, 1874-12-24

that they should retain their present quarter.
aud ncithor the disappointment of cor,,r
Aldermen at not receiving n bride
nor the opposition Of rival railroa
companies, should 10 permitted to driv
them of from privilege lawfully acquired
Things haye como to a pretty pass, indeed
il nothing Gnu bo dono in or about this cit
without first buying and paying for sufll
eient number Of Aldermanic votes to snnc
ton it. Tho Baltimore t. Ohio people sllou1
not budge, nor pay n dollar but what tho.
havo agreed to pay. lilo courts and til
public will sustain them in resisting m,
attempt ut blaclsmail in this 1natter,
| .-..--"'-...-.:--......~-.
THE BALANCE OF TRADE AND spEUIEPAY
MENTs.
An adverse bnlnnco Of trndo is not slowf
10y tho entries Of tho C,lstoln-Houso books
When tl,csc books record tho export Of SIC,
100000 worth Of goods mud tho import O.
$1oo, 100000 worth, it is not fair deduction
TINT there is balanco of Sa5 1000, Oo0 agains
ua, which we must liquidate with gold or ovi
dencoa Of Indebtedness. For il tho exported
goods vnlued at $75,000,0 900 here wcro wortl
10000 a)'road, md if tho imported goods
valued Mt $l0D, 000,00D hero wcro worth on1,
$4,000, QUO abroad, then the exports ant1 i'm.
ports llava just balanced encl other. The
cargocs sent abrond have just pnid for the
cargoes brought homo. There is no balance
against anybody. It is possible, indeed, TINT
tho SIT, ,ooo,ooo worth Of goods exported will
sell for enough in the English market to moro
than lony for the wares entered at st0O. .0O0,.
ooo At onr Custom.llouses OH tho return yoy-
ago. In this caso the ba1anco Of trade would
bo in our fnvor, and yet tic Custom House
| BOOKS would show m adverse ba1anee of
3,0oo,o ,o00! It is evident that tho tcsti-
1nony Of these books is not to bo relied upon
| ut NIL, so far us tho balance Of trade is con-
cerned. A recent writer for magazine on
the subject gives good illustration Of this
fact. Ho says:
1lnston merchant will ahip cargo Of mixed good
ths laslni gil IA ahplcd to England nj ruw material
Tor nainiacsnre, md sold Tor cash hn caslt Ia i
which are brought 10 tho liui,ed Htcs for ea!o tit
Outgoing cargo inny haso tson entered upon the Boz
ton cnstcn.lio;so bools at valuation Of $o ooO onIy
%o tue ilcomng cargn, having acel,malate tho moi.
OF stocks around The wcrd. aud tho interest on tie H.
THIS would Rli"r aanco OF trade ngeIpat the Unilni
staeH Of Si0D0U when In fact tcro would be m ha1
anco whatever, Int this difference would really rsnr"
stft tho prnt!ts Of tho voyage nrounJ tic wori 1ii,
is common cssc ratniy stated, aud represents tia
eesaa iscta aa regarda large proportion Of our
There is no infallible criterion by which
the balance of trade can be rccAoned. Prof,
OA1nNEs says, in his recent book; "lto
determine the amount or extent of the nd
vantage dorivahlc from foreign trado is, and.
l venture to say, must ever be, m absolutely
insoluble problem" As long rs two countries
trade with eacll other, both must gain some
thing. For if either lost, its demaud would
cease. No merchant persists for years in
business tint does not pay. This mutua1
gain cannot 10 rcckoned. It consists larco1v
III the qualification of individual tastes. Who
is to weigh this qualification? Can any ono
tell the amount Of advantage wo derive
from the ten trade? Il, however, we tako
the definition Of the balance Of trado
which makes it simply tho difference bo-
tween exports and imports, there is a c1ew.
although not n sure one, to the amount,
Tho books of tho bankers who deal in foreign
exchange furnish this clow. If they show
TINT We have exported moro gold than We
have imported, it is fair Inference that
the balance of trade il against us, because it |
is gold which finally settles nn deficits in in
ternational accounts. It is rot fair infer.
ence, however, tlat tho precise amount of
tho advcrse balance Of trailo is indicated by
the excess of the exports Of gold over tic
imports Of it.. If We buy 800, G00, 600 worth
ot goods from England aud sell Aor SC0 O00,-
ooo worth i'll the snnlo time, the real balance
against us is S40,0oo,o0o. If, now, we
aoat $40, 600, 900 worth Of bonds, stools, etc.,
III Lombard street, we will l,avo to cx-
port only $40 ,0o0, 900 in gold to mako GOOD
'ur account, and thus tho apparent balance
If traslo will DO but ono-fourth Of tho real
'ne. On tho other hand, the bankers books
'an take no account Of the enormous sums of
1ard money brought to this country By c,ni-
,rants. These men do not buy bills Of ex-
:hanSe. They bring their gold md silver on
heir persons. It is estimated that Gcrmau
llave, within half q century.
brought into this country $500, 1000, 900 iu
pccie. The bankers books show no record
i this vast sum. It is sufficient proof of
to utter untrustwortlincss Of all tic 1ncaus
f calculating the specie receipts aud shin
lents Of country to point to tie fact
ocoraed il, DonA'a "Po1itical Cyclopndia,
hat, If tho current statistics wore true, "al
Ito specio in the world wonld at tile present
no he locked up in this island FEnclana1" I
il evident, Then, that the balance Of tsxaa {
annot DO exactly ascertainod since, if wo {
lko tic narrowcst definition of it, mud t,y ,
, cstiinato it with tho help Of tho books Of {
i the bankers in the country, NO cannot 8
laco any great faith in tho accuracy of tho
,sult. ,
1t is, nevertheless, assumed tint we cannot t
's'uno specio.ptyn,cnts until the balance of t
edo, as shown by the bankers books, is in a
II favor. Tho assumption il base1oss, d
q have already proved TINT this is not =
10 true balance Of trado. No argument t
llich fronts 1t as truo cnn 10 itself s
ue. In tho second place, If wo il