.

That the "construction of the doctrine of majorities," is different in this state from what it is in the state of New York, or any other state of the Union, either in theory or practice, I have not been able to perceive, after a residence here of near ten years. That the citizens of this state are as law-abiding, and possess as much "enlightened freedom," as those of some of the older states, I am not prepared to say; but I will say, that if proof to the contrary is to be found in the frequent instances of mob violence, or, as our author has it," the manifestations of the will of the people," New York, at least, has little cause to rebuke us. Neither can the Mormon difficulties furnish any proof of the correctness of his position: for, it is my candid conviction-and this opinion, I know, is acquiesced in by hundreds of as good citizens as this or any other state can boast-that Mormon aggression could not have been carried to a similar extent in any state of this Union, and have been more peaceably, more patiently, endured by her citizens. Human nature is about the same in all the states. There have been too many instances in which the supremacy of the law and of the constitution has been trampled under foot, in all the states; and it is one of the most alarming evils of the times. But I am not willing that the people of this state, and of this section of the state, should be thus made scape-goats for the sins of the whole people. Were the facts as the writer states them, they would no more establish the truth of his position, than that the flour riots in your city, the destruction of the Ursuline Convent at Boston, or the anti-rent troubles in the interior of New York, prove that the "spirit of unadulterated democracy is very prevalent in that wide region called" New York and New England.

But Mr. Kirkland has been misinformed of the events which have taken place in "the second state of the West." Instead of the people of Illinois "burning out fifteen or twenty thousand people, consuming house after house with systematic deliberation," the Mormons themselves only claim to have lost seventy-five to a hundred houses, and these are known to include out-houses and stables. The real loss is probably forty houses, es

timated at, say $5,000; while nineteen-twentieths of those who were thus burnt out, remained in the country. The "fifteen or twenty thousand people," so inhumanly burnt out of house and home, would include all of the Mormons in this section of the state; and they were all, until very lately, peaceably enjoying themselves, in their peculiar way, in the city of Nauvoo and its environs. This Spring, however, a small portion of them have commenced their long-talked of exode to the regions beyond the Rocky Mountains. The "absolute impunity" of the murderers of Smith, is not quite so fabulous as the "fifteen or twenty thousand" sufferers by arson, for they are yet at large. Some eight or ten individuals were, however, indicted for the murder, and tried by an impartial jury, and acquitted for want of sufficient evidence.

In their difficulties with the Mormons, I do not pretend that the people of Illinois have done no wrong. That they have done much wrong, I am sorry to be compelled to admit. They do not claim-nor do I for them-exemption from human frailty. But, as their acts are to meet with the approval or the condemnation of the world, they desire that those acts shall be correctly and impartially stated. That desire is both natural and just.

Mr. Editor, I have thought thus much necessary, if not in justification, at least, in vin. dication and explanation of what the people of Illinois have done. I have purposely avoided adverting to the causes of their conduct. Those causes, and their consequences, will, probably, be fully and impartially laid before the public, at no distant day. Very respectfully, yours, &c.

THOMAS GREGG.

FREEMAN HUNT, ESQ.

FAIRBANKS' PLATFORM SCALES.

It is not often that we are induced to laud an article of trade, and we never do, unless perfectly satisfied that we are commending something that is useful. We cannot consent to gratify the cupidity of an individual, at the risk of imposing upon the confidence of thousands of our readers who rely upon the honesty of our statements, if not in the infallibility of our judgment. That great improvements have been made, within a few years, in the instruments for weighing merchandise, is a fact familiar to business men. The antique, clumsy, and inaccurate methods of weighing, have given way to the inventions of American mechanical skill, and the utmost precision has been attained. A variety of Platform Balances are manufactured and used, which cannot be relied on for any considerable degree of accuracy; so that they necessarily involve one party in pecuniary loss. It therefore affords us pleasure to refer to the Platform Scales of Mr. Fairbanks, which have been extensively used in all parts of the United States for several years, and given, as far as our knowledge extends, very general satisfaction. We purchased one of these scales three years since, and have used them constantly for weighing paper, &c.; and, for accuracy and durability, we are quite sure they have not, and perhaps cannot, be surpassed. The plan of construction is philosophical and simple. The employment of two levers, with a single beam, is certainly the most practicable, in a compound platform balance. Any increase of the number of levers, or an additional beam, renders the instrument more complicated, less precise in its operation, and more liable to derangement. These scales are used by many of the leading merchants in New York, whose written testimony, as to their superior excellence, has been freely accorded to the manufacturers.

MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF BOSTON.

At a meeting of the Mercantile Library Association, held on Wednesday evening, April 16th, 1846, at Amory Hall, the following gentlemen were elected offiers for the following year: President, Thomas J. Allen; Vice-President, Levi L. Wilcutt; Recording Secretary, Thomas H. Lord; Treasurer, Gustavus L. Braaford; Directors, Charles H. Allen, George H. Briggs, James Otis, Joshua P. Bird, Henry F. Chamberlain, John Stetson, William Kemard, W. Stowell Tilton.

FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA.

An association under this name has been organized in Montreal, whose object will be to" consolidate views and interest, attain unity of purpose and action, and thereby place ourselves in a position to secure the ascendancy of our principles in the commercial laws of the province. The commerce and industry of this colony, as yet in their infancy, and hitherto nourished under an unsound system of protective stimulants, will soon be left to seek out their natural channels; and fortunate will it be for our common welfare, if, by our united efforts, we now succeed in planting the principle of free trade in our commercial system. Then may we hope to make the St. Lawrence the highway for the rich products of the teeming west-to develop the vast resources of this rising colony-and to secure for her people the highest possible share of prosperity and happiness."

Having said thus much by way of explanation, the manner of accomplishing this object will be to show the amount of produce collected annually on the shores of our great inland waters, and brought to Montreal for distribution to the various markets of consumption; next, the vast quantity that passes through the Erie canal, seeking a market at New York, and other American ports; and lastly, to show that it is in the power of Canada to divert a large share of this latter trade through her own waters.

The amount of some leading articles of produce, brought by the St. Lawrence to the city of Montreal, in the year 1845, is given as follows:

ANDERSON'S TOBACCO MANUFACTORY.

In a "Complete Treatise on Tobacco," by W. F. J. Thiers, M. D., embracing the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, made under a call of the House of Representatives, and a collection of facts and figures on the subject, we find an interesting letter from Mr. John Anderson, who has acquired so much celebrity for his fine cut tobacco among the "devotees of the noxious weed." Dr. Thiers, who, previous to the publication of his treatise, visited the establishment of Mr. Anderson, says, that he has effected many valuable improvements in the machinery employed in his business. The advantage of knives, propelled by steam, for the cutting of tobacco, is obvious-the revolutions being performed with perfect regularity and precision, a long silken cord is produced, which the old, laborious, but unscientific method, could not effect. The manufactory is divided into fourteen apartments, each apartment being devoted to a distinct branch of the business. I was not a little surprised on learning the amount of labor required in depriving tobacco of its impurities, preparatory to cutting and curing. Mr. A. assured me that one great reason why so much inferior tobacco is offered for sale, is owing to inattention, or want of knowledge in the preparation. Large quantities of tobacco are allowed to ferment, and the caloric deprives it of its odorous principle; this loss drives the unskilful to the employment of drugs, with the vain hope of restoring the aroma. We have rather condensed than quoted, as the whole passage is too long for our pages. We would add, that the distinguished chemist, Dr. Chilton, analyzed a quantity of Mr. A.'s" Fine Cut Honey Dew," and certified that he found it pure tobacco. When we remember what immense quantities of this kind of chewing tobacco are annually consumed, the importance of a scientific system of preparation will be at once acknowledged.

EXTENSION OF RAILWAYS IN ENGLAND.

The extension of railways during the last three years, from 1,500 to 2,000 miles, has had the effect of increasing the average receipts per mile from about £2,800 to £3,200, and the total returns from about £2,600,000 to just £4,000,000.