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PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 STATISTICAL INQUIRY; 
 
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 ILLUSTRAED I^, v ,^Q^^4^- ? 
 
 FOR 
 
 UNITING AN EXAMINATION 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 WITH 
 
 THE CENSUS 
 T-TB 
 
 TO BE TAKEN IN 
 
 CAlJJ<Oj>X| A 
 
 BY ARCHIBALD RUSSELL. 
 
 N E W - Y O R K : 
 D.APPLETON & CO., 200, BROADWAY. 
 
 M DCCO XXXIX. 
 
LUDWIG, PRINTER, 
 
 72, Vesey-st. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Essays, do not aspire to the character 
 of a statistical treatise, nor to that of a full examination 
 into the abstract principles of statistical inquiry. 
 
 In the last Annual Message of the President a proposal 
 is made to unite the acquisition of Statistics with the enu- 
 meration of the people ; and, aware of the failure of former 
 attempts to investigate the condition of this country, by 
 means of returns to the General Government, I have hoped 
 to be able to suggest some alterations in the mode to be 
 pursued. 
 
 It may be thought that an end so simple would have 
 been more satisfactorily attained, by reducing these observa- 
 tions and suggestions to the smallest compass, instead of 
 extending them through so many discursive chapters ; and 
 perhaps that would have been preferable; but I have 
 adopted the present plan in order to attract some degree of 
 
IV. PREFACE. 
 
 public attention to a theme which is usually considered 
 devoid of general interest. I have therefore introduced some 
 principles in political economy, which have reference to the 
 several returns proposed ; and for the purpose of showing 
 the advantage which would accrue from a full exposition of 
 the various resources of the country, I have given short 
 statements of the information existing regarding them. It 
 has been my object to propose no subject for inquiry with- 
 out accompanying it with some observations for the purpose 
 of attracting the attention of the reader, which I hope may 
 be deemed a sufficient reason for the trivial nature of the 
 notices sometimes introduced. The introduction of so many 
 blank schedules may be thought by some an unnecessary 
 degree of detail, in a work of this general character ; but 
 being anxious to procure the opinion of business-men upon 
 the form most suitable for returns from the various manu- 
 facturing and agricultural interests, I have thought it better 
 to propose them in the extended form in which I now 
 present them. 
 
 The accuracy of the Tables I have inserted, may ge- 
 nerally be relied on ; but I would wish to caution the 
 reader against supposing that they are made out with that 
 scrupulous care, which some remarks I have made might 
 lead him to anticipate ; neither did the short time of prepa- 
 ration permit, nor did the purpose they were designed to 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 serve require, that accuracy in detail so essential to sta- 
 tistical works in general. 
 
 In pleading for an indulgent criticism upon the style 
 and execution of these Essays, I may state that, being 
 anxious at an early period to invite public attention to the 
 propriety of profiting by the suggestion of the President, I 
 have hurried many of them in a way which no young 
 author should have attempted, and doubtless overlooked 
 many verbal inaccuracies. 
 
 But to the views expressed, or the suggestions made 
 on any of the subjects here discussed, I invite the 
 fullest attention of the reader, the object of these pages 
 being to promote the advancement of political and statis- 
 tical science. The more freely the topics are canvassed, 
 the more completely will that object be attained. It will 
 ever give me much pleasure to have any inaccuracies 
 pointed out, or alterations, in any proposed return sug- 
 gested, by those more conversant with statistical details 
 than myself; and as my desire has been to advance 
 the interest of a favourite study, I shall consider that end 
 attained if the attention of government, or statists in ge- 
 neral, is attracted to the suggestions here proposed. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Principles of Statistical Inquiry, ; 1 
 
 Population Returns, 35 
 
 Products of Manufactures and Arts, 49 
 
 Mines and Minerals, 66 
 
 Manufactures of the Metals, 79 
 
 Manufactures on the Loom, 81 
 
 General Manufactures, 89 
 
 Agricultural Statistics, 99 
 
 Occupations in which the Inhabitants are engaged, 121 
 
 Place of Nativity of the Inhabitants, 129 
 
 Vital Statistics, 149 
 
 Crime, ; 169 
 
 Pauperism, 201 
 
 Education, 217 
 
 Clergy, 232 
 
 Taxation, . . . 239 
 
 Agents to be employed, 255 
 
 Conclusion, . . . . ; 261 
 
Vrt;i; Ai 
 
 sto 
 
 <';:; 
 
 THE 
 
 PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 STATISTICAL INQUIRY 
 
 THE study of Statisics, whether from the light 
 which it throws upon the social relations of society, 
 or the information it imparts regarding its political 
 condition, is highly valuable and instructive. The 
 social condition of a country is of more vital impor- 
 tance than its political, as the maintenance of peace 
 and good order depends more upon the former than 
 on the latter. It was not the dissipation of the Court 
 at Versailles, nor the infidelity of the French school, 
 so much as the condition of the mass of the community 
 the little vexatious and annoying inconveniences and 
 restrictions, to which they were subjected, together with 
 the absence of all practical religion, that awoke the 
 horrors of the revolution of 1789; and the advantage 
 which Europe has reaped from those scenes of blood- 
 shed and rapine is chiefly to be traced in the im- 
 provement of the social relations, which that event 
 has introduced. History, as generally considered, 
 is rather the record of the actions of a government, 
 than a picture of the actual condition of a country in 
 its united social, and political aspect. Now if the 
 1 
 
2 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 well-being- of the community is the highest end of 
 Government, the obvious mode of estimating the ad- 
 vantages of such Government, is by examining the 
 condition of the mass of citizens or subjects, and 
 the want of this examination, or practical test, is 
 the great desideratum of the History of past ages. 
 How little do we know of the condition of the people 
 of Modern Europe, before the general introduction 
 of printing opened a means for travellers, dramatic 
 authors, journalists, and novelists, to paint the man- 
 ners of their times. How much more graphic does 
 history become, when the details of private life are 
 mingled either with the successes or reverses of pub- 
 lic arms ; and how much more fully does a simple 
 social institution, like the curfew, exhibit the primi- 
 tive condition of society, than all the details of the 
 Norman Conquest of England. History may be 
 supposed to have a higher aim, than to chronicle the 
 effects of social institutions, or to trace the indirect 
 and ever varying influences of legislative enactments.^ 
 and it is to occupy this ground that the modern sci- 
 ence of statistics has been called into existence. 
 
 Statistics, as a science, is of very recent origin, 
 the term being first used by Sir John Sinclair in his 
 Parochial Account of Scotland. It is true, that va- 
 rious governments, for the purpose of raising their 
 full complement of soldiers, and acquiring some data 
 for apportioning or increasing their quota of taxes, 
 have at different times instituted inquiries into the 
 condition of the people, but as the ends in view were 
 opposed to the interest and wishes of the mass of the 
 community, the returns procured were necessarily 
 defective. Towards the close of the 17th century,, 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 Colbert made a statistical survey of France, and in 
 England, the income tax, the doomsday book, poll 
 tax, and hearth duties, have respectively furnished 
 some rude data for estimating the population at 
 different epochs. But statistics, defined as a classified 
 and systematic arrangement of well- authenticated 
 facts, can only be said to have its origin in the begin- 
 ning of the 19th century. 
 
 To any one who considers the utilitarian and ma- 
 terial principles which characterize the present age, 
 applying the test of cui bono to every scheme of 
 philosophy, morals, religion, or civil advancement, 
 this pursuit of Statistics, as a science, can excite no 
 surprise. But we must allow that the votaries of this 
 science, have too frequently offered to the public, 
 detailed statements of facts, decked out in all the 
 imposing business-like aspect of tabular views, with- 
 out having previously instituted a, patient inquiry 
 into the accuracy of the information on which they 
 were based. " It is the easiest thing possible," says 
 McCulloch, "to pile figures on figures, but unless de- 
 duced from correct data, they serve only to mislead ; 
 and they do this the more easily, that they have a 
 scientific air about them, and that most people shrink 
 from the irksome task of examining whether tabular 
 statements be correct or not. There is nothing in 
 fact of which one should be so sceptical, as the 
 greater number of statistical facts and details, or 
 with respect to which a sound and searching criticism 
 is so necessary."* 
 
 Facts, no doubt, are the necessary basis of all in- 
 ductive sciences, but it must be remembered, that 
 
 * Ed in. Rev. cxiii. 
 
4 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY, 
 
 figures are not facts, and that unless the certainty 
 of the correctness of the data represented by numer- 
 als, be ascertained, arithmetical reasoning is of all 
 others the most fallacious. It is evident, that the 
 very causes which give such certainty to the con- 
 clusions of mathematical science, when referred to 
 absolute quantities, must operate with equal force to 
 prevent this mode of reasoning being applied to 
 quantities of variable powers. Arithmetical inquiries 
 deal only with certainties, and no account can be 
 taken of the indirect causes which may tend to alter 
 the final result ; if any such cause exists, and can 
 be determined and expressed in a mathematical 
 equation, the argument proceeds to conclusion with 
 equal certainty, and of the result there can be no 
 suspicion; but if this indirect cause is of unknown 
 power, no mathematical argument can proceed from 
 the premises. Now it rarely happens, that the facts 
 ascertained in statistical inquiries are of that positive 
 and certain character, which can authorize the stu- 
 dent's dealing with them as absolute quantities ; and 
 if not possessed of that inherent certainty, (the ne- 
 cessary quality of all arithmetical premises) there 
 is no means of correcting the tendency to error which 
 they may contain. To give a simple illustration, 
 the velocity of a cannon ball, the resistance of the air, 
 the attraction of the earth, and the expansion of pow- 
 der, are all known quantities, and may be argued 
 upon with certainty ; but if, instead of a still and 
 quiet atmosphere, offering a known resistance, the 
 ball were projected against a current of air of un- 
 known power, the result of the former estimate of its 
 velocity would be erroneous. So it will ever be in 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQ.UIRY. 5 
 
 all subjects of investigation into the statistics of hu- 
 man actions and powers, and unless great care be 
 used in reducing arguments logically sound, to an 
 arithmetical form, a tendency to error will, ipso facto, 
 be introduced, and require to be guarded against. 
 
 And there is another difficulty attendant upon the 
 introduction of figures into arguments, which is, that 
 in no way can an error be more rapidly circulated. 
 The admission into any calculation, of an estimate 
 which varies from the correct standard, especially if 
 the calculation be by multiplication, renders the result 
 often exceedingly erroneous, and the error in the 
 premises can only be detected by the absurdity of the 
 results. If each family in this country be estimated to 
 contain four persons, and the number of families were 
 ascertained to be two millions; any error in that 
 estimate would greatly affect the conclusion and, if 
 instead of four persons, five should have been allowed 
 to a family, the difference would be two millions 
 in the amount of the population. " In a recent re- 
 port to the British parliament we are favoured with 
 some curious instances of the facility of arriving at 
 the most preposterous conclusions, by the use of this 
 * political arithmetic.' The committee say, that were 
 railroads constructed between the principal towns in 
 the empire, one million of horses would be rendered 
 superfluous, and as each horse consumes as much 
 as eight men, the formation of such railroads would 
 provide means for supporting about eight millions of 
 men ; " and as a man consumes more than a woman 
 or child, we may suppose that the number of addi- 
 tional inhabitants England would then contain, 
 would be about ten millions. As this fully illus- 
 
6 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 trates the consequences which follow the introduc- 
 tion of unauthorized estimates into arithmetical 
 statements, and the rapid increase of error, when 
 once united with figures, and incorporated into a 
 calculation ; we need not pursue the subject any 
 further, but merely remark, that the implicit belief 
 many place in all detailed statements of figures, 
 overlooking the most palpable errors, and placing the 
 most perfect confidence in obvious absurdities, re- 
 quires to be guarded against, and numerical state- 
 ments, from the difficulty of examining them, should 
 be received at all times with caution, and often with 
 suspicion. 
 
 Let it not be thought, from these observations, 
 that we wish to lower the general estimate of the 
 value of statistical science, for looking upon it as the 
 only sound foundation of political economy, we can- 
 not but regret that it has been so little attended to 
 " Labours and researches in statistics," says Dr. Chal- 
 mers, " I hold in very high estimation, they furnish 
 political economy with its best materials, and stand 
 to this science in the same relation as facts do to 
 philosophy." But it must ever be regretted, that the 
 science of political economy, instead of following 
 a patient investigation of facts, has preceded it, and 
 that when Adam Smith elucidated the doctrines, 
 which he was able to detect with all the clearness 
 and distinctness for which he is so pre-eminent, nei- 
 ther the area, population, occupation, wealth, nor 
 progressive advance, of his native country were 
 known, but each was the subject of a vague conjec- 
 ture. Now it is obvious, that if any science ought 
 to be inductive it is political economy, which has for 
 
PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 7 
 
 its subject the uncertain laws which regulate hu- 
 manity, and natural products ; and for its aim the 
 advancement of the social condition of the world. 
 Predicated accordingly upon false and insufficient 
 data, it is only to be wondered at, that the earlier 
 writers on this science were able to attain such cor- 
 rect and well-digested views, and if the science, as 
 explained by them, proved to be miserably defective 
 in practice, the error is to be attributed rather to the 
 want of sufficient premises for their speculations, 
 than to any logical error. From these causes, it is 
 much to be regretted that a science, which might 
 have been pre-eminently useful to the human race, 
 has fallen into great disrepute, and that the theories 
 which it promulgated, of the advantages of inter- 
 course and free trade, have been counteracted by the 
 restrictions of commerce, which it has been the fa- 
 vourite policy of practical statesmen to recommend. 
 Such has been the fate of the science of political 
 economy, which, aiming at first at too Icarian a 
 flight, has not been able to sustain itself. 
 
 If political economy, as a science, is ever to regain 
 its position, it must be by laying a more solid and 
 sure foundation, and by raising the superstructure 
 of theory upon a basis of facts, not- " drawn from 
 imagination,' 7 but the result of patient statistical in- 
 vestigation and, however advanced we may appear 
 in the arrangements for promoting the physical com- 
 forts of all classes of the community, the details of our 
 present social organization are utterly unknown, and 
 the writer in another century, who wishes to draw an 
 accurate picture of our present condition, must pur- 
 sue the same means as we have now to use in de- 
 
8 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 picting the manners of the 18th century. We have 
 no facilities for estimating the effect which the in- 
 creased civilization of the world has had upon the 
 morals, the longevity, the social happiness, or do- 
 mestic habits of our race, but as we are ourselves 
 utterly ignorant of the present condition of the 
 country, we cannot anticipate that posterity will be 
 better informed. 
 
 It is generally supposed that the same degree of 
 attention to statistics is not to be expected in the 
 widely extended regions of the United States, as in 
 the more circumscribed countries of Europe ; and 
 that the necessity of investigation does not exist to 
 the same extent in this country as there. But we 
 apprehend that this impression is very erroneous, 
 and that a greater insight into our present condition 
 than can be obtained regarding the different Euro- 
 pean countries might fairly be expected ; in a land 
 in which education everywhere prevails where 
 few prejudices, comparatively speaking, exist 
 where few abuses, which shun the light of day, are 
 nurtured and in which the utmost publicity is given 
 to the operations and proceedings of government. 
 Although the area of the country is great, it is amply 
 subdivided into counties and townships for local 
 government, there being, in 1830, 937 of the former, 
 and 5789 of the latter ; and though the extent and 
 distance of the various states from the seat of ge- 
 neral government may seem great, yet the post- 
 coach threads its way to the remotest corner, travers- 
 *ing about 200,000 miles of roads, and distributing 
 intelligence at about 12,000 post-offices. In every 
 township there is some public officer, appointed 
 
* PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INGIUIRY. 9 
 
 by the laws of the state in which he resides: at 
 every post-office the general government has an officer 
 whose intelligence must be equal to the task required, 
 and whose services may be commanded. The wealth 
 of the country and the density of the population are not 
 the questions which need now be inquired into ; but 
 the true subjects of inquiry are, is there sufficient 
 intelligence prevalent to authorize statistical inqui- 
 ries ? and does the remoteness of the district pre- 
 vent the directions of government from being pro 
 perly attended to ? These are the only obstacles 
 which can present themselves ; and these no one ac- 
 quainted with the condition of the country will hold to 
 be of any account. The subject of statistical inquiry 
 is not abstruse and difficult of comprehension ; but 
 any man, competent to transact the most ordinary 
 affairs of life, may be an efficient agent. It is not 
 the province of the assistant marshal to generalize 
 the returns he may make out, or even to insert 
 any estimate into his report ; but he has only the 
 easy task of proposing a printed query, and of in- 
 serting the answer he may receive to it, and then 
 ends his duties by a simple enumeration of all the 
 answers he has received. It therefore is only requi- 
 site that the assistant should be an honest man one 
 who, assuming the responsibility of an oath, will 
 carefully comply with its requirements ; and that he 
 should possess an accurate knowledge of the locali- 
 ties of the district which is assigned to him. As far, 
 then, as the objection to taking a particular survey of 
 the country arises from the number of assistants re- 
 quired, a little consideration will show its futility, as 
 
 the degree of intelligence requisite is of a very ordi- 
 
 2 
 
10 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 nary standard. It may be thought, on casting the 
 eye cursorily over the various schedules scattered 
 throughout this essay, that to comply with all the re- 
 quirements would be an almost Herculean task ; but 
 they are intended to facilitate rather than increase 
 the labour of the assistants, and, when attentively 
 considered, the simplicity of the arrangement will be 
 fully apparent. If any one, not accustomed to mer- 
 cantile pursuits, has to transact some business at a 
 custom-house, and to make up the requisite state- 
 ments, and get them signed and countersigned, the 
 intricacy of the detail will almost overwhelm him ; 
 whereas the regular business man can, without the 
 least exertion, comply with all the legal requirements. 
 So, in like manner, the tables appended may at first 
 sight seem complicated ; but the practised assistant 
 will find no difficulty in comprehending the object of 
 the arrangement. We are therefore quite confident 
 that there will be no difficulty experienced in pro- 
 curing able and efficient agents to perform the work 
 required, if the compensation allowed by Congress 
 be sufficient. 
 
 If no obstacle need, then, be expected from the 
 difficulty of procuring assistants ; so none need be 
 apprehended from any averseness in the community at 
 large to answer them. In taking the census on pre- 
 vious occasions, it has been thought advisable to 
 insert a clause in the law, imposing a penalty for 
 a refusal to answer ; and even this we do not 
 think would be necessary. Let it only be gene- 
 rally known that the investigation is made for 
 the public benefit, and that all classes and all pro- 
 fessions are equally interested that the investiga- 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 11 
 
 tion proceeds from no party feeling, but that all 
 interests, commercial and manufacturing, agricultural 
 and professional, are alike to be represented and 
 we doubt not but that the fullest and most satisfac- 
 tory result will flow from the attempt. It would be 
 unpopular for any individual to oppose this legiti- 
 mate inquiry of the general government ; and we 
 doubt not that public opinion will fully sustain the 
 plan being executed with all the requisite minuteness 
 of detail. 
 
 Statistics, as a science, has been divided by the 
 Germans into two distinct branches ; the one is con- 
 sidered as treating solely of the present condition of 
 a country, enumerating and valuing its present pro- 
 ducts, examining the rate of taxation and wages, the 
 extent of education and crime, and various other de- 
 tails of civil economy, as they exist at one particular 
 time, rigidly excluding all comparisons with the for- 
 mer commercial, political, or social condition of the 
 country ; and this has been styled descriptive sta- 
 tistics. The other branch, while it embraces the de- 
 scriptive statistics, unites with it a retrospective view 
 of the state of the country, in order to discover the im- 
 provement or retrogression which has taken place ; and 
 his has been styled Comparative Statistics. How- 
 ever proper we may consider the application of the 
 latter branch to all statistical works, which purport to 
 exhibit a picture of any country, there can be no 
 doubt but that, in the event of the opportunity being 
 improved, which the taking of the census offers, the 
 United States Government should confine itself sole- 
 ly to descriptive statistics. With the other, there 
 must always necessarily be a mixture of theory, and 
 
12 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 it is quite possible so to arrange a detail of facts as 
 to bias the reader towards one or other of the leading 
 political creeds of the day. This ought to be rigidly 
 avoided, and the most careful means should be 
 taken to prevent any prejudice from tincturing the 
 returns which Goverment may present to the country. 
 " In recommending," says Mr. Van Buren, " to 
 Congress the adoption of the necessary provision at 
 this session, for taking the next census, or enumera- 
 tion of the inhabitants of the United States, the sub- 
 ject presents itself, whether the scope of the measure 
 might not be usefully extended by causing it to em- 
 brace authentic statistical returns of the great interests 
 specially trusted to, or necessarily affected by, the le- 
 gislation of Congress." This, then, is the opportuni- 
 ty presented to us. It is suggested, by the President, 
 in his Annual Message, and every feeling of National 
 self-respect, and the general welfare of the country, 
 call loudly for its adoption. Whatever be the race 
 which the United States has to run; whatever be the 
 honours or power which await its progressive im- 
 provement, a knowledge of its present state, of its 
 available resources and general condition, would be 
 alike serviceable to its present interests, and con- 
 ducive to its future advancement. The attention 
 of Europe is steadfastly turned towards the con- 
 dition of America, and, while a large mass of its in- 
 habitants are earnestly desiring to see the princi- 
 ples of freedom surmount the difficulties which ob- 
 struct their progress ; many are indulging the secret, 
 jet confident expectation of seeing the Federal Union 
 vered, and anarchy and confusion destroying its pre- 
 sent tranquillity and surely it were a proud task, and 
 
PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 13 
 
 one which the Government and people would equally 
 rejoice to promote, to herald to other climes, and 
 other institutions, the fruits of that liberty which the 
 revolution has achieved, and to record the unrivalled 
 improvement which the country has undergone in 
 the brief period since that event was consummated. 
 We do not think that it is necessary to colour the pic- 
 ture with the brightest hues, and exhibit the country 
 in its holiday garb, to excite the attention and admi- 
 ration of distant beholders, for, by such indiscrimi- 
 nate colouring, the cause of truth and inquiry is not 
 advanced ; but, laying aside all eulogy, on the other 
 hand, it were a pleasant task to portray the improved 
 condition of the mass of the citizens, their increasing 
 intelligence arising from their political privileges, the 
 order and morality which a general distribution of 
 property has introduced, the expert mechanical ta- 
 lent of the country which circumstances have called 
 into action, and the resources, improvement, and na- 
 tural wealth, of this large portion of the Universe, 
 which is confederated under one General Govern- 
 ment such were pleasant themes, and if topics of a 
 less agreeable character were to be treated of, and 
 the crime, and general condition of the South; the 
 pauperism and prevailing intemperance, were to be 
 painted not in exaggerated, but in true and lively co- 
 lours, the advantages which would flow from it would 
 more than counterbalance the painfulness of the ex- 
 posure ; and further, we believe that a principle, tend- 
 ing to improvement, would be exhibited, which would 
 gradually soften and mellow the portrait which might 
 be drawn, and that, though the matrix might be base, 
 a vein of pure metal would be seen, to give promise of 
 
14 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY.. 
 
 a yet more improved and advanced state of society. 
 It has been truly remarked, that those times are most 
 conducive to the best interests of humanity, which 
 are least interesting to the historian, who, loving to 
 record the spirit-stirring scenes of war, or the nitrica*- 
 cies of courtly intrigue, can find little to interest him 
 in the tranquil pursuits of a peaceful community. 
 But it is not so with the statist, for his inquiries lie 
 among the ordinary pursuits of the people, when 
 conscription and levies are unheard of; when taxa- 
 tion is not augmented to supply the absorbing de- 
 mands of war, and when the energies of the country 
 are not languishing in fruitless proscription, non-in- 
 tercourse and embargoes. And such is happily now 
 the condition of this country, basking in the sunshine 
 of prosperity, at peace with all the world, and pursu- 
 ing the natural bent which her resources may suggest, 
 or policy may dictate. No time could be more pro- 
 pitious for taking an accurate and particular survey 
 of her existing condition. 
 
 Of the advantages of such a survey it were almost 
 needless to speak, as the most casual observer must 
 remark the incalculable benefits, which an accurate 
 knowledge of the working of the political, the influ- 
 ence of the moral and social, and the effects of the 
 Manufacturing and Agricultural condition, would be 
 fraught with. If the trite aphorism, knowledge is 
 power, is at any time true, it is so pre-eminently 
 when it is said that a knowledge of resources must 
 precede the power to use them. The advantages of 
 such returns as we are now about to propose, may 
 either be referred to the information which they would 
 impart to Government, or the general picture which 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 15 
 
 they would exhibit to the community, of the various 
 interests and present condition of the country. 
 
 To the Government it may be said to be essential 
 to have such returns, as will exhibit the condition of 
 the various interests, " specially trusted to, or neces- 
 sarily affected by, the legislation of Congress," pre- 
 sented at different stated periods. From a total ab- 
 sence of all such returns in this country and England, 
 we cannot illustrate their importance by any refer- 
 ence to the practical utility which they have sub- 
 served ; but it were an easy task to cite a thou- 
 sand instances in which the want of them has been 
 the occasion of most absurd errors. It is impossible 
 to look through the reports to committees to the 
 houses of Congress, without being struck with the 
 difference continually exhibited in the statements of 
 the condition of the country, and the confidence with 
 which they are asserted Now it may be remarked, 
 that upon the same statement of facts, most men 
 form a similar opinion, or, at least, that the judgment 
 which a corresponding condition calls forth, will re- 
 semble closely any previous opinion regarding it; 
 and it is on the principle that the average of the com- 
 munity will come to a sound conclusion that the Jury 
 practice has been so universally introduced into the 
 Courts of Justice. So it is in the current affairs 
 of life ; the conclusions an individual comes to are 
 generally correct if the individual acts honestly with 
 himself ; and errors, in results, may be traced to wrong 
 premises, prejudiced views, or a mistaken position. 
 So in public discussions, where the premises are 
 uncertain, the conclusions of either party cannot be 
 controverted; and no logical argument can weigh 
 
16 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 against any statement which a political opponent may 
 parade. Now if the premises which form the ground- 
 work of discussion, in the National and State legisla- 
 tures, were more accurately ascertained, we fully 
 believe that the violent and contradictory opinions ex- 
 pressed, the heat of party strife, which is much fos- 
 tered by the prevailing ignorance, and the extreme 
 doctrines entertained by the political leaders of the 
 day, would be mutually harmonized, and while a dif- 
 ference of opinion always must exist, the differences 
 would be less marked, and the violence with which 
 they were entertained, would be much modified. It 
 were an endless task to illustrate the present condi- 
 tion of the majority and minority reports annually pre- 
 sented to Congress, where it is very remarkable that 
 the arguments never proceed upon a common state- 
 ment of facts, but to each report is prefixed a separate 
 detail, as the ground of the opinion which it contains 
 The various reports presented to Congress during the 
 discussion of the New Tariff Act, especially by the 
 New York and Philadelphia Conventions, forcibly 
 illustrate this ; and the debates upon the Bank ques- 
 tion, (regarding which there could be less difference 
 in a detail of facts,) present a very striking contrast 
 from the usual tenor of discussion, as there the differ- 
 ence of opinion related to the principles of Banking, 
 and the powers of Government, and, of consequence, 
 the debates were of a much more elevated character 
 than those ordinarily prevailing, until party feeling, 
 breaking up the constitutional usages of the Govern- 
 ment, made way for accusation, insinuations, and in- 
 accurate statements. Every one in the habit of look- 
 ing into these reports, must be struck with the most 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 17 
 
 opposite opinions and contradictory facts constantly 
 stated, and it is to be regretted, that this system of 
 random assertion is not the characteristic of Ameri- 
 can reports only, for we have already instanced the 
 errors regarding the introduction of railways into 
 England, and we may instance one other example of 
 absurd generalization from incorrect data. "In 1800 
 the Woollen Manufacturers in England strenuously 
 objected to some of the provisions in the treaty of 
 union with Ireland, and were allowed to urge their 
 objections at the bar of the House of Lords, and to 
 produce evidence in their support. Mr. Law, (after- 
 wards Lord Ellenborough) the Counsel employed by 
 the Manufacturers on this occasion, stated, in his ad- 
 dress to their Lordships, on information communicat- 
 ed to him by his clients, that 600,000 packs of wool 
 were annually produced in England and Wales, 
 worth at 11 per pack 6,600.000, and that the 
 value of the manufactured goods was three times as 
 great, or 19,800,000; that not less than 1,500,000 
 persons were directly engaged in the operative 
 branches of the manufacture, and that it collaterally 
 employed about the same number of hands, or about 
 three millions in all. Now it would appear that the 
 produce of wool, at that period, did not exceed 400,000 
 packs ; and that one-third of the population were en- 
 gaged in fabricating it into cloth is too preposterous 
 to receive an answer."* And among the Reports of 
 Committees, and of Petitions to Congress, let any one 
 compare the documents presented by the Iron Manu- 
 facturers and the Iron Workers of this country, those 
 presented by the Coal Miners, and the different Man- 
 
 * Edin. Review, ciii. 
 
 3 
 
18 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 ufacturers, on the Coal trade, during the course of the 
 last session of Congress, to see the vagueness with 
 which statements presented to the National legisla- 
 ture are made. 
 
 The ignorance which prevails regarding the pre- 
 sent condition of this, as well as other countries, ope- 
 rates to the disadvantage of Government in various 
 ways, as it cripples the arm of executive power, and 
 exposes thi. state of the country to unmerited cen- 
 sure. When it was publicly asserted in the French 
 Chamber of Deputies, that the Government of the 
 United States was more expensive than that of 
 France, what authority could the American Minister, 
 or any American citizen, cite, for the purpose of 
 contradicting such an error? His bare assertion 
 would be no proof of the accuracy of his statement 
 and the inaccuracy of the other ; and it is very doubt- 
 ful whether he would feel himself warranted to take 
 any measures of refuting it other than by making a 
 simple contradiction of a statement which was redu- 
 ced to a detailed comparison of the taxation of this 
 country and France ; making the former 35 francs on 
 each individual, and the latter 30 francs. Wnen 
 even the most incorrect assertion like this, is made 
 without any foundation or authority, it is well known 
 that, until proof be produced of its inaccuracy, its 
 truth is currently believed; and the phrase that it has 
 not been contradicted, passes synonymously with 
 that it has been proved to be true. The National 
 honour requires that the idle rumours which some are 
 interested in creating, or circulating, should be effec- 
 tually silenced, and accurate information is all that is 
 required to confute them. 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 19 
 
 And again : The recent Tariff bill reduced the rate 
 of duties to a low standard, in order to make the re- 
 ceipts of the Custom House equal to the annual ex- 
 penses of the Government, without any accumulation 
 of money in the National Treasury, and therefore 
 should this country be involved in war with any Eu- 
 ropean power, however short the period of hostilities 
 might prove, a -system of internal and direct taxation 
 must be adopted ; as not only are the duties on foreign, 
 goods insufficient for the necessary outlay, but the 
 source of this revenue, in the event of war, is mate- 
 rially curtailed ; and on what branch of domestic in- 
 dustry, or on what principles should the assessment 
 be laid on the inhabitants of the different States, to 
 make up the .deficiency, arid raise the requisite sums ? 
 This is not an idle hypothesis, as the difficulty has 
 already occurred ; and during the direct taxation in 
 1815 and IS 16, the greatest difficulty was experienced 
 in determining upon what the assessment should be 
 imposed, and in selecting the value of houses and 
 lots great inequality prevailed. By the constitution 
 it is provided, that the amount of taxes which each 
 State shall furnish, shall be in the ratio of its repre- 
 sentation, or, in other terms, in proportion to its popu- 
 lation, by which is evidently meant, that each indivi- 
 dual in the United States should furnish a similar 
 per centage of the value of his property. Now the 
 last mode of taxation was very unequal in its opera- 
 tion, as in the State of Maine the inhabitants of the 
 County of Cumberland, for every hundred dollars 
 value of their lands and houses, paid 38 cents 9 
 mills, while, in several other counties, the sum paid 
 on every hundred dollars value of lands and houses, 
 
20 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 was only 17 cents, and the average paid through the 
 whole State of Massachusetts was only 21 cents 2 
 mills for every hundred dollars.* It were certainly 
 proper for the Government to be prepared with such 
 returns of the actual condition of the country, as 
 should enable them to apportion the taxes according 
 to some general principles, founded upon an accurate 
 acquaintance with the capacities and resources which 
 they had to deal with, and not legislate in entire 
 ignorance of the interests and habits of the people. 
 It is earnestly to be desired, that the period when di- 
 rect taxation is again resorted to, should be very re- 
 mote ; and that the peace and tranquillity which rest 
 upon the country should long be undisturbed ; but 
 the best means of preserving its continuance, is by 
 being prepared to exhibit a statement of the resources 
 and capacities which it contains ; while the speediest 
 means of restoring it, should unforeseen difficulties 
 disturb it, is by being able to rouse the latent ener- 
 gies which it possesses into immediate action. And 
 this can never be effectually done if all the sources of 
 information are, in the meantime, dried up and ex- 
 hausted ; and if, instead of taking instant steps to 
 provide for the emergency, the preliminary measures 
 of inquiry and investigation must be entered upon, 
 before the views and plans of the Government could 
 be determined ; and then that determination must 
 necessarily be faulty, being based upon such ill-di- 
 gested information. 
 
 On the other hand, the people of the United States 
 
 * Pitkin's Statistics, p. 312. 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 21 
 
 have, apart f rm their government, an inter 3st in rig- 
 idly examining into the statistics of the country. It is 
 not in this as in most other countries, that a knowl- 
 edge of one section gives a good general idea of 
 another, for the difference of climate and soil are so 
 extreme that no general estimate can be formed of 
 the whole, and a statistical account of one district, 
 can give no criterion by which to judge of any other. 
 Bound together by one national tie, the inhabitants of 
 this country are in the habit of contemplating the vari- 
 ous states which form the Union as an united whole, 
 and to migrate from one to the other as fancy or inter- 
 est may dictate ; and therefore how interesting to have 
 the resources of the various sections, the arts and man- 
 ufactures of different districts, the progress or depres- 
 sion of particular states, the education and the crime 
 of different divisions of the country accurately por- 
 trayed. The stimulus which such returns would give 
 to the manufacturing and agricultural interests, the 
 openings which such an insight into the habits of the 
 people would afford to the energy of the trader, and 
 the general utility to all classes of the community, are 
 more easily enumerated than fully depicted. 
 
 There is an objection however, to having the re- 
 turns which we are about to propose made out, which 
 may be started by some, and which therefore it were 
 well to pre-consider. That is the constitutionality of 
 the United States government entering upon investi- 
 gations regarding matters which are not placed under 
 their direct cognizance. The subject of constitution- 
 ality will probably be a bone of contention as long as 
 the union of the States remains entire, and one there- 
 fore, which it were folly to think of discussing here ; 
 
22 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 one party wishing always to confine the powers of ihe 
 general government to the strict letter of the consti- 
 tution, the other to add many collateral powers to 
 those directly expressed, as necessarily concomitant 
 to them; such as the existence of power to establish 
 a national bank; as the accompaniment of the power 
 to regulate the commerce, the establishment of a 
 Military Academy, as necessary for the defence of 
 the country, and various other similar questions. With 
 the two great divisions of public opinion on this sub- 
 ject, we have nothing to do, and we would wish 
 merely to show that similar investigations to those 
 now proposed, have been already sanctioned by the 
 party who support the literal interpretation of the con- 
 stitution ; hoping that no objection will be made by 
 those who uphold its general applicability to all mat- 
 ters of this kind. In the year 1832, when General 
 Jackson was president, Mr. Livingston commenced 
 some very interesting inquiries into the amount of 
 taxation, and the number of clergy in the United 
 States; in the last census, of 1830, when tha present 
 president was Secretary of State, the number of 
 blind and deaf and dumb were enumerated, and cer- 
 tainly there is no reason, if this were a proper sub- 
 ject of inquiry, why the number of convicts should 
 not be taken, and the number of persons who can 
 read and write, for such would be of equal political 
 interest with the other; the number of emigrants 
 who enter the country, are annually reported, to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, with the particulars of 
 their age, and the countries from which they come, 
 and if constitutional, there can be no valid objection 
 made to having the same information procured regard- 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 23 
 
 ing the residents in the United States; and the re- 
 ports which, under Mr. Adams and General Jackson, 
 were obtained regarding the manufactures of the 
 United States, would certainly warrant the same 
 minuteness of inquiry being extended to the agricul- 
 tural interests of the country. Such are a few of th.e 
 inquiries which have been instituted by the general 
 government, especially by those now in office, and 
 there seems an equally apparent connection between 
 the subjects we are about to propose and those already 
 treated of. When the question of constitutionality 
 relates to powers which may, if perverted, under- 
 mine the foundation of government, we think any 
 one who apprehends dangerous consequences, is not 
 only justified, but bound to oppose any innovation, 
 but where the desired extension of power relates 
 solely to the legitimate ends of acquiring information, 
 we would hope no such objections will be raised to 
 impede the aim we have in view. 
 
 The period for the enumeration of the people, has 
 already been twice embraced for the purpose of 
 acquiring statistical information regarding the state of 
 manufactures; first, in 18)0 and again in 1820, and 
 it would seem that the defectiveness of the returns 
 thus procured, prevented the attempt from being 
 made at the taking of the last census in 1830. IQ 
 that census however, the want of statistical informa- 
 tion is amply atoned for, by the increased attention 
 bestowed upon the classification of the population, 
 and the insight which it will eventually give us into 
 the theory of population, the ratio of increase, and 
 other interesting topics in. vital statistics. In 1810, 
 the Secretary of State placed the very defective 
 
24 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY, 
 
 returns received from the marshals, in the hands 
 of Mr. Tench Coxe, of Philadelphia, for clas i- 
 fication and arrangement, and although they are re- 
 ported to have been very defective and to contain a 
 number of the most glaring inconsistencies, that gen- 
 tleman was able to arrive at a rough estimate of the 
 various productions of the country. But as attention 
 to detail is absolutely necessary in acquiring informa 
 tion regarding statistics, the abstract then prepared 
 must be regarded rather in the light of an estimate 
 than an official statement. 
 
 The returns of 1820, we will again refer to at 
 greater length when speaking of the manufactures of 
 the country, but we believe they were more defective 
 than those of the preceding decimal period, and that 
 no abstract or classification has ever been made from 
 them. 
 
 It is for the purpose of calling the attention of gov- 
 ernment and the community at large, to the propriety 
 and facility of obtaining ample returns from the va- 
 rious states of their increasing wealth, their extend- 
 ing manufactures, their improvements in education, 
 and the expenses of their government, that we have 
 hastily embraced the opportunity since the message 
 of 1838, of inquiring into the principles which ought 
 to regulate the examination proposed, and of prepar- 
 ing appropriate schedules for the use of the marshals. 
 We are well aware that this is no popular task, and 
 therefore, one to which we cannot expect to draw 
 much attention, but partial to the pursuit of sta- 
 tistical investigation, we have hoped to excite a 
 sufficient interest in the subject during the recess of 
 Congress, to induce that body to secure more careful 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 25 
 
 legislation regarding it, than has hitherto been consid- 
 ered necessary. 
 
 In making some general observations upon the prin- 
 ciples which should regulate the inquiry into the 
 nation's present condition, it will be necessary to 
 observe, 
 
 ] st. That the form of schedules which should be 
 circulated throughout the country, for the purpose of 
 eliciting the desired information, need not be the form 
 in which they are ultimately presented to the public, 
 but should be so arranged as to suit the various sec- 
 tions of the country, and before publication they 
 might be modified and condensed upon some general 
 principles. 
 
 2d. These schedules should be adapted to the ac- 
 tual condition of the state to which they are sent. 
 There are many of the proposed subjects of inquiry 
 which are generally and universally applicable, and 
 to these, such as population, manufactures and agri- 
 culture, our present observations do not extend, and 
 under their respective heads we will consider the 
 most eligible mode of obtaining returns ; but at 
 present, we refer to those subjects of inquiry which 
 relate to the operation of certain laws which differ 
 materially in the various states. Now if the sched- 
 ule is so arranged that the available information can- 
 not be entered in the lists, the returning officer will 
 feel himself entitled to avoid the trouble, and leave a 
 return if not perfectly applicable to his district, entire- 
 ly blank. As a simple example, let us instance the re- 
 turns of pauperism from the different states ; if a mar- 
 shal received a blank schedule thus drawn out to fill up, 
 4 
 
26 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 Are the poor in this 
 County supported 
 in poor-houses 1 
 
 Are the poor board- 
 ed out in private 
 families? 
 
 What is the aver- 
 age No. of poor in 
 this county ? 
 
 What is the average 
 expense of each 
 pauper ? 
 
 
 
 
 
 and if the 1 returns he could procure in the district 
 were reported to him in the following form 
 
 "The whole number of poorin the county for the 
 last year, was 50; the whole amount paid out in 
 the course of the year, was $150 ": it is evident that 
 the one set of returns will not correspond with the 
 other, as in the latter case, the poor may have been 
 on the roll only during the winter months, and no ac- 
 count is taken of the term for which they receive 
 charity; and in this case, the marshal would consider 
 himself justified in making no return. So in like 
 manner if in estimating the value of personal prop- 
 erty in the several states ; in some where the taxes 
 are paid on a per centage of the personal estate, 
 there would be no difficulty in procuring answers to 
 any query drawn out in reference to the matter, but if 
 instead of a per centage upon the whole personal 
 estate, as is the plan pursued in New- York, a certain 
 rate were charged upon various descriptions of prop- 
 erty, such as horses and cattle, carriages, &c., as in 
 New- Jersey; the table suited for the one return, 
 would be inapplicable to the other. This would of 
 course require a particular and accurate knowledge 
 of the condition of each state and its general inter- 
 nal economy, and we have neither the means nor the 
 time to exhibit such detailed schedules for completing 
 
PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 27 
 
 the census, but it would be easy for the Secretary of 
 State to procure from the district attorneys, or other 
 competent officers, a plan for making these inquiries 
 in each state or district, or an examination of the laws 
 of the different states would exhibit the principle on 
 which such a schedule should be conducted. And, 
 
 3dly. Instead of following, these investigations 
 ought to precede the enumeration of the people. In 
 1810 and 1820, when the returns were procured, they 
 were found to be in such confusion as to be almost 
 without value, whereas had a patient examination into 
 the proper form of queries been instituted previously, 
 there can be no doubt but that the amount of infor- 
 mation obtained, would have been incalculably in- 
 creased. 
 
 Let the experience of the past therefore be profited 
 by, and the opportunity of turning to account, the pre- 
 sent taking of the census of the people be practically 
 improved, before the period shall arrive when the 
 work must be commenced. Occurring only at inter- 
 vals of ten years, it were but proper that no trouble 
 should be spared in the investigation, for the satis- 
 factory preparation of the schedules, or in the subse- 
 quent arrangement of them, but that the one and the 
 other should bear the marks of diligence and care. 
 The large amount of money which the census may 
 be expected to cost, upwards of six hundred thousand 
 dollars, is of itself an ample excuse for calling the 
 attention of the public to the most advantageous 
 means of disbursing so much money ; while the inter- 
 est and value which would attach to the statistical 
 
28 PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 details which might be procured, will excite the hopes 
 of those fond of this study. 
 
 In the following observations, we will cursorily 
 enumerate the various topics which demand attention, 
 and in our remarks upon them, will be guided by 
 two principles which we desire may be constantly 
 remembered. We have given short notices of each 
 branch of inquiry which we propose, mentioning the 
 interest which would attach to the return, and the 
 propriety of obtaining it, and to these notices we 
 have added short statistical statements, either 
 
 1st. For the purpose of showing how much infor- 
 mation has been already procured on the subject there 
 treated of, either in the United States, or in some par- 
 ticular state or section, and arguing from such state- 
 ment, that if the means of obtaining the information 
 existed at any previous time, or if in any limited sec- 
 tion, the possibility of procuring it had been tested, 
 there could be no valid reason why it should not 
 again be procured, or why the examination previously 
 local, might not be made general. The increasing 
 intelligence of the people, and the general diffusion 
 of education, rather tend to promote the objects of 
 such inquiries, than to retard them, and sorry would 
 be the picture of the country, if more disinclination 
 to further the inquiries of government prevailed at 
 the present day, than at any previous period. The 
 inhabitants of the country at large, freed from all 
 direct taxation by the general government, and 
 virtually unconscious that they do contribute to its 
 support, can have no apprehension of the object of 
 the inquiries being the prelude to taxation, a feeling, 
 
PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 29 
 
 that occasions great difficulty in procuring statistics 
 in Europe. " Before the books were prepared," says 
 Dr. Cleland, " an advertisement was put into all the 
 newspapers, requesting the inhabitants to favour me 
 with their suggestions as to classification, and before 
 the list-takers commenced their operations, bills were 
 posted on the houses informing the inhabitants of the 
 nature of the inquiries, and that they had no refer- 
 ence to taxes, militia, &c."* But in this country, 
 where the inhabitants have been accustomed to the 
 taking of the census on previous occasions, and where 
 information to Government is not associated with tax- 
 ation, no such preliminary measures are necessary, 
 and we see no reason to apprehend any difficulty to 
 be overcome, or prejudice to be struggled against, in 
 completing the desired returns. 
 
 2dly. The other object which we have in view by 
 the notices of the various topics referred to, is differ- 
 ent from the general aim of statistical statements. 
 They are usually intended to show how much is 
 known upon a subject, while these are intended to 
 show how little accurate information on that subject 
 can be procured. After mentioning the advantages 
 which would accrue, either to the Government or to 
 the community, from information on some particular 
 branch of inquiry, we will add the whole amount of 
 actual knowledge which can be gained on the sub- 
 ject at present, and thus, by contrast, endeavour to 
 exemplify the importance of the proposed return ; 
 or we will occasionally refer to the later works on 
 
 * Cleland's Statistics of Glasgow and Lanarkshire, 1332. 
 
30 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 British statistics, to illustrate the information which 
 we are desirous of procuring. And in no way we 
 believe, can the information sought after be more 
 completely realized, or the necessity of procuring it 
 be made more apparent, and therefore we have had 
 recourse to it. 
 
 It is on these two principles, and on these alone, 
 that the following examination into the nature and 
 condition of this country, in its social and operative 
 relations has been instituted, and while some little 
 information may occasionally be conveyed, it would 
 be most unfair to consider the following pages in the 
 light of a systematic statistical essay. Whether we 
 may fulfil the aim we have in view, or whether the 
 means we may use be not adequate to the end pro- 
 posed, it is for our readers, not ourselves, to judge ; 
 but we must insist upon the judgment, proceeding 
 not on any high estimate of what the work should be, 
 but with the constant remembrance of the object of 
 the present attempt. The plan of this work is cer- 
 tainly not ambitious, and the interest attaching 
 to it, must necessarily be of a temporary character, 
 although we believe that the principles which are the 
 ground work of these investigations, are permanent 
 in their nature, and will at any time bear the test of 
 rigid examination. 
 
 In the plan of this essay we embrace an inquiry 
 into those topics only, regarding which we think it 
 practicable to obtain information, omitting all refer- 
 ence to many interesting subjects which foreign 
 statists investigate, and omitting those inquiries, also, 
 which may be examined from sources at present 
 
PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 31 
 
 available. Among the former, the expenses of the 
 various classes of society,* all reference to the amount 
 of litigation in the United States, the price and qua- 
 lity of the food consumed in various sections of the 
 country, any general investigation into the remune- 
 ration for the services of professional men, manu- 
 facturers, or farm labourers, and various other topics, 
 might be mentioned, which we have omitted because 
 it is impossible to see the means by the use of which 
 the information could be obtained. It is true that 
 we might procure rough estimates from different parts 
 
 * Income of one thousand francs, as expended in Paris, according to M. Millot, and 
 given by Dr. Bowring, in his Parliamentary Reports. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 For taxes, direct, indirect, local, &c 136.05 
 
 Food, of which the proportions per cent, are 
 
 26 Drink, 
 
 34 Animal food, 
 
 19 Bread, . .' 
 
 11 Colonials, 
 
 352.43 
 
 7 Vegetables, 
 
 2 Condiments, 
 
 1 Water, J 
 
 Education of children, 35.73 
 
 Rent and repair of buildings, 114.00 
 
 Clothing, 70.48 
 
 Light and fuel, 68.18 
 
 Washing, 36.00 
 
 Furnishing house, 68.02 
 
 Expenses for servants, 46.00 
 
 Horses and carriages, 32.88 
 
 Coach hire, 11.54 
 
 Tobacco, 6.51 
 
 Baths, 3.20 
 
 Charity, 11.42 
 
 Medical attendance, 11.56 
 
 Newspaper 3.43 
 
 Theatres, 7.09 
 
 Other expenses, 6.44 
 
 1020.98 
 
 When it is remarkable that no reference is made to the support of religion, 
 or literature, as a source of expense, there is much dry humour a rare 
 quality with statists in making the annual expenditure of a Parisian of one 
 thousand francs income amount to one thousand twenty-one francs. 
 
32 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 of the country regarding some of these ; but, averse 
 to incorporating estimates in these government re- 
 turns, we believe that all reference to such subjects is 
 better omitted. Among the latter class which we have 
 thought it better to omit, stand some of the most pro- 
 minent sources of the progressive advancement of the 
 country ; but as the custom-house reports are made 
 with great accuracy, and exhibit great detail of in- 
 formation, any separate inquiry is unnecessary. 
 Ship-building, in all its branches, may be classed 
 among these subjects, as the annual amount of ton- 
 nage added to the mercantile navy is known, as well 
 as the size and class of vessels to which it belongs. 
 The amount of tonnage and its value being deter- 
 mined, the value of labour and of material can easily 
 be ascertained by queries put to the leading ship- 
 builders at the different ports, and from their answers 
 accurate details might be arrived at. The fisheries 
 of the United States is another subject which is ac- 
 curately reported on at present, whether we refer to 
 the enterprising whale fisheries or hardly less ardu- 
 ous bank fisheries. 
 
 There is another class of subjects which we have 
 preferred omitting, from the difficulty of obtaining 
 accurate returns regarding it, but which the officer 
 directing the investigation may think it proper to 
 insert, viz., the products of the forest, whether the 
 value of the timber annually felled, or the amount 
 of furs, skins, medicinal herbs, &c. procured from it. 
 
 On the other hand, the objects of inquiry which 
 we have thought it advisable for the government to 
 pursue relate to the population, the manufacturing 
 and agricultural interests of the country, the occupa- 
 
PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 33 
 
 tions of the people, the place of nativity of the inha- 
 bitants of the United States, the vital statistics, crime 
 and pauperism of the country, the education and tax- 
 ation which prevail in the several states, together 
 with the most appropriate means of procuring these 
 returns, the agents to be employed, and the remune- 
 ration to be offered. Under these more general divi- 
 sions many subordinate subjects must necessarily 
 arise ; and, when fully considered and amply reported 
 on, a mass of statistical information will be the result, 
 which has never been equalled by the researches of 
 any modern statist. 
 
 We have said modern statists, for we believe that 
 during the vigorous manhood of the Roman empire, 
 statistics were generally pursued ; and the Roman 
 senate had the most ample details, not only of the 
 population, wealth and habits of their domestic citi- 
 zens, but also of their remotest colonies and pro- 
 vinces, periodically laid before them. When we 
 consider the extent of the Roman empire embracing 
 the greater part of Europe, stretching far into Asia, 
 and claiming the whole northern shore of Africa we 
 cannot but be struck with the mechanism of a go- 
 vernment which procured ample accounts of the 
 condition and prosperity of its tributaries in every 
 quarter. And if proper and suitable for the table of 
 the Roman capitol, why should such returns not cover 
 that of the American ; and if in the darker ages of 
 ancient rule it were possible to procure them, in the 
 modern advancement of society the facilities for doing 
 so must be much increased. The following quotation 
 from the Roman history of Livy will show the exist- 
 ence of such returns, relative to the domestic and the 
 5 
 
34 PRINCIPLES OP STATISTICAL INQUIRY. 
 
 foreign population ; and we shall afterwards allude 
 to the measures taken to procure them. "It was 
 ordained that a survey of the persons and estates 
 should be made in those colonies (Latine,) according 
 to a regulation to be directed by the Roman censor, 
 which should be the same as was directed for the 
 Roman people ; and a return of this, made at Rome, 
 of those colonies on their oaths before they went out 
 of office."* And the biblical reader will find that 
 this practice explains the apparent contradiction be- 
 tweenSt. Luke ii, 2, 3, and Acts v, 37 ; as the enume- 
 ration of the Jewish people was first made at the time 
 of the birth of our Saviour, but the taxes consequent 
 upon it were not imposed until eleven years after- 
 wards, when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. 
 
 In presenting, therefore, this subject to the public, in 
 detail, some time before the period of the enumeration 
 of the people usually begins, we hope to attract suffi- 
 cient attention to interest the government and those 
 engaged in statistical pursuits in the most expedient 
 way of procuring information. " Scarcely any man 
 publishes a book," says Dr. Johnson, " whatever it 
 may be, without believing that he has caught the 
 moment when the public attention is vacant to his 
 call, and the world is disposed in a peculiar manner 
 to learn the art which he undertakes to teach."f If 
 we do not plead guilty to this confident feeling, we 
 are at least conscious of the appropriateness of the 
 time of publishing these observations ; and we do so 
 in the hope of advancing the interests of "political 
 science in this country. 
 
 * Historia Romana, xxix, 15. 
 t Preface to Rolfs Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 35 
 
 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 No branch of Political Economy has engaged more 
 attention, and none is nore deserving of it. The va- 
 rious questions regarding this interesting subject, 
 have been fully discussed by modern political wri- 
 ters ; and much acrimony and keenness have been 
 enlisted in the controversy. The belief that it was 
 in the power, and perhaps therefore the duty, of a 
 Government to regulate the increase of its people, 
 has been one reason why the subject has excited so 
 much interest, and the strong positions assumed by 
 one party, have been met by counter-statements of an 
 equally positive character by the other. From its 
 insular position, and rapidly increasing population, 
 this controversy seems to have been carried on more 
 bitterly in England than elsewhere ; and Godwin, 
 Malthus and Sadler, have each in their turns, been 
 the champions of the different views which supported 
 their own theories. The controversy has, by this 
 time, subsided, and general belief seems to coincide 
 with the views of Malthus, in his philosophical and 
 elegant essay on population ; and without intending 
 to awaken its slumbering fires, we would, before 
 making some observations on the population returns 
 of this country, wish to dissent from some of the po- 
 sitions he maintains. 
 
36 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 Mr. Malthus endeavours to prove, that while the 
 fruits of the earth advance, or increase, only in an 
 Arithmetical ratio, the tendency of population is to 
 increase in a Mathematical ratio. We believe we 
 state his position fairly, and as thus stated, it con- 
 tains two erroneous assumptions. The first is, that 
 there is any ratio in the increase, or decrease, of popu- 
 lation and agriculture ; and the second, that a ten- 
 dency involves a certainty. 
 
 As to the first : The application of the term ratio, 
 requires that the causes which determine the altera- 
 tion in the number of the inhabitants, or in the amount 
 of food, be accurately determined. A ratio of quan- 
 tities, which are variable, conveys no idea, unless the 
 variation also depends upon known laws, and main- 
 tains the relation between the quantities, always un- 
 impaired. But if one quantity may, from indirect 
 causes, be affected, while the other remains unalter- 
 ed, it is evident that no ratio, or necessary propor- 
 tion, can exist between them. And in this we find 
 the error alluded to in the previous chapter, of at- 
 tempting to deduce logical arguments from arithme- 
 tical statements, for, in truth, the facts relating to 
 population cannot be ascertained with mathematical 
 precision. It may be true, that the tendency of popu- 
 lation to increase, is greater than of the fruits of the 
 earth to multiply ; but this tendency in the one is in- 
 herent, in the other it is adventitious ; and admitting 
 that the tendency to increase is greater than an 
 arithmetical ratio would account for, that, by no 
 means, proves that it must be in a mathematical ratio. 
 
 As to the term tendency, in the second place, it is 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 37 
 
 quite inadmissable when applied to established ratios ; 
 and must either mean that the proportion which the 
 population and provision of a country maintain, is 
 uniform, or it must mean that it is variable. To say 
 that it has only a tendency to be uniform, is, in other 
 words, to say that it may vary, and, unless the term 
 is used in the first sense, the whole foundation, as a 
 mathematical proposition must fall to the ground. 
 
 We, by no means, deny the position of Mr. Mal- 
 thus, if confined to a general statement, when we 
 think the term tendency may be properly introduced 
 as conveying the impression of a variable law which 
 may prompt the population to outrun the means of 
 subsistence ; but not when it is looked upon as a 
 fixed law, and reduced to an arithmetical equation. 
 
 From another erroneous position (if so we may 
 venture to term it) of Mr. Malthus, that " agriculture 
 is the efficient cause of population, not population of 
 agriculture," we are led to consider Mr. Everett's 
 new theory on the subject, who argues, with appa- 
 rent truth, that the amount of disposable labour keep- 
 ing pace with the increase of population, the effect 
 of this principle will be felt, in the first instance, upon 
 the agricultural interest; and that, in a state of 
 greater civil advancement, the increase of skill will 
 counteract the tendency which otherwise the popula- 
 tion might have to outrun the means of subsistence. 
 "The economical effect of an increase of population 
 is an augmentation in the supply of labour, and in the 
 demand for its products. The wants of the new- 
 comers create the new demand, and their labour fur- 
 nishes the new supply. These principles are too ob- 
 
38 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 vious to require any developement ; yet Mr. Malthus 
 seems either not to have perceived them, or not to have 
 kept them distinctly in view. He appears through- 
 out his work to consider the increase of population 
 simply in its effect upon the consumption of the 
 means of subsistence, without regarding its opera- 
 tion upon their supply. He views every individual 
 added to society as an additional consumer, without 
 appearing to reflect that he is also at the same time 
 an additional labourer. This consideration alone, if 
 properly estimated, is sufficient, I think, to rectify 
 the whole theory of this writer, and to refute its pa- 
 radoxical and dangerous parts."* 
 
 But however interesting and useful these specula- 
 tions may be, we must, at present, confine our atten- 
 tion to the practical question of the census of the 
 United States, and, after alluding to the efforts which 
 have been made abroad to procure returns of the in- 
 habitants, we shall give a sketch of the progress of 
 inquiry in this country, and conclude with some ob- 
 servations on the next enumeration of the population. 
 
 Under the Roman Government, we have most 
 ample details of the steps taken to procure an accu- 
 rate census of the people, and a valuation of their 
 property. Servius Tullius instituted the census to be 
 taken every five years, to ascertain the number of 
 the people, and the fortunes of each individual ; and 
 he ordained that all the Roman citizens, both in town 
 and country, should, upon oath, take an estimate of 
 their fortunes, and publicly declare that estimate to 
 him ; and that they should also tell the place of their 
 
 * New Ideas on Population, with remarks on the theories of Malthus and 
 Godwin, by Alexander Everett Boston, 1823, p. 21. 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 39 
 
 abode, the names of their wives and children ; and 
 their own age, and that of their children ; and the 
 number of their slaves and freedmen ; and if they 
 did otherwise, their goods should be confiscated, and 
 themselves scourged and sold for slaves, as persons 
 who had deemed themselves unworthy of liberty. 
 How invaluable to the Roman historian would such 
 a return now be, and how fully would it have expos- 
 ed the domestic condition of that people ; and here 
 we remark how intimately they associated publicity 
 and freedom of investigation, with their liberty and 
 rights of citizenship. 
 
 In France no regular census was taken until 1817, 
 27 years after this country had set the example. 
 The mode then observed was to take the residents in 
 the habitation where each resided, and then to pro- 
 ceed with great despatch. In the city of Paris, in 
 40 days, 700,000 out of the total population of 
 717,212, were obtained; of 657,172 names known, 
 there were 305,247 males, and 351,925 females.* 
 
 In England, also, we find no example of an actual 
 census until 1801, eleven years subsequent to the 
 first American enumeration. A Bill was introduced 
 into Parliament in 1753, for taking a census, but it 
 was not carried into effect, and it was so late as the 
 year 1780, that Dr. Price published his celebrated 
 treatise on annuities, in which he contended that 
 the population of England was decreasing ; and that 
 it only amounted to 4,763,000 ; while subsequent in- 
 vestigation proves that it must have been upwards of 
 seven millions at that period. The disputes to which 
 this estimate of Dr. Price gave rise, were not termi- 
 
 * Smithers' Political Economy p. 203. 
 
40 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 nated until the beginning of the present centuryv 
 when fortunately the British Government established 
 a decimal census to be taken in the year following the 
 census of the United States. One great advantage 
 to be derived from this is, that the British Govern- 
 ment have it in their power to assimilate their census 
 in many respects, to the census of this country ; and 
 by doing so, greatly to enhance the value of both. It 
 is obvious, that in all matters regarding the longevi- 
 ty, ratio of sexes, and rapidity of increase, it is very- 
 desirable to know whether the laws which regulate 
 them, are of universal application; or whether they 
 are local in their influence ; and to institute correct 
 comparisons, it is necessary that the classification and 
 distribution of the inhabitants should proceed upon 
 the same principles. It maybe a subject of honest 
 pride to this country, that the American census has 
 always been a more accurately and appropriately di- 
 vided return of the population, than the British Cen- 
 sus ; as in 1830, in America, the males and females 
 were each divided, according to their ages, into 13 
 compartments ; while in England they were each 
 returned in aggregate. It is to be hoped that the 
 British census for 1841, will be made out with more 
 creditable detail ; and it were very desirable that any 
 improvements introduced into the census of this 
 country in 1840, should be copied into that of Eng- 
 land in 1841. 
 
 In Prussia a census is taken every three years, and 
 an accurate register of births and deaths has been 
 kept since 1820. Some few details respecting the 
 latter, are given in the American Almanac for 1839 ; 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 41 
 
 but we are destitute of all particular information of 
 the steps pursued to obtain an accurate census. 
 
 It might be well for Government to procure from 
 the foreign Ministers at Washington, or the American 
 Ministers abroad, detailed accounts of the means now 
 pursued in investigating these interesting subjects, as 
 it might throw some light both upon the views which 
 actuate foreign powers, in directing a census to be 
 taken, and the principles which regulate it; and it 
 might also furnish some useful hints for the most 
 convenient mode of arranging the schedules, or con- 
 densing the returns. 
 
 When we consider the condition of this country at 
 the close of the American War, we cannot but be 
 struck with the boldness of the measure, which based 
 the principle of representation, upon an actual enu- 
 meration of the people. At a time when England 
 was ignorant of her strength, and France had not 
 counted her numbers, America embraced a constitu- 
 tion, which declared that "Representatives and direct 
 taxes shall be apportioned among the several states, 
 which may be included within this Union, according 
 to their respective numbers, which shall be deter- 
 mined by adding to the whole number of free per- 
 sons, including those bound to service for a term of 
 years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths 
 of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall 
 be made within three years after the first meeting of 
 the Congress of the United States, and within every 
 subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they 
 shall by law direct." Such are the terms of the Con- 
 stitution, and in conformity with it, we find the enu- 
 meration was effected in 1790, and fully completed in 
 6 
 
42 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 the beginning of 1791. In looking through the cor- 
 respondence of that period, we find several allusions 
 to the subject, which are remarkable as not express- 
 ing any doubt as to the practicability of obtaining 
 the requisite returns. Governor Jay says, " the Cen- 
 sus is a subject, about which much might, but little 
 need be said, the observations pertinent to it being 
 obvious ; " * and General Washington thus writes Mr. 
 Morris, on the same subject: f"In one of my letters 
 to you, the account of the number of inhabitants, 
 which would probably be found in the United States 
 on enumeration, was too large. This estimate was 
 formed, by the ideas held out by the gentlemen in 
 Congress, of the population of the several States, 
 each of whom, (as was natural) looking through a 
 magnifier, would speak of the greatest extent, to 
 which there was any probability of their numbers 
 reaching. Returns of the census have already been 
 made from several *of the States, and a tolerably just 
 estimate has been formed in others, by which it ap- 
 pears, that we shall hardly reach four millions; but 
 this you are to take along with it, that the real num- 
 ber will greatly exceed the official returns, because 
 from religious scruples, some would not give in their 
 lists ; from the apprehension that it was intended as 
 the foundation of a tax, others concealed or dimi- 
 nished theirs ; and from the indolence of the mass, 
 and the want of activity in many of the deputy enu- 
 merators, numbers are omitted. The authenticated 
 number, will however, be far greater than has been 
 allowed in Europe, and will have no small influence 
 in enabling them to form a more just opinion of our 
 
 * Life of John Jay, by his son ii. 207. 
 
 j Sparks' Life of Governeur Morris vol. ii. p. 141. 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 43 
 
 present growing importance, than has yet been en- 
 tertained there." And well might the result of the 
 enumeration excite the attention of Europe, when 
 the amount of population was found to be within less 
 than a million of the estimated number of the inha- 
 bitants of England. We cannot but regard it as a 
 striking proof of the sanguine temperament of the 
 times, that no doubt was entertained of the practica- 
 bility of the scheme, and when once effected, all 
 difficulty in the future enumerations disappeared, and 
 we have had now four successive census of the in- 
 habitants of the United States. 
 
 It is gratifying to remark the gradual improvement 
 which has taken place in the census since 1790. It 
 may be better to append the formula in use, at each 
 enumeration of the inhabitants, to exhibit the altera- 
 tions that have succesively been made, and it is 
 earnestly to be hoped that no retrogade movement 
 will ever be sanctioned. 
 
 Census of 1790. Census of 1800 and 1 810. 
 
 11 
 
 rt cL 
 
 *.i 
 
 FREK WHITE 
 MALES. 
 
 FREK WHITB,' 
 FEMALES. 
 
 !'! 
 
 '5 
 
 D a 
 
 -H.n 
 
 i. "C 
 
 IE 
 
 Census of 1 820. 
 
 FREE WHITE 
 MALES. 
 
 X 
 
 1-2 
 
 FREE WHITE 
 
 FE.MALKS. 
 
 IE 
 
 jc 
 
 00 
 
 MALE 
 SLAVICS. 
 
 FEMALE 
 SLAVES. 
 
 21 
 
 ii 
 
 olo 
 
 FRKE 
 
 OLOUR'D 
 
 MALES. 
 
 FRKE 
 COLOI'R'P 
 FEMALK9 
 
 00 
 
44 
 
 POPULATION RETURNS. ' 
 
 Cwwso/I830. 
 
 FREE WHITES. 
 
 
 
 INCLUDED IN 
 
 MALES. 
 
 FEMALES. 
 
 THK FORKO01NQ 
 
 
 10* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 ^j 
 
 
 
 s2 
 ll 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Ti 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 
 3* 
 
 2 
 
 K 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 ? 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 -1 
 
 ci 
 b 
 
 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 ^S 
 
 a 
 
 c 
 
 i* 
 
 =5 
 
 "s 
 
 
 3 
 
 T! 
 
 i 
 
 s 
 
 T3 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 
 iiUnderS 
 5 and un 
 
 o 
 1 
 
 -3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Of 40 on 
 
 unnyJO 
 
 uuo9JO|| 
 
 5 
 
 n n OP.JOJi 
 
 3 
 
 BOOTJOll 
 
 n 
 
 ~ 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 10 under 
 
 i5 under 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 |ho under 
 
 || -tu untie i 
 
 ! 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 c 
 
 3 
 R 
 
 30 under 
 
 | (90 under 
 
 "S 
 
 5 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 ^ 
 
 ll 
 
 S < 
 
 Census of 1830, continued. 
 
 it ^ 
 
 c 
 
 S!3 s 
 
 <*i S 
 
 o o2 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 DIO 
 
 S 
 
 FREE COLOURED PERSONS. 
 
 ^K? 
 
 Slaves and col 
 ourtil persons in- 
 cluded in ihe 
 oregoing. 
 
 In the census of 1790, the males were divided 
 into two classes ; the females, slaves, and free blacks 
 each comprised in one class. 
 
 The census of 1800, and 1810, are exactly alike; 
 the males and the females being each divided into 
 five columns, the free blacks and slaves each into 
 one. 
 
 The census of 1820, differs only from the enume- 
 ration above, in the classification of the whites, in 
 having those of the males between the ages of 16 
 and 18, separately reckoned ; while there is a de- 
 cided improvement in the distribution of the coloured 
 population, the male and female of both the free and 
 slave inhabitants being apportioned into four classes. 
 
 The census of 1830, retains all these improve- 
 ments, and adds many additional divisions, which 
 makes the enumeration of the inhabitants of the 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 45 
 
 United States, as far as the ages of the people are 
 concerned, a very satisfactory document. In this 
 year, both the males and females are divided into 
 thirteen columns, being enumerated quinquennially 
 till the age of 20, and after that at decimal periods. 
 The coloured population is divided first into four 
 classes : male and female slaves, male and female 
 free coloured persons, being each separated into six 
 columns. 
 
 Such is a short statement of what has been done 
 by the American government, and in remarking with 
 satisfaction upon the improvement exhibited in the 
 last census, (1830,) we must with well-grounded 
 assurance, remember that the individual, who then, 
 as secretary of State effected these additions, now 
 occupies a higher office, and the student and the 
 politician may alike expect his co-operation in any 
 scheme of amendment. 
 
 Of the political objects of the census, it is not our 
 intention to speak, as nothing else is required by the 
 constitution, than a simple enumeration of all the 
 classes of individuals, residing within the limits of 
 any of the states or territories, by which to deter- 
 mine the ratio of representation to which each is 
 entitled. 
 
 But fortunately the American Government soon 
 took a higher view of the inquiries which should be 
 instituted regarding the condition of her population, 
 and the successive improvements, as exhibited above, 
 fully evince the most enlightened spirit. So complete 
 does the enumeration last made seem to us, and so 
 accurate is the manner in which, after a pretty close 
 examination, we may say it is printed, that few sug- 
 
46 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 gestions occur to us, of any alterations necessary, 
 and our only hope is, that the next census may equal 
 the preceding, in exactness and in detail. 
 
 In the census for 1820, it will be observed, that all 
 youths between 16 and 18, are separately enume- 
 rated; which, as showing more accurately the num- 
 bers capable of serving in the militia, and as being 
 useful in discriminating between the adults and 
 youths engaged in manufacture, we would recom- 
 mend, that a column re-enumerating those between 
 15 and 18, should be inserted, in the census of 1840, 
 as it was omitted in the last census. Should this be 
 adopted, it might be considered the age, on either 
 side of which, men and boys should respectively be 
 arranged. The subject is of no great importance, 
 but might be serviceable ; and of course would be 
 executed on the same principles as it was done on 
 the previous occasion. 
 
 Again, by reference to the above schedule, it will 
 be seen that the coloured persons from the age of 10 
 to 24 from 24 to 36 from 36 to 55 are each in- 
 cluded in a separate column. Now we are unable 
 to understand the advantages of this arrangement; 
 and, on the other hand, it strikes us as singularly 
 inappropriate, and we are convinced that scarcely 
 any divisions could have been adopted, which would 
 have been more unsatisfactory. It effectually pre- 
 vents all comparison with the white population at 
 different periods, for after the age of 10, the divisions 
 in no instance agree. This is much to be regretted, 
 for from some very interesting facts regarding the 
 coloured population, elucidated by the New- York 
 Bills of Mortality for 1838, it would seem that the 
 
POPULATION RETURNS. 47 
 
 two races follow different laws as to their diseases, 
 and the proportion of sexes at death at different pe- 
 riods, and therefore it were very desirable to examine 
 their condition at the different ages of enumeration. 
 But this it is impossible to do, and we regard it as 
 the more to be regretted, as we cannot see that any 
 information is gained to compensate for this inability 
 of instituting a comparison. If it is considered better 
 that the returns of the coloured race should be more 
 condensed than those of the white, (and we think it 
 were proper that it should be so) let them be divided 
 into two decimal periods till the age of twenty, and 
 after that, into four equal divisions until the age of 
 one hundred, (viz. : under 10 from 10 to 20 from 
 20 to 40 from 40 to 60 from 60 to 80 from 80 
 to 100 and 100 and upwards,) which is only one 
 division more than the present arrangement, and 
 would be infinitely more serviceable. 
 
 With these simple suggestions, we dismiss the 
 subject of the population returns, intending under the 
 head of vital statistics, to recur to those collateral 
 topics, such as ratio of increase, proportion of sexes, 
 and proportion of births and deaths, which might 
 otherwise have occupied a place here. It is exceed- 
 ingly satisfactory to find that our remarks are circum- 
 scribed by the complete and ample nature of the 
 present returns, which, if corrected in the divisions 
 of the coloured race, and the addition of one column 
 in the enumeration of the white males, we would 
 consider as ample as any occasion would require. 
 And it is much to be desired, that no alterations 
 should be introduced, as one principal feature of the 
 statistical value of the census, is to be able to com- 
 
48 POPULATION RETURNS. 
 
 pare the progress of the population at the several 
 epochs of enumeration. From the improvements 
 introduced into the census of 1830, all comparisons 
 with that of 1820, are rendered impossible, as in the 
 latter, the white population is divided in every in- 
 stance, after the age of 10, into a different arrange- 
 ment from that of the former; and therefore we 
 cannot ascertain the results which a direct comparison 
 would exhibit, as, for instance, Mr. Booth dwells 
 much on the principle, an exceedingly obvious one, 
 that the number living in 1830, between the ages of 
 30 and 40, will, when contrasted with those living 
 between the ages of 20 and 30, in the previous cen- 
 sus, (1820,) exhibit the mortality which has occurred 
 in the interval, if due allowance be made for the 
 amount of immigration. Such, and many similar 
 comparisons, would be exceedingly interesting and 
 useful ; and while the more perfect nature of the 
 latest returns do not make us regret, that it is impos- 
 sible to institute them with former census, we hope 
 that nothing will be introduced into the next enume- 
 ration, to prevent the most ample elucidation of all 
 the collateral subjects. 
 
LI li.ii A K v 
 
 UNIVK-USITY OK 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS, 
 
 IN no branch of statistical inquiries is minute atten- 
 tion to the preliminary details of acquiring informa- 
 tion more necessary, and in no department is it more 
 difficult. When we consider the marvellous distribu- 
 tion of the works of manufacture, the various combi- 
 nations which are required to render them available, 
 the difficulty of separating them into distinct classes, 
 and the tendency which these classes have to ramify 
 into minute subdivisions, it is easy to foresee that any 
 general classification must be a work of great nicety. 
 And without a general classification of returns, it is 
 impossible to arrive at any satisfactory result; for 
 the same species of manufacture may be classed 
 under different heads, in different sections of the 
 country, and if no general rule is adopted for esti- 
 mating their value, it is impossible to reduce the 
 various returns to one standard of value. But if the 
 subject is surrounded with difficulties, it is also 
 fraught with peculiar interest. To watch the rise 
 and progress of a nation's internal economy, to see the 
 various channels which divert its enterprize, to remove 
 7 
 
50 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 the obstacles which impede the natural progress of 
 improvement, and to note the advantageous results 
 which invariably flow from well directed efforts, is 
 at once the highest duty of a government and the 
 interesting study of the statist. There are some who 
 suppose that the prosperity of manufactures will 
 proceed more certainly if unnoticed; and who think 
 the question is one of purely individual interest, to 
 be determined upon the common principle of profit 
 and loss, and one therefore about which government 
 should not interest itself. But the more correct pic- 
 ture of the condition of domestic industry is to con- 
 ceive it as strongly resembling the human constitution, 
 as requiring the fostering hand of the parent during 
 its infancy, and if in after life it is to be left more 
 to the guidance of its own acquired impetus, it is at 
 the same time to be restrained within judicious 
 bounds. 
 
 It is rather a difficult thing to give a simple and 
 concise definition of the term " Manufactures," for 
 although it conveys readily to the mind the gen- 
 eral impression that it is the perfecting of raw 
 materials, yet that is not the sense in which the 
 statist uses it. The settler in the woods who splits 
 up a chestnut log may be called a manufacturer of 
 rails, but the more proper definition and one which 
 we would wish to adopt would be " the fabrication 
 for wholesale trade of any species of raw material." 
 In all countries there are many species of domestic 
 industry which it is impossible to form any correct 
 estimate of, in the absence of excise laws, and even 
 then the information is necessarily imperfect, as the 
 trifling character of the occupation when subdivided 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURERS AND ARTS. 51 
 
 into the separate amount performed by each family, 
 is so small as almost to escape detection, for instance, 
 the knitting of stockings in winter, the making of 
 candles, or cider, are all of a class which elude the 
 grasp of the statist and can only be estimated by 
 approximation. All domestic manufactures we would 
 therefore exclude from this return, and in excluding 
 also the retail trader, we would be guided by the same 
 motive. It is impossible to get any accurate report 
 of the value of articles manufactured in the way of 
 retail trade, as the number of returns and the minute 
 divisions which they would require to be extended to, 
 would entirely frustrate the end in view. For instance, 
 if a village shoemaker is called a manufacturer, 
 what sort of return can he make, he knows not how 
 many boots he has made, nor the value of those he 
 has repaired, but working for minute gains he does 
 not keep accurate accounts of the progress of his 
 business. On the whole therefore we believe that 
 the term manufacture ought strictly to be applied to 
 articles intended for wholesale or export trade, and that 
 those avocations which merely supply the locality 
 where they are made are more properly the product of 
 trades than manufactures. 
 
 Limiting therefore the term manufactures to the 
 definition above given, we have a most important sub- 
 ject for consideration, and one in which the greatest 
 care will be necessary to extract from the marshals, 
 the requisite returns. We have stated above the 
 necessity of having the returns adapted to one 
 standard for the purpose of classification and com- 
 parison, and to effect this, there are certain general 
 principles which must be kept in view. In nothing 
 
52 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 is the maxim in medio tutissimus ibis more necessary 
 than in conducting investigations of this kind, as the 
 information required must neither be so minute and 
 particular as to be vexatious and difficult of collec- 
 tion, nor so vague and general as to be without any 
 real utility. 
 
 A uniform schedule ought to be furnished, by which 
 the reports are to be returned to the department. 
 
 The classification should be so general as to in- 
 clude all manufactures of nearly a similar descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 The schedules should be so framed that all the 
 answers may be made by numerals. 
 
 No more returns should be ordered than are ne- 
 cessary to obtain a satisfactory and distinct view of 
 the state of the country. 
 
 We believe that any one accustomed to statistical 
 studies will at once acquiesce in the correctness of 
 these principles, as no general information can be 
 acquired when they are disregarded. Without wish- 
 ing to throw any blame upon the venerable author of 
 the returns in 1820, it is remarkable that in no par- 
 ticular do they agree with the principles laid down, 
 and it is to their departure from them that we attribute 
 the failure of that investigation. In the letter of in- 
 structions distributed by Mr. Adams to the marshals, 
 after enumerating the divisions which were to be 
 followed in regard to age, we find the following gen- 
 eral classification. "The discrimination between 
 persons engaged in agriculture, commerce and man- 
 ufactures will not be without its difficulties. No in- 
 considerable portion of the population will probably 
 be found, the individuals of which being asked to 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 53 
 
 which of these classes they belong will answer all 
 three. Yet it is obviously not the intention of the 
 legislature that any individual should be included in 
 more than one of them ; of those whose occupations 
 are exclusively agricultural or commercial there can 
 seldom arise a question, and in the column of manu- 
 facturers will be included not only all the persons em- 
 ployed in what the art more specifically denominates 
 manufacturing establishments, but all those artificers, 
 handicrafts-men and mechanics whose labour is pre- 
 eminently of the hand and not upon the field." 
 
 " Besides this enumeration of manufactures, the 
 marshals and their assistants are required, by the 
 tenth section of the act to take an account of the 
 several manufacturing establishments and their manu- 
 factures, within their several districts, territories and 
 divisions, and the meaning of the legislature by this 
 provision, is illustrated by the clause in the oaths of 
 the marshals and their assistants, that they will take 
 an account of the manufactures, except household man- 
 ufactures, from which it seems fairly deducible that 
 in the intention of the legislature persons employed 
 only upon household manufactures are not to be in- 
 cluded in the column of persons bearing that denomi- 
 nation, the occupation of manufacturing being in 
 such cases only incidental and not the profession 
 properly marking the class of society to which such 
 individual belongs. This then affords a criterion by 
 which your assistants may select the column of occu- 
 pation to which each individual may be set down, viz : 
 to that which is the principal and not the occasional 
 or incidental occupation of his life." 
 
 " Among the papers enclosed is an alphabetical list 
 
54 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 of manufactures which may facilitate the labours of 
 your assistants, but which they will not consider as 
 complete. It is intended to give a direction to their 
 inquiries and each of them will add to it every manu- 
 facture not included in it, and of which he takes 
 account within his division. A printed form is like- 
 wise enclosed of inquiries to be made in relation to 
 manufacturing establishments, on a sheet of paper 
 on which the information requested may be written 
 and returned." Although rather long we subjoin the 
 list of queries referred to and also the list of manu- 
 factures, for the purpose of showing the principles 
 upon which these inquiries were conducted, and we 
 believe it will at the same time convince the reader 
 that the failure of these returns is rather to be attribu- 
 ted to the want of adequate means being taken to 
 procure them than to any inherent difficulties in 
 obtaining the informational 
 
 * Questions to be addressed to the persons concerned in Manufacturing Establish- 
 ments, by the Marshals and their Assistants in taking the amount of Manu- 
 factures : 
 
 ( 1. The kind. 
 Raw Materials employed,.. . . < 2. The quantity consumed. 
 
 ( 3. The cost of annual consumption. 
 I 4. Men. 
 Number of persons mpk>yed, < 5. Women. 
 
 ( 6. Boys and Girls. 
 
 Marino, i 7 Whole quantity and kind of Machinery. 
 
 nery ' * * ' * ' I 8. Quantity of Machinery in operation. 
 
 { 9. Amount of Capital invested. 
 
 Expenditures, < 10. A mount annually paid for Wages. 
 
 (11. Amount of contingent expenses. 
 
 {12. Nature and names of Articles manufactured. 
 13. Market value of Articles annually manufactured. 
 14. General remarks as to the establishment, as to its actual 
 and past condition, the demand for and sale of its man- 
 ufactures. 
 
 | An Alphabetical List of Manufactures. 
 
 Ale Brass, in sheets Buttons Carts 
 
 Alum Brass manufactures Cabinet ware Cheese 
 
 Anchors Brazing copper Cables Chocolate 
 
 Ashes pot and pearl Bread ship, pilot Calico prints Cider 
 
 Beef crackers, &c. Candles wax and tal- Clocks 
 
 Beer Bricks low, spermaceti Clothing ready-made 
 
 Bells Bridles Canes Coaches, chaises, all 
 
 Belts for soldiers Brimstone Cannon sorts of carriages 
 
 Blacksmiths' work Bristles Cards playing Coals 
 
 Blank books Brushes " wool and cotton Combs 
 
 Boats Buckles Carpets Coopers' work 
 
 Bottles Butter Cartouch boxes 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 55 
 
 When it is remembered that the onus of taking the 
 census is thrown upon the Secretary of State in addi- 
 tion to his other arduous duties, it is not to be won- 
 dered at that the schedules prepared by him should 
 exhibit a vague and undefined arrangement, especially 
 when it is considered that purely statistical studies are 
 not commonly the most interesting to men of talents, 
 and may be classed rather among the subordinate 
 than principal qualifications for a federal office. It 
 is not every mind that loves to collate and consider 
 the various returns which can be procured throughout 
 an extensive country, to arrange and classify these, 
 detect the errors and deduce the results, and the wri- 
 
 Alphabetical List of Manufactures continued. 
 
 Copper buttons, and 
 
 Hemp 
 
 Parchment 
 
 Spirits 
 
 other manufactures 
 
 Hempen goods 
 
 Pasteboard 
 
 Stained paper 
 
 of copper 
 
 Houses 
 
 Pastework 
 
 Starch 
 
 Cordage tarred and 
 
 Ink 
 
 Pencils 
 
 Stationery 
 
 untarred 
 
 Ink powder 
 
 Pens 
 
 Staves 
 
 Corks 
 
 Ink stands 
 
 Perfumery 
 
 Steam engines 
 
 Cotton manufactures 
 
 Iron ware 
 
 Pewter ware 
 
 Steel manufactured 
 
 " yarn 
 
 Iron wrought and 
 
 Pickles 
 
 Steel, unwrought 
 
 Crockery ware 
 
 cast 
 
 Pins 
 
 Stockings silk, cotton, 
 
 Cutlery 
 
 Japanned ware 
 
 Pocket books 
 
 thread and worsted 
 
 Drugs 
 Duck 
 
 Jewelry 
 Lace gold and silver 
 
 Porcelain 
 Pork 
 
 Stone cutting, manuf. 
 Stone ware 
 
 Dye stuffs 
 
 Leather tanned, taw- 
 
 Porter 
 
 Straw manufactures 
 
 Earthen ware 
 
 ed, and dressed 
 
 Potter's ware 
 
 Sugar 
 
 Embroideries 
 
 Lime 
 
 Printed books 
 
 Tallow 
 
 Engravings. 
 Essences 
 
 Linens, and other ma- 
 nufactures of flax 
 
 Printing presses 
 Printing types 
 
 Tapistry 
 Tar and pitch 
 
 Fancy chairs 
 
 Looking glasses 
 
 Quills 
 
 Thread 
 
 Feathers 
 
 Lumber scanting and 
 
 Raw silk 
 
 Tiles 
 
 Fire arms 
 
 shingles 
 
 Refined sugar 
 
 Tin ware 
 
 Fire engines 
 
 Malt 
 
 Rosin 
 
 Tobacco manuf. 
 
 Fire wood 
 
 Maps and charts 
 
 Rum 
 
 Toys 
 
 Flax 
 
 Marble chimney piers 
 
 Saddles 
 
 Trunks 
 
 Floor cloths 
 
 Mathematical "instru- 
 
 Sail cloth 
 
 Turners' ware in ivory, 
 
 Flour 
 
 ments 
 
 Salt 
 
 bone and wood. 
 
 Fringes 
 Fruits preserved 
 Fur trimmings 
 
 Mercury 
 Millinery 
 Mill machinery 
 
 Saltpetre 
 Satin 
 Sculptured work 
 
 Turpentine 
 Twine and pack thread 
 Umbrellas 
 
 Gilt wares 
 
 Morocco leather 
 
 Sealing wax 
 
 Upholstery 
 
 Glass ware 
 
 Muffs and tippets 
 
 Segars 
 
 Varnish 
 
 Gloves silk, cotton, 
 
 Musical instruments 
 
 Sewing silk 
 
 Vellum 
 
 and leather 
 
 Muskets and bayonets 
 
 Ships and vessels 
 
 Vitriol 
 
 Glue 
 
 Mustard 
 
 Shot 
 
 Wagons 
 
 Gold, silver and plated 
 
 Nails 
 
 Shoes, boots, and other Walking sticks 
 
 ware 
 
 Needles 
 
 manufactures of lea 
 
 - Watches 
 
 Grindstones 
 
 Oil cloths 
 
 ther. 
 
 Wheelwrights' work 
 
 Gunpowder 
 
 Oils 
 
 Side arms 
 
 Whips 
 
 Hair cloths 
 
 Painters' colours 
 
 Silks 
 
 Whiskey 
 
 Hair powder 
 
 Paintings 
 
 Silk shoes and slippers 
 
 Window glass 
 
 Hams 
 
 Paints 
 
 Skins 
 
 Windsor chairs 
 
 Hardware 
 
 Paper hangings 
 
 Slates 
 
 Wood 
 
 Harness 
 Hats 
 
 Paper writing, print- 
 ing, and wrapping. 
 
 Snuff 
 Soap 
 
 Wooden ware 
 Woollen manufactures 
 
 Hearth rugs 
 
 Parasols 
 
 Spinners' work 
 
 
56 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS, 
 
 ter who does so, occupies the relation to the states- 
 man which the compiler of a dictionary does to a 
 man of letters. In making some few observations 
 therefore upon the errors committed in framing these 
 tables, and that there was an error the defective re- 
 turns prove, we hope that we will not be accused of 
 wishing to impute unnecessary blame, but simply to 
 have the reason 
 
 Amphora coepit 
 Institui ; currente rota cur urceus exit ? 
 
 1st. No uniform schedule having been furnished 
 by the department, the mass of information procured 
 in accordance with the instructions above quoted, is 
 of so vague and discursive a character that no gen- 
 eral results can be deduced from it. There are many 
 most interesting features in the " digest of accounts of 
 Manufactures in the United States," accompanying the 
 census, but the total want of arrangement and classifi- 
 cation render them valueless, and the indefinite terms 
 used to designate several interesting subjects render 
 such classification impossible. It is true that the list 
 of queries given above have formed the basis of a 
 table into which the information procured has in the 
 department of state been moulded, but the answers 
 so rarely apply to the whole of the queries, in 
 general not being more than half filled up, that it is 
 easy to see that the form of a list of questions to be 
 verbally answered by the individual, and to be noted 
 down according to the discretion of the reporter with- 
 out any distinct classification to guide him is too in- 
 definite to be truly useful. We select at random on 
 account of its shortness, the return from Kent county, 
 Delaware, by which the vagueness of the answers 
 will be plainly seen. 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 57 
 
 Kent County, District of Delaware. 
 
 i\ ature 
 and 
 name 
 of arti- 
 cle ma- 
 il ufac 
 tured. 
 
 Market 
 value of 
 the arti- 
 cle an- 
 nually 
 manuf. 
 
 The 
 The kind quantity 
 of raw \ of raw 
 material material 
 employ- annually 
 ed. consum- 
 | id. 
 
 The cost 
 of raw 
 inateri a 
 annually 
 consum- 
 ed. 
 
 g| 
 
 5 
 
 (Women 
 employed. 
 
 g whole 
 T3 j quan- 
 _ Svtity & 
 
 111 kind 
 S s'ofma- 
 >> \ chine- 
 Pa T7- 
 
 quan- 
 tity of 
 ma- 
 chine- 
 ry in 
 opera- 
 tion. 
 
 Amount 
 of capital in- 
 vested. 
 
 Amount 
 paid annually 
 for wages. 
 
 Amount 
 of contingent 
 expenses. 
 
 Flour, 
 ^eath'r 
 
 $ 650 
 13,200 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 Skins, ) 
 Hides, } 
 
 
 $12,800 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 tan- 
 neries. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 In this table so utterly defective, we find 6 men are 
 engaged in the county in making about 80 bushels of 
 wheat into flour, and that 10 men are employed in 3 
 tanneries, whose sole emoluments must consist in the 
 difference between the value of the raw material 
 used, and of the manufactured article produced, or 
 $400, no allowance being made for the value of the 
 tan pits, or bark employed, or other contingent ex- 
 penses. We do not analyze this return as a fair spe- 
 cimen, but having selected it for its brevity, we can- 
 not withhold these comments. We have no doubt 
 but that the reduction of the returns to the form of 
 the above extract was a work of great labour, and can 
 only regret that the information obtained, is not com- 
 mensurate with the task. By the adoption of a uni- 
 form schedule, this labour would have been avoided, 
 and at first sight any defect in the return would have 
 been detected, and instant measures might have been 
 taken to remedy it, whereas the form in which these 
 answers were sent in, was necessarily so complicated, 
 that no defect could be detected till they were reduced 
 to a tabular form, when probably the lapse of time, 
 and hurry of the- census for publication, would pre- 
 
 8 
 
58 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 vent the return being sent back for correction. This 
 brings us to the 
 
 2d Consideration, the principle upon which the clas- 
 sification should proceed. We are aware that under 
 this head, the statist must consider the amount of re- 
 muneration the deputies are to receive ; as the great 
 object to be attained is accuracy rather than minute- 
 ness, and in the returns before us, we find that want 
 of proper and adequate compensation is alleged as 
 the cause of the great defects, " the compensation 
 allowed by law was esteemed so inadequate for the 
 service required, that it has been found impossible 
 to obtain competent assistants to undertake them." In 
 framing the list of queries, this should have been a 
 matter of consideration with the Secretary, and he 
 ought to have limited the amount of labour he re- 
 quired, to the amount of remuneration previously fixed 
 by law. Having settled this, the next point is to 
 arrange the great interests of the country in such a 
 way that the returns may elucidate their relative im- 
 portance. Now in the returns before us, we by no 
 means think that this has been the case, for setting 
 aside the objection which might justly we think be 
 raised to an alphabetical arrangement, we cannot but 
 be struck with the undue importance given to some 
 minor trades, and almost total silence regarding manu- 
 factures of national importance. The whole woollen 
 trade of the country, with the exception of carpets 
 and stockings, is classed under the general term 
 "Woollen Manufactures;" while it is perhaps the 
 most valuable trade to the nation as well as the most 
 difficult accurately to estimate ; whereas on the other 
 hand we find pickles, preserved fruits, chocolate and 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 59 
 
 mustard, each separately enumerated as among the 
 manufactures of the country. Now we do not ob- 
 ject to the most minute details being inquired into, if 
 the arrangements to perfect such information are ade- 
 quate, but we cannot approve of such trivial subjects 
 being inserted, while more prominent manufactures 
 such as zinc, newspapers, &c. are altogether omit- 
 ted. And again in the list above given of manufac- 
 tures, we find the terms, beef, pork, and coal inserted, 
 which cannot be considered manufactures, being agri- 
 cultural and mineral products, and if they are to be 
 included, on what principles are fish, iron and gold 
 omitted? But we believe we have said enough to 
 show that the arrangement is defective, and as we 
 shall recur to the subject again, when proposing a 
 more convenient one, we pass now to the 
 
 3d Consideration, viz : that the schedules should 
 be so framed as to permit of being answered in nu- 
 merals. The advantage of such an arrangement is 
 easily stated, and will be readily perceived. When 
 the deputies are permitted to enter words in the body 
 of the table, they are apt to express themselves in- 
 definitely for the purpose of using shorter terms, and 
 the simplicity of detail is much retarded when there 
 is no uniformity in. the return. It is only necessary to 
 look at the tables referred to, to see the confusion 
 that arises from the arrangement, and one instance 
 will suffice, where the different articles used in a 
 manufacture are described as " olive oil, soda, tallow, 
 barilla, aromatic oils, potash, pearl-ash, palm oil, ver- 
 million, carmine, turmeric, alcohol, smalt, copperas, 
 &c.," which are all used for manufacturing fancy soap. 
 If a judicious classification be followed, it may be so 
 
60 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 arranged that the reporter has only to insert in some 
 particular column the amount of article wished to be 
 expressed under a head appropriated to it. And 
 
 Lastly, the number of returns required should be 
 as few as possible, if the desired amount of informa- 
 tion be obtained ; the observations we have already 
 made on the redundancy of the above table are suffi- 
 cient at present on this subject, and we think that 
 while the positions above taken are simple and satis- 
 factory, the returns ordered by the Secretary, by no 
 means accord with them. Having made these obser- 
 vations on the returns procured by the Secretary in 
 1820, we will now proceed to the more appropriate 
 business of this chapter, viz : to show on what prin- 
 ciples the returns should be ordered, and how sched- 
 ules might be framed to embrace the requisite infor- 
 mation, with sufficient detail, yet without any unneces- 
 sary incumbrances. And in the above remarks we 
 almost fear we have ventured too far ; when we re- 
 flect upon the skill and. information of the author of 
 the digest of manufactures, we are inclined to mistrust 
 ourselves, and can only hope that it will not be im- 
 puted to arrogance or want of deference on our part, 
 but to an honest desire to promote the work of sta- 
 tistical inquiries in this country. 
 
 The first thing to be attended to is the due pro- 
 portion of the remuneration authorized by law, and 
 the amount of service required to perfect the returns. 
 If this is overlooked, and the number and intricacy 
 of the queries put to the Deputies, so great that they 
 cannot answer them without undue trouble, it can- 
 hot be expected that the returns will be character- 
 ized by accuracy. If the per capitem method of 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 61 
 
 payment is adopted in this census, as lias been done 
 hitherto, it must be remembered that to double the 
 number of queries to be put to the inhabitants, by 
 no means doubles the labour of the Deputy, as 
 having visited the answerer, the additional trouble of 
 inserting some further answers is very trifling. But 
 on the other hand, some inducement must be held out, 
 to increase the interest generally taken in labours of 
 this kind, and the returns should all be examined and 
 reported upon at Washington, when those which are 
 defective can immediately be transmitted to the dis- 
 trict Marshal for correction, and a discretionary 
 power should be left with the department to recom- 
 pense the Marshals according to the care bestowed 
 upon their returns, by rating them in certain estab- 
 lished tariffs. In another part of these observations 
 we purpose alluding to the duties of the Marshals 
 and their remuneration, but here wish merely to refer 
 to the necessary connection between the work per- 
 formed, and the compensation for the trouble it oc- 
 casions. 
 
 It has been our object in framing the following 
 tables, to select the more prominent objects of na- 
 tional industry, and by arranging them in a succinct 
 manner and adapting a few leading queries to each 
 separate manufacturer, to afford a ready means of 
 elucidating facts. The number of queries which we 
 have put, might have been much increased, and 
 much more accurate and minute information might 
 have been aimed at, but perhaps the remuneration 
 likely to be awarded for the trouble incurred, will 
 not warrant a more extended list of queries. Should 
 the department think that the compensation would 
 
62 PKODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 warrant more minute returns, it will be easy to ex- 
 tend the tables we subjoin, fur we have gone on the 
 principle, that it is far more difficult to condense than 
 to amplify, and have preferred the briefest schedule 
 which would be satisfactory, to a more ample and 
 extended table of all the collateral subjects connect- 
 ed with each trade. 
 
 The general arrangement which is followed, ex- 
 hibit a sufficiently connected view of the various 
 leading manufactures in this country, using that 
 term in its most extended meaning. It begins with 
 the 
 
 Product of Mines. 
 
 Iron the ore in its different manufactures. 
 Gold 
 Lead 
 
 Other Metals 
 
 Salt the manufacture of, from brine, &c. 
 Coal bituminous, the produce of mines in theU. S. 
 " Anthracite 
 
 Manufacture of the Metals. 
 
 Iron the various leading uses of this metal. 
 Various metals 
 Precious metals 
 
 Manufactures on the Loom. 
 
 Cotton, 
 
 Wool, 
 
 Hemp or Flax, 
 
 Silk, 
 
 Mixture of above materials. 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 63 
 
 General Manufacture of 
 Hats, 
 Leather, 
 
 Soap and Candles. 
 Distilled and fermented liquors, 
 Glass and earthenware, 
 Sugar, LI&BA 
 
 Paper, ,^ ; j 
 
 Cables and Cordage, 
 Drugs paints, &c. 
 Pleasure Carriages. 
 
 Such is the general arrangement which might be 
 adopted, and which would enable the Marshals to 
 classify each branch of industry under its appropri- 
 ate head, and having effected this, we hope the ac- 
 companying schedules will be found to coincide with 
 the four general principles we referred to, the 
 importance of which are, we think, sufficiently illus- 
 trated in the remarks on the census of 1820. 
 
 In the accompanying tables the leading queries, 
 though they vary to conform to the actual condition 
 of each trade, refer first, to the number of establish- 
 ments for carrying on any particular work, as from 
 this return we will be able to find the comparative 
 size of the establishments in different parts of the 
 country, and the tendency which certain trades have 
 to " centralize " themselves into large manufactures. 
 
 Secondly, The value of the raw material used in 
 the manufacture, which must include the outlay of 
 the manufacturer for all material used in the con- 
 struction of the article he produces, and here we 
 
64 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 must introduce some very correct remarks of Mc- 
 Culloch : 
 
 " It is supposed by many that whatever may be 
 the annual value of our manufactured goods, we 
 shall, by adding it to the annual value of our agri- 
 cultural products, get the total value of the new 
 commodities annually produced in the empire. But 
 this is an error. The value of the British wool, 
 for example, employed in the woollen manufacture 
 may amount to from 5,500,000 to 6,000,000, and 
 forms an item of this amount" in estimating the value 
 of the manufacture. It is plain however, that if we 
 include this wool in any estimate of the agricultural 
 produce of the country we must exclude it from its 
 manufactured produce, for if we do not it will be 
 reckoned twice over. The same thing happens in a 
 vast variety of cases. Again, very many manufac- 
 tured articles, such as beer, spirits, coaches, &c., 
 consist principally of other manufactured articles, 
 the value of which must necessarily be deducted to 
 learn the new or additional value which the peculiar 
 manufacture adds to the wealth of the country. 
 Hence the extreme difficulty of forming any fair es- 
 timate of the real value of any species of manufac- 
 tures. It is necessary in order to specify the nett 
 addition made by any manufacture to the mass of 
 valuable products, to detach from it the value of the 
 raw produce and the other manufactured articles em- 
 bodied in it." Statistical account of tlie British Em- 
 pire, Vol. II. p. 139. 
 
 Thirdly, The value of the product or in other 
 words, the market value of the article manufactured, 
 at the nearest market, which would embrace the 
 
PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 65 
 
 whole returns which the manufacturer receives as 
 the product of his labour, on all descriptions of 
 articles. 
 
 Fourthly, No. of persons engaged in the manufac- 
 ture. In some of the trades it is advisable to appor- 
 tion the work people into three classes, males, 
 females, persons under 15 all others being included 
 in the other classes. Fifteen is perhaps too young 
 an age to include the number of boys, but as the 
 general census makes a division at that age it will 
 be found advisable to do so here also. In addition 
 to the information which we have included in the 
 schedules there are two branches of inquiry which 
 we would like to pursue, the one is the rate of wages, 
 the other the aggregate time of work in a year ; we 
 have thought it better to omit these, doubtful whether 
 they would be satisfactorily answered, but if they 
 are inserted they would add much to the value of 
 the returns, and enable the statesman to contrast the 
 different manufactures in this country with those in 
 foreign parts, and to trace the effects which different 
 wages and a different climate exercise by the ag- 
 gregate time we mean the whole number of days' 
 work performed in each manufactory. 
 
 Fifthly, Invested Capital. Under this head much 
 latitude must be allowed, as it is impossible to get 
 accurate returns from men, who are anxious perhaps 
 to conceal their real capital either from a fear of 
 taxation, or of having their limited means made 
 known; but generally it would embrace all the 
 money laid out in land, buildings, machinery, and 
 other similar expenses. 
 
 9 
 
66 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 Of Mines and Minerals. 
 
 L First in the order of manufactures stands the 
 production of any raw material from the magazines 
 of nature, where the skill of man is only required to 
 appropriate the wealth stored up for his use. It is 
 to the mineral wealth of Britain that we must look 
 for the elements of her prosperity, and if the same 
 prosperity does not follow in this country the posses- 
 sion of a large extent of hoarded treasure, it must 
 arise from other causes than the physical difficulty 
 of rendering it available. In no country under 
 heaven, is it believed, that greater resources present 
 themselves, as all the necessary accompaniments of 
 mining operations exist in abundance ; and the fuel, 
 the water power, the native and conveniently sitn 
 ated ore, the water carriage, and the demand, alike 
 call for increased exertions, in this most certain 
 means of adding to a nation's wealth. A knowledge 
 of the mineral wealth existing in this country is 
 likely to be soon laid before the public by the differ- 
 ent geological surveys at present in operation ; and the 
 value of material produced, the amount of labor ex- 
 pended, and other serviceable information, may 
 easily be procured in the course of taking the 
 census. 
 
 1. Iron. "No one," says Cleaveland, "who ex- 
 amines the universal and abundant diffusion of 
 iron, the most important of the metals, can disre- 
 gard so strong an indication of the benevolence of 
 the Creator." It were out of place here to do 
 more than refer to the extent of the manufacture of 
 this metal in this country, though the immense na- 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 67 
 
 tional benefit which might result from some extensive 
 experiments on the possibility of preparing the metal 
 from the ore by means of anthracite coal, naturally 
 attracts our attention. The quality of iron seems to 
 depend, more upon the fuel used in its reduction, than 
 upon any inherent character in the ore, and it is be- 
 lieved that no iron is superior to that produced in 
 this country, though the expense of production is 
 such as to enable foreign iron to interfere greatly 
 with the manufacture, in spite of a heavy rate of 
 duty. The iron made in this country is generally 
 the product of charcoal, or as it is termed in the 
 country " coal," and this used formerly to be the 
 only fuel used in England, and is still employed in 
 the manufacture of the Swedish and Russian iron. 
 In England, the rapid consumption of the timber 
 caused great alarm, and the exportation of iron was 
 prohibited atone time, till in 1740 a method of pre- 
 paring the bituminous coal for the purpose of smelt- 
 ing iron was revived, and since then, prepared coal, 
 or coke, has entirely superseded the use of wood in 
 that country, and rendered available vast resources of 
 national wealth. In this country the fear of the 
 failure of the supply of timber is not likely to create 
 alarm, though on the banks of navigable streams or 
 near water carriage, the supply is rapidly diminishing, 
 but the expense of this mode of preparing the metal 
 is such as to prohibit the manufacture of iron for the 
 common purposes of trade, and its superior quality 
 alone enables it to maintain its place in the market. 
 There are natural depots of the most valuable ore in 
 juxtaposition with immense and inexhaustible beds 
 of natural fuel, which only require the fostering 
 
68 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 hand of Government and the aid of chemical science, 
 to enable their produce to bear down all foreign 
 competition, and perhaps even to enter the commercial 
 world as a competitor in foreign markets. The mine- 
 ral products of Pennsylvania are so immense that no 
 calculation can be made of what they might yield if 
 any means of fusing the ore with anthracite coal 
 could be discovered, and it is an object well worthy 
 of the attention of Government, as the nature of the 
 required experiments are such as preclude accurate 
 investigation by individuals, and would perhaps re- 
 quire a considerable outlay before the proper mode 
 of burning the fuel, the proper flux, and the due pro- 
 portions of the ore could be discovered ; and there is 
 no object which could more properly be called a 
 national one. 
 
 It is easy to speculate what the iron trade in this 
 country might become, it is difficult, we may add 
 impossible, at present to say what it is. Before the 
 revolution, the manufacture of iron was one of the 
 few branches of industry which prevailed, and 
 since that period the greatest exertions have 
 been required to sustain it. We give from three 
 sources, estimates of the condition of this important 
 manufacture which will too readily show the utter 
 impossibility of ascertaining its present condition. 
 "There were in 1810, no less than 530 furnaces, 
 forges and bloomeries in the United States, of which 
 69 were in the State of New York."* Turning next 
 to the journal of the New York Convention, in 1831, 
 a work which rather inclines to overstate than to 
 
 * Dr. Beck's Address before the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts, 
 Albany, 1813. 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 69 
 
 under estimate the amount of manufactures, we find 
 the following tables as a fair exhibition of the state 
 of the iron trade. 
 
 From partial returns the Committee estimate the quantity of Iron made in the 
 United States, as follows : 
 
 Years. 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 Tons of Pig Iron. 
 
 Tons of Castings. 
 
 Total Pig Iron and Castings. 
 
 1828 
 1829 
 1830 
 
 192 
 192 
 202 
 
 90368 
 98,234 
 118,620 
 
 33,036 
 36,720 
 36,728 - 
 
 123,404 
 134,954 
 155,348 
 
 General recapitulation of the Iron Trade in 1831. 
 
 
 By the Report. 
 
 Supplementary 
 Returns. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Bar Iron made in the U.S., tons 
 Pig Iron, whole quantity being com- > 
 
 96,621 
 163,542 
 
 16,245 
 27,994 
 
 112,866 
 191,536 
 
 Value 
 
 
 
 $13 329 760 
 
 
 24 979 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 776 420 
 
 
 
 
 
 And to complete the contradiction which these re- 
 ports present, we have the returns made in 1835, at 
 the time the census of the State of New York was 
 taken, which represent the condition of this trade as 
 being at that time, 
 
 Iron Manufacture in the State of New-York, in 1835. 
 
 No. of Iron Works, 
 
 293 
 
 $2 366 065 
 
 Value of Manufacture, 
 
 4,349,949 
 
 in that state. From these contradictory statements 
 nothing satisfactory can be gleaned, and it were much 
 to be desired that the value and activity of this manu- 
 facture were properly appreciated. There can be no 
 real difficulty in procuring the returns from every 
 furnace of the amount of iron made, and cost of ma- 
 king it, with other particulars comprised in the table 
 which we subjoin, which would present a complete 
 and satisfactory view of this source of wealth. Any 
 further observations on this subject would be out of 
 
TO PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 place at present and only swell unnecessarily the 
 length of this head, we therefore conclude by giving 
 an interesting estimate of the consumption caused by 
 the manufacture of each ton of iron. It is taken 
 from the report of the convention already referred 
 to, but with what accuracy it is made, it is impossible 
 to determine. 
 
 Estimate of the Consumption occasioned by the Manufacture of each Ton of Iron. 
 
 20 Bushels Wheat and Rye at ~ 75 cents 
 
 57 Ibs. Pork... 5 " 
 
 43 Ibs. Beef 4 
 
 10 Ibs. Butter 12^ " 
 
 2 Bushels Potatoes 30 " 
 
 i Ton of Hay $7 00 " 
 
 Tare and ware of horses 
 
 Fruit and vegetables 
 
 $15 00 
 
 2 85 
 1 72 
 1 25 
 
 60 
 
 3 50 
 
 1 43 
 1 00 
 
 $27 35 
 
 The quantity of iron imported, as reported to the 
 Custom House, is as follows : 
 
 Import of Iron during the last year 1836-1837. 
 
 PIGS England 127,513 cwt $ 203,001 
 
 " Scotland 38,291 62,018 
 
 BAR Russia 146,258 390,616 
 
 " Sweden 406,637 1,222,762 
 
 Denmark 6,394 " 18,081 
 
 " England 65,098 " 156,308 
 
 " Hansetowns 14,429 " 40,553 
 
 Waking a total of 658,752 cwt., valued at $1,891,214. 
 
 2. Lead. Next in importance to the manufacture 
 of iron, stand the Lead Mines in this country, which 
 if not so abundantly diffused, are generally more 
 easily wrought than the former. It is needless again 
 to reiterate that we are in entire ignorance of any 
 details or accurate estimate of the present condition 
 of this manufacture. Valuable lead mines exist in 
 Louisiana, Virginia and Illinois, and extensive and 
 prolific beds of the finest quality of ore have lately 
 been discovered in the northern parts of New York, 
 in addition to the other localities in which it was 
 
PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 71 
 
 formerly known to exist in that State, and several 
 valuable beds occur in New England. But the 
 value of this source of national wealth it is impossi- 
 ble to estimate. The lead mines on the upper 
 Mississippi belong to the General Government, 
 though latterly they have been very much re- 
 ducedby sales of land containing the ore, to 
 settlers ; but we find that the total amount of lead 
 obtained when they were most productive, was 
 in 1829 14,541,310 Ibs. or about (at 6c.) $872,478. 
 The value of foreign pig, bar, and sheet lead imported 
 into this country in 1837, was $13,871. We be- 
 lieve that the manufacture of this valuable metal is 
 conducted in the most inartificial manner, and that it 
 would be impossible for the Marshals to procure ac- 
 curate statistics regarding the number of smelting 
 houses in use, as the "diggings" in Illinois are of 
 so temporary a nature, and present so little of a per- 
 manent character, as not to be worthy of enumera- 
 tion. The amount of metal manufactured can how- 
 ever, be ascertained, and the number of persons 
 engaged in the manufacture, together with the 
 average per centage of metal which the ore furnishes, 
 and it may be possible that we are in error in our 
 estimate of the temporary character of the buildings, 
 and that they may also be worthy of enumeration. 
 The following table of the imports of lead from the 
 interior, by the Mississippi river, is taken from Hall's 
 Statistics of the West, and shows the gradual im- 
 provement in the production of that article, as of 
 course all the increased consumption in the interior 
 during that period must be deducted. 
 
72 
 
 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 Import of Lead into New Orleans from the Interior Hall's Statistics, 278. 
 
 
 1825 
 
 1826 
 
 (1827 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 1831 
 
 151.2M 
 2022 
 
 1832 
 
 1833 
 
 1834 
 
 J^-pig P'gs 
 La bar kgs bxs 
 Lead * Ibs. 
 
 68479 
 306 
 198,244 
 
 86.242 
 473 
 190292 
 
 106,405 
 1299 
 
 183,712 
 471 
 
 146,203 
 792 
 409,641 
 
 354,805 
 2034 
 
 122,933 
 363 
 245,600 
 
 180,062 
 2964 
 244,000 
 
 203,100 
 429 
 
 Under f his head the production of the crude metal 
 would only be estimated, whether in pigs, bars, or 
 sheets, and the various pigments and other manufac- 
 tures of lead will be enumerated under another return. 
 
 3. Gold. The value of this branch of industry 
 can more easily be ascertained than that of either 
 of the other metals, as a large proportion of the 
 native gold is sent to the mint to be assayed or 
 coined. When the project of establishing other 
 coining establishments throughout the country was 
 proposed, Mr. Verplanck, as chairman of a Committee 
 of Congress, tried to procure some information in 
 relation to the infant trade, but the data returned 
 were sufficiently indistinct, arid the following answer 
 to a simple query, is not an unfair specimen of the 
 information received. 
 
 Query ? What amount of gold was found during 
 last year, 1830. 
 
 " Ans. I give it as my opinion that it is next to im- 
 possible even to approximate the truth in this par- 
 ticular." 
 
 In that year the amount was estimated to be about 
 half a million ; now, however, it is said that two mil- 
 lions, are produced, and in some parts of the country 
 (Virginia) active operations are in progress to in- 
 crease the amount. Whether it is an advisable 
 branch of industry, whether it is likely to promote 
 the morals and happiness of the persons engaged in 
 it, or whether from its hazardous character, and 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 73 
 
 great pecuniary risk it is not likely to unsettle the 
 native population, are questions which we cannot 
 consider, but the details of this source of wealth 
 ought to be laid before the public, in order that 
 they may appreciate its national importance. 
 
 4. Other Metals. Under this head we would in- 
 clude the several metals which are procured in small 
 quantities in this country, such as Zinc, which occurs 
 in New Jersey, and might be profitably worked to a 
 much greater extent; Copper, which is to be 
 found in Maryland, and was formerly worked to a 
 great extent in New Jersey; Plumbago, which is very 
 generally diffused ; Iron pyrites, which was much 
 used in the last war for manufacturing vitriol, and 
 all other metals which are worked to any extent in 
 this country, might be included under this general 
 division. 
 
 5. Leaving then the metallic, let us pass on to the 
 mineral produce of mines Salt. We are again 
 called upon to express our gratitude for the ever- 
 merciful provisions of a kind Providence, as this ne- 
 cessary article is to be found in every part of the 
 country, and forms in some of the states a principal 
 source of revenue. The general government has 
 retained also, in some parts of the west, the salt 
 mines as a source of income, and where the mines 
 are possessed either by the general or a state 
 government, the returns may be more satisfactorily 
 obtained, by a reference to the respective treasurer's 
 books, than an examination by the deputies on the 
 spot, but there are many works scattered through- 
 out the country wbich it would be highly advan- 
 tageous to have correctly reported, along with the 
 
 10 
 
74 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 average expense of production. There is a species 
 of salt made in the eastern states by evaporation 
 from the sea water, which, although it does riot pro- 
 perly fall under this head, may more conveniently be 
 here enumerated. It is carried on to a great extent, 
 and in some of the towns in Massachusetts 800 per- 
 sons are employed in its manufacture. The expense 
 of this mode of obtaining it will form an interesting 
 comparison with the product cf the salt springs in 
 the interior, and it is believed that no rock salt is 
 worked in any part of this country, though it is 
 highly probable that such may be discovered. Not- 
 withstanding, however, the immense number of places 
 where salt abounds in a natural state in this country, 
 there is a very large importation of salt from foreign 
 ports; the amount in 1836 was 5,088,666 bushels, 
 valued at $724,527. There are no means of esti- 
 mating correctly the consumption of this article 
 throughout the country, which however Mr. Williams 
 in his New York Almanac, 1836, states to be " about 
 12,000,000 of bushels, which, deducting the importa- 
 tion for that year, would give about 5,000,000 as the 
 production of this country, and two-fifths of the total 
 quantity made in the United States, and over one- 
 sixth of the consumption of the same was produced 
 at the Onondaga Springs in New York State." 
 
 6. Coal. This mineral substance is naturally 
 divided into 
 
 1st. Bituminous Coal. Perhaps no country in the 
 world can boast of more extensive coal mines, more 
 widely diffused, and more accessible than this, 
 even although the coal formation of Wales 
 is estimated as sufficient to supply the present con- 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 75 
 
 sumption of coal in England for 2000 years. Of the 
 value and availability of the coal formation nothing 
 almost is known, and we are obliged to be satisfied 
 with vague conjectures, while the bulky nature of the 
 article mast make the procuring of statistics regard- 
 ing it, a very simple matter. Bituminous coal 
 abounds in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and 
 other southern states, appears again in Ohio, and all 
 along the banks of that river, and seems to underlie 
 the whole state of Illinois. But further than this, it is 
 impossible to know how valuable this mineral rea.lly 
 is to this country, as no details of the extent to which 
 it is used exist, and the few notices which might be 
 collected about the present coal trade are too much 
 imbued with interested representations to be im- 
 plicitly relied on. The Virginia mines are believed 
 to be more extensively worked than any others 
 partly from being nearer the coast, and partly from' 
 their being situated in an old settled country where 
 wood is no longer very abundant ; and the dealers in- 
 terested in the mines there, after enumerating the 
 numerous public works to which they have given 
 rise, say,* " this great interest has advanced in a very 
 short period to its present magnitude ; previous to 
 1820 it is believed that the whole exports from Vir- 
 ginia did not exceed 500,000 bushels ; in the year 
 1835 the amount exported from Richmond to differ- 
 ent ports in the United States had attained to about 
 8,500,000 bushels with a supply to the home market 
 of nearly 1,000,000." The mining upon the upper 
 parts of the Ohio is very extensive, and in the in- 
 terior of the State of Ohio great quantities are pro- 
 
 * Executive documents, 2d Session, 24th Congress. No. 93. 
 
76 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 cured, and a large proportion is sent to Cleaveland for 
 water carriage, but of the amount so exported, no 
 register exists that we know of. The probable in- 
 crease of this trade, the source of national wealth it 
 holds out, can never fairly be estimated till its pre- 
 sent condition is more accurately ascertained. The 
 amount of foreign coal brought into this country is 
 very great, and is reported in 1836 as being 
 From England, 81 1,400 bushels. 
 
 Scotland, 65,835 
 
 Ireland, 26,312 
 British America, 2,097,668 
 
 Making a sum total of 3,036,083 bushels, valued at 
 $244,995, being less in the aggregate than that pro- 
 duced by Virginia 
 
 2. Anthracite Coal. This "hard coal," as it is 
 called, has no foreign competitor, and is produced 
 almost exclusively in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 although Rhode Island also sends a little into the 
 market. From the extensive nature of the improve- 
 ments which have been undertaken to brino- the 
 
 o 
 
 Schuylkill and Lehigh coals into the market, more 
 publicity is given to their products, and the general 
 nature of their operations, but little of the character 
 of pure statistical information is known about them, 
 out of the state where they are situated. In the 
 year 1834 there were 376,000 tons of Anthracite coal 
 sent from the three principal mining districts of 
 Pennsylvania, and from the same places in 1836 
 there were mined and sent away 682,000 tons, show- 
 ing an increase in the production far beyond the cal- 
 culations of the most sanguine. In the last men- 
 tioned season the price for several months was $2 
 
PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 77 
 
 to $2,25, after that, it rose with the rise of the wages 
 of miners and labourers, to $2,50 to $2,75, and in 
 the last days of the season was up at $3,50 ; but at 
 that time, miners were receiving from $2,50 to $3 a 
 day." Of the importance of this trade to the navi- 
 gating interest, some idea may be formed from the 
 fact that there have sailed from New York and 
 Philadelphia 5,000 vessels laden with coal, whose 
 freight must have amounted to above a million of 
 dollars.* Several extensive works of internal im- 
 provement have been entered upon for the transpor 
 tation of this coal viz. to the Schuylkill and 
 Lehigh canals, the Morris canal, the Beaver Meadow 
 rail-road, the Delaware canal and other minor works. 
 In remarking on the relative importance of the two 
 coal trades, the bituminous and anthracite, it is 
 necessary to observe that the one is reported in tons 
 and the other in bushels. Now in reducing the tons 
 to bushels it would be well to have a uniform stan- 
 dard, and if one ton of anthracite were considered 
 as equal to 28 bushels, we believe we would not be 
 led into much error, though perhaps a fully large 
 estimate. 
 
 Such then are the mineral products of this coun- 
 try, and we believe we make no rash assertion when 
 we say, that no account exists of the condition of this 
 branch of national industry, and it were therefore 
 well to investigate this most abiding source of wealth 
 by actual survey. 
 
 The following schedule might perhaps be a satis- 
 factory one for having the requisite information re- 
 turned to the department. 
 
 Senate papers, 1836-1837. 
 
78 
 
 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 H) 
 < 
 o 
 o 
 
 
 'SM->A\ U I paJsaAtn pnjdteO 
 
 68 
 
 S 
 
 uoijBStABu IBIUJBU oj "qsnq gg Supps) asuadxg 88 
 
 paAOiduia uajfl jo -O& J ig 
 
 H 
 
 autui aqi IB aures jo an^A 
 
 9C 
 
 
 paiiiBnb epqsnq jo -o^ 
 
 se 
 
 
 S}[.IOA\ ui pajsaAtn iBjTdBQ 
 
 *s 
 
 HRAC1TK. 
 
 uoijBgiABU iB-imBU oj -qsnq g?, SaiiiBj asuadxa 
 
 ec 
 
 paXoidiua uap\[ jo -ON 
 
 S 
 
 H 
 
 
 <5 
 
 auira aq; JB auiBS jo aniB A 
 
 T8 
 
 
 paiwcnb siaqsnq jo -o^ 
 
 oc 
 
 OTHER 
 METALS. 
 
 pajSSAUI IBJldBQ 
 
 65 
 
 pa,{oidui3 uaj\[ jo -ON 
 
 83 
 
 paonpoM an)BA 
 
 ifc 
 
 fi 
 J 
 
 
 
 sjijOAl ui pajsaAut TBjidBO 
 
 9S 
 
 pa^ojduia suosaa j jo ~o^ 
 
 ss 
 
 ^ 
 
 ajQ jo a^Bjuao lad aSBaaAy 
 
 paBpuBjs juipj jo aonpojj jo aniBA 
 
 8S 
 
 gasnoH Suijpuigjo -o^ 
 
 25 
 
 
 <J 
 H 
 M 
 
 sifJOAV m pajsaAiitiBjidBO 
 
 15 
 
 paAoiduia uaui jo -o^ 
 
 05 
 
 aao jo oSvnuao jad aBiaAy 
 
 61 
 
 aonpoij jo aniBA 
 
 81 
 
 UBaX JSBI paonpojd -sqj 
 
 LI 
 
 ajg qoBa 'sasnon Supiauig jo -ojsj 
 
 9T 
 
 55 
 
 O 
 
 rt 
 
 M 
 
 pajsaAui iBiidBo jo junorav 
 
 SI 
 
 aio joaBjuao Jiad aBjaAy 
 
 H 
 
 pa^oidraa uara jo *o^i 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 pauinsuoo ajtoBjqjuy jo suoj jo 'O^j; 
 
 31 
 
 paransuoo pjoj jo suoj jo -o^ 
 
 IT 
 
 paumsuoo iBooaBqo jo snoj jo -OM 
 
 01 
 
 BAR IRON. 
 
 p3onpo.idsuojjo-oM 
 
 6 
 
 aonpojjjo aniBA 
 
 8 
 
 sauauiooig ui paj[joA\8j uojj JSBQ suoj *o^ 
 
 b 
 
 IBuajBj\[ A\BH jo aniBA 
 
 9 
 
 
 "SII!P\[ Suflioa 'saSjoj 'sariamooja jo -o^ 
 
 fi 
 
 paonpojd suoj jo -OJNJ t 
 
 o 
 
 aonpojjjoanin/y 
 
 e 
 
 1 
 
 [Buajs^ MB^T jo anp3A 
 
 3 
 
 uoji JSBO SHI^BUI JQJ saoBoin^ jo -o^ 
 
 [ 
 
 
 - y *PM 'nMOj, 'pujBfCE aqjjo aurex; 
 
 
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 til 
 
 
 
 ^ > w 3 
 
 
 3 S > 
 
 ft oT-3 
 
 
 
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 fe g-^^ 
 
 I If 
 
 I HUB 
 
 IIJIjl 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 79 
 
 Manufacture of the Metals. 
 
 II. This important subject naturally follows an 
 account of the products of mines, and is one of great 
 interest and difficulty. There are no general prin- 
 ciples which can be brought to estimate the value of 
 the manufactured article from the value of the raw 
 material, as the New York Convention estimate the 
 subsequent labour expended on the manufacture of 
 leather to be about 60 per cent, of the value of the 
 material. But to the metals no such principles apply, 
 a pound of iron worked into the finest needles is in- 
 creased five hundred fold, while the workmanship 
 expended on gold is hardly a small per centage on 
 its value. This subject might be divided into the 
 manufactures of iron, various metals, and precious 
 metals. 
 
 1st. Manufacture of iron. The high rate of duty 
 upon raw iron is a subject of complaint among 
 American workmen, as it is easier to import some 
 articles, as wheel tires, ready made, than to impart 
 the raw material, and manufacture them in this 
 country. The number who are engaged in this trade 
 throughout the country must be very great, when the 
 amount of machinery employed and of articles of 
 domestic industry produced; is considered. As we 
 have dwelt so long on the production of the raw 
 or crude metals, we shall now only introduce a 
 schedule, and not extract here any little information 
 we have gleaned on this subject. 
 
 2d. Various metals. Under this head would be 
 included all the manufactures of lead, zinc, speltzer, 
 tin, brass and copper, with an estimate of the value of 
 the raw material, and the increased value of the 
 
80 
 
 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 article when manufactured, and in the aggregate this 
 would be found to be a very extensive division, as in 
 Massachusetts alone, in 183G, 377 men were employed 
 in manufacturing tin ware, to the value of $394,322 
 
 3d. The manufactures of the precious metals 
 would include all jewelry, silver ware, watches, 
 and various other articles, whose chief value con- 
 sisted in the metal of which they were made. 
 
 These three divisions, thus summarily stated, will 
 embrace the leading details of the most interesting 
 branch of manufactures in the country, and the fol- 
 lowing table will suffice for their satisfactory inves- 
 tigation. 
 
 IRON. 
 
 VARIOUS 
 METALS. 
 
 PRECIOUS 
 METALS. 
 
 MACHINERY 
 
 NAILS. 
 
 HARDWARE. 
 
 VARIOUS 
 MANU FACT'S 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 g, 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 a 
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 5 
 
 
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 i 
 
 "3 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 z 
 
 
 
 
 >>o 
 
 C8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 F 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Machinery ma 
 
 Value of raw 
 
 nds employed 
 
 Is made of all 
 
 Value of raw 
 
 nds employed. 
 
 Hardware Cui 
 Muskets, &c 
 
 Value of raw 
 
 ids employed. 
 
 nufactured. 
 
 raw material. 
 
 1 
 
 nufactured. 
 
 raw material. 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 & 
 
 raw material. 
 
 t 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 
 r 
 
 JS 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 
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 s 
 
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 V* 
 
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 > 
 
 
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 % 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 9) 
 
 3 
 
 $ 
 
 * 
 
 *c3 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 m 
 
 rt 
 
 ? 
 
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 (9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 rt 
 
 ri 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 si 
 
 r 
 
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 2; 
 
 fa 
 
 
 
 
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 fc 
 
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 2; fa 
 
 fc 
 
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 K 
 
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 t> 
 
 33 
 
 > 
 
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 fc 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 81 
 
 III. Manufactures on the Loom. 
 
 1st. Woollen Manufacture. The high duty which 
 is imposed by the tariff upon all woollen goods, has 
 tended to increase the consumption both of native 
 and foreign wool, and the satisfactory results which 
 have followed the introduction of Merino sheep into 
 this country, have also improved the quality and 
 value of the raw material. 
 
 The following list of Prices obtained for ten consecutive Years shows the improve, 
 ment in the Quality. 
 
 AVERAGE PRICE OF WOOL 
 
 FOR EACH OF TEN YEARS, AS FOLLOWS : 
 
 Price paid in 1827 averaged 
 
 1828 
 u u !829 
 
 " " " 1830 " 
 u u 183l u 
 
 36 cts. 
 40 " 
 
 29 
 
 58 
 
 ff- 
 
 (i 
 
 (( U 
 
 Piice paid in 1832 averaged 41 cts. <$* Ib. 
 it it ti J833 52^" " 
 " " 1834 " 50 
 18: 57 " " 
 ts " " 18:16 " 58 " " " 
 
 The return from each sheep is estimated at 3i fts., and ;iu p^ice estimated at the mean value 
 for the last ten yeuis. 
 
 Under the head of Agriculture we shall again refer 
 to the number of sheep in the United States, but 
 here we shall present some short abstracts taken 
 from " Messrs. Benton and Barry's statistical view 
 of the number of sheep," in order to show the great 
 value of this trade. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 No. of 
 Sheep. 
 
 tbs. of Wool. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Maine 
 
 622 619 
 
 2,023,512 
 
 $1,021,873 
 
 
 465,179 
 
 1,511832 
 
 763 475 
 
 
 1,099.011 
 
 3,571,7H6 
 
 1,81)3,751 
 
 
 373,322 
 
 l,2n,297 
 
 612,715 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 81, HI VI 
 
 265,261 
 
 133 957 
 
 
 255,169 
 
 82;.299 
 
 418,796 
 
 New York, 
 
 4,299,879 
 
 13,974,606 
 
 7,057,176 
 
 
 250,000 
 
 812 500 
 
 410,313 
 
 
 1,714640 
 
 5,572 580 
 
 2,814.153 
 
 
 15,000 
 
 437,5' 
 
 2-16,187 
 
 Maryland 
 
 275000 
 
 893,750 
 
 451 343 
 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 3,250,0110 
 
 1,641,250 
 
 
 600009 
 
 1,950,000 
 
 984,750 
 
 owe rr. y :..... ::.......: .....: 
 
 1,711,200 
 
 5 581,400 
 
 2 808 500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12,897,638 
 
 41,917,344 
 
 $21,168,246 
 
 11 
 
82 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 Sets of Machinery for the Manufacture of Broadc'oths, 344 
 
 Cassimeres 1 78 
 
 Satinets 574 
 
 Flannels 158 
 
 Jeans Linseys 210 
 
 Blankets, Yams, and Hats 24 
 
 Carpets 61 
 
 1549 
 
 Of these about 150 are supposed to be used for the manufacture of foreign wool, the 
 remainder for wool of native growth. 
 
 The excess of fine wool imported over the exports in 1836, was 1,390,678 Ibs. 
 
 " coarse-' " " " 10,905,571 " 
 
 Quantity of wool manufactured by < \? JJe w York... Vmn'nnn " 
 
 familipq hv patimato \ Pennsylvania 3,nuo,OUB " 
 
 families, by estimate } Qhio / ",000,000 
 
 All the above information is, we believe, found- 
 ed on estimate, no actual returns being made 
 of the number of sheep in many of the states, nor 
 of the amount and produce of the machinery em- 
 ployed. However we may suppose that it gives a 
 proximate result, which exhibits as fairly as circum- 
 stances will permit, the present condition of the wool 
 trade. It will be seen, that in some of the states the 
 amount of domestic-made cloths is very great ; in 
 Pennsylvania, for instance, more than one half the 
 wool raised is so manufactured, and in New York 
 about one fourth, but of the condition of this branch 
 of industry satisfactory information can easily be 
 obtained, as we will afterwards explain, though it 
 may be doubtful how minutely the investigation 
 ought to be carried on. We are not inclined to be- 
 lieve that so particular a division of the woollen manu- 
 facture as the one above extracted would be ad- 
 visable, and we think cloths for apparel, for covering^ 
 as blankets, horse cloths, &c. and for carpets and 
 rugs, would be sufficient, together with another more 
 general definition embracing the other manufactures 
 of wool, (stockings, &c.) as in the following table. 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 83 
 
 
 MANUFACTURE OF WOOL. 
 
 J 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 
 KM 
 
 PI.O 
 
 ED 
 
 , 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 _; 
 
 i 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 41 
 
 <fl 
 
 'C 
 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 * 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 t 
 
 S 
 
 .s 
 
 S, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
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 1 
 
 _6 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 55 
 
 | 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Other woollen goods. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cotton Manufacture. 
 
 2. Were it not for the very able report on the 
 trade and manufactures of cotton, presented to Con- 
 gress by Mr. Woodbury, it might have been neces- 
 sary to enter at some length into the leading features 
 of this trade, with the view of noting the objects 
 to which attention, in taking the census, should be 
 directed. But that report, which in truth furnishes 
 the most complete condensed account of the cotton 
 trade which has yet appeared, renders all further 
 observations unnecessary; more especially as to the 
 author of that document would be entrusted the pre- 
 paration of the tables to be used by the Deputies, in 
 the event of Congress instituting these statistical en- 
 quiries. We therefore merely append a schedule, 
 with a few extracts frcm that report, to illustrate 
 the arrangement we have adopted. 
 
84 
 
 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 Cotton Manufacture. 
 
 KMPLiVkD. 
 
 " The proportion of spindles to a factory was 
 formerly very small both in England and in this 
 country. Before 1806 it was only 1 or 200, and sel- 
 dom exceeded 1000. The average in new mills is 
 now from 5 to 6 thousand spindles. In Lowell, in 
 1836, in 27 mills they had 129,828 spindles, or a 
 little under 5000 in each, though they print, &c. in 
 some." 
 
 " The spindle is the most convenient article 
 in the cotton manufacture by which to calculate its 
 extent The power of any one establishment, its 
 cost, the number of persons employed, trie quantity 
 of raw cotton consumed, the yarn and cloth made, 
 and other important results can, by the help of a few 
 general data, be very nearly deduced from the num- 
 ber of spindles." 
 
 " The capital invested in cotton manufactories in 
 this country may be estimated at from $28 to $44 
 on each spindle." 
 
 The number of persons employed according to the 
 best authorities 
 
 Are in England, 900,000 persons in 1835. 
 France, 200,000 " " 1831. 
 
 u. s. f 
 
PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 85 
 
 As all the cotton is produced in the southern states, 
 
 and shipped from thence to the north, or to Europe, the 
 
 custom-house papers give an accurate exhibition of 
 
 the amount raised, with the exception of the quantity 
 
 which is consumed in domestic manufactures. In 
 
 the returns of the quantity raised by each planter 
 
 in the course of the year, which we afterwards re- 
 
 commend, there will be data afforded for ascertaining 
 
 the amount consumed by domestic industry, which 
 
 must at present be merely a rude estimate, which Coxe, 
 
 in his report on manufactures, in 1810 " gives at 
 
 $5,000,000 value, and the number of yards at 16jt 
 
 millions, as the produce of the manufacture of cot- 
 
 ton in families ;" and in the report, of Mr. Wooclbury 
 
 we find, " in the south and west the household manu- 
 
 facture of it is very great." As illustrating the do- 
 
 mestic economy of different sections of the country 
 
 such information will be useful and interesting, and 
 
 can readily be obtained by the returns we purpose to 
 
 The growth of this trade, and the ingenuity ex- 
 hibited by the manufacturers in improving the ma- 
 chinery, a large number of the recent inventions in 
 the cotton mill having been made in this country, are 
 very grateful subjects for the Political economist to 
 consider, as the extensive use of machinery in this 
 manufacture renders it especially suited to the wants 
 of the American trade, although the original cost 
 of the machinery is much greater here than in 
 England. The recent and very full investiga- 
 tion which this whole branch of commercial and 
 manufacturing wealth has undergone, leaves .little to 
 be expected from further inquiry, and the research 
 
86 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 which the Secretary of the Treasury has shown is a 
 great encouragement to the student of statistics, when 
 he remembers that the like attention and industry 
 may, under such direction, be applied to all 
 the various sources of national wealth, and we may 
 be able to point, with some confidence, to the returns 
 exhibited without having it said, "Whoever may 
 make an experiment in obtaining precise and ac- 
 curate returns upon the subjects here treated of, will 
 find that it is neither an easy nor seductive task." 
 
 Silk Manufacture. 
 
 3. The rapid increase of the cotton trade, and the 
 wealth which it brings to this country, have led many 
 individuals to predict similar advantages as likely to 
 accrue to the north from the introduction of the silk 
 culture and manufacture. The sanguine are ever 
 ready to exhibit accurate and precise calculations of 
 the value of this or other experiments, and if the 
 certainty of success depended on the confidence of 
 prediction, there would be no room for the least 
 hesitation in giving assent to the assumptions of such 
 speculators. Whether the silk trade is capable of 
 being carried on in the U. S., or whether the 
 severity of the climate, and the expenses incident to 
 the management of the silk worm will prevent 
 native silk being raised to any extent, time alone will 
 determine ; but it is probable that the condition of the 
 manufacturing interests in this country is not such 
 as will enable it to compete with the low prices and 
 low w r ages which prevail in France and India, if the 
 raw material used is of foreign growth. Several of 
 the states have lately passed bounty laws for the cul- 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 87 
 
 tivation of the mulberry tree, and the silk worm, and 
 a mania seems to pervade some sections of the 
 country for the speedy introduction of this new 
 source of wealth. " The state of Connecticut has 
 long taken the lead in the growth and manufacture 
 of silk. Mansfield has been engaged in the raising 
 of it ever since 1760, and the quantity is gradually 
 increasing. Windham and Tolland counties have 
 produced, for the last year, raw silk sufficient to em- 
 ploy 55 looms, which would manufacture 30,000 
 yards per year of vestings and other broad goods.* 
 In Massachusetts, in 1836, there were 4 manufactories 
 of silk, producing $56,150 worth of goods, employ- 
 ing 125 persons, and having invested capital of 
 $137,000. f The amount of bounty which some of 
 the Connecticut factories are to receive this year is 
 an evidence of the increasing value of this trade, 
 whether permanent or not cannot be determined; 
 " the Connecticut Silk Manufacturing Company, 
 $11,500 ; Messrs. Gay and Button, of Lisbon, $2000 ; 
 the Mansfield Silk Factory, $1500; the State-House 
 yard $8000."t 
 
 It is departing from the arrangement we have 
 generally followed, to have the culture of the raw 
 material introduced in connection with its manufac- 
 ture, but the advantage of uniting the two in the 
 case of the silk trade may be a sufficient reason for 
 departing from the general plan. Properly, the 
 raw material ought to have been classed under the 
 head of agricultural produce, but the infant state of 
 the culture, and the subdivided condition of its 
 manufacture, seem to require the other division. 
 
 * New York Farmer, f Bigelow's Report, 1837, Massachusetts. J Ibid. 
 
88 
 
 PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 The following t:tble emb -aces what appear to be the 
 chiefly interesting points in this trade. 
 
 SILK 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MANUFACTURE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 KM 
 
 PLOY 
 
 ED. 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 c 
 
 I 
 
 c 
 
 
 silk spun. 
 
 
 
 uce used. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 5. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *' 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 No. oflbs. of Coc 
 
 No. of Ibs. of raw 
 
 Value of same. 
 
 No. of Ibs. of sev 
 
 
 
 No. of manufactc 
 
 Value of foreign 
 
 1 Value of domestic 
 
 1 
 
 Females. 
 
 Persons under 15. 
 
 Value of produce 
 
 e 
 
 Amount of bount 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 No observations are required upon this table, ex- 
 cept that the enumeration of persons employed refers 
 only to those engaged in manufactories, and that the 
 amount of bounty given by the state for any thing 
 connected with this trade be enumerated in the last 
 column. 
 
 In the infant rise of this branch of industry, it is 
 of great importance to have the fullest view of its 
 present state exhibited, and when the next decimal 
 period comes round, in 1850, there will be data for 
 an accurate examination of its progress, and the 
 means of ascertaining its value will be afford- 
 ed. It has been strongly urged upon the ge- 
 neral government that something should be done 
 to encourage this interest, but without success, and it 
 is as well perhaps that no encouragement has been 
 held out, which it is impossible permanently to se- 
 
PRODUCTS OP MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 89 
 
 cure to the trade. Should it be found to succeed, the 
 advantages which will accrue to the country will be 
 very great, as it is a species of employment which 
 may well be united with domestic occupations, and 
 every cottage and village may be the seat of useful 
 and advantageous employment, increasing the wealth 
 of the country at large, while it adds to the prosperity 
 and comforts of those engaged in it. The culture of 
 silk will do much to revive the domestic man- 
 ufactures of the past day, and may exercise a 
 beneficial influence on the morals and habits of the 
 people. 
 
 Mixed Manufactures. 
 
 4. There are several sorts of manufactures which 
 do not come under any of the three foregoing 
 divisions, which may be included in the follow- 
 ing table, such as shawls, &c. 
 
 MIXED MANUFACTURES. 
 
 EMPLOYED. 
 
 General Manufacture of Hats. 
 
 5. Hats. Under this head various descriptions of 
 articles may be enumerated, and the hats for males 
 might be divided into those of Wool, or Hair, Silk and 
 
 12 
 
90 PRODUCTS OP MANFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 Palm Leaf; those for females, into Straw, Palm Leaf, 
 and Silk ; and those for boys, into Caps of Fur and 
 Cloth ; such subdivision would not, however, be ad- 
 visable, and the simpler division into Hats, Bonnets, 
 or Caps of Wool, Fur, or Silk, and Hats, Bonnets, 
 or Caps of Vegetable material will be preferable. 
 
 The value of this branch of industry is completely 
 unknown, and of course the estimates vary greatly. 
 " The Committee to the New York Convention report 
 mens' hats for home consumption as valued at 
 $10,000,000; those for exportation, at $500,000, 
 and the value of caps in the United States, at 
 $4,500,000; that the number of persons employed 
 in this manufacture is 15,000 men and boys, and 3,000 
 women ; and the wages amonnt to $4,200,000 an- 
 nually." But such calculations are made with very- 
 little consideration, and are based upon some theory 
 of the amount of the value of hats w r hich each person 
 will consume in a year, and no reliance can be 
 placed upon them. That a very large amount of labour 
 and material is expended in this way is believed ; 
 and the manufacture will be found to be generally 
 dispersed over the country, as a hat establishment 
 requires but a small capital for its erection. The 
 value of hats manufactured in Massachusetts in 
 1836, was as follows, which inclines us to doubt the 
 accuracy of the above extract. 
 
 Hat Manufactories, 117 
 
 No. of Hats manufactured 406,400 
 
 Value of Hats manufactured $678,086 
 
 Wales employed 556 
 
 Females employed 304 
 
 No. of Straw Bonnets made 888,927 
 
 Value of Straw Bonnets made $1,261,004 
 
 No ofPahn Leaf Hats made 3,310,691 
 
 Value of Palm Leaf Hats $641,799 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 91 
 
 The rate of the tariff has quite excluded foreign 
 hats from the market, and hats of similar quality 
 are now as cheap in this country, as they could be 
 procured from abroad. 
 
 The number of Palm Leaf Hats made is very 
 great, but the sum total of their value is small, as 
 they are afforded at a very low price. The manu- 
 facture of Straw Bonnets is rapidly increasing, and 
 some of the most valuable description are now made 
 in the eastern states ; but both the last articles being 
 domestic manufacture to a great extent, there will, it is 
 feared, be some difficulty in determining their exact 
 value. If the following schedule is properly filled up, 
 the information on the subject will be much increased. 
 
 Manufacture of Hats, Bonnets, and Caps, of 
 
 
 WOOL, FUR, OR SILK. 
 
 VEGETABLE MATERIAL. 
 
 ij 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 EMPLOYED. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 EM 
 
 PLOY 
 
 ED. 
 
 I 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 "O 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 rt 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 ^a 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 
 (3 
 
 H 
 
 v 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 
 to 
 
 9 
 
 c 
 
 1 
 
 04 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 ffl 
 
 a 
 c 
 
 3 
 
 EH 
 
 IB 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 g 
 
 
 tt 
 
 1 
 
 "o 
 
 i 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 c 
 
 13 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 s 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 6 
 
 a 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ff 
 
 s 
 
 EM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. The manufacture of hides, skins, and furs, natu- 
 rally divides itself into the manufacture of leather, and 
 the fabrication of articles from leather and fur. 
 
 The increased trade in manufacturing leather has 
 more than kept pace with the general prosperity of 
 the country, but of its actual condition little is 
 known. By the census of the State of New York 
 we find, that in 1835, the value of leather manu- 
 
92 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 factured was 15,598,626, while the Convention, in 
 1830, give the following estimate regarding it. 
 " The leather made in the State of New York was 
 last year valued at $2,905,750, say three millions, and 
 in 1810, at 1,079,742." This shows a very rapid ad- 
 vance in the trade, and from the more recent return, 
 in 1835, the ratio of increase seems to be maintained. 
 " But probably the present value of the manufacture 
 of leather in New York is equal to one-fifth of the 
 whole made in the United States, say therefore 15 
 millions." If the same estimate were made, the value 
 of leather in this country in 1835 amounted to 
 about twenty-eight millions, exceeding the value of 
 cotton exported 10 years ago. The number of tan- 
 neries in New York in 1835, was 412; in Massa- 
 chusetts 1836, 416 ; and in New Jersey, 1830, there 
 were 2915 tan vats, but how many tanneries was not 
 reported. The value of this trade demands an ac- 
 curate inquiry into its 'present amount, if the first 
 manufacture of the raw material only is considered ; 
 when however, the fabrication of articles from leather 
 is estimated, the importance of this branch of 
 national industry is increased. It is calculated by 
 the Convention, that the subsequent manufacture of 
 leather into boots, shoes, and saddlery, increases the 
 value of the material about 60 per cent., which fol- 
 lowing out the calculation above, would make 
 the whole value of manufactured hides, about, 
 or rather upwards of forty-four millions, and 
 deducting from that, three millions, as the value of 
 raw-hides imported, forty-one millions are left as the 
 product of the soil and industry of the country. The 
 manufacture of boots aad shoes is carried on very 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 93 
 
 extensively in many of the States ; the value 
 manufactured in Massachusetts, in 1836, being 
 $14,642,520, and in Newark, N. J., alone, in 1832, 
 they were manufactured to the value of a million 
 and a half dollars. 
 
 The following table embraces all deemed desira- 
 ble, but the other may easily be added, if thought 
 expedient. 
 
 Manufacture of Hides and Skins into 
 
 Township, Ward, &c. 
 
 LEATHER. 
 
 MANUFACTURES 
 OF LEATHER. 
 
 No. of Tanneries. 
 1 
 
 No. of Tan Vats. 
 
 Value of Raw 
 
 Material. 
 
 ue of Manufac- 
 tured article. 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 Z 
 > 
 
 o 
 & 
 
 Value of Burk, &c. 
 employed. 
 
 Value of Leather 
 consumed. 
 
 Value of manufac- 
 tured article. 
 
 No. of Men. 
 
 Native. 
 
 Foreign. 
 
 $ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Soap, Candles, Wax and Oil. 
 
 7. The estimates given regarding these necessary 
 articles, which are furnished to the United States, 
 wholly by domestic manufacture, being so very vague, 
 that it is unnecessary to introduce them here, we will 
 only append the form of schedule suited to elucidate 
 the information. 
 
 Manufacture of Soap and Candles. 
 
 
 
 PRODUCED. 
 
 
 M 
 
 *4 
 
 i 
 
 
 *S o. 
 
 s. of Hard Soap 
 
 fts. of Sperm 
 Candles 
 
 fts. of Tallow 
 Candles 
 
 Ibs.ofWax 
 Candle? 
 
 ggregate Value c 
 Material. 
 
 Aggregate Valu 
 manufactured ar 
 
 o. of men emploj 
 
 apital invested. 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 fc 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
94 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 Distilled or Fermented Liquors, from Grain, Fruit, 
 or Molasses. 
 
 8. It is much to be lamented that so large a propor- 
 tion of the domestic manufactures still comes under 
 this head, though it is hoped that the quantity is much 
 diminished through the instrumentality of the Tem- 
 perance Society, and the philanthropist can only re- 
 gret that so much yet remains to be done for the 
 elevation of the morals of the people, and the sup- 
 pression of a trade and manufacture which brings 
 want and poverty into the wealthiest regions of 
 this favoured land. The value, or rather, let the 
 expression cost be employed, the cost of spirituous 
 liquors in 1810, was estimated at about one-tenth of 
 the value of all the manufactures of the United 
 States, and amounted to nearly fifteen millions. 
 What are the permanent influences exercised by the 
 Temperance Societies, inquiry alone can determine ; 
 and there are some grounds for believing, that in 
 some parts of the country, the traffic in this baneful 
 commodity has diminished, while in others, it seems 
 to have increased, as Mr. Pitkins mentions, that 
 53,620 barrels of whiskey were brought down the 
 Miami Canal, in 1833. The present extent of this 
 trade will easily be determined, and while the>statist 
 records with pleasure, the growth of other branches 
 of industry, he cannot but feel 
 
 Ille et nefasto te posuit die, 
 duicunque primum, et sacrilega manu 
 
 Produxit arbos, in nepntum 
 Perniciem, opprobriumque pagi. 
 
 Statements of the consumption, the expense, and the 
 destructiveness of the use of spiritous liquors are so 
 commonly circulated, that it is needless to repeat 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 95 
 
 them, particularly as they are too frequently made 
 by persons engaged in promoting temperance, and 
 rather characterized for their good intention than 
 their accuracy. In another place, the number en- 
 gaged in retailing spirituous liquor will be referred 
 to the following table is only designed to em- 
 brace the manufacture of it. 
 
 Distilled Liquors and Fermented Liquors. 
 
 DISTILLED. 
 
 FERMENTED. 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 O 
 
 "o 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 B> 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 is 
 
 *s 
 
 2 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 r^ 
 
 *o 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 *d 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 W 
 
 "3 
 
 tJC 
 
 1) 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 1 
 
 "ft 
 
 R 
 
 pital investt 
 
 . of bushels 
 
 ). of gallons 
 
 ilueof same. 
 
 1 
 
 G 
 
 1 
 
 'ca 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 g 
 
 fc 
 
 1 
 
 
 fc 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o/ 7 all kinds. 
 
 9. The only report of the condition of this trade, 
 is that made to the Convention in 1830, so that the 
 inquiry made in 1840, will show the progress of the 
 manufacture in the interval ; the amount said to be 
 made in 1830, being 
 
 Flint Glass - - - - $1,300,000 
 Crown Window Glass, - 150,000 
 Cylinder do. do. - 851,000 
 Glass Bottles of all kinds 200,000 
 
 $2,501,000 
 
 employing about 1,800 men, whose wages amounted 
 to $600,000, and the whole amount of glass manu- 
 
96 
 
 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 factored, was estimated at $3,000,000, while the 
 window glass imported has not, for five years, exceed- 
 ed $50,000 annually. It is a question of expediency, 
 as we have often already said, whether the sub- 
 divisions should be carried to a considerable extent 
 or not, in these different manufactures, which the 
 Secretary must alone determine, but in this trade 
 it would seem advisable to distinguish the four kinds 
 of glass, and to include all pottery or earthenware 
 under two heads, common and fine. 
 
 GLASS MANUFACTORY. 
 
 EARTHEN-WARE. 
 
 FLINT. 
 
 CROWN. 
 
 CYLINDER 
 
 BOTTLE. 
 
 "E. 
 g 
 
 1 invested. 
 
 COM. 
 
 FINE. 
 
 men employed. 
 
 1 
 
 Furnaces. 
 Pots. 
 
 of raw material. 
 
 of manufact. 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 
 of raw material. 
 
 3 
 
 '3 
 
 S 
 *5 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 3 
 
 c 
 1. 
 
 ot raw material. 
 
 (if manufacture 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 1 
 
 of raw material. 
 
 of manufacture. 
 
 manufactories 
 
 of raw material. 
 
 of manufacture. 
 
 manufactories 
 
 of raw material. 
 
 of manufacture. 
 
 olo 
 
 ill 
 
 w 
 
 5. 
 
 es 
 
 > 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 o 
 2 
 
 c 
 6 
 fc 
 
 V 
 
 3 
 
 75 
 
 s 
 
 3 
 
 75 
 
 c 
 c 
 
 ~c 
 
 o 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 v 
 3 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 z; 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 ?: 
 
 11 
 >,> 
 
 0) 
 
 I 
 
 S 
 
 c 
 ^c 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 0) 
 
 > 
 
 II 
 
 S 
 
 5, 
 
 cB 
 J 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Refineries. 
 
 10. This important branch of national industry is 
 alike the subject of doubt and estimate, and as the 
 returns of it may be easily procured by the following 
 schedule, it is unnecessary to do more than mention 
 the number of manufactories of refined sugar in 
 1830, although the amount of their manufacture is 
 unknown. 
 
PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 97 
 
 New Orleans - 
 
 Baltimore - - 
 
 Philadelphia - 
 
 New York - - 
 
 Providence 
 
 Boston 
 
 Salem - - - 
 
 - 3 
 
 - 8 
 
 - 11 
 
 - 11 
 
 - 1 
 
 - 3 
 
 - 1 
 
 Paper Manufactures of. 
 
 11. This article of such extensive use is also 
 principally supplied by domestic manufacture, and 
 the amount of the production is at present a mat- 
 ter of pure conjecture ; it, however, would be 
 shown by the adoption of the following schedule, 
 which will be understood to include paper, both 
 writing and printing, wrapping paper and paste- 
 board, &c. 
 
 Cables and Cordage. 
 
 12. It is principally upon the domestic production 
 that the shipping and navy rely for their supplies of 
 cordage and cables, and in New York alone, in 1835, 
 there were 63 factories, producing $980,000 worth 
 
 of cordage. 
 
 Sugar Refineries. Paper Manufacture. 
 
 Cables and Cordage. 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 is 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 ? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 DO 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 j- 
 
 I 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PH 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 tc 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 i 
 | 
 
 5 
 
 j 
 
 > 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 ufactoric 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 
 1 
 
 = 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 | 
 
 c 
 
 4 
 
 > 
 
 
 roduce. 
 
 _ 
 
 2 
 
 _cs 
 
 ~. 
 
 IM 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 c3 
 
 
 _^_ 
 
 -< 
 
 ^ 
 
 B 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 p. 
 
 g 
 
 E 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pi 
 
 O 
 
 
 > 
 
 e 
 
 No. of M 
 
 Native. 
 
 ti 
 
 M. 
 
 Value of 
 
 Capital ir 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 z: 
 
 o 
 ^6 
 
 1 
 Z, 
 
 c 
 sr 
 
 1 
 
 Value of 
 
 1 
 
 p 
 
 8 
 
 _0 
 
 Native. 
 
 .> 
 c 
 
 Value of 
 
 Quantity 
 
 Quantity 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 No. of Pe 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
98 
 
 PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURES AND ARTS. 
 
 Drugs, Paints, cfc. 
 
 13. This is a very extensive source of wealth to 
 the country, and one which is frequently overlooked. 
 It is impossible to enumerate the various kinds of 
 articles which would come under this head, but 
 many of them are mentioned in. an interesting report 
 to the New York Convention, on the subject. 
 
 Pleasure Carriages. 
 
 14. The manufacturing of carriages and wagons 
 for country and farming use, more properly comes 
 under the head of country occupations ; but here we 
 wish to include a trade which is carried on to a great 
 extent in New Haven, Conn.; Newark, N. J.; and 
 various other places throughout the North and West, 
 for the purpose of supplying the domestic or South- 
 ern trade with pleasure carriages. Mr. Pitkin esti- 
 mates this manufacture as being worth more than 
 four millions, annually. 
 
 Drugs and Paints. Carriage Manufacture. 
 
 
 "c 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 rf 
 
 p 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 -= 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ik 
 
 c 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 "3 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 |o 
 
 2 
 
 s 
 
 d 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 CS 
 
 S 
 
 T 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 1 
 
 "cs 
 
 & 
 
 fc 
 
 S 
 
 'J 
 
 K 
 'S 
 
 g 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 "3 
 
 1 
 
 ee 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 "3 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 0* 
 
 2; 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 jz; 
 
 3 
 
 "3 
 
 "3 
 
 _c 
 
 E 
 
 , rt 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
99 
 
 IV. AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 There is one convenient element which the Euro- 
 pean, and especially the British statists possess, when 
 treating of this branch of national wealth, which for- 
 tunately for the social relation of this country, we are 
 entirely ignorant of, that is, the annual value or rent of 
 farm land. In this country, the value of labour is so 
 great, and the cost of land so trifling, that many 
 alterations in the proportion which these elements 
 bear to each other, have necessarily been establish- 
 ed ; and the nature of our climate, which locks up 
 in a Greenland garb, the soil, which in Europe is 
 tilled throughout the year, tends also to increase the 
 disparity. As the entire agricultural information at 
 present possessed, relative to this country, has been 
 derived from some few isolated facts^ serving as the 
 basis of calculations derived chiefly from English 
 authorities, a mere reference to the different condi- 
 tion of the countries, in the one, a dense population 
 and scarcity of land, in the other, a scattered popu- 
 lation with an abundance of land, will show, that no 
 great reliance can be placed on such estimated re- 
 sults. 
 
 This branch of industry and source of wealth, is 
 unquestionably the most important to the country at 
 large, whether as viewed in relation to its internal 
 
100 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 economy, or its foreign trade. Of the ninety-five 
 millions of exports in 1837, about eighty-three were 
 products of the soil, and neither of the particular 
 statistics of the production of this amount of property 
 exported, nor of the amount of domestic consump- 
 tion, can anything be learned. As concisely as pos- 
 sible, we would desire to show the nature and extent 
 of the information which might be procured, for the 
 subject is one, which ramifying into a thousand 
 branches, might lead to many interesting notices, 
 especially when the great extent of the territory of 
 the United States, the difference of its soils, the 
 variety of its climate, and the differing wants of its 
 inhabitants are considered. But to address ourselves 
 directly to the task, we begin by giving a list of the 
 information which might be obtained, and the most 
 convenient means of acquiring it. 
 
 No. of Horses in the country of all ages 
 do. Cattle, neat do. do. 
 
 do. Cows, milch do. do. 
 
 do. Sheep, do. do. 
 
 do. Swine, do. do. 
 
 do. Mules, do. do. 
 
 No. of Acres of Wheat, with the average return per 
 acre. 
 
 do. Barley, do. 
 
 do. Oats, do. 
 
 do. Rye, do. 
 
 do. Buckwheat, do. 
 
 do. Corn, do. 
 
 do. Potatoes, do. 
 
 . do. Hay, do. 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 101 
 
 No, of Ibs. of Cotton, 
 
 do. Tobacco, 
 
 do. Rice, 
 
 do. Sugar. 
 
 One of the most interesting features of such re- 
 turns, would be to show the exact progress of 
 improvement, or alteration in the several counties in 
 each State, and to exhibit, when repeated at the 
 next decimal period, the increasing wealth of the 
 country at large. In some of the recently settled 
 States, the march of improvement is rapid and con- 
 tinuous ; in some of those on the seaboard, or in 
 some parts of them at least, the movements have for 
 many years been retrograde, and at present the 
 political economist must rest satisfied with the rudest 
 approximation to the causes which have induced the 
 different changes. If either the rise and progress, 
 or the decline of each small district of the country 
 were accurately determined, there would then be 
 some ground to hope that we might be able to detect 
 the causes, respectively, which influence the changes 
 and by promoting the one and checking the other, 
 the different classes might hope to be materially 
 benefitted. 
 
 We see no reason to apprehend any peculiar diffi- 
 culty in arriving at sufficiently accurate returns of 
 the agricultural statistics of the country, as the 
 deputies can easily put the questions directly to the 
 farmer, and the answers, though generally accurate, 
 would not require to be made with scrupulous nicety. 
 Every farmer could tell how many acres of wheat he 
 had sown during the past year, and could either re- 
 port the actual product per acre of his returns, or 
 
102 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 / 
 
 estimate their probable production, as there would be 
 no need of descending to the fraction of an acre, and 
 within a quarter of a bushel would be a sufficient 
 approximation to the amount. Of the number of 
 live stock in his possession, he could make equally 
 satisfactory answers, it being understood that that 
 term applied to all the animals living, without re- 
 garding their particular ages. In the State of New 
 Jersey, where the assessors for the purposes of taxa- 
 tion, report the number of cattle, there is a division 
 made between those under, and those above 3 years, 
 but we hardly think that any valuable statistical in- 
 formation would follow such distribution, and as it 
 would increase the trouble, we do not think it advisa- 
 ble to retain it. On the whole, therefore, while we 
 are sanguine that many useful facts might be 
 obtained from the returns as here proposed, we 
 see no difficulty which need prevent them from 
 being complied with. Let us now take a rapid sur- 
 vey of the articles enumerated in the above list. 
 
 HORSES. Whether as illustrating the social habits 
 of a people, or their economical arrangement, the in- 
 formation relative to the live stock and its descrip- 
 tion, would be valuable. In a thinly settled country 
 like this, where distances to market towns and 
 churches are great, and where many difficulties 
 prevent the inhabitants from making a habit of walk- 
 ing, the number of horses kept for pleasure, or con- 
 venience, will be greater than where, as in some 
 European countries, the custom of walking pervades 
 all classes. On the other hand, the system of man- 
 agement will increase or diminish the number of 
 horses kept for agricultural purposes, as in some 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 103 
 
 counties in England, seven horses are required to 
 move the antiquated plough still in use, while a more 
 useful implement is drawn in other counties by two. 
 Custom in different districts, which determines the 
 feeding of horses, varies so greatly, that it would be 
 impossible to determine the annual outlay incurred 
 in maintaining the horses in this country, and though 
 the information would be valuable and interesting, 
 we rather fear that it would be found to be too in- 
 tricate for most farmers to answer, as they seldom 
 keep accurate accounts of the consumption of 
 produce on their farms. Throughout the coun- 
 try generally, the expense of keeping a horse 
 might be estimated at $25 a year, and there are 
 perhaps, at present, about 3,500,000 in this country, 
 which would amount to an outlay of $87,500,000, a 
 very large item when considered in the aggregate ; 
 but this is merely an unauthorized estimate. The 
 only information on the subject, we append be- 
 low, being an estimate of the number of horses in 
 England, by McCulloch, and returns of the number 
 for two States, New York and New Jersey, for the 
 years 1835 and 1830.* Dismissing then, the inter- 
 esting and useful questions of the whole value of the 
 horses in this country, the expense of their keep, and 
 the proportion of the produce of the land which they 
 consume, which has been estimated at about one- 
 sixth, all we propose to have returned, is the number 
 
 *ENGLAND, ( No. of Horses 1,500,000 being 
 
 1834. \ No. of Cattle 4,119,487 
 
 NEW-YORK, \ No. of Horsna 524,892 " 
 
 1835 ) No. of Cattle 1,885,731 " 
 
 NEW-JERSEY, ( No. of Horses and 
 
 1830. ? and Mules. 53.865 " 
 
 ( No. of Cattle 176.670 
 
 to every 9.3 persons. 
 3.4 
 4.1 " 
 " " 1.2 
 
 5.9 
 1.8 
 
 There being in England rather less than 3 Cattle to each Horse, and in these two States 
 about 3; ; the numuer of Horse* and Cattle for tae same number of population, being 
 about double in America. 
 
104 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 now existing throughout the country, which can be 
 no very difficult task. 
 
 CATTLE. We are strongly tempted to divide this 
 head into Cows giving milk, and other cattle, as 
 while it would not increase the labour much, it would 
 afford some criteria for estimating the amount of 
 dairy produce which the country affords. It might 
 also be desirable to have the number slaughtered 
 within a year, returned, but we fear that many diffi- 
 culties would present themselves, which could not 
 easily be got over. It has been estimated in Eng- 
 land, that one-fourth are killed annually, but we be- 
 lieve, that that is a larger number than the practice 
 of this country condemns to the shambles, and that 
 one-fifth would be nearer the truth. The number of 
 cattle in the United States, may perhaps be about 
 eleven millions, which would make the number kill- 
 ed annually, not quite two millions, of which nearly 
 $600,000 worth, are exported. The table above 
 gives an account of the numbers in New York and 
 New Jersey. 
 
 SHEEP. When speaking of woollen manufac- 
 tures, we have noted the slender stock of informa- 
 tion which we possess, regarding the number of 
 Sheep in the United States, and certainly in relation 
 to a subject of such national importance as the 
 growth of wool for the supply of the domestic and 
 home market, some attention and trouble were well 
 expended. Of late years, the price and quality of 
 the wool produced, have increased much, and great 
 attention is now paid in many parts of the United 
 States, to the increase and improvement of the 
 flocks in 1836, there were about thirteen millions of 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 105 
 
 Sheep, producing about forty-two millions of pounds 
 of wool, which are worth about $21,000,000. 
 
 Of the different breeds of sheep which prevail in 
 this country it is not necessary to take account, and in 
 truth the difficulty of determining the kind in some of 
 the mixed flocks must deprive the returns of much 
 value. In the returns from the assessors in Massa- 
 chusetts however, the whole number of sheep, num- 
 bering 374,614 are divided into Saxony 46,985, Me- 
 rino 200,383, and all other kinds 127,246 ; but we do 
 not think such subdivisions should be followed. 
 
 But the whole of the returns under this head pos- 
 sess an interest of which we have now to speak when 
 taken in connection with the returns of the manufac- 
 tures of the country. In the Secretary's report on 
 the cotton trade, it is stated that the quantity of cot- 
 ton of domestic manufacture is very considerable, but 
 that no data present themselves for estimating it, and 
 in " Messrs. Barry and Benton's statistical view of the 
 number of sheep," a rough estimate is made of the 
 quantity of wool of domestic manufacture in three 
 states, which we have extracted in another place. Of 
 these two great branches of domestic industry, no 
 means are at hand by which they can be valued, and 
 we think that by having accurate returns made of the 
 quantity of raw material produced in each district, 
 and then subtracting the quantity exported and that 
 consumed in manufactories, the residue will be the 
 amount reserved for domestic use. In Pennsylvania 
 the estimated amount of domestic consumption is 
 more than half the quantity supposed to be produced, 
 and in some districts of the south, cotton may be 
 consumed to an almost equally great extent. And 
 
 14 
 
106 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 let it not be thought that because such manufactures 
 do not swell any statement of the national productive 
 industry, and because they cannot be reduced to a 
 monied value and accurately portrayed, that they are 
 trifling in their character and unworthy of considera- 
 tion, for in many features they are to be admired and 
 many substantial reasons might be given for having 
 every encouragement extended to them. They are 
 the product generally of labour which would other- 
 wise be unemployed, and though they cou]jj not be 
 produced for the general market at as low a price as 
 manufactories can send them out, yet they form a 
 decided increase to the national wealth, and if the 
 labour expended on them were to be diverted, no 
 other channel in which it could flow can be suggested. 
 They are chiefly produced 'by the females in the 
 country, who besides their household labours have 
 time and opportunity to pursue them, during those 
 hours, when "the busy house-wife plies her evening 
 care," and during the inclement weather of the winter, 
 when the whole family contribute their share to the 
 domestic industry. And if in addition to these advan- 
 tages, they have the tendency to keep a family 
 united under the same roof where the respective 
 duties of life are regarded, and its affections and 
 courtesies interchanged, instead of consigning all 
 the young women to some distant cotton or wool- 
 len factory, they are exercising a very healthy 
 influence upon the morality of the country. Now 
 these returns of the number of sheep raised in each 
 small section, with ths average weight of the wool 
 they produced, would enable the statist to determine 
 with very considerable accuracy the amount, extent 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 107 
 
 and value of the domestic industry of the country, a 
 thing which at present is entirely overlooked in the 
 statements of the consumption, either of the raw 
 material or of the manufactured article, and taken in 
 connection w r ith the number of fulling mills, we 
 could ascertain the amount of wool manufactured 
 in the different districts by household industry. 
 SWINE. In this country the number kept is sup- 
 posed to be very great, though we are surprised to 
 find that the number of hogs reported in the state of 
 New- York, is smaller than the number of neat cattle, 
 which we are inclined to attribute to error. At least 
 200,000 are slaughtered in Cincinnati, in the course 
 of six weeks in the fall of the year, and while in 
 1837 the export of beef was only valued at $585,146, 
 the value of pork, &c., exported was $1,299,796. 
 From this extent of exportation we would be inclined 
 to think that the amount of pork produced was equal, 
 if not greater than that of beef, but it must be re- 
 membered that the same numerical amount of ani- 
 mals, would furnish a much greater supply of provis- 
 ion ; and as in the former case we estimated that not 
 more than one fifth were annually killed, in the 
 present case nearly one half of the enumerated num- 
 ber are yearly destroyed. This makes a great differ- 
 ence, and from the same number of hogs as there are 
 cattle, the one being estimated to weigh 200 Ibs., the 
 other 500 Ibs., we would have the same amount of 
 provision annually furnished. The number raised 
 (or rather perhaps in this and the other returns the 
 number possessed at the time of inquiry would be a 
 more suitable form for the question) might easily be 
 ascertained, and we would then be possessed of 
 
108 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 another means of approximating to the actual amount 
 of live stock. 
 
 MULES. In some of the mountainous coal regions, 
 in the south and south west, these animals are used 
 to a considerable extent and bear a higher value than 
 ordinary horses. In the returns for New Jersey, 
 above quoted, they are united with the horses, and 
 perhaps it might be as well not to make any distinc- 
 tion here, but have " horses and mules" in one divis- 
 ion, as they are contained in one entry in the sum- 
 mary of the exports of the United States, a great 
 many being annually sent to the West India Islands. 
 As they occupy the same position in the domestic 
 economy as the horse, a separate return would not 
 serve any practical end. 
 
 In the last few articles referred to, the live stock of 
 the country, and their value, &c., there have been 
 always some rude and it may be very incorrect esti- 
 mate before the public, but of the quantity and vari- 
 ety of the cereal grasses and other vegetable produc- 
 tions at present raised, not even the slightest estimate 
 has, we believe, been attempted. The information 
 would be most useful, and we think may easily be 
 attained by inquiries from the farmers throughout each 
 district, as at present the most lamentable ignorance 
 of the whole subject exists. It is not even known 
 how much of the land in many of the states is under 
 cultivation, or how great the extent of territory 
 actually is. Even in England, small and densely 
 peopled as it is, the estimates of the area have 
 varied greatly. 
 Anciently England was thought to 
 
 contain - - - 29,000,000 acres, 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 109 
 
 Gregory King, computed it at 39,000,000 acres, 
 
 Arthur Young, " " " 46,000,000 " 
 Dr. Beeke, " " " 38,498,572 " 
 
 McCulloch, " " " 37,098,572 " 
 
 If we find England vary so much in her estimated 
 area, where all the means of accurate information 
 abound, it cannot be wondered at that many of the 
 states in this newer country are but imperfectly esti- 
 mated. In the west, where the lines bounding the 
 states run at right angles, and where the divisions 
 follow the directions of the boundary, little error can 
 occur, but in the eastern states no such facilities pre- 
 sent themselves, and the greatest discrepancy pre- 
 vails. In the small state of New- Jersey, for instance, 
 Morse allows 5,324,800, Smith, 4,800,000, Darby, 
 4,384,000, exactly one-fifth less than Morse ; and 
 Gordon makes 4,656,330 acres, which, from some in- 
 quiries, we believe to be nearly correct. Now we 
 do not purpose to discover the area of the whole 
 state by these returns, but we hope to find the quan- 
 tity under actual cultivation, which at present is in far 
 greater darkness than the whole area. By the asses- 
 sors' returns in some states, it may be gathered to be 
 as follows : in the state of New- York, one-third of 
 the whole land is cultivated, and in the state of 
 New- Jersey, only one-fourth is improved ; but these 
 estimates are not of general application. 
 
 But if the whole quantity of land under cultiva- 
 tion is unknown, the relative proportion of the differ- 
 ent cultivated cereal grasses is likewise a mystery. 
 The difference of climate, soil and situation, all con- 
 tribute to make the kinds and proportions of the 
 vegetable productions vary greatly, and it would be 
 
110 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 quite impossible to form any general calculation of 
 the productions of the different states, unless each, 
 state were separately considered. In England little 
 certainly is known about the agricultural products, 
 and the following table, formed merely by estimate, 
 can afford but little criterion by which to judge, even 
 of the middle states. 
 
 The proportion which the wheat land bears to all 
 other crops, is about 31,66 crop val'd. at 30,675,000 
 Barley and Rye, 7,50 " lt 5,400,000 
 
 Oats and Beans, 25,00 " " 16,875,000 
 
 Clover, 10,83) B 181MOOO 
 
 Roots, > 
 
 66,275,000 
 Hops, 1,25 
 
 Fallow, 13,75 
 
 Although such are the estimated proportions of 
 land under the different crops in England, we are far 
 from stating it as an approach to the actual condition 
 of any part of this country. But we must regret that 
 no documents exist from which even the remotest es- 
 timate can be formed of the produce of the agricul- 
 tural labour of this country, or the kinds of produce 
 upon which it is chiefly expended. 
 
 WHEAT. The value, extent and average produc- 
 tion of this great staple of our country, may easily be 
 learned by requiring of the farmers, accurate or prox- 
 imate returns of the number of acres under crop the 
 last year, and the average quantity per acre of pro- 
 duce. It is needless in this and the following sub- 
 jects to reiterate the complaint of want of informa- 
 tion, we therefore conclude by giving an estimate of 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. Ill 
 
 what the extent and value of the wheat crop in New- 
 York may have been in 1835, founded on the table 
 above, and the marshal's returns of that state in 
 1835. There was $17,687,009 worth of raw pro- 
 duce manufactured at the mills there, and supposing 
 that the wheat in New- York state produced the 
 same proportional value to the other crops as it did 
 in England, we would have $8,240,000 as the value 
 of the raw wheat, which as the price that year 
 averaged about $1 would give the same number of 
 bushels. 
 
 BARLEY. Very little of this grain is produced in 
 this country, and that is consumed wholly in the dis- 
 tillery. It is said that the introduction of potatoes in 
 the manufacture of spirit has diminished the amount 
 of barley raised. The more general use of this grain, 
 especially where the wheat crop has been thrown out 
 during the winter, would be a great improvement, and 
 the grain, when steamed, may be very advantageously 
 employed in feeding horses or cattle, during the 
 winter. 
 
 RYE. As a substitute for wheat, where the climate 
 or soil will not admit of the more valuable grain, and 
 as the chief article of food in many districts of the 
 country among the labouring classes, the statistics of 
 the cultivation of this grain would be very interesting. 
 $165,457 worth of rye meal was exported in 1837. 
 
 OATS. In the eastern and middle states, this grain 
 constitutes the principal food of horses, and in some 
 of the western states the quantity raised is considera- 
 ble, but both there and in the south, the use of Indian 
 corn interferes with the consumption of this grain. 
 
112 AGRICULTURAL STATISICS. 
 
 BUCKWHEAT. This grain, not enumerated in the 
 English returns, is used to a considerable extent in 
 this country. It is a valuable crop, as it enriches the 
 land by preventing the heat of summer from scorch- 
 ing it ; it is also useful for various domestic purposes. 
 This grain is not supposed to be used to any extent 
 for distillation. 
 
 INDIAN CORN. It may be difficult to say whether 
 wheat or maize is the great staple of the agricultural 
 interest in this country, and we believe that as we 
 refer to the north or to the south, each in its turn may 
 claim the honour. This is certainly the most valuable 
 grain which the country possesses, and one of the 
 compensating advantages which the American has 
 over the English farmer, for the length of his win- 
 ter and the excessive heat of his summer. The 
 quantity of wheat exported is much greater than that 
 of Indian corn, about two-thirds more. But this is 
 no criterion of the value of the crop, as its chief ex- 
 cellence consists in furnishing a green crop of great 
 service to the land, and an abundant return of grain in 
 harvest ; and indeed as a green crop, it supplies the 
 place which turnips and potatoes occupy to a great 
 extent in England. 
 
 POTATOES. The extent and produce of this crop 
 can easily be known, and although it does not occupy 
 the same prominent place in the agricultural returns 
 of this country as in some parts of Europe, it is never- 
 theless extensively cultivated. 
 
 HAY. The returns of this article may be more 
 difficult, and perhaps it may be questioned whether 
 any queries should be put regarding it, and if they 
 should be inserted, it will be well to divide the table 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 113 
 
 into two divisions, the one the quantity of natural or 
 meadow hay, the other the quantity of hay from 
 clover and fresh grass. 
 
 The above information might be easily procured 
 and would be of infinite service, as it would exhibit 
 more clearly the various interests which are perpetu- 
 ally striving to maintain their place in the general 
 improvement of the country. If the general govern- 
 ment should institute a board of agriculture as they 
 now contemplate, with an agricultural museum, the 
 value of knowing the comparative extent and pro- 
 gress of the several cultures will readily be apparent. 
 
 The average productiveness of the different crops 
 must necessarily be inquired into, as well as the number 
 of acres under culture. In England, McCulloch esti- 
 mates the return of wheat per acre, at 21 bushels, bar- 
 ley 32, oats 36, potatoes 250 bushels. In this country, 
 the immense extent of territory, and the difference of 
 climate necessarily preclude any general average from 
 being taken, at which to estimate the actual returns of 
 the whole country. And it must also be remembered 
 that in England, and especially in Scotland, they have 
 accurate thrashing machines which alone are estima- 
 ted to rescue from loss otherwise unavoidable, 
 5,204,000 bushels of wheat (this calculation is made 
 on the supposition that they are quite universal, which 
 they are not,) and in this country the greater part of 
 the thrashing is done upon moveable thrashing floors ; 
 the crop, often not, stored in barns, or drawn over 
 very rough roads before its produce is ascertained. 
 Whatever may be the quantity of American grain, 
 there can be no doubt of the quality and perfection 
 in which some of the species are produced Hall, in 
 
 15 
 
114 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS, 
 
 his statistics of the west, speaks of having seen a 
 bushel of wheat weigh 68 Ibs. to the bushel, and on 
 another occasion one that weighed 67 Ibs. But the 
 returns would be too uncertain, were we to desire that 
 the weight per bushel should be reported, and we 
 merely notice this fact incidentally, in order to induce 
 persons throughout the country to record the instances 
 of extra weight which ihey happen personally to 
 witness. 
 
 Of the return of Indian corn, we are also unable to 
 speak. "If," says Hall, " a western farmer be asked 
 the question, bow many bushels of corn are raised to 
 the acre, the usual reply is one hundred. This quan- 
 tity may be produced on fine soil, with assiduous cul- 
 ture, but under ordinary circumstances, with careful 
 attention, 60 bushels is about the average crop." 
 
 Generally speaking, however, no accurate estimate 
 can be formed of the returns procured from these 
 several crops, till some uniform data are aiforded 
 which may enable us to enter more minutely into the 
 examination of this interesting subject. 
 
 In the foregoing subjects of inquiry, the returns 
 spoken of are always made in measured quantities; 
 in those we now refer to, the number of Ibs. is the 
 standard to which they are always referred. To be- 
 gin with the agriculture of Cotton. Under the head 
 of the Manufactures of this article, we noticed the 
 able statistical paper of Mr. Woodbury, regarding the 
 exportation and manufacture of Cotton ; but it must 
 be remarked, that neither he nor any other writer has 
 touched at all upon the agriculture of Cotton, or the 
 peculiarities which attend its progress and growth, 
 while in the hands of the planter. We refrained, on 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 115 
 
 the former occasion, from making any extracts from 
 that Report, as it was so generally circulated, and we 
 shall not now have recourse to it, as every one 
 knows the rapid increase of this source of wealth, 
 which in 1794 began to exist, and last year exported 
 to foreign shores $60,000,000 worth of raw mate- 
 rial. But we wish to refer to some interesting de- 
 tails which may be elicited in the course of inqui- 
 ries into the history and condition of this crop. It is 
 well known, that but for the invention of Whitney, 
 the cultivation of Cotton on upland countries, would 
 never have reached its present extent, and experience 
 has proved that that machine is effective. This is 
 now a matter of history, and at all times it was easily 
 tested by mechanical principles, or in actual practice. 
 But there is at present another momentous question 
 in the course of being solved, to which we invite the 
 attention of the statist ; and that is, whether Cotton 
 can ever productively become the produce of free la- 
 bour ? At present we disregard the question of the 
 propriety or policy of Slave labour, as totally foreign 
 to our subject ; we seek to have some data to inquire 
 into its economy, and we think we may be able to 
 discover some elements by which to estimate the re- 
 sult in this great principle now becoming noticed in 
 the production of Cotton. Let us, as an illustration, in- 
 stance some facts, supposed to be deduced from the re- 
 turns made to Congress, which we have suggested as 
 practicable and useful. We take the cases of two 
 Counties in Georgia, merely as suitable for our pur- 
 pose in the distribution of their population, without any 
 regard to their actual condition, viz. Hall and Jones 
 Counties ; in these, by the last census, there were, 
 
116 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 HALL. JONES. 
 
 White Males 5297 3364 
 
 do. Females 5265 3107 
 
 Slaves 1182 6829 
 
 Free Blacks 4 45 
 
 11,748 13,345 
 
 In Hall County the whites are ten times more nu- 
 merous than the blacks ; in the other, Jones County, 
 they are not quite so numerous as the blacks. Such 
 data are ascertained by the census 7 returns, but we 
 can go no further; we cannot determine theJnfluence 
 which such a different political organization exercises 
 upon the products of the soil. Now if we could know 
 the exact production of each district, as, for instance, 
 that Hall County raised 10,000 Ibs. of Cotton, and 
 that Jones County raised 12,000, we would be able 
 to see the influence which free white labour had in 
 the agriculture of Cotton, and if, at the next decimal 
 period, the ratio of production had increased faster in 
 proportion to the population in Hall, than in Jones, 
 or, vice versa, we would be able to detect the results 
 of such different distributions of labour. The ques- 
 tion is one of very great interest, and regarding it no 
 settled opinion can be entertained ; till some crite- 
 rion exists by which to examine it. 
 
 In addition to the solution of this interesting ques- 
 tion in political economy, we will have the same kind 
 of information regarding Cotton of which we spoke 
 when referring to Wool. "The farmers in Illinois, 
 Missouri, and the Southern parts of Indiana and 
 Kentucky, raise Cotton for home consumption. They 
 make all they use, and most of their families are clad 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 117 
 
 in Cotton fabrics mannfactured at home."* Now to 
 what extent this home manufacture extends, and of 
 what value it is to the community, the statist is una- 
 ble to determine; but whenever the number of 
 pounds of Cotton raised, is determined, we will be 
 able to approximate to the amount consumed in the 
 country. As returns of the quantity of Cotton could 
 easily be procured, and as it would cast a useful 
 light over two subjects of investigation, we hope to 
 find this return included with the others. 
 
 Culture of Tobacco. 
 
 In an interesting article on this trade, in the Ame- 
 rican Almanac for 1838, we find the following no- 
 tices : The annual average exportation for the last 
 21 years, from 1815 to 1835 inclusive, is within a 
 fraction of 82,760 hogsheads. Taking our estimate 
 of 1,200 Ibs. per hogshead to be the true weight, we 
 have thus 99,3 13,000 Ibs. as the annual average of 
 the last 21 years ; and we have seen that the annual 
 average exportation for the 4 years ending in and in- 
 cluding 1775, was 99,374,785 Ibs., which establishes 
 the remarkable fact, that the exportation of the leaf 
 Tobacco, has remained stationary for a period of 60 
 years. " The revolutionary war seems to have given 
 a check to the growth of this plant, from which it 
 never recovered ; as during its continuance many 
 continental nations, which had previously depended 
 entirely upon the supply from this country, turned 
 their attention to the domestic cultivation of the plant, 
 and have ever since continued to supply their own 
 market." 
 
 * Hall's Statistics of the West. 
 
118 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 If the exportation of this article has been station- 
 ary, the consumption of it at home seems to have 
 kept pace with the progress of population. " For- 
 merly, when all the Tobacco was grown in Virginia 
 and Maryland, we exported as much as we do now, 
 and now, in addition to those States, which produce 
 nearly, if not quite as much, as they did then, Ohio, 
 Kentucky, and Tenessee, together with Connecticut, 
 Pennsylvania, Indiana and Missouri, produce as 
 much more. We must, therefore, consume more 
 than the quantity required for exportation." 
 
 "The Rev. Mr. O. Fowler, from considerable atten- 
 tion to the statistics of Tobacco consumption in 
 the United States, estimates the annual cost at 
 $10,000,000;" but on what data he founds his con- 
 clusion we are not informed. 
 
 As the culture of this plant extends throughout all 
 the country, and is said to flourish particularly in the 
 West, " a few hogsheads sent from Kaskaskia (Illi- 
 nois) to New-Orleans, some years since, was pro- 
 nounced by the inspector to be the best ever brought 
 to that market,"* it would be interesting to observe its 
 progress, and as it is said to exhaust the soil rapidly, 
 we may be able to trace its march westward in 
 search of virgin soil, leaving the tracts on the sea- 
 board either to be overrun with brushwood or be cul- 
 tivated for grains. At present, it is impossible to de- 
 termine the consumption of this plant, and, till the 
 whole quantity produced is determined, all conjec- 
 ture must necessarily be vague. 
 
 * Am. Almanac, 1838 Hall's Statistics of the West. 
 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 119 
 
 Culture of Rice. 
 
 This valuable grain, like Tobacco, has been very 
 stationary in the amount of its export, the value of 
 the export in 1807 being $2,367,000, and thirty years 
 afterwards, or in 1837, being $2,309,279. The quan- 
 tity raised and consumed in this country, is unknown, 
 but could easily be determined by reference to the re- 
 turns of the Marshals for each district, and, as the 
 other cereal grasses and grains are all noticed, Rice 
 had better be included, though, from its character, 
 more information could be gathered regarding it than 
 about any other agricultural production, without spe- 
 cific returns. 
 
 Culture of Sugar. 
 
 Although, for our part, inclined to doubt the poli- 
 cy which has increased the Sugar culture in this 
 country, we will quote a short account of the pro- 
 duction from Pitkin's Statistics. "To encourage 
 its production, it will be remembered that in 1816 
 an addition of half a cent was laid on imported 
 brown Sugar, making the whole duty about three 
 cents, and experience has proved the policy of the 
 measure. The average quantity of foreign Sugar 
 annually consumed in the United States, from 1820 to 
 1830, was 57,000,000 of pounds, and the whole quan- 
 tity consumed about 140,000,000 being 83,000,000 
 as the production of Louisiana, which will soon fur- 
 nish Sugar enough for the whole consumption of the 
 United States." Pitkin's Statistics, 499. 
 
120 
 
 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 In this cursory notice of the principal agricultural 
 products, it may be thought that we have enumerated 
 some which, from their comparatively limited culti- 
 vation, it were better to have omitted ; but the vast 
 interest to the community, of the progress of agricul- 
 ture, make it very desirable to have not only the re- 
 turns of the principal crops, but of those also which 
 are cultivated to a smaller extent. And, although 
 the subjects enumerated, are numerous, they can be 
 simply classified as in the following table : 
 
 LIVE [STOCK 
 
 OF ALL AGES. 
 
 VARIOUS CROPS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 column. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 e 
 
 
 
 
 
 -C 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 d 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 .S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 rr 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 o. of Horses and Mules 
 
 o. of neat Cattle, except 
 
 o. of Cows giving Milk. 
 
 o. of Sheep. 
 
 o. of Swine. 
 
 o of acres of Wheat 
 
 verage produce per acre 
 
 o. of acres of Ba ley 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 eS 
 
 1 
 
 
 | 
 a. 
 
 & 
 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 o. of acres of Oats 
 
 verage produce per acre. 
 
 i> 
 >, 
 
 X 
 
 o 
 
 Z 
 
 i 
 
 "5 
 
 
 
 veiage produce per acre. 
 
 . of acres of Buckwheat 
 
 verage produce per acre. 
 
 o. of acres <if Indian Cor 
 
 verage produce per acre. 
 
 o. of ac PS of Potatoes 
 
 veiage produce per acre. 
 
 t). of acres of Hay 
 
 ve age p oduce per acre i 
 
 1 
 
 be 
 
 * 
 
 
 % 
 
 6 
 
 D. of fts. of Tobacco gath 
 
 o. of fts. of Rice gathered 
 
 o. of fcs. of Sugar made. 
 
 z 
 
 z 
 
 2 
 
 * 
 
 K 
 
 2: 
 
 < 
 
 Z 
 
 < 
 
 < 
 
 < 
 
 <Z 
 
 < 
 
 z 
 
 < 
 
 ^ 
 
 < 
 
 <. 
 
 < 
 
 z; 
 
 < 
 
 * 
 
 g 
 
 as 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
121 
 
 OCCUPATIONS 
 IN WHICH THE INHABITANTS ARE ENGAGED. 
 
 In our former notice of Manufactures, we limited 
 the term to the wholesale fabrication of the raw ma- 
 terial into the finished article ; and here we propose 
 to establish some data, by which to estimate the 
 amount and nature of the retail trade in the country. 
 The information under the other head, we intend 
 should be derived entirely from the answers of those 
 possessing or managing manufactories ; the informa- 
 tion we at present seek, will be obtained by direct 
 questions to the workmen themselves. In the other 
 returns we had the number of workmen engaged, in 
 many manufactures, as for instance, of leather, we 
 will now have the same individuals returned again, 
 with the addition of those who work in leather, but 
 not in manufactories, as the retail shoemakers, sad- 
 dlers and trunk -makers. It were well if this repeti- 
 tion could have been avoided, but we think that the 
 difficulty of having the separation preserved through- 
 out the various trades and occupations, would be so 
 great as to defeat the object of these returns. If the 
 returns therefore, are made by combining the two, 
 namely, those who work for the wholesale, and those 
 who work for the retail trade, as we have already the 
 former numbered in the returns from the manufac- 
 turers, by simple subtraction, we have the number 
 engaged in the various trades throughout the country. 
 And the reason for making this distinction, we have 
 16 
 
122 OCCUPATION OP THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 already stated to be the importance of gaining sta- 
 tistical information regarding some of the larger 
 manufactures, which it is fruitless to seek to obtain, 
 relative to the smaller trades. In the former returns, 
 we desired to know the value of the manufactured 
 and raw materials, the capital invested, and other 
 particulars of the traffic which it is quite impossible 
 to learn regarding the various handicrafts, and occupa- 
 tions throughout the country, and which, if attempted, 
 would swell the returns to an interminable length. 
 
 Such being the different kind of information at 
 which we aim, let us now inquire into the extent of 
 useful insight which the proposed returns will give 
 us, into the internal economy of the country. 
 
 The distinction which some popular authors and 
 political leaders, seek to establish between ''the pro- 
 ducing and consuming classes, as false in theory and 
 vicious in its application, we cannot admit of here, 
 however convenient such a general classification 
 might have been. But we will be able to find from 
 these returns, the proportion which those who prac- 
 tice the liberal professions bear to those who are 
 engaged in either manufactures, commerce, or agri- 
 culture, and also the number engaged in each of 
 these general divisions of labour. So many causes 
 combine to form the habits of a people, and external 
 circumstances, whether of climate or soil, are so very 
 powerful in their influence, that it must always be 
 difficult to examine the subject in detail, yet an accu- 
 rate statistical table of the employment of a whole 
 community, will form a very interesting foundation 
 for such an inquiry. Pure statistical information is 
 a very valuable source of knowledge ; estimates, 
 
OCCUPATION OP THE INHABITANTS. 123 
 
 founded probably upon some latent theory, are ex- 
 tremely embarrassing, and such alone prevail, regard- 
 ing the number of persons engaged in the different 
 leading branches of industry in this country. In the 
 returns for 1810, there was a general classification 
 made of the leading occupations, of agriculture, 
 manufactures, and commerce, which presented the 
 following result : 
 
 There was about 83 per cent, of the population en- 
 gaged in agriculture ; 14 in manufactures; 3 in com- 
 merce. 
 
 While in England, in 1810, there were about 33 
 per cent engaged in agriculture ; 46 in manufactures ; 
 21 not engaged in agriculture or trade. 
 
 And in France, in 1817, the Count Laborde estima- 
 ted that there were about 60 per cent, of the popula- 
 tion engaged in agriculture; 22 in manufactures ; 15 
 in various employments ; 3 indigent. 
 
 Or in England, 5-15ths of the population provide 
 food for the community ; in France, 9-15ths ; in the 
 United States, 12-15ths are required to maintain the 
 community : which would argue a very different 
 state of society from that prevailing in England, as 
 the whole amount of agricultural products exported 
 (in 1837, $14,000,000, or the tenth of the imports) 
 does not by any means account for the difference. 
 
 This return we propose, should be made by direct 
 information obtained by the deputy, and that after 
 having marked down the age of the person, he should 
 ask " how he got his livelihood," and according to his 
 answer, note him down under some of the heads in 
 the following table. We can foresee no difficulty in 
 making this examination, and the information obtain- 
 
124 OCCUPATION OF THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 ed, as showing the relative strength of the different 
 trades and occupations throughout this country, the 
 state of their division and local distribution would be 
 exceedingly valuable, and w r ould enable the statist, 
 united with the separate returns of the leading 
 manufactures, to obtain very correct impressions of 
 the value of the internal industry of the country, 
 and would show in a considerable degree, the habits 
 of the people. Under the head of bakers, for exam- 
 ple, we would learn the domestic habits of different 
 sections of the community, as we believe, in New- 
 York, almost all the population buy their bread, 
 while in Baltimore, on the other hand, it is chiefly 
 made in families. This is a trifling illustration, but 
 merely one of many which might be given to show 
 some of the collateral information which might be 
 gathered from such a table, at the same time that it 
 was contributing greatly to the knowledge of the gen- 
 eral economy of the country. We have said that 
 such a return might easily be obtained, and yet in 
 taking the census for 1810, the returns exhibited 
 great marks of carelessness. For example, as men- 
 tioned by Dr. Seybert, there were only 110 printing 
 offices returned, when it is known that there were 
 upwards of 400. In that return, however, the differ- 
 ent way in which the query was put, makes us hope 
 for more success if this one is considered a second 
 enumeration of the people, according to their trades 
 or occupations, as the first enumeration was accord- 
 ing to their ages. We annex a table from Cleland's 
 Statistics, which will show how satisfactory such in- 
 formation may be made, when under the direction of 
 a skilful agent. 
 
125 
 
 Occupations in which the Population of the City and Suburbs of Glas- 
 gow were engaged in 1831. Whole population 202,426. 
 
 I! 
 
 2659 
 
 1702 
 
 4! 
 
 go 
 
 494 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 629 
 
 | 8 
 
 bD 
 
 <5 
 
 544 
 
 I! 
 
 DO a 
 
 1319 459 
 
 21 
 
 35 
 
 573 1753 15,217 
 
 1231 
 
 
 12 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 ! 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 1! 
 
 I 
 
 to 
 
 1664 359 892 924 1552 
 
 584 761 
 
 1947 
 
 474 
 
 2715 
 
 497 
 
 S 
 
 <U J 
 
 SB 
 
 s .s 
 
 ts a 
 
 OQ | 
 
 s 3 
 
 u " JS 
 
 i! 
 II 
 
 | g 
 
 | | 
 08 
 
 es C C 
 05 rtCO 
 
 it 
 
 277 232 501 349 313 322 2128 321 3093 1063 456 
 
 1127 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 H 
 
 II 
 
 s 
 "S 
 
 If 
 
 l 
 
 I! 
 
 58 
 
 H 2 
 
 c 
 
 jl 
 
 409 1093 2913 582 411 1276 716 254 6614 1487 1254 6361 103,00 
 
 S 
 3 
 
 
 The whole population between 10 and 70 years being 143,142, there are 40,141 persons not 
 engaged in trade, including householders, and domestic servants, &c. 
 
126 OCCUPATION OP THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 While on the other hand, the same returns, made* 
 under the same act of Parliament, when not prop- 
 erly directed, presented a number of the grossest 
 absurdities. According to some returns appended to 
 the British census of 183 l r it would appear that there 
 were only 295 males, upwards of 20 years of age, 
 employed as bleachers in England, and one in Scot- 
 land. It is also stated in the same table, that there 
 is not a single male musical instrument-maker in 
 Scotland, and three seal engravers ; while in England, 
 there is only one seal engraver. Such faulty returns 
 must show the necessity of getting the information 
 properly collected, and especially of having the 
 queries well and judiciously selected, which will go 
 far towards having the answers correctly returned, 
 and we entertain great hopes that the number of per- 
 sons engaged in the different occupations, will be 
 accurately determined, if the question is addressed 
 to each person as he is enumerated. 
 
 The following table we have made out with care, 
 and while it might either be easily lengthened or 
 curtailed to suit the views of those directing the 
 census, it is believed that it will be found to be as 
 concise as is consistent with accurate information, 
 and unless a great expense is to be incurred, it is 
 thought to be as full and completely subdivided as- 
 circumstances will admit of. 
 
 Professions. 
 
 Lawyers, Attornies, Judges, &c. &c. 
 Medicine, Doctors, Surgeons, and all with a diploma, 
 Professors and Teachers, in Colleges, Seminaries, &c., 
 Common School Teachers Males, 
 
 " " Females, 
 
 Engineers, Surveyors, &c., 
 All other Professional Men, 
 
OCCUPATION OF THE INHABITANTS. 127 
 
 Agriculturists and Country Labourers. 
 
 Farmers, owning or managing a farm, 
 Farm Labourers, of all kinds, 
 
 Millers Grist, 
 
 Saw, 
 
 Fulling, 
 
 Plaster, 
 
 Bark, 
 
 Seed and other kinds, 
 
 Asheries Pot or Pearl, 
 
 Brick-Makers, 
 
 Lime, 
 
 Quarries Stone, 
 
 Miners Coal, 
 
 " Metals, &c., 
 Charcoal Burners, 
 Gardeners, 
 General Labourers or Spademen, 
 
 Commercial Interests. 
 
 Merchants entirely wholesale, 
 Merchants } Dry Goods, 
 or > Hardware, 
 
 Storekeepers, ) Country or mixed store, 
 
 Druggists, 
 
 Groceries and Feed stores, Liquors not retailed, 
 Groceries and Spirit stores Liquors retailed by the 
 
 glass, or drank on the premises, 
 Persons engaged in Transportation -including those 
 
 engaged on canals, railroads, stages, wagons, cars, 
 
 carts, or vehicles for the carriage of goods, 
 Persons engaged in Transportation including those 
 
 engaged in steamboats and coasting vessels, to be 
 
 enumerated at the place of registration, 
 Keepers of taverns, or hotels, or houses of entertainment, 
 Keepers of temperance hotels, or houses of entertainment. 
 
 Manufacturers and Tradesmen. 
 
 Bakers, Confectioners, Pastry-Cooks, &c., 
 
 Butchers, Fishermen, Fish-Curers, &c., 
 
 Brewers, Distillers, Cordial -makers, Preservers, dec., 
 
 Brush, Basket or Broom-makers, Wire-workers, 
 
 Button, cloth, silk, or rnetal, 
 
 Cabinet-makers, Upholsters, Hair Cushion, Chair-makers, 
 
 Candle-wax, Tallow, and Spermaceti, 
 
 Coopers, of all kinds, 
 
128 OCCUPATION OP THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 Carriage, Coach, Stage and pleasure Wagon-makers, 
 
 Comb-makers, 
 
 Cotton Spinners and Weavers, 
 
 Clock and Watch-makers, 
 
 Cutlers, Needle and Pin-makers, 
 
 Carpenters, house and general, 
 
 Dyers, Scourers, and Renovators, 
 
 Engravers, Map-makers and Artists, 
 
 Earthen Ware of all kinds makers of, 
 
 Fur- workers and Trimmers, 
 
 Fire-arms Guns, Rifles, Pistols, &c., 
 
 Glass-makers Blowers and Cutters, 
 
 Hat-makers, Caps of all kinds, male and female, 
 
 Iron-workers, Smiths, Nailers, Founders, &c., 
 
 Leather Boot, Shoe and Slipper-makers, 
 
 " All other Manufacturers of, 
 Linen Spinners and Weavers, 
 Lead, workers in Plumbers, 
 Marble-cutters, 
 Musical Instrument -makers, 
 
 Milliners, Dress-makers, Seamstresses, Corset-makers, 
 Mechanist, Machine-makers, and Mill-wrights, 
 Printers, Booksellers, Stationers, and Book-binders, 
 Paper-makers, 
 
 Paint-makers, Painters, Glaziers, 
 Rope, Cordage, Twine &c., makers of, 
 Sugar Refiners and Boilers, 
 Salt-makers, 
 
 Stone-cutters, Quarry -men and Masons, 
 Ship and Boat-builders, Ship-riggers, Caulkers, &c., 
 Tin-workers, 
 Tobacco Manufacturers, 
 Tailors, 
 
 Woollen-spinners and Weavers, 
 Wagon-makers, 
 
 The object to be attained by the completion of this 
 return, is simply the enumeration of the persons 
 engaged in the trades classified in such general ar- 
 rangement as above. No very detailed estimate could 
 perhaps be formed, from the information which it 
 would afford, but enough would be learned to exhibit 
 the relative importance of the various occupations 
 prevalent in the country. The facility with which 
 such a return could be procured, is a powerful reason 
 for proposing it. 
 
129 
 
 PLACE OF 
 
 OF THE 
 
 POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Little more than two hundred years have elapsed 
 since the Saxon race established the first efficient 
 settlement in this country. The United States, as a 
 nation, has no fabulous age, which she peoples with 
 men and monarchs to vindicate her ancient blood ; 
 but dating her existence from a tangible epoch, and 
 continuing to expel the prior inhabitants, and with 
 them all traces and history of a previous settlement, 
 she points with decision to the Puritans of the North, 
 to the Cavaliers of the South, and the friends of the 
 Middle States, as of English blood ; and turns to the 
 remoter South, and to the interior of her extended ter- 
 ritory, for the citizens of Continental extraction. But 
 if the romance of history is lost, it is only that its 
 philosophy may be more apparent, and if shadowy 
 traditions are superseded by the realities of history, 
 the value of the substitute amply atones for the ab- 
 sence of that legendary lore which forms the basis of 
 all European history, where the old chronicler, like 
 Macbeth, in the vision of the kings, always sees, 
 
 " Another yet ! a seventh j I'll see no more. 
 And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass, 
 Which shows me many more." 
 
 17 
 
130 PLACE OP NATIVITY. 
 
 In addition to this remarkable difference in the his- 
 tories of Europe and America, there is another which 
 deserves to be noticed ; that is, that the same process 
 which led to the first settlement of the country, con- 
 tinues effective to the present day; and instead of 
 having distinct periods of history, like the Roman, 
 Saxon, Danish, and Norman Governments of Eng- 
 land, America was peopled, not by conquest and set- 
 tlement at different times, but by a gradual influx of 
 the redundant population of Europe into her terri- 
 tory ; and whereas, the various conquests of England 
 created different epochs in her history, which were 
 determinate and appreciable in the extent of their in- 
 fluence upon her laws, language and habits, the gra- 
 dual immigration into this country, still continued, by 
 constantly, though imperceptibly, varying and influ- 
 encing the character of her inhabitants, presents some 
 very interesting features to the historian. 
 
 Although we are thus exposed to some peculiar 
 difficulties in estimating the principles which are ope- 
 rating to form the American character, the subject be- 
 comes invested with interest as it increases in in- 
 tricacy, and the problems which arise from the con- 
 stantly influencing effects of immigration, are of 
 especial value to the student of national character. 
 We are not aware that we have ever seen an account, 
 or rather an estimate of the descent of the present po- 
 pulation of America, though it would be found valuable 
 in itself, and interesting in some of the collateral prin- 
 ciples which it would develope. In the early history 
 of the country, we find the English, the Dutch, and 
 the Swedes, struggling for ascendency in the North, 
 the English, the French and the Spaniards effecting 
 
PLACE OP NATIVITY. 131 
 
 settlements on the Southern coast, and the gradual 
 extension of the English sway over the greater part 
 of the territory, until, freed from the mother country, 
 the United States, in one general appellative, em- 
 braced the English, French, Danish, Swedish, and 
 Spanish citizen. The proportion which these bore to 
 each other at the Revolution, or on the acquisition of 
 the lands on the Mississippi, we are utterly unable to 
 determine, and though the interest would be very 
 great were such information in existence, we must 
 forego the pleasure which it might have afforded us, 
 and turn to the condition of the country at the pre- 
 sent time. 
 
 At the Revolution, the bands which united the dif- 
 ferent settlements to Europe, were severed, and, ac- 
 cording to Gen. Washington, " we kept steadily in 
 our view that which appears to us the greatest inter- 
 est of every true American, the consolidation of our 
 union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, 
 safety, perhaps our national existence ; " and at that 
 time the American nation became one people. Had 
 the first measure of Government been to prohibit the 
 immigration of foreign citizens, the data on which the 
 Philosophical historian would have proceeded would 
 have been determinate and easy .; but, on the other 
 hand, the freest courtesies were extended to all, and, 
 in the language of Jefferson, " a temple was erected 
 to freedom, at Washington, where all people were in- 
 vited to come and worship." From the policy of her 
 Government, the freedom of her institutions, and the 
 extent of her territory, America has long been the ha- 
 ven to which the European peasant directed his 
 hopes, and thousands are yearly crowding to the 
 
132 PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 X 
 
 shores of this Republic. If we have to regret that, at 
 the time of the Revolution, no note was taken of the 
 classes of society which, by that act, were blended 
 into one ; and if we have to regret, that since those 
 stirring times, no attention has been attracted to the 
 subject, it is to be hoped that another decimal enume- 
 ration of the people will not take place without such 
 clear and satisfactory information being afforded, as 
 the nature of the inquiry will admit of. 
 
 It were needless to refer to the columns in the last 
 census of the number of aliens in the United States, 
 as affording any criterion of the number of foreign 
 born inhabitants, as there is a strong disposition to 
 misrepresent the return on the part of the alien, who 
 wishes to have the right of citizenship secured to 
 himself, and the number reported at the last census, as 
 in the whole country, was only one hundred thousand, 
 while the foreigners who arrived here in one year, 
 were 76,000, which shows the greatest discrepancy. 
 Indeed we are strongly inclined to suspect, although 
 the wording of the interrogation is ambiguous, that 
 the male inhabitants who were disqualified from vo- 
 ting by reason of their alienism, were those only 
 who are enumerated under this head. We have no 
 means of satisfying ourselves on this subject, but re- 
 fer as an indirect proof of the error of the last cen- 
 sus, to the returns of the city of New-York. By the 
 census of 1830, the reported aliens were about one- 
 eleventh of the population, and by the report of inter- 
 ments in that city for 1837, we find that one-fourth 
 were foreign born inhabitants. Now it is impossible 
 to suppose that the greater mortality of the foreign 
 population will account for this difference, and that 
 
PLACE OF NATIVITY. 133 
 
 the numbers who become citizens, swell up the defi- 
 ciency, as few women take the oaths, and children of 
 course, unless they are introduced very young, must 
 be accounted aliens till they attain majority. From 
 these indirect proofs, we might be permitted to con- 
 sider the returns as very defective, to establish which, 
 we may refer to some other criteria. The number of 
 reported aliens in 1830, was 109,832, and as none 
 can become citizens till they have resided five years, 
 of course that number ought to have included all the 
 immigrants, during the previous period of five years. 
 In 1836 however, there were about 76,000 foreigners 
 landed on these shores, that number multiplied by 5, 
 would give 380,000, and supposing l-6th to have died 
 in the course of that period, would have left 316,000 
 as the number, who during the period of five years, 
 (taking 1836 as a criterion,) had entered this country 
 by the ports alone, whereas it is well known that 
 thousands come by way of Canada, and also that 
 many settle under the protection of the American 
 government, without becoming naturalized citizens. 
 We have no very recent returns of the number of 
 immigrants into Quebec, but in 1831, it was 51,746, of 
 which one half are supposed to have entered into the 
 States. 
 
 In the city of Newark, New- Jersey, with a popu- 
 lation in 1835, of 20,000 persons, the foreign born 
 inhabitants, were to the native, as 1 to 4.G, which is 
 certainly a very large proportion, though at the same 
 time, very far above the proportion, usual, even in 
 manufacturing towns. But enough has been said to 
 show that the number of reported aliens at the taking 
 of the last census, was far below the actual number, 
 
134 PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 as the small proportion of the people which they 
 constituted, falls much below the lowest estimate 
 which can be formed of their actual number, not 
 much above l-4th, and from several indirect proofs, 
 we would be inclined to compute the number of for- 
 eigners not naturalized, in this country, at 400,000 
 persons. To show that the subjects have already 
 been discussed without satisfactory information, we 
 may add that Dr. Seybert, estimates the average 
 number of immigrants arriving in this country, be- 
 tween the years 1790 and 1810, as about 6000 annu- 
 ally, while Mr. Booth, during the latter 10 years of 
 that period, states the number of immigrants to have 
 been 645,389, or about 64,000 annually. 
 
 The following table is compiled from the Treasury 
 reports, and shows the number of immigrants who 
 arrived here in 1836, though there is no general 
 table appended to the report, and in making out this 
 one, we found some inaccuracy, which we could not 
 correct, in the returns from the port of Philadelphia, 
 and therefore we altered them to make the result 
 correspond with the aggregate number. 
 
PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 153 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 A, 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 to 10 n i> 5* O5 m ft) * t- O5 o n 
 
 * & << r-l 0* OS G^ <J* 50 
 
 sf 
 
 qjnog 
 
 pUB|;.l8Z}tMg 
 
 aqi pire XIBJJ 
 
 satpui jsaAV 
 
 PUB uiBdg 
 
 PUB ooixd N 
 
 PUB 
 
 : S 
 
 t is 
 
 aouBJj 
 
 BDU9UIV qsijug 
 
 PUB 
 
 S9JBJS paiiufi 
 
 saivwaj 
 
 CO . -i-i 
 
 : '- 
 
 .05 \ O 
 
 
 Pass 
 Ports 
 
 New 
 Digh 
 
 We append as interesting, another calculation of 
 the proportion which the immigrants of different ages 
 under 40, bear to the whole number, by which it will 
 be seen that the infant females are much more nu- 
 
 Under 
 5. 
 
 5 to 10. 10tol5 
 
 6.07 10.87 497 8.97 5-17 9.199.38 
 
 15 to 20. 
 
 20 to 25. 
 
 13.27 252118.61 
 
 25 to 30. 
 
 13.60 
 
 35 to 40 
 
 30 to 35 
 
 I 
 
 h 
 
 0.159.40 6.436.71 
 
 Upward 
 of 40. 
 
 D'bt- 
 fuJ. 
 
136 PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 merous than the infant males, that the adult males 
 in their turn greatly outnumber the adult female im- 
 migrants. These isolated tables are of little value, 
 except as showing the kind of information which 
 may (be extracted from the custom-house reports re- 
 garding immigrants, and we shall therefore not com- 
 ment further upon them. 
 
 And further, it is but fit and proper, that the num- 
 ber and influence of the foreign population should 
 be known. We are aware that in the recent political 
 excitement, the cry of " native citizen." has been 
 heard, and made the rallying word of a party in the 
 States, and that the newspaper press of that party 
 have been loud in their attacks upon the foreigners 
 settled in the country. This we may be told is mere 
 party zeal, and written with a view to political effect, 
 rather than national feeling, and this we believe to 
 be true, but it must be remembered that one of the 
 most arbitrary laws on the statute book of modern 
 nations, was passed by the Congress of the United 
 States, by the provisions of which bill, the President 
 might order dangerous or suspected aliens to depart 
 out of the territory of the United States, by which 
 no overt act being necessary, but merely excitingthe 
 suspicions of the President was held to be a sufficient 
 crime. This may have been proper and necessary 
 when proposed, and the propriety of it we do not pre- 
 tend to discuss ; but the same causes may render it 
 equally expedient on a future occasion, and should 
 the Congress of the United States not be informed 
 of the number of persons resident in this coun- 
 try, on whose freedom and whose property they are 
 called to decide ? 
 
PLACE OP NATIVITY. 137 
 
 Again, it were interesting and useful, to trace the 
 influence of foreign education and habits upon the 
 community. In the year 1836, the foreign immigrants 
 addled about l-7th to the natural increase of the coun- 
 try. Now it is evident that an infusion to this ex- 
 tent must exercise a powerful influence upon the 
 habits, manners, religion, and prevailing feelings of 
 the whole population, codum non animum mutant qui 
 trans mare currunt. McCulloch mentions the 
 ready reception of foreigners, as one of the means 
 of promoting manufactures, and it cannot be doubted 
 but that a large proportion of the manufactures 
 carried on in the Middle States, are supported by 
 foreign labour. But it is not merely in the economi- 
 cal point of view, that this question is inviting, for 
 the political and manufacturing interests sink into 
 insignificance, when contrasted with the moral influ- 
 ence such a cause exerts on the community, a cause 
 which it were well accurately to mark and determine, 
 and it were proper, while we encourage foreign capi- 
 tal and labour, to develope the resources of the 
 country, that they should be restrained from lower- 
 ing the high tone of morality and religion which 
 should pervade the community at large. The 
 question therefore of the influence of the introduc- 
 tion of foreigners, which can only be determined by 
 an accurate account of their number, presents many 
 interesting aspects, whether as regarded in a politi- 
 cal, social, or economical point of view. And it must 
 be remembered, that not only the proportion which 
 the foreign population bears to the native is interest- 
 ing, but also the differences in the foreign population 
 themselves, are of great value. Some do^ some do 
 18 
 
138 PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 not speak the language, some have been accustomed 
 to forms of government more or less free, enjoying 
 the right of trial by jury, and freedom of religious wor- 
 ship, while others have been nurtured under despotic 
 sway, without enjoying, and we may almost add, with- 
 out the power of appreciating the blessings of civil and 
 religious liberty. Of the 21,000 German immigrants 
 who arrived here in 1836, probably not 10 could 
 speak the English language, and when we consider 
 how soon a foreign settler may become a citizen, it is 
 certainly well to know the extent of mixture which 
 the constant immigration is infusing into the Ameri- 
 can people. There are 4,332 French immigrants 
 reported, and though not a large number w^hen con- 
 trasted with the population of the country, yet when 
 it is remembered that they almost always form an 
 increase to the city population, their influence on the 
 manners, tastes and habits of the inhabitants, be it 
 for weal or wo, must be considerable. Again, the 
 number of British subjects settled in this country is 
 very great, and they are necessarily of a class who 
 incorporate more readily with the native population, 
 than any other description of immigrants. If we 
 were correct in estimating the number of foreign born 
 inhabitants, not naturalized, in the United States, at 
 more than 400,000 persons, those of British extrac- 
 tion, make, we believe, about half of that number. 
 There are sometimes slight causes for the dissatisfac- 
 tion expressed at the great number of British and 
 Irish, who crowd to these shores, but we" believe no 
 permanent feeling of that kind, pervades the com- 
 munity at large, and when we consider that the works 
 of national improvement are almost all aided, if not 
 
 

 PLACE OF NATIVITY. 139 
 
 supported by British capital, and that these hardy 
 and needy immigrants perform the labour required to 
 render that capital profitable, and that it is to the 
 gigantic system of internal improvements that this 
 country owes its rapid advances; few would "be will- 
 . ing to assert that the foreign labour introduced, is other 
 than a great and permanent benefit, and the desire of 
 every true friend of America should be to render this 
 influx of foreigners twice blessed, by aiding them to 
 better themselves and increase their comforts, and 
 enabling the resources of the country to be better 
 unfolded. But whatever may be the prevalent feel- 
 ing of the community, regarding the influx of for- 
 eigners, it were certainly a just and proper subject of 
 inquiry for Government to enter upon, as if there are 
 any dangers apprehended to the safety of the body 
 politic from this source, the public should be apprized 
 of its actual condition, and if, on the other hand, the 
 influx of foreign labour, is only synonymous with the 
 introduction of wealth into the country, the politician 
 and the statesman should know the influence of such 
 a powerful agent. 
 
 Turning from the foreign population, how interest- 
 ing and valuable would it be to know the place of 
 nativity of the American born inhabitants. When 
 the condition and prospects of this country are 
 considered, and the peculiar constitution which 
 binds into one whole, so many free and separate 
 states, while upon this union the increase of wealth 
 and the maintenance of the present sources of pros- 
 perity depend, there is no question which we can con- 
 sider, more interesting and more conducive to the 
 true interests of the public, than to determine the 
 
140 PLACE OF NATITITY. 
 
 place of birth of each inhabitant. After the rude- 
 ness of the feudal ages began to give way before 
 the influence of commerce and trade, and after the 
 various legal or extortionate imposts of passage, pont- 
 age, lastage, stallage and blackmail, had fallen into 
 disuse, no general system of passports was organized 
 in England, but all were allowed, under some general 
 restrictions, to move to what part of the country they 
 might prefer, without requiring formal and express 
 permission. This has, save in time of war, been 
 long the case in England, and the same usage was 
 transplanted into this country, and the utmost freedom 
 of unrestrained intercourse has always prevailed 
 arising from this, and the influence which the union 
 of the colonial provinces into one federal republic 
 has exercised upon the feelings of the people, a large 
 and constant emigration has continued from the 
 Eastern and Middle States to the South and West ; 
 and feeling few local predilections, the American cit- 
 izen casts his eye over the extent of the whole terri- 
 tory, for the spot where he shall settle his family, or 
 where he shall cast his bread upon the waters. The 
 feeling of local attachment which exercises so 
 strong a sway over some European nations, does not 
 exist to the same extent in this country, but is merg- 
 ed in a national patriotism, and the settler looks 
 rather to the creation of fortune, and the formation of 
 fresh sources of pleasure, in some part of the West or 
 South, than to the perpetuation of the attachments 
 and associations of his earlier youth. The absence 
 of these attachments, and the absolute freedom en- 
 joyed by all, have mutually tended to promote the 
 spirit of enterprise and the desire of change, and in 
 
PLACE OF NATIVITY. 141 
 
 many districts of this country, the youth no sooner 
 reach manhood than " receiving their share of the 
 inheritance they go into a far country." This state 
 and usage of society naturally suggests two subjects 
 of contemplation, the one moral and social, the other 
 political and national. It is with the latter alone that 
 we have to do, and hope to make it appear that the 
 emigrating habits of the people by creating a com- 
 munity of interests tend materially to strengthen the 
 Union. Previously to the difficulties between the 
 mother country and the colonists, and even during 
 their early commencement, there was a good deal of 
 ill-will and jealousy among the different states, and 
 the general sympathy was only brought out when 
 open resistance had been sometime made to the Brit- 
 ish Government. New-York had disputes with Ver- 
 mont on the north, and New- Jersey on the south, as 
 to. the extent and limits of her territory; Massachu- 
 setts and her dependency, were by no means in har- 
 mony ; and Virginia, with her contest with the Indians, 
 and aggressions of the French on the Ohio, presented 
 numerous distractions ; but no sooner had the tocsin 
 of war sounded, than these minor difficulties were 
 forgotten, and the common foe became the common 
 object of reproach and opposition. The din of war 
 passed away, and with it the turmoil of the camp, 
 and the exhausted country gradually and peacefully 
 began to cultivate the arts and appliances necessary 
 to its new state of existence. And with the return 
 of peace, and the ultimate establishment of a confed- 
 erated government, the difficulties which presented 
 themselves ceased to excite the same angry feelings, 
 and the liberal conduct of Massachusetts to Maine, 
 
PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 of Connecticut to Ohio, and of Virginia towards 
 Kentucky, seem to have been the harbinger of a 
 better state of things. The rivalry of the different 
 states began to flow in a better channel, and the zeal 
 with which the interests of each republic were 
 pursued, formed the only apparent subject of com- 
 petition; a general intercourse took place, trade 
 among the different states was by the federal con- 
 stitution declared unrestricted ; and the union of 
 interest and the cultivation of social courtesies, 
 have gradually levelled down all sectional difficul- 
 ties, and the North and the South, the East and the 
 West, feel themselves linked together in one vast 
 brotherhood. 
 
 Since the erection of the general government, the 
 number of new states, which may be called the de- 
 scendants of the old, which have been added to the 
 Union may be reckoned ten ; and the peculiar con- 
 nexion which subsists between the thriving progeny, 
 and the no less thriving parents, is one of especial 
 harmony and interest. But who can trace the inte- 
 rests in their detail which bind the^e states together? 
 and who can estimate the influence which the migra- 
 tory character of the population exercises upon the 
 social compact? In the west there is the hope of 
 the parent who lives on his wonted farm in the east ; 
 in some southern city the son transacts the business 
 consigned to him by his father in the north ; and 
 this constant union of interest with the ties of con- 
 nexion presents in our mind a barrier which it is 
 impossible for difference in opinion or party politics 
 ever completely to surmount. And it is to tell the 
 extent of this influence, and, at the same time, to 
 
PLACE OP NATIVITY. 143 
 
 mark the developement of character under phases 
 which differences in local condition naturally create, 
 that we suggest this inquiry. The strength of the 
 political union in this country will be more fully un- 
 derstood when the moral throe, which a separation 
 would occasion, is estimated ; and this strength can 
 easily be determined by ascertaining the birth-place 
 of every inhabitant in the Union, which would be 
 a work of some labour, but of no great inherent 
 difficulty. 
 
 We have spoken of the advantage and interest of 
 procuring returns of the birth-place of the foreigners 
 who are denizened in this country, and of the utility 
 of obtaining information regarding the migrations 
 of the native-born inhabitants. In turning, now, to 
 the other class who are included in our population, 
 we feel that we enter upon ground which may by 
 some be considered delicate. In desiring to know 
 the place of birth of the coloured population, there are 
 moral as well as political ends in view. Whatever 
 may be the feelings which agitate the community 
 regarding the question of slavery, the statist need take 
 no part in the controversy : he endeavours on every 
 topic to arrive at facts: he does not express opin- 
 ions, but, having calmly recorded and dispassionately 
 examined the data he may have acquired, he hands 
 them to the statesman or the political economist, to 
 be the basis of future legislation or the groundwork 
 of future argument. Now, we wish to point out two 
 very important subjects on which an enumeration of 
 the place of birth of the black population, whether 
 free or slave, will throw considerable light. And, 
 1st. It has been asserted that the coloured popula- 
 
144 PLACE OP NATIVITY. 
 
 tion in the northern states, where slavery has been 
 abolished, flocked to the large towns, and, leaving the 
 country occupations to which many of them were 
 accustomed, have become a burden to the community 
 and a disgrace to the country. By this return we 
 will be able to trace the extent to which those born 
 in the country have emigrated to the towns, and the 
 probable effect which emancipation at the south 
 would exercise upon the coloured labourers. And at 
 a time like the present, when the feelings of the com- 
 munity are aroused, and violent and unfounded asser- 
 tions are made by either party, it were well to have 
 a calm and philosophical inquiry carried on, which 
 might dispel some error, and tend to calm the pre- 
 vailing excitement, and, by affording some data for 
 argument, might operate with a very beneficial effect 
 upon the community at large. 
 
 2dly. By means of the enumeration carried on 
 through the slave-holding states, we would learn the 
 amount and extent of the domestic slave trade in this 
 country. Amidst the ignorance which prevails on 
 this subject, the most contradictory assertions are 
 freely made. On this topic, the request of the 
 statist is merely for information, and in making it he 
 feels that he cannot be considered as trespassing 
 upon private rights or national safety ; and certainly 
 there is no reason why the general government 
 should decline procuring information, relative either 
 to a source of wealth or a source of crime ; and if, 
 in prosecuting such inquiries, the wakefulness of any 
 sensitive portion of the community is aroused, gov- 
 ernment owe it to themselves not needlessly to 
 
PLACE OP NATIVITY. 145 
 
 excite apprehension, while they judiciously pursue 
 the subject of their inquiries. 
 
 The returns which we have proposed would there- 
 fore afford us some satisfactory information on 
 
 1st. The immigration into this country, the number 
 and general distribution of the foreigners who settle 
 here, their language and general character. 
 
 2d. The principles which regulate the migration 
 to various parts of the country among the native in- 
 habitants, the mixture of the different classes, and 
 extent of intercourse likely to arise from the distri- 
 bution of the people. 
 
 3d. The actual condition of the coloured population 
 in the United States, as evinced by their migration 
 or transportation. 
 
 The plan which we would propose following in 
 regard to this enumeration would be either to take 
 an account of the birth-place of each person, accord- 
 ing to the state in which it was situated ; or, if that 
 was considered as too laborious, to divide the 
 Union into four great sections, Eastern, Middle, West- 
 ern and Southern, and classify them according to 
 these sections. But we earnestly hope that this plan 
 will not be followed, and we have only suggested it 
 in order to prevent the contraction being effected 
 without an opposing >voice. The great importance of 
 this return has yet to be spoken of; and in referring, as 
 we do below, to the flood of light which it would let 
 in upon the subjects of "vital statistics," "criminal 
 statistics," and some other kindred topics, we hope 
 to show that its whole value consists in its minute- 
 ness. Discarding, therefore, the plan proposed of 
 dividing the Union into sections, we have recourse 
 
 19 
 
146 PLACE OP NATIVITY. 
 
 to the only other mode, viz., of reporting the state in 
 which each inhabitant was lorn. 
 
 Proceeding next with the foreign population, we 
 would make some general classification of the coun- 
 tries from which the immigrants come, being guided by 
 some affinities in the nations to which they belong, 
 as it will be necessary to condense the tables, and 
 not to insert the inhabitant of each separate country 
 in a separate column. In the subjoined table perhaps 
 the classification may answer, and the deputy mar- 
 shals might be required to fill up the columns accord- 
 ing to the place of birth of each individual, and in 
 addition to the many advantages which would other- 
 wise flow from it, it would afford a means of check- 
 ing the enumeration by the ages of the inhabitants, 
 and detecting any error in the returns. The columns 
 for foreigners might be made in duplicate, so that 
 those who were foreign-born and not naturalized 
 would be distinct from those who were foreign-born 
 and citizens of the United States. And, further, these 
 returns would show the differences which exist in 
 the practice of accepting the right of citizenship, 
 which is said to vary much in different nations all 
 the Irish, and but few of the French immigrants being 
 said to do so. These are questions of considerable 
 interest ; but after inserting a proposed schedule, we 
 shall pass on to topics of more real value, 
 
PLACE OP NATIVITY. 
 
 147 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 ) 
 i 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 tlusetts. 
 
 5 
 
 s 
 
 
 } other Stales and tern 
 
 Great Britain. 
 
 h 
 
 I 
 
 British America. 
 
 E 
 
 a 
 
 c 
 1 
 
 > 
 
 K 
 
 s 
 
 C 
 
 by the German 
 
 j 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 a 
 
 ! 
 
 Spain and Portugal. 
 
 Mexico and Texas. 
 
 -West Indies and Cub 
 
 -South America. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 s 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 oj 2 
 
 II 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 (Jonnec 
 
 5 
 
 . 
 
 -s 
 
 *tl_ 
 
 ALIKN. 
 
 tj 
 
 ALIEN. 
 
 NAT. 
 
 * LIKN. 
 
 H 
 
 ALIEN. 
 
 5 
 
 z 
 
 H 
 
 5 3 
 
 
 ALIEN. 
 
 si 1 
 
 sJ 
 
 NAT. 
 ALIKN. 
 
 N*T. 
 ALIEN 
 
 5 
 
 z 
 
 z 
 
 a 
 
 NAT. 
 ALIKN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This return, faithfully complied with, will enable 
 us to acquire accurate details regarding the following 
 subjects, in addition to the other useful information 
 already referred to : 
 
 1st. It will enable us to examine the vital statis- 
 tics, and the actual state of the health and longevity 
 in this country, which are utterly unknown at present. 
 The way in which the returns have hitherto been 
 made out renders it impossible to determine the rela- 
 tive healthfulness of any one district of country, as 
 it is impossible to estimate or ascertain the drain 
 which emigration has made upon any region, and 
 thus to determine what the actual increase by birth 
 or decrease by mortality has been. We are well 
 assured, for example, that an old settled state, with 
 good soil, good climate, and good water, where the 
 forests are open to the sunbeam, and the marshes 
 drained of stagnant water, is more healthful than one 
 of those western virgin states, where the soil teems 
 with fever as well as with vegetation, where the 
 settlers, in the progress of acquiring a happy home, 
 have to submit to all the privations of a forest life, 
 amidst the dews and suns of the fruitful west. By 
 
148 PLACE OF NATIVITY. 
 
 turning to the population tables of 1830, we find the 
 increase of the state of New Jersey, for the previous 
 ten years, to have been only at the rate of 16,6494 
 per centum ; while Ohio, labouring- under all these 
 drawbacks, increased at'the rate of 61,3086 percent. 
 This, if taken as a criterion of the health of the coun- 
 try, is notoriously false, as the actual increase of New 
 Jersey went to swell the apparent increase of Ohio ; 
 but it serves as an illustration to show the nature of 
 information which the present state of the returns 
 affords. By knowing the place of birth of each in- 
 habitant, we will be able to refer each to his own 
 state, and with great certainty contrast the different 
 sections. 
 
 2d. It will enable us to determine the often- 
 broached question, whether there is more crime 
 among the foreign than the native population, and, if 
 so, how much greater is the excess of crime among 
 the immigrants, as it is evidently impossible to deter- 
 mine the question till the number of foreigners in the 
 country is known. And, 
 
 3d. It will enable us to determine the proportion 
 which the native poor bear to the foreign. 
 
 These questions are all of such importance that 
 we shall devote a separate chapter to each, and must 
 earnestly hope that the plan of having this return 
 complied with may be thought expedient, as the 
 amount of information it would furnish would be 
 immense. 
 
149 
 
 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 If it is necessary that the direct interest which the 
 General Government has in every inquiry should be 
 apparent, before it can constitutionally make it the 
 subject of examination, we would under this head, 
 refer to the Pension list of the United States, as inti- 
 mately connected with vital statistics. Between the 
 years 1790 and 1833, the expense of the pensions, 
 granted for services or losses during the Revolution- 
 ary and the late War, amounted to $24,000,000, and 
 this sum has been paid out without gaining any in- 
 formation as to the expectation of life in this country. 
 The annual expense of pensions is still considerable, 
 and in the event of another war, would again be 
 much increased ; and surely it were well and fitting 
 for Government to have some data on which to de- 
 termine the value of compensation granted. In 1818, 
 every officer and private, who had served in the war 
 of the Revolution, and then stood in need of assist- 
 ance, was entitled to a certain pension during the 
 remainder of his life ; did the Secretary of War 
 know the value of this grant ? did Congress estimate 
 its value, or were there any means of doing so ? 
 
 The question of the expectation of life is one of 
 great value and interest, and one which, did our time 
 and limits permit, we would willingly enter into at 
 length. Even in England, the subject is not by any 
 means clearly understood, and the different tables in 
 
150 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 use will not stand the test of accurate examination. 
 The calculations called the Northampton tables are 
 little to be depended on, as they were framed by Dr. 
 Price, who entertained the opinion that the popu- 
 lation of England was diminishing, and in 1780, 
 amounted only to four and a half millions. " Go- 
 vernments," says McCulloch, "which alone have the 
 means of framing such tables on an adequate scale, 
 and with the necessary precautions, have been sin- 
 gularly inattentive to their duty in this respect. 
 And until a very few years since, when Mr. Finlaison 
 was employed to calculate tables of the value of an- 
 nuities, from the ages of the nominees in public ton- 
 tines, and of individuals on whose lives Government 
 had granted annuities, all that had been done in this 
 country, to construct tables of mortality, and by con- 
 sequence, to lay a foundation on which to construct 
 the vast fabric of life insurance, was the work of a 
 few private persons, who had of course but a limited 
 number of observations to work upon." However, 
 in a late act of parliament, ample provision has been 
 made for obtaining all the requisite information, upon 
 which to construct tables of the value of life, as the 
 number of births and deaths, the age at death, and 
 the disease are all to be recorded, though that of 
 course throws no light upon the value of life in 
 America. 
 
 In this country, it is not known whether the cli- 
 mate, with its rapid alternations of heat and cold, is, 
 on the whole, more baneful to the human constitu- 
 tion than the moister atmosphere of England; and 
 even the simpler question of longevity cannot be 
 settled by the returns as made out on former occa- 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 151 
 
 sions, until the rate of increase be previously deter- 
 mined. Now we have already shown, that the true 
 ratio of increase cannot be ascertained, till the num- 
 ber of foreigners be known, as, in one year, they 
 augmented the rate of increase by one-seventh, and 
 therefore little can be built upon any examination of 
 the census. We can only follow this interesting 
 subject a little way, and at most hope to exhibit the 
 want of satisfactory information, which exists upon 
 such an extensive topic ; but in these few remarks, 
 we hope to correct some errors prevalent regarding it. 
 Longevity. In contrasting the length of life in this 
 country, and in England, we shall take the Govern- 
 ment returns in England for 1821, the census of the 
 United States for the whole country, and for New 
 Jersey for 1830, which will afford accurate details 
 from which to form a table, exhibiting the number of 
 persons at every age from 5 to 100 years, in each of 
 these countries, reduced to proportional parts of 1000, 
 which is supposed to be the whole number living. 
 
 
 
 No. of persons at 
 each age in 1000 
 
 No. of persons ai 
 each age in 1000 
 
 No. of persona at 
 each age in 1000 
 
 
 inhabitants. 
 
 inhabitants. 
 
 inhabitants. 
 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 
 Male. 
 
 ^emale. 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Under 5, 
 
 153.6 
 
 144. 
 
 181.7 
 
 178^ 
 
 164.4 
 
 162. 
 
 5 and under 10, 
 
 134.7 
 
 126.8 
 
 146. 
 
 145.1 
 
 139. 
 
 138.5 
 
 10 " 15, 
 
 117.1 
 
 105.8 
 
 125. 
 
 123.5 
 
 129.5 
 
 122.9 
 
 15 " 20, 
 
 98.9 
 
 99.5 
 
 107. 
 
 115.3 
 
 112.4 
 
 113.6 
 
 20 - 30, 
 
 146.7 
 
 167.5 
 
 178.6 
 
 177.6 
 
 177. 
 
 174.7 
 
 30 " 40, 
 
 115.2 
 
 120.7 
 
 110.6 
 
 107.4 
 
 112.9 
 
 112.5 
 
 40 50, 
 
 93.6 
 
 93.1 
 
 68.6 
 
 68.8 
 
 72.4 
 
 75.1 
 
 50 60, 
 
 66.4 
 
 65.4 
 
 42.8 
 
 43.2 
 
 46.2 
 
 49.4 
 
 60 " 70, 
 
 44.9 
 
 46.3 
 
 25.2 
 
 25.4 
 
 29. 
 
 32.5 
 
 70 80, 
 
 22.3 
 
 23.1 
 
 10.7 
 
 11.2 
 
 13.2 
 
 14.6 
 
 80 "90 
 
 5.7 
 
 6.7 
 
 2.9 
 
 3.3 
 
 3.5 
 
 4. 
 
 90 " 100 
 
 .4 
 
 .6 
 
 .4 
 
 .5 
 
 .3 
 
 .4 
 
 100 and upwards 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 From this table, it would seem that the proportion 
 of persons alive in after life, is greater in England 
 than in this country ; and that while in 1000 inhabi- 
 
162 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 tants, there would in England be 93 alive, between 
 the ages of 40 and 50, in the United States at the* 
 same age, there would only be 68. But we would be 
 liable to considerable error, if we concluded, from 
 this table, that the expectation of life in England 
 was greater than here. When a population is in- 
 creasing rapidly, innately (which word seems suita- 
 ble to express the increase from natural sources, ex- 
 clusive of immigration) it is evident, that the propor- 
 tion of adult to infant population will be less than 
 in one in which the increase is slight, and therefore 
 if 1000 persons be selected and apportioned accord- 
 ing to a scale of their ages, a larger number must be 
 placed under the earlier ages, and fewer will remain 
 to be distributed among the more advanced years. 
 From this, it will appear, that we have the results 
 which might be expected in the above table, the 
 number under five years of age being, in England, 
 153, leaving 847 persons to be distributed among the 
 remaining ages ; while in this country, 181 were un- 
 der 5 years of age, leaving only 819 persons to be 
 distributed among the remaining ages, which diffe- 
 rence will at first sight appear to exhibit an increased 
 mortality in this country. If the innate increase in 
 the two countries was the same, of course the result 
 would be different, and the table would exhibit a 
 much greater mortality here than in England, but 
 the rate of increase here is so much more rapid than 
 there, as completely to account for the discrepancy. 
 Again, the tables before us, afford accurate mate- 
 rials for another calculation, viz. : the per-centage of 
 loss which the population in the two countries sus- 
 tains every ten years. In this examination, we take 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 153 
 
 the state of New Jersey, and the returns from Scot- 
 lam], as the ratio of increase nearly corresponds, being 
 in the former, ITJ.per cent, in ten years, and in the 
 latter, \L6 per cent. The following calculation is 
 only made regarding the males, want of time alone 
 prevents our completing it, as the deductions are 
 important, and worthy of being followed out. 
 
 
 NEW-JERSEY CENSUS, 1830 
 
 SCOTLAND CENSUS, 1821. 
 
 S 
 
 onfn'each 
 
 Loss per 
 centum in 
 each suc- 
 cessive 10 
 years. 
 
 Total No. 
 of males a- 
 live at the 
 period in- 
 dicated. 
 
 Lossthere- 
 onin each 
 successive 
 10 years. 
 
 Loss per 
 centum in 
 each suc- 
 cessive 10 
 years. 
 
 Under 1( 
 
 46.2-5 
 36.868 
 27.001 
 17.251 
 11.0J3 
 7.053 
 4.453 
 2.021 
 .534 
 .44 
 .1 
 
 9.407 
 9.887 
 9.770 
 6. 188 
 3.990 
 2.595 
 2.437 
 1.487 
 .490 
 .43 
 
 20.33 
 27.04 
 36.19 
 35.92 
 36.19 
 36.75 
 54.66 
 73.57 
 91.76 
 97.73 
 
 263.254 
 210.502 
 137.645 
 107.107 
 82 695 
 60.014 
 42.303 
 10.977 
 5.377 
 .620 
 .40 
 
 52.752 
 72.857 
 30.538 
 24.412 
 22.671 
 17.705 
 22.322 
 14.600 
 4.757 
 .580 
 
 20.04 
 34.56 
 32.18 
 22.80 
 27.41 
 19.52 
 52.76 
 73.08 
 88.45 
 93.55 
 
 10 and under 2G 
 20 " 30 
 33 " 40 
 40 50 
 50 60 
 60 70 
 70 80 
 -<0 90 
 90 " 100 
 100 and upwards. 
 
 As the rate of increase in these two countries does 
 not vary much, the proportion of loss every ten years 
 should not materially differ, and accordingly, we find 
 that until the age of 30 and after 70, the rapidity of 
 decrease nearly corresponds, and it becomes a ques- 
 tion whether the greater decrease which occurs be. 
 tween 30 and 70 is to be accounted for by the extent 
 of emigration or the difference of climate. Now as 
 this table is formed by distributing the same popula- 
 tion into the different columns, and not by considering 
 the successive ages to be deduced from the preceding 
 ones, there is evidently an error in its construction; 
 but as the ratio of increase in both countries corres- 
 pond, our not having made any allowance for the 
 increase of population will not materially affect the 
 comparison of the two. Assuming that the mortality 
 20 
 
154 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 in New Jersey is equal to that of Scotland, the num- 
 ber of inhabitants, which 46,275 children would 
 infer, would be 162,287, instead of 152,534, being 
 nearly 10,000 more than the present male popula- 
 tion, a number which we are convinced is much too 
 small an allowance for all the Jersey-born inhabi- 
 tants settled in other states. 
 
 From these tables, however, it is evident, that the 
 population returns can never be made the basis of 
 any statistical inquiries till the ratio of innate in- 
 crease be determined, and until the place of birth of 
 the inhabitants be recorded, that cannot be done. 
 Some very interesting details might, however, be 
 obtained regarding the relative longevity of the two 
 races in this country, although it is said that the 
 aged blacks are not often to be trusted in the report 
 of their advanced years. The comparative longevity 
 of different European nations is very imperfectly 
 understood, and great error arises from the ratio of 
 increase being overlooked in the estimate, for, in 
 Norway, where the population is stationary, the 
 number which those upwards of 70 present, by no 
 means proves that the health of the people corre- 
 sponded therewith. 
 
 But as these more general inquiries into the con- 
 dition of the population, are impeded at every hand 
 by defective information, it is to be hoped that the 
 more enlightened views of Government will, at 
 length embrace the requisite details, and that the 
 census of the population, besides a simple enumera- 
 tion, will embrace an inquiry into the births, deaths, 
 and marriages in the United States, and other impor- 
 tant subjects. Till this is done, it were needless 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 155 
 
 to attempt to conjecture the present vital statistics 
 of this country; and nothing can satisfactorily be 
 done by individual States, as the nature of the in- 
 quiry should embrace the whole Union, and be of a 
 general not of a local character. 
 
 As the most convenient formula at hand, we shall 
 follow the arrangement of McCulloch, in his ac- 
 count of the population of Great Britain, which will 
 show the topics which are considered suitable for in- 
 vestigation and inquiry. 
 
 IST. SECTION. Races of Inhabitants. We have 
 already fully referred to this subject, which is of 
 much more vital importance in this country than in 
 England ; forming there a part of her past history 
 only, here a powerful cause of present action. At 
 every hand, however, we must again remark, that the 
 importance of an. inquiry into the place of nativity of 
 the inhabitants, will appear, and no subject of in- 
 vestigation suggested inthis Chapter can be satisfac- 
 torily examined until such information is obtained. 
 
 2D. SEC. Progress of Population. The period in 
 which an extensive population can double itself, is 
 uncertain. Malthus estimates it, under the most fa- 
 vourable circumstances, at 15 years ; the period in 
 which, since 1790, the population of this country has 
 doubled itself, is about 25 years, and is the greatest 
 increase on record of the rapid augmentation of a 
 community. It were needless to notice the various 
 discussions which this subject has given rise to, as, 
 although ample materials are at hand for exposing 
 the errors which have been propagated, no accurate 
 data exist to enable us to substitute others more ca- 
 pable of standing the test of examination. The ques- 
 
156 
 
 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 tion, as discussed, lies in the narrow compass of 
 what is the number of immigrants are they, or are 
 they not, sufficient to affect materially the ratio of in- 
 crease of the population? No satisfactory answers 
 can be given to such queries, and therefore, till rigid 
 examination determines the data, speculation on the 
 subject is idle. In a former chapter, we have shown 
 that at times the immigration is very great ; but suffi- 
 cient information is not obtained to know the propor- 
 tion in which it adds to the increase of the popula- 
 tion of the country. 
 
 In the statistical tables presented to Congress, in 
 1835, by Mr. Forsyth, much labour has been expend- 
 ed in calculating the ratio of increase in each State 
 for each decimal period of enumeration. Whatever 
 political object such calculations may subserve, we 
 are unable to believe that the least advantage to a 
 scientific examination of the theories of the increase 
 of population would follow them, as the result only 
 shows the effects which various causes have exerted 
 upon the individual States, without attempting to dis- 
 criminate the different features which distinguish 
 these causes. As we have already instanced the 
 cases of Ohio and New- Jersey, we may again refer 
 to them as examples ; the increase in the one, in 
 the 10 years previous, being at the rate of 61 per 
 cent.; while in the other it was only 16. No one 
 would conclude that the augmentation in the former 
 case was all by innate increase ; while in the healthy 
 character of the climate and soil, no one could ex- 
 pect to trace the cause of the very moderate addition 
 to the population of the other. It is vain, therefore, 
 to attempt to make any deduction as to the actual 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 157 
 
 healthfulness of the different States, or to attempt to 
 procure a knowledge of the causes which, in the va- 
 rious sections of the country, promote or retard the 
 progress of population. 
 
 It were easy to speculate on the general principles 
 which may be supposed to promote or retard Jhe in- 
 crease of a community ; but practical results would 
 follow from a detailed examination alone. Among 
 the causes of increase, which, in this country, are 
 most powerfully efficient, might be mentioned the 
 extent of unimproved yet productive territory, the fa- 
 cility of intercourse with the more settled districts, 
 the advantages of a climate peculiarly favourable to 
 certain agricultural productions, and the demand for 
 labour which such circumstances create. If we were 
 asked what the causes are which tend to limit the 
 population of any section of the country, " we would 
 answer all those circumstances in our constitution 
 and fortunes here on earth, which check increase ; 
 some of them arising immediately from the virtues 
 and some from the vices of man, some resting on the 
 dictates of prudence, some on the law of necessity, 
 some growing out of the constitution of our frames, 
 some from the organization of society, some resulting 
 from the great catastrophes in the physical world, and 
 some purely of a moral quality."* 
 
 The returns we have already suggested, will ena- 
 ble us to decide with much accuracy, on the number 
 of the population of each State, the result of innate 
 increase ; when it will be more easy to trace the 
 causes which promote known results, than at present 
 
 * North American Review, vol. viii., p. 301. 
 
158 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 to speculate on the subject, when neither the causes 
 nor the results are ascertained. 
 
 One thing must ever be remembered when speak- 
 ing of the progress of population, which is too gene- 
 rally overlooked, viz. that, the smaller the present 
 number of inhabitants in a State, the greater will be 
 the effect of immigration upon the ratio of increase. 
 The population of the United States may now be so 
 great, that the annual augmentation from the shores 
 of Europe may very slightly alter the innate ratio of 
 augmentation ; but this is by no means the case when 
 the newer States in the Union are referred to. The 
 State of Michigan, at the last period of enumeration, 
 contained only 31,639 persons, and probably that 
 number will be found to be increased 200 per cent 
 in the interval of 10 years preceding the next census. 
 Now it would not require a very large number of im- 
 migrants to eiFect this, and the same number would 
 only alter the ratio of increase of the State of New- 
 York about 3 per cent. This must never be over- 
 looked, as the ratio of increase alone, unless the pre- 
 sent population is at the same time considered, is 
 liable to lead to very erroneous conclusions. 
 
 3D. SEC. Densitij of the Population. The United 
 States contain the most scattered population that 
 has ever attained a high degree of civilization, and 
 the advantages and disadvantages which flow from 
 the sparseness of her settlement, it were easy to enu- 
 merate were they not sufficiently obvious. Darby es- 
 timates the number of inhabitants in this country to a 
 square mile, as 31 66-100ths, about one tenth of the 
 density of the population in England, and such a dis- 
 parity must necessarily exercise a powerful influence 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 159 
 
 upon the habits of the community. From the census 
 as made out last year, it were easy to calculate the 
 density of the population, although the area of the 
 several States, and more particularly of their sectional 
 divisions, is not accurately known. In connection 
 with this subject, and in order to facilitate the labours 
 of the statist, it would be well to ascertain the num- 
 ber of dwelling houses in the United States. Since 
 the year 1798 there has been no enumeration of 
 them, and we have no data by which they can be 
 estimated. At that period, exclusive of all those 
 under $100 value, there were 276,659 inhabited 
 houses, and, as showing the habits of the people 
 and the number constituting a family, it would be in- 
 teresting to have an accurate return made of all the 
 dwelling houses in the United States, totally disre- 
 garding their value. There could, of course, be no 
 difficulty in procuring a full account of these, which, 
 as commonly the basis of several interesting esti- 
 mates by foreign statists, would be serviceable here. 
 It would show the average number of which each 
 family consisted, which is, at present, a matter of 
 conjecture. 
 
 4TH. SEC. Population of Large Towns. This in- 
 formation can easily be procured without any increase 
 of expense or additional trouble, by providing that no 
 city, town, or incorporated village, be reported in 
 connection with the adjacent country, being a regula- 
 tion similar to that which provided, in the last cen- 
 sus, that the boundaries of each county should be re- 
 spected. 
 
 5xH. SEC. Proportion of Males to Females. This 
 is a subject which the information obtained from the 
 
160 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 census of 1830 enables us accurately to examine, and 
 the results it presents are curious, being different 
 from the information which a similar examination of 
 European tables affords. From whatever causes, the 
 greater fatality which attends males in Europe, 
 whether war, exposure, or emigration, keeps the fe- 
 males in excess, though it would seem that the male 
 sex is always slightly in excess at birth ; at least 
 such is the result of all inquiries on the subject which 
 have been made. 
 
 In England, for 100 male births, there are 94.74 females. 
 
 In France, 100 " " " " 96. " 
 
 In New-Spain,* " " " " " 98. " 
 
 In Prussia,! " " " " " 94.37 " 
 
 In Philadelphia,! " " " " " 93.35 
 
 Such, for some mysterious purposes, being the law 
 of our nature, it is interesting to find that in this 
 country the ratio is maintained through life, whereas 
 in Europe the greater risk and casualty to which the 
 males are exposed, have always more than counter- 
 balanced the effect w r hich such a difference would 
 have. On this side of the Atlantic, however, such, 
 by no means, seems to be the case ; and the addition- 
 al number of males at birth is maintained throughout 
 life, as exhibited below : 
 
 In [England, for each 100 males, there] are 103.1 females. 
 
 In France, " ' b 103. 
 
 In New Spain, " " " " " 95. 
 
 In the United States, in 1830, " " 97.12 
 
 Such are interesting facts, and would require very 
 careful examination before the causes which produce 
 them can be accurately determined ; but the folio w- 
 
 * Humbolt's New-Spain. f American Almanac. J Bills of Mortality. 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 161 
 
 ing very curious table, which we have framed, 
 throws some light upon the subject, as it would seem 
 that all the States, from which emigration proceeded 
 to a great extent, had a majority of females, while 
 those to which the immigration flowed had always a 
 majority of males. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Maine, 33.9420 
 
 New Hampshire, 10.4775 
 
 Massachusetts 16.8352 
 
 Connecticut 8.4002 
 
 Rhode Island, 17.8913 
 
 Vermont, 19.1296 
 
 Ntw-York, 40.5869 
 
 New- Jersey, 16.6494 
 
 Pennsylvania, 28.7885 
 
 Delaware, 4.1949 
 
 Maryland, 11.8691 
 
 Virginia, 15.1268 
 
 North Carolina, 12.7965 
 
 South Carolina, 8.6013 
 
 Georgia, . 56.5713 
 
 Kentucky, 19.1290 
 
 Tennessee 57.6062 
 
 Ohio, 61.0083 
 
 Indiana, 132.8510 
 
 Mississippi, 67.0215 
 
 Illinois, 188.2818 
 
 Louisiana, 21.8825 
 
 Missouri, 105.0350 
 
 Alabama, 97.8347 
 
 Michigan, 264.8702 
 
 Arkansas, 104.0782 
 
 Ratio of in 
 crease in tei 
 years from 
 1820 to 1830. 
 
 Proporti 
 which males 
 bore to femal 
 were as iOO u 
 the No. indi 
 cated below 
 
 98.04 
 104.84 
 104.74 
 102.45 
 106.52 
 9984 
 96.24 
 90.30 
 96.74 
 99.65 
 97.50 
 99.43 
 100.50 
 97.39 
 93-63 
 93.83 
 94.71 
 90.14 
 92.96 
 83.10 
 88.98 
 79.08 
 86.78 
 88.80 
 72.54 
 80.08 
 
 Now if such results follow emigration in this coun- 
 try, perhaps the same causes may be operating in 
 Europe, and the causes which may tend, in some de- 
 gree, to lower the proportion of males there, may in- 
 crease it here, viz. the larger number of males who 
 emigrate. It is satisfactory to think, that the chance 
 of male life in this country is so much increased, 
 21 
 
162 VITAL STATISTICS, 
 
 and whether it does not argue greater tranquillity and 
 morality, is a question well open to discussion. 
 
 GTH. SEC. Proportion of Births, Deaths, and Mar- 
 riages. On this section we must express our views 
 more fully than we have hitherto done, as the subjects 
 alluded to are of very great importance, and regard- 
 ing which nothing is known. In some of the cities, 
 on the seaboard, registers are kept of the number of 
 the births and marriages, and the number of inter- 
 ments are reported for the purpose of completing the 
 bills of mortality ; and in the census of the State of 
 New- York, for 1835, the number of each of these is 
 given, and the same practice may locally obtain else- 
 where ; but speaking of the country at large, we are 
 warranted in saying, that no information, capable of 
 affording any light to the statistical student, exists; 
 and it is to supply this desideratum, that we now 
 purpose to suggest a ^considerable addition to the 
 number of those tables to be used in reporting the 
 enumeration of the people in 1840. The information 
 on the subject, which Mr. McCulloch treats of under 
 this head, it is impossible to procure in this country, 
 and even in England, although they have long had 
 bills of mortality, and registers of the births and mar- 
 riages, they are said to be so ill kept that no useful 
 information can be gleaned from them. It is not 
 practicable for this Government to attempt to imitate 
 the example of the less extended European powers, 
 and to establish permanent records of these occur- 
 rences in the several States ; but at the time of 
 taking the census, it were easy to acquire some in- 
 formation regarding the number of each of these 
 events which have taken place within the previous 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 163 
 
 year. It is true, that it would be more satisfactory 
 to procure a detail of all the births, deaths, and mar- 
 riages which annually occur ; but in the absence of 
 such particular and continuous returns, it would be 
 convenient and serviceable to procure them of the 
 decimal years only. Now nothing could be more 
 easy than for the assistant to inquire at each house, 
 whether any of these events had occurred within the 
 year previous to his visit. If the following schedule 
 were added to that used in taking the enumeration, 
 arid the assistant allowed as much for each entry in 
 these columns as he may be for each inhabitant en- 
 rolled, no difficulty, we apprehend, would be expe- 
 rienced in procuring the most satisfactory returns for 
 the year 1840. Births. The facility of obtaining 
 returns of the number of infants born, distinguished 
 according to their sex and colour,would be great, and 
 those who were still-born might be distinguished from 
 those born alive. In Prussia, rather more than three 
 per cent, are found to be still-born, arid in this coun- 
 try we understand the question is curious as regards 
 the different races, a much smaller proportion of the 
 coloured infants being born dead. By the detailed 
 accounts of the births taken in connection with the 
 return of the deaths, there are some general deduc- 
 tions to be obtained, relating to the ratio of increase 
 and other similar topics. 
 
 The number of Deaths which take place, is like- 
 wise enveloped in the greatest obscurity. 
 
 In the State of New- York, the census of 1835, 
 returns 1,102,658 males, and 1,071,859 female inhab- 
 itants, and 17,486 deaths among the former, and 
 15,280 among the latter. More properly however, 
 
164 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 the number of deaths ought to be added to the num- 
 ber of persons returned, to obtain a correct estimate 
 of the proportion of deaths which occur, which would 
 make 1 death in 64 males, and 1 death in 71 females 
 for the year. In the city of New- York, also, we 
 have some satisfactory returns, by which we find the 
 number of inhabitants to be 270,089, and the deaths 
 6,608, or one in 40. In contrasting these returns with 
 the English bills of mortality, we find the advantage 
 to be greatly on the side of this country. The aver- 
 age mortality in England for the five years preceding 
 1830, was 1 in 51 ; and the extremes vary from 1 in 64 
 in Cornwall to 1 in 41 in Middlesex ; and in the city 
 of Glasgow, 1 in 39.04 of the population were 
 buried. It will be seen that the mean mortality in 
 the state of New- York, is 1 in 67 1-2, in England, 1 
 in 51, and in the city of NewYork, 1 in 42, in the 
 city of Glasgow, 1 in 39.04, which contrary to ex- 
 pectation, evinces a much greater degree of health 
 in this country than in England. Whether however, 
 this high standard would be maintained if the exami- 
 nation extended over the whole country, or even the 
 whole of the farming States of the Union, premises 
 do not warrant us to conclude ; but the rapid increase 
 of the population, may lead us to hope such is the 
 case. 
 
 But apart from examinations of the mortality of 
 this country, as compared with Europe, what is the 
 comparative mortality of different districts of the coun- 
 try? Is the climate of the New-England States more 
 healthy than that of the Middle States, or are they 
 in their turn more healthful than the Western. Is 
 the Alleghany ridge a barrier which prevents the 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 165 
 
 diseases incident to a maritime country from pene- 
 trating into the interior, or are diseases indigenous 
 to the inland states more fatal than those prevalent 
 on the coast? Such are the questions fraught with 
 interest, which we would desire to ask, and we hope 
 that means may be taken to ascertain the number of 
 deaths which have occurred at every period of life, 
 into which the people are divided, for the purpose of 
 enumeration. 
 
 In several of the large cities, bills of mortality are 
 taken which are interesting in a very high degree, 
 and some of them are peculiarly valuable from 
 the creditable manner in which they are kept, 
 particularly the statistical tables of Dr. Dunnel, of 
 the city of New- York, for 1838, as also the Philadel- 
 phia reports. These however, are not of any value as 
 exhibiting the mortality in any of the rural districts, for 
 the various elements that affect a city population, are 
 not felt throughout the country at large. This par- 
 ticularly applies to the mortality among infants, and 
 so peculiarly fatal to them, is the climate in the 
 Atlantic cities, that one half the deaths which occur- 
 red in New- York, in 1836, were of infants under one 
 year old, (49.06 per cent.) 
 
 Connected with this subject, it only remains for us 
 to suggest the manner in which the returns of the 
 deaths which may occur in the course of the year 
 1840 should be reported. It were of great value to 
 the subject of life assurance, to have the ages of all 
 persons who may die, reported, as it would enable the 
 insurer to make very accurate estimates, not only of 
 the value of each period of life, but of its value in 
 each different section. Now this, we think, may be 
 
166 
 
 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 very easily arranged ; let the assistant note down the 
 age of every deceased person in the column which 
 embraces his age, and on the same table as he takes 
 the enumeration of the living, and either use a differ- 
 ent coloured ink to make the entry, or surround the 
 number with a mark, [100]. This would save the 
 unnecessary transmission of documents, and would 
 not embarrass the assistant, while it would add to the 
 statistical knowledge of the country to an inconceiva- 
 ble extent. It is from the apprehension that sep- 
 arate tables extended to their requisite length, would 
 be objected to, that we now suggest this expedient, 
 and we hope that no practical objection will 
 arise to frustrate the undertaking. The returns so 
 made out, would fully elucidate the whole subject in 
 a manner which has never been attempted in any 
 part of Europe, and besides throwing greater light 
 on the principles of vitality generally, it would par- 
 ticularly exhibit the value of life, and periods of pe- 
 culiar mortality among us. 
 
 Marriages. A simple enumeration of these, is all 
 that is required, as from it the average number of 
 children to a family, could easily be adduced. It will 
 of course be necessary to prevent their being enu- 
 merated twice, and the following heading from 
 the census of the State of New-York, may an- 
 swer the desired end, viz : " The number of marriages 
 occurring in the same family where the female mar- 
 ried resided during the preceding year."* The 
 wording of this might perhaps be simplified a little, 
 but the principle of taking the number of females 
 married in the course of the year, would obviate 
 
 * Revised Statutes, New- York, Tit. 6, Chap. III. 
 
VITAL STATISTICS. 167 
 
 the difficulty to be apprehended from a double enu- 
 meration. 
 
 7th and 8th SECTIONS. The probable duration of 
 life, and the proportion of ages to the population 
 of the former of these, we have already spoken in 
 this chapter, under the head of longevity, and of the 
 latter in an early part of this essay, when referring 
 to the population returns. 
 
 Such are the several sections into which Mr. 
 McCulloch divides his chapter on population, and par- 
 ticular information will be obtained relative to each 
 division, if the returns we have already suggested, 
 be complied with. And in addition to these subjects, 
 there are several other topics connected with vital 
 statistics, which will be much benefited by these inqui- 
 ries ; such as Medical Topography or the diseases 
 incident and peculiar to each section, which has 
 already received considerable attention in this coun- 
 try, and been ably treated of by Drs. Rush, Currie, 
 and Marshall. But the limited sphere of one indi- 
 vidual's observation, necessarily precludes the possi- 
 bility of a comprehensive and enlarged survey of the 
 whole country, and such general data would then be 
 afforded as would enable the statist to make the ne- 
 cessary enumeration of the causes which affect the 
 duration of human life. There is another subject 
 upon which it may throw some, although not much 
 light, namely, the prevalence of sickness in this coun- 
 try ; as medical men from the estimated mortality of 
 certain diseases, may be able for each death which 
 may occur from them, to say how many probably 
 have been incapacitated from labour by the same 
 complaints. The number of sick in England, con- 
 
168 VITAL STATISTICS. 
 
 stantly disabled from work, has been estimated at 
 600,000, which, supposing the same ratio to prevail 
 in this country, would make the number of sick 
 about 770,000 ; but we do not believe that much if 
 any direct information can be procured on this subject. 
 The returns we have now urged, differ in their charac- 
 ter from those which we shall next suggest. Those 
 are to be obtained from official men, while the pres- 
 ent information is to be sought in the midst of the 
 population, and by those engaged in taking the cen- 
 sus of the living. To one more conversant with the 
 science of vital statistics, many suggestions may oc- 
 cur of topics which we have omitted, but it is hoped 
 that the more prominent subjects of inquiry, are here 
 enumerated, together with the most advisable means 
 of procuring the requisite information. 
 
m /LIBK.N 
 
 THERE is no subject connected with the Population 
 and condition of this country, that has excited so 
 much interest at home, or so much attention abroad, 
 as the manner of punishing criminals, adopted in its 
 various penitentiary systems, and the influence 
 which the different modes of punishment exert upon 
 society at large ; and momentous though this ques- 
 tion be, there is a lamentable want of accurate in- 
 formation regarding it, and notwithstanding the efforts 
 of the Boston Prison Discipline Society, the most 
 particular accounts are to be obtained from Reports 
 made to the British and French Governments, by 
 commissioners sent to this country for that purpose. 
 The moral principle which requires that the im- 
 provement of the character of the convict should be 
 one of the ends attained by his punishment, is one of 
 the features which characterize the age ; and in con- 
 sequence, example is no longer considered the only 
 object of attention, when the effects of prison disci- 
 pline are discussed. But the beneficial effect of the 
 efforts made by the different states to improve the 
 physical and moral condition of the convict, can 
 never be fully exemplified until the General Govern' 
 ment, by collecting all the requisite information, can 
 show the results of the philanthropic exertions that 
 have been made. That the examination of the sub- 
 ject is a proper field for this Government to enter 
 upon, cannot be doubted by any one who considers 
 22 
 
170 CRIME. 
 
 the reports that have been so industriously circulated, 
 founded upon some French statistics, showing that 
 education and crime advanced together ; and in a 
 government which depends for its continuance upon 
 the morality and intelligence of the people, it surely 
 is but fit and proper to estimate the improvement of 
 the population. From various circumstances, no 
 proper returns can be procured, unless the General 
 Government, by employing its officers in the different 
 states, requires sufficient data to be furnished to 
 enable a correct comparison to be made. 
 
 There are several deficiencies, which have hitherto 
 prevented an accurate account of the state of crime, 
 its increase, and causes, in this country, from being 
 made out, and these omissions Government could 
 easily supply in the census next to be taken. The 
 following information were much to be desired, could 
 it be obtained. 
 
 I. Complete returns from several of the states, 
 of the numbers committed to the State Prisons, 
 classed according to their places of nativity, crimes, 
 sentence, education, and health. 
 
 II. Keturns .of the state of the different county and 
 city prisons, throughout the Union, with the numbers 
 committed to them, and all the desiderata referred to 
 in the above returns from the State prisons. 
 
 III. The differences in the penal codes of the va- 
 rious states, which, until known, effectually prevent 
 all comparisons. 
 
 IV. Some information as to the migrations of the 
 inhabitants of this country, or of the influx of fo- 
 reigners, which information we have already pro- 
 posed, should be supplied. 
 
CRIME, 171 
 
 I. Under this head, all the information of which 
 we are at present in possession is comprised, but 
 generally in so very vague and unsatisfactory a man- 
 ner, that no conclusions can be drawn from it. The 
 mere number committed, in the course of a year, to 
 the state prison, is easily obtained, but does not of 
 itself furnish the statist with much information; 
 though it is said that at least 4,000 persons are an- 
 nually sentenced; and at least 10,000 are constantly 
 excluded from all their civil rights. The following 
 are the proportions of criminals in some of the states, 
 according to Messrs. Beaumont and De Toqueville. 
 
 From 1827 to 1831, there have been sentenced: 
 
 1 native of Massachusetts of 14,524 inhabitants. 
 1 " Pennsylvania " 11,821 " 
 
 1 *?.-,? New York State 8,610 " 
 
 1 " Connecticut 8,269 " 
 
 1 " " Maryland " 3,954 
 
 In reference to this comparative statement, Mr. 
 Crawfurd justly observes, " neither can a judgment 
 be correctly formed, from these accounts, of the re- 
 lative proportion of crime in the different states. It 
 is well known, that the population of New England 
 ranks far superior to any other part of the Union, in 
 morals and intelligence ; education is universal, the 
 laws are ably administered, the police is well-regu- 
 lated, and pauperism is limited, and yet the returns 
 tend to show, that there is more crime in proportion 
 to the population in the most enlightened of these 
 states, than in Pennsylvania, or the more western 
 states. The false impression which these returns 
 are calculated to convey, is in a great measure to be 
 ascribed to the fact, that few crimes escape detection, 
 
172 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 whereas, this is by no means the case in other parts 
 of the Union." 
 
 As to the place of nativity of the convicts. It is 
 very desirable to ascertain the increase of crime, the 
 operation of the policy pursued by the state, and the 
 changes which the morals of the people are under- 
 going ; and to obtain data for such investigations, it 
 is absolutely necessary to have the place of birth 
 of every criminal in the United States, recorded. 
 We have, it is true, partial statements from some of 
 the more recently established penitentiaries, embrac- 
 ing this information, but these returns are only to be 
 found from a few of the states, and so defective in 
 arrangement, as to be of little value. In a moral 
 point of view, it is interesting to observe the deve- 
 lopement of national character, when removed from 
 the control of its native institutions, and to learn the 
 number of convicts from the Northern states, who 
 are confined in the South; and the number of foreign 
 born inhabitants who are to be found in the various 
 prisons ; and, in at political point of view, it is of im- 
 portance to know the influence which foreigners ex- 
 ercise upon the crime of the country, and to have 
 sure data for legislating on the subject. In the re- 
 port made on the subject of American Penitentiaries, 
 to the French Government, by Messrs. Beaumont and 
 De Toqueville, a work in which we are constrained 
 to say, vague estimates arid hasty conclusions too fre- 
 quently abound, though in many instances corrected 
 and pointed out by the translator, Dr. Lieber, we 
 find several statements as to the proportion of native 
 to foreign crime in some of the states. 
 
CRIME. 173 
 
 From 1800 to 1805, there were in the State prison of 
 
 New York, 1 foreigner to 2,43 prisoners. 
 1825 to 1830, 1 4,77 
 
 " 1786 to 1796, Philadelphia, 1 " 2,08 
 
 1829 to 1830, 1 " 5,79 
 
 " 1827 to 1831, Connecticut, 1 " 13,27 
 
 " 1827 to 1831, Maryland, 1 " 12,65 
 
 " 1829 to 1830, Massachusetts,! " 6, 
 
 Such a table as this, at first sight, appears to pre- 
 sent a very remarkable fact, viz., that the per-centage 
 of foreigners convicted has decreased of late years, 
 while the proportion of native criminals has very 
 materially increased but such is by no means a legi- 
 timate conclusion from the table above, as it must be 
 evident, that the ratio of increase of the native over 
 the foreign population enters as an element into every 
 deduction from the table, as every year the number 
 of foreigners forms a smaller proportion of the entire 
 community; and unless the comparative increase of 
 the native and foreign population were known, no 
 accurate deduction could be made of the increase of 
 crime, but if that is ascertained, and full tables pro- 
 cured of the place of birth of every criminal in con- 
 finement, at the time the census is taken, much 
 valuable information would be the result. To show 
 that such returns could easily be procured, we give 
 one which we extract from the Trenton Prison Re- 
 ports of the State of New Jersey, for a number of 
 years past, although we do not think it advisable, 
 that the tables to be procured by government should 
 have any retrospective character, but be simply a 
 statement of the places of nativity of the persons 
 then in confinement. 
 
174 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 State Prison, New- Jersey. 
 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 1831 
 
 1832 
 
 1833 
 
 1834 
 
 1835 
 
 1836 
 
 1837 
 
 African, JX 
 
 "*> ISSi;- 
 
 English 
 
 47 
 
 *32* 
 4 
 3 
 
 
 
 67 
 3 
 31 
 6 
 3 
 
 74 
 3 
 32 
 4 
 5 
 
 * " 
 
 60 
 3 
 35 
 2 
 4 
 
 57 
 4 
 32 
 2 
 
 g 
 
 53 
 
 '36* 
 5 
 10 
 
 64 
 1 
 45 
 4 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 JO 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 West Indian 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 
 1-23 
 
 128 
 
 
 114 
 
 117 
 
 113 
 
 141 
 
 The above table exhibits what amount of informa- 
 tion can be obtained on this subject. 
 
 The age of different convicts would, as connected 
 with their crimes, be an interesting subject belonging 
 to the department of preventive police, and might 
 furnish to the philanthropist many facts of great 
 value. Mr. H. Bulwer remarks, " as is natural to sup- 
 pose, the greatest number of crimes committed by 
 both sexes are committed between 25 and 30 years 
 of age, a time when the faculties are most developed, 
 and the passions are strongest. Assassinations be- 
 come more and more frequent after the age of twenty, 
 up to the age of fifty, forgery takes the same rule 
 of progression, but continues increasing up to the 
 age of seventy and above"* and the table framed 
 by M. Guerry, of the crimes which predominate at 
 different ages is extremely curious. But we are not 
 aware of any practical results which will follow 
 from such inquiries, although, if the information can 
 easily be procured, it might be advisable to have it 
 preserved. Messrs. Beaumont and De Toqueville 
 
 France, Social, Literary, and Politicali. 142. 
 
CRIME. 
 
 175 
 
 had sufficient data exhibited to them to form the fol- 
 lowing* table, so if desirable, the same kind of data 
 might be procured from all the states. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Yeais to 
 which re- 
 turns refer. 
 
 Prisoners 
 under 20. 
 
 Prisoners 
 20 to 30. 
 
 Prisoners 
 30 to 40. 
 
 Prisoners 
 40 to 50. 
 
 Prisoners 
 50 to 60. 
 
 Massachusetts, . . 
 New York, 
 Pennsylvania, . . . 
 Connecticut, 
 
 Mean Term,. . 
 
 182631, 
 18-2632, 
 18:<0, 
 182732, 
 
 lof 12 
 " " 11 
 " 10 
 " 8 
 
 lof 2 
 
 " " 2 
 i< it 2 
 " u 2 
 
 lof 4 
 mi 4 
 it u 4 
 
 in. 7 
 
 lof 9 
 ""11 
 
 ii u 9 
 
 9 
 
 lof 24 
 i. i. 24 
 
 u 24 
 u ii 29 
 
 lof 10 
 
 lof 2 
 
 lof 5 
 
 I of 9 
 
 lof 25 
 
 And as further illustrating the information which 
 may be procured, we copy from the able report of the 
 Trenton Penitentiary, New- Jersey, the ages of the 
 prisoners in confinement, on the 1st October, 1837. 
 
 PRISONERS. 
 
 1 
 
 s*\a* 
 
 i'SI 
 
 
 
 _JJl 
 
 91 1 1 
 
 Colouied 1 
 Mains. 
 
 Coloured 
 Females, j 
 
 Under 
 10. 
 
 Betw'n 
 10 & 20. 
 
 20&30 
 
 W&40 
 
 40&50 
 
 50&60 
 
 Upwa.d 
 of 60 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 64 
 
 35 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 141 
 
 45 
 
 4 
 
 These examinations might be useful in exhibiting 
 the earlier developements of crime in the city than 
 in the country population, and in detecting the mo- 
 tives which at different periods of human life, seem 
 to have the predominance. It would not be difficult 
 to frame a table which might be advantageously used 
 in such an investigation, and we shall give the one 
 employed by M. Guerry, when drawing out his in- 
 teresting scale of the connection of crime with age. 
 
 Of the Crimes with which the prisoners in the 
 various state prisons are charged, much might be 
 learned, and a great deal of useful insight given 
 into the structure of society among us. In the primi- 
 tive ages of man's civilized condition, when ignorance 
 
176 CRIME. 
 
 and prejudice hoodwinked the mass of the commu- 
 nity, before enlightened views were taken either of 
 trade or national relations, the sense of morality 
 which regulated mankind was of so low a standard, 
 as to reduce the number of criminal actions. As so- 
 ciety advances in civilization, and becomes more 
 accustomed to the rights of property, and to the in- 
 crease of merchantable commodities, the opportuni- 
 ties and inducements to crime increase, as the stand- 
 ard by which actions are tested becomes more ele- 
 vated. And this increase in the nature and opportu- 
 nities of crime appears to keep pace with the progress 
 of civilization, and the only check it seems likely to 
 receive, is from the preventive influence of punish- 
 ment. So also even in the present day, a rural 
 population, though equally unprincipled with the 
 population of a neighbouring city, is deterred from 
 committing some crimes by the certainty of conviction, 
 and incapacitated from committing others by the ab- 
 sence of all means of doing so. And this is not the only 
 difference in the criminal code of nations, for another 
 modification arises from the standard of morals as well 
 as from the progress of civilization and refinement. 
 Thus in France, where refinement may be said to 
 have reached a greater height than in this country, 
 the law takes no cognizance of many actions which 
 are here considered criminal, as adultery, blasphemy, 
 incest, and many other crimes of a like character, 
 which shows that the tone of morality may be higher 
 where the number of crimes are greater, than where, 
 from reduced standards, no^notice is taken of them. 
 On the other hand, crimes, and the opportunities of 
 committing them, increase with the state of educa- 
 
CRIME. 177 
 
 tion, and intelligence, as in this country, the crime 
 of forgery predominates, which Messrs. Beaumont 
 and De Toqueville justly remark, " is easily explained 
 by the state of knowledge in the United States, the 
 immense number of banks, and the great commercial 
 activity in that country." 
 
 In these investigations, therefore, it is very neces- 
 sary to have the several causes of variation accu- 
 rately defined, in order that we may be able to detect 
 the bearing of the statements upon the questions be- 
 fore us. Arising, as crimes therefore do, from the 
 peculiar constitution of society, from its pursuits and 
 general condition and habits, it is useful to be able 
 to discover, in what vein the criminal blood of the 
 Northern man circulates, what actions and crimes it 
 prompts him to, and at the same time to have exhi- 
 bited the influence of the warmer passions, and more 
 excitable feelings of those of the South. In procuring 
 such information, no real difficulty need be encoun- 
 tered, as we are able to obtain returns from most of 
 the states of the amount of crime in 1832, from the 
 Parliamentary report of Mr. Crawfurd, already re- 
 ferred to, which shows they can easily be procured 
 in reference to the year in which the census is taken. 
 But it comes to be a question, into how many subdi- 
 visions the number of crimes committed ought to 
 be divided ; and whether it is advisable to draw out 
 a table in the manner of Mr. Crawfurd, adapted to 
 the condition of criminal jurisprudence in each state, 
 or whether the common though vague distribution 
 of crimes into those against persons, those against 
 property, and those against morals is not sufficiently 
 minute. We have in the French report, some state- 
 23 
 
178 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 ments given, from which the following table is 
 framed, and it may be questioned whether the sub- 
 divisions ought to be more numerous. 
 
 Table of Prisoners classed according to their Offences. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Y ears to 
 which 16- 
 turns refer 
 
 CONVICTED FOR 
 
 CRIMES AUA1NST 
 
 PROPERTY. 
 
 PERSONS. 
 
 MORALS. 
 
 HiRGERY. 
 
 Connecticut, .. 
 Pennsylvania,.. 
 New- York, .... 
 
 L78SI..1800, 
 1819.. 30, 
 L78P..180U 
 1819.. 30, 
 1800.. 10, 
 1820. .30, 
 
 95.40 per ct. 
 83.10 
 94.35 
 94.61 " 
 96,45 
 90.12 " 
 
 4.60 per ct. 
 1690 
 5.65 
 534 
 354 
 9.37 
 
 3.44 per ct. 
 11.34 
 2.74 " 
 1.72 " 
 OH7 " 
 506 " 
 
 10 34 per ct. 
 13.65 " 
 497 " 
 
 4 84 " . 
 888 " 
 16.76 " 
 
 In Europe, it is generally conceded, that the more 
 society advances in civilization, the more the relative 
 number of crimes against persons decreases, as is 
 very forcibly shown in some diagrams of M. Guer- 
 ry, founded upon the actual returns from France. 
 In estimating the influence of instruction, M. Guerry 
 takes as the test of education, the list of those re- 
 turned to the minister of war, at the period of con- 
 scription, as able to read and write ; apportioning 
 France into five divisions, he tints one map according 
 to the state of instruction in each section, and com- 
 pares it with another, depicting, by the same device, 
 the state of crime. From this comparison, we see, 
 that while crimes against persons are the most fre- 
 quent in Corsica, the provinces of the South-east, 
 and the Alsace, where the people are well instructed; 
 those crimes are fewest in Berry, Limousin, and 
 Brittany, where the people are most ignorant ; and 
 on the other hand, it is invariably those departments, 
 in which education is most prevalent, that are the 
 most criminal. Such being the case in France, and 
 a common opinion of statists in Europe, it is re- 
 
CRIME. 179 
 
 markable, that we do not see the same consequences 
 exhibited in the above table, where in Pennsylvania, 
 the proportion of crimes against the person has hardly 
 varied within the last thirty years, arid in the states 
 of Connecticut and New- York, crimes against the 
 person have actually increased. We have observed, 
 that this fact is a remarkable one, but perhaps it is 
 premature to consider it as ascertained, and certainly 
 incautious, to examine it without considering the 
 various circumstances which tend to modify it. But 
 the question is one of great interest, and the amount 
 of information required for the year of the census 
 might easily be obtained, though to make it of its 
 fullest value, we will have to wait for a similar cen- 
 sus of 1850, when the comparison of the data thus 
 accurately procured, will enable us, with more confi- 
 denoe, to decide the questions of the increase of crime, 
 and the effect of civilization, and free institutions 
 upon the moral habits of the people. 
 
 As to the propriety of making the investigation in 
 detail, we think much must depend upon the zeal 
 with which the census is undertaken by government, 
 and the expense which a full enumeration of the 
 prisoners would amount to, which we are inclined to 
 believe would be inconsiderable, and nothing save 
 the expense ought to prevent such from being done. 
 We subjoin a table founded on the penal code of 
 Pennsylvania, which exhibits the subject of this and 
 the last head, viz. the age and crime of the convict. 
 
180 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 Table to show the form in which returns might be made both of the ages of the 
 Prisoners, and of the crimes for which they are confined. 
 
 OFFENCES. 
 
 d 
 
 2 
 L> 
 
 -3 
 & 
 
 1 
 
 15 and 20. 
 
 R 5 
 
 ]] 
 
 40 and 50 
 
 g 
 
 'O 
 
 1 
 
 g 
 
 73 
 
 Deaths in a year 1 
 
 No of years of im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 a 
 
 No. executed with- 
 in a year. 
 
 Could read& write 
 on committal. 
 
 1 
 
 Could neither read 
 nor write. 
 
 Adultery... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bastardy 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bribery at Election 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dompoun'g Felony 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 rlorse stealing .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Malicious mischief 
 Manslaughter 
 Murder. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ftntiherv 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 reason 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sentence. It would be interesting to have the 
 amount of sentence awarded in the different states, 
 for various crimes, accurately ascertained ; for the 
 moral tone pervading a community may be more 
 thoroughly tested by the abhorrence with which a 
 crime is punished, than by the frequency of convic- 
 tion for it. In this there would be no difficulty, for 
 the peculiar aggravations of the punishment might 
 be omitted, and no notice taken of the diet or seclu- 
 sion to which the convict is restricted, as since the 
 introduction of penitentiaries in different parts of the 
 country, little distinction is made in the treatment of 
 criminals, the difference of punishment consisting 
 mainly in the duration of the period of confinement. 
 A curious practice prevails in this country of obliging 
 
CRIME. 181 
 
 the convict to pay the expenses of his own conviction, 
 and, as it were, liquidate the expense to which he 
 has put the government ; and though this seems a 
 very just principle where the labour of the convict 
 exceeds the value cf his maintenance, it is a princi- 
 ple which neither the policy nor arrangements of 
 England or France recognize. In the state of New 
 Jersey, the prisoner has a certain allotted task to 
 perform, and he is allowed, after his work is over, to 
 continue his labour for the purpose of accumulating 
 a sum to pay for the expenses of conviction ; and if 
 he does not do so, his term of imprisonment is pro- 
 longed until the value of his labour equals the amount 
 required. The French commissioners complain 
 loudly of this practice, and of the state's appropri- 
 ating all the earnings of the criminals ; and they think 
 that the pecule, or over-stint, ought certainly to be 
 allowed as an encouragement to labour, and that the 
 system of withholding it is "excessively severe." 
 But these aggravations of the sentence it would per- 
 haps be better not to notice, and simply to record, in 
 columns opposite to the crime, the sum total of years 
 for which persons convicted of that crime were sen- 
 tenced ; as, for example, the crime of forgery, for 
 which four persons are under sentence, the dura- 
 tion of their imprisonment might be stated as 14 
 years, and the aggregate amount of fine imposed in 
 addition to the sentence, if any, might be noted in a 
 table appended to the summary of crimes and ages. 
 
 If the census is to be made out so as to take ac- 
 count of the health and longevity of the population, 
 it would be well to have a return made of the num- 
 ber of deaths in a prison or penitentiary within a 
 
182 CRIME. 
 
 year, as it would then be easy to test not only the 
 effect of confinement, but the comparative effect of 
 the different systems, the Auburn and Pennsylvania. 
 As such information could easily be obtained from 
 the keeper of the prison, there would seem to be no 
 necessity of dwelling longer upon it ; audit may only 
 be necessary to state the different results that appear 
 in different states and countries to flow from the sys- 
 tems of punishment pursued, to show the interest 
 which would be attached to such returns from the 
 prisons and penitentiaries of this country. The 
 number of deaths in the various prisons has been, 
 on an average, for three years, according to the fol- 
 lowing table : 
 
 Table of proportion of Deaths in various Penitentiaries. 
 
 At Walnut-street, Philadelphia, .1 died in 16.66 
 
 At Newgate, New-Yoik, 1 " 18.80 
 
 AtSing-Sing 1 "3658 
 
 AtWethe:sfield 1 "44.40 
 
 At Maryland Penitentiary, 1 " " 48.57 
 
 At Auburn, 1 " 55.96 
 
 At Charl^stown, 1 " "5840 
 
 At the Central Houses in France, 1 " 14.00 
 
 The increasing health of particular penitentiaries 
 is a pleasing fact for the philanthropist, and the 
 moral training of the prisoners seems best to accord 
 with the system of discipline which affords the great- 
 est amount of health. The ease with which this 
 return can be made out seems of itself to be a suffi- 
 cient reason for procuring it, especially as the in- 
 formation is greatly sought after by the Howards of 
 our day. 
 
CRIME. 
 
 183 
 
 Table of the Prisoners in Bridewell in the City of Glasgow on 25<A March, 1831, 
 classified according to their Country and Education.* 
 
 
 SCOTCH. 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 IRISH. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 cj 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 "3 
 
 S 
 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 
 13 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 "5 
 
 s 
 
 f 
 
 
 ji 
 
 fc 
 
 h 
 
 & 
 
 
 H 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 EH 
 
 S 
 
 fc_ 
 
 EH 
 
 
 43 
 
 44 
 
 87 
 
 m 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 5Q 
 
 49 
 
 108 
 
 
 34 
 
 7 
 
 100 
 9 
 
 134 
 16 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 8 
 1 
 
 10 
 2 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 18 
 6 
 
 25 
 14 
 
 44 
 16 
 
 126 
 16 
 
 170 
 32 
 
 Can neither read nor write, 
 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 237 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 28 
 
 26 
 
 54 
 
 119 
 
 191 
 
 310 
 
 * Cleland's Statistics, p. 123. 
 
 Previous education of convicts. "The question," 
 says Dr. Lieber, in some very pertinent remarks on 
 this subject " the question, 'Does diffusion of know- 
 ledge increase or diminish crime, or has it 110 influ- 
 ence at all upon it 7 is of vital interest to society ; 
 and thorough inquiries ought to be made upon all 
 sides, searching unflinchingly for truth. It would 
 be well if those who propose to investigate this im- 
 portant subject would make a marked difference 
 between knowledge and education. A certain kind 
 of knowledge and the skill of a nation may greatly 
 increase, and yet education may stand very low ; 
 and thus partial civilization may very much advance, 
 and yet education be comparatively neglected, which 
 is in our opinion the worst of all conditions. We 
 repeat it once more, go to the prisons, and inquire 
 into the history of each convict, and then see whe- 
 ther knowledge or its want is the chief cause of 
 crime. We would suggest that in future reports of 
 our state prisons one or two divisions should be 
 added, in which the education a convict has enjoyed 
 should be indicated in a few words." With these 
 suggestions we most cordially agree, and maintain 
 that until this be done, it is useless to speculate on 
 the meager facts which are so often presented to us. 
 
184 CRIME. 
 
 This subject is one of vast importance as connected 
 with national education, as an opinion is abroad that 
 education is by no means the excellent thing which 
 some maintain it to be, but that the lower classes will 
 be more virtuous and contented without it ; and this 
 assumption is seemingly sustained by some French 
 statistics, and even the French commissioners on the 
 penitentiary system seem to be carried away by some 
 such opinion, when they say : " We do not believe 
 that to the diffusion of knowledge this decrease of 
 crime is to be attributed ; because in Connecticut, 
 where knowledge is still more diffused than in the 
 state of New York, crimes increase with extreme 
 rapidity ; and if we cannot reproach knowledge with 
 this prodigious increase, we are at least constrained 
 to acknowledge that it has not the power of prevent- 
 ing it." If such opinions are broached by men of 
 high influence, the time for the friends of universal 
 education to exert themselves most strenuously has cer- 
 tainly come, and they need not fear the result. It is 
 true, that the sources of pleasure and improvement are 
 also the sources of crime and vice ; that the wants of 
 educated communities are more varied than the ne- 
 cessaries which may suffice for a more rustic people ; 
 and that in proportion as wants are augmented, crime 
 is increased this, and all such general conclusions, 
 may be true, or they may be false ; but they are not 
 the grounds on which the advocate of improvement 
 and education wishes to meet the question. He 
 looks at the criminal as a man like himself, and 
 views him as having fallen, though not irretrievably, 
 from the standard of virtue : he desires not to pro- 
 mote a Utopian information, but to renew and quicken 
 
CRIME* 185 
 
 the moral sympathies of the convict. Such are 
 the motives which prompt the philanthropist ; and as 
 they are awakened in the breast of every feeling 
 man on coming in contact with crime, so they are 
 constantly striving to prevent innocence from becom- 
 ing corrupted by intercourse with guilt. The only way 
 of enabling the mind of the youth to repel the attacks 
 of vice, is by elevating the moral conceptions, the 
 rudiments of which are implanted within, and, by 
 quickening all his faculties, to excite him to the per- 
 formance of his moral duties. Such, we take it, is 
 the end proposed in a general scheme of education? 
 and its advantages are, the moral discipline to which 
 the business of the school subjects the infant mind, 
 and the facilities thereby attained of procuring infor- 
 mation in after life. If it were true that education in- 
 creased the criminal appetites and passions in a 
 greater ratio than it awakened the moral and mental 
 powers of man's constitution, there might be cause for 
 apprehending the evil consequences which would 
 arise from a general diffusion of knowledge ; but 
 such an argument would reach the wealthier and 
 more influential class of society, as well as the poorer 
 and more obscure ; and were its truth established, 
 the midnight lamp of the student, and the sound of 
 the school-bell, ought alike to be extinguished and 
 silenced, in the hope of producing that general igno- 
 rance which had been found so favourable to moral 
 and individual prosperity. 
 
 But we must call the attention of our readers to an 
 established fact, which throws much light upon this 
 subject, namely, that the greater the degree of intel- 
 ligence and education prevailing in a community, the 
 
 24 
 
186 CRIME. 
 
 greater will be the efficiency of its police, and the 
 certainty of convicting the criminal. We refer not 
 to the systems of police which prevail under some 
 European governments, which operate as spies upon 
 the mass of the community, and thereby create a 
 feeling rather in favour of the criminal, and against 
 the officers of justice, as the interests of the govern- 
 ment and of the people often by no means agree. 
 But we refer to a system which is based upon the 
 good-will and cordial feelings of the public, where 
 the wish to protect the criminal disappears before 
 the desire to uphold the laws ; and in reference to 
 such a system, we say, that the more the people are 
 enlightened, the greater will be the certainty of con- 
 viction. Let us take, for example, the state of Con- 
 necticut, where every one can read, where all enjoy 
 the advantages of a well-organized society, and 
 where the minute subdivisions of the state further the 
 investigations into every sort of crime which may be 
 committed, be it intemperance, petty larceny, or mis- 
 demeanours ; and take the condition of a correspond- 
 ing number of inhabitants in some of the largest class 
 of cities, and should it be found that more commitments 
 took place in Connecticut than in those districts of 
 large commercial cities where the whole population 
 subsist by the earnings of vice and debauchery, it 
 will be evident that such a result would only estab- 
 lish the superiority of the standard of morals, not the 
 greater amount of crime. And the same applies to 
 examples where the difference of situation is not so 
 great, as, for instance, the states of Connecticut and 
 Pennsylvania : in the former, where all the popula- 
 tion are intelligent, and where the code of police 
 
CRIME. 187 
 
 regulations was in part framed by the Puritan set- 
 tlers; and in the latter, where a large proportion 
 cannot read, and where the habits of the people, 
 although rapidly improving, are more gross and 
 uncultivated. The number of convictions alone, is, 
 therefore, no criterion by which to estimate the state of 
 crime ; and the conclusions which have been drawn 
 from them are utterly valueless, though they would 
 have been of immense value, had it been possible to 
 obtain returns of the number of crimes committed as 
 compared with the number of the educated part of 
 the population. 
 
 But of course such a table never can be procured, 
 so many crimes never seeing the light of day, and 
 so many being committed which are not complained 
 of; and therefore we must turn our attention to the 
 amount of actual information which can be procured 
 on this subject. We can obtain a list of the number 
 of criminals in confinement who can read and write, 
 and we can have a corresponding table made out of 
 those in the community at large who have the same 
 acquirements ; and by the comparison of the two we 
 may arrive at some more satisfactory opinion. The 
 division into those who can read, those who can read 
 and write, and those who can do neither, although 
 not very satisfactory, is perhaps as detailed as the 
 agents engaged in making out the returns would be 
 able to execute showing, beyond the power of con- 
 tradiction, the connexion, if there be any, between 
 the possession of the elements of education and the 
 commission of crime. As in some of the penitentiaries 
 the prisoners are instructed in reading and writing, 
 the returns should be made only in reference to their 
 
188 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 acquirements at the time of commitment. That such 
 statements can be procured we are easily convinced 
 by reference to the prison reports of the different 
 states, as, for instance, in the Report of the New 
 Jersey Penitentiary for 1836, the following return 
 occurs : " Of those now in confinement, as near as 
 we can ascertain, 17 have had good education, 89 
 can barely read and write, and the remaining 35 can 
 neither read nor write." With such a table, accu- 
 rately made out, the whole information which can 
 be procured by any government would be ascertain- 
 ed ; and we firmly believe the blessings of education 
 and moral training would triumphantly appear greatly 
 to outnumber the disadvantages connected with them, 
 
 County Prisons. In reference to the State Prisons 
 andPenitentiaries, we have had much pleasure in per- 
 using the reports of the different officers who are en- 
 trusted with their care, and in extracting notices of 
 various useful topics about which information is desir- 
 ed ; but in regard to the County Jails, our remarks 
 must be of altogether another character. In the for- 
 mer, we have perceived the enlightened principles of 
 Christianity in operation, which, by infusing their 
 bland influence into the precincts of the prison court- 
 yard, have elevated the tone both of the moral treat- 
 ment and physical regulations of the prisoners, and 
 changed the character of those who administer the 
 discipline ; and, in the language of the Report of the 
 French Commissioners, we may say, " that men like 
 Mr. Samuel Wood (the Superintendent of the East- 
 ern Penitentiary, Philadelphia,) would not be found 
 at the head of American Penitentiaries, were they not 
 

 CRIME. 189 
 
 influenced by a nobler sentiment than that .of pecu- 
 niary interest." The ends of justice are now attained, 
 united with the influences of Christianity, and the 
 prayer of the captive is often seconded by the private 
 petition of his jailor. This makes the subject inter- 
 esting and elevating, and we look in vain for anything 
 to excite a feeling of commiseration for the treat- 
 ment of the prisoner, or of disgust at the horrors of 
 the prison house, for in no institutions in the country, 
 do we find harmony and contentment more prevalent. 
 But far other are our feelings, and far different the 
 pleasure with which we write, when we turn our at- 
 tention to the county and city prisons ; and bright 
 though the laurel may be, which crowns the peniten- 
 tiary system, it withers and fades if brought near the 
 cells of a court house prison. The laudable efforts 
 of the Boston Prison Discipline Society, have pro- 
 duced good effects, and the active exertions of Phil- 
 anthropists, in some of our cities, have removed the 
 abuses in certain districts ; but from the length and 
 breadth of our land, a cry of distress and suffering 
 may be heard from those whom some petty offences 
 have consigned to the horrors of a county prison, and 
 if it does not excite sympathy, it is only because the 
 labour of the prisoner, who is committed for so short 
 a time, holds out no hope of remunerating the com- 
 munity for any expense they might incur. The man- 
 ager of a Penitentiary who, by laudable exertion and 
 active attention, can defray all the expense of his es- 
 tablishment by the labour of the convicts, as was the 
 case last year at Lambertville, New- Jersey, has an 
 easy task, and an approving public, compared to the 
 county jailor whose expenses increase with attention 
 
190 CRIME. 
 
 to the necessary wants and justly expected comforts 
 of the prisoners, and who has no right to anticipate* 
 that any large amount of work can be done by pris- 
 oners situated as his always are. If the Peniten- 
 tiaries are the boast of this country, the county jails 
 are its disgrace ; and if the one are an example 
 worthy the imitation of foreign countries, the foreign 
 jails should be taken as a criterion of what the others 
 might be. 
 
 Of the number of prisoners in the various county 
 jails, their treatment and management, the communi- 
 ty at large are in utter ignorance, and perhaps noth- 
 ing will convey a more correct estimate of the mag- 
 nitude of this interesting subject, than the statement 
 made in the Boston Prison Discipline Reports, that 
 by the operation of one law alone, imprisonment for 
 debt, ten thousand persons are annually committed 
 to jail. The question is not, therefore, one which af- 
 fects only a few criminals, but, taking the country at 
 large, perhaps one hundred thousand persons were 
 incarcerated for debt, for crimes -for even alleged 
 crimes, in places which the pen almost shrinks from 
 describing. In reference to the State of New- Jer- 
 sey : " On this subject, we know nothing worse in the 
 whole length and breadth of the land, than in New- 
 Jersey. The number committed to prison for debt, 
 according to their population, their filthy and neglect- 
 ed condition while incarcerated, the small sum for 
 which it is done, the expense to some of the counties 
 of this most fruitless mode of collecting debts, the 
 leaving of debtors in prison without any provision in 
 law for their support. The laws of New-Jersey, 
 says a humane Sheriff of one of the counties, provide 
 
CRIME. 191 
 
 food, bedding, and fuel for criminals, but for debtors 
 nothing is provided but walls, bars, and bolts. A 
 member of the legislature of New-Jersey described 
 the condition of a jail in that State, where he at- 
 tempted to go among the criminals and debtors in 
 one mass of common corruption, but the air was in 
 such a state that he could not do it."* " We have," 
 say the French Commissioners, " deeply sighed when 
 at Cincinnati, visiting the prison, we found half of 
 the imprisoned charged with irons, and the rest 
 plunged into an infected dungeon ; and are unable to 
 describe the painful impression which we experien 
 ced when examining the prison in New-Orleans, we 
 found men together with hogs in the midst of all 
 odours and nuisances. In locking up the criminals, 
 no one thinks of rendering them better, but only of 
 taming their malice. They are put in chains like 
 ferocious beasts, and, instead of being corrected, they 
 are rendered brutal." Beaumont & De Toqueville, 
 p. 113. It is not a pleasanttask, after having traced 
 the improvement perceptible in the state penitentia- 
 ries, to detail the misery that prevails in these sad 
 specimens of what confinement used formerly always 
 to be ; and we would not now do so, did we not de- 
 sire to excite the attention of the general government 
 to the number of prisoners who suffer annually from 
 the shameful treatment here detailed. 
 
 Such is the accommodation provided for the crimi- 
 nals, and we have been assured by those in confine 
 ment in a State Prison, that the horrors of a county 
 jail were tenfold greater than the solitude and discip- 
 
 Prison Discipline Reports, No. TL 1831. 
 
192 CRIMES. 
 
 line of a well conducted Penitentiary. And wlio are 
 exposed to this treatment ? Were it only the hard- 
 ened criminal who had been long inured to crime 
 and to punishment, whose hand, for years, had been 
 against every man's hand, who was debased and 
 abandoned beyond reclaim ; we doubt much the right 
 which society has to use such brutal treatment to 
 avenge itself of the injuries inflicted upon it, for by 
 such treatment, amendment never can be expected. 
 Were such only committed to the county jail, human- 
 ity should raise her cry, and the voice of an enlight- 
 ened public should exclaim, let mercy season justice. 
 But far other are the inmates of the various jails 
 throughout the country. We have there, the debtor, 
 whom misfortune, or it may be at worst imprudence, 
 has perchance reduced from a higher and more 
 elevated station in society. " There, too, is the boy, 
 whom a little indiscreet wildness, often the element, 
 if well directed, of future greatness, has reduced from 
 his much prized liberty : now a ready scholar of the 
 accomplished thief, where he finds fit associates that 
 make his second entrance to the house of detention, 
 only a passage to the Penitentiary, or, in our present 
 system, to the gallows." 
 
 But when we add to this, that the accused are im- 
 prisoned night and day, with the most hardened 
 criminals ; that innocence is associated with vice ; and 
 that corruption is encouraged in the progress of jus- 
 tice ; enough were said to make it abundantly evi- 
 dent that this is an inquiry which ought to be carried 
 on by the Government, in order to determine how 
 many of its citizens are debarred from personal lib- 
 erty, and placed in barbarous imprisonment upon the 
 
CKIMK. 
 
 193 
 
 mere suspicion of crime. The following statement 
 is extracted from Mr. Livingston's introduction to the 
 code of Louisiana ; in which the distressed convict, 
 and accused prisoner, find an eloquent appeal to the 
 best feelings of humanity ; with what effect it has 
 been received, however, the destitute condition of the 
 jails, too plainly evinces. This table exhibits the 
 number of accused, acquitted, and sentenced in New 
 York city for several consecutive years, furnished to 
 Mr. Livingston by ex-recorder Riker. 
 
 
 1822, 
 
 1823. 
 
 1824. 
 
 1825. 
 
 1826. 
 
 Committed for Trial 
 
 2361 
 
 1928 
 
 1961 
 
 2168 
 
 g->73 
 
 Tried 
 
 
 5 9 
 
 586 
 
 547 
 
 662 
 
 
 361 
 
 422 
 
 417 
 
 3rt6 
 
 462 
 
 
 OQ90 
 
 177 
 
 Hi! 
 
 161 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total, discharged and acquitted, . 
 
 
 1506 
 
 1544 
 
 1782 
 
 1811 
 
 When such is the number of persons who are proved 
 to be innocent upon trial, it is lamentable to think that 
 in the county jails, a suspected person, perhaps some 
 friendless, yet innocent stranger, may, without crime or 
 guilt of any kind, but merely upon an unjust suspicion, 
 be kept imprisoned for a term of three months, in some 
 places six months, in company with those from whom 
 his soul recoils ; where the necessaries of life are barely 
 supplied, the comforts quite overlooked ; and where 
 the moral contamination around him can hardly fail 
 to weaken his principles, as it must outrage his feel- 
 ings. Such being the condition of county jails, and 
 the number there imprisoned being so great, it well 
 becomes Government to inquire into their condition, 
 were it only to awaken the philanthropist, and stir 
 up the zeal of the Christian community ; for while 
 
 25 
 
194 CRIME. 
 
 much has been done for the State Prison, and re- 
 ports and messages congratulatory to the well direct- 
 ed efforts, are daily poured forth, not a voice is heard 
 exciting the compassion of the multitude, for the con- 
 dition of the county prisoner. Religious instruction 
 is not proffered to him, but despair and dejection 
 are almost the only alternatives of contamination and 
 degradation. 
 
 But to return for we have been seduced away 
 from our more legitimate therne, in the hope of 
 attracting some attention to the sufferings of the pris- 
 oners in the county jails; and the injustice of con- 
 fining the accused with the condemned. We would 
 now refer to the information which may be procured 
 at the different jails throughout the country. 
 
 The following divisions might serve to elucidate 
 all the information which is desirable in regard to 
 county prisoners, viz : 
 
 I. A distribution into three classes : 
 
 1. Debtors, or those who are confined to insure 
 their attendance as witnesses, &,c. 
 
 2. Suspected persons, committed to jail on a war- 
 rant. 
 
 3 Convicted criminals, whether sentenced to the 
 State Prison, or the County Jail, thereby including 
 all convicted persons at the time of the examination. 
 
 II. Tables of all convicted prisoners in the County 
 Jails are ranged according to their 
 
 1. Ages, 
 
 2. Places of nativity, 
 
 3. Crimes, 
 
 4. Sentence, 
 
 5. Education, 
 
CRIME. 195 
 
 being the same queries as \ere proposed in reference 
 to the State Prisons, with the exception of the returns 
 of the health of the prisoners, which from various 
 circumstances it would be inexpedient' to follow out. 
 That all the information here required, might easily 
 be obtained, there cannot be a doubt, and as showing 
 more conclusively the progress of morality in 
 the country at large, than the State Prison returns 
 alone, we would fain hope that the subject may be 
 pursued, and in investigating it, the condition of the 
 prisoners would be brought more before the public, 
 and the injustice of promiscuous confinement be made 
 more fully manifest ; and then some hope might be 
 cherished, that the fearful scenes to which we have 
 referred, would cease to exist. 
 
 State of the Laws. There yet remains one subject 
 connected with crime and its punishment, to which 
 we have to refer, and that is, the propriety of having 
 accurate information afforded of the actual condition 
 of the penal code in the various States. In so many 
 constantly changing laws as obtain in the 26 states, 
 it is quite impossible, to make an accurate estimate of 
 crime without knowing the condition of the codes of 
 the various states, and the constant alterations which 
 they undergo, make it difficult for the statist, to 
 keep pace with the changes. We are well aware 
 that in New- York and several of the other north- 
 ern States, the system of imprisonment for debt 
 has been abolished, although we have spoken of it 
 above as if it still existed, but though it no longer 
 disgraces the statute book of that State, it is to be 
 found in others ; and there is no digest of informa- 
 tion on such subjects of which the general student 
 
196 CHIME. 
 
 \ 
 
 can avail himself. But if such is the case with 
 so prominent a question as imprisonment for debt, to 
 how much greater an extent does it prevail when the 
 various crimes on the calendar are investigated, and 
 where can the desired information, so essential to an 
 examination into the condition of criminal jurispru- 
 dence be found ? Now it is generally thought that 
 there is great uniformity in the laws of the several 
 states, regarding the punishment of crime ; and in Eu- 
 rope, we constantly see reference made to the practice 
 of the United States, as if that were a universal stand- 
 ard, but to show how much the different states vary, 
 we turn to the authority so often already quoted, in 
 which we find the following extracts. " Let us com- 
 pare," say the French Commissioners, " the laws of 
 Pennsylvania with those of New-England, which is 
 perhaps the most enlightened part of the American 
 Union. In Massachusetts, there are 10 different 
 crimes punished by death ; Maine, Rhode-Island, and 
 Connecticut, count the same number of capital crimes. 
 Among these laws, some contain the most degrading 
 punishments, such as pillory, others revolting cruel- 
 ties, such as branding and mutilation. Close by a 
 state where the penal law seems to have arrived at 
 its summit, we find another, the criminal laws of 
 which are stamped with all the brutalities of the 
 ancient system. It is thus that the State of Dela- 
 ware, so far behind in the path of improvement, bor- 
 ders on Pennsylvania, which in this respect, marches 
 at the head of all others." We will hereafter give 
 the revised code of Pennsylvania, and now mention 
 some of the laws of Delaware, (in 1833.) Forgery 
 is punished thus 
 
CRIME. 197 
 
 " The convict is sentenced to a fine, pillory, and three 
 months solitary confinement ; at the expiration of this 
 punishment, he wears on his back, for not less than 
 two, and not more than five years, the letter F, 
 (forgery) in scarlet colour on his dress. This letter 
 must be six inches long and two inches wide. And 
 
 Poisoning is thus punished : The convict may be 
 sentenced to a fine of $10,000, one hours exhibition 
 at the pillory, and to be publicly whipped, he must 
 receive 60 lashes " well laid on," he then goes for 
 four years into prison, after which he is sold as a 
 slave for a time not exceeding 14 years." 
 
 And in Massachusetts, until 1829, it was the cus- 
 tom to mark on the arm of re-convicted criminals, on 
 the expiration of their sentence, the words, Massachu- 
 setts State Prison. 
 
 The contrast which such laws as these, present to 
 the mild codes of Pennsylvania, New- Jersey, and 
 New- York, make it absolutely necessary for the sta- 
 tist to have some accurate data upon which to found 
 his inquiries, and it would be extremely interesting 
 to observe the progress or the decline of a particular 
 crime, in connection with the severity or leniency of 
 the law regarding it. It is well known that the pe- 
 nal code has often been so sanguinary, that no jury 
 could be found in many cases to bring in a verdict of 
 guilty ; and it is to examine the general working of 
 a system which occasionally produces such results, 
 that the statist desires accurate returns of the exist- 
 ing condition of the laws in each state. And such 
 returns can be made at very little expense or trouble, 
 by the marshals of each district, or perhaps more 
 correctly by the U. S. District Attorney. Were this 
 
198 CRIME. 
 
 officer required to make out returns of the severity of 
 the penal code in the state for which he officiated, in 
 the same way as Mr. Crawfurd in his able report to 
 the British] Parliament has done ; the knowledge 
 which would be possessed of the condition of the 
 penal code would be complete, and that taken in 
 connection with the various returns we have already 
 mentioned as to numbers, crimes, and sentences, 
 would be as satisfactory as possible, and we believe 
 might easily be obtained. We append Mr. Crawford's 
 report of the code of Pennsylvania, to show how 
 these returns might be made out, and in concluding 
 this chapter, w^e must remark that no topic of examina- 
 tion is more useful in promoting the moral well-being 
 of the community, and no information is more de- 
 sired by the Philanthropist. 
 
199 
 
 OFFENCES. PUNISHMENTS. 
 
 Adultery, Fine not exceeding 250 dollars, and im- 
 
 prisonment from 3 to 12 months. 
 
 Arson, Burning any house, out-house, Solitary confinement at labour from 1 to 
 &c. ; church, barn, hay-stack, &c.; 10 years, 
 maliciously, or being accessory 
 before the fact, Offence I. 
 
 Offence II. The same, not exceeding 15 years. 
 
 Bastardy, Concealing the death of a Imprisonment in County jail, or solitary 
 Bastard child, Offence I. confinement at labour, not exceeding 
 
 5 years, or fine and imprisonment. 
 Offence II. Imprisonment for life. 
 Bigamy, Including second husband or Fine and imprisonment at hard labour, 
 
 wife, if aware of the fact, not exceeding 2 years. 
 
 Llasphemy, Fine of $50, or 3 months' hard labour. 
 
 Bribery at Election, Fine not exceeding $250, and imprison- 
 
 ment not exceeding 6 months. 
 
 Burglary, Breaking into a dwelling- Solitary confinement at labour from 2 
 house by night, to commit a felo- to 10 years: 
 ny, or accessary, Offence I. 
 
 Offenco II. The same, not exceeding 15 years. 
 
 Breaking State-house, or other Fine and solitary confinement, not ex- 
 public building with like intent, ceeding 7 years. 
 
 Compounding Felony, where goods have A fine twice the sum agreed on. 
 been stolen, 
 
 Duelling, Fighting a duel ; sending, or Fine of $500, imprisonment 1 year at 
 accepting a challenge ; posting for hard labour, and deprived of the 
 not fighting, or printing bills for rights of citizenship for seven years, 
 posting, or refusing to give au- 
 thors. 
 
 Bearing challenge, or consenting Fine of $500, imprisonment for 1 year 
 to be second. at hard labour, and disqualified for 
 
 holding office. 
 
 Having knowledge of a duel, or Fine $50, and imprisonment for 9 
 being present at one. months. 
 
 Forgery, In general, including coining, Solitary confinement at labour from 1 to 
 altering, or defacing deeds : utter- 7 years, 
 ing or having forged notes, &c. in 
 possession ; making or passing 
 paper for notes, Offence I. 
 
 Offence II. Imprisonment not exceeding 10 years. 
 
 Fornication, Fine and imprisonment at hard labour, 
 
 not exceeding 7 years. 
 
 Gaming, Keeping certain tables. Fine, not exceeding $100 and imprison- 
 
 ment in the county jail not exceeding 
 1 year. 
 
 Fighting cocks, or betting on them. Fine $40, or, in default, imprisonment, 
 
 not exceeding 30 days. 
 
 Horse stealing, or accessory before the Solitary confinement from 1 to 4 years, 
 fact, Offence I. 
 
 Offence II. Same, not exceeding 7 years. 
 
 Incest, The same as Adultery or Fornication, as 
 
 the case may be. 
 
 Kidnapping, Offence 1. Solitary confinement at labour, from 5 to 
 
 12 years. 
 Offence II. The same, for 21 years. 
 
200 CRIME. 
 
 Larceny, Stealing to the value of $4 or Restoration of the goods stolen, or their 
 upwards, value, fine to the same amount, and 
 
 hard labour, not exceeding 3 years. 
 
 Value under $4. Restoration of the goods stolen, or their 
 
 value, fine to the same amount, and 
 imprisonment at hard labour, not ex- 
 ceeding 1 year. 
 
 Receiving Stolen Goods vjhen A misdemeanor, punishment the same as 
 principal is not convicted. if principal were convicted. 
 
 Maiming, Aiding, abetting, or counsel- Solitary confinement, at labour from 1 to 
 ling thereto, Offence I. 7 years. 
 
 Offence II. The same, not exceeding 14 years. 
 
 Malicious Mischief, To knockers, sign- Fine and imprisonment, not exceeding 
 boards, &c. 7 years. 
 
 Manslaughter, Offence I. Solitary confinement at labour from 2 to 
 
 6 years. 
 
 Offence II. The same from 6 to 12 years. 
 Involuntary, committed in son:e A misdemeanor, 
 unlawful act, not making it murder. 
 
 Murder, First degree, by poison, lying Death, 
 in wait, or deliberate killing, or in 
 an attempt, at Arson, Rape, Rob- 
 bery, or Burglary. 
 
 Second degree, or any other kind Solitary confinement at labour, from 4 to 
 of Murder, Offence I. 12 years. 
 
 Offence II. Same, for life. 
 
 Perjury, Or subornation thereof, Solitary confinement at labour, from 1 to 
 
 Offence T. 5 years, and disqualified as a witness. 
 Offence II. The same for life. 
 
 Robbery, Or Accessary before the fact, Solitary confinement at labour, from 2 
 Offence I. to 7 years. 
 Offence II. The same, not exceeding 10 years. 
 
 Sodomy, Offence I. Solitary confinement at labour, 1 to 5 yrs. 
 
 Offence II. Same, not exceeding 10 years. 
 
 Treason, High, Offence I. Solitary confinement at labour, 3 to 6 yrs 
 
 Offence II. Same, not exceeding 10 years. 
 Petit Treason, As in other kinds of murder. 
 
 NOTE. It is not stated whether the term II. offence applies only to previous conviction in 
 this State, or whether it is in evidence to produce proof of committal in any other State. 
 
201 
 
 r L[ lilt A LI V 
 
 UN IV KKSITV OF 
 
 ALmmNLV, 
 
 / 
 
 PAUPERISM. 
 
 " Pauperism, pauper, poor man, are expressions of 
 pity, but .pity alloyed with contempt, no one pro- 
 perly contemns a beggar." This, though said with 
 the quairitness and irony peculiar to Lamb, is essen- 
 tially true, and reveals much of the hidden philoso- 
 phy of charity. That the only links which bind the 
 human family together, are not those of service and 
 reward, of duty and obedience, the most casual ob- 
 server will admit ; but it is not easy to appreciate 
 fully the secret sympathies which, like an arterial 
 system, penetrate every grade of human society. 
 There is no heart that cannot be touched by some 
 motive of a purer influence, however debased its 
 common sentiments may be, and there is no creature 
 so degraded, from whom a fellow-being would not 
 accept a silent token of affectionate gratitude. And 
 it is from this cause, we believe, that the words of 
 Lamb derive their truth. There is no act of charity 
 which we can perform, for which we cannot receive 
 some return, whether it be gratitude or commenda- 
 tion, and by preserving our respect for the recipient 
 of the charity, we make his gratitude or his apprecia- 
 tion of our kindness, more worthy of acceptance. 
 But this applies to private charities ; in public alms- 
 giving the case is different. In using the term pau- 
 26 
 
202 
 
 PAUPERISM. 
 
 perism, we refer to a compulsory aliment, which, 
 while destroying all opportunity of producing kind 
 sympathies between man and his fellow-men, be- 
 stows the means of subsistence to the indigent pau- 
 per, contemplating only his animal wants. Pau- 
 perism infers a legal assessment upon the property of 
 the wealthy, and a legal right to maintenance on the 
 part of the indigent portion of the community. There 
 is nothing gratuitous there is nothing voluntary, 
 connected with public charity ; but by legal provi- 
 sion, a certain part of each man's property is taken 
 from him, and given to his pauper neighbour, and 
 is given grudgingly, 
 
 In every country, and under every government, 
 poverty and wretchedness must exist. It is not for 
 man to scan the decrees of the Almighty, or to repine 
 at the hardships which many of his race may seem 
 unayailingly to endure ; but, worshipping the benefi- 
 cence of his Creator, he must acquiesce in the justice 
 of His dispensations. That" the poor ye have al- 
 ways with you," experience has too painfully proved ; 
 and it becomes alike the duty of the Statesman, Phil- 
 anthropist, and Christian, to alleviate their sufferings 
 and mitigate their privations. As society advances 
 in civilization, the density of population has always 
 increased, and with it, the poverty and wretchedness 
 of a portion of the community. Human society has 
 never been freed from this stain, and, like a leprous 
 spot, it has at times threatened to corrupt its whole 
 structure. The subject, therefore, becomes one of 
 paramount interest to the United States, which are 
 rapidly increasing in, population and wealth ; but in 
 which it may be hoped that wise legislation and pre- 
 
PAUPERISM. 203 
 
 cautionary measures may long keep pauperism and 
 poverty in subjection and restraint. 
 
 Poverty may arise either from unforeseen and un- 
 avoidable calamities, or from improvident and dissi- 
 pated habits, and it were unjust to the sufferers to 
 consider them as classed together. It must always 
 happen that a large portion of the community depend 
 for subsistence upon the daily returns of their labour, 
 and if sickness or accident befall them, they are re- 
 duced to rely on public or private charity for support, 
 and in the event of death may leave a family in a 
 destitute condition. 
 
 On the other hand, vice, dissipation, and idleness, 
 have always thrown a large number of paupers upon 
 society, and it has become a question with the com- 
 munity, whether they are entitled to assistance, or 
 whether they ought not to be left to the unalleviated 
 misery of the condition to which they have reduced 
 themselves. 
 
 It is not our purpose, in these pages, to enter at 
 length into the abstract principles of writers upon the 
 poor laws ; nor to coincide with, nor to attempt to re- 
 fute their theories; but after examining the subject of 
 charity generally, we will enumerate those circum- 
 stances which give one part of the community a right 
 to expect the aid of the other ; then refer to the gene- 
 ral condition of the poor laws in this country ; and con- 
 clude by some observations on the subject of foreign 
 paupers and pauper immigration. 
 
 That a dependant condition is not necessarily one 
 of degradation, when we reflect on the infancy, sick 
 ness and old age of our race, is sufficiently obvious. 
 Cradled in dependence, we are liable to relapse in 
 
204 
 
 PAUPERISM. 
 
 our most vigorous manhood into a similar state ; and 
 if this calamity is averted, we must look forward at 
 least to an impotent old age. Selfish in his nature, 
 man requires these strong incentives to the cultiva- 
 tion of his kindlier feelings to prevent interest and 
 self-gratification absorbing his affections. Thus from 
 the weakness incident to our physical structure, 
 spring the strongest ties which unite man to his fel- 
 low ; and from the stoic of the woods, he becomes 
 the sympathizing and compassionate friend of sor- 
 row. 
 
 If we regard man inhis animal wants, it were easy 
 to see the workings of this sympathy this infection 
 of the sympathetic chords of our nature. Pain ex- 
 cites pain pleasure calls forth pleasure, unless cir- 
 cumstances of excitement or enthusiasm may tem- 
 porarily chill the affections of the human breast ; and 
 to this natural impulse we must attribute the action 
 of our sensitive and commiserating feelings. Local 
 prejudices and habits may -overcome this natural 
 sympathy, and the Athenian mother might, without a 
 pang, expose her sickly child, or the callous Inquisi- 
 tor might, unmoved, contemplate the sufferings he in- 
 flicted, and the artificial composition of modern socie- 
 ty may exclude, in its selfish policy, the sufferings 
 of its inferior classes from the sympathy of the 
 higher. These are, however, only exceptions to the 
 laws of humanity which have emplanted a natural 
 sympathy between man and the rest of creation. But 
 it is when we look at man as a moral, intellectual and 
 immortal being, that the law of sympathy becomes 
 merged in one of comprehensive charity. We know 
 that the feelings which excite our bosom animate 
 
PAUPERISM. 205 
 
 his ; that the same fears and same joys, the same ap- 
 prehensions and the same hopes, are his, and that 
 however urgent the wants, or acute the sufferings, of 
 his physical nature may be, that his intellectual 
 and moral condition also requires a solace peculiar 
 to itself. " The truth is, that man is not like the 
 beast that perish, a mere animal, to propagate 
 upon food like the flocks and herds. It is only when 
 sunk by the vicious institutions of society to the situ- 
 ation of a mere animal, that he puts on the conditions 
 of a brutal nature. In proportion as his intellectual 
 and moral nature, his only true nature, is cultivated 
 and called out, he becomes, we will not say some- 
 thing different from an animal, but certainly some- 
 thing besides an animal. He awakens to an exis- 
 tence which corn does not feed, and which famine 
 does not starve. A moral and spiritual life grows up 
 within him, with its own principles of growth, of 
 nourishment, and decline. In proportion to this 
 growth of another life to the delicacy, elevation, and 
 purity of the new existence, which the Son of Hea- 
 ven has put on, will be the influence of the remaining 
 mere animal nature, and the degree to which it will 
 govern and determine his progress."* In this elo- 
 quent vindication of the dignity of man, we learn to 
 discover the higher ends of charity, which, by culti- 
 vating the finer affections, calls out the inherent prin- 
 ciples of man's divine nature. 
 
 But when the cold and calculating creed of Mal- 
 thus, measuring with an iron rule the limits of our 
 race, and venturing to starve it into subjection is con- 
 sidered, how inconceivably more enlightened and 
 
 * North American Review, vol. viii., 305 p. 
 
20:5 PAUPERISM. 
 
 humane are the principles inculcated by Christianity. 
 The political inquirer there learns that man has other 
 than a political race to run ; he may form part of a 
 community, and in his turn add to its wealth, or hang 
 listlessly upon its charities, but at the same time he 
 is undergoing a severer ordeal than any to which this 
 life as relates to his animal wants, can expose him ; 
 he is gradually elevating his mind to an enjoyment 
 of the glories of revelation, or debasing his spiritual 
 nature into a state of callous indifference to, or posi- 
 tive alienation from, its eternal happiness. Admiring 
 as we do a great part of Mr. Malthus' essay, 
 and agreeing with the propriety of opposing re- 
 straints rather than promoting the increase of the 
 population of European countries, we can realize the 
 heartless nature of his philosophy, only when applied 
 to the actual misery around us. There we are con- 
 strained to admit the hand of a superintending Provi- 
 dence, against whose dealings with our race it were 
 vain for human restrictions to strive, and we believe 
 that poverty and wretchedness are the necessary re- 
 sults of the unalterable condition of man, and arise 
 from the physical laws of our planet, when united 
 with the sentence " in the sweat of thy brow shalt 
 thou eat bread till thou return to the ground." 
 
 With such general views, let us consider the effect 
 of private and of public charity upon the recipient 
 as they differ in their character, and in the effect they 
 exercise upon both the donor and receiver. In the 
 former it is always considered in the light of a gra- 
 tuity, and as a token of sympathy. Private charity, 
 as far as it can be extended, is the best mode of re- 
 lieving the poor, as it cultivates, while it gratifies, the 
 
PAUPERISM. 207 
 
 benevolence of the giver, and induces gratitude on 
 the part of the recipient. The claim which a sufferer 
 has upon the sympathy of another, which the poor 
 man has on the liberality of the rich, and the sick 
 man upon the assistance of his neighbour in health, 
 is of an elevated and beautiful character. It cannot 
 be determined and regulated by any known standard, 
 but is a Christian law of universal application, which 
 embraces in its wide extent the whole human race. 
 
 Public charity, on the other hand, arises from 
 different motives, excites different feelings on the part 
 both of the distributors of it, and of those who re- 
 ceive it, and can never be prompted by the same 
 elevated feelings. It is from a desire to be spared 
 the painfulness of the exposure of .the misery of 
 others, that the public consent to be taxed for their 
 support, and wherever a general system of provision 
 for the poor exists, it must carefully be guarded from 
 abuse. Whenever a maintenance at public expense 
 is viewed as a right, it becomes necessary to limit 
 that right by certain restrictions, and as in this coun- 
 try, following the English law, vagrancy is generally 
 considered a crime, it becomes proper to consider the 
 circumstances which give the pauper a right to de- 
 mand an aliment from the public. 
 
 Before briefly enumerating the circumstances which 
 give a right to relief, it were well to remark on the 
 peculiar condition of this country, where wages are 
 high, labour in demand, and provisions and the 
 necessaries of life are cheap. There is therefore, no 
 excuse for any able bodied man demanding aid, what- 
 ever maybe the nature of his occupation, or the ex- 
 isting condition of trade. If provident during the 
 
208 PAUPERISM. 
 
 times of general activity, he may save a sufficiency 
 against the time of depression, and always find some 
 kind of employment in which he can provide for his 
 own support. Unfortunately, however, from a mis- 
 taken policy, the laws of many States have been too 
 similar to those prevailing in England, and support 
 is too often given to the indigent and needy, instead 
 of being reserved for the disabled and infirm. And 
 let us beware of planting in the soil a weed which 
 may in time check the growth of more healthful 
 vegetation, and let not a mistaken charity foster the 
 seeds of a system which may in time taint every 
 thing in its neighbourhood. The burden at present, 
 falls lightly upon the American citizen, but it is much 
 to be feared that ere long, it will make a sensible im- 
 pression, and unless a new system of arrangement 
 be introduced, the gigantic and oppressive system of 
 the English poor laws, may imperceptibly obtain a 
 footing in many of the states. 
 
 The Revised Statutes of the State of New- York, 
 provide that " every poor person, who is blind, lame, 
 old, sick, impotent, or decrepit, or in any other way 
 disabled, or enfeebled, so as to be unable by his 
 work to maintain himself, shall be maintained by 
 the county or town in which he may be" which 
 would seem to embrace all those who deserve public 
 support, without including any who should be denied 
 it. In assisting the blind, lame and mutes, such 
 allowance only ought to be granted them, as will 
 place their labour on the same footing with that of 
 any ordinary tradesman ; and an allowance which 
 does not require additional exertion, should never be 
 awarded, when the object of the charity can procure 
 
PAUPERISM. 
 
 209 
 
 anything by his o.wn labour. The insane poor, of 
 course require a complete maintenance, and the 
 number of these in the United States is considerable. 
 Below, we append a condensed account of the num- 
 ber of insane in the State of New-York, extracted 
 from a report made to the legislature in 1838, and 
 taking the estimate of the proportion of idiots and 
 lunatics in that state as a criterion, we may conclude 
 that there are upwards of 16,000 insane in the United 
 States.* The assistance which the sick and aged 
 are to procure from the public should be administered 
 
 * The whole number of lunatics in this State, in 1835, was 967, and the whole 
 number of idiots, 1,484. Both those classes in the Statistics of Insanity, come 
 under the general head of insane persons. A comparison of the number of these 
 two classes with the whole population of the State, in the two years of the 
 State census, 1825 and 1835, gives the following result: 
 
 1825. 1835. 
 
 Proportion of lunatics to population, 1 to 1,974 1 to 2,249 
 
 " " idiots, :.",."/" 1 to 1,138 1 to 1,465 
 
 " " both classes, " 1 to 721 1 to 887 
 
 During these 10 years, the lunatics increased at the rate of 18 per cent, and 
 the idiots at tho rate of 4 1-2 per cent., and it is gratifying to perceive that 
 both classes increased in a ratio less than the population. It is also not the less 
 gratifying to know that Providence has not allotted to us a larger share of this 
 greatest of all afflictions, to which the human race is subject, than that which 
 has fallen to the lot of most of the countries of Europe. 
 
 It has been stated, in recent publications, that the proportion of the insane to 
 the population in the United States is 1 to 262. This statement, which first 
 appeared in a work published at Hartford, is not founded on authentic data re- 
 garding a single state, and, so far as New York is concerned, ii is entirely at 
 variance with the results of examinations made by public authority. From 
 some informal estimate of the number of insane in Connecticut, the number con- 
 sidered as exhibiting the amount of insane in the whole country was determined, 
 but it would seem to be without the least authority. Mr. Browne, in a series of 
 lectures before the Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum, assumes the correctness of 
 this estimate, and proceeds to account for the amount of insanity prevalent here 
 by the free use of ardent spirits, the desire of the rapid acquisition of wealth and 
 the intenseness of political feeling. Till his facts are established, it were need- 
 less to refute his conclusions.* 
 
 * See Assembly Documents, Albany, 1837. 
 
 27 
 
210 PAUPERISM. 
 
 with a very sparing hand, and thus every inducement 
 given to the labourer to provide for the contingencies 
 of sickness or the necessities of age. 
 
 It may appear an iron-hearted policy to sustain 
 the existence of the indigent, without providing for 
 their comfortable subsistence at the same time, but 
 the exigencies of the present constitution of society 
 require that public charity should promote, not dis- 
 pense with economical habits, and that the industrious 
 citizen, who provided for old age, by the savings of 
 his hard-earned gains, should be more comfortable 
 than the thriftless labourer, who throws himself upon 
 public charity, as he advances in years. The assist- 
 ance given, therefore, to the aged, and the tempora- 
 rily sick, should be cautiously, even grudgingly dis- 
 pensed; on the other hand, those among us whom 
 unforeseen accident, or natural imbecility, have re- 
 duced to a dependant condition, should be suitably 
 and comfortably maintained, as no indulgence ex- 
 tended to them could militate against the active 
 labourer. Widows, with large families, and orphan 
 children come under another class. It is then the 
 interest and best policy of the state to take the guar- 
 dianship of such children under its peculiar care, as 
 the education they are likely to receive at home 
 would not be calculated to make them good members 
 of society. The relief these obtain is not, therefore, 
 to be looked upon as a right, unless both parents 
 being dead, they are left destitute, but as a matter 
 of expediency, which may be defended upon different 
 grounds. 
 
 But while the persons above referred to have a 
 just claim upon the public for total or partial main- 
 
PAUPERISM. 211 
 
 tenaiice, such is by no means the case regarding 
 able bodied men, and persons with large families. 
 It is the introduction of these claims which has 
 caused so much increase in the English poor rates, 
 and there is but one opinion regarding the magnitude 
 of the evils which they have brought on. At first the 
 sums raised were moderate, but they have uniformly 
 increased ; and of late years this increase has been 
 rapid, and they now amount to upwards of $38,- 
 720,000 annually, notwithstanding which, the object 
 aimed at, the relief of the poor, is very imperfectly 
 attained.* 
 
 We have already remarked upon the danger of 
 permitting the system of England, which now she is 
 attempting to shake off, from becoming incorporated 
 with the practical working of the poor laws of this 
 country, and certainly there are some grounds for 
 apprehending that such may one day be the case. 
 
 It is difficult to arrive at any detailed information 
 regarding the present extent of pauperism in Ame- 
 rica, the facts not being collected in any document 
 with which we are acquainted, but the few instances 
 which we shall quote, may be sufficient to show, that 
 a dread of the growth of pauperism is not an idle 
 dream. 
 
 In the state of New York, in 1837 exclusive of 
 New York City, the number of inhabitants being 
 1,904,428 in 1835 the number of persons supported 
 in the Alms Houses, was 51,266, being 1 pauper for 
 every 86,102 inhabitants. 
 
 In the state of Massachusetts, in 1837 the num- 
 
 On the Management of the Poor, by Dr. Hamilton 1822. 
 
212 
 
 PAUPERISM. 
 
 ber of inhabitants of the towns reported, being 422,- 
 974 in 1830 the number of persons assisted was 
 5,580, being 1 pauper for every 75,80 inhabitants. 
 
 In the state of Virginia, in 1838 the number of 
 paupers was computed to be 2,500, being 1 pauper 
 to every 274 inhabitants. 
 
 In France, in 1817 the Count Laborde estimates 
 the number, as 1 pauper to every 35 inhabitants. 
 
 In the city of New York the population in 1835 
 being 270,089, the aggregate number of persons 
 supported at the Aims-House, and families assisted 
 by out-door relief, amounted to 29,264. 
 
 In the city of Glasgow where the population in 
 1831 was 202,426, and where immigration from Ire- 
 land increases the poor roll to a great extent, there 
 was 1 pauper to every 41,43 persons. 
 
 In Boston, in 1836, there was 1 pauper to every 
 49 inhabitants. 
 
 In Philadelphia, the same year, there was 1 pau- 
 per to every 68 inhabitants. 
 
 These few statements, obtained from the reports 
 to the respective legislatures, and other authentic 
 sources, which might, if necessary, be made more 
 extended, show but too clearly the footing which 
 this lamentable system is obtaining in this country. 
 In many of the states, on the other hand, we do not 
 believe that it is possible to obtain information, on 
 the subject, as the poor are provided for by each 
 separate township, as is the case in New- Jersey, 
 and no general report is presented to the State Le- 
 gislature. 
 
 The question, therefore, assumes a magnitude, 
 when considered in the aggregate, which well de- 
 
PAUPERISM. 213 
 
 mands the attention of Congress. In the heart of a 
 thriving and industrious people, we do not hesitate to 
 assert, that there were in 1837, one hundred thou- 
 sand persons living upon, or partially supported by 
 public charity, and this too generally administered 
 as a right, and, by consequence, in a way most calcu- 
 lated to sap the foundations of society. If the mag- 
 nitude of the question were fairly appreciated, there 
 would no doubt be some means adopted to lead to 
 the amelioration of the system, and Massachusetts 
 has lately attempted such a reformation in the pro- 
 hibition of the sale of ardent spirits by retail. But 
 whatever may be the means which may ultimately 
 be adopted, there cannot be a question, that the mag- 
 nitude of the evil should be ascertained, and the 
 causes which engender such vast amount of destitu- 
 tion among the inhabitants at large, should be accu- 
 rately examined and exposed. 
 
 It is to immigration that many are inclined, and per- 
 haps with truth, to attribute the increase of pauper- 
 ism ; but as far as our information will warrant us to 
 go, we are not prepared to admit the correctness of 
 this opinion in its fullest extent. That the number 
 of foreigners in needy circumstances, who crowd to 
 these shores, is great, we are aware, and in another 
 article we have fully alluded to the "subject; but that 
 it is so great as to warrant the conclusion that the ex- 
 tent of pauperism is to be traced wholly to this source 
 we cannot suppose. 
 
 1836 the foreign paupers in Phil, were to the natives as 1. to 1.11 
 
 1836 " " Boston " " " " 1. to 0.87 
 
 1837 " New- York, { St ^ Md } 1. to 7.07 
 
214 
 
 PAUPERISM. 
 
 The number of families who received out-door re- 
 lief in 1838, in the city of New York, was 15,448; 
 many of these w r ere relieved every week during the 
 winter, and a small portion every week during the 
 year. About oiie-ffith only are natives. The whole 
 number of persons estimated as relieved, or support- 
 ed in the Aims-House, including the above, is 80,699, 
 (estimating the families as consisting of five persons 
 each,) of whom 59,522 are foreigners.* There are, 
 however, not more than 200,000 native Americans in 
 the city ; and this would make every tenth an appli- 
 cant for charity. 
 
 Again, in reference to the commitments for crimes 
 of a minor description, to the city penitentiary, the 
 Board of Aldermen of New-York report the following 
 table : 
 
 1827 there were committed in all 682, of whom 186 foreigners. 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 1831 
 
 915 " 
 
 1,001 " 
 
 1,262 " 
 
 ' " 1,348 
 
 220 
 225 
 286 
 340 
 
 or, on an average, rather less than one-fourth. 
 
 We are well aware that such limited informa- 
 tion is of no statistical value ; but we quote it to 
 show that the number of paupers in this country is 
 not wholly to be attributed to the number of foreign 
 immigrants, and that deeper and more accurate in- 
 quiry must be instituted before the causes of the 
 present condition of the country are traced to their 
 legitimate source. That they do materially increase 
 
 * We are aware that there is an apparent discrepancy between these state- 
 ments. The former we procured from the Treasurer's Report to the Legislature ; 
 the latter, for the subsequent year, from an officer of the Aims-House, through 
 the kindness of a member of the Corporation. 
 
PAUPERISM. 215 
 
 the pauperism of the land, is certain, but it is only 
 just to the native, as well as to the foreign popula- 
 tion, to determine the proportion which these bear 
 to each other. It is in the power of the different 
 States, or the Municipal Corporations, to pass laws 
 relative to the importation of foreigners, and in the 
 city of New- York such laws are now in force. Every 
 captain or owner of a vessel has to enter into a bond 
 that any passenger brought to the country, and 
 landed at the port of New- York, shall not become a 
 burden upon the community for the term of 2 years, 
 or it is in his power to commute such responsibility, by 
 paying a fixed sum for all his passengers, which is 
 generally done. In 1818 the price of commutation 
 was $3 for each person, and was reduced, in 1827, to 
 $2 50, and further reduced, in 1830, to $1. Such a 
 provision is just and equitable, and if, on examina- 
 tion, it is found that the weight of pauperism which 
 the city of New-York is labouring under, is to be at- 
 tributed mainly to the number of foreigners settled 
 there, there could be no reason why such restrictions 
 should not be placed upon immigration as would pre- 
 vent the increase of the evil. 
 
 But at the same time, the true source of the pre- 
 vailing pauperism should be dispassionately examin- 
 ed, and such means taken to induce industrious and 
 economical habits, as may seem to be expedient ; 
 and above all, the honest pride of the citizen to de- 
 cline resorting to public support, till every other de- 
 scription of relief fails, should be stimulated; and the 
 support which seems to be administered with so libe- 
 ral a hand in the city of New- York should be dealt 
 out with greater caution, and in as small quantities as 
 
216 PAUPERISM. 
 
 the bare existence of its poor require. The facility 
 with which a large portion of a community lapse into 
 a state of dependence is but too fully illustrated by 
 the operation of the English poor laws, and similar 
 results will, in either country, be produced by similar 
 causes. 
 
 This is one of those subjects to w r hich we have re- 
 ferred, when speaking of the care requisite in framing 
 the schedules, which must vary according to the 
 state of the poor laws in each section. It is also a 
 subject which will not require to be examined into by 
 every returning officer, as the poor are more general- 
 ly supported by county than by town rates, and 
 therefore the returns from one officer in each county 
 will be sufficient. In a subsequent chapter we pur- 
 pose speaking of the nature of the duties to be re- 
 quired from the different officers, so now refer our 
 readers to the general remarks on that subject. 
 
 In concluding this brief notice on the subject of 
 pauperism, we must express a hope that the full ex- 
 amination which Government may institute into the 
 number, expense, and condition of the poor, will show 
 that the picture which we have drawn, is too highly 
 coloured, and that a temporary depression, which has 
 left no trace behind it, was the occasion of the amount 
 of poverty in the years to which we have referred. 
 
217 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 <: THAT which makes a good constitution must keep 
 it, namely men of wisdom and virtue, qualities that 
 because they descend not with worldly inheritance, 
 must be carefully propagated by a virtuous educa- 
 tion." So said William Penn, in his Frame of Go- 
 vernment, and the justice of the observation is only 
 now fully appreciated. But at this time, after a long 
 period of inaction, the public mind seems awakened 
 to the propriety of systematically pursuing the great 
 national object of popular education, on a general 
 diffusion of which the happiness, as well as the 
 safety of modern society depends. The early colo- 
 nists in New England set the example of establishing 
 a provision at public expense for the education of 
 the community, which seems never to have been 
 previously attempted in Modern Europe,* Happily 
 for the human race, however, the necessity as well 
 as the duty of enabling every inhabitant to acquire 
 the elements of education, has gradually been more 
 fully appreciated, and in this country, and in Europe, 
 much public attention is attracted to the various 
 schemes proposed for promoting so laudable an end. 
 It is not our intention, at present, to enter upon 
 any examination of what the means taken to attain 
 
 * Livingston's Introduction to the Penal Code of Louisiana. 
 
 28 
 
218 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 a general system of education should be, or what is 
 the most legitimate aim of such a system. The sub- 
 ject is one which embraces so many topics, and con- 
 cerns the permanent interests of society so pre-emi- 
 nently, that we are conscious any scattered remarks 
 we might make, would not be commensurate with the 
 theme : leaving, therefore, to other and mere able 
 pens a vindication of the nobler ends of education, 
 which regard not only the attainment of knowledge, 
 but the purification of that moral atmosphere, which 
 every where surrounds us ; we pass on to the con- 
 sideration of the existing condition of Education in 
 this country. 
 
 One great impediment to improvement is the ab- 
 sence of all consciousness of its necessity. In the 
 common affairs of life, most men who do not turn 
 their particular attention to a subject, can be swayed 
 by the statement of a friend, and an individual by 
 dwelling on a partial view of any topic, can gene- 
 rally convince himself of its truth, even in opposition 
 to his more candid judgment; so it is with commu- 
 nities, which being long accustomed to hear any 
 particular institution lauded, in time come to regard 
 it as perfect, and any project of improvement as 
 applied to it, is pronounced to be a dangerous inno- 
 vation. History abounds in absurdities of this kind, 
 and when we regard the subjects, xvhich so mystified 
 our ancestors, unveiled and exposed to candid inquiry, 
 we are struck with the erroneousness of their opi- 
 nions, and amazed at their inconceivable obtuseness. 
 The history of the sinking fund, established by the 
 British Government, and so universally looked to 
 as the means of liquidating, at a future period, the 
 
EDUCATION. 219 
 
 accumulated national debt, is a striking instance of 
 national blindness. This complacency in the exist- 
 ing institutions of a country is one of the evils most 
 difficult to eradicate, when it refers to institutions of 
 doubtful benefit, as well as one of the most essential 
 to maintain, when it regards a beneficial arrangement. 
 " Mr. Simpson, in remarking upon the obstacles to 
 the improvement of education in Scotland, observes, 
 * the habit, now one hundred and fifty years old, of 
 lauding the Scottish parochial schools, and crediting 
 them with all the intelligence and morality which 
 are said, to an extent beyond all truth, to characterize 
 the manual labour class of our countrymen, has 
 been, and is yet, an obstacle of the complacent kind; 
 a prevailing practical belief, that if schools, de facto, 
 exist, education is provided for, be these schools and 
 these teachers what they may, is an obstacle arising 
 from indifference and contentment.' These remarks 
 may as justly be applied to the free schools of New 
 England, and to the public schools of the United 
 States generally, as to the parochial schools of Scot- 
 land."* In order to combat this impression, and to 
 exhibit impartially the state of education, we have 
 prepared the following abstract of the state of the 
 various school privileges possessed in different parts 
 of the country. To the student in these matters, 
 our remarks present nothing of novelty, being con- 
 densed from the Report presented by Mr. Crawfurd 
 to the British Parliament, on the subject of Prison 
 Discipline to which an Appendix on Education is 
 added ; but, to the general reader it may serve 
 to exhibit the present condition of education in this 
 
 * New York Review vol. iii. 159. 
 
220 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 country. It is some years 'since this report was 
 made, and much has been done by the friends of 
 education in the meanwhile, yet, in presenting a 
 view of the state of the country four years ago, we 
 fear we give too accurate a picture of its present 
 condition. 
 
 Massachusetts. The first act providing for public education in 
 this state was passed in 1789. This act was repealed, and the 
 existing law passed in 1827^ which states that "each town or 
 district containing fifty families or householders shall be provided 
 with a teacher or teachers, of good morals, to instruct children in 
 orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, and 
 arithmetic, for such a term as shall be equivalent to six months for 
 one school in each year." Corresponding provisions are made 
 where the number of inhabitants amounts to 100, 150 and 500 
 families. The different expenses required for the establishment of 
 common schools, to be raised by assessment, as other town taxes. 
 
 The result of this law will appear in the following abstract of the 
 school returns made to the General Court in 1833, from 9 towns 
 in this state. At this period, the number of school districts was 791, 
 and the amount paid for public instruction $98,086. The aggre- 
 gate time of keeping schools in the year, estimated in months, 2586 
 by male teachers, and 3725 by female teachers. 
 
 The towns from which returns are made are distributed in pretty 
 equal proportions in the various counties of the state. The popula- 
 tion of these towns, in 1830, was 201,681, being about one-third of 
 the inhabitants of the state. 
 
 Towns, 305 
 
 Cost of public instruction, $294,259 
 
 Number of school districts, 2,273 
 
 Months by female teachers, 7,758 ) 
 
 ,, ,, , , . , 71 ,_ > total, 18,933 
 
 Months by male teachers, 11,175 ^ 
 
 Pupils in public schools, 148,656 
 
 Academies and private schools, 1,185 
 
 Pupils in academies and private schools, 24,852 
 
 Pay of teachers in do. do. do. $243,883 
 
 Number between 14 and 21 \vho caanot read, 30 
 
EDUCATION, 221 
 
 The male teachers are allowed a salary of from 10 to 25 dollars 
 per month : the average is probably about $15. Females are ge- 
 nerally paid by the week, from 75 cents to $3 : average about $1,25. 
 
 Maine. When Maine became a separate state, one of the ear- 
 liest measures of the Legislature was an improvement of the system 
 then in operation for the support of common schools. It is now 
 the duty of the assessor to assign to each school district a proportion 
 of the money annually raised in each year for the support of com- 
 mon schools, according to the number of children therein between 
 the ages of 4 and 21. School-books are furnished by the parents, 
 but if unwilling to do so, are provided at public expense. No 
 alien is eligible as a master ; and any applicant must procure a 
 certificate from some person of liberal education, literary pursuits, 
 and good moral character, residing within the county, that he is " a 
 person of sober life and conversation, and sustains a good moral 
 character." 
 
 In the year 1825, the Legislature required a report from each 
 town respecting the number of school districts, and other informa- 
 tion, which in 1826 was reported as follows : 
 
 Number of school districts, 2,499 
 
 Number of persons between 4 and 21, 137,831 
 
 Number who usually attend school, 101,325 
 
 Money to be annually raised, $119,334 
 
 Amount actually raised, $132,263 
 Total expenditure, taxes, and permanent fund, $137,878 
 
 Average monthly wages for teachers, $12,024 
 
 Average annual expense of each scholar, $1 35 
 
 The aggregate number of months in which the schools were open 
 under male instructors was 5161, and under female 6285. The 
 whole number of pupils in 1833 has been estimated at 140,000. The 
 proportion of scholars to the whole population was 30 per cent. 
 
 New Hampshire. The division of towns into school districts 
 renders it practicable for all children in this state to attend schools, 
 either in summer or winter. In 1823, the number of school districts 
 was 1698, and of school-houses 1560. Of the former there are at 
 present at least 1732, and of the latter 1601. Judging from the 
 returns received from a number of towns in Merrirnack county, it 
 
222 EDUCATION. 
 
 is concluded that 1 of 46 of the whole population annually attend 
 the free schools, including private schools and academies, and 1 in 
 30 of the entire population attend school during some portion of the 
 year. The course of instruction in this state is very complete. 
 
 Vermont. In 1824, the select-men in every town were authorized 
 to assess a tax of two cents in the dollar on the ratable estate of the 
 inhabitants, for school purposes. There is also a general school 
 fund, and there are several restrictions on the proper application of 
 the respective funds. The number of school districts in 1831 was 
 about 2400. Taking the whole number of persons between the ages 
 of 5 and 20 inclusive, this statement would show about 43 scholars 
 to each school district. It is supposed, however, that the average 
 who attend school is less than 30. In 1832, the Legislature made 
 some additional provision for the promotion of education. 
 
 Connecticut. By the sale of some lands in the west, now forming 
 a part of the state of Ohio, for $1,200,000, this state procured a 
 fund, now amounting to $1,700,000, which is set aside for the pur- 
 pose of general education. A system sustained by funds so ample, 
 might be expected to produce extensive results. It is, however, 
 remarkable, that the state of education is not more advanced than 
 before the formation of this fund. The means of education had 
 previously been so excellent, that for 60 years not an instance had 
 been known of an individual appearing before a court of justice 
 who could not write his name ; but of late years, there have been 
 many instances of gross ignorance, even among members of school 
 committees ; and the effect of the fund seems to have been to ren- 
 der parents indifferent to the education of their children. The dif- 
 ferent school districts do not raise any sums to aid those which 
 they receive from the public funds, and only make such arrange- 
 ments for education as can be defrayed by that fund. The whole 
 number of pupils who attend the winter schools is about 40 ; the 
 number in attendance in summer is much less. The size of school- 
 houses is much too small ; they are badly built and ill -lighted. 
 
 Rhode Island. In 1828, the Legislature appropriated $10,000 
 for the support of public schools, with authority to each town to 
 raise by tax double the amount of its proportion of that sum. The 
 
EDUCATION. 223 
 
 inhabitants in all the towns availed themselves of this law, and the 
 number of schools probably now exceeds 700. 
 
 Every child of a suitable age is freely admitted into the schools, 
 and all are taught reading, writing, and the elements of mathema- 
 tics, and the elder scholars grammar and geography. The teachers, 
 who are usually under-graduates of the colleges, receive from $15 
 to $30 a month, and their board. The salary of the female teach- 
 ers is about 8200 per annum. 
 
 There are no returns in detail from this state, which, from the 
 elevated character of the common school education, is much to be 
 regretted. 
 
 New- York. The school-system in this state is generally known, 
 and the detail necessary for a full exposition of it obliges us to limit 
 the notice to the following short statement. In 1834, there were 
 9,690 school districts, in the state, and reports were received from 
 9,107. At the close of 1832, there were 522,618 children, between 
 5 and 16 years of age, residing in the several school districts, from 
 which reports had been received, and 512,475 were taught in those 
 districts during that year. These attended school, on an average, 
 for a period of eight months. 
 
 In addition to this ample public provision, the city of New York 
 is under the special management of a public school society, which 
 has ably discharged its duty to the state; and all portions of the 
 population have an opportunity of benefitting by the means so amply 
 afforded. 
 
 New-Jersey. The state of New-Jersey has been very remiss in 
 establishing any general system of public instruction, and in 1828, 
 a report was made, which states, that there are 11,742 children, 
 entirely destitute of elementary education, and about 15,000 adults, 
 unable to read. Last year, (1838,) however, considerable exertion 
 was made to arouse the attention of the people, and although with- 
 out any means of judging of the effect of the measures then adopted, 
 we hope that they may prove serviceable. 
 
 Pennsylvania. The first law which was passed for the further- 
 ance of general education, was in 1809, which, however, in 1830, 
 still remained a dead letter ; and, in that year, the Pennsylvania 
 
224 EDUCATION. 
 
 society for the promotion of public schools, declares, " that there 
 are at least 400,000 children in the state, between 5 and 15, and of 
 these, there were not 150,000 in all the schools in the state. In 
 1833, a report which accompanied a draught of a new bill on the 
 subject, alleges, that the number of voters, unable to read, in this 
 state, may be computed at 10,000, and that 2,500 persons become 
 voters annually, who are equally ignorant ; and assuming the cen- 
 sus of 1830 as the basis, they say, "we have 635,849 under 20 
 years of age, between 400,000 and 500,000 of these are, by the 
 constitution, placed under the guardianship of the legislature of 
 these, by official returns made last year to the secretary of the com- 
 monwealth, only 17,462 are now receiving (and that nominally, 
 perhaps) instruction gratis." 
 
 It is gratifying to think that a new general law has been passed 
 appointing a common school system, with a superintendent whose 
 sole occupation consists in directing and controlling the public 
 schools. There is, as might be expected, great difficulty experi- 
 enced in procuring suitable teachers, and it is proposed to train 
 such in the grammar-schools and colleges now existing. 
 
 Maryland. The amount of the public funds for the support of 
 common schools, in 1831, was $142,063. No general returns have 
 been procured from this state, but it would seem, that while some 
 sections are advancing rapidly in the education of youth, the greater 
 number are very remiss, and the population generally is poorly 
 supplied with the means of instruction. 
 
 Ohio. In 1831, the legislature of this state took measures to 
 introduce a general system of education, but great prejudice pre- 
 vailed in some parts of the country against it, and sufficient returns 
 do not exist to enable us to determine the benefit which has followed 
 from it. It seems difficult to procure a sufficient remuneration in 
 a state where the wages of all classes of labourers are extremely 
 high, and till this be overcome, but little can be expected from any 
 legal enactment. In 1836, Professor C. E. Stowe was requested to 
 make a report on the existing systems of education in Europe, to 
 the legislature of this state, which he presented in December, 1837, 
 and it shows that in selecting and authorizing such an agent to 
 submit a report on the subject, the state legislature entertained en- 
 
EDUCATION. 225 
 
 lightened views of their duty and obligation to advance the inte- 
 rests of public institutions. 
 
 Illinois. A thirty-sixth part of each township is granted by the 
 United States Government for the support of schools in this state, 
 also a fund arising from 3 per cent, on the nett proceeds of the 
 United States lands within this state, is appropriated to the encou- 
 ragement of learning. 
 
 In 1831, this state contained about 47,895 inhabitants, between 
 4 and 16 years of age. It was then ascertained, that the whole 
 number of children who attended school for one quarter or less 
 portion of the year, was only 12,000, or about one-fourth of those 
 who were of a suitable age to be at school. There then existed 
 about 560 schools, and the average number in each amounted to 
 about 22. 
 
 In 1833, the legislature passed a law authorizing the formation 
 of school districts, and as the principle upon which the remunera- 
 tion of the teacher depends is novel, much interest will attach to 
 accurate returns of its operation. 
 
 Kentucky. It does not appear that any measure has been adopted 
 by the legislature, for the introduction of a system of education 
 into this state, and the consequences may easily be imagined. In 
 1830, the number of children, between 5 and 15, were 143,738, 
 and of these, 103,337 were attending no school upwards of five- 
 sevenths. 
 
 Tennessee, is in much the same condition, 160,000 youths being 
 destitute of the means of education. 
 
 Virginia. This state, in 1816, appropriated a large fund for the 
 establishment of a system of instruction for the highest as well as 
 the lowest classes, a permanent appropriation of $45,000 a year 
 was made for the education of the poor, and $15,000 for the erec- 
 tion and support of a University. This law was subsequently 
 modified in 1829, and it is thought that the system now existing 
 may produce very beneficial results. "Considering," says Mr. 
 Crawfurd, " that the system is of recent date, it cannot be denied 
 but the results are beneficial, and give rise to the expectation, that 
 29 
 
226 EDUCATION. 
 
 in the course of another period of 15 or 20 years, all the poor chil- 
 dren in Virginia will enjoy the benefit of instruction." 
 
 The amount of information regarding the other states in the 
 Union is such, that it is unnecessary to report them separately, and 
 therefore we conclude this summary with the following statement 
 of the aggregate results ; in the New England States, there are not 
 less than 500,000 children educated at the common schools, and in 
 1830, there were 473,508 white persons in those states, between the 
 ages of 5 and 15, and allowing for the increase of population, we 
 may say that the benefits of elementary education are universally 
 diffused. 
 
 In the states to the south and west of New-York, however, there 
 is reason to believe that there were 1,210,000 children without the 
 benefits of education. 
 
 We believe that this account presents a candid and 
 dispassionate picture of the condition of education 
 in the country, in 1534; to what extent it has been 
 changed and improved in the interval, we have not 
 the means of determining, but we hope and believe, 
 that the condition of several of the states is greatly 
 ameliorated. It must be remembered, that any 
 system of public education is of slow growth, and 
 that when so much destitution prevailed in 1834, in 
 1839 the extent of ignorance which we have to la- 
 ment must yet be great. But on the other hand, the 
 exhibition of the progress of instruction in some of 
 the states is peculiarly gratifying; to find that only 
 30 persons in Massachusetts between the ages of 14 
 and 21, cannot read, and that in Rhode Island, the 
 teachers are principally under-graduates of a uni- 
 versity, are facts which it is pleasant to record, and 
 may the day soon come when a similar description 
 may be applicable to the whole of the country. If 
 
EDUCATION. 227 
 
 the nation, instead of recurring to the condition of 
 the states to the east of the Delaware, as a specimen 
 of the actual state of education, were to appreciate 
 fully the destitution of the other sections of the 
 country, there would be more ground for anticipating 
 an enlarged view of the necessities of extended edu- 
 cation, and a juster conception of what it really con- 
 sists in a public system of education suited to the 
 wants of the community, should prepare each citizen 
 to perform the various duties which his several rela- 
 tions in society impose upon him. " The proper 
 object of education is a thorough development of all 
 the intellectual and moral powers ; the awakening 
 and calling forth of every talent that may exist even 
 in the remotest and obscurest corner, and giving it a 
 useful direction. A system that will do this, and 
 such a system only, do I consider adequate to the 
 wants of our population. Such a system, and such 
 a system only, can avert all the evils, and produce 
 all the benefits which our common schools are de- 
 signed to produce. True, such a system must be far 
 more extensive and complete than any now in ope- 
 ration, teachers must be more numerous, skilful, 
 persevering and self-denying; parents must take 
 greater interest in the schools, and do more for their 
 support; and the children must attend punctually 
 and regularly, till the whole prescribed course is com- 
 pleted. All this can be done, and I hope will be 
 done."* 
 
 And when so much is done in the several states 
 for the promotion of this good end, and so many 
 
 * Report to the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, Dec. 19, 1837. 
 
228 EDUCATION. 
 
 active labourers are in the field, stimulating and 
 directing public attention to the subject, ought 
 the General Government to withhold the stimulus, 
 which a simple inquiry into the condition of the 
 country, would afford. If a full exhibition of the 
 present destitution in some states, and of the provi- 
 sions for the education of all the inhabitants, in 
 others, would arouse the nation at large to more 
 active exertions, either to extend or perpetuate the 
 blessings of -education, it were surely a proper subject 
 of inquiry in a government based upon the popular 
 voice and sentiment of the community. 
 
 We do not propose suggesting the forms which the 
 returns on this subject should assume, as there are 
 two modes, which each present some advantages. 
 The one is a direct inquiry into the number of per- 
 sons upwards of 10 years of age, who can read; 
 the other, a return to be made out by the assistant of 
 the actual condition of education in his district The 
 one would be more easily complied with, and perhaps 
 present a more correct picture of the present state of 
 the country ; the other would be much the most satis- 
 factory, as it would exhibit the present condition of 
 education ; and perhaps, if the two modes were 
 united, the former enumeration confined to persons up- 
 wards of 15, and the latter to those under that age, 
 there would be nothing more to be desired regarding 
 the topic. Hoping that this great subject will receive 
 the attention of Government, and certainly none can 
 be more deserving of it, we wish to conclude this 
 hurried sketch, by reference to two subjects of much 
 importance. 
 
 The first is, would it be just and proper to limit the 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 229 
 
 right of suffrage to those who can read and write ? 
 This is not a novel suggestion, as in the bill presented 
 last year by Lord Brougham, to the House of Lords, 
 provision is made for allowing every educated man a 
 vote in the school meetings of the National Schools.* 
 If this principle were introduced, and surely it were 
 a politic one, by constantly making each illiterate 
 individual feel his inferiority, it would effectually 
 stimulate him to exertion to overcome the defect in 
 his education, arid make him anxious that his chil- 
 dren should not labour under the same disability. 
 In Pennsylvania, the legislature report, 100,000 voters 
 unable to read, and of the number Mr. Crawford 
 estimates as without the means of instruction, 
 1,000,000 will probably in 10 years survive arid con- 
 tinue equally ignorant. And is it right to trust the 
 destinies of this country in the hands of those whose 
 passions only can be reached by declamatory orations 
 but whose judgment cannot be approached by the 
 calmer voice of reason? It might be odious to make 
 this restriction apply to those who have already ex- 
 ercised the privilege of voting, but we would recom- 
 mend the question to the Government, and to the pub- 
 lic generally, as well worthy of consideration. If a 
 restriction were placed to prevent all persons under 
 the age of 20, and foreign born citizens not naturalized 
 from acquiring the right of suffrage, till they were 
 capable of reading and writing, no injustice would 
 be done to them, and we think only a due regard 
 would be exercised for the safety and credit of the 
 country. And little practical difficulty would result 
 from this provision, as the judges of any court might 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, Vol. G8, reprint, 232. 
 
230 EDUCATION. 
 
 be authorized to grant a certificate on the individuals 
 reading audibly and transcribing legibly some dozen 
 lines of any legal authority at hand. We would 
 wish to suggest a legal authority, or statute book, in 
 preference to the bible, both as more proper and as 
 it would prevent the applicant from preparing himself 
 for examination, by studying some particular chapter. 
 The other topic is the extent to which religious 
 instruction in public schools should be carried. This 
 perhaps is the most difficult and delicate subject con- 
 nected with popular education. We believe that it 
 is impossible to give other than a religious or an irreli- 
 gious education, there is no middle course, the ex- 
 panding affections of the youthful mind must be di- 
 rected to embrace conceptions of the nature and purity 
 of the Godhead, or they will unavoidably contract a 
 contrary tendency. But whenever the term religion is 
 introduced, the word sectarian seems almost instinct- 
 ively to follow, and it is to keep these totally distinct, 
 that the attention of the philanthropist should be di- 
 rected. In the States of New-York, Pennsylvania, 
 and Ohio, the bible is used as a school book, but it is 
 to be used without note or comment, and under cer- 
 tain modifications, this is the course which should 
 universally be adopted. It is possible to elucidate 
 the leading doctrines of the bible, to impress the 
 scholar with a reverence for God and this book as a 
 revelation from him, without inculcating any doctrine 
 which may be peculiar to any one sect. Professor 
 Stowe exemplifies this in a very happy manner, in 
 his report, by the classification of the different descrip- 
 tive passages in the bible, to convince the pupil that 
 the God of nature, who is daily revealing himself to 
 
EDUCATION. 231 
 
 the young inquirer, is the same who is revealed to 
 the more aged disciple in the pages of scripture. 
 This exclusion of doctrinal matter from the usual 
 routine of public instruction, is the only concession 
 which a religious community should consent to, or 
 the atheist will again exclaim, "the moment of the 
 catastrophe is come, all these prejudices must fall at 
 the same time; we must destroy them or they will 
 destroy us."* There are certain limits by which even 
 the most conciliatory spirit must resolve to abide, 
 and the recognition of the divine inspiration of reve- 
 lation in all public schools, is one. But there are 
 some very difficult questions connected with this sub- 
 ject, as regards the education of the youth of the 
 Catholic church, which attracts the attention of the 
 Governor of the State of New- York, in his recent 
 message, as one of great importance. We hope that 
 some course may be adopted which may obviate 
 the difficulty, arid therefore we wish to suggest 
 the propriety of inquiring into the number and com- 
 parative importance of the religious sects in this 
 country, as it will tend to throw much light upon 
 the useful and important subject of the principles of 
 popular education. 
 
 * Speech of M. Dupont at the National Convention, Paris, 1792. 
 
232 
 
 CLERGY. 
 
 When enumerating the various professions, page 
 126, we omitted the clergy, being anxious to devote 
 a few remarks to the subject in order to direct public 
 attention more particularly to it. While the subject 
 of the comparative taxation in this country and 
 Europe has attracted much attention, the number 
 and divisions of the clergy have also been the theme 
 of discussion, and it were much to be desired that 
 Government should authorize some statistical inqui- 
 ries being made into the religious condition of the na- 
 tion. We are well aware that the most studied sep- 
 aration has always been maintained between the Ex- 
 ecutive and any body of Christians, and that the 
 evils arising from the religious establishment of 
 England, have served as a beacon, to warn America 
 from becoming entangled in the same snare. But 
 this total separation by no means precludes the pro- 
 priety of making some statistical inquiries into the 
 provision which Christians in this country, by their 
 own voluntary exertions afford to their ministers, or 
 the number of these who are settled throughout the 
 country. This was one of the topics regarding 
 which Mr. Livingston endeavoured to obtain some 
 information, but unfortunately, on this as well as on 
 other .subjects, he met with no encouragement. A 
 popular government which depends for its support 
 
CLERGY. 233 
 
 upon the morality and good faith of its citizens, has 
 naturally a deep interest in furthering and promoting 
 the religious feeling of the community, and is neces- 
 sarily interested in any inquiry into the present means 
 of religious instruction, with which the country is 
 provided. 
 
 Of the number of men who are devoted to the 
 cause of the Christian religion, embracing the various 
 sects into which they are divided, little accurate in- 
 formation exists. It may be thought that such might 
 easily be obtained, yet we find that the returns made 
 in the publications of the various denominations are 
 so vague and contradictory, that no accurate analysis 
 can be made of the number of spiritual teachers ; 
 and in the following extracts from clerical writers 
 which we give, there is a vagueness of assertion which 
 completely contradicts a patient inquiry into facts. 
 The Rev. Calvin Colton, in his Church and State in 
 America, says in 1834 : " By the last census, (1830,) 
 the population of the United States was 12,866,020. 
 Allowing three hundred Catholic priests, we shall 
 then have, of all denominations, as may be seen, full 
 one minister to every thousand souls, by the estimate 
 of the last census. Deducting the Roman Catholics, 
 and those not estimated orthodox, all of which, in 
 their own connections, doubtless have their influence 
 in promoting morality, and in securing the good order 
 of society, we shall still have 11,138, whose Chris- 
 tianity is generally sound, whose qualifications are 
 for the most part fitted for the several classes of so- 
 ciety among whom their labours are distributed, and 
 a very large proportion of whom would not suffer by 
 comparison in piety and professional learning with 
 30 
 
234 
 
 CLERGY. 
 
 any set of men of the same class in the Christian 
 world, when viewed in mass and in their ordinary 
 relations to society." From such a -flattering state- 
 ment of the religious condition of this land, let us 
 turn to another authority the Rev. Dr. Jarvis, of 
 Middletown, and hear what, in 1824, he said of the 
 condition of religion here. " It has been shown by 
 published documents that on the general estimate of 
 one pastor to a thousand souls, there are not enough 
 at this present moment to supply three millions of our 
 population, and consequently, that there are now 
 seven millions in the United States, who are either 
 wholly or partially deprived of the means of religion ;" 
 the difference of ten years in these estimates cannot 
 be supposed to have produced much of their variance. 
 In 1833, at the anniversary of the Home Missionary 
 Society, the Rev. Mr. Plummer says : " Let us now 
 see how these two portions (the Western and 
 Southern States) are instructed. In the South, em- 
 bracing all ministers of all Evangelical denomina- 
 tions, the number is 1572, being one minister to 3321 
 of a population. In the West, adding .the Cumber- 
 land presbytery, in 1817, there is one minister to 2190 
 persons. And of the denominations which require 
 a sound and thorough education, before men are per- 
 mitted to enter the ministry, there are at the rate of 
 one minister to 12,429." 
 
 With such discrepancy in the estimated number of 
 clergy officiating in the United States, it were vain 
 to attempt to procure any correct estimate of their 
 stipends, or any arrangement according to the 
 churches to which they belong. But each of these are 
 subjects which the General Government might well 
 
CLERGY. , 235 
 
 inquire into, and obtain satisfactory and accurate in- 
 formation regarding. 
 
 There may be many difficulties in determining ex- 
 actly who "Ministers" are, as in many parts of the 
 country, and in some denominations, those bear this 
 appellation who, throughout the week, support them- 
 selves by secular labour. Now it is evidently not 
 the part of Government, standing aloof from all reli- 
 gious denominations, to inquire particularly into the 
 ecclesiastical constitution of the various sects with 
 which this country teems ; it should rather adopt 
 some general definition which would include the 
 class which it is desirable to enumerate, and such a 
 definition were preferable, if it were based upon the 
 visible means of support, as being less liable to mis- 
 construction. It is impossible to take education as 
 the criterion, as there would both be something inqui- 
 sitorial in inquiring into the youthful studies of settled 
 pastors, and also as all the sects in this country ad- 
 mit of certain established qualifications as an equiva- 
 lent for academical instruction. 
 
 Not being able to take education as the criterion by 
 which to determine who are clergymen, the only other 
 test is, are they supported by clerical labours, or do 
 they derive a maintenance by teaching religion ? We 
 wish not to lower the standard by which the clergy 
 might be estimated, and in taking their pecuniary 
 means, we desire only to establish a criterion regard- 
 ing which there can be no misconception. In such a 
 general division, all we believe, will be included who 
 ought to be enumerated as among the clergy, and 
 those who merely exhort and preach extemporane- 
 ously, without preparation and previous education, 
 
236 CLERGY. 
 
 and labour for their support in some secular employ- 
 ment should be omitted. If all who preach were in- 
 cluded in these returns, they would be of no value 
 as affording any means of comparing the relative 
 strength of the Christian ministry in Europe and 
 America. 
 
 Of the aggregate expense of the religious instruc- 
 tion in this country nothing is known, though the 
 Quarterly Review states it to be about $16,914,944, 
 or about $1150 to each clergyman. We could wish 
 that such were an accurate statement of the amount 
 received by the American clergy, bat the assertion is 
 too ridiculous to require refutation. What the actual 
 amount may be, it remains for Government, which 
 alone can institute an inquiry into the subject, in all 
 parts of the country, to determine. In the statistical 
 tables we find that Maine had in 1835, 368 clergy, 
 whose united income amounted to $86,795, or about 
 $236 each. The aggregate amount of ministers' salary 
 paid in each district might be given, so that the return 
 would lose that invidious and personal appearance it 
 might otherwise present. 
 
 It is difficult to say, to what extent, if any, the 
 inquiry into the religious divisions of the sects should 
 be carried, but we think that it should be attempted, 
 not so much from the interest or utility it would be 
 of to the statist, as from the satisfaction it would 
 afford to some bodies of Chrfstians. It would of 
 course be a vain thing for Government to attempt ac- 
 curately to discriminate the various shades which dis- 
 tinguish the different religious denominations among 
 us, and to have each separately enumerated ; but some 
 more general classification might be adopted, uniting 
 
CLERGY. 237 
 
 tinder one head, those sects whose doctrine and prin- 
 ciples mainly corresponded. We rather believe that 
 7 or 8 divisions would be as particular a classification 
 of the various sects as is required. But should a 
 more complete enumeration be considered desirable, 
 we append the following list taken from the Ameri- 
 can Almanac for 1839, as furnishing a plan which in 
 such a case, might be followed.* 
 
 If the principle we have above applied to discrimi- 
 nate who are and who are not ministers, viz : whether 
 they are supported solely by their profession be cor- 
 rect, many in the above list would be excluded, and 
 the aggregate of 15,000 be very much reduced. It 
 therefore would be well, should a full list like this 
 be adopted, to have two columns, so that those who 
 labour manually should be separated from those of 
 a more educated character, who are supported entirely 
 by the funds set apart for religious purposes. 
 
 No. of Ministers. 
 
 * Baptists, 4239 
 
 " Free-will, 612 
 
 " Seventh Day, 46 
 
 " Six Principle, 10 
 
 Catholics, 389 
 
 Christians, . SOO 
 
 Congregationalists, 1150 
 
 Dutch Reformed, 192 
 
 Episcopalians, 849 
 
 Friends, " 
 
 German Reformed, 180 
 
 Jews, " 
 
 Lutherans 267 
 
 Mennonites, " 
 
 Methodists, 2764 
 
 " Protestant, . 400 
 
 Moravian, or United Brethren, 33 
 
 Mormonites, 
 
 New Jerusalem Cnurch, 33 
 
 Presbyterians 2225 
 
 Cumberland, ...... 450 
 
 " Associate 87 
 
 " Reformed, 20 
 
 " Associate Reformed, ... 116 
 
 Shakers, 45 
 
 Tunkers, 40 
 
 Unitarians, 174 
 
 Univeralists, 317 
 
238 CLERGY. 
 
 Whether it is deemed advisable or not for Gov- 
 ernment to enter into the examination of this subject 
 at all, it is not for us to decide; but we rest assured 
 that however numerous the clergy in this country 
 may be, and whatever be their means of subsistence, 
 no country in the world can boast of a more patient 
 and laborious ministry, and that no where does zeal 
 for the cause in which they have embarked, burn 
 with a brighter or a purer flame. 
 
239 LI liii V 
 
 UNI VI:K>SIT\ > 
 V .CA1JFOF?XJLA. 
 
 TAXATION. 
 
 In the statistical tables on this subject, presented 
 to Congress in 1833, Mr. Livingston makes the fol- 
 lowing remarks : " A controversy has arisen of some 
 interest to the reputation of our country, and which 
 may affect that of representative Governments every 
 where. It is asserted that the citizens of the United 
 States pay a greater amount of taxes in proportion to 
 the population than the subjects of France ; from 
 which the conclusion is drawn, that the republican 
 form of government, is more expensive than a mo- 
 narchical. I have been requested to collect facts that 
 may elucidate this question. To do it, the necessary 
 information must be procured from each state, and 
 each town and county in it. This will certainly be 
 attended with some trouble, and I have thought that 
 reliance might be placed on your exertions (the 
 executive officers of each state) to procure it for your 
 state, even if it should answer no other end than that 
 of determining the truth or falsehood of the posi- 
 tion ; but much more important benefits will result 
 from it. First, as to your own state, it will give you 
 a mass of fiscal statistics, the collection of which 
 cannot but be highly useful to your legislature, ena- 
 bling them to compare the different modes of appor- 
 tioning the public burdens in the towns, counties and 
 cities of the state, and thus correcting abuses, select- 
 ing the best mode of laying the local and general 
 
240 TAXATION. 
 
 charges, so as to produce economy in the expenditure 
 and equality in the burdens of the citizens. This 
 information collected in a tabular form has not, it is 
 believed, been in any State, yet submitted to the Le- 
 gislature or the public." 
 
 " Secondly, in relation to the Union. When the 
 information has been received from the diffe rent states, 
 which it is the object of this inquiry to get from 
 each, tables of the returns will be made out at this 
 Department and the whole will be sent to every 
 state, thus affording to all a condensed view of the 
 burdens borne by the citizens of the states, respec- 
 tively, and enabling them to profit by the good and 
 avoid the evil in the respective modes of laying and 
 collecting taxes and other public contributions." 
 
 The controversy here alluded to, arose from some 
 statements in La Revue Britannique and in the 
 Quarterly Review, in the former of which, it was 
 stated, that the expenses per capitem of the whole 
 taxation, were greater in the United States, than in 
 France, and the latter, that when the population of 
 the United States equalled the present population of 
 England, the expenses of its present form of govern- 
 ment would be greater. 
 
 But the tables sent to the different states for further 
 information, in most cases died a natural death, no re- 
 turns being made to the General Government, arid 
 the controversy abroad ended as usual, without either 
 party convincing the ether. Now it is remarkable 
 that the amount of information possessed by the 
 writers in that day, remains unaltered by any further 
 insight or returns on the subject, and were the con- 
 troversy again to be renewed, no more detailed state- 
 
TAXATION. 241 
 
 ments based upon accurate information could be ob- 
 tained. The executive officers of some of the State 
 Governments are ignorant of the subject, and there- 
 fore it were vain to expect that they could report 
 upon it to the department of State, and in New- 
 Jersey, neither the amount of school tax, road tax, 
 nor poor tax, is known beyond the limits of the differ- 
 ent counties, and in some cases, such knowledge is 
 confined to the smaller townships. A cursory review 
 of the controversy, as carried on in Europe, on the 
 subject, may be useful, when the reader is assured 
 that the same topics may be again the subject of 
 debate without any additional power to ascertain the 
 truth being in the mean time attained. 
 
 The writer of the article in the Revue Britannique, 
 has instituted a comparison generally, between the 
 aggregate burdens borne by the French nation, to 
 defray the expenses of the state, and those which the 
 Americans support fora similar purpose ; he even 
 includes in his estimate, the military and naval esta- 
 blishments, foreign relations, and all the items of ,the 
 national budgets of the two countries ; and calculates 
 that the annual sum of the whole public charges 
 paid by each inhabitant of the United States, is thir- 
 ty-five francs, while in France, it is but thirty-one 
 francs. 
 
 The Quarterly Review does not attempt a general 
 comparison between the expenses of Great Britain 
 and those of the United States, but taking certain 
 items of the respective annual expenditures, comes 
 to a prospective conclusion that if the expenditures 
 are not quite equal at present, yet, when the popula- 
 tion of the United States shall equal that of Great 
 31 
 
242 TAXATION. 
 
 Britain, these items by a pro rata increase, will, if 
 parliamentary pensions be omitted, exceed the equiva- 
 lent expenses in England, by about $280,000. With 
 regard to the administration of justice, the Reviewer 
 gives no positive estimate, but affirms that there is 
 every reason to believe that the judiciary expendi- 
 ture of America, exceeds that of England. 
 
 To these statements the attention of General La 
 Fayette was soon called, and instead of answering 
 them himself, he addressed two of his friends, Gen. 
 Bernard and Fenimore Cooper, at that time in Paris, 
 from whom he hoped to obtain some counter state- 
 ments, which would oppose the the fallacy of such 
 estimates of the taxes paid by the American citizen. 
 
 To show the nature of the statements made by 
 the diiferent individuals, and public journals, though 
 without any intention of awarding the victory to 
 either one party or the other, as we feel that no suffi- 
 cient information exists to warrant a correct judgment 
 being formed regarding it: we shall give a short 
 summary of the estimates made by these respective 
 authorities. Each individual pays annually towards 
 the public expenditures, as follows : 
 
 According to Revue Britannique, No. 12, 1831, 
 In France, 31 francs, or $5.82 
 
 In the United States, 35 " " 6.57 
 
 Mr. Fenimore Cooper's estimate. 
 
 In the United States, i. e. a citizen of New- York, 
 to the General and State Governments, including 
 principal and interest of public debt, schools, sup- 
 
TAXATION. 243 
 
 port of clergy, poor, internal improvements, &c., 
 at 14 francs 5 centimes, or $2.73 
 
 Without the ecclesiastical expenses, the 
 poor, or sums paid towards the extinction 
 of the public debt and interest upon it, 
 
 5 francs, 35c. 1.00 
 
 To the State of New- York, 95c. 18 
 
 General Bernard's Calculation. 
 
 In France, without clergy, 28f. 12c. $5.28 
 
 In United States, do. llf. 47c. 2.16 
 
 In France, without the debt, 20f. 57c. 3.86 
 
 In United States, do. 6f. 6c. 
 
 In United States, maximum paid by 
 each individual to state govern- 
 ment, 1,32 $ .24 
 Or to federal and state governments, 
 
 exclusive of clergy. 2.51 
 
 Capt. Basil Hall. 
 
 In United States to General Government, $2.24 
 Ditto State Government, 72 
 
 Mr. Ouseletfs Statement. 
 
 For the average expenditure of the 
 United Kingdom, during the years 1828, 
 '29 and '30, including the national debt, 
 the clergy of every denomination, and the 
 poor rates, an inhabitant of Great Britain 
 pays a minimum of about $12.80 
 
 Or deducting the interest of the national 
 debt, say 28,000,000, about 7.20 
 
244 TAXATION. 
 
 The disparity in these estimates is very great, and 
 it is impossible to decide upon their comparative ac- 
 curacy, the data on which the conclusions are formed 
 being so variable. It is curious to trace in detail the 
 steps by which these authors arrive at their different 
 conclusions. 
 
 The Revue Britannique thus enumerates the diffe- 
 rent items of expense to America : 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Federal Budget, 131,000,000 
 
 States, - - 131,000,000 
 
 Tolls and Bridges, - 10,000,000 
 
 Clergy, 30,000,000 
 
 Militia in time of peace, 50,000,000 
 
 352,000,000 
 Equal to $66,041,351 
 
 This sum divided by the supposed population in 
 1830, viz., 11,000,000, the sum of $6.57 is obtained 
 as the expense of each individual.* 
 
 General Bernard, in commenting upon the above 
 table, thus varies the results at which he arrives. 
 
 The American Budget he places at 130,431,475f. 
 90c,, or about $244,712 being nearly the same 
 amount as the Revue, while he makes the French 
 Budget, including the same heads of expenditure, 
 f.977,935,329, or about $1,834,775. 
 
 The second item, however, he places at 16,970 r - 
 576f., as the maximum of the aggregate state ex- 
 penses of the Union. In arriving at this conclusion, 
 
 * We reduce these respective sums to dollars, at the rate of 5.33 francs to a 
 dollar, although there is some discrepancy in the calculation. 
 
TAXATION. 245 
 
 the General takes the expenditure of two of the 
 richest and most populous states, Virginia and New- 
 York, and examining into their expenses obtains If. 
 25c. as the maximum of individual charge, and this 
 multiplied into the whole population of the Union 
 gives the above aggregate. 
 
 The large charge for tolls and turnpikes, the Ge- 
 neral properly discards from the state expenses, as 
 in this country and England, government have no- 
 thing to do with the maintenance of the highways, 
 and each individual contributes to their support in 
 proportion to the use he makes of them, in this par- 
 ticular corresponding to the pontages, canal tolls, and 
 ferries in France. 
 
 With regard to the clergy, General Bernard pro- 
 fesses a complete inability to make any calculation 
 or comparison as to the annual expenses borne by 
 the population of the different countries. The Quar- 
 terly Review founds its calculations upon a state- 
 ment of Dr. Cooper's,* from which he estimates the 
 aggregate amount paid throughout the Union to the 
 clergy of all sects, at 3,081,650, or $14,914,944, 
 and on the same authority states the number of cler- 
 gy to be 13,000, and deduces the annual income of 
 each clergyman in America to be $1150, while it 
 makes the income of the English clergyman on an 
 average amount only to $968. This is a curious 
 instance both of the colouring which party zeal can 
 give to certain statements, forgetting at the time the 
 main influence of the argument, and the business- 
 like aspect which such palpable absurdities can as- 
 
 * Of Columbia College, South Carolina, 
 
246 TAXATION. 
 
 sume, when reduced to the form of a calculation. 
 Mr. F. Cooper, on the other hand, seems to reduce 
 the income of each clergyman in the state of New- 
 York, to less than $400, and as 10,000 clergy seem to 
 to be more t.han actually exist in the United States, 
 the expense of their support would, instead of $14,- 
 919,944, be only $4,000,000. 
 
 Lastly there can be no better authority on all 
 subjects connected with the military organization of 
 this country than General Bernard. The Revue 
 Britannique contrasts the military establishment of 
 France with the militia system of America, the ex- 
 pense of which it values at 50,000,000 of francs, 
 forgetting to estimate the cost of an exactly corre- 
 sponding institution of France the National Guards. 
 
 Such are the steps by which the General reduces 
 the large amount of the American Budget, and he 
 concludes by making the annual mean amount of 
 public charge paid by each American, at f.ll,47c., or 
 about $2.16. 
 
 We have traced, perhaps at too great length the 
 various positions which were taken in the controversy 
 alluded to by different writers, and certainly without 
 attempting to come to any conclusion of our own, we 
 have exhibited the statements made by each party to 
 show the vagueness of the data from which they 
 argued. The returns from the several states which 
 the inquiries submitted to the different governments 
 called out, were, as we have already stated, extremely 
 defective. And it is hardly possible to classify and 
 arrange those that were made. Partial returns were 
 procured from Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
 Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri ; but it is evident, that 
 
TAXATION. 247 
 
 as a calculation of the whole amount of the expendi- 
 ture of these states, drawn from these very partial 
 returns, must be liable to error, that error must be 
 much increased, when such calculation is the basis 
 of computation for the whole Union. According to 
 the summary appended to these returns, we find the 
 aggregate expenses in these states to be thus 
 computed : 
 
 Population according to 5th census 
 
 1830 in these states, 2,215,718 
 
 Aggregate annual amount of taxes of 
 all kinds, levied for town, county, 
 or state purposes, also the annual 
 expenditure of the General Govern- 
 ment, &c. $3,438,515.12 
 
 Number of clergy of all denominations 
 
 actual residents, 1792 
 
 Aggregate amount of salaries received 
 
 by resident clergymen, annually, $456,758.21 
 
 Number of daysMabour assessed in 
 each year, on the whole towns for 
 the construction and repair of roads 
 and bridges, 1,115,783 
 
 Average value of labour per day, for 
 the construction and repair of roads 
 and bridges, $0.87 
 
 Total amount of labour, as per fore- 
 going valuation,*for the construction 
 and repair of roads and bridges, $971,188.73 
 
 The returns of the paupers are too 
 defective to be applied to the whole 
 of these states. 
 
248 TAXATION. 
 
 The aggregate annual amount of town- 
 ship tax for the support of free 
 schools, $219,990 
 
 Aggregate number of pupils in all the 
 free schools in four of these states 
 only, 218,744 
 
 Number of colleges, 13 
 
 Aggregate number of students in all 
 
 the colleges, 1175 
 
 Aggregate -amount of contingent ex- 
 penses incurred in the several 
 towns, $272,964.02 
 
 From these imperfect data, the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury estimates the 
 aggregate of taxes levied within the 
 several states, for the support of the 
 State Governments, at $19,280,582.92 
 
 And the annual expenditure of the 
 
 National Government at $13,556,800.60 
 
 Making in the grand total, $32,837,383.52 
 
 Making the annual expenditure of each individual 
 in the United States, exclusive of slaves, about three 
 dollars, three cents of that sum, $1.25 being to the 
 General Government, and $1.79 being to the State 
 Government. 
 
 Dr. Cleland thus states the taxes per head in the 
 United Kingdom to be 
 
 Average sum paid bjr 
 Population. each inhabitant. 
 
 England and Wales, 13,894,574 $14.94 
 
 Scotland, 2,365,807 10.36 
 
 Ireland, 7,802,365 2.70 
 
TAXATION. 249 
 
 And this includes only the sum collected by the 
 general government, exclusive of poor tax and county 
 rates. " The French," he continues, " Austrians, 
 Germans, Russians, Italians, &c. pay from $3 to $6 
 per head to the state. The Irish seem to be the 
 lightest taxed people in Europe." 
 
 Before leaving this subject, which presents a tissue 
 of contradictory statements, and stands, as the reader 
 will perceive, greatly in need of more explicit infor- 
 mation, we will quote the condition of the state of 
 New Jersey in 1832. 
 The expenses of this state, for the local 
 government, including the military 
 force together with the value of the 
 time consumed in training, and ex- 
 penses of all kinds, $141,440 
 The annual cost of religious instruction, 120,000 
 State charges, including township and 
 county rates, at $1,292 per head, 
 nearly, 427,405 15 
 
 $688,845 15 
 
 Which, divided by the population, (330,000,) would 
 give about $2.08 as the share each had to pay towards 
 the state government. x 
 
 As so much ambiguity exists relative to the amount 
 of taxes collected, we cannot expect to find much ac- 
 curate information regarding the expense of collection 
 of the revenue in the United States. Of the sums 
 allowed for collecting the different state assessments 
 we are unable to obtain the least information ; and 
 the following statements will show the comparative 
 cost of management in this country and Europe. 
 
 32 
 
250 
 
 TAXATION. 
 
 In the United States collection costs 5jj per cent. 
 In England, according to Sir 
 
 Henry Parnell, J2j " 
 
 In France,* \<2^ " " 
 
 or, more particularly, according to Mr. McCulloch, 
 the collection of the 
 Custom duties, in England, cost about 5? per cent. 
 
 " Ireland, " " 12} " " 
 Excise " " England, " " 6| " " 
 
 Ireland, " " 9 
 
 Stamp " 2g " " 
 
 Assessed taxes, " England. " " 65 " " 
 on their gross value. 
 
 These statements, it will be observed, refer only 
 to the collection of the general taxes, and it is proba- 
 ble that the per-centage allowed for collecting the 
 other sums expended in state, county and township 
 expenses, is much greater. It were therefore well 
 fully to investigate the subject. 
 
 In the various states in the Union, the principles 
 upon which the taxes are assessed differ materially; 
 and on this account much previous care will be ne- 
 cessary to procure schedules suited to the condition 
 of each section of the country. In some cities, and 
 also in some states, direct taxes are levied upon the 
 personal and heritable property, and we believe no 
 great injustice is done to the inhabitants ; yet some 
 authors inveigh against the policy of this mode of 
 taxation. " Direct taxes on property have been the 
 curse of every country into which they have been, 
 introduced. To evade them, people that are not poor 
 
 * See Ouseley's Remarks on the Statistics of the United States, to which 
 work we have been indebted for much of the foregoing information. 
 
TAXATION. 251 
 
 counterfeit poverty ; some of the most powerful incen- 
 tives to industry and economy are in consequence 
 destroyed, at the same time that inferior stock and 
 machinery are made use of. Such taxes are besides 
 most unpopular, as well from their requiring an odious 
 though ineffectual inquisition into the affairs of indi- 
 viduals, as from their being direct."* It would be 
 useful to know if these disadvantages apply to the 
 practical application of direct taxation, or only to the 
 influence it is supposed in theory to exercise. 
 
 On the other hand, in other states, no direct or 
 personal tax is levied, but assessed taxes prevail, as 
 in New-Jersey, where grist mills pay $3 each run 
 of stones, cotton factories $30, saw mills each saw 
 $8, &c. 
 
 Again, in the statistical tables already referred to, 
 we find that New Hampshire levies a poll tax on the 
 male citizens from 18 to 70 years of age, as well as 
 on real and personal estate, the expense of the col- 
 lection of which is only about 1 per cent. 
 
 These different modes which the states pursue in 
 imposing assessments upon their citizens, render it 
 necessary that the schedules transmitted to each 
 state should agree with the form in which the 
 information is to be reported ; and this can only be 
 attained by previously instituting the necessary in- 
 quiries into the different methods pursued. The 
 question, as Mr. Livingston justly remarks, is one of 
 real utility, as it will enable the state legislatures " to 
 profit by the good, and avoid the evil," in the systems 
 of taxation which are at present in use in the United 
 States. And till this inquiry takes place, the con- 
 
 * McCulloch's Statistics of the British Empire, ii. 516. 
 
252 
 
 TAXATION. 
 
 troversy regarding the comparative expense of mo- 
 narchical and republican governments is liable at 
 any time to be again awakened, and no more correct 
 data, as we have before remarked, exist now than 
 formerly to ascertain the facts necessary for deciding 
 this interesting question. 
 
 Indeed, the means of estimating the value of the 
 taxable property in the country are rather diminishing 
 than increasing, as some very useful insight was ob- 
 tained into the subject by the general government 
 returns in 1815, when it resorted to direct taxation ; 
 and every day, of course, such information becomes 
 more obsolete and useless. These returns are more 
 general than any that have been since procured ; and 
 although we do not think it advisable to recommend 
 a corresponding valuation of property, (as there is no 
 means of insuring that assessors will refer to the 
 same standard of value property of the same descrip- 
 tion, in different states,) we may here insert an ab- 
 stract, as illustrating the nature of the returns which 
 government found it necessary to procure, when 
 levying direct taxes upon the several states. 
 
 
 Valuation of houses 
 and lands, after de- 
 ducting estimated 
 value of slaves, in 
 1814 and 1815. 
 
 Value of houses and 
 lands in 1799, omit 
 ting fractions. 
 
 Increase from 
 1799 to 1814 and 
 1815. 
 
 Average value 
 of land includ- 
 ing buildings, in 
 1814 and 1815. 
 
 New Hampshire,. 
 Massachusetts,. . 
 Rhode Island, 
 Connecticut, 
 
 $38,745,974 
 143,765,560 
 20,907,766 
 88,534,971 
 32461,120 
 
 $23,175,046 
 83,992,468 
 11,066,357 
 48,313424 
 16,723,873 
 
 $15,570,8-28 
 59,773,092 
 9,841, 4h9 
 40,221,547 
 15,737,247 
 
 $9- 
 18. 
 39. 
 34. 
 6.40 
 
 New-York, 
 New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, 
 
 269,3'/ 0,900 
 95,899,333 
 346,633,889 
 13449370 
 
 100.380,706 
 36,473,899 
 102,145.900 
 6,234,413 
 
 168,990,194 
 59,425,434 
 244,4*7,989 
 7,204,967 
 
 16.50 
 35. 
 29. 
 13. 
 
 
 106,490,638 
 
 32,372,290 
 
 74,118,348 
 
 20. 
 
 Virginia 
 
 165 608 199 
 
 71,225,127 
 
 94,383,072 
 
 4.15 
 
 N. Carolina, 
 S.Carolina, 
 
 51,517,031 
 74,325,262 
 
 31,487,658 
 
 30,842,372 
 17,465,012 
 12061,137 
 
 20,674,659 
 56,868,250 
 19,426,521 
 
 2.50 
 
 8. 
 2.50 
 
 
 66 878,587 
 
 21,408,090 
 
 45,470,497 
 
 4. 
 
 
 24,233,750 
 
 6,134,108 
 
 18,099,662 
 
 6. 
 
 
 61 347 215 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TAXATION. 253 
 
 We have omitted, on the present occasion, all re- 
 ference to the various theories which speculative 
 economists have urged upon the comparative advan- 
 tages of taxes on production and consumption ; for 
 there is as yet so much uncertainty in the views en- 
 tertained by them, that we are afraid to trust our- 
 selves on such an interesting yet difficult subject. 
 We believe, however, in this country it is universally ] 
 conceded that the only use of taxation is to furnish / 
 the necessary supplies to government, for an econo- 
 mical administration of its duties and powers ; and 
 that no feeling exists of the propriety of burdening one 
 class more than another for the support of the public 
 treasury. Dr. Chalmers would, we fear, find in this 
 republican country but few supporters when he says : 
 " We cannot sympathize with the zeal for retrench- 
 ment, believing as we do, that if taxes were rightly 
 laid, and the produce of them rightly expended, they 
 admit of being most beneficially increased for the 
 best interests of the nation ; "* for the universal 
 feeling obtains here, that the present income ought 
 to be so reduced as to compel the government officers 
 to take every opportunity of curtailing the public 
 expenditure. 
 
 But returning from these digressions, let us urge 
 the propriety of instituting inquiries into the present 
 condition of taxation, existing in the different states ; 
 as well for the improvement of the modes pursued for 
 raising their revenue, by some of the states, and the 
 general interest of such an inquiry to the statist, as 
 for the purpose- of exhibiting to the General Govern- 
 ment the resources which are at its command. 
 
 * Chalmers' Political Economy" Effect of Taxes." 
 
254 TAXATION. 
 
 It were much to be desired, that the different sys- 
 tems of taxation, prevailing throughout the country 
 should be accurately known, when Government, in- 
 stead of adopting a uniform system, like the one 
 above, might conform to the existing methods, in use 
 in the separate states, and thus with greater prompt- 
 ness and less difficulty, raise the requisite sums. We 
 have already, at page 19, referred to the inequality 
 of the last mode of apportioning the Federal taxes, 
 and to the advantage of the previous preparation of 
 a body of serviceable information which can be ren- 
 dered available on any sudden emergency. 
 
 And in this investigation into the amount of taxes 
 collected in the United States, much collateral in- 
 formation may incidentally be procured relative to 
 the wealth and internal economy of the country. 
 The returns should be obtained from the different 
 states in the form in which they are presented to the 
 State legislatures, or to the different county courts, 
 and they should be carefully remodelled at Wash- 
 ington, according to some general scheme, which will 
 most fully exhibit the information they contain. By 
 returns thus procured, and carefully condensed, not 
 only will sufficient data be afforded to put at rest 
 the controversy regarding the comparative expense 
 of the different governments in Europe and America, 
 but many evident practical advantages will follow 
 the general knowledge of the burdens which each 
 state imposes upon its inhabitants. The effect of the 
 various public improvements upon the burdens, 
 wealth, and income of the states will be fully illus- 
 trated, the progressive advancement which each dis- 
 trict is making, and the general regulations of police 
 and government will be plainly exhibited. 
 
255 
 
 CN I VK ;.-,. . 
 
 AGENTS TO BE EMPLOYED. 
 
 are well aware, that much of the difficulty of 
 procuring accurate statistical information consists in 
 the want of able and efficient agents, and have only 
 to regret that our ignorance of the manner in which 
 the business of the different departments at Washing- 
 ton is conducted, must prevent our entering so fully 
 into this necessary topic as we could wish. We must 
 therefore rest content with making such suggestions 
 as seem likely to be of service, and such reference to 
 the general principles which should be kept in view 
 as the occasion may seem to demand. 
 
 The sum of six hundred thousand dollars will 
 probably be expended in the course of the year 
 1840, in taking an enumeration of the inhabitants of 
 the United States, and the advantages which would 
 result from the judicious application of this sum is a 
 sufficient reason for attracting public attention to it. 
 The expenses of the former census have been : 
 
 Years. Population. Amount. 
 
 1790 3,924,843 $41,623 
 
 1800 5,319,762 80,000 
 
 1810 7,240,903 190,000 
 
 1820 9,654,548 240,000 
 
 1830 12,866,920 400,000 appropriation. 
 
 1840 19,335,810* 600,000 estimate. 
 
 * According to Darby's View of the United States, though evidently too large. 
 
256 AGENTS. 
 
 We have no means of ascertaining exactly how 
 much the appropriation for the purpose of taking the 
 next census will be, but we believe that it will not 
 be under the sum we have here stated. 
 
 On previous occasions, the duty of taking the cen- 
 sus has fallen entirely upon the Secretary of State, 
 and of course will, in the present instance, come 
 under his control; but in some of the preceding 
 chapters we have spoken of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury as being the individual who would probably 
 direct the inquiries into the condition of the manufac- 
 turing and agricultural interests of the country, and 
 we have done so, as we find that the returns on the 
 former of these subjects, which were laid before 
 Congress in 1832, were prepared by him. It is not 
 to be expected, however, that either of these officers 
 can bestow the requisite time and attention to the 
 topics proposed in the foregoing tables, and of course 
 much of the accuracy and usefulness of the informa- 
 tion procured, must depend upon the competency of 
 the persons to whom is committed the preparation of 
 the schedules, and the supervision and arrangement 
 of the returns. 
 
 The mode of procedure hitherto adopted has been 
 to permit the different United States marshals to ap- 
 point as many assistants as they might deem neces- 
 sary, who, commencing on the 1st of June, should 
 take an enumeration of tee inhabitants in their seve- 
 ral districts, in a given time. The marshals have 
 been allowed a small fixed sum, varying from $150 
 to $400, for their trouble, while the assistants were 
 paid so much for every hundred inhabitants they 
 
AGENTS. 257 
 
 enumerated, according to a scale graduated by the 
 density of the population. 
 
 As the labour required to procure all the returns 
 suggested in the foregoing pages would be much 
 greater than heretofore, we are inclined to think that 
 both greater responsibility should be imposed, and 
 higher -compensation awarded to the Marshals. In 
 some of the states, the time of the United States mar- 
 shals is so completely occupied at present, that it 
 might be better to appoint an additional officer, or 
 " Census Marshal," to superintend the returns for 
 such districts. It should be the duty of the Marshal 
 to examine the returns from each of his assistants, 
 to correct all errors in the addition of the several 
 items, and, when necessary, to transmit them again 
 to the assistant for completion if defective, or for cor- 
 rection, if inaccurate. When thus revised, it should 
 be his duty to forward them to the Department at 
 Washington ; and a certificate of their receipt, exa- 
 mination, and approval by the Secretary, should be 
 obtained, before any remuneration for his trouble is 
 allowed him. The fairest mode of determining the 
 amount of this would be, by allowing a per-centage 
 .on the dues of his assistants, which, at 5 percent., 
 would yield, on an average, nearly $1000 to each 
 Marshal employed. 
 
 It should, 'we think, be the duty of the assistants 
 or deputies, (should the suggestions we have made 
 be adopted,) to report the age and place of nativity 
 of every inhabitant ; the number of births, deaths, 
 and marriages, that have occurred in their districts 
 within a year ; the education and occupation of the 
 inhabitants, together with the manufacturing and 
 33 
 
258 AGENTS. 
 
 agricultural returns which may apply to their sec- 
 tions ; and further, to write in each column of the 
 schedule in which they make no entry, that nothing 
 relative to the subject exists. When the column is 
 simply left blank, there is always some ambigui- 
 ty, whether no information regarding it can be pro- 
 cured, or whether the deputy has omitted to procure 
 it. These returns thus completely filled up, they 
 should return to their respective Marshals, and if 
 correction wera required in any of them, it would of 
 course be their duty to comply with the further direc 
 tions of the Marshals, but if none such were necessary, 
 the duty which belonged to the assistants would be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 Again, it should be the duty of the Marshals, to 
 procure returns, of another class, viz : those which 
 the government might require from the different 
 township and county clerks. These returns would 
 embrace the different topics which we have referred 
 to under the heads of crime, pauperism, education, 
 and taxation ; which not being the result of personal 
 inquiry, we think would be more satisfactorily 
 answered by the different state officers. Their infor- 
 mation, it would therefore be the duty of the mar- 
 shals to examine, and if of the required character, 
 to forward to the department. In some of the states 
 the information desired could all be procured at the 
 seat of legislature, in which case the Marshals might 
 be authorized to appoint special agents, to make out 
 the necessary abstracts ; and when there was little 
 prospect of the county officers attending to the matter 
 they might further 'be authorized to send agents 
 
AGENTS. 259 
 
 through the different counties to obtain the requisite 
 returns. 
 
 The district attorneys might be called upon to ren- 
 der such assistance to the Marshals as they might 
 require, to frame the schedules applicable to the tax- 
 ation in use in their sections, and to report the state 
 of the criminal code and other similar topics. 
 
 The postmasters in the United States might also 
 be requested to furnish any information which they 
 might have it in their power to procure, and as there 
 is at least one in every township in the country, the 
 most detailed accounts could through them be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 It might, to attain these ends, be advisable for the 
 United States Government to pass a law requiring 
 all holding office under the executive authority, to 
 comply with the requirements of the secretaries 
 relative to the census, also to request the several 
 states to pass similar laws, obliging their officers to 
 make, on adequate compensation, any returns which 
 the general government may require, and to this we 
 presume no objection would be made. 
 
 The amount of compensation which the different 
 officers are to receive, as we have repeatedly re- 
 marked, should be proportioned to the services which 
 are required of them. This principle is so self-evi- 
 dent, that it is unnecessary to dwell upon it, and we 
 do not feel qualified to speak as to the sums which 
 should be awarded for each class of services. As a 
 general rule, jailors and county officers reporting 
 paupers, might be allowed as much as the assistant 
 Marshals are when reporting the number, &c., of the 
 
260 AGENTS. 
 
 inhabitants, but what that should be, it rests with 
 Congress to decide. 
 
 We do not think it necessary to enter into accurate 
 statistical details regarding the products of those 
 sparsely settled districts in which it is so expensive to 
 collect information, and where nothing is ever manu- 
 factured, and little if anything raised .above the con- 
 sumption of the district. Where therefore the popu- 
 lation does not exceed ten inhabitants in one square 
 mile, no account should be taken of the statistical 
 returns relative to manufactures or agriculture. 
 
 The number of districts at the taking .of the last 
 census, was 34, (counting Florida as one only) to 
 each of which a separate Marshal was appointed, 
 they contained in all, 937 counties, and reckoning the 
 counties and subdivisions of counties where such 
 exist, there were 5789 returning districts in the United 
 States. 
 
 As the whole subject of the agents to be employed, 
 must be much better understood by those conversant 
 with the business details of the different depart- 
 ments at Washington, we feel that it is unnecessary 
 to dwell longer on a subject which can be of no 
 interest. to the general reader, however essential it 
 may be to the furtherance of the ends we have in 
 view. 
 
261 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 WE have now presented to the reader, in detail, the 
 several subjects which we think might advantageously 
 occupy a place in the government returns for 1840 ; 
 and although we are conscious of the defects in our 
 notices of these various topics, w r e yet indulge the 
 hope that they may serve the end we have in view, 
 and further the interests of statistical science. There 
 are many interesting inquiries to which we have 
 made no reference, from the desire of not defeating 
 our purpose by too many suggestions, but should be 
 glad to see them embraced in the list of topics. 
 Among these might be mentioned a large class of 
 subjects arising from the internal improvements of 
 the country, the canals, railroads, and turnpikes, with 
 the cost of their construction, the nature of the work 
 performed, the extent of the undertaking, and the 
 yearly returns which the tolls afforded the various 
 literary institutions and societies, the universities, me- 
 dical, theological and law schools, with the amount of 
 their endowments, the number of pupils and extent 
 of their libraries, or the objects and views of the so- 
 cieties, their resources and value of their collections- 
 the number of charitable and religious societies, 
 whether for relieving the poor or propagating Chris- 
 tianity, their funds, objects, and general management. 
 We might add others, but these may suffice as 
 specimens of the topics for inquiry which might 
 be suggested, in addition to those we have proposed. 
 
282 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Different individuals attach different degrees of im- 
 portance to the subjects of inquiry, but we believe 
 those we have more fully alluded to in the foregoing 
 pages are such as will most generally be considered 
 as best adapted for examination. 
 
 We have already noticed the care evinced in the 
 preparation of the census returns for 1830, which, 
 having had occasion to examine by different tests, we 
 have never been able to discover inaccurate. It is 
 much to be desired that the same accuracy should 
 characterize all future statistical returns, though, from 
 the great difficulty of printing columns of figures, 
 much attention is required to prevent typographical 
 errors from vitiating the returns. When commending 
 the manner in which the last census was prepared, 
 and desiring to witness the same care bestowed upon 
 the succeeding one, let us not be understood as con- 
 sidering apparent detail as a proof of accurate re- 
 search ; for nothing is easier, and, in our opinion, 
 nothing is more futile than to carry out decimal frac- 
 tions to an almost interminable length, and prove, as 
 it were, the basis of a calculation by the detail into 
 which it is carried. From the various authorities to 
 which we have had occasion to refer, we may cite a 
 few instances of this absurd subdivision : in the sta- 
 tistical tables of 1835, at page 190, we have this num- 
 ber inserted, 87Smo ; in many of Mr. McCulloch's 
 tables, the decimal fractions are extended to six 
 figures ; and Dr. Cleland speaks of a sum as being, 
 three shillings, one penny, one farthing, and one- 
 eighth of a farthing. Such particular calculations 
 subserve no useful end ; they neither insure accuracy 
 in the aggregate, nor convey more definite ideas to 
 
CONCLUSION. 263 
 
 the reader. In astronomical tables, we can under- 
 stand a reason existing for extending the calculations 
 to the most particular minuteness ; but in calculations 
 where there is always a certain degree of vagueness 
 in the premises, we can see no advantage in such an 
 ostentatious parade of figures. We have never asso- 
 ciated it with superior accuracy, and are commonly 
 inclined rather to question the truth of a statement 
 that requires to divert attention from the integer to the 
 fractional parts. 
 
 In the foregoing pages we have alluded to actual 
 returns, discarding all estimates, than which nothing 
 can be more fallacious and embarrassing. It were 
 much to be preferred that any return should be remit- 
 ted blank to the department, rather than filled up by 
 some estimate of the assistant ; for however much we 
 may esteem the calculations and estimates of some 
 men, as a general rule they are of no statistical value. 
 We have, in aformer part of this essay, whenspeaking 
 of the general principles of statistical inquiry, referred 
 to this subject, and further remarks were therefore un- 
 necessary ; but we hope that it is a subject to which 
 the attention of government will be attracted, and all 
 diligence be used to prevent unauthorized estimates 
 from being intermixed with ascertained facts. 
 
 The unexpected length to which this essay has ex- 
 tended must plead our apology for the brevity of these 
 remarks, as we cannot but believe that the reader 
 must have comprehended alike the objects we have 
 aimed at, and the means by which we have proposed 
 to attain them. 
 
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