counter, extending nearly the length of the room, behind which were an old man and an elderly woman. The man was in a dirty, shabby condition; the woman looked like a superior housemaid. A sturdy German or Dane had planted his elbows firmly upon the counter, and was intently watching the old man, who, with a bit of chalk, was wildly running a sum about the board. Presently, after mature reflection, and trying the calculation two or three ways, he gave the sturdy customer his load of Hamburg money; and the customer went on his way rejoicing, perhaps to have a petit souper in one of the cellars, with his chum. The old lady addressed us; and while the captain was talking Swedish to her Danish, I amused myself looking about the queer little office. Behind the old lady lay a heap of filthy, ragged, greasy paper; and here and there, in careless heaps, gold and silver of various countries. Money seemed to be very carelessly treated, to a passing observer; but I noticed that it was as carelessly counted; at stray intervals, and dropped, as by accident, into little drawers under the counter, which by the merest chance the old man happened to lock. Presently, to my infinite disgust, the old lady caught up the heap of ragged, dirty, greasy paper, and threw it upon the counter; then with a look of inquiry seemed to ask the captain if that was what he meant. The captain's eye glowed with pleasure at the sight of the well-remembered dirt and grease; and forthwith he began to fumble about it, and in mysterious under-tones to talk of rix and banco. Then the old man came to the help of the partner of his bosom and his bank, or, as I should think they would say in Hamburg, of his bank and bosom. Forthwith, after a glance at the heap of official Swedish rags and the bright English gold displayed by the captain, the old man seized his chalk, and ran a sum vehemently up and down the counter, here and there rubbing out a wrong figure with his cuffs. Having drawn a perfect boa-constrictor of figures, (the earlier ones being in wide rows, tapering off gradually in graceful curves to a single figure,) he opened a little drawer, and threw a handful of Swedish gold upon the table. The sight of this made the captain exceedingly wroth; he declared that he had been in Sweden a whole year, had never seen one piece of Swedish gold in circulation, and that these coins had been recalled. But the old gentleman persisted in counting them out, while the captain persisted in vehemently declining to accept them. At this point, with a look that hovered between indignation and despair, the old lady went to fetch her son; the man who could divide anything by anything, and, as he proved, subtract to perfection. This prodigy was a pale, spare, angular, yellow young man, with a forehead of astonishing proportions, and an eye, I thought, of remarkable dulness; of shabby appearance, and with a lump of chalk firmly planted in his lean right hand. His father whispered hurriedly to bim, and forthwith he began to whirl a sum of terrible intricacy about the table. The old gentleman, presently catching his idea, also began another sum. And then the two seemed to race, running the figures of their respective sums into one another, without creating the least confusion; the father adding where the son was dividing; the son firmly planting his quotient upon the parental dividend. In the end the son gave a patronizing nod to the father, intimating that the old man's calculation was right; whereupon the old lady once more advanced to action, and began to count out the Swedish gold. This attempt threw the captain into a terrible passion. He snatched up his English money, and began deliberately to replace it in his purse. The changer and his family looked astonished and disgusted; but at last the captain agreed to take the paper-money, (of which there was only ten or twelve pounds' worth,) and with this we left the most remarkable money-changing establishment it has ever been my lot to visit.

MONEYS APPROPRIATED BY THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.

We give below the official totals of the sums of money appropriated at the last session of Congress for the undermentioned purposes :—

Civil, diplomatic, and miscellaneous

Army, fortifications, Military Academy, &c....

Indian Department, naval, revolutionary, and other pensions

Naval service.

Post-office Department.

Treaty with Mexico..

Total.....

$15,944,852 14

11,373,568 90

3,984,686 19

12,510,868 46

11,293,904 63

10,000,000 00

$65,107,825 32

BANK AND RAILROAD STOCKS.

A correspondent of the Boston Transcript administers comfort to railroad share and bond holders, drawn from the fact that the present depreciation in the market value of their property is not without its parallel in bank stocks. He says:

About fifteen years ago, there was a like panic in bank stock throughout the country, affecting both sound and unsound institutions. Bank stock had previously been up as at present to par and an advance. The stock of the Atlas Bank fell from 103 to 72; Granite, to 76; Traders', 76; North, 79; South, to 60, and was then wound up, and paid the stockholders 074. The Atlantic sold for 81, Shawmut 80, Tremont, City, and others of the same class at similar figures; Merchants', Globe, Union, State, below par. The Market Bank from 104 fell to 55, then had its capital reduced to 70 per share, its present par value.

The Suffolk was the only bank that kept up to par. Bank dividends were then mere skeletons. Stockholders, on consulting the semi-annual report, found to their dismay, none scattered up and down the page. A semi-annual list of that period commenced as follows:

American, none; Atlantic, none; Atlas, none. The Atlas paid no dividend for two or three years; some institutions eked out 14, some 2, some 24 per cent semi anually. The Suffolk alone kept up to 4, the Merchants' and one or two others to 3 per cent. Bauk stock was then looked upon as railroad property now is. There were more sellers than buyers at low figures. Railroads from that date took a start. The Worcester from 77 went up gradually to 122; Western from 40 to 112; Lowell from 86 to 130; Maine from 75 to 118; Fitchburgh from 90 to 128, and so on. That bank panic was like the present one in railroad property. Some few were mismanaged, some failed, and distrust settled upon them all, depreciating their market value from 10 to 50 per cent. So at present with railroad stock and bonds; some rascality has been perpetrated, some roads have been mismanaged, and nearly the whole, stock and bonds, settle down from 5 to 50 per cent below par. That new roads that have got submerged in debt should lose nearly all market value, as regards the common stock, is not surprising; but that old, established roads, and first mortgage 7 per cent bonds for about one-third the actual cost of building, on finished roads running through a populous and fertile country, should be forced down to 50 per cent discount, is indeed a marvel.

THE ISSUE OF FRAUDULENT STOCK IN VERMONT.

The Legislature of Vermont has passed a law to punish the fraudulent issue and transfer of stock in that State. The example should be followed by every State in the Union. The act passed by both houses, and was approved by the Governor November 1st, 1854, and is now in force.

An act to punish the fraudulent issue and transfer of certificates of stock in corporations:

SECTION 1. Every president, cashier, treasurer, secretary, or other officer, and every agent of any bank, railroad, manufacturing, or other corporation, who shall wilfully and designedly sign, with intent to issue, sell, or pledge, or cause to be issued, sold, or pledged, any false, fraudulent, or simulated certificate, or other evidence of the ownership or transfer of any share or shares of the capital stock of such corporation, or any certificates or other evidence of the ownership or transfer of any share or shares in such corporation, or any instrument purporting to be a certificate or other evidence of such ownership or transfer, the signing, issuing, selling, or pledging of which, by such president, cashier, treasurer, or other officer or agent, shall not be authorized by the charter and by-laws of such corporation, or by some amendment thereof, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment in the State's prison not less than one year, nor more than ten years, in the discretion of the court.

SEC. 2. This act shall take effect from its passage.

DEBTS AND DEBTORS IN ENGLAND.

According to an official report, made to Parliament in 1822, 15,249 insolvent debtors had been discharged, whose debts amounted to £11,000,000, and whose estates

had produced only £60,000, each estate, therefore, producing about £4. When inquiry was made into the statistics of insolvency, as exhibited under Lord Brougham's Act of 1842, it appeared that 1,500 insolvent debtors had passed through the Court of Bankruptcy, under that law, in about fifteen months, whose estates had producəd £5,000 only, that is about £3 10s. each case. Assuming that the average amount of debt in each of the 1,500 cases was the same as in each of the 15,249 cases, that is, about £720, then these 1,500 insolvents owed about £1,000,000. The London district may be taken as one-third of England and Wales, and if so, then the loss by the insolvents of England and Wales who pass through the Court of Bankruptcy may be taken at about £3,000,000. Besides this loss, there is the loss by those insolvents who pass through the Insolvent Debtor's Court, by bankrupts, by debtors who compound privately, and by those who fly to foreign countries. Taking all into consideration, the losses sustained in this way cannot be less than £20,000,000 per annum. A London editor, alluding to these facts, complains of the loss so enormous, and remarks:

"The question is, can any system be devised, by which the loss by bad debts can be diminished? Now it is obvious that the best mode of diminishing these losses is by bringing the insolvent debtor to an arrangement with his creditors at the earliest possible period, for it is during the last few months of struggle that the greatest waste occurs."

EXPENDITURES OF BOSTON IN 1803-4 AND IN 1853-54.

A correspondent of the Boston Transcript gives a full and complete account of the expenses of the town of Boston from May, 1803, to May, 1804, derived from the printed report of Benjamin Sumner, Town Treasurer and Collector. It is interesting, if not instructive, to note the changes of the last half-century. From Mr. Sumner's statement, it appears that in 1803-4, Boston had 7 schoolmasters, whose salaries were $866 64 per annum. The ushers had $433 33 a year. The whole amount paid for salaries to teachers, and the incidental expenses of the schools, was only $16,687 11, of which sum $6,295 12 was required for a new school-house. The expenses of the schools now are $329,800 20. The salaries of all the teachers were $9,266 46; now they are $193,039 41. The Watch Department in 1804 cost $6,257 60. In 1853 it was $87,803 96. The salaries of city officers and judges were $3,954 22; now they are $66,252 98. The expense of the Fire Department was $1,441 65; now it is about $70,000. In 1804, the amount paid for the repairs and widening of streets was $12,210 68; in 1853 it was $253,048 10. The sum then paid for assistance rendered by the Overseers of the Poor was $15,339 90. Last year it was $27,009. The total expenditures of the year 1804 were $71,491. The city tax was $88,000; the town's proportion of the State tax was $17,620, and the county tax was $20,200, making a total of $125,820. Among the expenses in 1804, we find the following items:-Expenses of “visitation dinner," $365 10; ink to the schools, $60; expenses of several town committees, $44; "regulating" jury boxes, $62 50; repairs, and cleaning the Old South Church, after a town meeting, $92 50; expenses of visit to Deer Island $274 46.

CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF VERMONT IN 1853-54.

DANIEL ROBERTS has made his annual report to the Legislature as Bank Commissioner, giving the condition of the various banks in the State. From an abstract of this report, published in Walton's Daily Journal, the following facts appear, in comparison with the report of last year:—

JOURNAL OF INSURANCE.

LIFE INSURANCE-WRIGHT'S TABLES.

ELIZUR WRIGHT, late Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the Western Reserve College, Ohio, has just completed a series of "Valuation Tables, on the Combined Experience Rate of Mortality, for the Use of Life Insurance Companies." These tables were constructed at the special instance of six Life Insurance Companies, viz.: the New England Mutual, of Boston; the Union Mutual, of Augusta, Me.; the Connecticut Mutual, of Hartford; the United States, of New York; the Charter Oak, of Hartford, and the Mutual Benefit, of Newark, N. J., under an agreement that for ten years no company or person is to obtain possession or use of them without paying Mr. Wright, the proprietor of the copyright, the same as each of the above companies. Each company paid, we believe, two hundred and fifty dollars for a copy, a sum total of $1,500, which scarcely remunerates the author for time occupied in preparing these tables. The value of Mr. Wright's tables can scarcely be too highly estimated, and we should suppose that every Life Insurance Company in the United States would regard the possession of these tables as indispensable.

The utility of Mr. Wright's tables to Life Insurance Companies is, 1st, a saving of labor, enabling an ordinary clerk to do in one tenth of the time, what could otherwise only be done by a professional actuary. 2d, a simplification by which the vital question of the solvency of the company, which is now intelligible only to the actuary, can easily be understood by any director of common intelligence, who chooses to spend a little time in verifying the clerk's valuation of policies. Mr. Wright has, in brief, "unmystified” a vital subject, by giving the companies a perpetual actuary, that don't talk in logarithms, or affect a profundity of science by an array of symbols derived from the higher mathematics.

We give below the larger part of the author's introduction, omitting his lucid explanation of the use of the several tables, leaving it with the managers of Life Insurance Companies to estimate the value of Mr. Wright's incomparable work:

"As popular intelligence and refinement advance, Life Insurance must become a more and more essential part of the social fabric. It will involve a larger and larger portion of the capital of the country, and become, perhaps, the chief treasury of accumulated savings. It is important, therefore, that its principles should be generally understood, and especially that its practice should be reduced to the range of ordinary mathematical ability and freed from unnecessary expense. Thus far, to the million, it has been enveloped in considerable mystery. Under the cloud, fraudulent companies have largely bled the confiding; and those of a different character bave felt obliged to saddle themselves with high salaries for "eminent mathematicians" to pilot them annually across the unknown depths of the logarithm table. The hieroglyphic veil which concealed from the common herd the learning of the ancient Egyp tian priesthood was thin; and that which renders a priesthood of professional actuaries necessary for the safe conduct of modern Life Insurance is not thick. The more carefully, then, must it be preserved by those who have it for a livelihood. In Great Britain it is well cared for by a society of able actuaries, who, as if nothing had been ettled, vastly magnify the importance of further scientific observations to ascertain the law of the decrement of human life and original mathematical investigations to produce new formulas to govern its application. Monthly they enlighten the public, and particularly the boards of Life Insurance directors, with nice discussions clothed in algebraic symbols, mathematically converting the hair of the subject into fur, and cultivating the reverent estimation in which their important services are held. They

keep up a running dispute, and split into several rather belligerent sects, on the simple matter of the proper way to ascertain and exhibit the balance between the resources and liabilities of a Life Insurance Company-as if it were a question of the profoundest difficulty. Indeed, it is not to be expected that men, who enjoy honor and emolument from being considered the exclusive depositaries of a science so useful to the world, should so popularize and simplify it as to remove the bread from their own mouths and the glory from their own wigs. The genius of European institutions does not tend in that direction. It is otherwise with ours.

In this country, corporations for Life Insurance have existed for a quarter of a century or more, and during the last ten years they have rapidly multiplied; but in most cases their directors have been guiltless of any undue expenditure for mathematical skill to aid in their management. It is not many years since a New York Life Office, having lost a considerable sum by the defalcation of one of its officers, paid a London actuary three hundred pounds to ascertain its liabilities to its policy holders, that it might know whether the balance of its assets were sufficient to meet them. Had this office been supplied with the tables, its humblest clerk might have relieved its anxiety with equal exactness in one week.

"Out of a given large number of lives existing at a given age, the number that will terminate in each year thereafter, till all are extinct, has been found to be remarkably near the same thing, whether the observation be directed to population at large, to classes of annuitants, or to assured lives. There is an obvious tendency in human life, as the basis of observation is enlarged, to a fixed law of decrement, or one which is as nearly fixed as the character of social and sanitary institutions. Accordingly it is found that, when the scales derived from the different observations which have been careful and extensive are adjusted, so as to free them from slight and obviously fortuitous anomalies, they do not considerably differ. Assuming an average rate of interest below that which will probably accrue on money safely invested, so long as money is invested at all, any of them may safely be made the basis of premium. In actual practice, the premiums charged by existing offices are mostly estimated on the Carlisle rate of mortality, assuming interest at three or four per cent, and adding twenty or twenty five per cent to the mathematical requirement to meet expenses and contingencies While, therefore, the interest of money is actually six or seven per cent, and the companies are honestly and economically conducted, they cannot fail to accumulate a surplus; and, if no division should be made, a mutual company might cease to issue policies, meet all its obligations as they fell due, and leave its last survivor a millionaire. Justice requires that the surplus should be kept down by frequent dividends, so as never much to exceed the requirement of the law of mortality. What at any time this requirement may be, is the vital question for a company. In selecting a scale to express the law, for the purpose of ascertaining what may be divided, it is of no importance that it should be the same as that by which the premiums have been fixed; but it should be well adjusted, and should not too favorably represent the ratio of mortality that is to be expected. The premiums may have been fixed on too low a rate of mortality, and yet, by virtue of the arbi trary addition or "loading," be sufficiently high. What shall be held in reserve at any time, as equivalent to the present liability on the policies, is an entirely independent question. It has nothing to do with the premiums as "loaded," or with future probable expenses, which are provided for by the loading of future premiums.

In selecting a basis for the tables, I have preferred that scale of mortality which I found nearest the mean of modern observations and containing the fewest irregularities. It was deduced from an observation of sixty-two thousand five hundred and thirty-seven town and county assurances in seventeen British offices, including the ancient" Amicable" and "Equitable," by a committee of leading British actuaries, and is known by the name of the "Combined Experience." It has sometimes been objected to the authority of this scale, by those who prefer the "Carlisle," that it is founded, not on so many distinct lives, but on policies, and that the average duration of these policies scarcely exceeded eight years, half of them not averaging five and a half years; and therefore, by virtue of recent selection, these lives were better than similarly selected lives would be during a long course of years. Observations on the force of selection do not give great weight to this objection. But if the Carlisle rate be received as good authority, the objection is entirely futile, because the Combined Experience requires on the whole a considerably larger reserve, and there is no question of its better adjustment. Indeed, it requires a rather larger reserve than the very carefully prepared experience of the old Equitable Company, which has been