operating in the various parts of the Union. It may, moreover, serve to show that there is, necessarily, no good ground of sectional jealousy or discord, between the different quarters of the country. The enterprise of New England and other parts of the North, comes into no conflict with the cotton-growing interests of the South; but, on the contrary, it rather serves to stimulate them, by working up in the manufacturing establishments of those states, annually, sixty millions of pounds of the southern cotton crop. Nor do the agricultural and mineral products of the Middle and Western States, conflict with the manufactures of the North, or the cotton-growing interests of the South; for those Middle and Western States tend to supply these two sections with products which are peculiar to them, and which are there required, receiving in return those staples which they most need, and which are not produced by themselves, while foreign and domestic trade stand as a common carrier, coming in conflict with no producing interest, but ready, at all times, with their fleets of vessels and their lines of railroads, upon the ocean and the land, the lakes, the rivers, and the canals, to execute the commissions which may be entrusted to their agency, requiring only a reasonable compensation.

MERCANTILE LAW CASES.

LAW OF BEEF AND PORK INSPECTION.

In the Supreme Court of Louisiana, June 22d, 1846. Pardos v. Bozant. Appeal from the Commercial Court, (New Orleans.)

The plaintiff purchased seven hundred barrels of pork certified to be prime inspected pork, and branded such by the defendant, in his official capacity of inspector.

The pork was shipped with the usual care, and sent to New York, where it was landed in good order, after a voyage of twenty-one days, performed in fair weather, and without accident of any kind. Before its arrival, it was sold by the plaintiff's correspondent at a certain price, to be paid on delivery, provided the quality corresponded with the certificate given by the defendant, and sent on with the bill of lading. On inspection in New York, it proved to be all sour, and so inferior in quality that the purchaser refused to receive it. It remained on hand some time, and was finally sold to other persons, at a reduced price.

This action has been instituted to recover from the defendant the difference between the two prices, on the ground of negligence in the inspection or repacking of the pork, and misrepresentation in the certificate. The case was submitted to a special jury of merchants, who gave a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, for the sum claimed. The defendant moved for a new trial, which was refused, and judgment having been rendered in conformity with the verdict, he appealed. The record contains an exception taken by him to the charge of the Judge, which is in these words: The Court in this case charges the jury that the defendant was only liable for neglect or fraud, or contravention of the law; that whether the neglect arose from unskilfulness, ignorance, inattention, or want of care, the defendant was equally liable; that the court considered that an inspector of beef or pork, when he gave a certificate that beef or pork was in a good or sound condition, was bound by such certificate to warrant not only that the beef or pork was in a good and sound condition at the time the certificate was given, but that it should remain so for a reasonable and usual length of time, if the article was handled with proper care and not improperly exposed; that our law did not fix any length of time during which the responsibility was to last and terminate; that in the absence of any fixed rule, a responsibility would attach for such length

of time as the nature of the article was usually expected to preserve good; that if the plaintiff has proved that the pork has been properly handled and taken care of, and it was found that the article was spoiled before the lapse of a reasonable and usual period, the defendant would be liable for any damage that might arise from the unsound condition of the article; and that it was for the jury to say whether

First. The article was unsound on its arrival in New York.

Second. Whether any circumstances had occurred which relieved the defendant from his liability from the certificate which he had given, and from the liability which he was under by law.

We consider this charge to the jury a lucid and sound exposition of the law applicable to the case. One of the main advantages of the inspection of such commodities is to give security to commerce, and to increase the confidence of purchasers abroad in the soundness of provisions found in our market. If those objects are not attained, the heavy expense attending the inspection is incurred without adequate motives, and the only mode of securing them is to hold the inspectors responsible for want of ordinary diligence in the discharge of their duties. In doing this, care must, of course, be taken that the security thus given to commerce, be not abused to the injury of inspectors. In this latitude, and especially for shipments made during the summer months, their responsibility should be limited to a shorter period than that established by the laws of New York.

In this case the jury have substantially found that pork shipped with care, and well stowed in New Orleans, between the 29th and 31st of July, forming part of an assorted cargo of provisions, cotton, and tobacco, and landed in good order in New York, after a prosperous voyage, on the 28th and 29th of August next following, could not have become sour during that voyage, and that it must, therefore, have either been unsound when it was shipped, or, what is more probable, have been repacked too fast, and without proper care, after the inspection here.

A careful perusal of the evidence has brought us to the same conclusion. The amount of damages authorized by the verdict is authorized by the facts of the case, and there is nothing in the judgment which requires our interference.

It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed, that the judgment of the Commercial Court be affirmed with costs.

BILLS OF EXCHANG E-BANKRUPTCY, ETC.

The following decision in the "Court of Review," June 17th, 1846, is derived from the London (Eng.) Morning Herald, of June 18th:

Ex parte Chamberlain, in re Giro.-This was a petition, the object of which was to obtain the restoration to the petitioners of four bills of exchange, amounting to £8,650. The petitioners were Messrs. Chamberlain, Phelps, & Lawrence, merchants, of New York. The respondents were the assignees of James Giro, a merchant, in London, who had formerly been largely connected with Spanish houses. It appeared that Messrs. Chamberlain & Co. had been engaged extensively in business with one Piera, of Sicily, and with other firms in the Mediterranean, and had arranged with Giro for the purpose of giving the Mediterranean consigners the necessary credits. The course of business between Mr. Giro and Messrs. Chamberlain & Company was, that the former, from time to time, gave his acceptances in payment for the consignment forwarded from the Mediterranean houses to England; that Giro advised the petitioners of the dates and amounts of such acceptances, and the petitioners remitted to him funds and acceptances necessary to meet the sums from time to time paid. Giro received £1 per cent commission for his trouble. The bills in question were remitted from New York on the 26th of February last, and were received by Giro on the 16th of the following month. On the 18th of March, Giro had advised Messrs. Chamberlain & Co. of his intention to stop payment in consequence of the failure of a house in Cadiz. The fiat in the present bankruptcy was issued on the 21st of March. The acceptances of Giro, which he had given to the Mediterranean consigners, when dishonored, were taken up by the house of Baring & Co., on behalf of the petitioners. These were the only dealings between the parties.

Mr. Russell and Mr. Cairns, in support of the petition, upon the authority of

"Jombart v. Wollett," (2 My. & Ca. 389,) and other cases, as also upon the facts disclosed upon the petition and by affidavits, contended that the bills ought not to be allowed to go to the creditors at large, but ought to be delivered up by the assignees to the petitioners.

Mr. Swanston and Mr. Rogers, on behalf of the assignees, insisted that the property in the bills had passed by delivery, there being mutual debts and credits between the parties at the time. They read the affidavits of merchants, for the purpose of showing that, according to the custom of merchants in London, Giro was justified in treating the remittances made by the petitioners from time to time, as general remittances, and using the proceeds for the general purposes of his business as a merchant, and that he was not bound to make a specific appropriation of them.

The Chief Judge said the question before him was one simply of fact, the law being clear. He was satisfied upon the evidence that the nature of the contract between the American house and the London house was such, that the bills remitted from the former to the latter did not, when received, become absolutely, in all senses, and for all purposes, the property of the latter. By the contract between the parties, Mr. Giro acquired only a limited and qualified property in them, subject to this qualification—that Messrs. Chamberlain & Co. discharged all the obligations and liabilities of Mr. Giro on their behalf. The bills in question, therefore, passed to the assignees in the same state, in point of right, as that in which the bankrupt held them. The petitioners were, therefore, entitled to have their bills, on discharging all obligations between them and the bankrupt. The general creditors, by their assignees, had entered into this contest upon insufficient grounds, although properly and without blame; and, failing, they must pay the costs.

BROKER'S COMMISSION ON HOUSES SOLD FOR AN ADVANCE ON MORTGAGE.

In the Superior Court, New York city, June 16, 1846, Judge Jones presiding. W. C. Atwell vs. J. G. Wilson.

This was an action to recover commission, at the rate of 1 per cent, on $30,000, being the price of three houses and lots on the Third avenue, sold by plaintiff for defendant. It appeared that this property was sold subject to a previous mortgage, amounting to $15,000, and it was contended that the broker should not charge commission except on the amount for which the property sold, over and above the mortgage. The Court was of opinion that the broker was entitled to charge commission on the full amount for which the property sold, including the amount of the mortgage. Verdict for plaintiff, $300.

AUCTIONEERS AND THEIR SURETIES.

In the Supreme Court of Louisiana, June 15th, 1846, judgment was procured in the case of Alexander Mouton, use of W. K. Halsted, appellees, vs. J. Noble, P. B. Tyler, and T. O. Meux, appellants. Merits: J. A. Noble, auctioneer, and his sureties, the other appellants, were sued in the Commercial Court, before Judge Watts, for the recovery of $840 60, the proceeds of a sale of property by auction, entrusted to Noble, by the proprietor, Halsted, which had not been paid over to the latter. Sureties pleaded that they had been discharged by time having been given by plaintiff to the principal defendant, Noble. It appears that on the 7th February, 1845, the date of the occurrence, when the money should have been paid over, Halsted, the plaintiff, took Noble's notes, six of them, payable at different periods, for $790 60-the remaining fifty dollars being handed to the former, in cash.

Judge Watts held that the agreement to give time did not exonerate the sureties, and therefore cast them with costs. Their Honors of the Supreme Court were of opinion that, from the division of the debt, and plaintiff's receiving notes payable at determinate periods, resulted a valid obligation on the part of creditor not to sue on his original term, etc., and that, by thus giving time to the principal debtor, without consent of sureties, the latter are discharged. Judgment of lower court reversed, and decree given in favor of defendants, who are condemned in costs in both courts.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.

STATE OF THE MONEY-MARKETS IN ENGLAND-BRITISH EXPORTS FROM JANUARY TO MAY, 1846

-IMPORT OF RAW MATERIALS-TROPICAL PRODUCTS ENTERED ENGLAND FOR CONSUMPTION— SUGAR, TEA, COFFEE, ETC.-ABILITY OF NATIONS TO MANUFACTURE-MODIFICATION OF EUROPEAN TARIFFS-THE NEW TARIFF BILL OF THE UNITED STATES-IMPORT OF GOODS FROM

GREAT BRITAIN, IN 1845, WITH THE AD VALOREM RATE OF DUTY PAID, AND THE RATE

CHARGEABLE UNDER THE PROPOSED TARIFF-PROVISIONS TO PREVENT FRAUD-BANK FACILITIES AND CREDITS-PROSPECT AS TO PRICES-PORT OF NEW YORK, IMPORTS AND EXPORTSEXCHANGES-AMOUNT AND LOCATION OF THE UNITED STATES DEPOSITS-REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT-ITS EFFECT UPON THE MARKET-THE SUBTREASURY-OPPOSITION TO THE WAREHOUSING BILL, ETC., ETC.

THE leading features of the markets, as they presented themselves at the date of our last article, have not materially changed, other than that they may have deepened in their character-that is to say, prices for produce have been more heavy, and the prospect of an advance has become more gloomy; while the movements of the government have not been such as to warrant a speedy settlement of those great questions that have so long agitated the public mind, and retarded the free circulation of capital. In England, the bullion in the bank continues to increase, mostly in consequence of the influx of gold from Russia, from causes which we pointed out in our article of September, 1844. The quantity received in England from Russia, directly from St. Petersburgh, and indirectly through Hamburgh and Holland, is near £1,000,000 in six weeks. The exchanges still are apparently in favor of England, notwithstanding the large import of corn, which has accumulated in bond to the extent of 2,000,000 quarters of wheat and flour, worth $25,000,000-a large sum to be locked up in that article at a time when the prospects of the harvest are such as to indicate a fall in prices. This, with the demands of the cotton-market, and railway speculation, have made money dear; more particularly when the high prices of food in Europe have checked the activity of the markets for goods. The amount of private securities discounted by the Bank of England is large, being near three times as much as two years since; and the circulation of the paper of individuals is doubtless very large, perhaps larger than the prospect of prices would warrant. The cheapness of money which prevailed in the discount-markets of England, stimulated great enterprises, and promoted an increase of obligations, that now encounter some difficulty in their fulfilment. The export trade of Great Britain has been less this year than last. The values for the four months ending May 5th, for three years, have been as follows:

DECLARED VALUE OF BRITISH EXPORTS, FROM JANUARY 1, TO MAY 5.

DECLARED VALUE OF BRITISH EXPORTS, ETC.-CONTINUED.

$628,895

Total exports,. $14,987,255 $16,502,754 $15,873,858

The exports of cotton goods, it appears, have declined nearly as much as the shipments of cotton yarns have increased; which would indicate an extension of the manufacture on the continent in excess of the increased consumption. The greatest actual decline is in woollen goods. The export of glass has largely declined, which might indicate an enhanced home consumption, consequent upon the repeal of the excise law. The imports of raw materials, for periods corresponding to the above, were as follows :—

Of wool and cotton, it would appear, there has been a decline in the whole trade corresponding to the advance in the price of food, and a reaction may be looked for when that cause shall have been removed. The quantities of tropical products entered for consumption in England, have been as follows:

This is a remarkable result. The increase in the quantity of sugar taken for consumption has been 50 per cent since the duties were reduced; and the consumption of tea and coffee, which are used with sugar, has increased in nearly an equal ratio, although the duties on those articles were not changed last year. Tea and sugar, and coffee and sugar, being used together, a reduction in the tax on sugar is a diminution in the cost of the drink composed of both articles. The general result of the figures is a diminution of the interchange of manufactured goods by the nations of Europe, but an increased consumption of raw material and tropical products by all. The ability of each nation to manufacture all it wants, is apparently increasing; and hence a disposition to reduce the restrictions upon raw materials and produce, manifest in each; more particularly Russia, Prussia, Belgium, and Great Britain. Each and all of these nations have modified their tariff's in relation to produce; and the results reasonably anticipated mark a somewhat enhanced international trade. The United States House of Representatives have passed a tariff bill, which in some cases greatly reduces the duties chargeable upon goods, and in other cases it has advanced the rates. The main feature of the tariff is, that it abolishes minimums and specific duties, and provides for the imposition of ad valorem duties, only. In order to observe the practical change effected, we may take from official returns the value of goods imported from Great Britain in 1845, and the ad valorem rate of the duties actually paid upon those imports, as compared with the rates charged in the new bill:-