on imports, and for other purposes," approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, went into effect, may be entered for consumption, and the bonds cancelled, at any time before the first day of June next, on payment of the duties at the rates prescribed by the act aforesaid, and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That section fourteen of an act entitled "An act increasing temporarily the duties on imports, and for other purposes," approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, be, and the same hereby is, modified so as to allow cotton and raw silk as reeled from the cocoon, of the growth or produce of countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, to be exempt from any additional duty when imported from places this side of the Cape of Good Hope, for two years from and after the passage of this act. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That so much of an act entitled " An act to authorize protection to be given to citizens of the United States who may discover deposits of guano," approved August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, as prohibits the export thereof is hereby suspended in relation to all persons who have complied with the provisions of section second of said act for two years from and after July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the proviso in section fifteen of an act entitled "An act increasing temporarily the duties on imports, and for other purposes," approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixtytwo, shall be construed to include any ship, vessel, or steamer, to or from any port or place south of Mexico, down to and including Aspinwall and Panama. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That, in lieu of the duties now imposed by law, there shall be levied and collected upon printing paper unsized, used for books and newspapers exclusively, twenty per centum ad valorem; upon seedlac and sticklac the same duties now imposed upon gum shellac; upon polishing powders, of all descriptions, Frankfort black, and Berlin Chinese, fig and wash blue, twenty-five per centum ad valorem. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act the duty on petroleum and coal illuminating oil, crude and not refined, when imported from foreign countries in a crude state, shall be twenty per centum ad valorem, and no more. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act there shall be allowed a drawback on foreign saltpetre, manufac tured into gunpowder in the United States and exported therefrom, equal in amount to the duty paid on the foreign saltpetre from which it shall be manufactured, to be ascertained under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and no more: Provided, That ten per centum on the amount of all drawbacks so allowed shall be retained for the use of the United States by the collectors paying such drawbacks respectively. Approved March 3, 1863. MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES. A FABLE FOR CLIENTS. THE following fable is from the Dutch of the Reverend J. DE LIEFde, whose charming productions, for both old and young, deserve to be better known among us. The subject is not a new one-from Esop down there has been a succession of fables and facts, with vivid morals, on the folly of going to law unnecessarily. In spite of them, however, needless litigation has not yet quite died out, and we launch Mr. DE LIEFDE's fable upon the sea of society, as a little buoy which may save a big shipwreck. A fox and a goat were walking together on the main road. After having advanced a few yards, they saw a bag lying at the side of the hedge. "I wonder what there may be in that bag," said the goat. "I'll see," said the fox, and putting his mouth to the string with which the bag was tied, he bit it through in a moment; then seizing the bottom of the bag with his teeth, he shook it and the most splendid carrots rolled out. "Those are for me," said the fox, "for I have opened the bag." "You shan't touch them," answered the goat, my horns till your ribs crack." 66 or I'll batter you with The fox looked at the large horns of the goat and showed his teeth. The goat, seeing the fox's teeth, thought within himself, "I don't like those sharp fellows." And the fox thought, "I don't believe my ribs would stand those horns." So they kept standing over the carrots, and looked at each other, but neither had the courage to touch the spoil. After a pause, the fox said, "What's the use of our standing here? Let us see which of us is the stronger. Yonder are two heaps of stones. Take you one of them, and I'll take the other. He who first throws down his heap shall have the carrots." 66 Very well," said the goat; so they went each to his heap. The goat placed himself on his hind legs, and knocked with his horns till the ground resounded, but the heap was immovable. "You don't hit hard enough," said the fox; "take a run at it." The goat went a few steps back, and ran at the heap as violently as he could. Crack! Crack! and both his horns fell down to the ground. When the fox saw this, he began to dance upon his hind legs. แ "Ah! my dear fellow," cried he, "the carrots are now for me!" "Not yet," said the goat. "You haven't thrown down your heap, and touch the carrots before then, I'll fight you with the stumps that are left on my head." if you The fox looked at the goat's stumps, and thought, "one of them is very sharp yet; he might rip up my sides." " Very well," he said, "I'll throw down my heap, it's a trifle to me." So he dug around with his forefeet till there was a large hole in the ground. The heap tottered and fell, but alas! it fell on the fox, and broke his left hind leg. There they stood looking at one another with sad faces; the one with broken horns, the other with a broken leg. "Jump at the carrots !" said the goat maliciously, "I now leave them to you." "I can't," sighed the fox; "my leg pains me too much; you may take them." "Very well," said the goat, and ran towards the bag. But, oh, dear! there was neither bag nor carrots, for during their quarrel a peasant had passed by, and picked up both. "Alas!" cried the goat, "what fools we are! Had we divided the treasure in peace, I would have saved my horns, you your leg, and each of us would have had enough of carrots!" THE ARMY ESTIMATES FOR GREAT BRITAIN. The European Times says that the sum required from Parliament to maintain all branches of the army is £15,060,237. In this is included, for the first time, the cost of the disembodied militia, in accordance with the resolution carried by Sir G. LEWIS in the House of Commons a short time since. If, for purposes of comparison we throw into the last estimates the sum voted for the disembodied militia during 1862-63, we shall find it swelling our total outlay to £16,060,350. It follows, therefore, that the sum by which our expenditure is actually reduced is £1,000,113. The total number of men, exclusive of those serving in India last year, was 152,403, of whom 7,264 belonged to the depots in India paid for out of the Indian revenues. The total number proposed to be maintained in the ensuing financial year is 148,242, including 9,349 forming the Indian depots. The gross reduction of numerical strength is a little over 4,000 men. But, inasmuch as there is an increase of more than 1,700 on the Indian depots, it follows that the actual reduction effected in that portion of the army for which Parliament provides is but little short of 6,000 men. This has been almost entirely effected in the regimental establishments of the infantry by taking 50 men off the strength of each battalion not serving in or proceeding to India, China, or New Zealand. Upon the artillery there is a decrease of some 200 men; but the engineers are augmented by about 350. These, with some economical changes on the staff, constitute all the alterations in the numbers of our military establishments at home and in the colonies. In India, however, the British forces, which were 75,899 in number last year, are now reduced to 72,676. Including, therefore, all the regular forces of Her Majesty, in addition to the native corps of India, will amount, in round numbers, to 221,000 men, as compared with 228,000 last year. If we add to the regular troops the auxiliary branches now grouped together, we shall make up the number of men available to bear arms to something over 500,000 men, taking the militia at 128,000, the yeomanry at 14,000, and the volunteers at 150,000. With a diminution of numerical strength so unimportant, and yet so large a reduction of expense, it is clear that the saving must have taken place upon materials. This is altogether the case. Indeed the pay and allowances of the men show an increase of £255,000, and this, coupled with the increased cost of the volunteers under the new arrangements, and £35,000 more to be expended on the militia, nearly make up the total increase, which is £524,000. As against this, however, we find some sweeping reductions. The cost of the manufacturing departments is lessened by £435,000, or just one-third of the sum voted last year, while warlike stores are reduced by nearly £700,000, being set down at £838,000, instead of £1,537,000 as in the last estimates. The expenditure under the head of works and buildings is also brought down by £148,000, and these, with some minor savings, make the reductions for effective services amount to £1,532,000. Taking a small net increase on the votes for non-effective services, we find the gross increase to fall short of the gross reduction by £1,000,013, and by this sum the estimates of 1863-64 fall short of those by which they were preceded. AN OPTICAL WONDER. In 1858 CLAUDET, the eminent optical instrument maker, of London, startled Sir DAVID BREWSTER and other savants of England with the dis covery that the half of a stereoscopic view could be made to present a solid (i. e. a stereoscopic) of feet. This discovery, says the Journal of Commerce, has been developed in something so brilliant and beautiful, that the pictures produced are as much beyond the ordinary photograph as that, in fidelity and beauty, is beyond the old fashioned engraving. In short, the delight which one person has in looking through the stereoscope, a thousand persons can have at once-so that there is sympathetic and social pleasure. The stereopticon, as it is called, takes the ordinary glass stereoscopic view, and by fine lenses and the most intense of artificial lights, throws and magnifies the miniature view upon a canvass, to such an extent that every one in a building as vast as the Academy of Music can see with distinctness each scene. There is no straining of the vision; there is no wearying of the eye as in the stereoscope, but one merely sits and gazes upon the sublime scenery of the Alps, the renowned old abbeys, the busy streets of London, Paris, Naples, and Grand Cairo; the grand, awe-striking remains of Egypt, and the solemn, instructive scenes of Palestine, in the same manner and with the same ease that we would look upon a real landscape from the deck of a Hudson River steamer. The distant and the rare are brought to us or rather like the magic mat of the Arabian tale we are borne on swift and brilliant wings to the ends of the earth. The treasures of statuary art from the Louvre, the Vatican, and the Museo Borbonico are ours. Nothing seems so dream-like as the Apollo Belvidere, the Venus de Medici, and the chefs d'œuvre of the great Thorwalsden, which appear upon the scene in all their roundness and beauty. It remained for our country to perfect this wonderful invention. Although the stereopticon was exhibited for a time in the Polytechnic Institute, and in the Hall of Illustration, Regent's Park, London, yet it did not advance beyond the first discovery. J. FALLON, Esq., of Lawrence, Mass., the chemist of the Pacific Mills, who has devoted thirty years to photology, imported from England one of these instruments for his own family. But under his hands it was developed into something so perfect that his friends desired that others might have the pleasure which he enjoyed. He has sent it forth on a charitable mission, and for churches, Sabbath schools, and sanitary commissions its charities can be counted by thousands. In Massachusetts, such men as Prof. AGASSIZ, LONGFELLOW, HILLARD, HOLMES, Rev. Dr. PARK, and many other leading representative men "assisted" with delight at many of the exhibitions, and the first two aided in delineating the scenes. During the past month this beautiful educator has been exhibiting in Brooklyn. I. NATIONAL ACCUMULATION AND NATIONAL INCOME.. II. THE ISLAND OF ST. DOMINGO. BY A. K. SHEpherd.. III. AGREEMENT AND ASSENT. BY THEOPHILUS PARSONS, LL. D. PROFESSOR OF LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.. IV. THE LUMBER TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES FOR 1862..... 373 PAGE. 353 861 ..... 365 COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW. Fluctuating Currency-Change in Values-Oscillations in Trade-Alternate Animation and Depression-Cost of Imports-Sugar Prices-General Influ ence-Restrictions on Gold Dealing-High Prices to Consumers-Legal Tender Effect on Banks-Circulation of-New York Constitution-Specie Payments-Duty of Superintendent-Mandamus-Specie Movement-California Remittances-Bills of Exchange-Produce-Exchange Table Rates of Gold-Debtors Abroad-Prices Comparative-Imports-Duties-Varying Cost-Tax on Consumers-Exports-Depression of Business-Government Stocks-Conversions of five-twenties-Prices-Confederate LoanNational Credit..... 877 VI. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE MINT, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1862....... 883 VIL VALUE OF THE EXPORTS OF THE GROWTH, PRODUCE, AND MANUFACTURE OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 1861, and June 30, 1862.... 890 Rock Oil-Value of Flowing Wells...... 393 ..... ..... 393 |