THE NEW CANADIAN CURRENCY. The act regulating the currency of Canada passed in 1853, went into operation on the first of August, 1854. The legal value of the dollar is, under this act, five shillings of the present Canada currency, and that of the cent one-hundredth of a dollar. Business transactions in either currency will be legal. IMPORTS OF SPECIE INTO NEW ORLEANS. The imports of specie into New Orleans for the undermentioned five years have been as follows-years ending 31st of August: THE CANALS AND OTHER PUBLIC WORKS OF NEW YORK.* NUMBER IV. THE COST AND CHARGES OF TRANSPORT. This subject was considered at some length in my last annual report. The views therein presented will be incorporated in the present examination. An investigation of the comparative advantages of the several channels of communication between the seaboard and the interior, requires an examination into the cost and charges of transport by the various modes of land and water conveyance. The charges cannot be relied upon, in this investigation, because they fluctuate on the various routes and on the different articles conveyed; competition reducing them to a minimum and monopoly raising them to a maximum. The cost, however, furnishes a more reliable basis for comparison, as the elements upon which it depends are usually affected alike on the different routes. These elements consist of loading, conveying, discharging, warehousing, insurance, and in artificial channels, the necessary expenses of maintenance and to repay the cost of construction. The cost of loading and discharging depends upon the price of labor and the facilities afforded, and the cost of insurance upon the character of the navigation. The cost of conveyance upon the ocean is constant, but the charges are the least from that port at which is concentrated the largest amount of trade, and which possesses a favorable climate and the greatest advantages for reaching the open sea. New York possessing these advantages, and those of concentrating at its harbor through the influence of the great internal channels of Commerce, the trade of the most extended and fertile district of the interior of the country, has thus become the chief commercial center of this continent. The chain of western lakes terminating on the borders of this State, furnishes a transport second only to that of the ocean. The duration of navigation upon them is limited in consequence of the closing of the harbors during the winter season. For the first number of this series of papers (derived from the admirable report of W. J. MCALPINE, Esq, State Engineer and Surveyor,) exhibiting a comprehensive history of "The Progress of Internal Improvements in the State of New York," see Merchants' Magazine for July, 1854, (volume xxxi,, pages 123-126). For number 2, relating to "The Canals and Railroads as a Dependent System," see Merchants' Magazine for August, 1854, (vol. 31, pages 247-249,) and for number 3, relating to "the Extension of Trade and Travel beyond the State of New York," see same for September, 1854, (vol. xxxi., pages 374-377.) The Hudson affords an example of the best description of river navigation, in consequence of the uniformity of the flow and the smoothness and depth of its waters, allowing the use of either sail or steam vessels, and of light hulls; thereby increasing the proportion of the weight of the cargo to the whole weight moved. The Mississippi and its larger branches have the advantage of a long route and a current of from three to six miles an hour in the direction of the greatest tonnage. The fluctuations of their waters and the obstructions of their channels, the higher price of labor, and the necessity of employing steam vessels exclusively, and the hazards of the navigation, increase the cost of transportation on these waters. The cost of movement on a canal depends upon the relative sectional areas of the boat and of the canal-upon the actual size of the two, and upon the elevation to be overcome. The suspension of navigation upon the northern water lines increases the cost of transportation upon them, as the loss of time and the interest upon the capital invested is charged upon the business done during the limited portion of the year in which they are navigable. The cost of movement upon a railroad depends upon the amount of the curvature, the inclination of its gradients and the elevation to be overcome, and its limited capacity in comparison with its cost. The cost of transport on artificial works is increased by the tax necessary to be levied to give a remuneration for the capital invested, and also to pay the current expenses of operating and maintaining the work. The other circumstances constituting the expense of these modes of transport will be treated of in a subsequent part of this report. Having thus given the characteristics of the different modes of transport, it becomes necessary to state the actual cost of each, for the purpose of making a practical application to the several channels of trade between the interior and the sea coast. In arriving at these genera Iresults, it will not be necessary to regard those fluctuations of trade and Commerce tending to increase or diminish the cost of transport, which are of only a temporary character. The following table shows the distances traveled by sailing vessels and the ordinary charges from American ports to England, France, the West Indies, and Souh America, by which it will be seen as has been previously remarked, that the charges from New York to the principal importing ports of the world are less than from any other American city. The tables furnish the charges, and the cost may be assumed at twothirds of these charges. TABLE OF CHARGES." TO LIVERPOOL. * Per ton. TO HAVRE.- Voyage. Voyage. Per Mile. Mills. $11.00 Mills. .... Boston. 3,020 5 25 1.74 1.67 New York 1.60 3,318 Philadelphia. Baltimore..... 1.60 3,620 6 00 1.65 Richmond 1.70 1.72 New Orleans 1.60 4,845 7 50 1.54 TO RIO JANERIO.- Per ton. Mills. .... Boston. 1,480 $4.00 2.70 0.75 New York 1,250 3.00 2.40 5,240 Philadelphia. 1,220 5,000 Baltimore... 1,215 5,000 Richmond. 1,170 5,000 6.00 1.20 New Orleans.. 595 1.06 The rates of freight specified may be considered (they are as far as can be ascertained) a fair average freight of vessel's capacity for the past three years. To Rio Janeiro the freights are low proportionately, as the return freights are generally good. 32 VOL. XXXI.-NO. IV. Mills. 1 Canals, Erie enlargement... Mills. er.. 5 to 6 5 other larger but sh ordinary size... ordi'ry size, great lockage.. 6 to 8 Railroads, transporting coal...... 6 to 10 not for coal, favorable 2 to 4 66 2 3 to 4 2.5 lines and grades. 12.5 tributaries of Mississippi. 5 to 10 Railroads, not for coal, steep grades 15 to 25 By applying these rates to the transportation of freight between the eastern end of Lake Erie and the Atlantic ports, we arrive at the cost for the several routes as follows: 1st. By Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, and Oswego and Erie Canals enlarged, and Hudson River*..... 2d. By Erie Canal enlarged and Hudson River to New York....... 3d. By the Canadian Canals and the St. Lawrence to Quebec. 4th. By the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, the Oswego and Erie Canals, and the Hudson River to New York 5th. By the Erie Canal and the Hudson to New York.. $2 43 2 52 2 58 2.94 3 16 6th. By the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence, proposed Caughnawaga Canal, and the Hudson to New York.. 3 43 7th. By the New York Central Railroad and the Hudson River..... 6 19 8 02 8 43 9th. By the New York and Erie Railroad to New York.. It appears, therefore, that after the Erie Canal is enlarged, it will be the cheapest channel of trade between Lake Erie and the Atlantic; but there is now a difference in the cost of transportation in favor of the route by the Canadian Canals to Quebec. Applying the foregoing rates to the several routes between different points on the Ohio and Mississippi and the seaboard, gives the following results: The cost per ton from New York by the Erie Canal, Lake Erie to Cleveland, and the Ohio canals to Beaver, is $4 77. The same from New York to Cleveland, and the Ohio Canal to Portsmouth, is $5 97, or by way of Beaver and the Ohio River, is $5 85. The same from New York to Toledo, and the Ohio Canal to Cincinnati, is $5 82. The same from New York to Toledo, and the Indiana Canal to Evansville, is $6 99. The cost from New York by the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago, thence to Peru, and the Illinois and Mississippi to St. Louis, is $7 09, and to Cairo is $7 61. The cost per ton from the capes of the Delaware, through the Delaware and Chesapeake and the Pennsylvania canals, Portage Railroad and Ohio River to Beaver, is $4 59; to Portsmouth $5 67; to Cincinnati $5 98; to Evansville $6 96; to Cairo $7 54. The same from the capes of the Delaware by Philadelphia, the Union Canal, and to Beaver, as before, $4 31; to Portsmouth $5 39; to Cincinnati $5 70; to Evansville $6 68; to Cairo $7 26. The cost per ton from the capes of Virginia to Baltimore, and thence by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Wheeling, is $6 99. The cost per ton from the capes of Virginia to Richmond, thence by the James River Canal and the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers to Portsmouth, is $4 11; Cincinnati $4 42; Evansville $5 40; Cairo $5 98. The cost per ton from St. Louis to New Orleans, including the extra cost of drayage and shipment at New Orleans, is $6 89. From the above statement it will be seen that the Pennsylvania canals reach the Ohio River at Beaver and Portsmouth 46 cts. per ton cheaper than the New York aud Ohio canals-Cincinnati, Evansville, and Cairo, 12 cts. cheaper. To the cost of the movement in each of the above cases, has been added a price per ton which would, on a movement of 2,000.000 tons per annum, pay the annual cost of maintenance and interest at 7 per cent on the cost of the artificial works through which the several routes pass. In the case of the enlargement of the Erie Canal, the movement is taken at 4,000,000 tons in consequence of its greater capacity. The Virginia Canal, if completed, would reach the Ohio River at Portsmouth $1 74 per ton cheaper than the New York and Ohio canals; and Cincinnati, Evansville, and Cairo, $1 40 cheaper.* The dividing line of trade between the Pennsylvania and New York canals is fortysix miles north of Beaver and Portsmouth, and twelve miles north of Cincinnati and Evansville; but when the enlargement of the Erie Canal is completed, the dividing line of trade, in accordance with the same principles, will be extended to the Ohio, and for a distance of thirty miles up that river from Beaver, (say to Pittsburgh,) and will embrace all of the trade below that point, until it is intercepted by that which will descend to New Orleans. The dividing line of trade between New Orleans and the New York canals, is now above the mouth of the Illinois River, but when the Erie Canal is enlarged, with the advantages of the New York market aud the facility of foreign shipment therefrom, it will be extended to the Mississippi, at least as far down as the mouth of the Ohio. The completion of the enlargement of the Erie Canal will reduce the expense of transportation about 75 cents per ton, which will increase the area of the drainage of its trade as far as that sum will transport by land or water, and will also increase the amount of trade within the present drainage, by permitting the exportation of many articles of large bulk and small value, which are restrained at the present time by the cost of transportation. This extension, as will be seen by the application of the rates given in the preceding table, is equal to two hundred and fifty miles on a river similar to the Ohio; one hundred and fifty miles on an ordinary canal; fifty miles on a railroad; and five to seven miles on common roads, where these distances are not met by competing lines, and one-half of those distances where they are so met. The foregoing tables show the relative cost of transport by each route, allowing on each a sum that will pay the interest on the expenditure which has been made to construct the artificial works on them. They do not include the tolls which are charged to reimburse the cost of the works, nor the charges which are necessary to be paid to the forwarders. If such tolls and charges are made upon the same basis upon each route, the expense of transportation would be in the same ratio as the cost charges given in the preceding tables, while the actual charges would probably be in each case about double the cost charges The annexed table shows the charges on the principal water and railroad lines, according to the last published rates. THE CHARGES FOR TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN THE SEABOARD AND THE WEST BY THE VARIOUS RAILROADS AND WATER LINES. The Legislature of Virginia, at its last session, decided to abandon the water line across the mountains, and a railroad is now being built instead of the canal. This increases the cost of transportation by that route, and prevents its consideration as a competitor with the New York Canals. BOSTON AND WORCESTER RAILROAD. The length of this road, main line, from Boston to Worcester, is 44 miles. The Boston and Worcester Company have six branch lines (24 miles) now open for traffic. The total length of the main and branch roads is 68 miles. The Millbury Branch opened in 1836, the Saxonville Branch opened in 1846, the Newtown Lower Falls Branch opened in 1847, the Brookline Branch opened in 1848, the Milford Branch opened the same year, and the Framingham Branch opened in 1849. The following statement shows the capital stock upon which dividends have been paid, cost of road, gross and net income, expenses of operating the road, and dividends paid by the Company for the eighteen years, commencing the first after its completion: The gross income of the road for eighteen years has been $8,898,583, and the expenses during same time $4,685,528. The total net income for the eighteen years was $4,218,676; the whole amount of the dividends divided in the eighteen years has been 126 per cent. The dividends paid by the Boston and Worcester Railroad Company have been nearly equal to 7 per cent upon the whole expenditure. The increase of cost of the road over original estimate has been $3,966,880, or 550 per cent; of earnings, 620 per cent; of expenses, 1,200 per cent; and of net earnings, 400 per cent. The annual increase has been pretty uniform. At the end of nine years from the opening of the road for traffic, the gross earnings reached the sum of $426,403; at the end of eighteen years, $887,219. The cost of the road reached its maximum in 1849, since which time it has been slightly reduced. The earnings in the meantime bave increased from $703,361 to $887,219-a gain of $183,858, or 26 per cent. The road is thoroughly constructed, with ample grounds, buildings, and side-tracks for the accommodation of its business. The amount paid for real estate has added largely to the cost of the road. The equipment of the company on the 30th day of November, 1853, consisted in 26 locomotive engines; 100 passenger-cars; also, 44-236th parts of 24 passenger cars belonging to the New York and Boston Express Line; 18 baggage cars, and 44-236th parts of 10 baggage-cars belonging to the above line; 640 merchandise cars; and 84 gravel cars. It is the declared policy of the company to make no further addition to the capital account. No railroad in the country is better or more efficiently managed than the Boston and Worcester, especially since it has been in charge of GINERY TWICHELL, Esq., the intelligent and energetic Superintendent. |