New-York daily tribune., 1843-12-30
THE TRIBUNE
our Internal Commerce.

100 hnt partially understood, ana It's Importance
MT duly appreciated by a vast majority Of her
o;tzens even many of those directly connected
with it do not appear to possess a very extensive
Or accurate knowledge Of the subject. Circum-
s.ances have induced us to investigate this mat
fer somewhat mlnutely.
Without entering into general detail of the
,,sness done, Or the amount of capital employed
:, the transportation business between New. Y ork
o,d the various ports in the Sound, Ncw-Jersey
and on the North River we proposeto take up that
connected with Albany and Troy or with the
Erie and Champlain Canals, and briefly to give
an outline of it. The transportation of goods,
wares, merchandise and produce between New
Work and these two points, is now principally
carried on By bargcs or tow boats, and peculiar
.l,ss Of canal boats usually dcnominatcd lake
bosts, running mostly short distances on the Erie
Canal and on to The small lakes in the centre Of
the State In the towing Of these boats there
unemployed twelve steamboats,, worth, say $3.50
nm. sixtytwo tow boats, worth Si3i,000;
about one hundred and fifty lake boats, worth
e9OOO0: to which may be added for sloops and
scows engaged principally in transporting lum-
her and coarse freight $50, 0,000-making a total
amount of capital engaged in the transportation
business on the North River between New-York
Albany and Troy of $l,024,000 There arc
now running and engaged on the Erie Canal, in
the regularly established lines, about 80 boats,
worth 100000. These boats are divided up
into lines of from ten to forty boats each In
towing them there are employed about 5000
horses, which with their harnesses worth
,00G-making a capital Of SS6OOOO EN-
ployed in the organized lines on the Erie and
Champlan Canals,
Thus it will be seen that without the transient
means employed or boats owned and navigatcd
by individuals not running in lines, neary Y two
millions of capital is invested in carrying on the
commerce between this city and Bui;alo and
Whitehall The capital employed upon the
lakes we have not the means of estimating with
accuracy, but from what we do know about it,
we feel warranted in saying that considerably
more than three millions is invested in steam
boats and vessels running in connexlon with the
Erie and Champlain Canal lines upon lakes
Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Champlan.
mostly in regular lines connected with those
running on the Erie and Oswcgo Canals. The
whole amount of capital employed is, then, over
five millions of dollars, without including the
warehouses necessarily connected with the bu-
siness at the various places cf transhipment and
landing, which would add at least million Of
dollars TO the sum, making a total of over six
millions.
Now it would naturally be supposed that a
business of this magnitude, would and could only
be conducted by men of known capital and in
tegrty Yet we apprchend that thorough
investigation would lead to very different conclu-
sions, especially as to the solvcncy of many of
those engaged at the present time in the trans
portation business. At all events our experience
has proved that difficulties arising in this bust
ness arc frequently unnecessarily and vexatiously
DELAYED in settlement, and by changes in agents
and propretors things become frequently so
mystifed that damages, losses and over rcharges
clearly established, cannot be recovered without
resort to legal measures, and then, when Judge
mcnt is obtained, it has oitcen been found that
all the defendants are insolvent. A business of
this magnitude should engage the attention of
experienced, able and cntCrprislng men, and 1t
will, when understood, be the duty and for the
interest of the merchants, both of the city and
country, to patronizc such, and such only 1t
has been our fortune to have credited merchants
whose goods have been lost or damaged while IN
the hands of the forwarding merchant, and to
have suffered "a total loss of our debt in conse-
ouence Of the inability of the line to pay such
losses or damages. The losses occurring in the
regular course of transportation, are more ire-
ouent and much larger in amount, we apprehend,
than the public have been led to suppose. Hardly
. a year passes that several boats arc not sunk
upon the Canal, frequently damaging goods to
the amount of several thousand dollars.
The whole amount of losses sustained by the
Erie Canal lines during the year lS42, for dam
aged and lost goods, was probably over $4,000,
to which may be added $4,000 for damages and
losses sustained by the shippers of produce and
merchandise principally IN consequence OF the
want of responsibility on the part of the carrier.
1t seems TO us matter of great Importance that
in contracting for the shipment of merchandise
OF produce, the contract should be so drawn as
to admit OF no caviling as to lis import, and still
more important that the contract should be made
with persons of known and undoubted response
bility. The few dollars gained bya merchant by
shipping his goods by transient and irresponsible
lines, seldom compensate him for the risk which
he incurs by so doing, and our commission mer-
chants would if called upon, convince any un-
prejudiced man that our estimate of losses is too
low, and that it is as much for the interest OF the
miller and shipper of produce to have their busl-
ness transacted by responsible lines, as it is for
the merchant tits for their interest to pay
fair price to the regular forwarder, and at the
same time to place in the hands of their commits
sion merchants such contract as will enable
them without difficulty to secure its faithful per-
formance But after all, we are compelled to say
that there is no business perhaps surrounded with
more difficulties than that Of the common ear.