According to report of the Antwerp Chamber of Commerce, the year 1853 commenced under the most favorable auspices, and with the most satisfactory results. During that year all branches of Commerce advanced prosperously. Commerce and Industry unfolded an unusually vigorous activity. Useful enterprises were always readily assisted by the capitalists, and many an enterprise was started the results of which will be felt hereafter. The increase of industrial intercourse extends to all parts of the country, it embraces all branches of industry. Manufacturing in all its branches progressed favorably; Commerce, always maintaining its high position, furnished the necessary means of communication and increased the sales of her manufactures. The export from Belgium reached an unprecedented hight in 1853. The principal exports of Antwerp in 1853, were: Of this the following was for home consumption and manufacture:— We see that the consumption of rye considerably exceeds the imports: the deficiency was made up out of quantities stored in 1852. That part of the importations not consumed in the country was either re-exported in 1853 or stored. The excess of the importations of 1853 over those of 1852 were as follows: RICE-Kilog. SUGAR-Kilog. WHEAT-Kilog. The increase in the imports of the last-named article is accounted for by the failure of the crops of 1852. Sugar, which is generally imported in an unrefined state, and re-exported again refined, owes its increased im portation to large orders from the East, England and the English colonies. Of American rice there were imported 1,750,000 kilog. less than 1852, but in East Indian we notice an increase of 8,000,000 kilog. Large quantities are ground in our mills and re-exported to Germany and France. The deficiency of the importation of 1853 compared with that of 1852 are in coffee, 2,145,015; in cotton, 3,819,916; in wool, 193,958; in leather, 1,061,441, and in rye 19,675,783. We find no satisfactory report of the decrease of the importation as far as it concerns cotton and rye; it is ascribed on coffee to the rise in the price brought about by the failure of the crops in Java and Brazil, on leather to the commotion in transatlantic countries, on wool to the rise in freight and to the difficulties of transportation. The high rates of freight, caused partly by the large transports of grain, and partly by the employment of merchant vessels as tenders, &c., to the navies, have thrown many impediments in the way of trade with many other articles; they have either diminished the exports, or at least made them more expensive and difficult. The exports of gloves and segars in 1853 was double that of 1852, or fr. 222,070 and kilog. 115,550; of tanned leather three times or kilog. 149,349; of steel four times, unmanufactured, kilog. 44,531, and manufactured, fr. 22,966; of woolen yarn five times, or kilog. 157,359; and of iron in bars seven times, or kilog. 7,289,726; it has considerably increased in trees and plants, cattle, butter, spirits, ribbons, clothing, musical instruments, paintings, furniture, arms, paper, refined sugar, laces, woolens, cottons, carriages, crystals and window glass;-a decrease was noticed in copper, cotton yarn, fruit, jewelry, gunpowder, beet sugar, unpolished zinc, carpets, and looking glasses. The imports and exports of Antwerp are mostly by sea. vessels arrived : Number of The number of foreign vessels has therefore increased 20 per cent if compared with the average of the three years 1850, 1851 and 1852, while the Belgian have increased but 7 per cent. The participation of Belgian vessels in Belgian navigation has fallen off from 16 to 14 per cent. It is shown that the means of transportation by water either inland or by sea, does not keep pace with Belgian commercial activity. This must of course seriously affect the transport by land. The transit is nearly at a stand still, which, as every stand-still in the midst of general activity, will soon degenerate into a retrograde movement. The Chamber of Commerce sees the cause of this in the following two circumstances, firstly, the finishing of the Strasburg Havre railroad, which has taken away from Antwerp a great part of the Swiss, Wurtemburg, Bavarian and Eastern German transit business, for which that line is not only the shorter one, but offers the advantage of Havre being a place where more frequent communication is had with all parts of the world than at Antwerp; secondly, on account of the greater inducements held out by Holland; in consequence of which the freight on the Rhine from Rotterdam to Cologne is considerably cheaper than the freight on the railroad from Antwerp to Cologne; and on account of the direct navigation between Rotterdam and Mannheim and the upper Rhine, showing a still larger difference. Commerce endeavors to set aside these obstacles, as a proof of which we may mention the establishment of a regular line of steamships to New York and Brazil, now earnestly taken in hand. But many important measures can come only from government, for instance, such as decreasing the tonnage and navigation dues after the manner of Holland; increasing the means of transportation on the State railroads, where their insufficiency tends to impede the forwarding of goods to Germany. The commercial navy of Antwerp in 1853 consisted of 99 ships of 26,446 tons, (among these are 4 ships of 1,503 tons under foreign flag) and 3 steamers of 586 tons. A national ship of 602 tons was launched, and 4 foreign ships of 1,637 tons were nationalized; but 5 vessels of 1,350 tons were lost, so that there is no increase in the number of ships. Shipbuilding, although it is more expensive in Belgium than in the northern countries, is still more impeded by the high duties on wood, copper in sheets, chains, anchors, which are imported into England and Holland free or nearly free of duty; and by the difficulty thrown in the way of the nationalization of foreign ships, which meets with but little opposition in the above countries, the charge in Belgium being nearly 20 fr. per ton. The Chamber of Commerce advises a speedy repeal of these stringent laws, as it would be of the greatest imaginable advantage, especially now during the war. But notwithstanding all these obstacles, it is shown that the activity in the port of Antwerp has increased rapidly, as will be seen by the number of laborers employed about the port, which has nearly doubled since the last eight years. The number amounted daily in 1846 to 156 1848 to 164 1850 to 253 1852 to 290 1853 to 355 The receipts for storage have also doubled since the last ten years, amounting in 1843 to 133,117 francs; in 1848 to 166,613 francs, and in 1853 to 278,917 francs, compared with 1851 and with 1852 of 21,490 francs. As an evidence of the stability and the prosperity of Antwerp we need only mention that during the year 1853 there occurred but eleven failures, all of very little importance.* Goods may be warehoused in Antwerp en entrepot, at the rates of charge specified in a fixed tariff. The exports chiefly consist of flax, cotton and linen manufactured goods, refined sugar, glass, zinc, oak-bark, grain and seeds, lace, &c. The imports consist principally of coffee, sugar, and other colonial products, cotton stuffs, and other manufactured goods, corn, raw cotton, leather, timber, tobacco, wool, rice, dye-stuffs, salt, wines, fruits, &c. A large proportion of the imports not being intended for home consumption, but for transit to other countries, their amount is always much greater than the amount of the exports. Of the total value of the articles imported into Antwerp in 1839, amounting to 97,960,200 fr. (3,918,4087. sterling,) those supplied by England were worth very near 30,000,000 fr.; do. by Russia, 14,366,900 fr.; do. by the United States, 8,217,800 fr.; do. Com, Gazette, late New Yorker Handels-Zeitung. by France, 7,630,200 fr., &c. The principal articles were coffee, worth 14,745,500 fr.; grain and seeds, 13,936,800 fr.; sugar, 11,430,800 fr.; woven fabrics, 11,339,100 fr.; raw cotton, 5,225,200 fr.; metals, 4,872,300 fr., &c. The total value of the articles exported during the same year was 35,630,000 fr. (1,425,4407.), whereof those sent to England were worth 14,349,100 francs; do. to Holland, 5,777,500 francs; the Hanse Towns, 4,320,200 francs. Money, Weights and Measures. The French system of moneys, weights, and measures has been adopted in Belgium. Formerly accounts were kept in florins worth 18. 83d. sterling. The quintal formerly in use, and still sometimes referred to, 103 lbs. avoirdupois. In 1837 the Commercial Bank, a joint-stock association, was founded in Antwerp. It has a capital of 25,000,000 fr. (1,000,000l. sterling), divided into 25,000 shares of 1,000 fr. each, and transacts all sorts of banking business. Here also are two considerable insurance companies. The railway from Antwerp to Brussels, 28 miles in length, has been signally successful, and has been of great advantage to both cities, but especially to Antwerp. Custom-house Regulations. Captains of ships arriving at Antwerp, or any of the Belgian ports, must make, within 24 hours, a declaration in writing of the goods of which their cargo consists, specifying the marks and numbers of the bales, parcels, &c., their value, according to the current price at the time when the declaration is made, the name of the ship or vessel, as well as that of the captain, and of the country to which she belongs, &c. Port Charges. These, as will be seen from the subjoined statement, 'are rather heavy. ACCOUNT OF PORT CHARGES AT ANTWERP ON A NATIONAL SHIP, OR ON A FOREIGN PRIVILEGED SHIP OF 250 TONS, ARRIVING WITH A CARGO, DISCHARGING THE SAME, AND CLEARING OUT IN BALLAST. frs. cnts. 3. Pilot, for moving the vessel into the dock.. 1. Custom-house officers from Flushing, about.... 2. Pilotage from sea to Flushing, 15 Dutch feet... Do. from Flushing to Antwerp, 15 do... 4. Charges for clearing in at Flushing.. 24 0 136 0 160 0 2 0 36 0 5. Leads put to the hatches by the Custom-house, and sealing the ship's provisions, about 12 0 ..... 6. Harbor dues and quay money. 6 0 7. Tonnage duty on 250 tons, at 1 fr. 80 centimes per ton, and additional duty 13 centimes, and stamps 72 frs..... 521 0 8. Clearance, passport of the tonnage duty, measuring, and stamps.. 9. Custom-house clearance, certificate outwards.... 10. Dock duty on 250 tons, at 52 centimes for three months. 21 50 20 50 130 0 17. Brokerage on 250 tons, at 25 cent. per ton..... 18. To the excise, for town dues on ship's provisions, clearance in and out. 19. Pilotage to Flushing on 12 feet.... 20. Do. from Flushing to sea, and clearing charges there. 22. Pilotage-office for booking the vessel. 8.0 187 50 16 0 112 0 110 0 ΤΟ Ο 2 0 All vessels leaving Antwerp must be provided with a surveyor's certificate that they are seaworthy. When in ballast, this certificate costs from 6 fr. to 13 fr. 50 cent.; when loaded, from 10 fr. to 30 fr., according to the burden of the vessel, besides 11 fr. 40 cent. for certificate of tribunal, The cooking-house duties depend on the size of the vessel, and must be paid whether the house be used or not. Conditions under which Goods are sold. On goods generally 2 per cent is allowed for payment in 20 days, and 14 per cent on credit of 6 weeks or 2 months. On cottons, at 20 days' credit, 3 per cent are allowed, and 1 per cent on a credit of 2 or 3 months. On ashes, hides, and sugar, 3 per cent for 20 days, and 14 per cent for three months' credit. Art. IV. MERCANTILE INTEGRITY AND ITS SECURITIES.* A SERMON FOR MERCHANTS AND FINANCIERS. "Now the just shall live by faith."-Heb. x. 38. My purpose will be misunderstood, if it is supposed I intend to open a discussion of faith in the abstract relations of the doctrine, or to follow a theological method in my treatment of justification. I apprehend that the sentence I have just quoted often falls vaguely upon the ears of an audience, with a dreamy sound, as if it related to a world with which they have nothing to do, and touched no interests except such as are a great way off. I shall endeavor to bring the truth it states out of that nebulous mist, in which it hangs before the eye like a star seen through a cloud, and, clearing it of the hazy medium which alienates a practical concern, let it stand at once in sharper outline, and nearer to our common life. 1st. The main position is, that the only valid security for mercantile integrity is religious faith. The honor that is faithful to contracts must be rooted in reverence for God. That is the basis of all the character that is really sound. The groundwork of a steadfast justice is a sincere spirituality. The uprightness that is equally scrupulous in executing the terms of a good bargain or a bad one, must rest on foundations of absolute right-and these are laid nowhere else than in a Divine Revelation. No financial purity is immaculate that is not refined by an habitual intercourse with heaven. Among all the shocks incident to our high-wrought commercial pressure, there is one kind of strain or another that will prove too much for any manhood not seasoned in the climate of devotion. Prizes are offered to fraud vast enough and tempting enough to unsettle that artificial virtue manufactured of the policies, the fashions, the decencies of a society obeying no loftier law than the most exquisite self-consideration. In publishing the sermon of the Rev. F. D. HUNTINGTON, preached in Boston August 6th, 1854, we have taken the liberty of omitting one or two passages of a local character, or which refer to transient circumstances. These omissions do not, however, mar the unity of the discourse; and although several months have elapsed since Robert Schuyler's fraudulent issue of New Haven Railroad stock was discovered, the “securities for mercantile integrity" remain unchanged; and hence the principles inculcated by the preacher are of permanent value and importance.-Ed. Merchants' Magazine. |