DISTILLERIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1877.

The following Statement shows the Number of Distilleries Registered and Operated during the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1877.

[From the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1877.]

INTEREST LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES.

[Compiled from Hubbell's Legal Directory, 1877.]

Laws of each State and Territory regarding Rates of Interest and Penalties for

THE CUSTOMS TARIFF OF GREAT BRITAIN.

No protective duties are now levied on goods imported, Customs duties being charged solely for the sake of revenue. Formerly the articles subject to duty numbered nearly a thousand; now they are only twenty-two, the chief being tobacco, spirits, tea, and wine. The following is a complete list:

POPULATION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AT EACH DECENNIAL CENSUS FROM 1801 TO 1871.

Eng. and Wales
Scotland.
Ireland*..
Islands*

Army, Navy, &
Merchant Sea-
men abroad..

9,156,171 10,454,529 12,172,664 14,051,986 16,035,198 18,054,170 20,228.417 22,712,266 1,678,452 1,884,044 2,137,325 2,405,610 2,652,339 2,922,362 3,096,808 3,360,018 5,319,867 *6,084,996 6,869,544 7,828,347 8,222,664 6,623,982 5,850,309 5,411,416 82,810 *85,547 92,654 106,542 126,249 145,435 145,674 144,638

202,954 212,194 250,356 229,000

Unit. Kingdom 16,237,300 18,509,116 21,272,187 24,392,485 27,239,404 27,958, 143 29,571,644 31,857,338

*The population of Ireland and that of the Channel Islands in the British Seas for 1801 and 1811 are given by estimate, no census having been taken before 1821.

LIBRA
OF THE

UNIVERSITY

CF

THE COMMERCIAL CRISES OF THE CENTURY IN ENGLAND.

Compiled mainly from Levi's History of British Commerce.

ALTHOUGH what are known as commercial crises may occur in countries where the currency consists mainly of gold and silver, or where there is a mixed currency of specie and of paper based directly on the precious metals, yet the distress and ruin caused by these panics are greatly increased wherever the amount of paper money is largest, or where there is seen the greatest inflation of credit in some other form. If the reader will look carefully into the facts attending all the panics of the present century, he will find abundant evidence of the truth of this statement.

In the commercial distress and panic of 1816, in England, which closely ensued upon the restoration of peace after the protracted wars of the French Revolution, there was an enormous expansion of credit in all directions. The manufacturers of England rushed into overproduction, in the hope of reaping heavy profits from the reopened markets of the Continent. In this hope they were disappointed, because of the exhaustion of the means of purchase on the part of the European populations. At the same time agricultural production, stimulated to an unnatural extent by the prodigious tax levied upon imported grain through the corn laws, carried up the price of wheat to about double its normal value. The shipping interest, which had been stimulated by hope of great gain, was compelled to feel the pressure of hard times. And the aggregate circulation of paper money, which rose to its maximum in 1814, was only half a million less in 1816. The depreciation of the paper money, which had been twenty-five per cent in the former year, stood at nearly seventeen per cent in 1815 and 1816. This redundant currency, stimulating commercial, manufacturing, and speculative enterprises, was the chief cause of the panic that soon ensued, carrying wide-spread distress throughout the United Kingdom.

The great panic of 1825-6 was directly caused by the expansion that ensued from the postponement of specie payments by Parliament

in 1823. An act was then passed which suspended the operations of the cash-payment act as regarded one and two pound notes for the period of eleven years. The effects of this respite were most disastrous. The bankers universally put out their paper again, as if that state of things was to last forever. The result was seen in the stimulation of all kinds of joint-stock companies and speculative enterprises. The plethora of small notes led to an immense speculation in goods. Prices rose, and dealings in every commodity rose with them. Foreign loans were put upon the London market, and eagerly gobbled up by investors in South American securities, and all sorts of irresponsible mining and commercial companies. The country banks, no longer restricted by act of Parliament, instead of preparing for specie payments by a curtailment of their issues, put forth an almost unlimited circulation of their notes. At last the crisis came. In December, 1825, the private banking houses of London began to tumble. Credit, which had been pushed to its utmost tension, was unable to stand the strain. The ruin of many commercial firms, and the terrible struggle of others to keep their position, led to the darkest depression in the community. The total number of bankruptcies in 1825 was about 1100; in 1826 the number rose to 2600. The destruction of credit, growing out of its excessive previous expansion, paralyzed industry, and led to the greatest distress among the working population. Employment diminished and wages fell. In the financial world borrowers and lenders were involved in almost equal ruin. It was a bitter lesson, taught by inflation, which Parliament improved in the following session by passing a stringent act for the gradual withdrawal from circulation of the one and two pound banknote currency, and substituting a metallic currency in their room. With this measure prosperity gradually returned to England.

The next commercial excitement broke forth in 1836. There had been abundant harvests for two or three years previous, and the country was thought to be in a state of great prosperity. Partly in consequence of this, many projects for profitable speculations were set on foot. Joint-stock banks, a new idea in the metropolis and elsewhere, were started with great success. Many projects for new lines of railway, and for all sorts of joint-stock companies, gathered around the share market the commercial spirit of the nation, and rendered it vastly more attractive than the markets for produce and manufactures. Mining companies became a favorite branch of investment. Coal, copper, slate, lead, and silver mine companies were formed in all directions, involving the people in great monetary obligations. Many loans, too, were contracted. The stocks of foreign nations and companies rose to a fictitious value. In the year 1837-38, not less than four hundred different companies were organized, with capital amounting to one hundred million pounds. While things were in this critical condition, news arrived of the great bank panic, and suspension of specie